Someone shared the link to this video with me last week when I was having a particularly rough day. It was a nice reminder that I’m not alone, and don’t we all need that sort of reminder now and again? It was just what I needed to put a smile in my heart.
As I was listening to this song again today while putting this post together, I thought — this would make a great song for a period montage sort of fan video. However, I don’t have those skills. So, I’m just putting the idea out there in case there is someone reading this who possess those skills. 🙂 If someone does make one — or finds one (I looked but didn’t see one) — leave me the link, please. 🙂
In writing news:
First, remember that the Kindle sale on the Willow Hall Romance Series bundle ends on Tuesday. The price will go up on Wednesday.
Second, if you have read Henry: To Prove Himself worthy and you wish to have your say in which character I should consider for the next story, make sure your drop by the Other Pens Facebook Group and cast your vote before September 22, 2017. I only have two votes, both for Edwards, on the official poll, but I have a few write ins from readers on darcyandlizzy.com who would like to see Mary find redemption next. Hopefully, there will be more who will help me make this decision. I will eventually do both Mary and Edwards, but how their story develops will depend on whose gets told first.
Third, the next book that I plan to publish, Unravelling Mr. Darcy (A Dash of Darcy Novella), has been sent to my first reader for story notes, and even though she was on vacation, she has read it. I haven’t gotten her notes of things that need attention, but I know she has read the story since I got a message “suggesting” that I should be working on the sequel — NOW. 🙂 Well, I’m not working on that sequel at this moment, but it is on the list for writing next after I finish Confounding Caroline.
Fourth (and last), Confounding Caroline is, I think, at about the halfway mark. I have reached the point where Caroline has revealed to her brother why she needs to be dealt with if he is going to have a chance at a happily ever after with Jane. In other words, the mess is just starting to be made.
If I can write at least 1000 words per writing session, I should be done with the first draft in 3 weeks. However, school begins this week, which means my schedule is going to go through a period of transition. Transitional periods sometimes throw off productivity, and sometimes they have no major effect. I’m hoping for the no major effect option. 🙂
Now, if you are the sort that likes to read sneak peeks of stories in progress, here is…
I listened to several things while writing this week — my birdsongs cd, silence, and my Music to Write By YouTube playlist. Obviously, today’s selection is from that playlist. 🙂 I kept randomly selecting a place to begin the list and hit shuffle. This song (and The Assassination of Jessie James OST ) popped up in just about every shuffle. Both songs helped set the correct mood for part of what I was writing — and boy, did I do a lot of writing this week!
ThePianoGuys. “Berlin – Original Song for 12 Cellos (and a Kick Drum) – The Piano Guys.”YouTube. YouTube, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 07 May 2017.
In fact, it was a record-setting week for word count, I believe. (Seeing as I have just started keeping records, it seems safe to say that. LOL).
How record-setting was it?
Well, Caroline’s story started the week with about 5,000 words and ended the week with just over 17,000 words! Specifically, I wrote 12,961 words! (And that does not include the few hundred I wrote for this Tuesday’s AustenAuthors.net post. :)) But, I had some goals I wanted to reach, and I pushed hard to achieve them. And, having hit them, I felt very accomplished at the end of the week. (I had to use that word since it was a Caroline story I was working on. 😉 )
What were those goals?
Finish the first draft of Caroline’s story — which by the way now has a title (and as of Sunday afternoon an ebook cover)
Finish the final edits for At All Costs.
Write and schedule my post for Austen Authors, which includes an excerpt from At All Costs and an excerpt from Caro’s story that I have not shared here.
All three can be crossed off the to-do list!
So, looking forward to the week ahead, I will now need to start first round edits on Caro’s story and keep plugging away at getting At All Costs ready for publication. And, then, well, I guess I have to pick a new writing project to start so I have something to share with you next Monday. Hmmm….I wonder what it will be?
One quick reminder before I get to the excerpt — With the Colonel’s Help will begin posting this Thursday. 🙂 I am looking forward to it!
And a little story note: I took the name suggestions of Franklin and Rhett but flipped them (because I wanted to call the hero by his last name and enjoyed calling him Rhett instead of Franklin when I was typing 🙂 ) Thank you, Patty and Julie, for your help with that! 🙂
I think the story excerpt below gives a good indication of Mr. Rhett’s personality — although, it is a teaser and ends with a question unanswered. 🙂
First up is Little Moments by Brad Paisley. I adore this song. It is so cute — and the ending is perfect! And, in my opinion, it is the little moments that show the greatest amount of love in a relationship. Grand gestures like romantic plans on Valentine’s Day as well as special getaways and gifts are all wonderful. Don’t get me wrong. I love them. However, when you’re struggling to keep it together because everything has gone wrong or the kids have stomped on your last nerve, and your husband folds the laundry or does the dishes or just wraps his arms around you and listens to your mostly coherent babbling — to me, those are the whispers that shout. Those little moments are so very precious.
I do have a story connection for this song, too. Tomorrow, February 14, is release day for So Very Unexpected. (It may actually be available already. Due to a blizzard warning being issued, I uploaded the files early just in case we run into power outage issues.) Now, if you read this story when it was posting on Thursdays, I think you will agree with me that Marcus and Lydia will likely have a lot of little moments in their relationship. Even the manner in which they met in his cottage because she had taken a wrong turn seem to fit quite well with this song.
I will be at Austen Authors tomorrow with an excerpt and some thoughts as well as a chance to win an ebook copy of So Very Unexpected. Stop by if you get the chance.
So obviously, I spent time getting my post for Austen Authors ready this week. I thought I had it done before but then, changed my mind and rewrote it. 🙂 I also spent a good bit of time rereading So Very Unexpected and making the line edits. Then, I made certain the print cover was ready — the spine width could not be set until the final page number was known. This also required the writing of a synopsis for the back of the book and the various retail sites. By the time I got all that done it was Saturday! So, no new words on my current work in progress. 🙁
As I sat down to begin getting blog posts scheduled on Friday, I kept coming back to this thought: “What will I share on Monday? I really want to share something new on Monday.” Well, yesterday, I decided to give myself a writing exercise. When I have not written in a week or more, I often find a writing exercise beneficial. Below is my writing exercise. In honor of both Valentine’s Day and the release of So Very Unexpected which is the third book in the Willow Hall Romance series, I decided to write a love letter — a particular love letter. In book 2, Darcy leaves Willow Hall and on his way, he stops to deliver a letter to Elizabeth. One of the readers here on my blog mentioned that they would like to see that letter (I think it was Linda who suggested it), and I wrote that idea down for later. Well, it’s now later. 🙂 (And song two is after the letter…so keep reading.) Continue reading Music Monday: Little Moments, Brad Paisley and More
In this week’s Music Monday post, I am sharing a bit about what I did with my writing time this past week as well as a story snippet and a fun video that I think sums up how Elizabeth feels in the excerpt when she figures out exactly where she is. Enjoy! And have a great Monday!
This week has been a low word count week for writing. There were other things that needed doing. One of the things that I did was create a new cover for
One of the things that I did was create a new cover forSo Very Unexpected. I had one that I was using as I was writing and editing the book, but I wasn’t completely happy with it. I am much better pleased with this new cover. At the same time, I also created a cover for At All Costs and for the bundled Willow Hall Romance series. I have also started working on the print cover for So Very Unexpected as well as getting final file formats started. I should have my last edits back this week and NEXT Tuesday, the book should be published in ebook format with print being ready shortly after.
Part of my writing time this week was devoted to the new story I have started and the other part was given to preparing an Austen Author’s post for next Tuesday. The first draft of that post is ready, but it still needs graphics. And I must decide if I am going to do a giveaway.
One reason I did not get as much story written this week is that I have hit a wall of thinking (which means I must be at least halfway through as that is where this wall usually hits). There are details that need to be considered. So while my brain works on those things, I did some reading and a bit of planning. Between this and the graphic work for the covers, my brain is feeling nearly ready to tackle those decisions.
I have two videos for you today — same song, different story — because I just could not pick one. I love both movies that have been paired up with this beautiful song. Writing news and a story excerpt can be found below the second video.
Hernandez, Danielle. “North and South – Falling.” YouTube. YouTube, 30 Mar. 2008. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.
Tiyera. “Pride and Prejudice – Darcy & Elizabeth – Falling.” YouTube. YouTube, 03 Oct. 2009. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.
So which video did you like best? I really could not choose one. They are both on my Music Meets Movies playlist on Youtube. I picked this song to share today because of the excerpt that I am sharing. Like many (most) of my books, So Very Unexpected is a story of two characters meeting and slowly realizing that they love each other.
In this book, the love story begins as a friendship. Marcus finds Lydia in his cottage and befriends her on their trip back to Willow Hall. Lydia has not had many true friends in her life and having someone like her just for herself and not for what they can get from her is a new experience. As the story progresses this friendship evolves into something deeper — love. The excerpt below is part of the chapter where Marcus is finally asked to consider Lydia as wife, and it is where his “fear” sets in as he wrestles with the thought.
So Very Unexpected is in its final stages of editing, and its release date is scheduled for February 14, 2017.
STORY EXCERPT FROM So Very Unexpected:
*( ) added to clarify characters
“The scoundrel (Wickham) may attempt to scheme his way into the coffers of whomever Miss Lydia marries.” He (Marcus) leaned forward and glared at both men (Mr. Williams and Philip). “You know as well as I that not all husbands will be kind to a wife they think has played them for a fool.” His heart beat heavily against his ribs while his fingers clutched the arms of his chair. How could they suggest such a thing? It would be better for Lydia never to marry than to be subjected to such treatment.
“Yes,” said Philip, pushing a folded piece of paper across the desk toward Marcus, “we have taken that into consideration. I made a list of men I knew to be upstanding in my estimation. The list was not long, of course. We are not well-stocked with eligible gentlemen here in Kympton at present, so I included those I knew from Lambton.”
Marcus attempted to take the paper from the desk, but Philip held it in place by pressing down on it.
“Lucy wishes for me to say that she had only your description and a few comments made yesterday by Aunt Tess upon which to base her opinions when eliminating names.” Philip removed his hand from the paper. “However, she also had a few opinions of her own about some of the gentlemen I had included and therefore, would not allow their names to remain on the list.”
Marcus opened the paper. A list of about fifteen names had been whittled down to five. “Harris? I dare say he would not treat her well,” Marcus muttered. “It was he who called her a flirt to Miss Elizabeth.”
“Would you like to remove his name?” Philip held out a pen. Had Marcus not been so disgusted with his cousin as a choice and therefore so eager to scratch out his name, he might have noticed the amused look that passed between Philip and Mr. Williams.
Marcus scooted to the edge of his chair and, placing the paper on the desk, scratched out his cousin’s name. “Besides, he is only a captain.” He looked up at Philip. “The bottom of what Miss Lydia finds acceptable for rank. Now, Colonel Fitzwilliam has a better rank and good connections,” he drew a line through the name, “but Mary Ellen would not be pleased.”
“She should make her interest known,” muttered Philip.
“Perhaps, but I will not attempt to steer the object of her affections away from her.”
“Just as you refuse to inform him of her affections?” Philip asked with a laugh.
“Precisely.” Marcus grinned at his brother. “For the same reasons you have not made mention of it.”
Philip inclined his head in acknowledgment of the fact.
Marcus returned his attention to the list and scratched out the next two names. “Not sensible enough. It would be a home filled with folly,” he muttered about the first. “Too sensible. She would be thought a fool,” he said of the second and looked up at his brother, “which she is not.”
He made one last omission from the list and, placing the pen on the desk, sat back in his chair. It had taken some fortitude to omit the last name, for a small flutter in the vicinity of his heart wished for the gentleman to succeed with Lydia.
“You have made our task impossible.” Philip’s words were stern, but his expression was not. “You did not mention why the last man was unacceptable.”
“He is too old, and she is too young.”
Philip picked up the paper and motioned to his brother to lean forward. Then, he looked very carefully at Marcus’ face. “I am afraid you are wrong.” He picked up the pen and added Marcus’ name once again to the list.
“I am not.”
Philip nodded and pointed to the corner of his eye. “No lines. Therefore, not old.” He grinned. “Although not young either.”
“I cannot marry her.” The words cut at his heart. “She is not ready to take on Aldwood Abbey.”
Mr. Williams snorted. “She is not ready, or you are not?” He stood. “Your grandfather said the same about your mother when your father married.” His hand rested on Marcus’s shoulder. “And she did struggle at first, but ask anyone in your father’s employ, she rose to the challenge, just as I expect, Miss Lydia would. She is quick enough to see a blackguard for what he is and cunning enough to bend him to her purposes. So, unless you can find a name to replace yours, you will have to accept one of the fellows you crossed off — or take on the responsibility yourself.” He gave Marcus’ shoulder a pat. “With you, she would, at least, be safe. Gentleman.” He bowed and took his leave.
Philip rose. “I suppose my tea will be cold.”
Marcus nodded and took up his hat. He really did not care if his brother’s tea was cold. In fact, if he had not promised to take tea with Aunt Tess, he would just go home. How could he face Lydia when his mind was in such a jumbled state. Marry her? See her married to another? Neither seemed an acceptable outcome.
