The Reclusive Duke & Other Things

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The Reclusive Duke is my latest offering. It is already in large print with Linford Romance and was included in last summer's Regency Romantics Box Set. 

This is why it is priced so low - it is not a totally new title. 

All my stand alone Regency books, except my Christmas novella, are written for the box set and then when this comes down we can republish as a stand alone title.  My Beta readers loved this one.

Here is the blurb:

The Reclusive Duke

When Lydia Sinclair is left to care for the orphaned children of her sister she discovers they are distant relatives of The Duke of Hemingford. With the last few coins she possesses she buys seats on a common stage for all five of them, determined to persuade the duke to assume responsibility for his cousins. The duke has no wish to have these unwanted relatives foisted on him, since his accident he shuns society.

However, Digby, his man of business, has other ideas and installs Lydia and the children in The Dower House.

Will the duke evict them when he discovers this deception or can Lydia get him to change his mind?

Other Things:

GDPR. No emails are ever shared and any I receive via the website are deleted after reading.

Bookbub/ Facebook author page/Amazon -  if you don't yet follow me on these please could you consider doing so?
Reviews: If you have read one of my books could I ask you to leave a review if you have time?
Thanks. All or any of these things would really be helpful.

Tomorrow  morning is THE WEDDING. Are you going to watch? We will be - love a good wedding.
Tomorrow afternoon is the CUP FINAL. Won't be watching that.
Until next time
best wishes
Fenella J Miller

Should all writers have a pet?

I have always considered myself a dog lover but did not actively dislike cats. We have had four flat coated retrievers and one border collie over the years but are also on our fourth cat.
We had a Bengal-cross that we rehomed for my niece which unfortunately died last November. I loved Louis but he was very unreliable and was as likely to bite and scratch as purr when you touched him.

I was persuaded by my other writer friends that I needed another cat, and this time to get a kitten and one which was guaranteed to be friendly. As I had just had a huge rebate on my council tax (because my husband has vascular dementia I now count as a single person) I decided to spend it on a pedigree cat.
After almost buying a Maine Coon (they are so huge I would not have been able to lift it to take it to the vet) I settled on a British Shorthair. I found the perfect pussy cat and although he was a little older than I would have liked, four months exactly, I collected him immediately after Christmas.
I have not regretted my choice or decision for one second. Billy Blue is an absolute charmer, sweet natured, funny and intelligent. I spent another fortune having the garden fenced so he cannot get out but if you divide the exorbitant sum by fifteen years it doesn't seem so bad.
To get back to my original question – should all writers have a pet? When we had Zoe, our border collie, my husband was safe to leave and I did a lot of planning and thinking on long walks by the river. I don't walk unless I have a reason.

Having a dog was not an option now but having Billy Blue is almost better as he does not require any exercise but does need my attention. This means I have a focus apart from my writing and my caring.

My desk is covered with cat hairs as is my monitor screen and whenever I get stuck I can find the cat and play with him. British Shorthairs are not supposed to be intelligent but I refute that. My cat talks to me, comes when I call him and knows when I am cross because he has tipped his water over again, or climbed on the back of my husband's chair and startled him.
I know a writer who has a parrot, many who have dogs, but I think more of us have a feline for company and inspiration than any other animal.
I talk to my cat, he is a good listener, and my number one fan.

best wishes
Fenella J Miller

Cold Sunflowers a debut novel from Mark Sippings.

Today I am pleased to welcome a friend, Mark Sippings, to my blog. 

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born in Walthamstow in 1959 and now live in Essex. I have two daughters.

Are you a full time writer or do you still have a real job?

I worked as a Civil Servant for most of my adult life contributing to speeches for the Minister for Women and developing new ways to assist disabled people to find their way back into employment.

I'm impressed. Did you do anything else?

In the 80s I owned and ran a restaurant in Colchester and travelled around the world.

getBook.at/Cold-Sunflowers

Now, that sounds more like an interesting preparation for writing. I gather you are also a musician? 

I am. I spend my time fronting a retro rock covers band, PSYCHO DEHLIA (www.psychodehlia.com). I also do 'extra' acting.

Have you played any interesting parts?

An office worker, a caveman and zombie but I prefer to write. I also write poetry.

There's one thing you haven't mentioned that everyone would like to know..

What's that?

That Eleanor, your daughter, was runner up in the last series of Britain's Top Model. I watched every episode. I am sure many of my readers did also. 

I am very proud of her. 

I'm sure she is proud of you too.
Thank you for coming on my blog today and I wish you every success with your book.

Here is the blurb for this amazing book:

It's 1972. Raymond Mann is seventeen. He is fearful of life and can't get off buses. He says his prayers every night and spends too much time in his room.

He meets Earnest Gardiner, a gentleman in his seventies,who's become tired of living and misses the days of chivalry and honour. Together they discover a love of sunflowers and stars and help each other learn how to love the world.
Ereenst recounts his experiences of 1917 war torn France where he served as a photographer in the trenches... of his first love and how his life was saved by Bill, a hardened soldier.
But all is not as it seems. There is a secret that will change Raymond's life for ever.
Cold Sunflowers is a story of love.
All Love.
But most of all it is about the love of life and the need to cherish every moment.

I read this as a first draft and loved it then. I can't wait to read it now it's polished. This is a truly remarkable first novel. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Fenella J Miller

All Change!

 I am sad to tell you that both these books have been removed from Amazon and are no longer on sale. I'm sorry if you intended to buy the new one,  An ATA Girl, but you will now have to wait until next March.
I am delighted to tell you that I have signed a three book contract for this series, Ellen's War, with Aria, Head of Zeus. Blue skies & Tiger Moths will have a structural edit – I'm not sure what I'll be asked to change – et cetera and then he reissued with a new cover in September. They are going to use the same model as I have already bought the copyright for these.
An ATA Girl will be out next March and the third and final book, Over and Out, which I have yet to write will be out September 2019.
I have never written for a mainstream publisher and it was the one thing I wanted to experience before I become too old and decrepit to continue writing. I am very excited about the prospect of being part of the team – I doubt I will make anywhere near as much money doing it through them, but you never know.
The main reason I am doing this is because I have been writing and producing my own books with only copy edits and a proof
read and I think going through the process of a structural edit will be good for me.
I have written almost sixty books in thirteen years and as I am now writing around six or seven a year I expect to have more than doubled this by the time I stop. Just hope my readers continue to buy my books and enjoy them, which they seem to be doing at the moment.

Pre-Order
£1.99/$2.99

 The fifth book in The Duke's Alliance series,A Soldier's Bride, is now available on pre-order on Amazon.  It will be live on 19th April. This is Lord Peregrine's story. He meets and marries a lovely, wilful, wild young lady, Sofia, and they both come to regret this hasty union. Of course, all ends happily.
The final book, which will be Beau's story, will be out in the Autumn. The duke featured strongly in A Soldier's Bride  and I can't wait to find him his HEA.
best wishes
Fenella J Miller

Ellen's War - Blue Skies & Tiger Moths FREE and An ATA Girl now on pre-order.

Pre-order Now.

I  am delighted to tell you that the second instalment of my three book series entitled Ellen's War is now available to preorder on Amazon.  It is called, An ATA Girl.
Ellie finally achieves her ambition to be a member of the ATA and is proud to wear the smart navy blue uniform. Engaged  to Greg, still a close friend to Jack, and both of them in the RAF. Life does not go smoothly for Ellie but she is a strong woman and deals with everything without giving in.
I really enjoyed writing this book and will be writing the third and final part later in the year and this will be published next spring.

FREE UNTIL MARCH 7TH

The first part of the series which came out last year, Blue Skies & Tiger Moths, is free until 7th March. I'm hoping that anyone who downloads it will enjoy it so much they then preorder the second instalment.

I owe a large part  of my success as a writer to the wonderful covers done for me by J D Smith.

best wishes
Fenella J Miller

Regency Romantic Spring 2018 Box set - Intrigues & Heartaches

£1.99/$2.99

Four British bestselling authors, Four traditional Regencies

His Auction Prize – Elizabeth Bailey

Abandoned. Offered in lieu of a debt.
Her guardian has vanished, leaving Felicity prey to nightmare. An orphan, obliged to earn her own living, she is now destitute. She has no choice but to throw herself on the mercy of the marquis who won her company for supper. Raoul enlists his cousin’s aid, only to find he has been targeted as the girl’s protector.
Under Raoul’s escort, Felicity sets out to find the truth of her father’s death, which made her Lord Maskery’s ward. Will his machinations prevail? Or will the real story, uncovered, provide a different, a better destiny?

A Lord in Disguise - Fenella J Miller

When Lord Edward Stonham kills his opponent in a duel he is forced to flee and take on a false identity. Miss Penelope Bradshaw applies for the job of his housekeeper in his new persona as Edward Trevelyan. She discovers the truth and becomes his confidante. They can never declare their love for each other because he is not in a position to make her an offer.
Is there a way out of this dilemma are they prepared to ignore propriety in order to be together?

Disinherited – Wendy Soliman

Orphaned, penniless and alone, Nadine Egan is determined to unmask the unscrupulous confidence trickster who robbed her of her inheritance. Her search leads her to Jared Beaumont, Earl of Andover. Rich, influential and badly in need of rescuing from his mother's marriage plans for him, Jared takes an interest in the headstrong Nadine. Can such a handsome and charismatic man really have stooped so low as to rob Nadine of her birthright, or are other more sinister forces at work… 

A Bride for the Bladesmith – Melinda Hammond

A tale of high adventure, set during the turbulent days of the Jacobite Rebellion
1745: John Steel takes a consignment of swords to Warenford Keep on the wild Northumberland coast. There he meets the impoverished Katherine Ellingham, daughter of a known Jacobite and fiancée of Earl Warenford. John suspects that the swords are destined for the rebel army of Charles Edward Stuart, but matters are complicated by his growing attraction to Katherine, and the jealousy of the powerful Lord Warenford.
With Carlisle in the hands of the Jacobites, and government troops patrolling Northumberland, John makes a desperate bid to retrieve the swords from the Keep before his family is implicated in the uprising, but can he succeed, and protect Katherine and her family at the same time?


CLICK HERE TO BUY

I hpoe you enjoy this new box set. The books haven't been released before. In fact, in future all the books will be written especially for the box set. Happy reading. 
best wishes
Fenella J Miller

When is the time to say 'No more!'

Happy New Year to you all – I hope it will be everything you want – both peaceful, healthy and productive.

I am in my 70s now – I know you can't believe it – but there you go. Time passes for everyone and last year went past by in a rush. I've written over half a million words last year – that's eight complete books of various lengths – a record for me.
I intend to write until I'm too old and decrepit to carry on. However, having tried to read the last two Jilly Cooper books and given them up because they were so bad, I'm wondering if I will have the sense to stop for I publish something that just isn't good enough.
Don't get me wrong – I am absolutely delighted that Jilly Cooper has been recognised in the New Year Honours list – I've been a devoted fan for an embarrassingly long time. But the last two books were two books too many and quite unreadable. Such a shame for her wonderful legacy to end on books that should not have been published.
One would have thought that her publishers would have said no – but they are a business and anything written by Cooper will sell hundreds of thousands, even if it is dire.
Athletes retire when they can no longer compete successfully, even businessmen, lawyers, and tradespeople know when to call it a day. The two professions that can continue as long as they want are artists and writers. I think it is less likely that an artist will produce bad work at the end of their life, you almost don't need your cognitive skills to paint if you're a professional, it just comes by instinct. I can't remember which of the Impressionist it was, but one of them, when he went blind, produced wonderful collages instead.

Billy-Blue - new addition to my family. 

Unfortunately, especially if like me you use voice recognition software, you can continue to write books even when your hands are too crippled with arthritis to type. I hope someone tells me politely when the books I am writing stop being a good read.
I don't think I'll ever actually give up the process, but I will certainly stop publishing and just write for myself when my books slither into the realm of crap – there's far too much of that about already without adding to the pile.
When are you going to stop? Will you keep writing as long as it's selling even though you secretly know it's not as good as it used to be?

To end on a positive note I've included a picture of our new kitten, a British Shorthair Lilac, who joined us last Thursday. I've not had a pedigree cat before but I wanted something special to replace our beloved Louis who was a Bengal cross.
Best wishes
Fenella J Miller