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.
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!
Georgiana’s eyes grew wide with understanding. “How dreadful!”
Mary nodded. “I felt a fool for having fallen for such a man.”
Georgiana stood with her hands on her hips. “But he was a deceiver! You could not have known.”
“I should have known when he chose me over my sisters,” Mary said quietly.
“Why?”
Mary smiled sadly at Georgiana. How did one explain one’s lack of beauty?
“Oh, no!” said Georgiana. “Stand here.” She pointed to a spot in front of the mirror. “I do not know what you looked like then, but look at yourself now. You are beautiful. Your cheeks are perfectly rosy. Your nose is small. Your eyes shine with your emotions, and your mouth is lovely ─ neither too thick nor too thin. And your figure…” Georgiana studied Mary for a moment. “Although you are not tall, your height is by no means deficient, and you have ─ Oh, I do not know how to say it politely ─ you have softness in all the proper places. You shall turn many heads this season, and one of them may possess that healing love of which you spoke.”
Mary’s cheeks were glowing quite rosy, and she had to blink against the tears that had formed in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I have never before heard myself described as anything so pleasant.”
[from No Other Choice]
Published to YouTube by Dean Brody on May 23, 2014.
I have been enjoying having a tv hanging in my “office” and playing some YouTube videos while working. (We use the tv for our homeschool videos — that’s why it is there.)
As I have said before, writing time means songs with no words, but other work times, when I am making a graphic or doing something that does not require full mental engagement so that there is a little space open to enjoy the story a song might tell, I enjoy music with words. Dean Brody is EXCELLENT at telling stories with his songs.
This one, which I listened to this past week, has a beautiful story to it, and when I went through my viewing history, it seemed to be a great one to share — simply because it tells such a lovely story.
However, I have been challenging myself the last few weeks to see if I can come up with story excerpts from my stories that fit in some way with the music video I am sharing. I am not sure how long I can keep doing that, and I thought I had hit my limit when I chose this song to share. BUT then, I remembered this conversation between Mary and Georgiana in No Other Choice. I think it fits well enough. What do you think?
I’m still working on getting the new school schedule integrated with the writing schedule. Therefore, I do not have a lot of writing news to share today, as I did very little writing last week, and the writing I did, I ended up scrapping. It was good writing, but it just did not feel right for the story. So after two days of just letting it simmer, I could not shake the feeling and cut the words.
However, in more positive news, I have a title for Mary Crawford’s story. I have been pondering the ideas both for the title and about why Mary is as she is that you left in comments. Much of what you said really meshed with what I was thinking. Mary has not had an easy life as far as men go. Her examples of how men treat women have been tragic. As I was contemplating these things on Saturday morning, I thought, “She’s been attempting to protect her heart.” And that thought sent a little shiver of goosebumps up my arms, and I knew I had found her story’s title and the central theme.
Because I actually have a title for that story and I wrote no new words that I kept on Assessing Mr. Darcy, I’m going to share the first nearly five hundred words of Mary’s story.
Just one side note here before we continue to the excerpt. If you are a patron following Assessing Mr. Darcy on Patreon, I have two chapters that I have written before and did a bit of editing on during this past week; therefore, I will have two posts for that story this week. 🙂
She shook her head. Mr. Marsh truly was the complete opposite of Mr. Edwards. She stood and looked around her room – the room in which she had been wallowing in self-pity for two days now. She had been wallowing! She did not wallow. She shook herself and pulled herself upright. Two days was enough.
“Did you need something, miss?” her maid asked as she entered.
“Yes, Sally, I need several things. First…”
[From Charles: To Discover His Purpose]
Published to YouTube by Liz Rockfiles on April 1, 2016.
Every romance has a new day at least once in the telling of the tale and often more than once. These new days might include the moment when two young lovers meet for the first time, or, as in the excerpt above, one or the other of the pair has that epiphany moment when he or she realizes what (or should I say who) will truly make them happy. In the snippet from Charles, Evelyn has dried her eyes and put away her hurt feelings and is ready to begin her new day.
In the excerpt from one of my works in progress that I will share below, we have the dawning of a new day just about to happen. The excerpt shows Bingley and Darcy just before they will meet the lovely ladies that reside at Longbourn.
But first, before I get to that, here’s just a little update on what I have been working on:
I have three projects in various stages.
First, I have a short story that is helping me practice my dictation skills and has reached about the 5,000-word mark where trouble has just literally walked through the door.
Second, I have written the first 1423 words of Mary’s story for Episode 3 of the Other Pens, Mansfield Park series. I still need to finalize her title. I had originally thought to call it Mary: To Discover Her Heart, but I used the word discover in Charles’s title. So I need a verb to go into this blank –>
Mary: To _________ Her Heart
She had really been guarding and hardening her heart for a good portion of her life, so I have considered using Unlocking, but I’m not sure if it is best or not. If you have suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Third, I think I am about halfway through the first draft of Assessing Mr. Darcy. I had some great writing days this past week! I would be thrilled if this week was as good. However, there is that pesky thing called school that is starting.
This is not terribly writing related, but…
I did rearrange my office/school room/living room/dining area. 🙂 (Our house is not large and this room has many purposes.) I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
And I have all my school stuff ready to go except for the TV which needs mounting on the wall. (There will be many video lessons this year, so I wanted a good screen for watching.)
Oh, and the house has been painted! It is now a pretty blue/grey colour instead of the olive-y brown/green it was before! There are a few little details that my husband has to work on, but the big part is all done. He worked hard on it in some very warm weather. But, he wanted to get it done before his work schedule shifts with the beginning of school. And he did it!
I think that’s all the “news” from me for today, so now, how about an excerpt from chapter 4 of Assessing Mr. Darcy? (Patrons, you will have this full chapter before the end of the week. 🙂 )
“I must go.” He did not know where he needed to go or what he needed to do, but he needed to be somewhere that was not here…somewhere where he could feel the anguish in his heart…
[from Charles: To Discover His Purpose]
Published to YouTube by fkwk101 on May 17, 2013.
I had a wonderful few days away in Prince Edward Island with my husband, and I did nearly no work during those times. I did check to make sure my scheduled items were posting and a few small things like that, but otherwise, no work was done. But that does not mean that I do not have some writing news. I do, and I will list that below. My time off, however, does mean that there is no print version of Charles’s story ready to go. I will work on that this week.
Not only is not having the print book ready on release day is a bummer to me because I like to have things done on time, but it is also the cause of some misinformation on the book’s Amazon sales page. And this information is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, and something I am constantly trying to educate people about. 😉 (Do not blindly trust Amazon’s page counts on books.) Let me tell you why.
The sales page lists the book as only 170 pages. However, my pdf of the book, which still has some formatting issues that must be addressed, currently has the book at 290 pages for everything including front matter and back matter, which includes a sample chapter of another book. The story itself stops on page 258 of the pdf. Even with that number shrinking a bit when the formatting issue is resolved, the number of pages in the book will still be more than 170! Word count wise, the story comes in at just over 46,000 words. That’s a long one for me. 🙂 In fact, it’s about 10,000 words or more longer than novellas, and actually puts the book in novel territory.
But no matter the length, I’m delighted that soon this lovely novel will be available to be read by one and all. Charles is an awesome character, and he and Evelyn make one terrific couple. You really need to read it. After all, it is a Leenie Brown book and as such, the story will not disappoint you. (I hope 😉 )
So, here is my…
Writing News:
Release day for Charles: To Discover His Purpose is tomorrow! *so excited*
And I have a blog post about the book tomorrow on Austen Authors which will include a giveaway.
I have started two new stories.
One will be a short story that I am dictating. I have not used Dragon Dictation before so this story is my first learning experience as I get used to speaking my story into existence instead of typing.
The second will be a Dash of Darcy story, and I am giving you the first 900+ words of the story below in an excerpt. This is the story I mentioned last week which features Mr. Collins once again in a different way. In fact, his name isn’t Mr. Collins in this story.
Other than those things, I am hoping to start Mary’s story this week. Hoping, not promising. 🙂 And in non-writing news, my house is in the process of being painted, I am getting last details ready before school starts next week, and my eldest son has started a new job so my car is not always at my disposal so things have to be planned a bit more carefully.
And now for…
AN EXCERPT FROM Assessing Mr. Darcy:
Elizabeth Bennet leaned against one of the oak trees that grew on the hill near the edge of Longbourn’s property. Taking out her spyglass, she settled in to watch. Overhead the brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges were still mixed with a few traces of green, and normally at this time of year, she would sit beneath one or another of these trees and attempt to paint their splendor. The feat usually ended with her applying paint to the leaves and pressing them on her paper. Her desire to capture beauty far outshone her ability. Her future home would not be filled with her own creations. Instead, she would have to rely on purchased paintings or perhaps, she could convince her younger sister Kitty to produce a few pieces. Kitty was the most artistic of her four sisters.
Today, however, observing the leaves above was but a peripheral pleasure. Today, she had far more interesting things at which to peer. Netherfield had been let at last! The grand home with its park that abutted this very edge of Longbourn’s property was to welcome a young unmarried gentleman and his sisters. One sister, she had been told by her uncle was similar in age to her. It would be a pleasure to have another lady in the neighbourhood. She smiled. Especially a lady with a wealthy brother in want of a wife.
“What are you doing?”
Elizabeth jumped, nearly dropping her spyglass. “Why must you insist on startling me, William?”
William Bennet smirked. “Because it is so delightful to see you jump.”
“It is because I can do sums better than you.” Had Elizabeth’s hair not been secured under her bonnet, it would have flipped quite satisfactorily as she turned her head.
“Yes, well, you inherited your father’s keen mind, and I am stuck with my father’s dull one.” He stood next to her on her left and leaned against the tree trunk.
Elizabeth lifted the spyglass and looked toward Netherfield as her heart pricked her. Finally, after no more than two minutes of silence, she turned to him. “You have had Papa to guide you, and you have done well. I should not have been so cruel as to point out something with which you struggle. But you do vex me at times. I do not appreciate having the working of my heart tested on such a regular basis simply because you are light of foot.”
He shrugged. “And I should not startle you, but we both know that I will continue to tease, and you will continue to retaliate with the one thing you do better than me.”
Elizabeth’s brows rose. “One thing?”
He laughed. “The one thing I will allow that you do better than me.”
“I dance better than you.”
“Very well. I will admit that you do two things better than me, but I will not admit to anything further. A brother must feel at least marginally superior to his younger sister.”
Elizabeth allowed it to be. He was not her brother by birth. He had been born William Collins, a distant cousin to her father. However, even at birth, he had been far more important to her family than some cousin. It did not matter that her father and his father had not spoken to one another in years. William Collins was the heir to Longbourn since her father had never produced a son.
It had been years, fifteen to be precise, since William had arrived with his few bags and his poor manners and lack of learning on Longbourn’s steps. His father had died and since there was no nearer relation and since he was the heir to Mr. Bennet’s estate, the child had been delivered with all his worldly possessions to them, to be their son and brother.
He had been ten, and after six months of living with them, he had asked if he too could be a Bennet. Her father had willingly obliged, excessively pleased to have someone bear his name who would not be giving that name away before a parson in a marriage ceremony.
There was a carriage approaching Netherfield. Elizabeth focused her glass to look as closely at it as she could. She could not see much detail, but the equipage did appear to be very fine, almost regal.
“A carriage,” she said, handing the spyglass to William.
William adjusted the glass for his use and whistled. “This Bingley fellow is not shallow in the pockets, is he?”
“I dare say he is not,” Elizabeth agreed. “Give the glass back when they have stopped. I want to see how the grooms and driver tend to their passengers.”
William laughed. “You do not. You wish to see if Mr. Bingley is as handsome as he is rumoured to be.” He looked through the glass once more. “There is a second carriage.” He handed the glass to her. “You will want to see this one.”
“Why?” she asked, positioning herself to be able to look at the second carriage.
“You will know when you see it.”
“Oh, my!” She looked at William. “Does Mr. Bingley have two carriages, one that is lovely and another that could carry the Prince Regent?”
William shook his head. “I would venture a guess that he has not come alone.”
“A friend?”
“That would be my assumption. A very wealthy guest.”
“Do you suppose it is a gentleman?”
William laughed. “Yes. A single gentleman is not going to bring some fancy lady with him.”
“Why not?” Elizabeth made a face at her brother. “He has sisters. It could be a friend of theirs.” She scowled at the look of disbelief on William’s face. It was his way of questioning her ability to reason things, and she hated it. Not because it was a hideous face or anything like that, but because he never used that expression except when she had not thought things through properly. She despised being wrong.
If, someday, I should be so fortunate as to earn your good opinion as well as your heart, you have only to tell me, and I will be yours for time and eternity.
[from Charles: To Discover His Purpose]
Published to YouTube by FallingforJJ on December 15, 2010.
This song seemed to fit the scene from which I took the quote above so well that I had to share both today. 🙂
The quote on this graphic is from the same scene as the one above.
Charles: To Discover His Purpose is ready to be delivered to ereader devices everywhere next Tuesday, August 28, 2018!
I finished the final edits and was able to get advance reader copies distributed this week. I am so relieved to have that done before I run away for a few days with my hubby. 🙂 I will be able to relax much better knowing that part of the publishing process is complete.
I would like to say the print book is almost ready, but it still has not been started beyond some formatting. Therefore, this time, the print book might arrive later than the ebook.
You can find a link to all my vendors by clicking this picture. There is also a description of the book there.
Charles’s story is the second in my Other Pens, Mansfield Park episodes. Mary Crawford’s story will be the third, but that is not yet started. It is waiting until after my vacation time is over.
I started a new story this past week. This one will be a Dash of Darcy story. There was a reader on Facebook who suggested making Mr. Collins into a member of the Bennet family from a young age, and I have taken that little idea for this story. I have no idea if I will even get close to what she had in mind when she gave me that suggestion, but so far, the story is really enjoyable. I should have enough of it written soon (maybe even by next Monday) to start sharing some excerpts here.
I should also tell you that I have almost finished my Dash of Darcy and Companions Collection re-organization project. This week I created two Companion Duos. These were also the result of a reader’s suggestion on Facebook. She had the Dash of Darcy Duos and was wondering if I would do a Companions Duo. I hadn’t thought to do that at that time, but after considering it, I created these two:
Duo 1 includes A Very Mary Christmas and Not an Heiress (both are Mary Bennet stories).
Duo 2 includes Becoming Entangled and Enticing Miss Darcy (both are sequels to Unravelling Mr. Darcy).
I only need to complete a few print copies for this collection, and the project is done! All the ebooks are ready and available.
And that’s it for the news this week. Even though I will be away for a few days this week, both Wordless Wednesday and Thursday’s Three Hundred will post as usual. I just might be slower responding to comments.
