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Month: March 2024

Release Notice – Only Exceedingly Shy Audiobook

Release Notice – Only Exceedingly Shy Audiobook

As the subject indicates, I have a new release to announce today. The audiobook for Only Exceedingly Shy has been released, featuring Harry Frost as the narrator. Thank you, Harry, for lending your talents to my little story! https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Only-Exceedingly-Shy/dp/B0CXQLZ18Z Now, let’s do something fun. I have a code for a free copy of the audiobook to give to a lucky reader. Please add any comment to this post, and I will put your name into a draw to receive the audiobook….

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More Regency Trivia

More Regency Trivia

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash In my January post I mentioned the possibility of following up with more Regency era trivia. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go any further, but I have to confess that some of the things I’ve found are begging me to share them with you. Here, in no special order, are more bits of fact, and a little bit of fancy. As before, this information can be found at https://www.thevintagenews.com/2022/06/30/regency-era-facts/ Caricatures were popular,…

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Spring-The best season of the year

Spring-The best season of the year

Image by Nicky ❤️🌿🐞🌿❤️ from Pixabay “Spring is sprung, the grass is riz. I wonder where the flowers is?” That silly children’s rhyme is running through my head, as it always does this time of year. With the season’s official arrival last night, I wanted to extol its virtues. Spring is my favorite season, followed by autumn and summer. Winter? That accursed time of year follows a distant fourth. Although I love the warmer weather and freedom that temperatures above freezing bring, what…

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Tuesday Tunes – Barcarolle

Tuesday Tunes – Barcarolle

Rather than a specific piece, I thought I would highlight a music style today–the barcarolle. A barcarolle is a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers and over time has come to mean any piece of music that was composed in that style. A barcarolle when done properly is supposed to give the sensation of traveling on waves through music. It is usually written in 3/4 or 6/8 time (or some other three beat pattern) and is often, though certainly…

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Miscellaneous Monday – Storm in a Teacup

Miscellaneous Monday – Storm in a Teacup

I haven’t done an idiom in some time, so I thought I would return to the fascinating world of idioms on this lazy Monday. Idioms are sayings that make little sense from a practical standpoint, but mean something in common language. Storm in a teacup is not one of the more used idioms, but is common enough that just about anyone who speaks English natively should know it. Storm in a teacup is the concept that a small matter is…

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Progress- Sort of

Progress- Sort of

Image by Azmi Talib from Pixabay A number of months ago, I mentioned that I had embarked on rewriting one of my early books, Hidden Desires. In a massive case of misplaced hubris, I foolishly claimed I could have it ready before Christmas. In case any of you haven’t noticed, I missed. By a lot. It is now mid-March, and I am less than half of the way through. The further I have gotten into this manuscript, the more changes I’ve made to…

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The challenge of historical fiction

The challenge of historical fiction

Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay As an author, my genre is Historical Romantic Fiction, specifically Pride & Prejudice variations. As I’ve said in previous posts, I went through a steep learning curve, which is only now levelling off, to a certain degree. I confess to suffering some envy regarding my brother Jann’s apparent ease when it comes to crafting stories. Of course, he’s been writing professionally for more than a decade, while I six years under my belt. Unfortunately, cancer and…

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What’s Up Wednesday – The Trouble with Outlines

What’s Up Wednesday – The Trouble with Outlines

I know I have spoken of the outlining process before, but I have recently had an experience with outlining that I feel it is worth discussing. As I have said before, outlining can be the most fickle part of the writing process. There are times when I outline like a demon, going through an entire novel’s planning in the space of a few days, while other times I can look at an outline for hours and not put a single…

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Funny Friday – Writing Jokes

Funny Friday – Writing Jokes

For this edition of Funny Friday, I thought I’d pull out some funny one frame cartoons for your enjoyment. So pull up a chair and get ready to laugh (or groan!) And, of course, everyone’s favorite! And finally, a little Pride and Prejudice humor! Happy Friday everyone! I sourced all these images from various pages on Pinterest.