A Bit of This and That

Busy week! Since I saw you last (so to speak) I planted flowers, hauled beloved to Home Depot (twice), weeded two beds, repotted an orchid, weed-whacked the back yard, and cleaned the clutter that accumulates when a husband is left to his own devices for three weeks.

I also gave The Defiant Daughter her very own webpage, and sent the blurb, short blurb, and tag line along to Dragonblade. “More lies between the duchess and the man she wants than money and class. Can they slay the demons of their pasts and forge a future?”

Well done I say! Here are two views. One is the cover. The other is how I imagine Maddy.

My story for the Bluestocking Belles’ next collection is coming along. That project is proving to be interesting (In the “may you lead and interesting life” curse sense of the word). It is going to have:

• the usual collection of handsome heroes—some brooding, at least one without a serious bone in his body, one a confused curate
• enough sisters to form a soccer team, one widowed step-mother, miscellaneous aunts, and some who may or may not be actually related.
• a borrowed house
• some fine gowns but not enough to go around
• a formal ball—cobbled together with hand me downs, handcrafts, and bartering
• a monkey in a basket
• a riot
• well intended deceptions
• children—perhaps more rioting
• a horse race
• medicinal springs
• medicinal herbs
• mistake identities—several

And we’ve only begun to write. This one will be a pip. I hope to get my story done this week, because the next Ashmead book won’t write itself. Wish me luck. But first, coffee.