Hi friends! Guess who is visiting Austenesque Reviews today?
The lovely Lyndsay Constable! 🙌🏼
And guess what? She has a new cover reveal to share with us! ✨
Happy day! 🤗
Lyndsay is here to share some inspiration, an enticing excerpt, and the lovely cover for Swell My Song! 🎶
~ From the Author ~
Thank you so much for hosting the cover reveal! It’s always great fun to visit with Meredith and chat with awesome readers.
I probably read through Edith Hamilton’s Mythology a dozen times when I was a teenager. I found the tales fascinating and I remember trying to convince my fellow teens that the stories were similar to soap operas, only with titans and shapeshifting. Needless to say, I had few converts to my Greek mythology devotion. My other love at the time was Jane Austen, so I suppose it was inevitable that one day I would want to combine the two!
I have always loved the charming, colloquial paragraph in Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth is reluctant to play and sing in front of Mr Darcy. When she relents, she tells Darcy there is a saying in those parts,
“Keep your breath to cool your porridge’; and I shall keep mine to swell my song.”
It conjures images of waves and sirens in my mind. I can feel Elizabeth’s reluctance to perform in front of Mr Darcy, expecting him to be critical, but all the while he is perhaps at the beginning of being head over heels for her. Was this the moment? When he really started to fall helplessly and irrevocably? Or was the charm of her voice and playing the final thing that captured his heart? We don’t know. Even Darcy admits at the end that he was unaware of when and where he really started to love Elizabeth.
“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”
I loved the idea of them bickering over the nature of love, how and when it occurs, and whether it is genuine or a passing infatuation. And the poetry! Darcy convinces Elizabeth to attempt composing some poor poetry to prove that his love is strong and true. I’m smiling just thinking of it, it’s one of my favorite moments in Swell My Song. Here is an excerpt from part of that scene. Regular readers know how much I adore a strong, capable Elizabeth, unafraid to craft her own fate. A thoroughly besotted Darcy is also something that I keep coming back to. I enjoy them having plenty of conversation and a few heated quarrels, it’s my favorite recipe for a captivating read. Have fun reading and thank you Meredith!
~ Excerpt from Swell My Song ~
They strode to the centre of the bridge and stood, side by side, gazing downstream at the enchanting vista. The skin along the cheek closest to Mr Darcy warmed unaccountably. Elizabeth turned her gaze from the scene before her and had the distinct impression that the gentleman had just turned his eyes from her.
After several more moments of the water making the only conversation, Mr Darcy cleared his throat and said, “I believe I have a remedy for our present predicament.”
Embarrassed, Elizabeth could only reply, “Yes?”
“Your declaration that badly composed poetry is the best possible remedy to cure a slight infatuation.”
Elizabeth’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“A weak inclination can be done away with entirely by a few verses. The more wretched the composition, the more speedily the regard will be extinguished.”
“And your solution is?”
“If my regard is nothing more than a brief delusion, brought on by your voice, it will scarcely have the strength needed to survive some verses. Perhaps if you wrote some poor poetry, you might overcome it entirely?”
Elizabeth laughed loudly, shaking her head, not quite believing that the dour Mr Darcy had made such an outlandish, but highly amusing suggestion.
“I should write poetry that is so terrible that it will put to the test whether you speak truly about your regard for me?” She could not deny that she was intrigued. An accusation of coquetry, the sort that Mr Collins would blame her of though her refusal had been unequivocal, could not be possible. From the moment Mr Darcy had entered the parsonage parlour, not one hint of encouragement had escaped Elizabeth, by any thought, word, or expression.
Mr Darcy, perhaps believing her pause was indicating offence, held up one hand. “I did not intend to upset you; I am merely at a stalemate. How is one to prove that intentions are sincere when they are dismissed as a sort of bewitchment?”
Elizabeth turned in order to hide a smile. “I suppose you do have a strong argument in your favour, Mr Darcy. Your recollection of my opinion on bad poetry is accurate. I did proclaim poetry to be the most efficacious method of ending a faint inclination. Especially poorly written poetry. If poetry can render a slight fondness powerless, then particularly bad poetry could annihilate it altogether. Are you certain that you wish to put yourself through this trial?”
Though Elizabeth’s gaze was upon the flowing stream beneath them, she could clearly hear the sound of a relieved breath being let loose from Mr Darcy’s mouth over the light tumblings of the water.
“I can assure you that nothing from your pen, your lips, or the tips of your fingers, could ever dissuade me from what I feel for you.”
***
Swell My Song is Book One of the Mayhap Myths–Pride and Prejudice variations inspired by Greek mythology and will be available April 28th.
Here is the lovely cover by Jeremy Micheal Elder! A real, human artist.
Katie Jackson of Regency Editorial Services was the editor, a real, human editor for Swell My Song.
And I am a human author who did not use any generative or editorial AI while writing this book. I never thought I would be typing that out, but here we are! LOL. Life is funny sometimes.
And without further ado….here is the big reveal!!!
(expected release date: April 28th)
What do you think, friends? 🤔
~~~
GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
Today Lyndsay brings with her 2️⃣ ebook copies of Swell My Song for me to give away to 2️⃣ lucky readers!
To enter this giveaway leave a question, comment, or some love for Lyndsay below.
- This giveaway is open worldwide. Thank you, Lyndsay!
- This giveaway ends April 28th.
I love reading your books, Lyndsay! Congrats on a new release!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one and good luck!
The exchange quoted is utterly charming! Looking forward to the release date! Huzzah for finishing and publishing!
I love the cover!
Thank you! I do too. The waves and a hint at wildness are perfect.
Oh, I am caught up in this story! Must add it to the TBR hoard! And that cover is so cute, I love it.
Thank you! The cover is perfect, I love the color and waves.
I love that scene as well, with Charlotte Lucas giving Lizzy the push she needs.
Sometimes Elizabeth needs a little help to see things more clearly. I like an imperfect, endearing Elizabeth. Good luck on the giveaway!
I too was a great reader of Edith Hamilton in my teens, so I am finding the idea of this story (and more to come) to be very exciting. I look forward to reading this.
I loved that book so much, I can’t imagine how much more of a mythology nerd I’d have been if I’d able to read everything that is out there now! I love re-imaginings of ancient tales and how they are still relevant in the digital age.
To be honest, Lyndsay, I do not care for the developing trend in covers that are not the more traditional style of photos of period paintings or original photographs or paintings in the same styles depicting all the features of actual people of the time. I do, however, prefer line drawings such as this book’s to those that are cutouts of pieces of solid colored paper, or so it appears to me.
Of more importance, of course, is the quality of the story. And I do like mythology very much, particularly after my years of Latin–but no time for Greek. And I do recognize your name as the author of An Excellent Walker, a work I found enjoyable, so I am eager to read this book, as well.
I hope you enjoy the book! The cover artist was very taken with the style of art on ancient Greek vases and was combining the Regency with the Greek vases with this particular cover. Everyone definitely likes what they like when it comes to covers! It is nice to see so many different ones in the world. Thanks for stopping by and entering for the giveaway!
Another great book to look forward to!
Thank you! Thanks for stopping by and good luck!
What a fun cover!
Congratulations, Lyndsay!
I love it, thank you. It has a nod to both ancient Greek vase art and the Regency, the best of both worlds!
Mashing up Greek mythology with JA is definitely a new concept. I like Lyndsay’s books very much and will look forward to reading this one.
This idea has been swimming around in my brain for a while, I am excited to start the next one after I get further along in my current work in progress. Now I am having more than 3 ideas which was my original plan. Too many ideas is a good problem to have, I guess! Thanks for stopping by and good luck!
Great cover, Lyndsay! And thanks for mentioning me. 🙂
Of course! You are fantastic and I really value human eyes and a human heart making the words sing. Thank you so much!
Good luck with this release. Thanks for a chance to win a copy. I am looking forward to reading this story.
Thank you for stopping by and best of luck!
The cover is adorable and the banter amusing. Can’t wait to read this!
I live for good E&D banter, their characters are so rich and distinctive. I hope you enjoy it!
Congratulations on your new book release. The cover is beautiful. Thanks for the excerpt. –Leslie
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy it.
I’m loving the premise of this story, and cover is nicely done! Brava for not using AI in any form and for openly declaring it. Respect!
I feel quite strongly that AI is not my path. It seems like a tidal wave that we can’t necessarily stop, but for those who want an authentically human endeavor, I think the authors who strive for that should speak up and let the readers know. We feed our brain and soul when we read, and I think the readers absolutely have a right to know the ingredients in the book they are spending their time on. Thank you so much for stopping by!
This looks wonderful! Thank you for the cover reveal, excerpt and giveaway. Congrats and best wishes on the new release!
Thank you! Best of luck on winning a copy
That’s a lovely cover! Contrary to some others, I prefer an illustration instead of a photograph. I especially dislike covers with a swooning female or half-dressed man, so the illustration of a lovely siren with a mermaid’s tail makes me think of a Greek story. Would love to have an e-book of it, so it’s going on my Amazon wish list.
Thank you! I do tend to personally prefer a more abstract illustration on the cover that gives my imagination some room to jump around and create my own imagery. But everyone is different, thank goodness. Thanks for stopping by and best of luck!
I love this idea and cover really gives off the right vibes for it, too.
So glad it is giving off the myth vibes! Thanks for stopping by.
Congratulations Lyndsay! I loved the excerpt and would most definitely love to read the book. Thank you for the chance to win a copy!
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy it and best of luck.
Oh goodness! I sincerely hope Darcy manages to convince Elizabeth that his feelings are true 🙂 another one for my list, and I love that cover by the way. She’s definitely a siren where he’s concerned I think. Thank you for sharing this and especially for the chance to win a copy.
Right?! She does NOT even try to attract Darcy and yet he is enthralled! I love their chemistry so much. Best of luck!
She istempting after all, it seems!
I love the idea of blending Pride and Prejducie and Mythology and the best news was that this seemed to be the start of a series! Looking forward to reading this story and the next ones!
Fun cover also – the wave curls on the sides look like the greek potery!
Yes! The artist was definitely inspired by Greek pottery, especially the waves and borders. I love it. Elizabeth is always tempting Darcy, especially when she is oblivious.
Yes! The artist was definitely inspired by Greek pottery, especially the waves and borders. I love it. Elizabeth is always tempting Darcy, especially when she is oblivious.
I look forward to reading this. I always wondered about what exactly Lizzy meant when she said that to Darcy. Was there a hidden meaning? Did it mean something different in the early 1800’s?
I hope you enjoy it! In my opinion, it was a nice way of saying, “Let’s agree to disagree and not talk anymore.” Of course Darcy thought it was charming even though Elizabeth wasn’t trying to be cute, they always misjudged each other so much!
Great cover, and an interesting concept. Can’t wait to read the published story
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it.
I loved greek mythology as a child so absolutely love this mash-up.
Looking forward to reading it!