“A Formulaic Romance” Work at its inception.

Just to show you how I work. This is the plot sketch for my next Regency romance. I’m thinking of calling it “A Formulaic Romance,” though that will probably change.  
I like to write an outline for the story, but am fully aware that it will change as the characters develop. Still, it gives me a framework for getting on with things. Scrivener is supposed to be great for this step, but I’ve had mixed results with it. 
 The outline is a bit sparse, and not completely grammatical, but it’s not really meant for anyone other than me.
Chemist (male) is disturbed when a carriage loses a wheel or breaks its mainbrace outside his house. He’s the proverbial “billionaire recluse scientist” scaled to regency time.
They interact, sparks sort of fly, then she takes off after the carriage is fixed.
He goes to London (Oxford, Cambridge, Bath?) to present his results (Royal Society?)
She’s in the audience, with a beau? She didn’t know it was him she met on the road. They may say hello at the end of his lecture (basically chemical magic show).
Anyway, Hero is disturbed by family insisting he take a break. Could be a serious enough accident that he needs time away (Hg, Ether, fumes, Halocarbons?) from the bench. Sister/female cousin/Aunt insists that he goes dancing. (see complication below, she could say “You don’t want X to inherit? Time you found a wife. Yes Aunt Augusta).
Runs into heroine again. Almack’s or some party or both.
They run into each other, say at the museum, or out riding, or even (if not Almacks Vauxhall (season was the summer ending sept 1 +-, Almacks was Jan – April/May).
Now they are noticing each other. There has to be some complication
{ complication ideas:
She doesn’t like not knowing that he’ll be safe.
He’s framed for poisoning someone by a not quite so rich relative who will inherit if he dies without issue. (could be after they declare their love and publish a note in the times) Beau from before could be the relative, or in line for inheritance.
}
Complication is resolved. If it’s the poisoning, she does something dramatic like drinking ‘the poison’ in court. Or there could be some skullduggary. (Gaolbreak, followed by chase, followed by finding the critical information in villain’s home.) Heroine proves he’s innocent, maybe by doing the experiment to show that the solution which was supposed to be Arsenic/Antimony was nothing but wine. Could be after he’s on the way to the gallows?

The next book

It turns out with the changes in writeon, one of the easiest ways to push excerpts out there, like for my latest book is to use a direct link to it.

The first draft is about 90% complete. I’ve finally settled on a reasonable title, “The Curious Profession of Dr. Craven” and am beginning the long process of editing, publicizing and all that rot.

It’s a sweet romance, set in 1810 so I guess it’s a regency romance, and it’s more than a bit Gothic. It starts with the heroine waking up after she’s been buried alive, had her body stolen from the crypt and taken to an anatomist. The trauma has left her memory somewhere else, and she slowly recovers. Once that happens, a complicated story ensues involving fake identities, false French Dukes at Almack’s and various subterfuges until it all works out in the end and they figuratively ride of into the sunset together. Or at least to the vicar’s to post the Bann’s. 

Some old English

“And yet she lives” or what ever I’ll call it is approaching completion (43000 words, complete story line, just needs some backfill and editing). So I’ve been sketching the next.

Since I’m thinking about submitting it as a short story, I’m not about to “screw the pooch” (astronaut speak for making a terrible mistake, as in “I just screwed the pooch, Kaboom”) by prereleasing it.

However I can put up a few hints.

Steorrum is the dative plural of star. It means “To the Stars” Great idea for a title.
Orc means ghoul. Yes, Tolkien borrowed it.
Eorl (Earl) means a brave man.
Were is just any old man. So now you know where Werewolfe comes from (except wolf was probably not wolf).

I’m thinking of a space opera starting with the recruitment of a Saxon warrior as a mercenary. He’s needed on a mission where blasters wouldn’t work. Complications ensue. I’m toying with him returning in modern England, which could be even more fun.

A teaser.

While I’m still debating with myself how much to put here, I’m happy to put a teaser.  The book I’m working on right now is “A Dark Place.” It’s an experiment at writing a Gothic romance in the spirit of works like “the Castle of Udolpho” with skeletons and all that rubbish.

It starts with a grave robbing, and the heroine waking up shortly before she’s anatomized. She remembers almost nothing of her former life, and the doctor who was about to dissect her is the classic combination of stud and mystery. (Although he is careful to follow the conventions.  In Regency times holding hands without gloves before marriage was a serious event.)  Via a complicated set of twistings and turnings, including being an abortive wedding with someone else, they finally hitch up.

I’ve had difficulties with scrivener keeping things I wanted to change. Decorrecting spellings and various mysterious ghostly happenings. I want those in the plot, not the word-processor. So while it’s great for laying out the plot, I’ve reverted to doing the actual writing with LibreOffice.

Plot summary of Cecelia?

This is from
http://booksreadr.org/ebook/what-about-cecelia
which is a download site. I’m glad lots of people download it there, but I wish they did a better job on the plot summary. (Though it would be nicer if you went directly to smashwords for it.)

Within this love that was nice the youthful very and trusting heroine has existed all her existence within the remote Penyclawdd home in the Dark Mountains’ fringe and about the edge between Wales. Her youth house that was precious is required on the remote relative. Chief Timber, the relative, was invalided following a devastating fight from the military in Italy. He gets to the property together with eacute & his fianc;elizabeth, Linda, in pull. Despite their finest attempts towards the opposite, the Chief and also Cecelia end up drawn to one another. The Chief, Linda and Cecelia travel in wish of discovering Cecelia a spouse to Bathtub. Although there Linda elopes and satisfies by having an old fire. Thinking her steps ruined #039 & the Chief;s greatest probabilities at joy, Cecelia flees to reside together with her cousin. Swansea is lived someplace near by the cousin, and also the book’s rest chronicles the Captain s misadventures and initiatives as he does his better to discover and get the love of his existence.

The original went:

In this sweet romance the pretty, young and naive heroine, Cecelia Wood, has lived all her life in the isolated Penyclawdd house at the edge of the Black Mountains and on the border between Wales and England. Her beloved childhood home is entailed on a distant cousin. The cousin, Captain Wood, was invalided out of the army in Spain after a disastrous battle. He arrives at the estate with his new fiancée, Jane, in tow. Despite their best efforts to the contrary, Cecelia and the Captain find themselves attracted to each other. The Captain, Jane and Cecelia travel to Bath in hope of finding Cecelia a husband. While there Jane meets with an old flame and elopes. Believing her actions destroyed the Captain’s best chances at happiness, Cecelia flees to live with her aunt. The aunt lives somewhere near Swansea, and the rest of the book chronicles the Captain’s efforts and misadventures as he does his best to find and retrieve the love of his life.