Elizabeth Brighton

Steamy Regency Romance

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NaNoWriMo 2022

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For those who may not be familiar with this, November in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). As part of the celebration, authors attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Sometimes there are in person conferences, other times it’s just getting together in chat rooms.

But 50,000 words is almost 1,700 words a day.

Including Thanksgiving.

I’ve heard a lot of crazy things about it. Like people making and freezing an entire month’s worth of dinners in October to get ready for it. My family would not appreciate that!

I’m uncertain if I’m going to take part or not. I did just start a new first draft. Lady Violet’s eldest brother, Lord Dominic Pemberley, Earl of Northwick, needs his happily-ever-after.

Even if he doesn’t agree with me.

But I’m afraid the stress of counting words every day will make me less productive and steal some of the joy of writing a first draft. It’s already a stressful enough this time of year!

Maybe I will just enjoy writing the new story and see how many words I have at the end of the month.

I have even learned to type with a cat on my lap.

He’s cute. Until you want him to move!

In other news, I sent my mailing list a short story for Halloween/Samhain. If that’s something that would interest you, please consider signing up.

And, I must admit, those characters have been floating around my thoughts. I had to cage them and remind them they were a short story.

We’ll see, they keep saying!

Works In Progress

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From Dukes Spies and Lies

Been working on a lot, and I thought I would share a little what I have been up to.

Taken by the Captain is the fourth book in Dukes, Spies, and Lies, and is now available. After Captain McGregor helped Marquardt and Violet, then Sophie, it seemed he should get his own happily-ever-after.

Working through edits on Enticed by the Viscount. Particularly excited about this one as all three bosom bows, Lady Aurora, Lady Violet and Miss Liliana will now all have their happily-ever-afters.

And I’ve been drafting out a story for Lady Aurora’s brother.

As for the Seven Lords for Seven Ladies series, I hope to have more to share on that in a few weeks!

In the meantime, I am working through a short Samhain story. As I mentioned in my newsletter, Regency England didn’t celebrate Halloween. But people in Ireland and Scotland did have some fun rituals around Samhain.

I hope you are all having a terrific fall!

Progress Report

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It’s been pretty quiet around here as I am working through final edit now on Taken by the Pirate. It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you enjoy it. I am learning that I like sassy heroines. They do such a lovely job of keeping the heroes on their toes. *grin*

It is taking a bit longer than expected as I was one of the unlucky ones that ended up with long COVID. Though I am glad to finally be through it. I had heard about the fatigue and brain fog, but it was something else entirely to live through it.

I am also working through edits on Lord of Redemption, though not final edits. And my cover artist is running into scheduling troubles. I don’t want to settle on this as Lady Camilla deserves a beautiful cover. I wish I had something to share, but the artist hasn’t been able to start work on it. Hopefully soon.

As we all head back into winter, there will be a lot more time for reading and writing. I look forward to checking in on old characters and giving their bosom bows the happily-ever-after they deserve!

I will have more news soon!

Trying to Get Back

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I still haven’t fully recovered from COVID.

I caught it almost a month ago at a work event I was required to attend. Over half of us ended up coming down with it. I know it isn’t supposed to last this long, but I am still struggling with fatigue and brain fog. The doctor says it can last months, and, no, there isn’t anything to be done for it. I’m not happy, but I am getting through things, even if it is more slowly than normal.

I hope to be back to my old self soon, but during the worst of it, I couldn’t even read. I felt like I had the attention span of a toddler.

Gives me more sympathy for my children!

The Rollercoaster of a Being a Writer

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You may have noticed things got quiet the last few weeks as I was preparing the latest book in the Dukes, Spies, and Lies series.

It’s hard for me to launch a book out into the world. You put a lot of yourself into it, and you hope people will like it. That they will see the same thing in the characters that you do and enjoy their time with them.

I’m not alone in the nerves that go with launching a new book. Many authors talk about. While it’s nice to know I’m not alone, it doesn’t really lessen the butterflies in my stomach.

And there are a lot of butterflies. A whole rainforest, in fact.

Still, I really like Laurence and Jemma in the latest story. It was fun to turn the tables a bit from the first few stories and have the female character as the spy. A spy who is not above breaking a few rules.

It’s about to be a holiday weekend here, and I am going to kick back with a kindle-full of books and relax a little. Not that Pirate Captain McGregor is going to tolerate such foolishness for long while his story remains unfinished, but he can give me this weekend.