Happy Holidays! It’s only 11 days until Christmas (for those who celebrate it like I do) and 12 days from Boxing Day … which this year, is also RELEASE DAY for How to Marry An Accomplished Lady!
Finally!
If I get it uploaded in time. (Yikes!)
Currently as I write this, I need to have the final document uploaded to one of my vendor sites in four days. I’m still doing a last read through with Christopher (my Elevenlabs narrator) so that I can see if there are things that need some rewording to make the audio as good as it can and to help me catch any of those last little things that slip through the editing process.
(Such as I’ve found a few missing words and at least one place where two words were repeated. It’s really helpful to hear the story instead of just reading it for things like this.)
I hope your November is off to a tolerable start. 🙂 Ours has been good. Today (Friday) as I am writing this, the skies are gray, and the temperatures are not balmy. My phone tells me it is just 11 degrees Celsius outside (which is not quite 52 F). If it weren’t gray and cloudy, that temperature would feel a bit warmer, I’m sure. 🙂 As it is, I’ve been forced to turn on some heat in the house to keep my fingers, toes, and nose from being too chilled. (Maybe if I type faster, my finger will warm up faster?)
In my writing life, I’ve been busy.
How to Marry An Accomplished Lady (without losing one’s mind) has been sent off to my editor, and the sequel to it is on my writing schedule to be started next week.
I have made the decision to cancel my refresh of Oxford Cottage, which I told you about in a recent What’s Up Wednesday post.
I have finally gotten around to fixing some errors in Finally Mrs. Darcy that have been waiting for me to get to them for quite some time. (I think I also mentioned that in the most recent What’s Up Wednesday post.) I’ve updated the ebook file on Amazon, and just need to re-size the cover for the print book since new formatting software means a different page count (a lower one due to paper saving options) and make a large print version and all the books on sale will contain the corrections.
While I was editing Finally Mrs. Darcy to correct those errors, I put each chapter into Elevenlabs and created audiobook files. If you subscribe to my YouTube channel (which I hope you do because I really need to get to 1000 subscribers), you might already know that the full audiobook edition of Finally Mrs. Darcy is available now to listen to for FREE. I will be putting the files on Kobo and including it in Kobo Plus later this month, and I hope to have news before next month for where you can buy the audiobook directly from me.
All the Teatime Tales stories are now available in regular and large print, and I am currently working on sampling some teas to choose a few that I can use to create a “Tea with Darcy” gift box to add to the Leenie B Books Shop on Etsy.
I have also been working on the next Annilee Nelson novel (that’s my other pen name), and I have written a new portion of our Harriet and the Colonel story which you can read at the end of this newsletter.
There are, of course, several other business type things that I’m doing, but I won’t bore you with those details. 😀
Last month, I mentioned sharing with you how I’m managing to do more projects. It all comes down to lists on paper. Lots of lists. That I clip together into a packet. Each sheet of paper contains things that need to be done for a particular project and room for me to write myself notes about what I’ve finished and what still needs to be done.
Each day, I start with whatever project is top of the list for that day, and once I’ve spent a block of time on that project, I flip to another page and spend another block of time on something else. It comes down to completing small steps on a regular basis, and over time, the big projects get done. It feels organized. It frees my mind from having to keep track of what needs to be done. And, it gives me a sense of accomplishment as I am seeing multiple things getting done and not just one thing. It seems to fit me well, which is likely due to the fact that it’s very similar to how I used to keep track of classes and projects when I was teaching.
It’s not a perfect system, of course. I still miss things or forget to write something down. But for now, I’m really enjoying how it’s working. I’m just so happy that my brain can (mostly) handle all the things these lists are allowing me to accomplish.
That’s it for me for an update. It’s more than enough, right?
Keep scrolling to see the books deals that I have available this month and to get to that new installment of Harriet and the Colonel. (That was a fun, argument-filled bit of writing to do!)
I actually did an author reading of this book for YouTube a couple years ago. I haven’t had time yet to get Christopher to read the story so I can create an audiobook of it. But if you’d like to hear me read it to you, you can do that at starting here at this link.
Later this month, beginning on November 18, my Leenie B Books Shop will be included in a site wide promotion on Etsy. Everything in my store will be 25% off.
SOMETHING NEW TO READ
Our story about Harriet and the Colonel continues. Remember that you can read previous parts of this story under the menu item Harriet and the Colonel.
Chapter 3, Part 1
“Jimmy says your brother is looking for you, miss,” Harriet’s maid, (name of maid), said to her the next morning when she came to help Harriet with her hair.
“Has he been to his study so early?” A smile of deep satisfaction settled peacefully on Harriet’s lips and in her heart. Edmund would not be able to say she was incapable of being married to a man involved in a secretive business.
“Apparently, he was there an hour ago with some gent – you know the sort. Though neither of us are to know that.” She winked at Harriet in the mirror. (name of maid) was an incredible asset. Not only could she care for clothes and pin hair, she was also excellent at gathering information to relay to her mistress.
“It does seem rather early for him to be welcoming callers of any sort,” Harriet said. “I wonder what it was about?”
“It’s hard to say, miss. Your brother likes to keep his association with some even more private than the rest of his business.”
Harriet would have commented on this, but a loud knock at the door kept her from it.
“I dare say that is him,” (name of maid) whispered.
“I am not presentable,” Harriet called out.
“Harriet!”
“It is most certainly Edmund,” she whispered to her maid as they both only allowed a short soft burst of laughter to escape their lips.
“I am not presentable,” she called again. “I will see you in the breakfast room in half an hour.”
“That is unacceptable,” he replied through the door. “I must see you as soon as possible. You will be in my study. In ten minutes.”
“Fifteen,” Harriet called. “And not a minute sooner, but possibly a few later.”
“Ten.”
Oh, he was testy this morning.
“Fifteen.”
“Harriet!”
“Fifteen. That is my final offer. I simply cannot be seen until my hair is complete, and I am wearing clothes. Why, what if you had an early caller, and I was thoroughly disheveled looking. The news of such a thing could get around town by next Tuesday.” She doubted anyone calling on her brother at such an early hour of the day would be the sort to gossip about how they had seen her without her hair tamed and in a dressing gown and slippers.
“Harriet.” The name rumbled through the door in a growl.
“Has something happened?” she asked. “You seem rather disgruntled with your state in life this morning.”
“Miss, you are wicked,” (maid’s name) whispered. “Teasing him as you do.”
She was fortunate that her brother was more long-suffering than some, and she knew it.
“I cannot tell you about itl,” he answered.
“Do you mean that you cannot tell me now because you do not wish to shout it through the keyhole? Or is it one of those things that you cannot tell me at any time and would rather leave for me to discover on my own.”
“Harriet, you go too far.”
“Thank you. My hair looks just right.” Harriet stood before the mirror and looked herself over from front to back before tip-toeing across the floor and swiftly opening the door. “You are in luck. I am ready before my fifteen minutes are up. However, I will need a cup of tea if I am to forego eating as I normally would at this time of day.” She stepped around him. “Shall I bring it to your study?”
“You will take yourself to my study without a cup of tea.”
Oh, he looked decidedly put out. Something was most certainly afoot. However, a lady who intended to convince her brother that she could face danger was not the sort to be cowed by a few harshly spoken words and a glower.
“That will not do. Would it be acceptable to have a cup brought to me in your study?” She fluttered her lashes.
“Have you always been this impossible?” her brother muttered.
“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I fear it is you who brings out the best in my ability to be…” She tapped her lip as if searching for a word. “Passionately independent.”
“Passionately independent?” he cried incredulously before blowing out a breath in exasperation. “Staunchly recalcitrant is more like it! You do realize that most ladies, who speak to their guardian as you have just now, do not do so without suffering for it.”
She swallowed. It was rare that Edmund threatened punishment. Still, she held his gaze without wavering. “Yes. But how else am I to prove to you that I am not the sort of lady who faints at the first sign of danger or flutters and flies about when touched by the smallest amount of anxiety?”
“Of all the stupid things, Harriet.” He pressed his lips together so firmly that they formed a thin line. She had well and truly pushed him to the limits of his patience. However…
“My tea. How shall it be retrieved?”
“I will have it brought to you, but I will not call for it until you are seated in front of my desk. Do I make myself plain?” His shoulders were lifting and lowering noticeably, which normally would be her sign to desist, but she had a point to carry.
Therefore, she patted his cheek and smiled at him. “A simple, ‘we will have tea in my study’ would have sufficed. I am not slow of understanding, and there is no need to overexert yourself.” She turned toward her open bedchamber door. “(maid’s name) could you please see that a cup of tea finds me in Edmund’s study when you are through with my room?” She turned back to Edmund. “There. It is done. Now, if you would offer me your arm, we could reach your study before (maid’s name) is done with her work.”
“Harriet,” he rumbled in a low and somewhat dangerous tone as he extended his arm, “I ought to…” He shook his head.
“What? Lock me in my room?” she asked as they began a quick march towards his office. “Banish me to the country? Require me to drink only watered down port for three days and not else? You are no longer in the army, my dear brother, and flogging one’s sister is frowned upon.”
“I was not going to say have you flogged. What kind of monster do you think I am?” The words were said with some force and a hint of hurt.
Harriet chuckled, though it was a forced thing. “I know you would never be so cruel to me. However, that being said, I am also aware that I have pushed and prodded you to a place where, if I were not your beloved sister, you might have considered it.”
“Why must you torment me as you do?” he asked in a pleading tone. “I do not remember you ever being so obstinate for Andrew or Father.”
She leaned into his arm so that her shoulder bumped his. “Father died before I had to wage a campaign against his opinions about whom I was allowed to marry, and Andrew? Well, you were on the continent for a time, so you do not know how I tried him on the topic, and, as it turns out, he is not as stubborn as you are.”
“Then, this is all about my reluctance to allow Richard to present an offer to you?” he asked.
“That is the main reason, but it is not the only reason.” She released her hold on his arm so that he could open his study door for her.
“What other reason is there?”
She shook her head. “Some things should not be discussed in the corridor,” she whispered before entering his study and taking a seat.
With this edition of my monthly Broadsheet, I am going to start posting the full thing here rather than just sharing a link to read it on Substack, since it’s just a matter of copy and pasting it here. I do also post this on Substack, Patreon, and Ream Stories.
May 11, 2024
Has it been a month already since the last Saturday Broadsheet?
My! Time sure seems to fly sometimes.
I’ve been busy with life and writing things, so that’s probably why it seems like only a couple of weeks ago that I was writing my previous Broadsheet.
Unfortunately, not all the busyness was pleasant. My father-in-law was suddenly moved from home care to palliative care and then, died shortly after that. So, there was a lot of dreading the sound of a phone call and then, the proceedings that accompany a funeral. And now, there are some matters that must be sorted through as happens when someone dies. But he is no longer sick or in pain, and his funeral was lovely and as hope-filled as such a thing can be since he requested that it focus on Jesus and not on him.
In my writing life, I’m starting to get settled into a schedule that allows for me to write a bit on several projects at once. I used to work on multiple stories at one time, but then, I hit some burnout and then, I got long covid, which I still am struggling with. So, I’m so very happy to be able to take even small steps towards a return to a new form of normal. (I’m trying to keep things low and slow to avoid set backs or finding myself feeling burnt out again.)
As you will see below, the new schedule has helped me reach the point of being able to share my Sweet Possibilities work in progress with my members and patrons. That means I’m at least four chapters into the writing process. You’ll also notice below that a few chapters will be available as a preview to non-paying followers.
The funeral has me one week behind on getting into the Oxford Cottage refresh. I would really like to be able to start sharing the refreshed chapters on Thursdays on my blog, Patreon, and Ream by the end of June. Just like with the new stories I write and share, I also like to be a few chapters ahead when it comes to doing refresh projects. Honestly, refreshing a book can be more challenging than writing from scratch. But it’s so nice to have the stories get another polish, and the process is a good exercise for my writing muscles.
Because I am just opening up Oxford Cottage and getting ready to refresh it, this month’s story vignette goes with that novel. So look for that at the end of this newsletter.
