Summary Sunday

For the last several weeks, my hero, Robert, has been with King John's armies in France, getting into all kinds of unintended trouble. On Wednesday this week, I flashed back to England to find out what my heroine, Marguerite, has been up to while her beloved is gone. You'll find samplings from both of their POVs below from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: “I assure you, your head in a noose should not please me at all.”

Tuesday: He gripped Robert, not shrinkingly, as a noble repelled by a churl, but hard and bracing, the way William might have sought to fortify him, or he William. The world had indeed turned upside-down.

Wednesday: Marguerite sailed over the ice, the wind whipping her hair into tangles she knew she would spend half the night combing out again, but the ecstasy was worth it.

Thursday: “I did not tell you that because I wished to make merry.” Celebrate one’s birth day? How absurd the countess must think her.

Friday: To her surprise, the countess put her arms around her, embracing Marguerite as she had never been embraced by her mother, or even her grandfather.

Saturday: What if instead of seeking reassurance of Robert’s safety from her husband, the countess wrote to warn the earl that perhaps it would be best if the minstrel found some other noble household to serve—in Poitou!

Let's play a little game...

Gunthar just said to my hero, Robert:

"I once suffered a similar blow to the side of my head and fancy I have a fair idea of the way your skull must be throbbing just now.”

If you read Loyalty's Web, do you remember what he's referring to? Email me the answer at jdipastena@yahoo.com. I'll toss all your names into a hat (or random.org ;-) ) and draw a winner to receive a free print copy of A Candlelight Courting.

Deadline August 12, midnight PST. 18 years or older. Open to International entries. Winner announced August 13, 2013.

Summary Sunday

Here is a smattering of new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel during my 2nd week of limited writing time while visiting my sister:

Monday: Robert heard the thin sneer beneath Gunthar’s words and knew he had already been judged.

Tuesday: “If you think I have summoned you here to deal with a fool, you have dangerously misjudged me, sirrah.”

Wednesday: For one irrational moment, he had thought Gunthar might be different.

Thursday: Robert had not had the opportunity of seeing his parents grow old together, but if they had, he imagined them, despite their humble circumstances, very much like the Earl and Countess of Gunthar in their aged contentment in each other’s company.

Friday: He knew full well Gunthar had not called him “insolent” without reason.

Summary Sunday

As I mentioned last week, I am currently paying a visit to my sister and didn't think I'd have much time to write while I was here. And it's true, I haven't had "much time." But I decided no matter how tired I was from a fun-filled day, I should be able to squeeze out at least 100 new words a day while I'm here. I know it doesn't sound like much, but even 100 words a day advances the story bit by bit, which means I'll be that much further along when I get home than I would have been if I hadn't written 100 words a day. :-) So far, I've surpassed that goal each night, sometimes by just a little, sometimes by a considerable amount. Here is a sampling of what I've added so far to The Lady and the Minstrel during my vacation.

Monday: (cleaning/packing day)

Tuesday: (traveling day)

Wednesday: Two blurry, bloody rocks lay near him. He reached out a shaking hand. Nay, one rock only. Pain hazed and doubled his vision.

Thursday: Even with his blurred vision, he could see the trees thinning, and then they parted altogether to allow him a foggy image of men and horses milling about beneath the walls of Sir Triston’s castle.

Friday: “Saints, man, where have you been?”

Saturday: Perhaps it was pride, but this was one part of the night’s story he did not wish to confess to Gunthar.

Summary Sunday

This may be my last Summary Sunday for a couple of weeks. I'm going on vacation to visit my sister 

and don't know how much writing time she will let me squeeze in, so I shared a few extra sentences on Saturday to tide you over. ;-) As always, this is a sampling of my work this week on The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: That mindless ease in his privilege had infuriated Robert and set Gunthar in his mind, at first, among the detestable ranks of men like Beckford and Strode.

Tuesday: The breeze had dispersed the day’s clouds so that Robert could watch the progression of the moon across stars so thick they seemed to form a white smear across the sky.

Wednesday: Every bitter memory had screamed at Robert to throw Kit into the fire of Gunthar’s suspicion last night.

Thursday:“Oui, seigneur, mais c'était seulement un chevreuil.” (Okay, confession. I don’t speak French! This character is supposed to be saying, “Yes, my lord, but it was only a deer.” Did I get it right?)

Friday: He had abandoned his post to trail Kit and could only imagine Gunthar’s disgust if dawn arrived to reveal the escaped villein in whom he had placed his trust had apparently run away like a coward.

Saturday: There was nothing to stop him from taking revenge. Revenge for his father’s murder, for Lottie’s bruises and tears, for William’s aching loneliness . . . Vengeance flooded Robert’s mouth, scalding and corrosive. His hand clenched tighter on his hilt. Nothing to stop him . . .

It's Christmas in July!

Well, sort of. For those of you who still prefer print books over e-books, my short Christmas romance, A Candlelight Courting, is now available in a "gift size" paperback!

Margaret (Literary Chanteuse) wrote the following about A Candlelight Courting:

"The author has created one of the most unique love stories I think I have ever read. Christina, a compelling young woman during medieval times . . .  is faced with marriage instead of fulfilling her dream of dedicating her life to the church. How she manages to find love and a guardian of her heart in Burthred, her betrothed is amazing. An excellent choice for Christmas or anytime of the year."

A Candlelight Courting: A Short Christmas Romance is a 2012 RONE Award Finalist. Print copies are currently on sale at Amazon for only $3.75. (Regular price $3.95.) How long this sale will last is up to the caprices of Amazon, but if you'd like to snag a copy for yourself and a few copies for stocking stuffers, now might be a good time. :-)

A Candlelight Courting is also available in Kindle, Nook, and multiple e-book formats for $1.99.

Summary Sunday

Most of this week's writing was devoted to the first direct encounter between my hero, Robert, and the Earl of Gunthar (yes, from Loyalty's Web). I decided to write the scene from Gunthar's POV. It's always fun for me to get inside another character's head and see how he or she views my hero. :-)

Monday - Wednesday's sentences are all from Gunthar's POV. Thursday and Friday began a new chapter. No, Gunthar is not the one with the sausage fingers. Is he the one Rob is glaring at on Friday? You'll have to wait until I finish the book to find out. ;-)

These are all from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: It passed briefly through his mind that Peter would have been near an age with the minstrel, had his son survived that curst Crusade.

Tuesday: “I do not know what you are concealing from me, and I will not tolerate any further impertinence from you, but that this still beats—” he thumped a fist to his heart— “I will not forget.”

Wednesday: Like the discipline in Robert’s eyes, his tone this time betrayed no mockery or scorn. Yet Gunthar felt somehow accused, judged, then simply dismissed, as though saying anything more would be a waste of the minstrel’s breath.

Thursday: “My fingers feel like they turn into sausages whenever I pick up a pen.”

Friday: Robert glared at him, bristling at the hated epithet flung at villeins by their lords.

Freedom to Read Hop: Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the Freedom to Read Hop on JDP NEWS:

Bernice H

BookLady

Joana A

These ladies will each receive a print copy of my short medieval Christmas romance, A Candlelight Courting.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered. Merry Christmas in July!

Summary Sunday

I took two days off this week, one for the 4th of July and the other to work on another little project I have in mind, but here are some new sentences for the other days of the week, all from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: Richard pushed a piece of dry bread through the gravy that had congealed on his plate during his absence in the tent, but he made no attempt to raise the grease-clumped morsel to his mouth.

Tuesday: The knight rolled off his stool as Robert’s hand coiled away, the torchlight catching the whites of the dead man’s eyes and the hilt of the dagger thrust into his back.

Wednesday: . Gunthar thought he heard a grunt, but Roger was shouting over it—“Hie hie hie! To Gunthar! To the earl!”—as he rattled about for a light source on the table next to the cot.

Thursday: (Took off the 4th of July)

Friday: Gunthar did not know how he did it, but the minstrel somehow wrestled himself free. From the way one of his knights lurched sideways and another stumbled back with his chin in the air, Gunthar guessed a push and possibly a punch were involved, but Robert moved too fast to be sure how he did it.

Saturday: (worked on formatting a different project) 

"Freedom To Read' Giveaway Hop

It's been awhile since I've participated in a blog hop. Let's see if I remember how to do it? :-) Thank you to Book Hounds and I Am a Reader, Not a Writer for sponsoring this hop!

Here at JDP NEWS I'm combining "Freedom to Read" with "Christmas in July" and giving away three paperback copies of my short Christmas story, A Candlelight Courting: A Short Christmas Romance. A Candlelight Courting is an InD'Tale Magazine 2013 RONE Award Finalist. It has previously been available as a short e-book, and is making it's debut appearance in print.

If you would like to win a copy, just enter via the Rafflecopter form below, then keep your fingers crossed. Winners will be selected on July 10th. Since these are print copies, USA entries only, please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

OFFICIAL RULES: NO PURCHASE NECESSSARY. Entrants must be 18 years or older. Winners will be selected on July 10 and have 48 hours to respond to an email notifying them of their win. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Questions? Contact me at jdipastena@yahoo.com.

All entered? Then hop along to the links below for some more awesome prizes!

Summary Sunday

The temperatures are soaring in Arizona, but my hero is off fighting a war in the chilly month of March.

It's hard to write about camp fires when it's 115 degrees outside. Then again, I suppose it's one way to try to psych oneself through an Arizona summer!

Here are some new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: Robert knew he should not cling to the surname, not with Kit Beckford in Gunthar’s camp, but if he was going to fight and possibly die for the king, he would do it as his father’s son, not some nameless minstrel.

Tuesday: Sometimes when Robert wrapped himself in his cloak, he fancied he could still smell Beck Manor in the threadbare cloth, though rationally he knew the scent had faded years ago.

Wednesday: “Mint plays havoc with one’s temper, and I am already cross enough.”

Thursday: He felt his blood churn up in anger, even as he wondered who Sir Warin was.

Friday: Robert noticed he did not mention villeins. That would be like acknowledging the milkmaid’s cow.

Saturday: He had been hungry to hear of her, but such slurs as this?

Summary Sunday

I only worked on The Lady and the Minstrel five days this week, because I devoted Saturday to another

little project. Here's a sampling of my Monday-Friday progress.

Monday: Robert knew exactly how many more heartbeats he had to savor the farewell in her lips before he need send her away to avoid discovery—and he meant to relish every one.

Tuesday: “Lord Cold-as-a-Fish, sneering down his nose at us these twelve years, making us grovel for his favor, crushing anyone whose glance offended him, Lord Lick-My-Boots-or-I’ll-Kick-Your-Ribs was finally disconcerted.”

Wednesday: Men who failed to consciously register his music often sensed the change when it ceased, though seemingly with little awareness of exactly what had altered in their surroundings.

Thursday: Robert had kept his head down when Kit Beckford walked past him, but some devilish daring in him had held Strode’s gaze steady.

Friday: The light of a torch set up on a bracket near the sentry point sent a ripple of fire down the threatening blade and lapped across the muddied face of a dazed and frightened young man.

Summary Sunday

My hero, Robert, had to work his way through some difficult memories and emotions this week, which
it was equally difficult for the author to write. (That would be me. :-) ) Now that is behind us, we're about to make a major pivot in the story, if nothing unforeseen arises to interrupt my flow this week.

Here are a few new lines from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: He began to reassure her about being the sole love of his life, but memory and honesty checked him.

Tuesday: “Lottie and Alan wished to marry, but they could not without Kit’s consent, for any children she bore to Alan would become Sir Stephen’s villeins and Kit would lose their future labor.”

Wednesday: “Now that he was lord he could have run me through with his sword for the offense and suffered no more than a token fine, at worst, and likely not even that, for who would blame him for putting down a dog that’d grown vicious?”

Thursday: He remembered the wild exhilaration that had flowed through him as the three of them had ran together through the woods, guided only by a silvery half-moon that dappled the forest floor through the canopy of branches.

Friday: That had been the darkest day of Robert’s life after his father’s death, and in some ways it had been worse, for he could not have saved his father, but if he had been more careful, more cautious—if he had thought before he acted—he might have saved Lottie.

Saturday: “Kit clamored to his feet, infuriated, and swung his fist at me, but I dodged and hit him again.”

Summary Sunday

I missed one day this week because I spent the last night of my sister's visit with her instead of writing.

Then between Tuesday and Wednesday, I decided to rewrite the scene I'd been working on from an entirely different angle and POV. So Tuesday's sentence is no longer in The Lady and the Minstrel, although a friend said I should post my deleted scene on my website when I finish this book, so you never know, you may get to read it in context someday after all.

Monday: (Last night with my sister, spent the evening with her)

Tuesday: But something had provoked him six years after his father’s shame to risk his life in flight, for one man did not set hounds on another unless the hunter was prepared to hazard his pack savaging their prey.

Wednesday: Robert found it hard to hate a man who so clearly loved and respected his wife, even if nine times out of ten when Robert sang for the Earl and Countess of Gunthar, the earl behaved as if Robert wasn’t even there.

Thursday: His grey hair attested to his long life, the creases in his face that it had not been an easy one.

Friday: “I know what happened then,” Robert snapped. He had stood here babbling with Simon like a fool while Marguerite prepared to bring disaster down upon their heads.

Saturday: “I said something much worse in the end. I said that villeins should be free.”

Thanks to you all, I'm a RONE Award finalist!

Thank you to all of you who took the time to vote for one or all of my 2012 stories, Dangerous Favor, A Candlelight Courting, and/or A Timeless Romance: 2012 Winter Edition (which included my medieval short story, "Caroles on the Green") for a RONE Award sponsored by InD'Tale Magazine! Thanks to you, ALL of my stories passed the "reader preference" phase of the competition and are finalists for a 2012 RONE Award! Dangerous Favor, A Candlelight Courting, and A Timeless Romance each now advance to a panel of professional judges who will determine the best overall book of 2012.

The winner and runners-up will be announced and presented at the 2012 RONE Award Ceremony on August 9th at the Romance Novel Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. I don't know if I'll be able to attend, but I am thrilled even to be in the running, and I owe it all to you, my dear, faithful, supportive readers.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Summary Sunday

My sister has been visiting me this week, plus Saturday was an all-day/all-night headache kind of day (and night), so I only got three days of writing in on The Lady and the Minstrel. On the bright side—I got three days of writing in on The Lady and the Minstrel. J Here is a sampling of what I accomplished his week.

Monday: Even with Lord Christopher nearly on his heels, Robert kissed her one more time, as though he could not get enough of her—or perhaps she merely interpreted his passion thus because she could not get enough of him.

Tuesday: (Late night with my sister, no writing.)

Wednesday: (My sister’s birthday and another late night, no writing)

Thursday: She shook out the skirts of her gown as though the gesture could shake away her nervousness.

Friday: From the confident, satisfied gleam in his eyes whenever they rested on her, she knew he thought he had cowed her at last into submission with his vicious defeat of Sir Warin.

Saturday: (Headache and late night with my sister)

Summary Sunday

My sister flew to Arizona on Friday for a 12 day visit, so Friday was a washout writing-wise, but I got 

the other five days in. Here is a new sampling from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: Marguerite joined her in searching through the little carved casket where Marguerite kept her ribbons.

Tuesday: She always suspected he had gone off someplace alone to weep, for he would have thought it weakness to do so before others, even his granddaughter.

Wednesday: “If you thought I did not care, then I did not kiss you soundly enough in the woods.”

Thursday: He asked me if I had a wife and when I said no, he said I was too young and they must look elsewhere, but Lady Helen exclaimed that my song enchanted her—it was a fairy song my mother taught me—and she said I must not heed her stuffy husband and that she would not allow me to say her nay.

Friday: 

Saturday: She wanted to know he was near her, not somewhere lost in throngs of the great city of London.

Summary Sunday

This week, a rival for my heroine’s affections enters the scene. Not each of these sentences relates to 

him, but some of them do. And of course, we had to have another tournament, right? I hope you enjoy these new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel!

Monday: ’Twas the second time Sarah had observed more of Marguerite’s heart than Marguerite had wished her to, but she could make no reply for Sir Warin had rejoined them.

Tuesday: Clever. It was what men called women who knew how to read, and Marguerite knew it was not always meant as a compliment.

Wednesday: Speak, a voice whispered in her mind, but a vying flutter in her breast murmured, Not yet, not yet.

Thursday: She could not take advantage of his chivalry after rejecting his heart so cruelly.

Friday: (Two sentences, for context) Marguerite had earlier watched Lady Lovell draw a yellow ribbon from her hair and tie it to Strode’s lance as a favor. It fluttered its unabashed contempt of Marguerite’s pride for too many chagrining moments as the king uttered his royal blessing—“Fight this day with courage and honor. May God be with you.”—in a humdrum voice that revealed his continued displeasure with his “favorite”, and waved Strode on so that he might bless the next knight and the next.

Saturday: Thankfully, he never spoke to her for if he had, she was quite sure it would have shattered her restraint and set her flailing at him like a madwoman.

Summary Sunday

Sometimes, no matter how much a writer loves a particular line she writes, upon reflection it simply
doesn't belong in the story. Such is the case with this week's Wednesday sentence. By Thursday I had already reluctantly decided that it needed to be snipped out of the story because it didn't quite fit the mood of the scene. But good lines need never go entirely to waste. In my case, they go into a CUTS document, where if I wish to, I can pluck them back out and use them in another story. Such might be the case for Wednesday's sentence someday. :-)

Once more, these are all lines from this week's draft writing of The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: She swept her lashes against her cheeks to veil the revulsion she feared she could not conceal in her eyes and prayed Isabelle would interpret it as a sign of flustered awe that Marguerite had won so great a condescension as counsel from the queen.

Tuesday: Marguerite blamed Sarah for putting the idea into her head.

Wednesday: Marguerite did not realize how the gesture made her gawk in surprise until he winked a second time.

Thursday: Marguerite had learned that when the king’s wine-slickened voice garbled his bursts of bravado into “Shalleena, mlors?”, that the meal had reached it’s end, for the king soon thereafter stumbled out of the hall with his arm around a buxom wench, unless he dropped back into his chair and his head pitched snoring onto the tabletop first.

Friday: Strode took another leisurely sip from his cup, then murmured as the king drew breath to reply, “Ah, nay. As I recall, that man who called your actions dishonorable was not me, but the Earl of Gunthar.”

Saturday: Before Marguerite scarcely knew what she was doing, she gave Sir Aldus a bright smile, laid her fingers in his, and was stepping and sliding and skipping alongside him to the vigorous tune of the vielles.

Summary Sunday

This week's writing was evenly divided between my old/new couple reappearing in the story and my
heroine, Marguerite, being thrust into King John's court in London. Here are a few new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: She knew, as he did, how men who ordinarily scorned learning as the labor of clerks found themselves unexpectedly intimidated when thrust into the presence of her husband’s obsessive collection of leatherbound tomes

Tuesday: “John, Marshal writes, is like a vengeful dog, determined to tear his former lands out of the grasping hand of the King of France like a hound all a-growl to recover a stolen bone.”

Wednesday: “She is a cordwainer’s daughter, which you would know if you had lent his prattle half-an ear instead of glaring him into silence every time he sighed her name.”

Thursday: Marguerite had thought Lady Lovell the most beautiful woman she had ever seen until she had laid eyes on Isabelle of Angoulême.

Friday: It startled Marguerite slightly when Sarah lay a finger to the rose Marguerite had chosen next to stitch, until she realized her friend meant the gesture to misdirect anyone who watched them into thinking they merely discussed Marguerite’s embroidery.

Saturday: “And I think you do not weep only because you are bound to so wicked a man as the earl. My love, I know a broken heart when I see it.”