Music Monday: Collide (Emma and Knightley)

“Is that so?” Carlyle taunted. “Exactly how good a friend is she, Shelton? We all know your reputation with the fairer sex.”

“Mr. Shelton.” Grace was at his elbow. “Please, do not hit him.”

“Why not?” He pulled his arm away from her. “Even you must know what he is insinuating about Victoria.”

“I do, and it is most improper. But think of the explanation that will be required if Mr. Carlyle returns with a black eye or bloody nose.” She looked at Carlyle and added, “Not that he does not deserve both.”

From the vehement tone she used to say that last bit, it appeared to Roger that there was some fire hidden within Miss Grace Love. Hopefully, she would learn to use that fire when dealing with her sister, who was smiling behind her fingers as if what was happening was the most amusing things she had ever witnessed.

“Do you find me entertaining, Miss Love?” Roger asked. “Or do you find it diverting when someone accuses another lady of impropriety?”

Felicity gasped. “You are very forward, Mr. Shelton.”

“And you are a conniving wench, Miss Love.”

[from His Darling Friend, A Touches of Austen Novella, and the current Sweet Tuesdays story]

Published to YouTube by SaraBethie on July 20, 2012.

I thought it imperative that I use and Emma video this week since His Darling Friend is nearly over since that story has touches of Emma in it.  There are only two chapters left. 🙂 And I thought the title of the song went well with the snippet I shared above as well as the cliffhanger last sentence of tomorrow’s chapter. 😉

I have exciting writing news this week.  Continue reading Music Monday: Collide (Emma and Knightley)


Music Monday: Desire (Denise Young)

“And poor Mr. Clayton.” She sighed. “I quite like him. I did from the time we arrived at Heathcote. However, as Felicity pointed out, she is older, and so it is she who should marry first.”

Roger stopped walking. “And you gave him up for her?”

Grace shrugged. “I had not lost my heart to him.” She glanced back at the library door. “And I thought my sister had.” She shook her head. “But apparently, she has not, for she is at the rotunda with Mr. Ramsey likely letting him kiss her.”

“But I thought you thought Mr. Ramsey was of interest.”

Again, Grace shrugged. “I did, but…”

“Your sister is older?”

Grace nodded.

“She deserves to be an old maid,” Roger muttered. “Is she at the rotunda alone with Mr. Ramsey?”

“No. Miss Hamilton and Mr. Carlyle are with them.”

Roger pulled Grace across the drawing room in his hurry to reach the window. “I do not see them.”

“That is because Felicity wished to see the far side of the rotunda.” She blew out a breath. “So, she can kiss him,” she whispered.

[from His Darling Friend, A Touches of Austen Novella, and the current Sweet Tuesdays story]
Published to YouTube by Denise Young – Topic on August 22, 2015.

There are no pictures with this ‘video’ today, but the song title and tone seemed a very good fit with the small excerpt from tomorrow’s story. The song, “Desire,” is one that is on my ever-growing list of Music to Write By, and I am actually listening to this album on Spotify as I write this. 🙂

I have learned how to listen to share the music on my Spotify phone app with the Spotify app on my tv. It wasn’t hard, but I didn’t know you could do that. 🙂 So I have been listening through the tv in the room where I write. I would call it an office, but it isn’t just an office. It is more of a multipurpose room which was traditionally designed to be a living room. My house is not huge. 🙂  Continue reading Music Monday: Desire (Denise Young)


Music Monday: Say Something, Violin and Piano Cover (Daniel Jang)

“If you are not able to dance, there is always the chance of a stroll in the garden,” Mr. Carlyle said.

Felicity ducked her head and blushed but not before Victoria saw her cast an uneasy glance at Mr. Clayton. “I do enjoy gardens.”

“Indeed,” Mr. Clayton muttered. He turned and looked back towards the house. “They will likely start playing games soon. We should head back.”

“But I had hoped to see the far side of the rotunda,” Felicity said with a small pout.

“You do not need me for that,” Mr. Clayton said. “I find I have had my fill of gardens.”

Victoria’s eyebrows rose. It appeared Mr. Clayton had reached his limit for endurance. She could not help but feel somewhat happy for him.

[from His Darling Friend, A Touches of Austen Novella, and the current Sweet Tuesdays story]
Published to YouTube by Daniel Jang on November 22, 2014.

That Felicity! She’s a piece of work! In His Beautiful Bea, she was the character who was supposed to have touches of Maria Bertram in her, and she has not left those unsavoury details behind just because we are in a different book now. Oh, no! As you will see in tomorrow’s story, her unpleasant personality is flourishing.

And while we are talking about tomorrow’s story… Continue reading Music Monday: Say Something, Violin and Piano Cover (Daniel Jang)


Music Monday: Morning Light (Brian Crain)

The morning had been as delightful as any ride through the countryside could be. The sun was shining in a nearly solid blue sky as only a few clouds were dotting the expanse above. The air was fresh and not at all close. The only thing which had dampened the enjoyment of the exercise had been that it was entirely too short. Well, maybe that was not the only thing which had not met with Victoria’s satisfaction. There had been one thing — or rather, person — missing.

“Have you seen Roger today?” Victoria had slipped into the library and taken a seat next to Diana on a sofa.

“He said good morning to me,” Diana replied, looking up from her book. “He was dressed to go riding. I had assumed he was going with the group.”

“He was not with us.” Victoria pulled her lower lip between her teeth. He could be anywhere. He had spoken of escaping after a few days of being at the house party when he first arrived, but then, when they had decided to help Grace find a match, he had said he would be required to stay longer. “Did he leave?” she whispered behind her book.

[from His Darling Friend, A Touches of Austen Novella, and the current Sweet Tuesdays’ story]

Published to YouTube by Brian Crain on Sep 20, 2016.

I know this video does not have any pictures with it, but the music is just so beautiful (and the title fits well with the excerpt from His Darling Friend). I find starting my day with music like this to be delightful, so beginning a week this way should be just as good if not better. 🙂 I just added this album to my Music to Write By playlist on Spotify this week. I’ve listened to songs from it many times on both Spotify and YouTube but hadn’t saved the album until this week. If you would like to listen to the full album, you can find the full Morning Light album playlist on YouTube at this link.

In writing news:

I am still one chapter behind on where I would like to be with Loving Lydia — as long as I get a chapter written later today. Otherwise, I will be two weeks behind.

I am still where I want to be with Roger’s story (4 chapters ahead), and I think I’m heading into the conclusion. Now, I am wondering what I will post on Tuesdays after this story is over, and currently, I have no clue as to what it will be. 😀

I wrote two more chapters on my newest work in progress which brings me up to a total of three chapters completed. I started posting this story on Patreon on Friday, and I’m going to share an excerpt from that story below.  Continue reading Music Monday: Morning Light (Brian Crain)


Music Monday: Emma – Better Together (Jack Johnson)

Roger flopped back onto the grass and placed his hat over his eyes. “You will keep me safe from marauding females if I fall asleep, will you not?”

“Perhaps,” Victoria replied.

Roger lifted his hat and looked at her. She smiled in return, and he once again put his hat over his eyes. She would not let anyone accost him – at least, not anyone he did not wish to have accost him. The thought of him finally choosing someone to be his wife pricked her heart.

“You would not consider a parson, would you, Miss Hamilton?” Mr. Clayton asked.

“No, she would not,” Roger said from beneath his hat.

“I think I can speak for myself,” Victoria retorted.

[From tomorrow’s chapter of His Darling Friend, A Touches of Austen Novella]

Published to YouTube by Val on September 24, 2007

I really do not have a tie in between song and stories this week. I just happened to like this video. 🙂 So, let’s just get right into my writing news.

 

First, and absolutely most importantly…

Today is release day for Tom: To Secure His Legacy!

It is available in the Kindle store and in Kindle Unlimited. Currently, the price is reduced ($2.99 USD) and will remain that way until the end of the week, when it will go up ($4.99 USD). [All currencies are reduced and all currencies will be going up. I just could not list them all.]

Tomorrow, I will have a post about Tom’s story on Austen Authors. I hope you will drop by and maybe discover a few facts about coffeehouses, the London stock market, and how the two things go together.

Of course, don’t forget to also stop by and read Roger and Victoria’s story here tomorrow. 🙂 I managed to get caught up on this story this week! (But, I fell a week behind on Lydia’s story. 🙂 Eventually, it will all get caught up.)

Aside from writing two chapters of Roger’s story and getting my Austen Author’s post written. I started a new story! It has no title, and I have only written 1000 words or so. BUT… it is started! The plan so far has Kitty Bennet as the heroine and possibly Mr. Waller as the hero.

If you have read or when you read Tom’s story, there is a scene where Tom and Faith meet the Darcy’s (from Two Days Before Christmas) at a ball, and they have Mrs. Darcy’s sister Kitty with them because Kitty is visiting the Gardiners. The story I have just started will be set during this visit. The book will (probably) be the third in the Darcy Family Holidays series even though it stars a character from the Other Pens, Mansfield Park series. I am really enjoying having these two story worlds merging in places. I just love thinking of all these characters living in one big world.

I have removed Oxford Cottage, For Peace of Mind, Listen To Your Heart, Through Every Storm, and With the Colonel’s Help from all vendors except Amazon in preparation for the publication of Darcy and… A Pride and Prejudice Variations Anthology later this week. This anthology will be available in Kindle Unlimited for a minimum of three month. I have not committed to a definite plan on this yet as this is the first Pride and Prejudice work I have offered ever in Kindle Unlimited. Depending on how it does. If page reads stay high or sales are good, I might extend the Kindle Unlimited enrollment for a second three-month period. This is all a grand experiment at this point. But I know that just as there are some readers who only read in Kindle Unlimited, there are also parts of the world where buying books from Amazon is not a possibility. Therefore, I would love to figure out some way of rotating books through the Kindle Unlimited library and then back out to other distributors. I’ll do my best to keep you up-to-date on that here as well as in my newsletter.

And, that, I believe, is all my writing news for this week. I am still not far enough along in that new story to share from it. So, once again, here is an excerpt from a previously published story, and I think this excerpt might sort of go with the theme presented by today’s music choice of “Better Together” — even if not all the participants in this scene are terribly willing to cooperate 😀 and work together.

AN EXCERPT FROM One Winter’s Eve [Book Two of the Darcy Family Holiday’s Series]:  Continue reading Music Monday: Emma – Better Together (Jack Johnson)