The sun shone down on England today…at least the part where I live. It felt so good sitting outside, even with a slight cool breeze. We’re expecting a return to rain or something dreary in the near future, but today was glorious. After lunch the Goblin suggested we drive over to the Garden center and have a look at the fish (I’ve been wanting to see the fish in the little aquatic center – I think fish are cute). I warned the Goblin in advance that I was planning to take photos of the fish, so he barely grimaced (before disappearing down another aisle) when I took out my phone. I enjoyed seeing the fish, though I have to admit the way they were staring at me it made me wonder what they were thinking. I suspect something along the line of ‘What is that creature? It’s ugly!’ I had to share my favorite photos from my little adventures. [Read more…] about Spring Cometh…
My Regency Romance Novels
Once Upon a Wager…c’est finis
Once Upon a Wager is finally finished and on my website. There are four free chapters if you want to check it out! I shall be sending out the newsletter to members later today – after I’ve written it. I should have done it weeks ago and somehow spaced it off.
For those who aren’t members the book is now live on Smashwords and Amazon (though it’s not yet up on Barnes and Noble so it will probably be a few days for it to reach all the other online bookstores).
I Finished a Book!!!
At last…I have finished the rough draft for ‘Once Upon a Wager‘. I had the epilogue written over a year ago so I knew the end-ending, but unfolding the story to the last chapter (figuring out what entailed the final chapter) has involved much head banging on my keyboard. It needs to be edited, but hopefully I’ll soon be able to send you a newsletter that it’s on line ready to be read. If you’re a Member (and you want the e-mail) make sure your e-mail is up to date (I know it’s been ages since I’ve been able to announce a finished book). If you’re not a member, but you’d like to receive notice let me know and I’ll include you.
A brief intro to the three main characters…
Will the authentic Cari stand up…
Yesterday I watched an amazing video-talk on TED – Brenee Brown’s: The Power of Vulnerability. It’s funny, deeply poignant and produced several bright light-bulb moments that made me see myself in a new light! If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it. I now understand why and how I’m mutating back into the girl I was at 12. That girl is my most authentic self; she’s the Cari who defiantly wore her heart (dreams, feelings, agonies) on her face with her head upright because she knew it was harder than pretending otherwise. She was wasn’t always kind or happy (she whined endlessly about not feeling well – some things never change), but she tried to be kind and tried to focus on the positive. From the outside her life prospects appeared grim, but she was always busy dreaming up impossible adventures (a number of which we’ve actually accomplished). I want to be that me and over the last few months I have felt more like her. One can’t go backwards, but we all have an authentic self buried under whatever fears we’ve allowed to warp us out of recognition. [Read more…] about Will the authentic Cari stand up…
Dancing the Maypole is on my website…
Dear members of Regency Romance Novels.com
I’ve finished Dancing the Maypole and it’s on my website ready to read (all fifty-one chapters). For those of you who prefer e-books Smashwords has approved it. For those who might not have noticed, the Goblin has redesigned my website. It now shrinks down to fit all hand held devices that connect to the internet. I hope you enjoy long stories. Dancing the Maypole is twice the length of my other novels. On the Goblin’s iphone it came out as over 1500 pages (but those are tiny pages). In a paperback the book would be about five hundred pages. I would have liked it to be shorter, but the story had other ideas.
Dancing the Maypole follows on from The Hired Wife. A year older, the five Smirke brothers have decided it’s time to help their father find a wife. Knowing Peter Smirke will be attending a house party they put an ad in all the papers. They assume they’ll have at least a week and a half to interview applicants before their father returns to give them his spine chilling glare.
When I started the story, I knew by the end of chapter two that the title would be Dancing the Maypole. Dancing around a maypole is an old European custom that stretches back into pre-history. Originally Pagan, it was a celebration of May day. The dance is performed around a pole or a tree cut down and trimmed for the occasion. In recent times multi coloured ribbons were attached to the top of the pole and each dancer would hold one ribbon. The dancers then dance…half going one way, the other half going the other…and the ribbons entwine around the pole.
The heroine, Isabel de Bourbon, is a tall woman so she is what some unkindly term, a maypole, but half way through the story I realised that the maypole being danced was something bigger. The story is a romance novel, but it’s also about the weaving of the generations. We often think that our choices alone define us, but really it’s a combination of our choices and the choices of our parents/ancestors (both genetic and adopted). Our great to the tenth grandparents made decisions that genetically and emotionally affect us today. All these layers of stories woven together make up our story. I find that utterly fascinating.
Happy Reading!
Even if you’re not a member, the first ten chapters are free to read here.
Soon…
Finally…Dancing the Maypole is finished and will be on line very soon. The only thing left to do is format the e-book (another job for the Goblin). Previously there was a lag between the online book going live and the e-book getting done, but I know some of you prefer the e-book format so I wanted to have it all done and ready at the same time. I’ll be sending out a newsletter soon!
I finally know why it’s taken me so long to write the book. I went to the doctors the other week and the blood test revealed a big problem with my thyroid. I wasn’t just imagining my brain running slow. It was a bit unnerving when I picked up the phone to find the doctor had actually called me (not a receptionist) to request that I come in the next day to give some more blood to double check the findings. In movies this sort of scene is always accompanied by morbid music in a minor key! He mentioned going into hospital to see a specialist and possible tests. Strangely, knowing there’s something really wrong has really lowered my stress level. Hopefully I’ll soon feel better and be able to write faster.