The "School Project Story" is Finished

Well, I've been waiting to post this since I started the book, lol, and now here it is.

Here's the cover. Didn't my designer do a fantastic job? The portraits are from the collection of William-Adolph Bouguereau.

The title is an adapted line from Sense and Sensibility (movie version -- screenplay by Emma Thompson -- when Maryanne meets Edward while they're in London and she says, "What was that when there were such friends to be met.") I think the title conveys the story quite nicely.

And the cover copy --

        This story was written for the winners of a prize “Be a Character in a Story” I donated for a fund raising event at my daughter’s school. It is not part of my Regency romance series The Reluctant Grooms. Although, there is a small romance in it, this novella encompasses the lives of two women teachers in how they view the world and their students in 1809.

            Dianne Lessard survived France’s Reign of Terror, years without her parents, and the security of a permanent home. In the summer of 1809, she needed a job. Her position as governess was at an end. Dianne's luck seemed heaven sent when she read the ad in the Ladies Gazette requiring a French teacher for a private school. After securing two interviews, she not only had a job, but a new home.

          However, Dianne’s happiness is short-lived when her teaching methods go awry and the headmistress, Mrs. Heaton, is not pleased. Can Dianne rise above her failures and conquer Mrs. Heaton’s disappointment?

            A handsome Captain on leave from his duties fighting Napoleon’s forces, surprises Dianne with a simple question, and forces her to rethink her once fierce independence for a chance at marriage and family. But then, the Captain is sent back to sea, and Dianne wrestles with her guilt for never answering his query.

            Dianne’s faith is sorely tested at every turn, but it is the only thing that remains constant in her topsy-turvy world. Will it desert her when she needs it the most? 

I know it's not my usual copy, but then it's not my usual book. It's with my critique partner at present, hoping to get it back this week, and then I'll start my edits and revisions. Then it's off to the ladies who I wrote it for for their notes, another round of edits and revisions, and hopefully by the middle of September I'll have it ready to go. 

There's been some talk of only doing a paperback version (as it is a "school" project) but we'll see. I'd like to release it in e-version as well. But I'm not sure about that. (I have to talk to the powers that be at the school.)

I will be doing a book signing (my first) on October 18 from 4-8pm at the Fall Festival at the school in Winston-Salem. Just in case you'd like to stop by. lol. The ladies I wrote the book for will join me for the signing as well. (It's an annual event at the school, kind of like a giant Halloween party but not. Games and bouncy things for the kids, haunted hallways, face painting, etc.)

So, there it is. What I thought had taken months to write, only did actually take a few weeks. And I  finished before the first day of school, so I'm inordinately pleased. I'll let you know when it's released.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you next week.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013