Leenie Brown

Music Monday: Unsafe Haven (Simply Three)

Georgiana clung to Elizabeth. “You were so brave. I could not even look at them.”

“I was not brave, Georgiana. I was angry. I am angry. Come, we should try to get some rest.” She pulled the young girl onto the bed with her, wrapping her in her arms. “Your brother will find us.” Elizabeth ran her hand gently over Georgiana’s hair smoothing it away from her face with a soothing caress. Soon, she could hear the steady breathing of a sleeping child. It was only then that Elizabeth allowed her body to tremble and a tear to escape her eye before drifting off to sleep.

[from Oxford Cottage]

Note: For those who might be sensitive to flashes of light, the video is very "flashy."

Published to YouTube by Simply Three on September 22, 2017

From the title of the video and the excerpt from Oxford Cottage, can you tell what sort of tone the excerpt from Mary: To Protect Her Heart might have? 😉

This will be the last excerpt from Mary’s story that will be shared on my Monday posts, and I am leaving you with a bit of a spoiler from the portion of the story when trouble starts to brew and bubble over. But before I get to that, I have some exciting…

WRITING NEWS:

First, I want to tell you that there will not be a Wednesday post this week. I just did not have enough time to get everything done over the weekend, and so that is the item that got cut off the to-do list.

Second, I have an Austen Author’s post tomorrow. There will be an excerpt from and a chance to win a copy of Mary: To Protect Her Heart included in that post.

Third, I am not sure if all the stores will reflect this price at the time when this blog post goes live or not, but both Henry’s and Charles’s stories are on sale for $2.99 USD with other currencies adjusted accordingly. These will be on sale until Mary’s story publishes. And that info brings me to…

Fourth, Mary: To Protect Her Heart will be on pre-order by the end of the week. I have finished first round edits, and it has been sent to my first editor. I believe the publication date will be December 10, 2018.

Fifth, I have also finished first round edits on Nature’s Fury and Delights: Thunder, Mist, and Frost! They will be sold in a bundle of three novelettes instead of individually. I do not have the publication date set at this point. Mary has to be attended to first, so by next week, I should have a date for you. (Should being the important word there 😉 )

I did no new story writing this past week as I spent all my time editing, so there will not be a story excerpt with next Monday’s post, and at this point, I am not sure when I will be ready to start sharing from a new story as I haven’t gotten anything started. I have Loving Lydia on the to-write list as one of my next projects so that can be ready to start posting on Thursday’s in January, but I haven’t even thought about which other project will be started at the same time. It could be Tom Bertram’s story or something completely different. I’ll be giving that some thought this week.

In addition to the editing I was doing this week, I was also finalizing ebook covers for the two upcoming releases. And here is the first look at those covers.

And now for that last…

STORY EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart: Continue reading Music Monday: Unsafe Haven (Simply Three)

Billingsgate, 1720

Billingsgate Ward in the City of London. Surveyor John Stow; cartographer, Richard Blome, 1720. Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

~*~*~

“Do we go up this one?” Darcy nodded toward Fish Street Hill. One street was beginning to blend into another as the men searched for Lydia and Elizabeth. A fear that they had already been found by someone unsavoury had settled into Darcy’s heart.

[from Delighting Mrs. Bennet]

~*~*~

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Music Monday: Jane Austen Couples, You and Me (Lifehouse)

Elizabeth laid a hand on her heart and reminded herself to breathe. He had not been critiquing and criticizing her every movement? “Miss Bingley holds no place in your heart?”

He chuckled. “Only as the sister of a friend because she must. I find her trying, at best.”

Elizabeth tilted her head. Her brows were still furrowed. Was there anything she had accurately deciphered about Mr. Darcy?

“There is only you,” he added, stepping just a half step closer to her.

She shook her head. “I do not know you.” She gave a half shrug. “I thought I did, but I do not.”

“What do you wish to know?” He clasped his hands behind his back to keep from touching her.

[from Discovering Mr. Darcy]

Published to YouTube by tori2103 on September 14, 2007.

Today, we have two excerpts that go with the song choice. The first, which is at the beginning of this post) is from a place in the story where the hero (Darcy) is finally getting an opportunity (given to him by his scheming aunt and cousin and a locked door) to explain himself to the heroine (Elizabeth). The second, which is at the end of this post) is from a place in the story when both the hero (Gabe) and the heroine (Mary Crawford) are starting to realize that there is only “You and Me” — she’s the only one for him, and he’s the one gentleman who Mary might actually be able to trust with her heart.

Before we get to that excerpt, however, let me tell you what I have been up to in my writing time this past week:

I have begun getting my three Nature’s Fury and Delights short stories (novelettes) ready for publication as it just dawned on me one day that we are almost halfway through November and if I want these out before Christmas, I had better get a move on! 🙂 Time can sometimes slip away from me. 😀 I still have to make some decisions about how to publish and how to brand the covers and such, but the editing is about a third of the way completed.

We only have three posts of Delighting Mrs. Bennet left, and my brain is beginning to work on the story that will follow. I am also beginning to get posts ready for December as I’m taking a little break from the Marrying Elizabeth series and starting that again in January. I am also considering making some changes on the blog — but Thursday stories won’t go away. Wednesday and Monday things might or they might change. I really don’t know at this moment, but I thought I would give you an advance heads up on that. (It’s that time of year when you look back at what has happened and plan for the future. 🙂 )

And finally…drumroll please…I finished the first draft of Mary: To Protect Her Heart. I know there are a few things I need to go back and add in in the last portion of the book, but the story arc is done. It will just creep into novel territory as listed by Romance Writers of America, which is over 40,000 words. I do not have a publication date right now as I am behind on getting the book ready. I am expecting that instead of the end of this month it will be the beginning of next — which means there will be lots of Christmas time Leenie stories to read with this novel and three novelettes, right? 🙂 Sweet things are on their way!

Now, on to…

AN EXCERPT FROM Mary: To Protect Her Heart: Continue reading Music Monday: Jane Austen Couples, You and Me (Lifehouse)

Fashion Plate (Morning Dress) 1826, Rudolph Ackermann

Los Angeles County Museum of Art [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

~*~*~

The woman tipped her head and looked at Lydia. “You are the very image of your mother.”

“You remember her?” Elizabeth asked.

Sally nodded. “I know it would seem nearly impossible for one to remember a lady twenty-some years after meeting her especially since our meeting was not long in duration, and, well, I do meet a good number of young women.”

[from Delighting Mrs. Bennet]

~*~*~

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Wordless Wednesday: Horse and Two Dogs in a Landscape, Henry Ossawa Tanner

Horse and Two Dogs in a Landscape by Henry Ossawa Tanner, Public Domain, via WikiArt

~*~*~

“I think he wishes to help,” Richard said with a chuckle as Dash took his eyes off the horse to once again growl at the approaching footman before barking and running forward and then returning to stare down Richard’s mount once again.

[from Delighting Mrs. Bennet]

~*~*~

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