Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy

Music Monday: New Year’s Day, Pentatonix

Happy New Year! Is there any day of the year when introspection, gratitude, remembrance, and hopeful expectation collide quite as forcefully as January 1 when the blank page of a new year full of aspirations lies before us? Personally, I don’t think so.

SecondSoundLyrics. “PENTATONIX – NEW YEARS DAY (LYRICS).” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Oct. 2015, youtu.be/ZsJt7j96n0s.

For me, the end of one year and the beginning of another is a time to pause and look back at the year which has been before pushing forward with new plans and goals. I’ll limit this post to just looking back at my writing life, and still, this will likely be a longish post.

I tried some new things in 2017.

I wrote my first Touches of Austen novella, His Beautiful Bea. This was a personal success for me as I have always wanted to do Austenesque and original stories in addition to my Jane Austen Fan Fiction work. From a business standpoint, the book was not a great success. It sold very few copies (only 72 copies) so far. However, it has 8 Amazon reviews and a perfect 5-star rating, so that’s pretty good. And I know that new things take time to catch on. I’m not giving up on my Touches of Austen books. I have plans for another one to be published at some point this year.

I wrote my first JAFF non-Pride and Prejudice book this year. Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy is a Mansfield Park continuation and part of my Other Pens Collection. This story is the beginning of a short series of books that will use some Austen characters but will be rather original in their content with new characters and plots. I was quite pleased with this book. I never thought I could like Henry Crawford, but I changed my mind. I adore him in this book. He’s really turned himself around. However, he’s not all that popular with readers as he sold fewer copies than Bea’s story did (63 copies), and his story has only 7 Amazon reviews with a lower average rating score of 4.6. However, like the Touches of Austen stories, I am not giving up on this series either, and I do have plans to write the next book in the series this year.

I have also started a Patreon page and have a few supporters there. 🙂 I have just completed posting One Winter’s Eve there. One Winter’s Eve is currently with my first reader being checked for story element errors and is scheduled to be published in late January.

I have also begun a shop, Bonny Lass Creatives, at Society6 and have been slowly “filling the shelves.” I look forward to the creative outlet adding to my shop will provide.

Henry and Bea were not the only members in the Leenie B Books publishing class of 2017 🙂 It was a busy year!

I’ve already told you that my new venture books were not bestsellers — they kind of came in at the bottom of the sales list as in they were the two books that sold the least number of copies 🙂 But what about the books that sold the most this year? Which books did more readers decide to purchase? Well, I had a bit of fun with that and created this little video of the top ten bestsellers. You’ll notice that not all the bestsellers are members of the class of 2017, some are second-year books. 🙂

So that’s a little look back. Now, to look toward the year ahead. I hope to publish 8 books this year (not counting any Thursday Three Hundred stories). Two of those will be the ones mentioned above (One Other Pens book, One Touches of Austen book) and then the others? Well, my imagination will lead me as I go. 🙂

One Winter’s Eve will be the first book published in 2018, and Enticing Miss Darcy will be the first book written in 2018. I hope that these and several other of my books will find their way to your reading list for the year. To help you create your reading list, I have written a fun little list of reading recommendations that I have always followed and will continue to follow called…

The Sassy Girl’s Definitive Guide to What to Read in 2018 and Every Year ThereAfter

[A little preface to the list: To be perfectly honest, this list was written in response to seeing one too many posts on Facebook one year such as “10 books you must read.” (Um, no I don’t have to read them.) OR “12 books that you won’t be able to put down because they’re that good.” (Um, are you gluing it to my hand? How do you know I will like it beyond the first page? Who are you to tell me what I will or won’t like — what I should or shouldn’t like?). Click-baity titles like this are a pet peeve of mine. 🙂 And occasionally, I put my thoughts (my admittedly sassy thoughts) about such things to paper. What follows is a result of one such time.]

I recommend that you read a book if the content is of interest to you.
I recommend that if you pick up a book, and you don’t like what you are reading, you put it down again. (Or you can do as I do and skip to the end just to make sure you know how it all resolves.)
I recommend if you have a book on your real or virtual shelf that is particularly enjoyable to you that you reread it, at least once.
I recommend that you challenge yourself to try something new — but — only if you want to and not because some “expert” tells you to. (Unless that expert is your teacher and your grade depends on it — then, I recommend you suck it up and do your best with it.)
I recommend that when giving recommendations for books, you tell others why you liked a book — kind of like you were taught to do in book reports. If you are going to be critical in your recommendation remember that “because it is stupid” is not really an evaluation. It is just an opinion.
I recommend that you realize that what someone else likes or dislikes and what you like or dislike will likely be different, and that’s ok. They are not idiots if they don’t agree with you, nor are you an idiot for disagreeing with them. 🙂 (And name calling is mean and wrong.)
This may be the most important recommendation of them all. I recommend that you treat reading as the fun activity it is meant to be. Go on…enjoy it!

This list is by no means exhaustive. However, I am almost 100% certain that if you follow these recommendations, you should have a wonderful year of reading!

Now, shall we begin our new year of blog posts and reading with the first scene of a new book? (It’s a longish scene.) If you answered yes, continue reading. If you answered no, well, don’t click that read more tag. 🙂

AN EXCERPT FROM Enticing Miss Darcy: Continue reading Music Monday: New Year’s Day, Pentatonix

Music Monday: One Call Away, Charlie Puth

Someone shared the link to this video with me last week when I was having a particularly rough day. It was a nice reminder that I’m not alone, and don’t we all need that sort of reminder now and again? It was just what I needed to put a smile in my heart.

CharliesVlogs. “Charlie Puth – One Call Away [Official Video].” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Sept. 2015.

As I was listening to this song again today while putting this post together, I thought — this would make a great song for a period montage sort of fan video. However, I don’t have those skills. So, I’m just putting the idea out there in case there is someone reading this who possess those skills. 🙂 If someone does make one — or finds one (I looked but didn’t see one) — leave me the link, please. 🙂

In writing news:

First, remember that the Kindle sale on the Willow Hall Romance Series bundle ends on Tuesday. The price will go up on Wednesday.

Second, if you have read Henry: To Prove Himself worthy and you wish to have your say in which character I should consider for the next story, make sure your drop by the Other Pens Facebook Group and cast your vote before September 22, 2017. I only have two votes, both for Edwards, on the official poll, but I have a few write ins from readers on darcyandlizzy.com who would like to see Mary find redemption next. Hopefully, there will be more who will help me make this decision. I will eventually do both Mary and Edwards, but how their story develops will depend on whose gets told first.

Third, the next book that I plan to publish, Unravelling Mr. Darcy (A Dash of Darcy Novella), has been sent to my first reader for story notes, and even though she was on vacation, she has read it. I haven’t gotten her notes of things that need attention, but I know she has read the story since I got a message “suggesting” that I should be working on the sequel — NOW. 🙂 Well, I’m not working on that sequel at this moment, but it is on the list for writing next after I finish Confounding Caroline.

Fourth (and last), Confounding Caroline is, I think, at about the halfway mark. I have reached the point where Caroline has revealed to her brother why she needs to be dealt with if he is going to have a chance at a happily ever after with Jane. In other words, the mess is just starting to be made.

If I can write at least 1000 words per writing session, I should be done with the first draft in 3 weeks. However, school begins this week, which means my schedule is going to go through a period of transition. Transitional periods sometimes throw off productivity, and sometimes they have no major effect. I’m hoping for the no major effect option. 🙂

Now, if you are the sort that likes to read sneak peeks of stories in progress, here is…

AN EXCERPT OF Confounding Caroline: Continue reading Music Monday: One Call Away, Charlie Puth

Today marks the book birthday for Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy — a book that began its journey into existence through an idea left in the comments on a Music Monday post. Let me tell you a little about the book and then leave you with two links — one where you can read a preview and one to all the stores on which this novella is available for purchase.

~*~*~

This book is about Henry Crawford, the would-be prince charming to Fanny Price’s Cinderella. Had he had a better upbringing, had he had the fortitude within himself to resist his own vanity, had he been faithful to do what he told Fanny he would, his fate would have been different. There were so many things that he should have but did not do, and in so not doing, he worked out his own ruin and unhappiness.

In the final chapter of Mansfield Park, Jane Austen has a fairly lengthy passage about how Mr. Crawford came upon his ruin, and that is where she leaves him — in misery. The reader does not know what will become of him beyond him feeling the consequences of his poor choices most greatly.

This is where I have picked up the story. Right there, where Henry is feeling his failure, where he his heartbroken and wretched. But I have no intention of leaving him in such a state, for you see, in my story, the agony of loss had done its work and begun a transformation, leaving Henry Crawford with a desire to regain something of what he lost in Fanny Price and on a path to achieving his own happily ever after.

However, change is never easy.

~*~*~

A preview of this book is available HERE.

You may purchase this book at your favourite retailer HERE.

He’s failed before, but with her help, this time, he might just succeed.

Music Monday: She’s More, Pride and Prejudice

Today, I thought I would share the last video that I added to my Music Meets Movies YouTube playlist today. Now, I like country music — the newer style stuff, the stuff that is less “twangy,” — but this video was just so enjoyable and the song lyrics are just story-inspiring (IMO) that I couldn’t resist adding it to my list. So give it a listen and read on to see what is happening in my writing life.

wantingyounear. “Pride and Prejudice – She’s More.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Apr. 2008, youtu.be/LNiXUFSqexk.

This past week was a tad on the frustrating side as far as getting work done. There were a number of things that “popped up” and demanded attention. Some of which were really fun like the Thursday evening supper out and drive to Peggy’s Cove at sunset with my husband followed by an after-dark walk along the Halifax Waterfront. Others were not as enjoyable 🙂

(But then, what is as enjoyable as spending time with the guy you love?)

All of these unexpected things meant that almost all of Unravelling Mr. Darcy still needs first round edits — I only got one chapter done –, and my word count on the new story was a good bit lower than I had hoped it would be. However, I did get some words written, and I am going to share a portion of those words with you below this short writing news section.

Two writing-related things that I have coming up this week are the release of Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy on Tuesday and a guest post on Diary of an Eccentric with an ebook giveaway on Wednesday.

On the non-writing-related side of life, I have a couple of day trips coming up, so I already know this will be a less productive week. However, I’ll do my best to find time to write so that I have something to share with you next week.

Now, to share the last bit of what I wrote this week. This story is still the one that I plan to post on Thursdays here on the blog as soon as With the Colonel’s Help is finished.

AN EXCERPT FROM Confounding Caroline: Continue reading Music Monday: She’s More, Pride and Prejudice

Music Monday: Wind, Brian Crain

When I write, I like to have instrumental music playing. This is not news to those who have been following my blog for any length of time. 🙂 I have several playlists of music that I can choose from when I sit down to write. Often, I pick randomly. However, for this last story — the one I just finished the first draft of this week — I couldn’t pick a random piece of music. This story demanded I listen to Brian Crain.

29briancrain. “Brian Crain – Wind.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfu6k8IGOXU.

There were two albums my brain favoured for this story. One was Piano and Light. The other, which contains the above song, was Piano Opus. A few minutes of closing my eyes and listening to either of these albums seemed just the thing to let my brain know it was time to write. Even when I sat down to write this blog post, I put on “Wind” and before the song was half over, my brain had calmed and was focused on writing. I think it is amazing how our bodies can learn to react to signals like that!

Now that you know why I am sharing this particular piece of music, let’s move on to the writing news for the week and then enjoy a story excerpt.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 15 from 3-5 pm EST, Zoe Burton, Rose Fairbanks, and I are hosting an Austen in August Garden Party on Facebook. There will be opportunities to share some favourites, test your knowledge of Jane Austen’s novels in a scavenger hunt, and (hopefully) pick up one of our books in a giveaway. Giveaways (7 of them) will be scattered throughout the time, and you will have to be present to claim a book. You can join the party here:

Austen in August Garden Party.

Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy is now available for pre-orders with a release day scheduled for August 29. You can pre-order that book at this link:

Henry: to Prove Himself Worthy.

(Oh, by the way, this is one of the books I will be giving away at the party tomorrow.)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have completed the first draft of Unravelling Mr. Darcy. I have let it sit for a couple of days, and will begin working my way through the first round of edits this week.

While it was sitting, I started writing what will be the next Thursday’s Three Hundred story which is called Confounding Caroline and is excerpted below.

AN EXCERPT from Confounding Caroline: Continue reading Music Monday: Wind, Brian Crain