I just added this song to my ‘Tis the Season playlist either last week or the week before. I’ve been doing a lot of listening to Christmas music while working lately, and this song is just so happy. It makes me want to sing along (which is only possible if doing things that don’t require concentration. I have a ‘Tis the Season instrumental playlist for that.) 🙂
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY THOMAS RHETT ON NOVEMBER 19, 2019
This past week, I was busy getting First Blooms and Second Chances ready to send out and to publish, so there were several tasks that did not require the kind of concentration that writing does. Therefore, I did sing along with this song and many others.
(Waiting for the print previewer to open in Kindle Direct Publishing takes forever — usually more than one song and often long enough to switch over laundry 😉 )
Most of the publishing details for both the print and ebook versions of First Blooms have been completed. The print version just went live today (I am writing this on Saturday) I just need to submit a request to have the two versions linked on Amazon and to have a series page created since there are now two books in my Nature’s Fury and Delights series.
If you subscribe to my mailing list, make sure you check your inbox. You should have an email containing a link to download a free copy of First Blooms and Second Chances. If you are not on my mailing list, you can subscribe between now and January 2, 2020, and receive this book as part of your welcome gift.
Things are winding down on the frantic get-these-projects published front. I just have Her Secret Beau to work on soon. That book will publish in the new year.
I have not, however, gotten the next book in that series (Mr. Norman’s story) started as I had hoped. Maybe this week? Maybe next? Sometime soon that book needs to be started as I hope to begin posting chapters on Tuesdays shortly after the new year. (However, I also need to do some Christmas stuff. 🙂 So, my workdays will be fewer in number.)
I did get one more chapter of Kitty’s story written this week, which puts me at eight completed chapters and probably in a safe place to start giving some of my writing time to Mr. Norman’s story.
The only other writing-related note for this week is that it is my turn to post at Austen Authors this week, and I am sharing some samples from a few books — First Blooms and the three books I have on sale. (In case you missed it, I shared chapter one of Two Days before Christmas here on the blog on Friday.
Today, I think I will share chapter one from the second book in the Darcy Family Holidays series, One Winter’s Eve. (And the song choice kind of goes with the story — in a squint your eyes and don’t look too closely kind of way — since Caroline does find herself in the country for Christmas. 🙂 )
I thought we would start off the season of Christmas music with a bang! This song should do that quite well.
Heads up: This is not your sweet and soft Christmas carol, and if you are sensitive to flashes of light, you might want to listen and not watch. If you follow my Facebook page, I did share this video on there last week because I just really enjoy this fun take on this classic song.
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY FOR KING AND COUNTRY ON NOV 9, 2018.
I have very little writing news at this moment. I was able to get two more chapters of Kitty and Lorcan’s story written this week. I had hoped to get three done, but that just did not work out. 🙂
I did complete my final read-through of First Blooms and Second Chances. This project, while it is going to be published soon, was written with the intention of being a gift to my mailing list and Patreon subscribers. If you happen to fall into one of those groups, be watching for your copy of this book to show up in your inbox this week before it goes live on any publishing platform.
If you are not a Leenie B Book News mailing list subscriber and you’d like to be, there is a link at the bottom of this post where you can join. Until January 6, 2020, one of the thank you gifts for subscribing will be First Blooms and Second Chances. (Or it will be as soon as I get that set up to send out after I have emailed the current subscribers — so many little details.)
The only other thing I wished to mention in the writing news section today is that there is now a print version available of The Choices Series compilation, and it has been linked to the ebook sales page and has had the page count updated there to match for both books. (It used to list the book as 400 and some pages and the 5.5 in x 8.5 in paperback I submitted was over 600 pages — this is why it is not always safe to assume that the page count Amazon is showing you is correct or even close, in this case.)
Well, since I do not have anything new that I am writing and since my writing news was rather short, I think I will share the first chapter from “Morning Mist”, which is a Sense and Sensibility variation novelette and is part of last year’s mailing list Christmas gift, Thunder, Mist, and Frost (Nature’s Fury and Delights, book 1).
“...and if my impression of his mood this morning was correct, he is sitting in the garden staring at the church.”
It was where Nicholas had sat every day for two weeks after the Witherfields had left. He had refused to eat more than once a day, and then, only because Jonathan had begged him to do so. To be perfectly honest, Jonathan had thought his brother was going to purposefully do himself harm during those days. It was why he had promised to be at tea today, for the expression his brother had worn this morning at their parting was so reminiscent of the way he had looked back then. [from Hope at Dawn]
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY PHILIP WESLEY ON APRIL 27, 2015.
This is just one of the songs by this composer that I have on my Music to Write By playlist on Spotify. I thought it went well with the Through Every Storm chapters I am unlocking for this week. It also goes well with how our hero in Hope at Dawn is feeling at present.
It won’t take me very long to update you on what I got written this week because it was NOTHING. Not one single word of a new story was typed on the screen this week. That’s unusual for me, but there is a very good reason for my lack of writing. I edited or proofread somewhere around 65,000 words instead of writing. 🙂 That means Her Secret Beau is out of my hands for a while and Persuading Miss Mary is publishing — more details about that below.
His brother stepped in front of him. “You are not going to follow her? You are just going to let her go?”
Nicholas pushed him aside and kept walking. “I do not know what I am going to do.” He knew what he wanted to do, but was that what he should do? She had returned, but she had not returned alone. The image of her standing on the deck of the ship with a baby in her arms would not be easily cast aside.
[from Hope at Dawn, a sweet Regency romance short story]
Published to YouTube by Liara I’Sorry on April 13, 2010
Have you read the first chapter of Hope at Dawn yet? The second chapter will post tomorrow. This short story revolves around the possible reunion of two separated lovers. The mood of the above song seemed to fit this story, and just as the song ends on a happier note than what it starts with, so does Hope at Dawn… eventually, at the end. 🙂
I am also writing a story that starts with separated lovers, and I am sharing chapters from a story that has a husband and wife who are currently separated. And when I finally get to starting the next Touches of Austen book, that story will also be about separated lovers. I tell you, it’s a bleak November for story characters. LOL
Of course, that Touches of Austen book might not get started in November (though I hope it does) because my to-do list is at that point where I look at it and just want to go back to bed and hide from it. 😀 Let me tell you what has been accomplished, as well as a bit about what is on that to-do list.
This week, I wrote two more chapters of Kitty and Mr. Langley’s story. He is likely going to be referred to as Lorcan in this story (which is still without a title) because he happens to have a cousin with him who is also a Mr. Langley.
I made progress on my read-through of Her Secret Beau, and I received feedback on Persuading Miss Mary and printed out the manuscript so I can start a final proofread. I hope to have HSB sent off to be checked for story issues at some point this week and to have PMM ready for pre-order by next week.
First Blooms and Second Chances is currently being read for any story issues.
I have created two book covers. Would you like to see them? I shared one of them with my mailing list readers in my Friday update email, but the other has not yet been shared publically. Here they are:
Oh wait, that’s three covers. 🙂 Well, that’s because I did get Marrying Elizabeth, Books 1-3 Compilation PUBLISHED! This omnibus contains Confounding Caroline, Delighting Mrs. Bennet, and Loving Lydia. You should be able to find it at your favourite ebook retailer.
I have an Austen Authors post tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19, 2019, which means I wrote that this week and got it scheduled.
Some wonderful readers answered my call for help by writing reviews so that Charles: To Discover His Purpose now meets the minimum required for a Book Cave promotion, and I submitted it for a promo day. It was accepted! Charles’s story will be free from 12:00 PST Tuesday, November 19, 2019, until 11:59 PM PST Thursday, November 21, 2019. #feelinggrateful
And ALSO ON TUESDAY, Willow Hall will be leaving Kindle Unlimited, and the Choices Series will be entering Kindle Unlimited. I’ll be working on getting the Willow Hall books returned to all my vendors as soon as I possibly can.
And finally, I think we are at the end of the update that seemed as if it would never end. 😀 Now, let me share an excerpt from Through Every Storm, which is the book I will be sharing on Mondays over the next several weeks. This week, you can read chapters 4 and 5 at the link below this excerpt, but you will have to use the password Flowers. The password will expire on Saturday, November 23, 2019, and a new password will be given out for some more chapters next Monday.
This excerpt is from chapter 5 and is the reason why I picked the password that you will need to read the rest of this chapter (and chapter 4) this week:
She sighed and prepared to go clean her hands and, if possible, lie down to ease her headache.
“Wickham,” she said in surprise as she exited the room. “Have you come for tea?” She tucked her stained fingers behind her back.
“I did. Thomas asked me to take tea with him today, but I cannot be long. The shop is busy.”
She gave him a tight smile. “Yes, it seems extraordinarily busy lately, but that is a good thing, is it not?” She tried to make her voice sound carefree. “Will you only be taking tea with Thomas?”
Wickham laughed. “I am sure Louisa will join us. She is not one to pass up an opportunity to entertain.”
“I am sure they will be happy to see you. Thomas has mentioned how he has missed your stories at night.” Lydia hoped he heard the hint in her words. It was not only Thomas or Louisa who missed seeing him.
“I have been busy.” Wickham shifted uneasily.
“So you said.” Lydia moved toward the stairs. Disappointment wrapped itself around her heart.
“Lydia,” he called after her.
She stopped but did not turn to face him.
“I have been busy.”
“I heard you,” she snapped. “I have been busy as well.” She spun to face him. She held out her hands. “My fingers did not become stained from lack of work, and my apron did not become soiled from sitting about the house. I have been busy, but I have not neglected our children. But then they are more a mother’s responsibility and not a father’s, are they not?” She saw the moment of pain in his eyes and immediately regretted her words. “I am sorry,” she said, dropping her head to look at the floor. “I am tired and my head aches.”
“Lydia, things between you and me are just…” He searched for the correct word.
She shook her head. “Go. Enjoy your tea with your children.”
“I am eating with Denny tonight.”
She nodded and forced a smile to her face. “Give my regards to my sister and remind her of her promise to visit next week.”
“I will.” He watched her start up the stairs.
“Mr.Wickham,” said Harriet. “Your bowl of flowers.”
“Will Mrs. Wickham enjoy them more in the sitting room or the entry?”
“There are already flowers in both of those places, sir.”
“Then where would you suggest?”
“She’s not had any in her room for nearly a week, sir.”
Wickham’s brows rose in surprise. “A week?” It was no wonder she was a bit out of sorts with him.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then, please, place them in her room. And Harriet?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Would you be so kind as to inform me when these flowers need to be replaced?” If his arms could not hold her and tell her of his love, then he hoped the flowers would surround her and speak for him.
“Of course, sir.” Harriet smiled and gave a quick curtsy before hurrying to do as he had asked.
