Welcome to the weekend. ๐ There’s a lot of news this week. So, grab a cup of something refreshing or warming and settle in for a few minutes of reading. (There’s a link to a preview of a new story in one of the sections below — cleverly hidden under the heading Story Preview. ๐ )
Writing Life
This week did not progress as I had expected it to because we got snow on three days, and on two of those days, it was enough to require shoveling / snowblowing. That activity really cut into my productivity as it took time and used muscles that were not used to that sort of usage. LOL The snowblower is new, and this week was the first time I have used it. However, I still managed to write one chapter for two of my stories:ย
Matching Mr. Darcyย (the bright new shiny story I told you about last week)
Cherishing Kittyย (This is the one that did not get a new chapter as I think that the last chapter I wrote for it, might actually be the end and the next chapter is the beginning of Georgiana’s story. This calls for a reread and a think before moving on.)
His Irreplaceable Belleย
Publishing News
The following titles are now available in Kindle Unlimited and will remain there until May 13, 2020.
The following titles will be returning to all vendors this upcoming week. They are in Kindle Unlimited until Sunday, February 16, 2020. So I can start the “returning to other vendors” process on Monday.
In this edition of The Saturday Broadsheet: The January Kobo promo is running. I’ve got some writing decisions to make. And do you like giveaways?ย (If so, I’ve included something extra for last. ๐ )
Writing News
This week, I added another chapter to both His Irreplaceable Belle and Marrying Elizabeth book 5.ย
Last week when I wrote this email, I mentioned I hoped to get a chapter of His Irreplaceable Belle written after I completed writing the email. I am happy to report that I did get that chapter done.
Also in last week’s Saturday Broadsheet, I asked for input about what I should consider writing next. (Only) 25 readers replied and I have those results below. According to the chart, it looks like a Darcy Family Holidays story could be what I work on next. However, the Teatime Tales story option is a rather close second in these results. Poor James Atwood will have to wait for his tale to be told until a bit later this year.
ย Publishing News
Her Secret Beauย is now available in the Kindle store for purchase or to read with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one of those.ย
Book Promotions
As I posted yesterday, I have three box sets included in a 40% off promotion at Kobo until January 27, 2020. [๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ’๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ 16 ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ด.] You must use the ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ค ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐๐ at checkout to get 40% off. You can find these three box sets at these links:
I’m planning to do a few book promotions this year as part of working towards the business goals I have made my focus for 2020. Because of this, I have added a menu item (under the Leenie B Books option) here on the blog to keep track of the current promotions.
FYI: If you are a subscriber to my mailing list, you’ll often get early notice of upcoming sales — there is one coming up that I told my subscribers about, but I am not planning to release those details here until the promotions begin.
Book Review
Of course, I had to go with a review for Her Secret Beau since that book just released this week. ๐ย According to Amazon.com, this is the newest review on this book.ย Several have been posted already, which is exciting. At the time of my writing this post (Friday night), I think I have used all of the other reviews as posts on social media except for this one. I’m really trying not to miss any of the first reviews.
Back to the above review. Here are three things I love about this review:ย ย
First, I really like the description of the books being perfect for a cold wintry (or rainy) afternoon. Like many of my books, these are on the shorter side of things. Her Secret Beau came in at 46,761 words which is the longest book to date in this series. The first two books, His Beautiful Bea and His Darling Friend were 22,402 and 32,221 words each respectively. ๐ So if the trend continues, will the next one be over 50,000 words? ๐ Probably not, but one never knows.
Second, the review is very correct in saying that this is not a Jane Austen Fan Fiction story. They are original sweet Regency romances that happen to be written by an author who loves Jane Austen and has chosen to create a few characters and plot elements that nod to Miss Austen’s works. (I like the game aspect of weaving in those little hints of Austen and hoping that readers will have as much fun finding them as I did putting them in there. If I remember correctly, J.W. Garrett included some of these nods in her review.)ย
Third, I’m glad this reviewer added that the plotline with Felicity is not wrapped up. This is an intentional “open loop” because that speed bump is scheduled to become a weaving, winding road of its own when I write Felicity’s story. I plan to get to her story as soon as I am done writing Mr. Norman’s story. (For those who have not read Her Secret Beau yet, Mr. Norman is a substantial secondary character in this book. And, also, what are you waiting for? LOL)ย
These are all awesome things that give readers, who are deciding on whether or not to read this book, a few more details about what to expect and should help them make a well-informed decision.
Are they looking for a nice long read? Or a quick read? Are they hoping for a retelling or variation of a Jane Austen book? Or something that is more Austenesque? Are they really into reading series where there are some things left unresolved in one book and then picked up in another? Or do they prefer everything to be firmly finished in every book?
This review will help them answer these questions, and that is wonderful.
Thank you so much, AvidReaders for reading and reviewing Her Secret Beau.ย
Something Extra for Last
My Book Cave Ereader/$50 Gift Card Giveaway
I have used My Book Cave to promote some of my book sales in 2019, and I intend to keep using them in 2020. In fact, I currently have a promotion scheduled with them. Anyway, they send me emails about promotion opportunities on a regular basis. Sometimes I read those emails, and sometimes I don’t. ๐ Today, I read the email and found this lovely little tidbit.ย
They are giving away a Nook or Kindle ereader or a $50 dollar gift card to iTunes, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon every month in 2020 unless you are outside of the US or Canada. International winners will receive the gift card option. You can enter to win at this link:
There is a spot to check if you want to join their mailing list, but if you read below that, it is not required and does not impact your chances of winning. I looked for this because I did not want to send you something with strings attached.ย
That is it for this week. Have a lovely weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with some music and a story excerpt.
~*~*~
Click to find all of Leenie’s books at your favourite retailer.
I have three box sets included in a 40% off promotion at Kobo until January 27, 2020. [๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ’๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ 16 ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ด.] You must use the ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ค ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐๐ at checkout to get 40% off. You can find these three box sets at these links:
Published to YouTube The Alena31 on February 13, 2011.
I was listening to this song last week — watching this video, actually — and it brought to mind Jack and Georgiana’s story. I think you’ll recognize why this story came to mind when you read the chapter I am sharing below. ๐
Enticing Miss Darcy, Chapter 3
โI am expected?โ Jack asked with a surreptitious glance toward Georgiana.
โNot so much expected as hoped for,โ Lady Margaret said with a smile. โNow, come sit here, my boy.โ She motioned to a chair that was between her and her granddaughter.
โWe are always pleased to have you call, Mr. Ralston,โ Elizabeth said as she rose to pour the tea.
Jack did not miss the relieved look that passed between Georgiana and Mrs. Darcy. Perhaps not everyone was hoping to see him as much as Lady Margaret implied.
โI am always delighted to be accepted into your drawing room,โ he replied. โIt is the expected thing for a gentleman to call upon a lady after a soiree, is it not? They have not changed the rules of propriety and politeness on me since last season, have they?โ
Lady Margaret chuckled. โThey have not.โ
โIt is lovely of you to have called,โ Georgiana added. โDid you enjoy the ball last evening?โ
Jack inclined his head indicating that he had enjoyed himself. Calls, even when made at the home of someone whom you knew, were not particularly enjoyable. The conversation was always so stilted โ for proprietyโs sake and all that nonsense.
โIt was a very enjoyable evening, although I did leave with emptier pockets than when I arrived.โ His lips quirked up into a half-smirk. โNot that I minded so much. I had every intention of leaving my money with Mrs. Pratt.โ
Happy Saturday! I’m happy to see you back here today. I hope you had a good week. Mine went pretty well. I am actually feeling like I might finally get to the top of this writing mountain with some goals and plans in place for the coming months — or, at least, a start to those goals and plans. ๐ Here’s some of what is going on in my writing world.
Writing News
I got a good bit of writing done this week — 2 chapters of His Irreplaceable Belle and 1 chapter of Marrying Elizabeth(book 5).ย
I spent one evening rereading Kitty and Lorcan’s story and getting all the chapters I have written of that scheduled on my blog and at Patreon and then pairing them up with images. Finding those images took a while, but then, that can be a fun research hole to fall down. ๐ย
I have begun thinking about what other writing project I will start next. I am considering doing some revision work to a few of my current Teatime Tale stories and making them longer (about the length of my Nature’s Fury and Delights stories) and writing a few new ones. However, I am only in the planning stages now, and there are other options like the next Other Pens story or the next Darcy Family Holidays story.
A Question for You
Do you have a preference as to what I write next? I’d love to hear it. I have made a form that you can find at this link, where you can just check off what your choice is. The form will remain open until Thursday, January 23, 2020. That way I can have some results to share with you in next week’s Saturday Broadsheets.ย
Publishing News
Tuesday is the day!ย Her Secret Beauย will be live to read in Kindle Unlimited and to buy in the Kindle store. The paperback is already available.ย
If you were one of the fortunate few who got an advance reader copy, you can start reviewing through the paperback page.
I three boxsets that have been selected to be part of a Kobo promotion:
A Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 1 A Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2 Darcy And…A Pride and Prejudice Variations Collection
This promotion is administrated by Kobo, and there will be a promotional code that must be used at checkout to receive 40% off these boxsets. I do not yet have this promo code and will likely not have it until the sale has started. This promotion will run from January 22, 2020, to January 27, 2020.
Book Review
This is an older review for Mr. Darcy’s Comfort. I selected it, first of all, becauseย I wanted to show a Bookbub recommendation this week for those who might not have ever seen one before. At Bookbub you can follow author and reviewer, and you can like and comment on the recommendations. The second reason I selected it is because this is one of the novellas in Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2 which is part of the Kobo promotion this week and will be entering Kindle Unlimted in February.ย
I must say that I was delighted to hear that Mr. Collins was intriguing. (He is not the Mr. Collins you might expect. ๐ )
KU Changes Reminder
Remember that the Choices series will be leaving KU on February 16, 2020, and that A Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2 will be entering KU right around that same time, which means that boxset and the individual titles will be leaving the other vendors just before that.
In Closing
Thank you to all who took advantageย of or shared about the free days for Her Beautiful Bea and the 99 cents days for His Darling Friend. They went very well. It’s exciting to think that there are several readers who are going to get to meet the characters in this series for the first time.ย
Remember that you can share your preference for what I write next at this link. I will take your input into consideration as I continue to make my writing plans.
Have a lovely weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with some music and a story excerpt.
~*~*~
Click to find all of Leenie’s books at your favourite retailer.
