novella | Shannon Donnelly's Fresh Ink

I am so behind things–that’s what happens when you spent the summer teaching an EMT-Basic class (you end up reviewing lectures and tests, as if you were taking the class yourself). But that’s done–everyone passed (yeah!). And now I can catch up on new.

Some of the best news is that Davinia’s Duke is a finalist in the OCC RWA chapter’s Book Buyer’s Best contest for novellas. This is delightful not just because OCC was once my home chapter back when I lived in California, but because it’s a contest judged buy booksellers and readers.

So thank you, OCC, and thank you readers and book buyers!

The novella took longer to write than it ought to have–life interfered, and then the story stalled out, and shorter is always harder than longer. It’s also a quiet story–mostly just people on the page talking, which is one of my favorite kinds of stories, but not everyone thinks that in a world where if there’s not an explosion or a big fight scene it’s just not exciting. It is nice to know there are other readers looking for something a little quieter.

This is the first time I’ve done a pre-order….wheee, a new book coming out. It’s been some time. So what’s on pre-order?

A too perfect duke, a very imperfect lady…is it the perfect match or a perfect disaster?

A duke in need of a wife…

The dukes of Everley always marry at thirty–but the current duke has left choosing a bride far too late. Arriving at a country house party for a Valentine’s ball, he expects to find one suitable young lady to be the next duchess. He doesn’t expect to find the woman he once kissed in a garden–the woman who was the bane of his life for a season, and who might be the only woman who can save him from becoming a far too proper duke.

A lady in need of her own life…

Davinia has never forgotten that one kiss in a garden—but she has also been married, widowed, and intends to keep her niece from making the mistake she nearly made when she allowed the Duke of Everley to kiss her. But when the house becomes snow-bound, Davinia begins to realize there is a warm-hearted man under the weight of a title. Is it too late to correct past mistakes and rekindle a love she thought lost?

This was a story that took a long time–why do I keep forgetting that shorter often means harder. Everything has to be just so in a novella. Life got in the way…weather got in the way…and being away from a story means it takes time to pick it up again.

The story is due out July 23, right with the Beau Monde conference where I’m speaking. I still have a ton of things to do before then (like start on the next story, which I’m already researching and outlining). But it is fun to have a new story coming out!