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: Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms

Today, I am reaching into Georgiana’s Music Folder and am including both a beautiful instrumental version of this song that has a wonderful storytelling video with it and a lovely vocal version so that you can hear the lyrics.

The instrumental version has this bit of information about the song as part of the introduction. I typed it out here so that it would be easier to read. It’s a beautiful story.

“Thomas Moore, the Irish Poet, upon his return home from war, found his wife to be unwilling to let him see her. During his tour abroad, she had contracted smallpox, disfiguring enough to hide her face from him. Ever devoted to her and their love, Thomas penned a song that he sang softly to her through the bedroom door. He was hoping to woo her back into his graces and to once again see her face.”

Published to YouTube by Jenny Oaks Baker on February 9, 2015.

Published to YouTube by JamesPigBandit on November 28, 2010.

There is a story connection that goes with this song, but I am not revealing that today. I’ll let you discover it on Thursday in the last chapter of Loving Lydia. 🙂 If you’re the sentimental softy sort like I am, you might want to have a tissue handy for that last chapter, just in case your eyes get misty. 😉 At least, I hope I’m not the only one who needed a tissue as I did when writing it and then every time I have read the chapter since. But then, sentimental sweetness (I had read his story about Thomas Moore so that was in my mind) mixed with the end of a story always tugs on my heartstrings.

Because of the story about Thomas Moore which accompanies these videos today, I have chosen not to include a snippet from tomorrow’s Sweet Tuesday story, but I will include an excerpt from a previously published book below so that you are not left without a bit of an interesting tale to start the week off.

My writing news is not very elaborate this week. There are just a few items to mention. Continue reading Music Monday: Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms

A Book’s First Impression

Do you judge a book by its cover? If you do, you’re likely not alone.

A partial screenshot of one of my design folders on canva.com. I use Canva for many things, including cover design.

First impressions are important, and normally, when scrolling or strolling through a bookstore, the first thing that is going to draw your attention to a book is the cover. That means a cover is a pretty important part of a book.

In this week’s episode of LLS Society Papers* Rose, Zoe, and I are discussing what goes into covering our books. Please note that this is not a how-to. This is just a conversation about our preferences and practices when getting a book’s cover ready to make that all important first impression.

The live stream will begin at 3 PM Eastern (4 PM Atlantic).

Rose’s Links

The Gentleman’s Impertinent Daughter

A Sense of Obligation

Mr. Darcy’s Bluestocking Bride

The Loving Elizabeth Series

Leenie’s Links

Tom: To Secure His Legacy

Enticing Miss Darcy

His Darling Friend

MASSIVE book sale ends Monday, May 27, 2019

Zoe’s Links

Darcy’s Secret Marriage

Darcy’s Secret Marriage Large Print Version

Mr. Darcy, My Hero

Have a great weekend! Thanks for joining us!

*Longbourn Literary Society (LLS) is a Facebook group founded by three friends, who share a love of writing and Jane Austen for the purpose of promoting those loves and our work.

~*~*~

You can find Rose and Zoe’s websites at these links:

ROSE FAIRBANKS ZOE BURTON

Sketch of the church at Allington, Kent (Arthur Hussey, 1852)

Sketch of the church at Allington, Kent; from Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey; Arthur Hussey [Public domain]; via Wikimedia Commons

~*~*~

“You are looking handsome, as always,” Lady Matlock greeted Darcy. She motioned for him to stand in front of her so that she could straighten his jacket, though it did not need it.

“Your mother would be pleased to see you so happy.” She placed a hand on his cheek. “Your father, too, but I think a son’s wedding day is more a time for a mother to be nostalgic than it is for a father.”

[from Loving Lydia, book 3 in the Marrying Elizabeth Series]

~*~*~

Confounding Caroline, book 1 ~ Delighting Mrs. Bennet, book 2

MAILING LIST PATREON SOCIETY6

Music Monday: Only You – Sinéad O’Connor (The Young Victoria)

“An assembly?” Clara questioned as if uncertain that such a thing was a good idea.

“It will be two years next month,” Mr. Watson said softly. “I think it is time.”

Clara drew and released a small breath. “You are likely correct.”

Her eyes dropped to study her hands. It was the first time since meeting her that Thomas had seen Mrs. Clara Watson look anything less than assured of herself.

[From Apple Blossoms, an original sweet Regency romance short story, and the current Sweet Tuesdays story]

Published to YouTube by Edelweiss on December 31, 2017.

Happy Victoria Day!

I just could not let this day pass without a holiday-appropriate music video, 🙂 and I think the bittersweet tone of the song goes with the above snippet from Apple Blossoms, as well as the tone of tomorrows story excerpt.

Now, I do not have an excerpt from any new story to share in today’s post because I am ‘between stories,’ but I will share a bit from a previously published story. However, that will come after I update you on my writing news.

If you saw the Friday Feature post last week, you will know that I have several books on sale from now until May 27, 2019. You can find the details about that sale here.

Continue reading Music Monday: Only You – Sinéad O’Connor (The Young Victoria)

What’s There to Like about Book Reviews?

A snapshot of the star rating system which Amazon sent to me in an email asking me to rate a purchase.

When you purchase a book, do you read the reviews first?

As authors, Rose, Zoe, and I know that book reviews give “social proof” to our work. In other words, prospective readers can see the reviews and know that others have read and (hopefully) enjoyed that particular book.

Personally, I’m not a review reader very often for books. I read reviews before purchasing something like electronics but rarely do I read them for books. However, when I do read book reviews I will often scroll through looking for the “spoiler” reviews. I know some people hate those sorts of reviews but for me, their lovely little golden nuggets that give me what I need to know to make my decision about a book. I even do this with movies. I will Google search spoilers for movies I might be on the fence about seeing. Spoilers might ruin a book or movie for you, but they do not for me. (I also tend to read the end of a book first. 🙂 )

Another thing I tend to do when reading reviews is vetting the reviewer. This means I look at the reviewer’s other reviews. I’m looking for things such as: does this reviewer only post low star reviews or is there a wide range or have they read any books that I have read and if so, how does their opinion compare with mine?

But what about when it comes to reviews of my own books? Well, Zoe and I are going to talk about that, as well as share some reviews we have enjoyed, in today’s episode of the LLS Society Papers*.

The live stream will begin at 3 PM EST or 4 PM Atlantic. (But you can always watch it later, too. 🙂 )

Books and links mentioned in the show:

Leenie’s Links

NEW RELEASE: His Darling Friend https://mybook.to/HDF

MASSIVE book sale http://bit.ly/FridaysFeature

What’s in KU page http://bit.ly/KUreads

One Winter’s Eve http://bit.ly/OWE_link

Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy http://mybook.to/HTPHW

Master of Longbourn http://bit.ly/MOL_link

Sweet Tuesdays http://bit.ly/SweetTuesdays

Zoe’s Links

Lady Catherine Impedes: https://books2read.com/u/3L9rM7

Darcy’s Secret Marriage: https://books2read.com/u/47zwJq

Matches Made at Netherfield: https://books2read.com/u/3yPM2n

Have a great weekend! Thanks for joining us!

*Longbourn Literary Society (LLS) is a Facebook group founded by three friends, who share a love of writing and Jane Austen for the purpose of promoting those loves and our work.

~*~*~

You can find Rose and Zoe’s websites at these links:

ROSE FAIRBANKS ZOE BURTON