Author: Leenie Brown

Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).

Music Monday: Good King Wenceslas, The Irish Rovers

AlexanderRoublev. “The Irish Rovers. Good King Wenceslas.” YouTube. YouTube, 18 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 Dec. 2016.

ABOUT THE SONG:

This was one of my favourite carols as a child. Why? Because it told a story about a kind king.  I would listen to the carol, often singing along, as lovely images of a king and his page struggling through the snow would play in my mind.

I could feel the wind blowing and would shiver as the cold seeped through the pages clothing chilling his blood.  I could see the peasant stooping and adding another twig to the pile in his arms.  I would imagine his family huddled around the hearth at his home waiting for his return. I could see the page taking large strides to match those of his master as he followed behind the king sheltered from the wind and snow. I would smile at the thought of the surprise visit and gift from the king to the peasant.  And I would be reminded that I was blessed.

I still think about these things when I hear this song, and it is still a reminder of just how blessed I am.

WRITING NEWS:

I have spent more time reading this week than writing.  In the midst of the busyness of the season, combined with the release of A Very Mary Christmas and hosting a book launch giveaway on Austen Authors, finding time to write was challenging.  Finding time to read was less challenging, so I reread parts of some books that I have read several times before.  It’s a thing I do when I find a book that I particularly enjoy and am drawn back to.  I reread these stories with a purpose — to discover the story or character development techniques the author has used to engage my interest.  I like to think of it as studying at the feet of the masters. 🙂

However, it was not all reading this week.  Below is a small portion of what I was able to write.  I am still working on Willow Hall, Book 4.  I am getting into the things are starting to come to that ultimate climax before the resolution portion of the story, so read at your own risk. 🙂  It will be many weeks before this portion shows up in a Thursday post.

STORY EXCERPT Willow Hall Romance, Book 4:

Later that evening, Bingley tapped his fingers on the table next to the letter he had written. He was uncertain if this was the best course of action.  Perhaps he should just take a trip to town to speak with Mr. ___.  Letters were tricky items.  There was no guarantee that the intended recipient would be the only recipient of the news in a missive.  He scanned the words again.  Continue reading Music Monday: Good King Wenceslas, The Irish Rovers


Music Monday: Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas, Brett Eldredge

CMA Country Christmas. “Brett Eldredge Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas CMA Country Christmas 2016.” YouTube. YouTube, 28 Nov. 2016. Web. 17 Dec. 2016.

On Friday night, my husband and I were watching CMA Country Christmas along with about three other shows since my husband had the remote 😉 when, as chance and commercials on other stations would have it, we landed back on this program in time to hear this song. As you can probably imagine, this song has been in my mind a lot over the last couple of months as I wrote and edited A Very Mary Christmas. 

Since I loved this performance of the song, and A Very Mary Christmas will be available to read this Tuesday, I decided that this song must be the one I shared today. (Even if I did share another singer’s performance of this song a couple of weeks ago. 🙂 )So, as the song plays, or after you watch the video, let me share part of what has been going on in my writing life. (And yes, there is a story snippet.)

First, A Very Mary Christmas will be live on Tuesday. If you have not yet ordered a copy, you can do that at this link –> Get A Very Mary Christmas . Making certain that everything is ready for the release of this book has taken a good amount of my time this week because I was preparing a special giveaway to celebrate the launch.  This giveaway will be hosted on AustenAuthors.net on Tuesday, December 20.

Next, along with getting that blog post ready for next Tuesday, I also started the discussion for the Austen Author’s Emma Read Along this past Wednesday. We only have two more weeks of reading and that novel will be done — which means we are at the “good part” IMO. This week, we read Frank Churchill’s letter of explanation and Mr. Knightley’s reaction.

Last, I did manage to squeeze in a little writing time yesterday (finally).  I am still working on the Willow Hall Book 4 story with no title. 🙂  So, that is what I will share a little snippet of today.  If you are following along with the Thursday’s Three Hundred posts, this one is from way down the road, so read at the risk of spoilers. 🙂 Continue reading Music Monday: Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas, Brett Eldredge


Music Monday: A Traditional Christmas, Brian Crain

So this week, in addition to writing (short excerpt below), I have been getting things ready for the publication of A Very Mary Christmas (info below).  I figured that while working on a seasonal story, I should be listening to some lovely seasonal piano music, so this playlist has been playing repeatedly in my office.   Continue reading Music Monday: A Traditional Christmas, Brian Crain