I have recently completed the work of updating all the files and covers for Her Father’s Choice (Choices, book 1). In the process of updating things, I decided to make a larger print version of the book. I have never had large print editions of these books. I will continue to include a new large print edition for the books in this series as I move forward with the Choices Refresh Project.
Speaking of that project, I just started re-reading/re-editing book 2. I plan to begin sharing that story here on the blog, beginning on October 7, 2021.
Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you purchase the book on Amazon whether in print or ebook format, I will earn a tiny commission for referring a sale to Amazon. This commission does not impact what you pay for the book at all.
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY JJHELLERMUSIC ON AUGUST 7, 2015.
I thought we should have a happy, catchy, upbeat tune today to go with a happy chapter of Her Father’s Choice. 🙂
In Her Father’s Choice, Darcy and Elizabeth’s freedom to choose each other is taken from them as they are forced together through a planned compromise. However, as you will see in the chapter below, Darcy is quick to realize that even if he had not been forced to offer to marry Elizabeth, he still would have chosen her — they were meant to be. (Elizabeth will figure it out later.) And that’s the reason I picked this song.
Lady Sophia tapped her toe as she waited in the sitting room with Georgiana at Darcy House. “He should expect me to be early. I always am.” She straightened her sleeve. “I am curious to meet the lady who has finally captured your brother.”
“Captured would be the proper word for it,” said Richard, entering the room and giving first his aunt a kiss and then Georgiana. “I did not realize you were coming today, Georgiana.”
Georgiana pursed her lips and looked at her aunt. “I was not supposed to come.”
“An omission made in error, I am sure.”
Georgiana looked at her aunt doubtfully. “My brother does not make errors of omission. He is the most fastidious correspondent.”
“Ah, well, your brother does not get married every day, either.” She smiled and raised her brows, which combined with the twinkle in her eye, made her look very impertinent. “He will see his error as soon as I have explained it to him.” She patted Georgiana’s hand reassuringly before turning to Richard. “Now, tell me why captured is the proper word.”
“It seems –” began Richard.
“That I am the topic of gossip within my own home,” finished Darcy as he entered the room and gave Richard a stern look. “Georgiana! It is a surprise to see you.” He placed a kiss on his sister’s cheek while giving a questioning look to his aunt.
Can you believe this is the final Saturday of May? That means we have almost survived another month of 2020. 🙂 At times, it feels like time is dragging, but then, I immerse myself into my work, and, when I look up, I’m surprised at how much time has passed. I hope you are finding ways to make 2020 enjoyable and find the beauty in life despite any restrictions which still remain where you are. Below, is an update on the enjoyable, writing-related things that take up a large portion of each of my days. 🙂 And at the end, as my something extra, I have included one way I am attempting to add beauty to my life on social media.
Writing News
I don’t have any excerpts of writing to share with you this week because I don’t want to give anything away in either story that I am writing. So, this will be a short and kind of boring 🙂 update on how my works in progress are progressing.
In my writing time, so far, I have written one chapter each of Protecting Miss Darcy and Her Convenient Forever. I’m actually planning to get one more chapter of Protecting Miss Darcy before the week is over.
I am making a few changes to the Music Monday posts (which will cause some other changes on the blog). I’ll explain all that below.
PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY VOCES8-TOPIC ON JANUARY 17, 2019
Every year as one year changes to the next, I evaluate what I am doing and look for ways to try to improve. Sometimes, I try new things. Sometimes, those new things work. Sometimes, they don’t. 🙂
Last year, I made a change to the blog and added Sweet Tuesdays. They have been going well, although, honestly, adding that third story to work on consistently with two others has been challenging. But it is a good challenge and has been worth the effort, I think. I plan to continue it.
This year, I am going to try shifting my writing news out of the Music Monday post and give it its own post called The Saturday Broadsheet. I’ve been typing up my weekly writing news for my mailing list for a couple of months now. I’ve been doing it on Thursdays, but the week isn’t over yet. There’s still one day of writing to be done. So, I think I will move writing those emails until Friday and then send them on Saturdays. If I am doing that for my mailing list, I should be able to easily copy out the information I want to post here on the blog on Saturdays at the same time.
This should (hopefully) streamline some things for me, and it should make my Monday posts focused more on the writing inspiration I find in music.
I figure it’s at least worth a try. If it doesn’t work, I can revert back to the way Monday posts have been, right?
I really don’t have a lot of writing news this Monday. I took a good bit of time off over the holidays — way more than I had intended to, but it was so good that I can’t really feel sorry I did it. 🙂 The only real writing-related thing that got done was my final proofread of Her Secret Beau. I’ll share details about the preorder and release and all that later this week. I would say Saturday — but…there will be a Friday Feature this week which is related to Her Secret Beau. 🙂
So, I’m not making any huge changes to the blog. Just a few small ones. You can let me know if you like them or loathe them in a month or so. 🙂 We have to try them for a while before we can say if we like them or not. That’s the rule. 🙂
Ok, so Mondays… I hope to bring you videos of music that inspires me while I am writing or which sparks writing ideas. I also want to highlight some of my already published works over the course of the year. (Did you know that Her Secret Beau will be the 43rd book I have published? I just need 9 more to cover a year of Mondays. Maybe by next year? LOL)
The video I shared today has a direct connection with one of the books I have written because Robert Burns’ poem “My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose” is a poem Darcy is reading in Netherfield’s library when a scheme is put into play to force him to marry Elizabeth.
Here’s how that scene goes. This lengthy excerpt is from Her Father’s Choice, Chapter 1.
“I agree with Mary and your father,” said Mrs. Gardiner, climbing off the bed. “He cares for you.” She bent and kissed Elizabeth’s forehead. “It will be a good match. I believe that confused look on your face and that fluttering of your heart…” She smiled at the surprise on Elizabeth’s face. “I felt it myself many years ago,” she explained. “It is the beginnings of love. Be brave, my dear Lizzy. Do not let those feelings frighten you, for they can lead to a very happy life for you as they have for me.”
[from Her Father’s Choice]
Published to YouTube by Kane Brown on May 14, 2017.
One evening, a while back now, as I was pushing a lawnmower around my backyard, the song in the video above came on the radio station I was listening too as I mowed, and I knew as I listened to the lyrics that this was the song for Mary’s story. She was going to need a hero who would maybe appear to be a player but who wouldn’t be. He would be someone she would have to learn to trust. I hadn’t yet conceptualized Mr. Gabreil Durward as he appears in the story, but that moment with the lawnmower and this song was the beginning of that process.
There is an element of trust that accompanies accepting love from someone and giving it in return. One individual places their trust in another that either the love will not be taken away and so it is safe to accept it, or they place their trust in the fact that the person to whom they are offering their love will not disrespect it, crush it, misuse it, or reject it. In the excerpt above the video, Elizabeth is struggling with accepting that Darcy cares for her and that she cares for him.
In the excerpt below the writing news section of this post, Mary Crawford is just at the beginning of possibly trusting a gentleman, Mr. Gabriel Durward, with her heart. In this portion of the story that I am sharing today, we see part of why Mary is so reluctant to trust freely, and we hear Mr. Durward tell her for a second time that he will not let her take on water, which is his way of saying he’ll never hurt her and his way of asking for her trust.
As you read, I hope you can see how the what if questions in the lyrics of today’s song apply to Mary and Gabe.
I only have a little bit of writing news this week.
I have made a good amount of progress on Mary’s story and am continuing to post two chapters per week on Patreon. I am hoping to reach the end of the story this week (fingers crossed), since, on Friday, I put the full evil plan, which will put Mary’s trust to the test and provide our dark moment before the happy ending, into action. 🙂
I finished writing my third short story. This one is called Frosted Windowpanes and is an original story with a Persuasion sort of plot to it.
After some planning and thinking, I have come to the conclusion that the story to follow Delighting Mrs. Bennet will be called Loving Lydia because it is through loving Lydia that Darcy’s objectives (which I cannot fully share at this time although one of them is to help Lydia improve) will be met. Thank you all for leaving your comments last week as those did help me work through this in my mind. 🙂
