Music Monday: North and South – What About Now (Daughtry)

Welcome to August. 🙂 Today, I have a movie meets music selection with a rocky edge to it. I chose it for a few of the lyrics that seem to go with the story I just completed writing. Here are the lyrics, and below the video, you’ll find a few lines of the story which I hope will help you see how this song seems to fit the plight Charles Edwards finds himself in at the end of Charles: To Discover His Purpose.

…can we see beyond the scars
And make it to the dawn?

AND

What if you’re making me all that I was meant to be?

AND

This broken heart can still survive
With a touch of your grace

AND (finally)

For all my life, I am yours

Published to YouTube by Elva Dögg Guðmundsdóttir on September 21, 2008.

“You, Miss Barrett, are perhaps the most compassionate, yet uncompromising, lady I have ever met. You do not only do great things, but you demand them as well. You inspire me to be a better man. You,” his lips curled into a small smile, “with all your scolding and reprimanding, have caused me to find something at which I am good…”

AND

“I will not present any other offer to you from this day forward. I will simply leave you with the option of choosing me. If someday, I should be so fortunate as to earn your good opinion as well as your heart, you have only to tell me, and I will be yours for time and eternity. I will not charm anything from you, Evelyn. Never from you. I will only ever take what you wish to give me, even if at this moment it is anger and distrust.”

Charles’s story is with my first reader, and I expect to get her notes on it this week.  It has finished posting at Patreon, and I am hoping to get the preorder set up by the end of this week so that it can go live next Tuesday.

Charles’s ebook cover is all ready to go, and a cover reveal to my mailing list and here on the blog are scheduled for next Monday.

I do, however, still need to write a blurb before I can set up that preorder. So, that will be on my to-do list this week.

Writing-wise, I took it a bit easy this week. I allowed myself a full week of non-writing days. During those days, I worked on other things, such as…

I was able to get more of the Dash of Darcy and Companions Collection re-covered. I still need to create a couple of print covers for ebooks which already have their new covers, and I have to create two Companions Duos.  That’s all that is left on that project. I’ll be very glad when this updating project is complete. It was a big job.

I spent some time playing with graphics and working on a few items for my Society6 store, BonnyLassCreatives. I figured since it is now August and school will be starting soon, I would work on making some stickers, notebooks, and note cards for my shop. I added a few new designs but only a few. However, it was the creative break my brain needed to relax after the completion of one story and slowly come back to ready to write.

By Wednesday of this week, after seven non-writing days, I was itching to get back to some story. Mary Crawford will be the focus of my next Other Pens book, and my mind has started to work on figuring out her whys. So, I have not written anything for her yet. I did work on Delighting Mrs. Bennet on Thursday and Friday, and I think that story is nearly complete. I will focus on it this week because I think it really only requires a few thousand more words.

Since I do not yet have a story from which I can pull an excerpt, there isn’t one for today and won’t be one again next week. So, instead, I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my stickers, note cards, and notebooks as well as this question:

~*~*~

I’m currently working on figuring out Mary Crawford’s “need” and her motivation. They are usually intricately woven together. I have some ideas about her, but I would be fascinated to hear what you think about — How did Mary Crawford become who she is?  Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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Leenie B Books

KOBO    AMAZON     NOOK     IBOOKS     MAILING LIST    PATREON    SOCIETY6


Music Monday: Christmas Present, Andy Williams

Sadly, this is the last Monday of Christmas in July. It’s been lovely taking some time to think about Christmas during a very hot and humid month for us here in Nova Scotia. Today’s giveaway is not a surprise since there is only one book left on my list. It is a book that has to do with a gift of love that is given from brother to sister, so I thought this song would be perfect for today.

Published on Youtube by TheSorrowfulFlower on December 20, 2012.

The giveaway link, as always, is right below the writing news and before the story excerpt.

Writing News:

The biggest news I have for you this Monday is that Charles: To Discover His Purpose is starting its way through the polishing process. I do not have a firm date on publication yet, but I am hoping it will be toward the end of August. 😀 There is an excerpt from the story in tomorrow’s Austen Author’s post and the last Monday excerpt from it below.

That means, next week, I may (probably won’t) have a story excerpt on Monday. 🙁 I hope to spend this week seeing if I can complete Delighting Mrs. Bennet.

Are you wondering what I will be writing next? Me, too. 🙂 Actually, I know that one story I will be working on is Mary Crawford’s story, which follows Charles’s story in the Other Pens series. However, I am also trying to decide on another Dash of Darcy title…but so far, I’ve got nothin’. 🙂

My reorganizing of the Dash of Darcy and Companion Collection is on-going, though it is getting closer to completion.

And one last thing: For those of you who frequent Facebook, I wanted to let you know that Rose Fairbanks, Zoe Burton, and I are doing a weekly Jane Austen Trivia game in our Longbourn Literary Society group. Each week on Tuesday, we will be posting two trivia questions from a different novel. You will have until Friday to participate by commenting on the posts, and for your participation, you will be entered into a draw for a giveaway.

And now for the last…


CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAY:

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF Two Days Before Christmas.

The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, August 3, 2018.

Update: All five copies of this book have found homes.


The following is from the last portion of the book. It may include some spoilers, although I did try to select something that doesn’t contain the most spoilery spoilers. (There are three important chapters after this excerpt.) However, you will still want to read at your own risk.

ONE LAST (longish) EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose:  Continue reading Music Monday: Christmas Present, Andy Williams


Music Monday: Christmas Medley- London Symphony Orchestra

Christmas in July continues today with a Mary Merry Christmas Medley and another book giveaway. Can you guess which book? Did I give you a good enough hint?

Published to YouTube by pok12341 on December 26, 2011

There are only two books remaining on our list: A Very Mary Christmas and Two Days Before Christmas. The giveaway link is located, as always, after my writing news and just before today’s story excerpt.

Writing News: 

I don’t have a lot of news for you this week. I’m still working on writing both Delighting Mrs. Bennet and Charles: To Discover His Purpose. I managed to do three days of two writing sessions each. However, I worked on Charles’s story for most of those second writing sessions since that story needs to be completed first. (I would still like to have this story ready to publish in August — it’s just turning out to be longer than expected)

Because I put extra time into that story, there were 3 chapters posted at Patreon last week, and I know I have at least 2 chapters ready or almost ready to post this week. 🙂

My goal to have the Dash of Darcy and Companions Collection all updated by next Tuesday, the end of the month, is a faint possibility for the ebooks, but the print ones might push me past that deadline as will the fact that I would like to add a couple of bundles. So a more realistic goal for completion is before August 15.

And I think that is it for the writing news. Now, for the …


CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAY:

Did you guess the right book? 😀

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF A Very Mary Christmas.

[Oh! This free copy features the never before revealed updated cover for this book.]

The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, July 27, 2018.

***Update: All 5 copies have found homes***


The following has not yet been posted on Patreon and is about half of Chapter 13.

AN (longish) EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose: Continue reading Music Monday: Christmas Medley- London Symphony Orchestra


Music Monday: Winter, Blackmore’s Night

Can you tell by the title of this instrumental selection which book might be today’s giveaway book? Below the video is the list of remaining book choices.

Published on YouTube, October 30, 2010, by kirelafonos.

A Very Mary Christmas

One Winter’s Eve

Two Days Before Christmas

You can find out if you have the right book by scrolling down to just before the story excerpt, but please come back and read my news and the excerpt after you take your chances at getting a copy of today’s Christmas in July giveaway book.

BOOK NEWS: 

Delighting Mrs. Bennet has reached an interesting (and slightly dangerous) place in its plot. I think I can see the end coming soon, but I’m not exactly certain how long it will take to get to that ending I can see. There are still a few things to take care of. (Not the least of which is making sure that all the characters are safe. 😉 ) I will have all of October filled with scheduled Thursday posts before the week is out!

Charles: To Discover His Purpose is progressing well. I have passed the 20,000 word mark, and I have posted through chapter 7 on Patreon and should have chapter 8 posted there later today before I edit chapter 9 and then start on chapter 10. 🙂 I’m really enjoying writing this story. Charles is proving to be an interesting fellow to understand and help find his best self.

The Dash of Darcy and Companion Stories are getting a bit of a reorganization. Instead of being two separate collections, I am combining them into one and numbering them. This should make them easier for readers to find on Amazon. So, if you are looking at them over this month, you will likely see some have the new combined collection listed as the series and then a book number. These are being numbered mostly in the order they were published. The only exception to that is I am putting bundles in the line after the books which they contain rather than farther following their publication dates. All of the titles except perhaps the two Dash of Darcy Duos will be getting new covers and all of the older titles will be getting backmatter updates. The stories will stay the same. I am not redoing the books in order, so things will look odd for a while as I am working on completing this large project. I hope to be done by the end of July, but I am not certain that is a realistic goal. It might be early August before it is finished.


CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAY:

Did you guess the right book? 😀

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF One Winter’s Eve.

The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, July 20, 2018.

[update: All five copies of this book have found homes. 🙂 ]

 


I was able to work with a couple of young boys, who helped me reveal some things about our hero in this…

EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose: Continue reading Music Monday: Winter, Blackmore’s Night


Music Monday: Christmas Canon (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Welcome to Christmas in July. Each Music Monday this month will feature Christmas music and a giveaway. Scroll down below the video for a few details.

Published on YouTube Oct 26, 2009, by Atlantic Records

I have five books which are set around Christmas:

A Very Mary Christmas

For Peace of Mind

No Other Choice

Two Days Before Christmas

One Winter’s Eve

Each Monday, I will leave a link in my Music Monday post which will have 5 copies of one of those books at it. (Books will be given away in random order — not in the order listed above.)

There are five Monday’s in July.

That’s a total of 25 books being given away — just like the day on which Christmas falls 🙂

Two other pieces of information you might wish to know:

Each Monday post is scheduled for 8:05 am Atlantic time.

The link will be located just before my story excerpt each week because I would like you to read the post, but feel free to read after you have clicked to see if any books remain. 🙂 I get it — being quick on the click is important here.

Now, let me tell you about how I decided on the musical selection for today.  I sent out an email to my mailing list to give them a heads up on this special month of Music Monday posts. I was, at that time, still undecided about what video I would share today. Well, before I had made my final selection, I received a reply to the email I sent out, and in that reply, there were two suggestions of groups with great Christmas music. One of those groups was Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and the other one was Blackmore’s Night.  I went to YouTube and looked them both up and listened to a few songs. The song above I had never heard before, and it was so beautiful that I just had to use it today.  (In case you’re wondering, it’s quite likely that I might use one from the other group on another Monday.)

In other news…

Master of Longbourn has launched successfully and has several lovely reviews.  🙂

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 3, 2018, on Austen Authors, I will be discussing part of the plot structure of Master of Longbourn as it pertains to Mr. Collins’s inner journey.

I managed one day of writing on two stories this past week. So, not exactly a great success for the new writing routine, but it’s a good start.

I have Thursday Three Hundred posts scheduled all the way through September now, and still, Delighting Mrs. Bennet has not reached its conclusion.  That means the release date is still unknown and will likely not be any sooner than sometime in November.

The first three chapters of Charles’s story have been posted at Patreon, and I am beginning work on Chapter 4. I hope to get at least one more chapter completed and posted at Patreon this week.

Before I get to the excerpt from Charles’s story, here is the link where there are five copies of For Peace of Mind waiting to be claimed. The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, July 6, 2018.

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF For Peace of Mind.

[update: All five copies have found homes.]

And now for…

AN EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose
Continue reading Music Monday: Christmas Canon (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)