Nature’s Fury and Delights – Page 7

Music Monday: I Saw Three Ships, Jennifer Thomas

“What I would not give for a book or a bit of stitching,” Margaret said.

“I do not think I could enjoy either with all this rocking,” Mary said. She would do well to not become ill from the motion.

There was nothing to do besides pace their small confines in a staggering fashion as they attempted to grow accustomed to the motion of the ship or sleep. And so, they did one for a period of time, and then endeavoured to do the other when their legs grew weary. They huddled together as comfortably as they could in a corner they created by pushing around a couple of crates. It felt secluded and gave the illusion of being safe.

[from Mary: To Protect Her Heart]

Published to YouTube on November 14, 2017, by Jennifer Thomas.

*music ends at about 3:30 with information about the performer after that mark

As I mentioned last week, we are on a short break from any work in progress excerpts on Mondays as I am just beginning some new stories and have nothing ready to share. However, when I found this music video I just couldn’t help using a small excerpt from Mary’s story to go with it. (And I’ll admit to wanting to tempt everyone into reading her story. 😉 ) Those few lines above are from when the real trouble (and danger) begin in the story.

Mary: To Protect Her Heart is on pre-order for a special price until December 10, 2018. After December 10, the price will go up. Henry’s and Charles’s stories are also on sale until Mary’s release day, so this is a great time to pick up all the books in the series.

During the pre-order period, I will be working on the print edition, making final corrections to commas and typos, working on promotional graphics, and sending out a limited number of advance reader copies to my mailing list as well as sharing some of those ARCs in my Leenie’s Sweeties Facebook Group.

But that’s not all I am working on. At the same time, I need to get Nature’s Fury and Delights: Thunder, Mist, and Frost ready to publish on December 18 (my next Austen Authors post day), and I am working my way through the first round of edits on Delighting Mrs. Bennet, which will be published in early January 2019 (probably January 3 or 10). It is a busy but exciting time of year in my writing world.

You would think that all those activities would be enough to keep me scurrying and wondering how I will get it all done — and you’d be right 🙂 However, I just don’t feel right when I don’t get to write. 😀

So, I have started Tom Bertram’s story. I’ve only written about 1000 words so far, but I have done many hours of research before I wrote any of those words. (Yes, I am once again pushing myself to explore new things with this story. I really don’t know why I do this to myself. 🙂 I guess I just like the challenge of learning.)

By the end of this week, I hope I might be ready to start writing Loving Lydia. I want to get my first read through/edit of Delighting Mrs. Bennet done first, and I think I can have that finished by about Thursday if my schedule works. I think you might have some idea from where part of the conflict in Loving Lydia might stem after seeing Wednesday and Thursday’s posts.

Delighting Mrs. Bennet will conclude this Thursday. I will be leaving it up for about a week (and a few days since I do my blog post work on Saturdays) before removing it from the blog. That means there will be a month between when this story ends and Loving Lydia begins. But don’t worry. I am not going to skip any Thursday posts. I just happen to have something else planned for the month of December — which you can find out about next week. 😉

One last little writing news item that is not so little to me. I have always sold all my books on as many sales platforms as possible. However, based on past experience and my analysis of previous sales numbers as well as the direction in which I would like to go with my writing career, I am going to be pulling Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy, Charles: To Discover His Purpose, and His Beautiful Bea off all of my vendors except for Amazon so that I can place these books in the Kindle Unlimited program for at least 90 days. My hope in doing this is to make the stories available to a large group of readers who might feel more willing to take a chance on a Mansfield Park-based story by borrowing and reading it rather than committing money to something they don’t realize they will enjoy. (I mean, they will enjoy the stories. I just need to give them the chance to discover that they will enjoy them, ya know what I mean?) It wasn’t an easy choice to make. I am not a fan of the exclusivity that Amazon demands to be part of the Kindle Unlimited program, but, after talking to several people I respect, it seemed that trying this approach is a good business decision. I will be asking to have them removed from other sellers after Wednesday this week since Charles’s story is still in the Kobo Plus program until that day.

I’ll share more about the direction I would like to go in my writing career later — probably in January. For now, I’ll just say that I have always said I was an author of Austen-inspired and original fiction, and I think it’s time to start working more original fiction into my catalog of books. Don’t worry. I don’t plan to stop writing sweet stories. I’m just shifting a bit. But, I’ll explain more when I have more of a plan in place. I’m just starting to attempt the planning part. 🙂

I think that’s all the writing news I have for now.

Have a great week!

Leenie

~*~*~

KOBO AMAZON NOOK IBOOKS MAILING LIST PATREON SOCIETY6

Music Monday: Unsafe Haven (Simply Three)

Georgiana clung to Elizabeth. “You were so brave. I could not even look at them.”

“I was not brave, Georgiana. I was angry. I am angry. Come, we should try to get some rest.” She pulled the young girl onto the bed with her, wrapping her in her arms. “Your brother will find us.” Elizabeth ran her hand gently over Georgiana’s hair smoothing it away from her face with a soothing caress. Soon, she could hear the steady breathing of a sleeping child. It was only then that Elizabeth allowed her body to tremble and a tear to escape her eye before drifting off to sleep.

[from Oxford Cottage]

Note: For those who might be sensitive to flashes of light, the video is very "flashy."

Published to YouTube by Simply Three on September 22, 2017

From the title of the video and the excerpt from Oxford Cottage, can you tell what sort of tone the excerpt from Mary: To Protect Her Heart might have? 😉

This will be the last excerpt from Mary’s story that will be shared on my Monday posts, and I am leaving you with a bit of a spoiler from the portion of the story when trouble starts to brew and bubble over. But before I get to that, I have some exciting…

WRITING NEWS:

First, I want to tell you that there will not be a Wednesday post this week. I just did not have enough time to get everything done over the weekend, and so that is the item that got cut off the to-do list.

Second, I have an Austen Author’s post tomorrow. There will be an excerpt from and a chance to win a copy of Mary: To Protect Her Heart included in that post.

Third, I am not sure if all the stores will reflect this price at the time when this blog post goes live or not, but both Henry’s and Charles’s stories are on sale for $2.99 USD with other currencies adjusted accordingly. These will be on sale until Mary’s story publishes. And that info brings me to…

Fourth, Mary: To Protect Her Heart will be on pre-order by the end of the week. I have finished first round edits, and it has been sent to my first editor. I believe the publication date will be December 10, 2018.

Fifth, I have also finished first round edits on Nature’s Fury and Delights: Thunder, Mist, and Frost! They will be sold in a bundle of three novelettes instead of individually. I do not have the publication date set at this point. Mary has to be attended to first, so by next week, I should have a date for you. (Should being the important word there 😉 )

I did no new story writing this past week as I spent all my time editing, so there will not be a story excerpt with next Monday’s post, and at this point, I am not sure when I will be ready to start sharing from a new story as I haven’t gotten anything started. I have Loving Lydia on the to-write list as one of my next projects so that can be ready to start posting on Thursday’s in January, but I haven’t even thought about which other project will be started at the same time. It could be Tom Bertram’s story or something completely different. I’ll be giving that some thought this week.

In addition to the editing I was doing this week, I was also finalizing ebook covers for the two upcoming releases. And here is the first look at those covers.

And now for that last…

STORY EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart: Continue reading Music Monday: Unsafe Haven (Simply Three)

Music Monday: Jane Austen Couples, You and Me (Lifehouse)

Elizabeth laid a hand on her heart and reminded herself to breathe. He had not been critiquing and criticizing her every movement? “Miss Bingley holds no place in your heart?”

He chuckled. “Only as the sister of a friend because she must. I find her trying, at best.”

Elizabeth tilted her head. Her brows were still furrowed. Was there anything she had accurately deciphered about Mr. Darcy?

“There is only you,” he added, stepping just a half step closer to her.

She shook her head. “I do not know you.” She gave a half shrug. “I thought I did, but I do not.”

“What do you wish to know?” He clasped his hands behind his back to keep from touching her.

[from Discovering Mr. Darcy]

Published to YouTube by tori2103 on September 14, 2007.

Today, we have two excerpts that go with the song choice. The first, which is at the beginning of this post) is from a place in the story where the hero (Darcy) is finally getting an opportunity (given to him by his scheming aunt and cousin and a locked door) to explain himself to the heroine (Elizabeth). The second, which is at the end of this post) is from a place in the story when both the hero (Gabe) and the heroine (Mary Crawford) are starting to realize that there is only “You and Me” — she’s the only one for him, and he’s the one gentleman who Mary might actually be able to trust with her heart.

Before we get to that excerpt, however, let me tell you what I have been up to in my writing time this past week:

I have begun getting my three Nature’s Fury and Delights short stories (novelettes) ready for publication as it just dawned on me one day that we are almost halfway through November and if I want these out before Christmas, I had better get a move on! 🙂 Time can sometimes slip away from me. 😀 I still have to make some decisions about how to publish and how to brand the covers and such, but the editing is about a third of the way completed.

We only have three posts of Delighting Mrs. Bennet left, and my brain is beginning to work on the story that will follow. I am also beginning to get posts ready for December as I’m taking a little break from the Marrying Elizabeth series and starting that again in January. I am also considering making some changes on the blog — but Thursday stories won’t go away. Wednesday and Monday things might or they might change. I really don’t know at this moment, but I thought I would give you an advance heads up on that. (It’s that time of year when you look back at what has happened and plan for the future. 🙂 )

And finally…drumroll please…I finished the first draft of Mary: To Protect Her Heart. I know there are a few things I need to go back and add in in the last portion of the book, but the story arc is done. It will just creep into novel territory as listed by Romance Writers of America, which is over 40,000 words. I do not have a publication date right now as I am behind on getting the book ready. I am expecting that instead of the end of this month it will be the beginning of next — which means there will be lots of Christmas time Leenie stories to read with this novel and three novelettes, right? 🙂 Sweet things are on their way!

Now, on to…

AN EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart: Continue reading Music Monday: Jane Austen Couples, You and Me (Lifehouse)

Music Monday: Start of Something Good (Daughtry)

Richard rode in silence for a full two minutes before deciding that it was best just to lay out the whole sorry business before his cousin and endure whatever teasing might come. “I am considering selling my commission and applying to my father for the land he has promised me.”

“Have you had your fill of military life or is it more than that?”

Richard rolled his eyes both at the question and the way his cousin was tipping his head and studying him. That look always said that Darcy already knew the answer. “I do not wish to ask a wife to either follow the drum or wait for whatever remains of me to be returned to her, nor do I wish to leave fatherless children if there should be any such blessings to come our way.”

Richard cast a wary sidelong glance at Darcy, expecting his cousin to have some comment, but Darcy did not. Instead, Darcy just rode on, looking forward with an occasional glance in Richard’s direction.

Richard blew out a breath. “It was likely three or four o’clock this morning when I came to the realization that following a lady around and studying her finer qualities to assure her of her worth was not a good way to keep one’s heart from becoming attached to that lady.”

A lifted brow? That was all the response he was going to get? He sighed. Very well, he would continue as Darcy expected him to do. “In battle, it is good to scout out the enemy, study their tactics, and make notes of their strengths and weaknesses. It is not the same with ladies.”

[from One Winter’s Eve]

Published to YouTube by Daughtry on September 28, 2012.

Well, today I have three excepts for you that contain gentlemen at that moment when they are about to admit that their lives need a lady — a particular lady — in them. The first one is from a book that is already published (above the video), the second (just below this paragraph) is from my new release, and the third is from a current work in progress (at the end of this post) which is currently posting on Patreon.

“Congratulations,” Darcy replied, and then after a moment to ponder Bingley’s words, during which he considered his friend married to the sister of the only lady who had, to this point in his life, captured his attention as none other had ever done, he added, “Do not play with her emotions.”

Bingley scowled at him. “I would not.”

“No, I do not think you would, but you must appear to be above such since if you are found wanting, then I shall also be found wanting, seeing as I am your friend. That is, of course, if we can prove to the younger Mr. Bennet that I am not as reprehensible as my actions have accused me of being.”

Bingley grinned. “You do not wish to be found wanting?”

Darcy shook his head. “I think your advice is excellent. I believe I must marry Miss Elizabeth.”

[from Assessing Mr. Darcy]

So that ^^ is my big news for this week. Assessing Mr. Darcy has been published! Thank you to those who have purchased the book and to who have left reviews.

Now that Assessing Mr. Darcy is published, I must turn my mind toward the next release. Mary: To Protect Her Heart has a “Release Day?” sticky note in my planner for next month. I am working diligently toward that goal, but I still do not have the first draft completed. Therefore, that sticky note might have to shift a bit. I hope it doesn’t but that is why it is on a sticky note so it can. 🙂

I am also working on my third short story in the Nature’s Fury and Delights collection. I hope that once I have this third story done, I can start releasing them individually and perhaps in a bundle for those who like bundles.

This third story has been more challenging than the others because I am taking elements of Persuasion and inserting them into a new plot with original characters who live in the vicinity of Willow Hall. It’s the combination of trying to let my imagination run but with a few boundaries that has created the challenge.

New (original) characters and plots take a different sort of effort compared to writing a story with familiar characters (such as Darcy and Elizabeth) because you have to establish who these new characters are and why a reader should care for them. There is also the need to create the source of trouble for the hero and heroine. In a Pride and Prejudice inspired story starring Darcy and Elizabeth, there are some handy villains one can always call up on to stir things up. Not so in an original work. 🙂 And honestly, that’s the part that had me thinking hard this week. I think I have it sorted out, however. This week’s writing sessions will test the veracity of that statement. 🙂

I want to say thanks to pedmisson, who left a comment on last week’s Music Monday, because the characters and the estate in this short story now have names. 🙂 Yay! (I can now stop calling the hero Mr. Bob because he’s Patrick Mullins.]

The next project that is written in my planner is to start the next Thursday’s Three Hundred story. I have two titles I am kicking around at present. They are Loving Lydia and Improving Miss Lydia. It will depend on the direction of the goals and motivations in the story and what the end result should be, and I won’t know that until I get elbow deep into it. But, I’d love to know which title you would pick. Just drop your choice in the comments. [To clarify, this story will be like Confounding Caroline and Delighting Mrs. Bennet. It will feature our dear couple as they move along the path to wedded bliss, but Lydia will be involved in some fashion as part of whatever it is that has to be overcome << that’s vague, huh? purposefully vague]

That’s all the writing news I have for you today, so now, that third excerpt I mentioned above.

AN EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart: Continue reading Music Monday: Start of Something Good (Daughtry)

Music Monday: Burn the Ships (For King and Country)

“Let me put a point on it for you, my dear sister. Had I not attended that last party at your persuasion and had I gone to Norfolk as I had planned, we might both be happily married. But,” he dropped her hand and held up a finger to mark his point, “you wished for me to see Mrs. Rushworth. You thought there would be great entertainment in it. Do not cast this debacle at Fanny’s feet. She was the only one in this whole sorry tale who was without guile. She refused me because she knew I was not worthy of her, and I was not — as anyone who reads a paper or sits in a drawing room with a cup of tea knows, I was not. And with that blackness attached to my name, I shall have a difficult enough go of it trying to find a lady of substance to accept me. To throw myself back into the society I kept before…” He shrugged and shook his head. “It would be foolish. Therefore, I will gladly welcome you and your friends at soirees such as this, but I will not be accepting any invitations to private parties, save for those held by Dr. and Mrs. Grant. I will call on them next week after I am truly settled in town.” He bowed to the gaping women and hastened out into the corridor.

[from Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy]

Published to YouTube by ForKingAndCountry on October 4, 2018.

Talk about cutting ties and burning the ship! Henry knew that he had to cut ties with his former life if he wished to make a lasting change. His sister Mary is going to have to do the same before she can be free to become her best self. Jane Austen tells us at the end of Mansfield Park:

…and Mary had had enough of her own friends, enough of vanity, ambition, love, and disappointment in the course of the last half-year, to be in need of the true kindness of her sister’s heart, and the rational tranquillity of her ways.

In the excerpt that follows my writing news, Mary has gotten to the point of having had enough of her friends, enough of vanity, ambition, love, and disappointment, and she is ready to move on with new friends toward a happier, more contented life.

That is why I have selected today’s music video. I think the song expresses the concept quite well.

But, before we get to that excerpt, let me give you a few updates about what’s happening in my writing life.

First, Assessing Mr. Darcy is available for pre-order. ARC copies will be sent out to my mailing list and Leenie’s Sweeties Facebook Group today, and my $2 patrons will receive their copy of the story. Assessing Mr. Darcy will go live on Friday, October 26, 2018 (a day later than I had expected but as early as I could schedule it with one of my distributors). Tomorrow, I will have an Austen Authors post with an excerpt and a giveaway for this book.

Second, I have started a new short story set during December and in the Willow Hall world. This story will feature original characters who are part of the community that surrounds Willow Hall and Kympton, and there will be at least one cameo appearance by a couple of Willow Hall characters. I am also hoping to give it just a touch of Persuasion flavour as there has been a rejection and a separation of lovers before the story begins. I still need to name the main characters (both the guy and gal) as well as the estate that the hero has inherited.

Third, Mary’s story has reached about the halfway point — I think. I will start posting this story on Patreon this week (hopefully today). I did a lot of research this last week for this story since Gabe is not just your standard landed gentleman but rather a fellow who is in trade, was born in India to a Company man, and now owns his own business and partners in backing privateers. And those are all new to me things to weave into the backstory and character of a hero.

And I think that is all the writing news I have for today. So, now we can get to that excerpt where Mary set a new course for her life by leaving her old friends behind.

AN EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart: Continue reading Music Monday: Burn the Ships (For King and Country)