Tag: Christmas in July

Music Monday: Christmas Present, Andy Williams

Sadly, this is the last Monday of Christmas in July. It’s been lovely taking some time to think about Christmas during a very hot and humid month for us here in Nova Scotia. Today’s giveaway is not a surprise since there is only one book left on my list. It is a book that has to do with a gift of love that is given from brother to sister, so I thought this song would be perfect for today.

Published on Youtube by TheSorrowfulFlower on December 20, 2012.

The giveaway link, as always, is right below the writing news and before the story excerpt.

Writing News:

The biggest news I have for you this Monday is that Charles: To Discover His Purpose is starting its way through the polishing process. I do not have a firm date on publication yet, but I am hoping it will be toward the end of August. 😀 There is an excerpt from the story in tomorrow’s Austen Author’s post and the last Monday excerpt from it below.

That means, next week, I may (probably won’t) have a story excerpt on Monday. 🙁 I hope to spend this week seeing if I can complete Delighting Mrs. Bennet.

Are you wondering what I will be writing next? Me, too. 🙂 Actually, I know that one story I will be working on is Mary Crawford’s story, which follows Charles’s story in the Other Pens series. However, I am also trying to decide on another Dash of Darcy title…but so far, I’ve got nothin’. 🙂

My reorganizing of the Dash of Darcy and Companion Collection is on-going, though it is getting closer to completion.

And one last thing: For those of you who frequent Facebook, I wanted to let you know that Rose Fairbanks, Zoe Burton, and I are doing a weekly Jane Austen Trivia game in our Longbourn Literary Society group. Each week on Tuesday, we will be posting two trivia questions from a different novel. You will have until Friday to participate by commenting on the posts, and for your participation, you will be entered into a draw for a giveaway.

And now for the last…

CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAY:

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF Two Days Before Christmas.

The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, August 3, 2018.

Update: All five copies of this book have found homes.

The following is from the last portion of the book. It may include some spoilers, although I did try to select something that doesn’t contain the most spoilery spoilers. (There are three important chapters after this excerpt.) However, you will still want to read at your own risk.

ONE LAST (longish) EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose:  Continue reading Music Monday: Christmas Present, Andy Williams


Music Monday: Christmas Medley- London Symphony Orchestra

Christmas in July continues today with a Mary Merry Christmas Medley and another book giveaway. Can you guess which book? Did I give you a good enough hint?

Published to YouTube by pok12341 on December 26, 2011

There are only two books remaining on our list: A Very Mary Christmas and Two Days Before Christmas. The giveaway link is located, as always, after my writing news and just before today’s story excerpt.

Writing News: 

I don’t have a lot of news for you this week. I’m still working on writing both Delighting Mrs. Bennet and Charles: To Discover His Purpose. I managed to do three days of two writing sessions each. However, I worked on Charles’s story for most of those second writing sessions since that story needs to be completed first. (I would still like to have this story ready to publish in August — it’s just turning out to be longer than expected)

Because I put extra time into that story, there were 3 chapters posted at Patreon last week, and I know I have at least 2 chapters ready or almost ready to post this week. 🙂

My goal to have the Dash of Darcy and Companions Collection all updated by next Tuesday, the end of the month, is a faint possibility for the ebooks, but the print ones might push me past that deadline as will the fact that I would like to add a couple of bundles. So a more realistic goal for completion is before August 15.

And I think that is it for the writing news. Now, for the …

CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAY:

Did you guess the right book? 😀

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF A Very Mary Christmas.

[Oh! This free copy features the never before revealed updated cover for this book.]

The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, July 27, 2018.

***Update: All 5 copies have found homes***

The following has not yet been posted on Patreon and is about half of Chapter 13.

AN (longish) EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose: Continue reading Music Monday: Christmas Medley- London Symphony Orchestra


Music Monday: The Christmas Waltz (The Carpenters)

“It’s that time of year

When the world falls in love;”

For me, that’s all year. 🙂 My world — of fictional characters, that is — always has someone falling in love. And today, the title of this song has something to do with the Christmas in July giveaway book which, of course, has someone falling in love.

Published on YouTube, December 19, 2012, by halfpint

Which book has a special dance in it that leads to a happily ever after? Here are the remaining books on my giveaway list:

A Very Mary Christmas

No Other Choice

One Winter’s Eve

Two Days Before Christmas

The book contains one of my favourite (original) characters…he’s a bit of a troublesome character for the heroine but totally sigh-worthy.

The answer and the link to claim one of five free copies of that book can be found after my writing news and just before this week’s story excerpt. (Go ahead, scroll down and see if you are a lucky reader, but please come back to read the stuff you skipped in the scrolling process 🙂 )

Here’s my news:

I’m still working on Delighting Mrs. Bennet. A proposal has been made and accepted, and our hero and heroine have learned some interesting information regarding Mrs. Bennet before she became Mrs. Bennet. Of course, it’s going to be the last part of September before we get to any of that because my last writing session will be edited today and scheduled for October 4! And no, the end of the tale has still not fully appeared. This one looks like it might cross that magical line between novella and novel — 40,000 words. Time will tell as I do not write stories to reach word counts, I write them to tell stories no matter how long or short that might be. 🙂

I have posted up to chapter 5 of Charles: To Prove Himself Worthy on Patreon. Chapter 6 is ready to edit and post, and chapter 7 is partially written. Charles is beginning to get a tiny bit caught in his own game — total snaring is yet to come.

I am still working on redoing covers and doing a bit of reorganizing of how the Dash of Darcy and Companion Stories are listed on vendors. Those tweaks will roll out over this month and be complete (finger’s crossed) by the end of the month.

I think that’s it for my writing news. Now, let me drop that link for the giveaway book and then add an excerpt from Charles’s story.

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF No Other Choice.

The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, July 13, 2018.

[Update: All 5 copies have been claimed!]

And now for…

AN EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose:  Continue reading Music Monday: The Christmas Waltz (The Carpenters)


Music Monday: Christmas Canon (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Welcome to Christmas in July. Each Music Monday this month will feature Christmas music and a giveaway. Scroll down below the video for a few details.

Published on YouTube Oct 26, 2009, by Atlantic Records

I have five books which are set around Christmas:

A Very Mary Christmas

For Peace of Mind

No Other Choice

Two Days Before Christmas

One Winter’s Eve

Each Monday, I will leave a link in my Music Monday post which will have 5 copies of one of those books at it. (Books will be given away in random order — not in the order listed above.)

There are five Monday’s in July.

That’s a total of 25 books being given away — just like the day on which Christmas falls 🙂

Two other pieces of information you might wish to know:

Each Monday post is scheduled for 8:05 am Atlantic time.

The link will be located just before my story excerpt each week because I would like you to read the post, but feel free to read after you have clicked to see if any books remain. 🙂 I get it — being quick on the click is important here.

Now, let me tell you about how I decided on the musical selection for today.  I sent out an email to my mailing list to give them a heads up on this special month of Music Monday posts. I was, at that time, still undecided about what video I would share today. Well, before I had made my final selection, I received a reply to the email I sent out, and in that reply, there were two suggestions of groups with great Christmas music. One of those groups was Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and the other one was Blackmore’s Night.  I went to YouTube and looked them both up and listened to a few songs. The song above I had never heard before, and it was so beautiful that I just had to use it today.  (In case you’re wondering, it’s quite likely that I might use one from the other group on another Monday.)

In other news…

Master of Longbourn has launched successfully and has several lovely reviews.  🙂

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 3, 2018, on Austen Authors, I will be discussing part of the plot structure of Master of Longbourn as it pertains to Mr. Collins’s inner journey.

I managed one day of writing on two stories this past week. So, not exactly a great success for the new writing routine, but it’s a good start.

I have Thursday Three Hundred posts scheduled all the way through September now, and still, Delighting Mrs. Bennet has not reached its conclusion.  That means the release date is still unknown and will likely not be any sooner than sometime in November.

The first three chapters of Charles’s story have been posted at Patreon, and I am beginning work on Chapter 4. I hope to get at least one more chapter completed and posted at Patreon this week.

Before I get to the excerpt from Charles’s story, here is the link where there are five copies of For Peace of Mind waiting to be claimed. The copies are available on a first come, first serve basis until all five have been claimed or the link expires on Friday, July 6, 2018.

CLICK HERE TO CLAIM ONE OF THE 5 COPIES OF For Peace of Mind.

[update: All five copies have found homes.]

And now for…

AN EXCERPT FROM Charles: To Discover His Purpose: 
Continue reading Music Monday: Christmas Canon (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)