As an author, I’m always trying to find new ways to reach potential readers. It can be a bit to manage, as each vendor has their own rules, back offices, and the like, which can become burdensome if one does not take care. Until now, my standard practice has been to release new works on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited, and then to put that content up on other vendors when the Kindle Unlimited term has run its course. My standard vendors have included Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Google.

Now, thanks to the wonders of aggregators, I will be migrating my books to a new platform. You will still find them on the vendors I mentioned, but if you use Smashwords, Everand, Vivlio, and a few others, you will find my works available. I also have some intention of looking into library platforms and maybe even Scribd some time down the road. If you have been looking for my books on these sites, you will now find them, though it will take me several months to migrate my full library. I hope this represents progress, for these are all popular services!

As a bonus for today’s post, I thought to offer an excerpt. This year, I plan to release a Christmas novella, entitled Christmas Capers scheduled for December 19. This story centers around Darcy and Elizabeth’s path to each other, but pays much more attention to a burgeoning friendship between Lydia and Georgiana. In the process of trying to play matchmaker to our favorite couple, they scheme to give a libertine his just deserts! I hope you will enjoy this excerpt and will join me on this short, but hopefully humorous journey set to the background of a regency Christmas!

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Thereafter, Lydia allowed Mr. Wickham to drift away from her, turning her attention to the other officers whose conversation was more satisfying. That did not prevent Lydia from watching Mr. Wickham, but now she was watching him with more than a trace of suspicion. After perhaps fifteen minutes, she noticed Mr. Wickham moving closer to Georgiana, who stood alone at that moment, though she had been with Kitty before. Curious to know what they were saying, Lydia moved close enough to overhear.

“Well, little Georgiana,” said he, a hard edge in his tone, “I never thought I would see the day when a Darcy would slum in an insignificant speck such as Meryton. Yet here you are, and your brother is only three miles away.”

Mr. Wickham laughed, a harsh, grating sound, though he kept his voice low enough to avoid anyone overhearing. “Then again, I suppose Darcy is too high and mighty to visit the likes of the Bennets, for he prefers to keep company with those as superior and insufferable as he is.”

“At least William can keep his friends,” said Georgiana, projecting an air of disinterest Lydia determined at once was false. “Those you befriend soon discover the price of your friendship to their detriment.”

“You should keep your opinions to yourself and not parrot your brother’s words, Georgiana.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Because you may find you have stirred up a hornet’s nest. When you do, it is no surprise if you are stung.”

Miss Darcy snorted, most unladylike, Lydia supposed, but appropriate when faced with such insolence. “Then I am fortunate that you claim to possess the ability to wound when you are naught but a coward. One word from me to my cousin, and you will flee to the deepest hole you can find.”

“I suggest you do not try my patience,” hissed Mr. Wickham, stepping closer and using his size to intimidate. “Should I speak of certain matters, you will become a pariah in Meryton. It would be a shame if such whispers made their way to London, and this before you have even debuted.”

“Begone, Mr. Wickham!” rejoined Georgiana. “Should you put one toe out of line, I shall reveal to all what sort of man you are. Unless I am mistaken, you already have debts among the merchants—you would not wish them to demand payment.”

Mr. Wickham appeared to consider her for a moment, then he offered her a sardonic bow. “Do not suppose I am finished with you, little Georgiana. Your brother owes me a debt—I am not a man who allows the slights of others to fester unanswered. Should you try my patience, I will end your ability to hold your head up in society.”

With one last glare, Mr. Wickham turned on his heel and stalked away, leaving Georgiana glaring at his retreating back, uncowed at his menacing attempts to intimidate her. Lydia lost no time in taking Mr. Wickham’s place.

“Georgiana!” cried she. “What just happened?”

“That is what I would like to know.”

Startled, Lydia jumped as Elizabeth approached them, a frown displaying her anger.

“Did you overhear Mr. Wickham too?” demanded Lydia.

“I did,” confirmed Elizabeth though her eyes never left Georgiana. “It left me with more questions than answers. Will you not tell us something of this? Kitty mentioned something this morning, but Mr. Wickham’s behavior speaks of something more serious than I might attribute to a bounder.”

At that moment, the officers announced their intention to depart. With many expressions of felicitation and wishes for their health, they went away. Mr. Wickham, however, did not depart before fixing Georgiana with a sneer—he did not seem to notice Lydia and Elizabeth’s position near their new friend. A glance around the room suggested that Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst were eager to leave, but they were still engaged with Jane and Mrs. Bennet, allowing Lydia to turn to her friend and demand an explanation.

With a clear wish to avoid anyone overhearing, Georgiana motioned them to follow, leading them to a side of the room near the pianoforte where they could be assured of privacy. Lydia had no notion of where she had gone, but Kitty joined them at that moment. There Georgiana stared at Lydia, an expression that made her uncomfortable.

“Do you believe me now, Lydia?”

Squirming with discomfort though she was, Lydia soon allowed a reluctant nod. “It seems I must, for Mr. Wickham’s behavior was . . . not good.”

“Not good?” demanded Elizabeth. “It was deplorable and nothing less.”

Lizzy then looked at Georgiana with compassion. “Please, Georgiana, what does Mr. Wickham have against you? We will never breathe a word of what you tell us.”

Lydia nodded with vigor joined by Kitty, though it appeared unnecessary. With one last look about the room, Georgiana leaned toward them.

“As I told you yesterday, Mr. Wickham is not a good man. What I did not say was that he tried to seduce me.”

Shocked as she was by this revelation, it was for the best when Elizabeth put a hand over Lydia’s mouth preventing her from blurting something she should not. “Careful, Lydia. I am as surprised as you are, but it would not do to speak without caution.”

While Lydia was gathering herself, Elizabeth said: “That is an extraordinary charge, Georgiana, especially considering the rumors of your brother that Mr. Wickham is spreading about the community.”

Georgiana had never appeared so like the haughty noble as she did at that moment. “Of course. I would have expected nothing less than such behavior from a man of Mr. Wickham’s ilk. I will not speak of the specifics—”

“And we do not need them,” said Elizabeth.

With a grateful nod, Georgiana continued: “The salient point is that Mr. Wickham lusted after my dowry, and my brother’s intervention prevented me from ruining my life.”

“You did not already know about Mr. Wickham’s excesses?”

Georgiana shook her head. “As I had fond memories of Mr. Wickham as a child and William sent him away with his bequest from my father’s will, he did not think there was any need to speak of it. After he thwarted Mr. Wickham’s attempt, my brother told me all.”

Elizabeth regarded Georgiana, a shrewd look in her eye. “Mr. Wickham has been eager to speak of a living left to him in your father’s will that your brother refused to give him.”

The disdain on Georgiana’s face was unmistakable. “That is typical of his stories—he says just enough to imply my brother’s depravity but leaves out the points that prove his culpability. Yes, my father recommended that Mr. Wickham receive a valuable family living, but Mr. Wickham’s character is not of sufficient virtue that would make such a calling at all advisable. In exchange for his promise to relinquish any entitlement to the living, William negotiated a settlement that paid Mr. Wickham three thousand pounds in addition to the one-thousand-pound bequest in my father’s will.”

Lydia gasped at the handsome sum, her head spinning from the lies the man had told her, all with a straight face. She had just enough sense left to hear Elizabeth’s response.

“Mr. Wickham quite neglected to mention that detail.” The hardness of her words belied the softness in her tone toward their new friend. “Do you suppose Mr. Wickham’s memory is deficient?”

This evidence of belief heartened Georgiana, for she smiled, though her glance at Lydia was uncertain. “Though everything about Mr. Wickham is deficient, I do not suppose he suffers from a loss of memory. His behavior is much the same wherever he goes.”

“Then we must act against him,” said Elizabeth. “We cannot allow him to do as he wishes.”

At that moment, the mists of doubt and shock cleared from Lydia’s mind.

“I think I know how we can do it.”

“Oh?” asked Elizabeth, a deceptive mildness in her voice. “Do you believe Georgiana’s account now?”

Lydia brushed off the question as it did not signify. Instead, she explained her idea to her fellow conspirators, and if their responding grins were any indication, they were not in disagreement. Georgiana proposed a few refinements and Elizabeth offered her opinion and a few other options, while Kitty clapped her hands in glee, such that by the time Georgiana departed with the Bingley sisters, they had firmed their plans to dispose of one George Wickham.

If there was one thing Lydia Bennet could not abide, it was the notion of another making a fool out of her. Lizzy or Mary might laugh at such a notion, but Lydia possessed supreme confidence. Mr. Wickham would rue the day that he told them all such pretty tales designed to mislead. When Lydia Bennet finished with him, he would know to fear her.

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I hope that set the stage for you! As a reminder, I also have a novella pictured above in conjunction with my brother, Colin, and Lelia Eye, my longtime collaborator. You can find Merry Mischief here at Amazon!