Christmas in Gracechurch Street

La Maison De Musique (Pierre Carrier-Belleuse)

La Maison de Musique (The Music House) by Pierre Carrier-Belleuse, c. 1901. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The young lady above could be Miss Mary in my book Christmas in Gracechurch Street.

(Even if, as I look at this image while typing this, the dress reminds me a bit of one that Wes did not approve of Mary wearing in Persuading Miss Mary, but I digress. LOL)

You see, the Mary in Christmas in Gracechurch Street changes when she gets to town with Elizabeth. She becomes more fashionable, and well, as you can see from this excerpt, much more proficient with music. She’s been hiding a quite a few things actually, and discovering this new Mary was fun when I was writing.

Well… it was fun for me. It might have been a little less fun and more shocking and occasionally disconcerting for her sister. But then, I suppose that made it more fun for me. 🙂 Ah, my poor characters. Forced to entertain me before they entertain you.

In this excerpt, which is set in a music room at Matlock House, we are at the darker part of the romance for Elizabeth, which is why the first line is what it is. To find out what has happened to make Elizabeth wish to cry, you’ll have to read the book. 😉

Mozart Horn Concerto No. 4 on the Natural Horn

I have been enjoying this month of learning about various instruments that were around during the Regency period and that Georgiana might have at least heard in her fictional lifetime. 🙂 For our last installment of music lessons pulled from Georgiana’s Music Folder, we have the natural horn and a concerto from Mozart. The first video tells a bit about how the horn is played, and the second video has the concerto without interruptions for instruction.

I have never had Georgiana play the horn in a story, nor do I currently have any plans for her to play one. It just doesn’t seem like her sort of instrument. However, I could possibly see her cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam playing it. It sounds like him to me. What do you think?

Below is an excerpt from a story where Georgiana does not play a lead role, but she does play a major supporting role. The in this scene from Christmas in Gracechurch Street, Darcy is once again shopping with his sister, and she is hinting/teasing that she thinks he is more than just friends with Miss Elizabeth.

MAILING LIST PATREON

Winter Wonderland (Laura Osnes and Aaron Tveit)

One Royal Holiday was a cute movie. While I do enjoy Hallmark movies, I’m not a big lover of their standard royalty trope ones, but this one veered off the standard path enough to make it interesting to me. I suppose that holds true for all their movies for me, I tend to like the non-standard formula ones better than the “more of the same” movies. However, we’re not talking about all Hallmark movies today. We’re just talking about this one in passing since it is the music video choice for today.

Now, why would I pick a Christmas song in April? No, it is not because snow has fallen in some places last week. Nor is it because we are one day less than eight months away from Christmas. 😀 It is because I have a book on sale (it’s on for 99cents) and wanted to feature it today in this post.

And I picked this particular video because it is Hallmark, and the story I have a few lines from today is written in Hallmark-Christmas-movie style. It has a sweet romance, a hero and heroine who slowly come to love each other, Christmas activities such as family traditions and shopping, and a couple of sisters who meddle in their sibling’s love lives.

Have you read it yet? If not, now’s a great time to pick up a copy.

Christmas in Gracechurch Street is part of the multi-author $0.99 clean romance promotion below. Please click the image below to see the stories that are on offer (including Christmas in Gracechurch Street). Maybe you’ll find some early Christmas treats in the process. (And, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone if you indulge in them months before Christmas. 😉 )

Have a lovely Monday! See you on Wednesday for some visual story inspiration.

Click the image to be taken to the promotion page.

A Book Sale and A New Release

I have two things to let you know about today — One Winter’s Eve is on sale for the next five days and Christmas in Gracechurch Street is now available.

Price reduced to $0.99* from December 18 until December 22, 2020.

He’s an annoyance. She’s a puzzle. Together, they make sparks fly.

Is love’s enchantment powerful enough for a gentleman bent on remaining single and a lady equally as determined to marry only a man with an estate to come to an understanding? Or will love find itself rejected and shivering under the stars of a winter’s night?

Click here to see all of the stores where this book is available.

or go directly to one of the stores below

*$0.99 USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, with all other currencies also reduced.

Feeling himself drawn to the enchanting Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy plans an escape from Netherfield. It isn’t until his arrangements are all in place that he discovers Elizabeth has made an escape of her own and is now right where he doesn’t want her to be. In town. And he’s about to spend a good amount of time with her and her relations.

Find this book at your favourite retailer here.

December 2020 Saturday Broadsheet

Can you believe we are already at the end of the year? It’s been quite the year, hasn’t it? But before we bid farewell to 2020, let me tell you what I have been up to in my writing life this past month and what is on the horizon to happen (hopefully) before the year ends or just as the calendar turns.

Story Updates

Here are a few updates on stories I have been working on and what I am planning to work on next:

Christmas in Gracechurch Street: This story was supposed to be on preorder today. It’s not – which fits for this story. It has not been where I wanted it to be the whole time I was writing it. I am a person who likes schedules and routine. This year has been one of working on flexibility, whether I wanted to work on it or not. 😀 However, all the edits should be done by the end of next week, and I have penciled in December 15 as the release day for this book.