ScribblingSandy

ScribblingSandy, 7 days ago to random

#PennedPossibilities What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

I just need my Alphasmart (or these days, my Neo by Alphasmart) or a note pad (DinA5, dotted). ☺️

Plus a cup of tea and character portraits (if I created them).

ScribblingSandy, 7 days ago to random

#WordWeavers Day 18 - What kind of dragon (behavior or looks) would your MC be?

Alfie would be very much an Elliot (from Pete's Dragon).

And John would like to point out that they already have a crocodile greataunt with a basilisk glare in the story, so they really don't need any dragon, thank you very much.

Alfie, brightening up: We've got a statue of St. George and the dragon in the maze at home.

John: Are you talking about the house with the sheep bone terrace?

Alfie, beaming: Yep ☺️

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 25: Do you add a message from the author to your work?

I always put an Author's Note in my books, and this is where I talk about my research for the story, list some of the most important research works, and end with a round of thanks. I typically put the Author's Note at the end, but in some cases (anachronistic wild boars in Springtime Pleasures and Roman military terms in Gladiator's Passion), I've put an additional shorter note at the beginning of a book.

ScribblingSandy, 6 months ago to mmromance

❄️Can they overcome the betrayals of the past for a second chance at love?❄️

THE RETURN OF THE EARL is now on sale for just 99 cents! Grab your copy and enjoy this steamy m/m holiday romance!

❄️a grumpy earl
❄️a dashing stablemaster
❄️ravishment in various places
❄️garden follies
❄️a LOT of snow

Get your copy here: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/fpfit8wowx

@romancelandia
@mmromance

#HistoricalRomance
#mmRomance

ScribblingSandy, 6 months ago to random

#WordWeavers 5 Nov. — What is your MC's favourite form of entertainment?

"My favorite form of entertainment?" Eyes gleaming, Caomh turns to Maius and wriggles his brows. "Naturally, it's--"

"Apart from that." A faint flush appears on Maius' cheeks. "I don't think they want to hear about that."

Caomh continues to stare at him, and then, as Maius' blush deepens, his mouth curls in the faintest hint of a smirk.

1/2

ScribblingSandy, 5 months ago to random

#PennedPossibilities 144 — Does your MC have a romantic partner?

Caomh, frowning: What sort of question is this?

Maius: Well--

Caomh, heatedly: Are they suggesting--

Maius, hastily: I don't think they're suggesting anything. Just... I mean, there are people who don't have a romantic partner. If this book were about, say, Damianus--

Damianus: Wait, what? The book is not about me??? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE AUTHOR?!?

#MaiusAndCaomh

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

Good morning, lovely tooting friends! ☀️ May your day be filled with joy!

ScribblingSandy, 28 days ago to random

#WordWeavers - Who's blaming who in your story?

The weather, obvs. If it hadn't snowed so much, the trees wouldn't have come down across the line and across the street and nobody would have become stuck in the little hotel across from Andover Road Station.

And John and Alfie would not have met, and Will and Nell would not have met again, and nobody's life would have changed forevermore.

It was the snow. :blobcatcozytea:

ScribblingSandy, 4 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub - Do you format as you write or do that at the end?

I tend to write the first draft on my Alphasmart or Neo and then import the whole manuscript into a text document with the relevant formatting I'll later use for the ebook.

So from the second draft onward, I'm working with a properly formatted document.

ScribblingSandy, 27 days ago to random

Today's #PennedPossibilities prompt and @pretensesoup 's answer to it made me think about whether Alfie should wear spectacles. His mother does, and moreover, eye problems are something that shows up in twins, doesn't it?

Alfie with fogged-up spectacles?

Also, I'm happy to report that I found out after which English country house I originally modelled Endsleigh Hall eleven years ago. Only the map of the grounds I drew up back then remains elusive...

#AlfieAndJohn

ScribblingSandy, 28 days ago to random

#WordWeavers - Do you have an irrepressibly good-humoured character? How do others react to them?

Not in my Victorian WIPs, but there is always Damianus from Gladiator's Passion (and there will be a few more Roman stories in the future!). Damianus is basically a Golden Retriever in human form. 😊

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

The online supermarket where I buy most of my groceries is running a sale on cakes.

I repeat: Cake is on sale! This is not a drill!!!

(This is actually the perfect excuse to try a slice of cake I haven't had before.)

ScribblingSandy, 9 days ago to bookstodon

Hey @romancelandia and @bookstodon - I've got a cover reveal for you! :blobcatpeek: My historical romance Springtime Pleasures has got a brandnew cover! I hope you like it!

In celebration of the new cover, the novel is currently on sale for just 99 cents! Grab your copy here:
https://buy.bookfunnel.com/avwi2wh6th

ScribblingSandy, 28 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub - Do you write standalone stories, series, or both? Which do you prefer?

I started out writing standalone novels, then tried my hand at series because series was / is the way to go, but looking at my Roman series, I'm probably pretty sh*te at writing series because after getting the first 2 books done according to plan, the plan started to sideways, I eventually unpublished one of the two books, and now I'm writing this series backwards and outwards. :blobcatpeek:

1/2

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

#PennedPossibilities 294 — What, to you, are the most important elements of good writing?

When I think of the authors whose work I most admire - Roaemary Sutcliff and Dorothy Dunnett -, then I'd say the ability to create compelling characters and vivid settings. In addition, both Sutcliff and Dunnett were excellent at bringing the past to life, and Sutcliff in particular had a knack of creating these small timeless moments that stay with you for many years after reading her books.

ScribblingSandy, 1 month ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub - Do you agree with Rose Tremain, who said you shouldn't plan a book's ending; it must be earned?

Earned by whom??? By the author? By the story? By the characters??

Anyway, it's not how I plan my stories: I see all of them as a film first (often several times) before I start writing. So even if I don't do a proper outline (or mindmap - a mindmap is better, really), I have a plan for the story. It might change a little during the writing process itself, but not much.

ScribblingSandy, 15 days ago to random

#PennedPossibilities - MC or SC POV: What was your favorite day or holiday when you were a child?

Alfie:
I loved those weeks in summer that we spent at Lymfort Hall.

The house is a bit dark inside and could do with a brightening up, that's true, but the gardens are splendid! Especially the walled gardens with the fruit trees (SO MANY gooseberries!)!

I loved roving over the estate with my siblings, even if the garden follies are far less adventurous than those at Endsleigh. ☺️

#AlfieAndJohn

ScribblingSandy, 7 days ago to random

#PennedPossibilities — MC POV: Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like there?

Alfie: I grew up on the Endsleigh estate down in Dorset, and even after my father inherited the earldom, my parents chose to remain there. The house is comfortable & compact with none of the big show rooms you find at other grand estates. We've never had a ball at Endsleigh, instead, when my parents host a small party, we roll up the carpet in the sitting room and somebody sits down at the piano.

1/2

ScribblingSandy, 17 days ago to random

#PennedPossibilities — What is one place your characters want to visit?

Alfie would like to return to Lymfort Hall, his father's main estate and the one his father utterly detests due to the bad memories he has of the place. Alfie, by contrast, is not haunted by a traumatic past connected to the house and sees the potential of the place.

John is just happy to be where Alfie is. ☺️

#AlfieAndJohn

ScribblingSandy, 20 hours ago to random

Happy Bookversary to Livia & Adelar! Eagle's Honor: Ravished came out 8 years ago. (This is also the book in which Caius and Lucius, the heroes of my first ever m/m romance, The Centurion's Choice, made their first appearance. ☺️)

Historicals set outside Regency Britain are a bit of a hard sale, and I'm so grateful to all the readers who picked up my Roman stories over the years. :blobcatheart:

ScribblingSandy, 18 days ago to random

#WordWeavers Who is your most fun character?

In the current WIP? The greataunt with the basilisk glare and the crocodile smile. 🐊 She is acerbic, is as rich as Croesus, doesn't suffer fools lightly, and has a kind heart.

In my two Victorian novellas, she is keeping my MCs on their toes, and just like in Springtime Pleasures, where she made her first appearance as the hero's aunt, she helps to facilitate the happy ending (esp. in Reunion on a Winter Night!)

#HistoricalRomance

ScribblingSandy, 25 days ago to bookstodon

Happy memories from 2005: The first ever picture of me and my debut novel, The Lily Brand

#bookstodon
@bookstodon

ScribblingSandy, 24 days ago to random

#wordweavers May 1: Introduce your setting as if it’s a character in your story.

Imagine a small village - no, not even a village, a handful of houses clustered around a railway station, and a small hotel in the middle of the countryside. The station, the houses, the hotel are all brandnew, built just a couple of years back when the London-Southampton line was built.

At the moment, everything is covered with a thick layer of snow, and a deserted train stands at the station.

#AlfieAndJohn