A Summer for Love Blog Hop: Summer in Scotland (with Giveaway!!!)

Ahh, summertime! It's the perfect time for strawberry ice cream, for peach bowle, for spending lazy days outside, and for going on vacation.

In the summer of 1839 this meant for a lot of people to go to Scotland because a young Scottish lord, the Earl of Eglinton, was hosting a medieval tournament on his estate in Ayrshire. He and a group of his friends donned medieval armor in order to joust like knights of old. The event drew several ten thousands of people to the Scottish countryside - and caused unspeakable traffic jams in the area around Eglinton Park. And because everybody was to come in costume, the coaches all over the country were piled high with boxes, parcels, and packages of all sizes.

In Edinburgh, a reporter for Tait's Edinburgh Magazine, ready to embark upon his journey, was utterly astonished by the amount of luggage - and he was not the only one:

Arriving at the office in Prince's Street a little before the hour at which [the coach] should have started, we were astonished at the immense pile of luggage which we saw heaped on the street in order to be packed upon the carriage. When Mr. Croal, the coach-proprietor, came up, he was so much appalled by the sight, that, apologising for the delay which he must inevitably  occasion, he informed us that he must send back the coach to the yard, and get out a stronger one, that might be more certainly able to bear such a load without risk of breaking down.

When this more potent vehicle arrived, any impatience that might have been excited in us by the delay, was subdued by the interest which we could not help taking in the ingenuity which the coachman and his assistants displayed in packing and piling the various articles in and upon it; till I, and my companion, and two officers of our acquaintance, who had all of us placed ourselves comfortably on the hinder seats, could no longer see those in front, even when we stood up to try to do so. We felt some comfort in thinking that  the superior construction of coaches, now-a-days, admits of this being done with more safety than was formerly the case.

Besides all the ordinary kinds of trunks, portmanteaus, band-boxes, and carpet-bags, which are usually attendant upon a coach full of passengers inside and outside, there were innumerable white deal boxes of all manner of shapes and sizes. Most of them were ingeniously suspended like sausages on strings all around the carriage; and, to crown all, on the very top perched a wicker cage, containing a great, long-legged, large-bodied, awkward-looking pair of Chittagong fowls, belonging to an Indian who had a seat in the interior. The cock not only seemed to know that he was going to the Tournament as well as other people, but to think that he was to be triumphant there; for much to the amusement of all who beheld him [...] he crowed away so loudly that he brought some of the sleepy citizens of Prince's Street, in their night-caps, from their beds to their windows, to wonder at so unwonted a summon.

(from Tait's Edinburgh Magazine, November 1839)

My latest release THE BRIDE PRIZE is set against the backdrop of the Eglinton Tournament, and my hero and heroine are among the people travelling to Scotland in August 1839. Click below to listen to an excerpt.

THE BRIDE PRIZE is available from Amazon US / UK (and all other Amazon stores) & from Kobo

But wait! You can also win a signed copy of the novella if you sign up to my newsletter during the Summer for Love Blog Hop!

And there is even more!
Leave a comment here on this blog with your name and your e-mail to be entered into the Grand Prize drawing for a chance to win one of six $50 Amazon or B&N giftcards! Just tell me about your favorite summer destination.

Comments without name and email will not be counted.

Commenting on each and every stop will increase your chances of winning.

You can find the list with all stops here.

The Grand Prizes will be awarded to randomly drawn participants / commenters.

Winners will be drawn and announced on THE ROMANCE TROUPE blog by June 10th using random.org to determine each winner.

Launch of THE BRIDE PRIZE

I'm thrilled to announce that THE BRIDE PRIZE, the first in the Allan's Miscellany series is now available on both Amazon and Kobo, with B&N soon to follow. Here's the blurb:

It's 1839, and Lord Eglinton's tournament in Scotland is the most anticipated event of the year: he and some of his noble friends will don medieval armor and joust like knights of old.

Does this mean a revival of true chivalry? Miss Florence Marsh thinks it might.

Or is the tournament mere tomfoolery and the greatest folly of the century? Mr. Robert Beaton thinks it is.

But when Flo and Robbie meet at Eglinton Park, they'll soon learn that a dash of romance can make the greatest differences look rather small and that true love might find you in the most unlikely place.

If only Robbie wasn't working for that scandalous new magazine Allan's Miscellany! If only Flo's father didn't detest the periodical press!

And if only they had remembered to bring an umbrella!

The novella is available in two different editions: a plain edition for 99 cents and an enhanced edition for $ 2.99. The latter includes detailed info about the historical background and illustrations. Here are the buy links:

Plain edition:
Kindle US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K9TEZ5S/
Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K9TEZ5S/
and all other Amazon stores

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/the-bride-prize-1

Enhanced edition:
Kindle US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K9TLA38/
Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K9TLA38/
and all other Amazon stores

Invitation to a Tournament

Today I'm guest-posting on Risky Regencies, where I'm sharing some info about the historical background of THE BRIDE PRIZE. And no, we are not talking about medieval romance here. :-)

Click here to find out more

(There are men in kilts! Noble knights! People in medieval costume!)

Breakthrough!!!!!

As you know, I was working on the revisions of THE BRIDE PRIZE these past few days. These were the hardest revisions I've ever done (mainly because I didn't properly plan the story from the get-go), and there was a lot of red on the pages. Like, A LOT!

In the end, I was so very frustrated that I decided to switch colours to make the pages look a little less horrid. And with a little help from my friends (in the picture below you can see a promo pen Debra Holland gave me when we met at the IndieUncon in San Francisco back in February) I muddled through a few more chapters, until....

....until I hit a major, major roadblock. I grappled with that one scene for days and days and days and DAYS. And it was beyond depressing because I just couldn't figure out how to resolve this dratted scene -- until this afternoon!!! Wheee!!!!

Well, actually, I had already scribbled what eventually became the solution onto a post-it the night before: just before I went to bed, the Muse struck me over the head. :-)

After a final read-through tomorrow morning, both THE BRIDE PRIZE and DEVIL'S RETURN will go to my copy editor, and for me it's then on to A TANGLED WEB (which will probably be a similarly hard nut to crack as THE BRIDE PRIZE - oh joy!)

Doggie-walking Duties & a Tournament

Today, I was once again on doggie-walking duty. :-)

I'm also still hard at work at the revisions for THE BRIDE PRIZE. At the moment my characters are at a tournament (which is not exactly surprising, given that half of the novella takes place during the aforementioned tournament). As per my editor's suggestions, I'm working on increasing the conflict between hero and heroine. In this particular scene it needs to be clearer that he regards the whole tournament thing as a rather silly affair. Sooo..... (insertions in red)

Around them the crowd fell silent as the knights retired to their tents in order to don their helmets and await the formal challenge to combat. Yes, very much in the manner of Ivanhoe (though minus the nasty Prince John and the general bloodlust of the audience) and as good a show as anything you might see on a London stage.
Here and there a few laughs could be heard as the jester rode across the field, swinging his bells in a somewhat dampened tingle over his head.

And then, finally, a blast of trumpets sounded, and the first challenge of the day was issued: the Knight of the Swan sent his defiance to the Knight of the Golden Lion. Having donned their helmets, both knights rode forth, plumes fluttering in the wind.

Everyone around the lists seemed to hold their breath. This was it! This was why they had come here from all corners of the kingdom; indeed, even from all corners of the world!

Breathless excitement gripped the stands & slopes, Robbie scribbled into his sketchbook right next to a very hasty drawing of a round gentleman staring in open-mouthed wonder at the silly spectacle unfolding in front of his eyes.

We do so need somebody for satirical illustrations, Robbie thought ruefully.

The knights took their positions on opposite sides of the barrier that had been set up for the tilting.

Miss Florence sighed happily. "Isn't it wonderful? It's so --"

Another blast of trumpets, and the knights rode furiously -- or at least as furiously as was possible in the rain, which was not very furious at all -- towards each other... further and further... and past each other, without so much as scratching their shields, let alone splintering anybody's lances.

My New Editorial Assistant

 For tackling Chapter 3, I had a very special editorial assistant today:

"Edi-what???"

Editorial assistant. Which means you're helping me to improve my book.

"Does that mean I'll get a treat?"

Uhm...

"Well, then..."

"No treat, no assistance!"

The Cutting Continues

I did indeed manage to condense Chapters 1 and 2 into one single chapter (YAY!); and now I'm cutting away at Chapter 3.

Btw, did you know that there were horse-drawn railways? Neither did I until I researched this scene. :-)

Add a bit of pink...

... in order to increase the general confusion. This is the page from the second pic in my last post. Cut even more stuff. Snip-snap.

My Editor Made Me Do It!

I call this "My Editor Made Me Do It": it's Chapter 1 in all its red glory. Quite a frightful sight, isn't it?

And the next pic shows the beginning of Chapter 2, which isn't much better. But at least the cutting has become easier. Yay! However, I need to cut a lot more text if I want to merge those two chapters into one. *sigh*

(I'd also like to know why the heck my pictures come out so very dark when I upload them here. Until two or three days ago, I've never had this problem before. Grrr....)

Cutting, cutting, cutting, and adding conflict

The aim for Chapter 1: cutting and adding conflict.

Cutting!!!

More cutting!!!! And setting up some of the conflict.

But actually...

We could cut even MORE...

Cutting in Progress

See? Totally killing my darlings. Even such nice paragraphs as:

By the same token, Mr. Marsh considered modern forms of book publication a real horror. He did not buy serial installments, and he held Mr. Dickens responsible for having dragged that beautiful institution of English literature down into the muddy waters of serialisation.

(For THE BRIDE PRIZE I might have to put a section with deleted scenes into the enhanced edition....)

Moreover, if the reader wonders why the heck the heroine's aunt is so excited about a tournament, perhaps the heroine, too, should wonder why her aunt is so excited about a tournament.

Battle-Plan Progress

I have to admit that I dreaded grappling with the revisions of this story. Normally, when I do revisions, I go through a manuscript page by page and insert stuff as I go along. I tried this with THE BRIDE PRIZE this morning, then gave up and did some other work because it was all so very depressing.

By early afternoon, I knew I had to do a mind map in order to get a grip of the story, but abandoned that shortly after posting the entry before this one (because it was all so very depressing *sob*).

About an hour ago, I finally put on my big-girl-pants and sat down and just did it: mind-mapping the story as it is. Afterwards, I put off the inevitable (i.e., reading my editor's suggestions very, very carefully) (this bit is always such a torment - at least for me - because you have to face up to the fact that parts of your story are less than splendid and you have to be brutally honest to yourself in order to get rid of these parts) and added the first layer of colour: some blue and red bubbles to indicate hero/heroine's POV. And finally, I tackled the problem areas (I used a pretty purple pen* to make this bit slightly less painful) (* a promo pen from Valerie Bowman): I worked with my editor's suggestions and noted down on the mind map where improvements are needed. Luckily, Bev gave me some really brilliant suggestions, so it really wasn't as painful as I had feared.

One of the main problems with this story is that it lacks conflict. I knew that while I was still writing it and I worried that it bit be just a bit bland because the romance runs so very smoothly, but I just couldn't figure out a way out to change that. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to have a content editor whom you trust and who understands your stories: you need that second pair of eyes. You need somebody whom you trust to be honest about the strength and weaknesses of your story; somebody who understands your way of telling a story enough to make suggestions that will really improve your story, while still being true to yourself and your storytelling.

In this respect, I have been very, very lucky indeed: I had this with Chris Keeslar, my editor at Dorchester, and I have it now with Bev Katz Rosenbaum, my editor of my indie books. She was actually the first content editor I picked, and I feel so very blessed to have found her!

Planning the Attack

What do you do when you're stuck? You make a plan - or, in my case, a mind map in order to figure out what is supposed to go where and how to heighten the conflict in this story. I love mind maps because they enable you to see the whole story on one page, which makes it easier to spot common themes and motifs (or to strengthen those).

I used a mind map to plot DEVIL'S RETURN, and I only needed to make some minimal changes to the story. I didn't use a mind map to plot THE BRIDE PRIZE, and look where it has got me! When will I ever learn? *sigh*

Second Round of Revisions: Kill your Darlings

This is THE BRIDE PRIZE, the first novella in the series and the next ms that's up for revisions. In contrast to DEVIL'S RETURN, this one will require some serious work because hero and heroine meet way too late in the story. In addition, there's also too much background info. *sigh*

To be fair, I knew that even before I sent the novellas to my editor, but, you know, I'd hoped it wouldn't be too bad.... But as far as the excess of background info is concerned, it's exactly as bad as I had feared.

So this weekend, it's "Kill your darlings" time!  

Heard from My Editor Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm hardly able to focus on the grading today -- and I blame it all on my lovely editor! When I switched on my computer this morning, I found her critique of my three novellas in my mailbox. It took me a good 30 minutes to open her mail. What if she didn't like those stories? What if she was going to tell me they were really, really, really bad and how did I even dare to send her such crap? (By now you should know how my mind works, so this mini meltdown will hardly come as a surprise to you. *g*)

Anyways, I finally DID open her e-mail, and -- oh my gosh!!! -- Bev really, really, REALLY liked the three stories. "Did I ever love working on these novellas, Sandra!" her e-mail starts. "Please forgive me for not listing everything I love about them in my critique--it would have been a hundred pages!"

*melts into a happy puddle*

So I've been singing and humming and grinning stupidly and dancing around my flat for most of the day. :-)

Let's Talk Covers!

One of the truly nice things about indie publishing is that you have complete control over your covers. You can pick a design, make sure that the people on the cover match the characters' descriptions in your story, and you can brand a series whichever way you like.

One of the major elements of branding for the covers of the new series will be a blue background. Originally, I thought I'd just use the same sky picture for all covers, but not only would this look boring, but that one picture also doesn't suit all the people I've chosen to go onto the covers.

Sooo, today during my lunch break I went hunting for blue backgrounds. I've already found some nice matches for some covers, but there is one picture of a woman that, as it turns out, is rather difficult to match with a blue background. Hmmmm. Clearly, further experiments are called for!

The Day after....

The day after sending your manuscript to your editor is always the worst because not only does even your tea cup (well, mug) look slightly battered, but you also come up with 1.000 reasons why your book project sucks, why your editor will hate it, why she will probably drop dead while reading it, why it totally would have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs (if dinosaurs had been able to read, that is).

The best thing you can do then is to stagger into the kitchen and deal with the piles of dirty dishes (including the tea mug).

:-)

Gone with the wind (or perhaps with the chicken)

Under Little Miss Chicken's watchful eye I made the last few edits in the manuscript and then I finally sent the whole thing to my editor. Wooohooo!

(Please keep your fingers crossed that she'll survive the experience of reading the manuscript! :-) )

The Final Battle

This morning, the final battle was wrought (and from the pictures on the covers of those books you can tell how fierce the battle was), and eventually, Sandy emerged victorious:

Woohoooo!!!!!!!

By now I even think the story doesn't suck (which I find slightly worrying). All that remains to be done now is to insert the changes into the other two stories, throw everything together, and then send it to my editor. (At this point feel free to imagine me clapping my hands together like a maniac Duracell bunny.)

Today's Deadline Desks

In the morning, all was still fine.

By 4 p.m. things were getting desperate.

By 6 p.m. things were getting really desperate and a little Kindle Magic was called for.

By now, the book is still not finished, and I'm ready to just roll up and cry. Gargh! I hate deadlines!

Also, do you know that thing you do when you're attracted to somebody whom you've only just met and you look at them and then you look away and then you look at them again and then away and... Well, you know what I mean. Describing something like that? Pure hell! There are, after all, only so many ways you can say: "She looked at him." *sigh*