So the spoiling continues...

Thirteen is up, ladies. Can I just take a second and tell you how much I love my thesaurus. I adore my thesaurus. I have a penchant for my thesaurus. I delight in my thesaurus. I am devoted to my thesaurus. I am completely besotted with my thesaurus!

It's almost Friday, and I did some more editing on 13 for the JAFF sites, and changed the ending a bit, so I reposted the revised chapter here, if you are interested...

I'm so happy right now!

All I have to say is "Mademoiselle Adele and Mr. Darcy in the same room!" I am cracking myself up!! I'm writing London scenes with Darcy while Lizzy is at Pemberley, and guess where Darcy has to go to pick up something for his dear little Georgiana! It's just killing me. Darcy might need a little magic, too.

This might be an entire chapter tucked in right before Chapter 12. We all need more of Darcy and I think I'm on to something...

Just thought I'd share my joy. I'll tell you when it's good and fat enough to post.

Thank you all again for all the extremely helpful suggestions. There are many I want to explore--including delving in further into the almost Darcy, Lizzy Colonel Fitzwilliam love triangle when she first arrived in London. I want to be gentle on Richard, since I have an admitted crush on him, but I do think we should find out just how Richard came to the realization that he should give up any thoughts of her and decide to help Darcy...

Okay, back to writing!

I'm waay ahead of you...

We've got a nasty flu going through our house, and since I'm feeling a little strange myself, I thought I'd get this up while I can. This is my favorite chapter since Mademoiselle Adele was introduced. Lots of fun and an absolute heart pounding last scene. Yay me!

Let me know what you think...

Oh! Thanks for all of your ideas on stretching out my book. I'm actually glad, because you can stick around after I've posted my last chapters on the JAFF sites, to see what else I'm adding and give me feedback. I really appreciate everything! :0)

I need 17,000 more words!

Okay, I am looking in to querying some publishers who do JAFF. The minimum requirement is 90,000 words. I'm at 73,000 right now with my full 14 chapters. That is roughly two more chapters that I need to write! There is no way I can contrive to keep D&E apart much longer, and I don't want to.

Since my background is script writing, I am not used to this much leeway. For feature length scripts I usually have only 120 pages that are not even full WORD pages--all the dialog has set margins only a few inches across, and is centered with the character's names above them each time they speak. Seriously, I would say that it would be about 60-80 full WORD doc pages--that's it. So, I've learned how to be very brief, but to make my words tight and powerful--full of meaning and subtext while propelling the story forward. Needless to say, I'm a little lost with all of this white space.

What I need is ideas for more "stuff" in between the beginning and Lizzy's trip to Pemberley. But it has to be relevant to the story and it has to propel it forward, it cannot simply be a distraction. There has to be information in it for us or the characters.

Here are some things off the top of my head, but I really would like to hear from my ladies. Tell me what you would like to have fleshed out even more.

* Jane and Bingley's relationship--maybe his disappearance in Bath

* More Wickham interaction previous to the encounter

* Should I spend more time in London with the Gardiners--the 1st time

* Should I have a Caroline subplot/story?

* Should I follow Darcy on his "business" trip while Lizzy is at Pemberley?

Ooh, I think I probably could do an entire chapter on the Darcy thing. Because he is up to something, but I don't reveal it until later. Maybe we can know, but Lizzy will be in the dark. Hmmmm.

Give up your ideas my dears--please! :0)

What a big liar I am!

You broke me. You sighed, you whimpered, and you apparently twitched. Here is Chapter 11 two days early...

Good news and bad news...

Hello all!

Chapter 10 is up. Yay! That is the good news. The bad news is that I am catching up to myself. I cannot post two chapters a week anymore without letting things slip. I only have three more chapters to go and I have to make sure I'm wrapping everything up tightly. I technically have finished, but am going back and adding, editing, and filling out everything. I have a little more research to do as well to make sure I get some details right.

All that to say that I will not publish Chapter 11 until next Sunday. I will miss all of you, and plan to keep you with me for another 3 weeks. :0)

Enjoy this chapter...

A new title??

So, I have never been married the title, "Speak Not Against the Sun." I slapped it on so I could put it up on the JAFF sites. It seemed clever enough, but it is a mouthful. It's tied to a wonderful thread throughout my story arc, but I'm not convinced that this is what I will name my baby.

I had been toying with a joke title, which made me laugh, but the more I thought about it, the more appropriate it sounded. And it would stop a Janeite in her tracks, if she saw it in a bookstore. "The Practice of Elegant Females." Very marketable, but still not speaking to my soul.

And then, two days ago, it hit me while I was editing Chapter 9. "A Rush of Blackbirds." It's what started the entire story, and it is referred to several times thereafter. I can't stop thinking about it.

Elizabeth ran through the rain. She was dressed in her deep green gown, her hair wet and loose down her back. A dark figure in a red coat was waiting in the shadows of the wood. He smiled handsomely, and bid her to come. Elizabeth stopped in horror, and wanted to change her course, but something down the muddy path caught her eye. Mr. Darcy was sitting against the oak, holding her handkerchief, but he did not see her. He saw nothing, for scarlet was pouring from his head, and his body was twisted and broken. A rush of blackbirds startled her awake. She was in London.

Le sigh... It just sounds so dang romantic to me. Is it just me? What do you think, Miss Austen?

I'm certain to make people angry now...

All I can say, is that I'm promising a very happy ending.  It's way too soon to end my book now, and if you want to kill a book, a movie, or a TV show--get the two, who have created sexual tension for months on end, if not years, together.  No one is interested past that.  The reader/viewer experienced their happy ending, and don't care about the wedding plans, mean relatives, or if he puts the toilet seat down or not.  I have seen it over and over again.  It is a well known fact in Hollywood that you have to do anything you can to keep the love birds apart, unless there is an ensemble cast, and this was not the only story going on.

So, since this is the only story going on, more angst is on the way.  Deal with it people (she says with deep affection...)  :0)  Enjoy the roller coaster ride.   Grab the safety bar, and hold on tight.  We can fix our hair when it's all over.

I hope that you enjoy Chapter 9.  Thanks for sticking with me this far...

I must be getting old...

Sorry readers,

I had a little lapse, and forgot to post Chapter 8 earlier!  I was up at 4:30 this morning to sing at church and then came home, ate, and crashed.  I've been almost useless since.  Hope you enjoy this chapter.  Charlotte makes me smile.

Chapter Seven is up...

I'm rewarding all of you who have come to my blog, by posting my newest chapter here, a day before I post on the three JAFF sites.

Let me also share that I am in the home stretch.  I finally have a clear vision on just how this is going to end, and am very exited, and pretty certain that I will finish the book this month.  Knock on wood, or MacBook, whatever is closest....

So enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Warning--Angst Ahead!

Hello friends,

Sorry I could not manage to get Chapter 6 up a day earlier.  I inadvertently added two new scenes, and had to obsess over them completely before I unleashed them on you.

I would like to publish each chapter individually, but this site only lets me publish 10 pages.  So, my advice would be to scroll down to the end and then up from there.

I should warn you that you are in for a bumpy ride in Chapter 6.  It is high time a villain came and twisted his mustache, don't you think??  :0)

Don't panic.  No one dies.  Just some emotional trauma.

I hope that you enjoy it.  Let me know what you think.