Dauntless!

Techno stuff! The greatest frustration of modern times! Wonder what it will be 50 years on? Guess I won't be alive to see!
I was very pleased with retrieving my blog from cyberspace. Now I have lost one of my emails jenyatesnz@jenyatesnz.com No use sending me anything on it at the moment because I can't access it! The blog episode turned out to be something to do with settings in Google Chrome/+/something and I guess this is similar. I just can't track it!
So even if RNC have sent me the preliminaries of my lovely new book cover I can't retrieve their email. I shall have to ask them to resend on my other email.
If I spent the time writing that I waste on trying to solve techno problems I'd have twice as many books written!
Yesterday we decided to go roaming. We drove out to Waitomo, back through Bodies Road onto the Oparure Road, over the Pomerangi's to Marokopa. Have done it before and really didn't intend to drive it again. 'Over the Pomerangi's' is a euphemism for 'going by goat track'! One lane wide - or less in some places! - and constant winding in and out on gravel road - where the gravel hadn't washed off in the winter rains that seemed to be non-stop. The upside is we never met another vehicle.
I took lots of photos and will share some of them at a later date.
One photo that I found quite inspiring seems to fit today's blog! A punga frond, growing strong and healthy out of mud and rubble from a slip that had buried it.
I too shall not be daunted by the bog of technology!

Hullo Blog! It's been a while because I did something that locked me out! Finally, after two months I have sorted it and I'm back! What a relief.
I have been writing hard out on Bk.4. in 'Lords of the Matrix Club' series and have just purchased the cover from RomanceNovelCovers.com. The cover reveal will come later as I don't yet have the finished product.
Meanwhile, the first three books are selling well and slowly building up their reviews.
Here's the latest one, for Bk.2. 'The Perfect Duchess.'

5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read - spicy romance!

Bynanalanabon October 25, 2017

Format: Kindle Edition

Good Lord, I read a lot of books, but never have I read one like this (except the first in the Matrix Series). I think this book is well written & compelling. I became immersed in the characters & hoped they would find their way to one another in the end. If you like your historical romances sweet & clean , this read isn’t for you. If you like your romances with twists, humor & spice with a fierce love between characters; this read is for you. I am going to go purchase Book 3 now, The Virgin Widow!

This author is feeling very grateful - a 5 star review and I'm back in my blog!

www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSBW42C

Lunch Date

It felt like the first day of Spring, warm and sunny after a frost. A glorious day to play hooky.  So between getting a windscreen chip fixed on 'Blue Thunder' (Mazda 2 - LoL) and doing the weekly grocery shop, DB and I decided to drive out to Waitomo for lunch at Huhu Restaurant. It's named for the huhu grub, a Maori delicacy not actually available on the menu. Apparently, roasted they taste like peanut butter. Here are photos of a grub and a beetle I borrowed from the Internet.

 


DB has an issue with taking photos of food but he managed to smile (weakly) while I photographed what I did order from the menu - Beetroot & Orange Cured Ora King Salmon, Celeriac & Sour Cream Salad, Beetroot Relish. 
An excellent choice.

We dined out on the deck where we could soak up the sunshine and the view of the Waitomo Valley with the iconic Caves Hotel on the far ridge. One of NZ's major tourist attractions, the Valley was still delightfully peaceful - and rural.

The grocery shopping was so much less mundane thereafter!

Is Pop-Fiction Serious Literature?

I met a woman recently who is writing a Psychological Self-help book. For a while I allowed myself to be blinded by the worthiness of such an intellectual endeavour. I write Sexy Romance set in the Regency era and it seemed frivolous by comparison.
I have just returned from Romance Writers of NZ Conference 2017 where the keynote speaker, Christie Craig (aka C.C.Hunter) reminded us that no matter who you are, rich or poor, lord or peasant, man or woman, president or criminal, when you are on your deathbed the only thing that will matter is love; those you love and who love you.
Romance novels are an endless source of love and relationship Self-help. Men can learn how women think and what they want. Women can learn the same of men. You can study the interaction of different personalities; how to compromise, and what love really means.
Romance novels are also a source of hope and inspiration. Stressed? Read a good romance and see if you don't feel better and more empowered when it comes to that satisfactory conclusion.
Sexy romance novels are an entertaining and natural way to learn about sexual technique - within a loving relationship.
My characters often seem to have sexual issues to overcome and since a romance novel must come to a happy and satisfactory conclusion, these issues must be resolved by the end of the book. Therefore, reading the books may help people with similar issues in their own lives; give them hope.
I do believe I write 'Psychological Self-help books.'
In an entertaining way!

The Writing Process.

'The Virgin Widow', Bk.3. in the 'Lords of the Matrix Club' series is available for pre-order now.
It will download to your Kindle in a couple of days!!!
Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X5LLX3
If you read Bk.2. 'The Perfect Duchess'  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSBW42C and fell in love with that scoundrel, the Great Bax, 'The Virgin Widow' is his story.
Bk.1. 'The Earl of Windermere Takes a Wife', has turned out to be mildly controversial, with it's damaged hero and determined heroine. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENSMA2A

Bk.4. is under way. The working title is 'The Dark Lord', but this may change during the writing.
'The Perfect Duchess' started out as 'Marked for the Duke', but the true title became obvious by about the 4th time Lady Sherida's 'perfect duchess' potential was mentioned.
Bk.4. is Knight's story, Lord Ajax Beresford, Earl of Knightsborough.

By Bk.3. of this series, and with several others also published, I thought I'd finally worked out how I write. I wrote the first chapter, then plotted the rest of the book, scene by scene in note form. Then I just set to and wrote the book, scene by scene. So easy and even fun.

Bk.4. is proving to be quite different. I'm seeing the scenes, one at a time (usually while I'm in the shower! Wish we had solar hot water!) and I find myself writing them in full before I can move onto the next. Why aren't the scenes just as obvious as they were in Bk.3?

Then I realised that perhaps the characters themselves have something to do with that. The Virgin Widow, Lady Jane Rotherby, is a delightful 'Lady of the Manor' style character with an embarrassing secret. It's the only subterfuge about her. As for the Great Bax, it was no secret what he wanted - from the moment he set eyes on 'Angular Jane' again for the first time in 15 years. They were open, fun-loving characters who both desperately wanted to get hot and steamy with each other.
They were uncomplicated.  Jane's virginity was the main sticking point, though Bax had some life-changing family secrets to discover.

Lord Knightsborough, on the other hand, is a deep, dark character who is all about keeping control of his emotions and not letting any woman emotionally close, while Lady Penelope Grantwood is a feisty, fiercely independent woman, determined that no man shall control her ever again! Knight, in particular, gives little away. He likes his women submissive and willing to be bound so they cannot touch him or compromise his control in any way.

But she stirs him as no woman has in a long time, maybe ever. There is not a submissive bone in Lady Penny's body - and she's very handy with a gun!
These two are revealing their story in a very different way to previous ones, and I'm finding it intriguing. Hopefully, readers will find it so,  as well.

Up-Date on 'The Virgin Widow' (see 'Secrets' 14.6.2017)

'The Virgin Widow', Bk.3. in the 'Lords of the Matrix Club' series is available for pre-order now.
It will download to your Kindle on 12th August - giving me time to check those last edits.
Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X5LLX3
If you read Bk.2. 'The Perfect Duchess'  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSBW42C and fell in love with that scoundrel, the Great Bax, 'The Virgin Widow' is his story.

Of Writing - And Reviews

I'm not a prolific blogger, probably because I'd much rather be writing about the fictitious characters in my head who become so real their stories just have to be told.

Like 'The Earl of Windermere Takes a Wife.'  http://amazon.com/dp/B01ENSMA2A

Book.1. in the 'Lords of the Matrix Club, series. 

(It's FREE at the moment. Last day today so if you hurry you could still get lucky!)

I became very involved with the main characters in this story and put a lot of thought into solving their dilemma. It has become one of those stories readers either love or hate as can be seen from the reviews - and I totally understand both points of view. After all the H hated himself for most of the story! 

Of course, the reviews close to my heart are those who understand the era and its limitations, (no psychotherapists etc!) who also believe in the power of love and understand the strength required not to give in at the first hurdle.

This latest review is one of those and I felt the desire to share. Because I'm grateful someone else understood my characters like I did - and cared enough to share their thoughts.

Customer Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful  Not for the faint of heart, July 16, 2017 By  cls Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: The Earl of Windermere Takes a Wife (Lords of the Matrix Club Book 1) (Kindle Edition) Good Lord, I read a lot of books, but never have I read one like this. I see a lot of poor reviews but I think that’s because this book is so well written and compelling you can’t help but hate the H at times. I became immersed in the characters and wondered how it could possibly be resolved in an age of so little knowledge of mental health issues. If you like your historical romances sweet, clean, and tidy, this read isn’t for you. If you like your romances with twists and turns and don't mind shocking and at times upsetting novels with a fierce love between characters and well edited, then try this one out. No cliffhanger. Now I’m off to purchase the Duke’s story, “The Perfect Duchess”. Loved his character!