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: Another Man’s Gold (Dean Brody)

Georgiana’s eyes grew wide with understanding. “How dreadful!”

Mary nodded. “I felt a fool for having fallen for such a man.”

Georgiana stood with her hands on her hips. “But he was a deceiver! You could not have known.”

“I should have known when he chose me over my sisters,” Mary said quietly.

“Why?”

Mary smiled sadly at Georgiana. How did one explain one’s lack of beauty?

“Oh, no!” said Georgiana. “Stand here.” She pointed to a spot in front of the mirror. “I do not know what you looked like then, but look at yourself now. You are beautiful. Your cheeks are perfectly rosy. Your nose is small. Your eyes shine with your emotions, and your mouth is lovely ─ neither too thick nor too thin. And your figure…” Georgiana studied Mary for a moment. “Although you are not tall, your height is by no means deficient, and you have ─ Oh, I do not know how to say it politely ─ you have softness in all the proper places. You shall turn many heads this season, and one of them may possess that healing love of which you spoke.”

Mary’s cheeks were glowing quite rosy, and she had to blink against the tears that had formed in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I have never before heard myself described as anything so pleasant.”

[from No Other Choice]

Published to YouTube by Dean Brody on May 23, 2014.

I have been enjoying having a tv hanging in my “office” and playing some YouTube videos while working. (We use the tv for our homeschool videos — that’s why it is there.)

As I have said before, writing time means songs with no words, but other work times, when I am making a graphic or doing something that does not require full mental engagement so that there is a little space open to enjoy the story a song might tell, I enjoy music with words. Dean Brody is EXCELLENT at telling stories with his songs.

This one, which I listened to this past week, has a beautiful story to it, and when I went through my viewing history, it seemed to be a great one to share — simply because it tells such a lovely story.

However, I have been challenging myself the last few weeks to see if I can come up with story excerpts from my stories that fit in some way with the music video I am sharing. I am not sure how long I can keep doing that, and I thought I had hit my limit when I chose this song to share. BUT then, I remembered this conversation between Mary and Georgiana in No Other Choice. I think it fits well enough. What do you think?

I’m still working on getting the new school schedule integrated with the writing schedule. Therefore, I do not have a lot of writing news to share today, as I did very little writing last week, and the writing I did, I ended up scrapping. It was good writing, but it just did not feel right for the story. So after two days of just letting it simmer, I could not shake the feeling and cut the words.

However, in more positive news, I have a title for Mary Crawford’s story. I have been pondering the ideas both for the title and about why Mary is as she is that you left in comments. Much of what you said really meshed with what I was thinking. Mary has not had an easy life as far as men go. Her examples of how men treat women have been tragic. As I was contemplating these things on Saturday morning, I thought, “She’s been attempting to protect her heart.” And that thought sent a little shiver of goosebumps up my arms, and I knew I had found her story’s title and the central theme.

Because I actually have a title for that story and I wrote no new words that I kept on Assessing Mr. Darcy, I’m going to share the first nearly five hundred words of Mary’s story.

Just one side note here before we continue to the excerpt. If you are a patron following Assessing Mr. Darcy on Patreon, I have two chapters that I have written before and did a bit of editing on during this past week; therefore, I will have two posts for that story this week. 🙂

Now for…

AN EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart: Continue reading Music Monday: Another Man’s Gold (Dean Brody)

Wordless Wednesday: Frame Breaking (1812)

By Chris Sunde; original uploader was Christopher Sunde at en.wikipedia. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Information with the photo on Wikimedia Commons and pertinent to our Thursday Three Hundred story post tomorrow: “Frame-breakers, or Luddites, smashing a loom. Machine-breaking was criminalized by the Parliament of the United Kingdom as early as 1721, the penalty being penal transportation, but as a result of continued opposition to mechanisation the Frame-Breaking Act 1812 made the death penalty available.”

~*~*~

“Nothing is certain just yet, but the whispers I heard today were that it could happen.” He shrugged. “There is also more talk of unrest at the mills, and Father expects it to get worse before it gets better…”

[from Delighting Mrs. Bennet]

~*~*~

KOBO AMAZON NOOK IBOOKS MAILING LIST PATREON SOCIETY6

Music Monday: Period Drama Couples – Sunday Afternoon

“I would choose you before I would choose myself.” He placed a hand, which had been made rough from working with his men in the militia and the wood he loved, on her cheek. “I do not have the means just yet to support a family,” he began.

“But you will.” She squeezed his hand tightly.

He smiled and nodded. He would gladly face whatever trials might come as he established himself as a tradesman just to have her continue to look at him as she did now with such confidence in his abilities. “Yes, I will, and when I do, I would very much like to create that family with you. Will you marry me when I am established?”

A smile lit her face and eyes as she nodded. “I would like nothing better.”

“It will not be a life of ease,” he cautioned. For a moment, despite his desire to have her as his wife, he doubted whether he was doing the right thing in asking her to share such a life. His thumb caressed her cheek. “You deserve so much more.”

“I love you,” she said, pressing her cheek more firmly against his hand. “I will be happy nowhere else save at your side.”

He knew that he felt the same. It was why he was prepared to defy his father. No matter the money and property he may be losing by choosing her, he knew his life would never be so pleasant with those things as it would be with her at his side. Still, he could not resist asking, “You are certain?”

“Yes.”

“Then, may I ─ ”

“Yes. You must kiss me.”

[From His Inconvenient Choice]

Published on YouTube by MimaShar on Jul 25, 2014

Sigh. That’s a favourite scene from that book. I do love those moments when one or the other of the main characters finds that their place in life is next to the man or woman they love. 🙂

Trivia Question: Do you know who the he and she are in the above excerpt?

I’m not to that point in any of my current works in progress, however. I’m still either in the very beginning or somewhere in the middle. I am no further along in Mary’s story, but I am making progress in both the short story I am writing and Assessing Mr. Darcy. And other than to tell you that, I really have no writing news to share. School has started. We are getting our routines established and schedule refined, and writing continues as best it can while that happens.

While I have very little by way of writing news to share, I do have a story excerpt. This chapter from Assessing Mr. Darcy will be posted in its entirety on Patreon today. I am currently about two chapters ahead of this spot, but I thought I would share a little taste of what a family dinner at Longbourn might be like.

AN EXCERPT FROM Assessing Mr. Darcy: Continue reading Music Monday: Period Drama Couples – Sunday Afternoon

Wordless Wednesday: Wooden Box with Lace, Ribbons, and Threads

Wooden box with laces, ribbons, and threads on a vintage table via depositphotos.com

~*~*~

“Oh, this shop is delightful!” Mrs. Bennet cried. She followed behind Lydia and exclaimed over this ribbon or that lace. “And the caps!”

“Will you get one, Mama?” Kitty asked. “That one right there with the rosette. Would not that look divine on you?”

[from Delighting Mrs. Bennet]

~*~*~

KOBO AMAZON NOOK IBOOKS MAILING LIST PATREON SOCIETY6

Music Monday: A New Day Has Come Pride & Prejudice Fan-Made

She shook her head. Mr. Marsh truly was the complete opposite of Mr. Edwards. She stood and looked around her room – the room in which she had been wallowing in self-pity for two days now. She had been wallowing! She did not wallow. She shook herself and pulled herself upright. Two days was enough.

“Did you need something, miss?” her maid asked as she entered.

“Yes, Sally, I need several things. First…”

[From Charles: To Discover His Purpose]

Published to YouTube by Liz Rockfiles on April 1, 2016.

Every romance has a new day at least once in the telling of the tale and often more than once. These new days might include the moment when two young lovers meet for the first time, or, as in the excerpt above, one or the other of the pair has that epiphany moment when he or she realizes what (or should I say who) will truly make them happy. In the snippet from Charles, Evelyn has dried her eyes and put away her hurt feelings and is ready to begin her new day.

In the excerpt from one of my works in progress that I will share below, we have the dawning of a new day just about to happen. The excerpt shows Bingley and Darcy just before they will meet the lovely ladies that reside at Longbourn.

But first, before I get to that, here’s just a little update on what I have been working on:

I have three projects in various stages.

First, I have a short story that is helping me practice my dictation skills and has reached about the 5,000-word mark where trouble has just literally walked through the door.

Second, I have written the first 1423 words of Mary’s story for Episode 3 of the Other Pens, Mansfield Park series. I still need to finalize her title. I had originally thought to call it Mary: To Discover Her Heart, but I used the word discover in Charles’s title. So I need a verb to go into this blank –>

Mary: To _________ Her Heart

She had really been guarding and hardening her heart for a good portion of her life, so I have considered using Unlocking, but I’m not sure if it is best or not. If you have suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Third, I think I am about halfway through the first draft of Assessing Mr. Darcy. I had some great writing days this past week! I would be thrilled if this week was as good. However, there is that pesky thing called school that is starting.

This is not terribly writing related, but…

I did rearrange my office/school room/living room/dining area. 🙂 (Our house is not large and this room has many purposes.) I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

And I have all my school stuff ready to go except for the TV which needs mounting on the wall. (There will be many video lessons this year, so I wanted a good screen for watching.)

Oh, and the house has been painted! It is now a pretty blue/grey colour instead of the olive-y brown/green it was before! There are a few little details that my husband has to work on, but the big part is all done. He worked hard on it in some very warm weather. But, he wanted to get it done before his work schedule shifts with the beginning of school. And he did it!

I think that’s all the “news” from me for today, so now, how about an excerpt from chapter 4 of Assessing Mr. Darcy? (Patrons, you will have this full chapter before the end of the week. 🙂 )

AN EXCERPT FROM Assessing Mr. Darcy: Continue reading Music Monday: A New Day Has Come Pride & Prejudice Fan-Made