Maria Yrsa Rönneus's Blog, page 9

Giveaway Weekend

To celebrate the publication of book number 4 in my Regency Tales series, ‘Orbits of Attraction’, I’m making the first book, ‘Oaths of Affection’, free on Kindle this weekend.

So if you haven’t read the story from the beginning now is the perfect time to catch up!

This is a Regency Cinderella story, complete with horrible relatives and a handsome aristocrat. Read more about it on Amazon or visit my website for an overview of the series.

With that, Dear Reader, I wish you a lovely weekend and happy reading!

Book launch!

Dear Reader, it is with joy (and no small amount of pride I must admit) that I present to you the 4th volume in my Regency Tales series: ‘Orbits of Attraction’. It is exclusively found on Amazon (until further notice) in Kindle or paperback editions.

To celebrate the happy event, I have recorded a little teaser.

Moreover, I’m making the Kindle edition of ‘Oaths of Affection’, the first book of the series, free this Friday through Sunday on Amazon. That’s right, Dear Reader, I’m giving it away this weekend, so if you haven’t already make sure to grab it then!

Happy Thursday and enjoy reading!

Thank you…

…to everyone who weighed in on my blurb yesterday. As your opinions were unanimous, I went ahead and uploaded my files to Amazon. ‘Orbits of Attraction’ should be available in a few days. Watch this space for news!

Meanwhile, I’ll be taking a wee break from writing, sharing my time between the greenhouse and my studio painting as the rain is pouring down here.

With that imagery, Dear Reader, I wish you a fabulous mid-week and a good umbrella!

(image: pixabay.com)

 

 

Near Blurb Experience

Writing the all crucial book blurb is an art in itself, and whilst I like to flatter myself fairly good at it for others, I find it a real struggle to do it for my own books.
All advice says that you shouldn’t, and there is good reason for that. However, with a budget of zero, sometimes a self-pubber has no choice.

A few days ago, I filed my copyright claim and was ready to start formatting the Kindle-file. Fully prepared for a repeat of last time’s horrors, it was something of an anticlimax, when after having uninstalled and reinstalled the Kindle Create App, it worked smoothly.

I should not have been so quick to celebrate my victory. The next day when trying to open the file again it had, by some evil sorcery, turned into an exec file. Not only does it not open on mac, it should not even be possible to happen.

Anyway, a do-over. A few hours later I was done. Again. Wise from experience, I uploaded it to Amazon immediately. Publishing, obviously can’t be done before you have a blurb though. After a few days of agonizing and a little kickstart from my Partner In Fibs, this is what I have come up with:

“Men are universally babbling buffoons!



Rich and beautiful beyond compare, Miss Juliet Wynne is the darling of society. Little does anybody suspect that behind those turqouise eyes dwells a genial mind dedicated to astronomy. Repelled by dull suitors that line up to recite poetry to her, she is fully contented with never marrying. Until she meets the broad-shouldered war-veteran with eyes like moonbeams who defies all her prejudice.

Beneath the elegant gowns, she is still a tomboy caught in society’s expectations and she prefers to immerse herself in science, observing the universe, and fencing with her beloved brother. When she dresses up as a man to be able to attend a scientific lecture, she is caught by the one man who piques her interest.

Privileged and brilliant, fellow astronomer, Lord Giles Whysleigh hides his tender heart behind a facade of arrogance and propriety. Although deep down a romantic, he takes pride in his conservative self-control.

The burning passion that unexpectedly flares up between them takes them both by surprise. Secure in the loving support of her boisterous, avant-garde family, Juliet dreads losing control. She must learn that change is inevitable and Lord Giles must overcome his own preconceptions to let go of his inhibitions and win her trust.

Cleverly mixing science, farce, and sex, this fairytale romance connects the dots between astronomy and Shakespeare, weaving an original drama of fear, family, and a love larger than life.”

What do you think, Dear Reader?

Take Our Poll

I am off to finish the paperback sleeve for ‘Orbits Of Attraction’ and with that I wish you a lovely Tuesday!

 

 

Any one for breakfast?

When early morning is exactly can be a matter of debate. For example, the bird in my garden and I disagree on this every night at 4.30 am.

By early morning, civilized creatures, like you and I, Dear Reader, might mean sometime between 5 and 7 am. But words like ‘early’ or ‘late’ are relative and subject to much interpretation. Whilst not always idle, the nobility and gentry in the 18th and early 19th centuries were certainly at leisure, even gentlemen who were engaged in business or politics conducted much of their affaires in the afternoon. For many of the fashionable London society, life was a succession of parties that ended in the wee hours, so it stands to reason that ‘morning’ happened much later in the day.

‘Luncheon’ is a Victorian word, for an earlier concept. Despite otherwise striving to use terms, names, and words of Georgian era in my novels to keep the language “in character”, I have chosen, for the sake of clarity, to use the word ‘luncheon’ to denote a meal taken sometime around noon and ‘breakfast’ to mean an earlier meal.

In Georgian times, ‘breakfast’ could be had sometimes as late as two o’clock in the afternoon, and, like our lunch, it was sometimes a social event. Does that mean that people did not eat before two? Of course not. People were then as now, people, and people get hungry. There is no reason to assume that those who could afford to, in general, did not indulge their needs.

Most of us 21st century creatures are the products of a working life of rigid timekeeping; our habits are shaped by our working hours even into retirement. Across the globe, billions of people lead very similar lives: rise at six, leave for work, drop off the kids, start work at eight or nine. Rinse and repeat. A life of leisure allows, and creates, a much wider range of individual flexibility. How many of us would get up at six or seven if we did not have to?

Some might break their fast with a light meal in their room, in other households it was customary to have a hearty breakfast directly after getting up, perhaps around ten o’clock. Others yet might vary their habits depending on whether or not they had been out the evening before, and so on.
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth goes straight from bed to breakfast, although in the 1995 tv-adaption we see her enter the room as the Collinses are breakfasting and decline to eat.
“Elizabeth awoke the next morning […] and, totally indisposed for employment, she resolved, soon after breakfast, to indulge herself in air and exercise.”

In my upcoming novel ‘Orbits of Attraction’ we get to meet the boisterous Wynne family at breakfast on several occasions. It was always my favourite meal and growing up an only child, there is something very appealing about a large family eating together.

‘Orbits of Attraction’ is the fourth part of my Regency Tales, and centers around Miss Juliet Wynne in England in 1818. Rich and beautiful beyond compare, she is the darling of society. Little does anybody realize that behind those turqouise eyes dwells a genial mind, nor does anybody care. She despises the dull suitors that line up to recite poetry to her, and she is fully contented with never marrying. But when she dresses up as a man to be able to attend a scientific lecture, she is caught by the one man who piques her interest.

Sounds like fun, no?

‘Orbits of Attraction’ will be available sometime this week on Amazon. I am off to repot my sweetpeas in the sunshine, and I wish you a glorious Monday, Dear Reader, whereever you are, whatever you do!

 

 

Spring clouds

(image: pixabay.com)

Partners in Fibs

One of the most helpful things to a writer is a trusted and brutally honest friend. Not just your best buddies who indulge your whims, your mum, and your mum’s polite mate from work.

No, I’m talking about somebody who reads your texts because they want to and who tells you straight up when what you’ve written is rubbish. (Because, trust me, Dear Reader, a lot of the time it is going to be. Yes, even that part that you like so much yourself.) Preferably, this person is a fellow writer with understanding of the creative process. A literary sparring partner, whom you can bounce your ideas around with.

Of course, any partnership relies on reciprocation. So, you must be willing and able to do the same for them. That can be harder than it sounds. Picture having this lovely person read all your texts and be all in raptures, and then when you read theirs… As tempting as it might be to lie just a little, one must not, Dear Reader, for that is an unforgivable betrayal of trust. One can and should, of course, always try to be kind and also strive to find the strong points in the text.

Once you have found such a partner, cherish them, for they are worth their weight in gold and hard to come by.

I am lucky enough to have a Sister of the Quill, for the last three (or so) years our texts have criss-crossed the Atlantic before going to print. On the surface, it might seem a mismatch: she writes in American English, I in British; she writes fantasy and sci-fi, which I don’t normally like, and I write meticulously fact-checked historical drama. She jots down whole books in flurries of inspiration, I agonize over each sentence.

But somehow, we have an instinctive understanding of the other’s intention that helps us refine our own ideas and voices. We fall in love with each others’ hot male leads,  hate each others’ villains, and we inspire each other to new creative pursuits. She builds versions of my characters in a game, and I have written (not finished) my first ever piece of fantasy fan fiction. I genuinely look forward to each new installation of whatever she’s writing and that, Dear Reader, makes the difference between a chore and a pleasure.

I can honestly say, that but for my Partner in Fibs, my books may never have made it into print.

Here’s a promo I made for her a while ago.

If you like romantic fantasy, or, Dear Reader, if you, like myself, don’t think you do, you should give The Between series a go. It’s fun, quirky, serious, and thrilling all at once!

With these unsolicited advice, I wish you happy mid-week, Dear Reader, and that you should get the opportunity to soak up some sunshine where ever you are!

 

 

 

Find Five Fixes

The darker shade of the background aside, I have made 5 adjustments. Can you find them?

It may seem nitpicking, but when it comes to graphic design, the devil truly is in the details. Dear Reader, I have made the final adjustments to the cover of the 4th volume in my Regency series. Whilst I liked the left and earlier version well enough it came over a little too cold in the colour tones compared to the previous three books and I also wanted to give it a more aged look. There is also slightly more texture to the right version although that may not come across here.
I made five major alterations, do you spot them? Scroll down for answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep scrolling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a little longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The ‘o’ in ‘of’ is larger and ‘Attraction is slightly further down. 2. ‘Of’ has a different pattern. 3. The man’s head is different. 4. The map in the man’s head is different although showing roughly the same area. 5. And the eliptical diagram in the background appears much darker and clearer.

Happy Monday!

 

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Sunday Slack

Between the lines…

Formatting a paperback, Dear Reader, is essentially making a succession of choices which will permenently affect the book’s readability. Whilst Times New Roman, 12 pt, double spacing, is the industry standard for manuscripts to send to an agent or publisher, all bets are off when it comes to the final product. Self-publishing on Amazon and similar platforms means fewer options, yet everything from colour of paper to fonts has to be decided on. All too often we make these choices unthinkingly, perhaps not realizing that using one font rather than another may be what makes somebody buy the book or not. For myself, narrow text in single line spacing is a deal breaker. The words float about and merge, it’s a nightmare! Below is an example, Helvetica 12 pt, single spacing. ‘Helvete’ means hell in Swedish, so at least it’s aptly named.

As we age our eyesight deteriorates, and not all these problems can be corrected with laser or glasses. Whilst it is impossible to cater to everybody’s tastes and needs, there are a few things that are generally considered to improve legibility.

One of those is line spacing. I chose Baskerville, 12 pt, for my historical novels because it pre-dates the Regency era, and helps keep the text in historical character so to speak. I find it easy to read, pleasing to the eye, as well as versatile for graphic design. I write with 1.5 line spacing, and hitherto I have published in 1.5 as well.

Whilst this improves readability, the downside is cost. In Amazon’s print-on-demand scheme, the customer pays the entire printing cost which increases with page number. A thinner book is cheaper. If price is too prohibitive, sales go down. Hence there is every reason to balance carefully these two factors.

I’m in the middle of the formatting process for ‘Orbits of Attraction’ and realizing that the final page count will approach 700 pages, something needs be done.

Trying 1.4 had only a slight effect, so I will try 1.3 and see how that turns out. I don’t want to diminish the type size, as I fear it would be too minuscule for some readers.

I’d like to hear from you, Dear Reader, what you you think!

Happy Saturday all!