Those four words are soooo dangerous! I have a dreadful time stopping anywhere before the end of a book — I always have. These four words played a part in what I did and did not get done this week. ๐
Writing Life
Due, in part, to some poor choices on my part ๐ — see the info about reading past my bedtime at the bottom of this newsletter — I got less written this week than I had wanted.
The other part of the not getting as much done as wanted is that with all the things I am doing this year and things I have been learning about and experimenting with, I am finding my writing process is shifting somewhat. I used to reread what was written the day before and then jump right into the new chapter.
Welcome to the weekend. ๐ There’s a lot of news this week. So, grab a cup of something refreshing or warming and settle in for a few minutes of reading. (There’s a link to a preview of a new story in one of the sections below — cleverly hidden under the heading Story Preview. ๐ )
Writing Life
This week did not progress as I had expected it to because we got snow on three days, and on two of those days, it was enough to require shoveling / snowblowing. That activity really cut into my productivity as it took time and used muscles that were not used to that sort of usage. LOL The snowblower is new, and this week was the first time I have used it. However, I still managed to write one chapter for two of my stories:ย
Matching Mr. Darcyย (the bright new shiny story I told you about last week)
Cherishing Kittyย (This is the one that did not get a new chapter as I think that the last chapter I wrote for it, might actually be the end and the next chapter is the beginning of Georgiana’s story. This calls for a reread and a think before moving on.)
His Irreplaceable Belleย
Publishing News
The following titles are now available in Kindle Unlimited and will remain there until May 13, 2020.
The following titles will be returning to all vendors this upcoming week. They are in Kindle Unlimited until Sunday, February 16, 2020. So I can start the “returning to other vendors” process on Monday.
Welcome to the weekend. I hope your week went well. We ended ours with some snow and ice. Here’s all that has been happening in my busy writing life this week.
Writing Life
A New Story: Remember how I was hoping to get some planning done on a third writing project? Well, I did — but just a tiny bit. However, it was enough for me to start exploring the idea by writing the first two chapters. Here is what I can tell you about it at present:
^^That’s not the most creative title, is it? ๐ I was running low on creativity when it came time to create this blog post. The clock just rolled past midnight here — which means it is now Saturday in Nova Scotia as I write this. I’m pretty sure that has a lot to do with why my creativity is running low.
Writing News
This week, with the help of a friend, I managed to addย another chapter to both His Irreplaceable Belle and Marrying Elizabethbook 5.ย These chapters were not easy ones for me to write — not because the content of them was challenging but because I felt stuck, which, I think, happens at least once with every story. There were a few questions I needed to answer before moving on. This is where my very patient friend, Zoe Burton, helped me by being a sounding board when I needed to talk through some details. She also helped me come up with a possible title out of a long list of options for Marrying Elizabethbook 5.
No, I have not yet started that third writing project. Maybe I’ll get some planning done this coming week? Maybe. ๐
Publishing News
There’s nothing new here. Just a reminder thatย Her Secret Beauย is now available in the Kindle store for purchase or to read with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one of those.ย
Book Promotions
Listen to Your Heart (ebook edition) will be $0.99 from February 1-15, 2020. This sale isย across all sales channels and in all regions of the world with all currencies being reduced. Continue reading The Saturday Broadsheet for February 1, 2020
In this edition of The Saturday Broadsheet: The January Kobo promo is running. I’ve got some writing decisions to make. And do you like giveaways?ย (If so, I’ve included something extra for last. ๐ )
Writing News
This week, I added another chapter to both His Irreplaceable Belle and Marrying Elizabeth book 5.ย
Last week when I wrote this email, I mentioned I hoped to get a chapter of His Irreplaceable Belle written after I completed writing the email. I am happy to report that I did get that chapter done.
Also in last week’s Saturday Broadsheet, I asked for input about what I should consider writing next. (Only) 25 readers replied and I have those results below. According to the chart, it looks like a Darcy Family Holidays story could be what I work on next. However, the Teatime Tales story option is a rather close second in these results. Poor James Atwood will have to wait for his tale to be told until a bit later this year.
ย Publishing News
Her Secret Beauย is now available in the Kindle store for purchase or to read with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one of those.ย
Book Promotions
As I posted yesterday, I have three box sets included in a 40% off promotion at Kobo until January 27, 2020. [๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ’๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ 16 ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ด.] You must use the ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ค ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐๐ at checkout to get 40% off. You can find these three box sets at these links:
I’m planning to do a few book promotions this year as part of working towards the business goals I have made my focus for 2020. Because of this, I have added a menu item (under the Leenie B Books option) here on the blog to keep track of the current promotions.
FYI: If you are a subscriber to my mailing list, you’ll often get early notice of upcoming sales — there is one coming up that I told my subscribers about, but I am not planning to release those details here until the promotions begin.
Book Review
Of course, I had to go with a review for Her Secret Beau since that book just released this week. ๐ย According to Amazon.com, this is the newest review on this book.ย Several have been posted already, which is exciting. At the time of my writing this post (Friday night), I think I have used all of the other reviews as posts on social media except for this one. I’m really trying not to miss any of the first reviews.
Back to the above review. Here are three things I love about this review:ย ย
First, I really like the description of the books being perfect for a cold wintry (or rainy) afternoon. Like many of my books, these are on the shorter side of things. Her Secret Beau came in at 46,761 words which is the longest book to date in this series. The first two books, His Beautiful Bea and His Darling Friend were 22,402 and 32,221 words each respectively. ๐ So if the trend continues, will the next one be over 50,000 words? ๐ Probably not, but one never knows.
Second, the review is very correct in saying that this is not a Jane Austen Fan Fiction story. They are original sweet Regency romances that happen to be written by an author who loves Jane Austen and has chosen to create a few characters and plot elements that nod to Miss Austen’s works. (I like the game aspect of weaving in those little hints of Austen and hoping that readers will have as much fun finding them as I did putting them in there. If I remember correctly, J.W. Garrett included some of these nods in her review.)ย
Third, I’m glad this reviewer added that the plotline with Felicity is not wrapped up. This is an intentional “open loop” because that speed bump is scheduled to become a weaving, winding road of its own when I write Felicity’s story. I plan to get to her story as soon as I am done writing Mr. Norman’s story. (For those who have not read Her Secret Beau yet, Mr. Norman is a substantial secondary character in this book. And, also, what are you waiting for? LOL)ย
These are all awesome things that give readers, who are deciding on whether or not to read this book, a few more details about what to expect and should help them make a well-informed decision.
Are they looking for a nice long read? Or a quick read? Are they hoping for a retelling or variation of a Jane Austen book? Or something that is more Austenesque? Are they really into reading series where there are some things left unresolved in one book and then picked up in another? Or do they prefer everything to be firmly finished in every book?
This review will help them answer these questions, and that is wonderful.
Thank you so much, AvidReaders for reading and reviewing Her Secret Beau.ย
Something Extra for Last
My Book Cave Ereader/$50 Gift Card Giveaway
I have used My Book Cave to promote some of my book sales in 2019, and I intend to keep using them in 2020. In fact, I currently have a promotion scheduled with them. Anyway, they send me emails about promotion opportunities on a regular basis. Sometimes I read those emails, and sometimes I don’t. ๐ Today, I read the email and found this lovely little tidbit.ย
They are giving away a Nook or Kindle ereader or a $50 dollar gift card to iTunes, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon every month in 2020 unless you are outside of the US or Canada. International winners will receive the gift card option. You can enter to win at this link:
There is a spot to check if you want to join their mailing list, but if you read below that, it is not required and does not impact your chances of winning. I looked for this because I did not want to send you something with strings attached.ย
That is it for this week. Have a lovely weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with some music and a story excerpt.
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