An Interrupted Proposal Cover Reveal

Wow! It has been a long time coming, and you have been soooo patient! First, I am really excited to get this book out in print. There have been a few challenges as my life erupted in the past couple months, which has caused some delays, but we are finally coming down to the wire! I am asking for a few more minutes of your time before I actually show you the cover because I have to thank some people. (Don’t you scroll down yet!!)

The origin of this story was a brief “what if?” idea that was posted because I was in a pinch and didn’t have time to do any research for a blog. I am a lifelong procrastinator (a trait that was passed from my father to me and then on to my children). Though this can be the source of highly stressful last minute deep dives into research, it can sometimes be the impetus of flashes of creativity that become more than was expected. In this instance, the timing was perfect as I had decided to return to school and needed to actually plan out my posts––frightening. That scene became the first half of the first chapter. I plunged in and wrote at least half the book and then posted them in 800–1600-word blogs until I ran out and had to actually finish it. 😳

That said, the first person I have to thank is Glynis. From the very first post, Glynis has been a faithful commentor. Many of the comments that you all made actually gave a little nudge on the direction that the story ended up taking. When I noted that Glynis was there every single month, I decided that she would get a free copy of the book. A couple months ago, she mentioned that she was undergoing some tests, and I decided to send her the editor’s copy so she would have something to read and maybe distract her a bit. Her feedback was fabulous, and she caught so many typos! Thank you, Glynis!! I hope you enjoy the epilogue in the final version. 😉

Next comes my editor. In previous blogs, I have mentioned that my husband is the executive director of the Teen Enrichment Network, a teen mentoring organization which inspired me to restart my writing club’s young writers program to give the next generation of authors encouragement. The person who really made me want to do this (and who kept me going when I wanted to quit and turn it over to someone else) was the daughter of my dear friend. Cara Hadden and my daughter had taken dance classes together since they were in elementary school. They sang opposite each other multiple times (Ariel and Ursula, Charlie Brown and Lucy, Glinda and Elphaba) and attended camps together.

Well, Cara was also one of our teens and is one of the most talented young writers I have had the pleasure to work with, AND she is now a college graduate, a playwright, a middle school English teacher, and my new editor. She gave me so many edits that I am still trying to work into the book before it goes to print. If there is anything wanting in this story, it is not because she didn’t try: it is because I just ran out of time before my deadline. Thank you, Cara!

And finally, my cover creator. If you look at my book covers, you can see a progression. The first three were clearly designed by me and I will not claim any talent in that area. The next two were done by an artist friend from high school who paints amazing murals. (If you are in the York, PA area, she has PaintAway parties, but she will travel to do murals and she also does pet portraits. Check her out on Facebook – she is so talented.)

All the books that followed were done by a photographer friend here in the Fredericksburg, VA area who takes my inspiration and makes it so much more than I thought it could be. (She has done several photo shoots with my daughter, and Cara was the model on the cover of Mrs. Collins’ Lover. You can find her on Facebook, as well.)

For this book, I was going to go back to the painter, but she wasn’t available. I really wanted a folly on the cover and could not think of where we could get a photo of one in our area.

We played around with several follies from pristine to collapsing until we found one we could agree on. And then came the bluebells. On my trip to Great Britain in 2018, I fell in love with bluebells. I took pictures every time I saw them and came back with bars of soap in that scent. There had to be bluebells.

So, without further ado, here is Summer’s beautiful creation:

I hope you love it as much as I do. This little scene has grown into a sweet novella that I can’t wait to share with you. The paperback will be available on Amazon as soon as they approve it, but the ebook is on pre-order with a release date of September 1^st. Because I shared this book here at Always Austen, I cannot make this part of KindleUnlimited so the preorder price will be $.99. The regular price after the release date will be $1.99.

Oh no! I almost forgot to share the blurb!

Fitzwilliam Darcy was certain of his reception when he entered the Hunsford parsonage and began his proposal to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, though he knew she was not what his family or society expected of his future wife. When his proposal was interrupted before it had properly begun, he began to question his assurance and whether he was worthy of her.

Join this low angst What If? retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice at the point of Mr. Darcy’s greatest faux pas and journey with him as he tries to gain the lady’s admiration while righting any wrongs along the way.

I am anxious to hear what everyone thinks of the finished product, so don’t forget to leave a review once you pick up your copy.