Kitty – an Homage to Jane Austen

Following the popularity of ‘Brizecombe Hall,’ I couldn’t resist but pen another homage – this time a work very much in the style of Jane Austen.  ‘Kitty‘ is a fun, short-length Regency romance.  Here’s the blurb:

Kitty Lewis travels with her younger sister, Clara, to join their family for the season in Bath.  Her mother is intent upon finding a husband for their elder sister, Lucinda, and believes she has found the perfect match in Captain James Northwood, a distinguished naval officer.

With time, however, Kitty begins to suspect that her sister’s affection lies elsewhere.  Meanwhile, her own plan, to keep her head firmly fixed in a book and thus avoid all the nonsense going on about her, goes gradually awry…

The Ramblers – free short story

If you’d like to read a taster of my writing, my short story, ‘The Ramblers’, is available to download for free from Smashwords and their retailers - Barnes & Noble, Apple, etc.

‘A really cute, well written short story,’ (5-star review on Barnes & Noble, August 2012).

Danburgh Castle – Medieval Romance

My novelette, Danburgh Castle, a Medieval romance, is now available on Amazon US, UK and Europe.  It’s enrolled in the ‘Kindle Select’ programme so can be borrowed as well as bought.

‘I really enjoyed this short read and devoured it in one sitting.  The plot was tight and kept me engaged, good characterisation meant I truly cared about what was happening in the story,’ (4-star review on Amazon UK, April 2012).

Romance or not romance?

That’s the question that’s bugged me for a long time regarding my writing so it seems the obvious title for my blog.

I’m an indie writer of fiction (e-books and some print publications), aimed -principally but not exclusively!- at a female readership.  My longer-length fiction is realist and contemporary and is concerned with relationships – many of them amorous.  However, my writing doesn’t always adhere to the conventions of the romance genre and feedback from some readers has suggested that it isn’t properly defined as romance.  ‘Literary character fiction’ is an alternative label that has been applied to it.

I also write shorter fiction, mostly in the genre of historical romance.  Overall, then, I’m often uncertain whether to label my books as romance or as something else – hence the title!