strong heroines, adorable heroes
Hi everyone! This is a spoiler-friendly discussion and questions post for Listen to the Moon. I’d love to hear anything you have to say about the book! And if there’s anything you want to know (about the book, about writing the book, about characters in the book, about what happens next, anything really), this is a good place to ask.
Thank you to everyone who was excited for John and Sukey’s story!
So I have a tradition. Every time I release a book, I celebrate by posting a free short story based on a suggestion from a reader about the characters from my previous book. NB: All contain spoilers.
For In for a Penny, I wrote “Four Times Percy Garrett Didn’t Kiss [SPOILER REDACTED], and One Time He Did“.
For A Lily Among Thorns, I wrote “The way of a man with a maid“, about Deborah Hathaway’s first two weeks of marriage to Jonas…which do not go very smoothly.
For Sweet Disorder, I wrote “Poor child of Doubt and Death“, in which Nick is a vampire and Phoebe is a dragon and everything else is pretty much the same.
The True Pretenses short story, in which Ash and Rafe con Aaron Burr, will be up in January!
And now it’s time for me to take reader suggestions for a Listen to the Moon short story!
I’ll take suggestions of any kind, in any format, as detailed or vague as you like. What ifs, alternate universes, missing scenes, backstory, and future scenes are all fair game. Feel free to treat your comment like a mini-brainstorming session if you want!
You can see past suggestion posts here.
Legal stuff: by submitting a comment on this post, you permit Rose Lerner to develop your story idea without any expectation of financial compensation or remuneration. The resulting story will be available to readers free of charge.
Some suggestions to get the ball rolling:
1. Sukey and Toogood are struck by lightning and swap bodies.
2. Sukey works at a coffee kiosk and Toogood owns the upscale classic-cocktail bar across the street.
3. Nora Khaleel and Imogen Makepeace go to the fair together.
4. Sukey learns she’s a fairy changling, and she and Toogood have to journey to Faerie to get back the human baby she was swapped for.
5. Footman Toogood babysitting little Nick at Tassell Hall.
Comment section is SPOILER-FRIENDLY!
Today I’m at Romancing the Book talking about Listen to the Moon (and giving away a copy), what one thing I would take with me to a deserted island (spoiler: it’s Oliver Queen), and much, much more!
ETA: This contest is now closed. JCP won the gift basket, and K, Elaine C, Joye, Angela, and LSUReader won the e-books!
Listen to the Moon comes out in just a few weeks, and to celebrate, I’m giving away 5 e-books and a lovely gift basket of items (basket not included)!
Pictured: Spokemodel T-Rex with silver tray of brandy (not included) and gift basket items in an elegant setting (also not included)! Image credit: “Holkham Hall” by Hans Rosbach.
Listen to the Moon is book 3 in my Lively St. Lemeston series, and this one focuses on a romance between servants! (Readers of Sweet Disorder may recognize them…)
Continue reading “New contest: LISTEN TO THE MOON e-books, and a gift basket!”
Sukey got sent out to run an errand in the rain by her boss, and John went with her. Now a storm has come up, Sukey has fallen (but why?? how?? into/out of/off what?? read the book to find out!), and they’ve taken shelter in a barn…
I had a yummy cocktail with my lunch for Toogood Shabbas! It’s made with cherry bounce, a cherry-infused brandy that Toogood and Sukey drink in Listen to the Moon (there’s a place in Seattle that makes it!). I wasn’t a huge fan of it for more than a couple of sips on its own, but it’s delicious with vodka, ginger ale, and lemon juice. I might try rum next time–I was worried it would be too sweet if I did but the lemon juice is enough to counter that, I think.
Toogood also takes Sukey to the theater so this afternoon, even though I “should” be working, I’m taking myself to see “Heart of the Sea: When Whales Attack!”
Okay so you may know that book #3 of my small-town Regency series, Lively St. Lemeston, is coming out in January? Listen to the Moon, about a valet and a maid who marry to get a plum job?
Now books 1 and 2 are BOTH deep-discounted so you can catch up on the entire series for just $2.98!!!
Sweet Disorder is the first book (it’s about a wounded officer who is trying to marry off a prickly widow to help his brother win a hotly contested local election) and it’s 99 cents! Amazon * Nook
(Cecilia Grant says: “I loved everything about Sweet Disorder:…the clear-eyed affection with which Lerner sketches a vibrant small-town Regency community, and most of all, the steamy, deeply-felt romance between two wary people who have everything to lose by falling in love.”)
True Pretenses (book 2) is about a marriage of convenience between a Jewish con artist and an heiress who needs her dowry STAT, and it’s $1.99! Amazon * Nook
(Courtney Milan says: “I loved everything about this book, from the heartbreaking relationship between the brothers, to Ash’s loneliness, to Lydia’s vulnerability.”)
I’ve spent a lot of time writing at the library this week, so have a cookie in which Sukey has bought Toogood a library card as a present!
So…I’ve been really stressed out. And things are only going to get worse in the next couple of months as I prep for the release of Listen to the Moon and [SUPER EXCITING UPCOMING EVENT REDACTED]. So I decided that in December and January, every Friday I’m going to do something nice for myself, something small and thoughtful like Toogood might do for Sukey. And because I’m a big dork, I decided to call it Toogood Shabbas. Toogood hates me right now.
(“Good Shabbas” being the traditional Sabbath greeting for Ashkenazi Jews, and Shabbas being a traditional day of rest and relaxation. Taking a couple of hours to myself on Friday night to light candles, drink grape juice and read a book saved my mental health my senior year of college.)
One of my favorite scenes from the book (I posted it for Teaser Tuesday a few weeks ago) involves Toogood heating a bath for Sukey. So I decided that this Friday I would make myself a fancy bath!
I have been secretly obsessed with fancy baths since childhood, when I was mesmerized by the bubble baths in two music videos: the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited” (also the first time I saw someone flip a table, SO AWESOME, my sister totally tried to do this at home once and spilled juice everywhere)
and the Mary Jane Girls’ “In My House” (wow I really had no idea what any of the words to either of these songs meant)
I don’t really want a bubble bath, though. I have really dry skin! But I bought some dried rose petals and I was like, OKAY SO WE’RE DOING THIS.
A glass of white wine, a Burr biography…all the ingredients for a perfect evening.
Phase 2: the petals were in the water. Honestly I was a little worried that this would turn out really gross, like I would get in and weird little things would just be clinging to me. I was all prepared to regale you guys with the story of the comic failure of my elegant plans. But you know what? It smelled really nice! I should have put more petals in even! And even though there kind of were weird little things clinging to me, it looked super elegant and romantic! (Not as elegant and romantic as this stock photo lady doing the same thing, but.)
Also I read about Burr doing eight million hilarious things including instructing his followers to “Speak of yourself in the third person when you wish it to be concealed that you are the Person in question.”
WHAT EVEN THE WHAT
I feel great right now. Toogood Shabbas, everyone!
Since Thanksgiving is coming up and a lot of people are going to see family this weekend, have this cookie, in which Sukey meets her in-laws for the first time. Eep.
