Hi
lovelies! It gives me great pleasure
today to host Rachel Brimble and her new book, “The Mistress of Pennington's”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be
sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back
daily to interact with Rachel and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks
for stopping by! Wishing you lots of
luck in this fabulous giveaway!
The Mistress of Pennington's
by Rachel Brimble
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Saga/Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Elizabeth
Pennington should be the rightful heir of Bath's premier department store
through her enterprising schemes and dogged hard work. Her father, Edward
Pennington, believes his daughter lacks the business acumen to run his empire
and is resolute a man will succeed him.
Determined
to break from her father's iron-clad hold and prove she is worthy of inheriting
the store, Elizabeth forms an unlikely alliance with ambitious and charismatic
master glove-maker Joseph Carter. United they forge forward to bring
Pennington's into a new decade, embracing woman's equality and progression
whilst trying not to mix business and pleasure.
Can
this dream team thwart Edward Pennington's plans for the store? Or will Edward
prove himself an unshakeable force who will ultimately ruin both Elizabeth and
Joseph?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
He
moved to walk away, and she reached for his arm before she could think just how
dangerous such contact could be. He halted, and even when he looked at her
fingers clutched on his forearm, she did not remove them. It suddenly felt
important she touch him; that he understood she had care for what he said or
asked her.
Even
though the physical contact set her heart racing, she held her grasp. ‘Why do
you ask me about your family?’
He
closed his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest.
Disquiet
whispered through her. What had caused such uncharacteristic hesitation in him?
‘Joseph…’
She slid her hand from his arm, ignoring the pang of loss that the break of
contact brought. ‘If there’s something bothering you, please, share it with
me.’
He
slowly raised his head, his blue eyes full of irritation once more. ‘I will,
but not here. Not on the street. I’d prefer to come to your office tomorrow.’
How
was she supposed to wait until tomorrow? Her curiosity was rife. It was clear
something had changed between them. Something, it seemed, of which she was the
cause.
She
nodded. ‘I’ll send a message to you first thing in the morning.’
‘Thank
you. Until then, I bid you good day.’
He
walked away, leaving Elizabeth with questions and words flailing on her tongue.
She stared after him, fearful of the pull deep in her chest that Joseph’s
concerns had somehow become hers. No good could come of such caring. Her only
goal should be proving her worth and capability in Pennington’s and beyond. She
could not allow one man, any man, to have such an effect on her.
She
inhaled a long breath and walked towards Pennington’s doors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Evolution of My Writing Habits and How I've Grown into a
Better/More Experienced Writer
There
is nothing I like more than sharing my writing journey and how it came to be
that I’ve had twenty-one novels and two novellas published by various small
presses and mainstream publishers.
First
of all, it has NOT been easy! In fact, as I’m writing my twenty-fourth book,
(books twenty-two and three will be out next year), I’m already wondering how
I’ve managed to complete books before. That, unfortunately, never seems to
change for me or many, many other writers I’ve spoken to about the writing
process.
So,
the first rule of thumb, is to be a published novelist you must have a
deep-seated desire to put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard) and an
unending thirst and love of stories.
I was
around 13 or 14 when I discovered the young adult Sweet Dream series and after
reading a TON of these books, I knew I wanted to be a romance author. I began
to write stories for my own enjoyment, never imagining that one day, I’d be
published. Day to day life got in the way and I got a ‘normal job’ working at a
bank. It wasn’t until my youngest daughter started school full-time that I had
a ‘now or never’ moment and, with my husband’s encouragement, I embarked on my
publishing journey.
That
was in 2005 and my first novel, ‘Searching For Sophie’ was published by The Wild
Rose Press in 2007. I’ve been fortunate enough to have every book I’ve written
since accepted and published by various publishers. My favourite series so far
(not including Pennington’s, of course!) is my Templeton Cove series with
Harlequin Superromance. A mix of mainstream romance and romantic suspense
stories, this fictional UK town and its residents have become extremely
important to me.
So,
what tips can I give you and how did I learn the craft of writing… which I
truly believe everyone is capable of learning.
1) The first thing I did was write… a LOT!
It’s no good having a dream if you are not taking steps to its realisation.
2) Online technical courses – as an aspiring
writer it’s important to learn the skills that will see you through your writing
journey and beyond. I took course after course covering dialogue, showing
versus telling, characterisation, pacing, setting and plotting. Some really
good ones can be found at
https://www.universalclass.com/i/course/romance-writing-101.htm and https://www.writingclasses.com/classes/online.
3) Join a writers’ organisation to learn from
other writers, join local chapter get-togethers and make friends for life as
well as attending their annual conferences which are invaluable for knowledge,
technique and reminding you that you’re not alone on this journey. I am in the
UK and a member of the Romantic Novelists Association
(https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/) as well as the US equivalent (https://www.rwa.org/).
4) Make sure you FINISH the project you’re working
on – far too many aspiring writers never finish that short story, novella or
novel before giving up and moving onto a new project. Do everything you can to
get to THE END – a filled page can be edited, a blank page can’t, and you’ll at
least know you’re capable of seeing a story through to the end. You want to be
published, right? You want multiple contracts? Once contracted, you’ll have no
choice but to hand in a polished, finished piece of work. Ensure the practice
NOW!
5) Finally, this is the piece of advice that
changed my output overnight – Give yourself permission to write a crappy draft.
Simple! I start every book thinking ‘Okay, let’s get this baby written’. I’m a
plotter so have a good idea of where I want the story to go but, more often than
not, it will veer off course more than once. That’s okay, because this is the
first draft.
When
I adopted this mindset and process my output quadrupled overnight – no internal
editors, no doubt, just get the words down and then you can polish later.
That’s it! My nuggets
of experience and advice on a plate – happy writing!
Rachel x
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Rachel lives
with her husband and two teenage daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK.
Since 2007, she has had several novels published by small US presses, eight
books published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and four
Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical.
In January
2018, she signed a four-book deal with Aria Fiction for a brand new Edwardian
series set in Bath’s finest department store. The first book, The Mistress of
Pennington’s, will release in July 2018.
Rachel
is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of
America, and was selected to mentor the Superromance finalist of So You Think
You Can Write 2014 contest. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her
head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family.
Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.
She
likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and fellow
romance writers. Rachel would love to hear from you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH RACHEL:
Website:
Blog:
Newsletter:
Email:
rachelbrimble@googlemail.com
Facebook Fan Page:
Facebook Group – Rachel’s Readers:
Twitter:
Instagram:
BookBub:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Apple iBooks:
Google Play:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Rachel will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Rachel ~ It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThis is a truly amazing book and Rachel has outdone herself with the research and attention to detail of the story.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the opportunity to win but also for helping us find some terrific books to read. I have a family who loves reading so this helps me out since they all have various genres.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your release Rachel !☘️
ReplyDeleteI love the cover, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteNice cover
ReplyDelete