A Jane Austen Sequel: Colonel Fitzwilliam’s Correspondence

Colonel Fitzwilliam’s Correspondence
For your holiday enjoyment, one of the Regency Romances I published. It is available for sale and I hope that you will take the opportunity to order your copy for the holiday season. For yourself or as a gift.
It is now available in a variety of formats. For just a few dollars this Regency Romance can be yours for your eReaders or physically in Trade Paperback.

Barnes and Noble for your Nook or in Paperback

Smashwords

iBookstore

Amazon for your Kindle or in Trade Paperback
Witnessing his cousin marry for love and not money, as he felt destined to do, Colonel Fitzwilliam refused to himself to be jealous. He did not expect his acquaintance with the Bennet Clan to change that.

   Catherine Bennet, often called Kitty, had not given a great deal of thought to how her life might change with her sisters Elizabeth and Jane becoming wed to rich and connected men. Certainly meeting Darcy’s handsome cousin, a Colonel, did not affect her.

   But one had to admit that the connections of the Bingleys and Darcys were quite advantageous. All sorts of men desired introductions now that she had such wealthy new brothers.

   Kitty knew that Lydia may have thought herself fortunate when she had married Wickham, the first Bennet daughter to wed. Kitty, though, knew that true fortune had come to her. She just wasn’t sure how best to apply herself.

Feedback

If you have any commentary, thoughts, ideas about the book (especially if you buy it, read it and like it then we would love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Kickstart 2 books with Kickstart for RAP Quotes Needed

We are looking for illustrators and copyeditors:

These last few weeks I have been profiling here at The Things That Catch My Eye, chapters excerpted from Steam and Thunder, and The Prize is Not as Great As You Think. See the sidebar for all the chapters of each book.

I still have another chapter or two of the Prize to impart, but I am stopping midway in each book so that I have whetted your appetites. I also have found that many unscrupulous people will cut and paste my writing and others into one long document and claim that they have written the story I have. Thus it is best to only show half the book to you all.

But the whole story not having been revealed, so to the publishing story.

I want to have these two books be Kickstarter projects but to elevate our normal publication scheme. I want to use a professional cover, and illustrations for each chapter. To do this, I need feedback. One that you would like to see the books done so.

But also I need to work up the budget and need quotes from professionals in the field. Those who would like a gig as an illustrator for the books, or more than one. And copyeditors. Please send me your info in the comments section.

The funding level will be calculated to ensure that these professionals who contribute will get paid for their work!

Illustrators, especially if you can emulate the style of CE Brock would be perfect.

Read Full Post »

RAP looking for Cover and Interior artists-Can you draw like CE Brock?

Having finished editing another of our fantasy books, I have started to lean to the idea that perhaps a professional artist might be better than my own renditions, of Trolls, warriors and Dragons.

If anyone knows of someone who would like to discuss designing a cover for RAP, please get in contact with us.

Otherwise we may end up with this

For our many other works, one of the things we would like to see is having pen & ink or pencil illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. Can you draw like CE Brock? He did amazing work for the books and stories of Jane Austen in the early 1900s.

a

Read Full Post »

Be a First Reader for RAP

At this point in my writing career, I think, though of course I can’t say for certain, that I have a few fans.

We may be able to count them on the fingers of one hand, but I hope there are more of you out there.

One thing though that I suffer from at this stage, is feedback.

I have 2 writing groups that I attend and we discuss the big issues in writing and critique some of what I have produced, but they do not meet often enough to work through an entire book as fast as I write them.

So, I am looking for someone, or someones who might like to help with the process.

To read my first drafts and check that I am on the right path with my plotting, my character development.

What this means is that I shall include the person(s) who wish to be a part of the process in my thinking and they can help to craft where the story goes.

The job is to read the draft when I have finished with it, and provide criticism (you can be brutal like that character would never do that! or you forgot David, they didn’t say things like that until forty years later.) Oops… If you see glaring word misuse Then/Than and can correct it that would be appreciated as well, but not totally part of the job description. And to do this in a timely manner.

That last part is because I have hit up close friends to do this. They have volunteered (I placed an open Facebook request) and then I sit, and I wait, and I am reluctant to twist the arms of friends into if they have actually read the files I sent them. So timeliness is important, else I am stumped for moving on to the second draft and the continued editing process so we can release the book for more to read

What you get for this service. A signed copy of the book when released. Your name in the acknowledgements and should we start selling 1000+ copies of each book, real money. (Should we start selling 3000 copies of each book, I’ll place a post for hiring a real copy editor.)

That’s what I got for now. Anyone interested, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

        

Read Full Post »

Conclusion of the Trolling Series-We’ll All Go A Trolling

We’ll All Go A Trolling
Not only do I write Regency and Romance, but I also have delved into Fantasy. The Trolling series is the story of a man, Humphrey. We meet him as he has left youth and become a man with a man’s responsibilities. We follow him in a series of stories that encompass the stages of life. We see him when he starts his family, when he has older sons and the father son dynamic is tested. We see him when his children begin to marry and have children, and at the end of his life when those he has loved, and those who were his friends proceed him over the threshold into death.
All this while he serves a kingdom troubled by monsters. Troubles that he and his friends will learn to deal with and rectify.
It is now available in a variety of formats. For $2.99 you can get this fantasy adventure.

Barnes and Noble for your Nook

Smashwords

Amazon for your Kindle
King Humphrey, retired, has his 80th birthday approaching. An event that he is not looking forward to. A milestone, of course, but he has found traveling to Torc, the capital of the Valley Kingdom of Torahn, a trial. He enjoys his life in the country, far enough from the center of power where his son Daniel now is King and rules.

Peaceful days sitting on the porch. Reading, writing, passing the time with his guardsmen, his wife, and the visits of his grandson who has moved into a manor very near. Why go to Torc where he was to be honored, but would certainly have a fight with his son, the current king.

The two were just never going to see eye to eye, and Humphrey, at the age of 80, was no longer so concerned with all that happened to others. He was waiting for his audience with the Gods where all his friends had preceded him. It would be his time soon enough.

Yet, the kingdom wanted him to attend the celebrations, and there were to be many. So many feasts and fireworks he could not keep track, but the most important came at the end, when word was brought that the Trolls were attacking once more.

Now Humphrey would sit as regent for his son, who went off to fight the ancient enemy. Humphrey had ruled the kingdom before, so it should not have been overwhelming, but at eighty, even the little things could prove troublesome.

Feedback

If you have any commentary, thoughts, ideas about the book (especially if you buy it, read it and like it then we would love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

RAP has The End of the World

The End of the World
This is the first of the Regency Romances I published. It is available for sale and I hope that you will take the opportunity to order your copy for the holiday season. For yourself or as a gift.
It is now available in a variety of formats. For $7.99 you can get this Regency Romance for your eReader. A little more as an actual physical book.

Barnes and Noble for your Nook

Smashwords

iBookstore

Amazon for your Kindle and as a Trade Paperback
Hermione Merwyn leads a pleasant, quiet life with her father, in the farthest corner of England. All is as it should be, though change is sure to come.  For she and her sister have reached the age of marriage, but that can be no great adventure when life at home has already been so bountiful.

When Samuel Lynchhammer arrives in Cornwall, having journeyed the width of the country, he is down to his last few quid and needs to find work for his keep. Spurned by the most successful mine owner in the county, Gavin Tadcaster, Samuel finds work for Gavin’s adversary, Sir Lawrence Merwyn.

Can working for Sir Lawrence, the father of two young women on the cusp of their first season to far away London, be what Samuel needs to help him resolve the reasons for his running away from his obligations in the east of the country? Will the daughters be able to find happiness in the desolate landscapes and deadly mines of their home?

When a stranger arrives in Cornwall while the war rages on the Peninsula, is he the answer to one’s prayers, or a nightmare wearing the disguise of a gentleman?

Feedback

If you have any commentary, thoughts, ideas about the book (especially if you buy it, read it and like it then we would love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Space Opera Books Presents Trolling, Trolling, Trolling Fly Hides

Trolling, Trolling, Trolling Fly Hides!
Not only do I write Regency and Romance, but I also have delved into Fantasy. The Trolling series is the story of a man, Humphrey. We meet him as he has left youth and become a man with a man’s responsibilities. We follow him in a series of stories that encompass the stages of life. We see him when he starts his family, when he has older sons and the father son dynamic is tested. We see him when his children begin to marry and have children, and at the end of his life when those he has loved, and those who were his friends proceed him over the threshold into death.
All this while he serves a kingdom troubled by monsters. Troubles that he and his friends will learn to deal with and rectify.
It is now available in a variety of formats. For $2.99 you can get this fantasy adventure.

Barnes and Noble for your Nook

Smashwords

Amazon for your Kindle
Old age is catching up to Humphrey and his friends. He feels it in his bones and with his son and heir having reached the prime of his life, it could very well be time to pass the baton of rule to Daniel. With the Valley Kingdom of Torahn at Peace, that would not be a terrible thing to do. Though breaking his decision to his wife Gwendolyn, the Queen, might be the hardest battle that he ever would fight.

Even as the life of retirement looks to be attractive and possible, however, the Valley Kingdom is beset again. Not Goblins, Trolls, Giants or Men, this time. No. That Humphrey knew would be far too easy. Those obstacles had been overcome before and the problems they presented had solutions that the army of Torahn was trained to deal with.

No, of all the creatures that came forth from Teantellen that they had beaten, the one they had never faced now came forth. Dragons!

Who in the realm knew how to fight these mythical beasts? Was there even away to do so? Now Humphrey who had thought to spend the remainder of his days quietly writing his memoirs and drinking, was faced with the greatest challenge he had ever known.

Feedback

If you have any commentary, thoughts, ideas about the book (especially if you buy it, read it and like it then we would love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

RAP has The Shattered Mirror, A Regency Romance

The Shattered Mirror
For your holiday enjoyment, one of the Regency Romances I published. It is available for sale and I hope that you will take the opportunity to order your copy for the holiday season. For yourself or as a gift.
It is now available in a variety of formats. For just a few dollars this Regency Romance can be yours for your eReaders or physically in Trade Paperback.

Barnes and Noble for your Nook

Smashwords

iBookstore

Amazon for your Kindle and in Trade Paperback
Bridget Halifax-Stokes was giddy with the excitement of her season in London. Town had beckoned and her season came on the heels of the end of the war against the tyrant.

All the handsome men were returning heroes. What better year to come out. Her father thought it all nonsense. Her mother believed that it would be the best showing of any of her daughters.

More lords available and luck that Bridget was just the perfect age.

All is fun and frivolity until Bridget literally crashes into Sir Patrick Hampton as he limps along the high street.

A man she knew once well, now a stranger with dark and foreboding eyes.

Feedback

If you have any commentary, thoughts, ideas about the book (especially if you buy it, read it and like it then we would love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Trolling Down to Old Mah Wee, another Fantasy

Trolling Down to Old Mah Wee
Not only do I write Regency and Romance, but I also have delved into Fantasy. The Trolling series, (the first three are in print) is the story of a man, Humphrey. We meet him as he has left youth and become a man with a man’s responsibilities. We follow him in a series of stories that encompass the stages of life. We see him when he starts his family, when he has older sons and the father son dynamic is tested. We see him when his children begin to marry and have children, and at the end of his life when those he has loved, and those who were his friends proceed him over the threshold into death.
All this while he serves a kingdom troubled by monsters. Troubles that he and his friends will learn to deal with and rectify.
It is now available in a variety of formats. For $2.99 you can get this 2nd book in the fantasy adventure series of Humphrey and Gwendolyn.

Barnes and Noble for your Nook

Smashwords

Amazon for your Kindle
When the neighboring kingdom of Mah Wee begins to experience the same problems that beset Torahn some years before, they urgently request the aid of the experts in containing a new Troll infestation. But eradicating Trolls is not as easy as exterminating a few rats or mice. Trolls are bigger than men, they are stronger than men, and then are meaner than men. Humphrey Cutter and his band of mismatched warriors must once again rise to the occasion, but can they without the aid of expertise of Gwendolyn and her particular skills?

   Mah Wee, an ancient kingdom, with a monarch more steeped in the rights of being a king rather than the obligations and duties that a king should be. Here Humphrey and his crew finds that they have more than Trolls to overcome if they are to save Mah Wee from the same or nearly similar problems that they faced before in Torahn. But, as Humphrey knows, nothing can truly be accomplished if the lovely Gwendolyn is not able to lend her aid as well.

Feedback

If you have any commentary, thoughts, ideas about the book (especially if you buy it, read it and like it then we would love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Jane Austen Fans Rejoice, Jane is BACKKKK… Jane Austen and Ghosts

Jane Austen and Ghosts.

Not only do I write Regency and Romance, but this can take a humorous turn. Some years back, I am sure readers of this blog will be aware that some writers began to take great liberty with Jane Austen and her works. Pride and Prejudice being liberally rewritten with the inclusion of zombies. Then other books appeared with sea monsters, and werewolves and vampires. President Lincoln has even made it to the big screen where he is intent on sending foul creatures to hell.

It occurred to me, even before I read any of this literature, that Jane would probably not appreciate what had been done to her classic piece. That the tales and her life have become visual spectacles that we enjoy she might not like either, but is perhaps resigned to. That zombies, ghosts and vampires are now used to follow her own plot lines would I think, have her turning over in her grave. Jane Austen and Ghosts is my take on that.

It is now available in a variety of formats. For $4.99 for your eReaders and $8.99 for paperback you can get this Jane Austen adventure.

Barnes and Noble for your Nook

Smashwords

iBookstore

Amazon for your Kindle and in Paperback

In the world of moviemaking, nothing is as golden as rebooting a classic tale that has made fortunes every time before when it has been adapted for the silver screen. Certainly any work by Jane Austen made into a movie will not only be bankable, but also considered a work of art.

That is of course until the current wave of adaptations that unite her classic stories with all the elements of the afterlife is attempted to be created. That these have found success in the marketplace amongst booklovers may not be quite understood by those who make movies. But that they are a success is understood and a reason to make them into movies.

All that being said, perhaps it would also be fair to say that the very proper Jane, were she present to have anything to say about it, would not be pleased. Of course she has been away from this Earth for nearly 200 hundred years. But does that mean were she upset enough, she wouldn’t come back?

Feedback

If you have any commentary, thoughts, ideas about the book (especially if you buy it, read it and like it then we would love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »