Kind greetings, my bookish friends—

Wait. First of all, I invite you to pause for a moment.... take a breath, or a drink of your tea or coffee before it gets cold.

What was something beautiful or joyful in your life lately? I hereby give you this moment to treasure it.

(Of course, you are always welcome to reply to this email and share your joy with me, but you can just hold this one little moment with no obligations for yourself! I'll share my moment of joy at the end of the newsletter.)

As I've shared with you in the last couple weeks, I've been sad and overwhelmed at the state of the world lately—that and the flu is going around our family. Ugh! But I'm trying to get to a reframing that works for me keep on going, so that's what I'm sharing today.

Read on for two fun breaking pieces of book-ish news, what you and I can both do to feel valuable in this age of AI, and a cute video!

First of all, a little mini-introduction... if you joined from my Magical Libraries magnet (welcome!) and are wondering where the Regency romances come from — first of all, I write character-driven, community-centered stories set both in Irish fairy tales and the 1820's. Secondly, there's going to be some lovely libraries in the Regency books, too...

Introducing... Cloverdell Manor!!!!

I've had SO much fun hearing ideas and opinions from so many of you about the name of the manor house in my current manuscript! I have enough names to last me through several more manor houses, but the winner is Cloverdell! This was actually a reader suggestion for a variation of a name I found, so if it was you who came up with that, please remind me who you are and I'll thank you in the acknowledgments! And so many thanks to everyone who participated in voting.

So for fun, here's a wee bit about how I imagine Cloverdell Manor. (To be clear, these are pictures of real English houses, and Cloverdell is imaginary.) I definitely think of it as big and white, this sort of square style rather than a rambling mansion or turret-y castle style.

You approach it through a long drive through a rolling park. It would not be as straight as this, which perhaps was adapted for automobiles, but it would certainly be impressive.

There are several scenes that take place out the back veranda, which overlooks formal gardens, with low hedges and fountains, somewhat like this. Birds are singing, and beyond the knot gardens is a wood.

Now, the interesting thing about a house this grand is that Marianne, our heroine, REALLY and PASSIONATELY did not want to end up at an impressive house. She's friendly and cheerful, says what she means (sometimes even if it isn't polite), and just wants to play the piano. If she needs to marry, she thinks she could do some good being the wife of an up-and-coming politician in the Radical party — in Commons, of course, not Lords, because Commons is where they get things done.

And who knows how she ends up rolling up to a house like this....? Not Marianne, that's for sure.

New book alert! The Domestic Diplomat is coming soon...

Sadly, you cannot yet buy Marianne's story, because I haven't finished writing it. But the next book in The Bonnet Brigade series is available for pre-order!! It will be available to pre-order on Kobo and Apple Books as well, but last I checked those were not yet live, so I just have the Kindle link.

We also know that my publisher will have these at 99 cents for first two weeks of the preorder only! If you're cost sensitive, be sure to pre-order your copy. 🥰

This book opens as Celia and Peter (and 16-year-old Marianne) arrive at his house in wild, windswept north England. Celia doesn't know what to expect, but it's certainly not parlors full of dust, broken umbrellas, and a stuffed crow. As for Peter, now that he's back in the house where he was born, the memories become too loud for him to escape any longer...

Click the picture to add to your GoodReads TBR, or the button to read the blurb

The Domestic Diplomat

What can we do to be human in an increasingly AI world?

You are here, reading the words that I write with my brain and fingers, and this matters. As platforms like Amazon become overrun with AI books (we're headed towards 75%, many of which do not even nominally human authors), our individual actions become ever more important.

As an author, I'm working to connect with in-person events, small bookstores, and personal interactions.

As a reader, your actions are the only thing that can change the tide of visibility swinging towards big corporations who have tons of money to put into their AI books and entertainment. As so much of what we interact with becomes driven by the algorithm, your clicks and comments matter. You can:

• interact on GoodReads, social media, and more (every click, view, or "want to read" matters!)

• leave a rating — just a star rating is fine!! it only takes 3 seconds 😊

• recommend human-authored books to your friends, book clubs, and anywhere else

• request that your library get my books (and other indie and small press authors!)

• and here's a new one I just learned about...... you can order my books through your local bookstore! Although they probably aren't on the shelves, bookstores have access to the catalogue where they are listed and can get you a copy.

As an author who is also a passionate reader, here's a couple little things I'll be doing differently.

• First of all, I'm going to start commenting and linking the books that I am reading. These aren't promos or blanket recommendations (you can find me on StoryGraph to see all my reviews, and some of them are on GoodReads), these are just genuinely what's on my e-reader and I have enjoyed lately.

• I'm going to start doing more individual author swaps rather than group promos, and look for specifically no-AI promos. I have always tried to choose promos that feel like a good fit for my books, and I've "met" so many of you through group promos — and I use them myself as a reader! But I can't control who joins the group after I have already committed, and I've been feeling less good about them. Also, I think we're all overwhelmed with choice, and focusing on one person and one book makes it easier to decide if that book is for you.

• I have been doing a ton of ARC reading and leaving reviews lately. I feel like if I'm asking it of other people, it's important that I put my energy into it too.

• I'm trying to hype up other authors wherever I can!

This week I'm reading:

Twisted Magic by Jude Knight — Regency-with-magic, with sentient forests and Fae

The Rogue and the Viscountess by Misty Urban — I just started today, but I like how each main character has landed in an unexpected place. I'm curious how they'll end up together!

And my little moment of happiness to share with you...

All four dogs are starting to play with each other. Meaning, Sálie has pestered all of them, and run faster and faster on her little legs, until now she's included in their Sheltie wildness. Now what, you may ask, is Sheltie wildness?

Shelties don't play like most dogs. Their favorite game is a complex version of tag, and most of their play time involves running at top speed. One dog will be "it" and they lead everyone on a wild and hysterical chase, and everyone especially likes loops where different dogs can take different paths. The chaser dogs love to peel off and surprise their quarry from the opposite side of the circle, or sometimes they hide under something and pop out as "it" goes streaking by. Our house has a triple circle, where children or dogs can go around in a big circle through the living room, dining room, and kitchen, or a small circle around the back of the living room sofa. If you are a dog, the circle under the piano is also an appealing one.

I put this video up so I could link it for you (I can't embed video in a newsletter), but now a lot of people are enjoying my silly dogs!

Silly tag-playing dogs on Instagram

Silly tag-playing dogs on Facebook

And it's not quite as fun as the video, but here's picture of cuddly sleeping little Sálie from last night. 🥰

Bye for now!

Christy & the Shelties

P.S. Now would be a great time to catch up on reading The Bonnet Brigade before the sequel comes out! Here's a little bit about our hero...

Peter's internal conflicts are also excellent: his career, his father and siblings, Celia's suitors, and Celia's safety. By the time his worries start tumbling over one another, the book is impossible to put down. He is a mess, but everything about the mess makes perfect emotional sense. He is alive, complex, and very compelling.

—Alina, GoodReads review