Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The First Marie has a new look.



I liked the cover on the first edition of The First Marie and the Queen of Scots, but I wanted something new to go with the edited interior and that marked it as a 2nd Edition. I always planned to do a new line edit and some rewriting of the First Marie,  but I was putting it off. At my age, that's a bit of a risk,but I was busy getting my protagonist in book four out of James VI's dungeon at Holyrood, and I had no time to rescue Mally Flemyng, the wonderful chief of Marie Stuart's Four Maries, from my careless editing.   But the Kindle police wanted me to fix some specific typos, and guess what? Neither I nor Createspace had a writable source document.  One of the Createspace Team 2 people Andrea C took pity on me, as did John R. at Kindle,  and I ended up with a source document free of charge from Createspace, and forbearance from Kindle that allowed my original ebook back on the market.  Thus, while I was correcting First Marie, why not do the editing I had been meaning to do?  The result is a cleaner book that is less confusing because I have clarified the annoying use of similar names.  Mally is every bit as formidable as in the first edition, and just a tad more human in her desire to avenge her brother's murder. At any rate, here is the new look, and for the present, both versions are available.  The old one which has been called "flawed" but compelling by the reviewer who read it at Book loons is still the better seller. Its March sales were the best ever.

And meanwhile,back at the dungeon in Holyrood Palace, my heroine Daisy Kirkcaldy is saved from the witches' bridle in the nick of time.  Now I have to write her out of the equally tortuous dilemma of being in love with two men at the same time.  One is married and the other is the bastard son of the notorious Earl of Bothwell.  And not surprising for a pair of Border Reivers, Ferniehirst and Hepburn hate one another and both are excellent swordsmen.  For those who have read The Midwife's Secret - The Mystery of the Hidden Princess, and wished it had not ended so abruptly, the other Daisy-- the one who became Sister Marguerite d' Kircaldie-- figures prominently in the story. After all, if the legend from Loch Leven are true, she and Bothwell's son Will Hepburn would be sister and brother.  And for readers who liked the ending of Midwife's Secret but wanted more, it is now clear to me that I cannot finish the fictional account of the incredible life of the Abbess Marguerite Kircaldie in my current book. After all, as the title indicates, the current WIP is about the Other Daughter --the other Daisy.   So, aye! I sense another book emerging.  I am having a wonderful adventure. Come share it!

1 comment:

  1. Nice cover art! I saw your post on book blogs. I'm working on a Create Space version of my first book now. I enjoy doing the cover art but its not easy!
    Nice blog you have here.
    Happy writing!
    Jeannie

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