Lady Phee's Scandal

 Finally - it is finished!

The e-book is now for sale on Amazon. I shall be watching to see what happens for the internet is awash with rumours and people telling the world that the Amazon algorithm has changed recently which is the reason  so many authors are finding their sales dropping. 

At the same time more and more self-professed gurus are claiming they know the secret and will tell what it is - for a small fee, of course. I have not succumbed. 

I will wait and see what happens and believe me I shall be watching with interest! Just let me say I think Lady Phee is worth a read. (But then I would, wouldn't I? ) 

I am considering making it free for the first few days to see if that helps spread the word.

LADY PHEE’S SCANDAL A Regency Romance

Submitted 2 Dec 2025 $3.99 or £2.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G4RSYN6S

Changes Afoot

Improvements all round on my new cover due to some welcome comments on the Indie Cover Project. Thanks guys!

I know I ought to  ask a designer to do the cover for me, but I so enjoy doing it myself. (I think if I had been a young person choosing a career in the last decade or so I would have covered the subject correctly. Alas, graphic designer was not an option when I was choosing a career. No one had dreamed that books might sometimes be read on a small hand held screen...)

I am now loading it up to KDP. As always, I end up "losing" the file among all my files and struggle to get the right file loaded. I think I am not consistent enough with what I do. The gap between publishing titles is long enough for me to forget how I did it last time and I suspect KDP changes how it wants it done! But I'll get there in the end, and hopefully before the end of the year. I'd like it to be published in time for Christmas, and why not? 

I was surprised to see that Shutterstock, which is where I get most all of the images I use, now has AI generated images. That was bit of a surprise and I had chosen this one before I realised it was one of them. 

Cringing at the idea

 I lied. I had not finished my new book. It seems to want to go on and on!

 I added another two chapters and did yet another full edit. 

The title is now Lady Phee's Scandal. I've done the cover - and may yet tweek the title placement, but  it's getting there. I shall let it rest for now and see what I think of it all tomorrow.

I intend to have this done and on the market within the month though  I can't be sure of the exact date. Certainly before Christmas. 

Received an early Christmas present of a new mini I-pad this week and I'm busy switching things over. My old one was fifth generation so there are quite a few changes in how to use the technology. Lots of information automatically switches over, including photographs, which is a boon. I had thought I'd have to move them all over individually and was cringing at the idea. 

There are so many pitfalls with technology these days. I do wonder why these cards** that scan every other card in the vicinity (illegally) and then go and take all the cash out of someone's bank are allowed to be on sale. (That is if they are on sale.) I am sure they cannot have a legitimate purpose. Safer to go back to cash, really, especially now the banks are departing the highstreets. We've needed to travel twenty miles to reach a bank since the middle of this year. We can go to the post office on the High Street, so I'm told, but I have not done that yet. There are 2 machines  which will give cash but they are hardly ever working. 

**An RFID card is a card that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to wirelessly transmit data to a reader. It contains a chip and an antenna to communicate through radio waves, enabling uses like contactless payments, security access, and electric vehicle (EV) charging authentication. The card is tapped or held near a compatible reader, which then transmits and reads the data to complete an action, such as granting access or processing a payment.

 I finally typed The End, which I almost never do, on the 174th sheet of my new Regency. Whether it is the end or not, it is printed out and needs a title.  I'm thinking of Double Trouble but don't take that as final. Here's the opening:

London, 1811

 “Confound it, Ellen! Why in the world is he talking to her?”

Phee’s voice, though low, carried the unmistakable edge of fury. A flush rose high on her cheeks, and her periwinkle eyes, ordinarily cool and composed, sparked with indignation. She stood rigid, chin lifted, the ostrich plume in her hair trembling slightly with the force of her restraint.

Only Ellen, standing close enough to catch the words, heard them. She blinked once, slowly, and followed her sister’s gaze across the crowded withdrawing room that tonight did duty as ballroom.

There, beneath the golden glow of a dozen chandeliers, stood Richard, Lord Quarrington. Tall, dark-haired, and infuriatingly at ease with his situation, he was engaged in what appeared to be a most agreeable conversation with Lady Cecilia Frosterley. The latter, all pale gold curls and artful delicacy, tilted her head just so, her gloved fingers resting lightly on the edge of her fan. Her laugh, soft and silvery, floated across the room like a bell.

“He may speak to whomever he pleases,” Ellen said mildly, though her tone carried more caution than conviction.

But Phee was already moving, her silk skirts whispering with purpose as she strode across the parquet floor. Guests parted instinctively, some with murmured greetings, others with sidelong glances. Ellen followed, her own steps quieter, more measured.

“He does not need anyone’s permission to speak to any young lady of our acquaintance,” she added, catching up.

Phee halted so abruptly that Ellen nearly collided with her. Eyes blazing, she declared, “But he knows how much I dislike her.”

Ellen opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had learned, over the years, that Phee’s tempers were best met with patience, not argument. Still, she ventured, “And Lady Cecilia knows how much you admire him.”

Phee’s breath caught and for a moment, her expression faltered, showing a flicker of vulnerability beneath the outrage. Then she drew herself up, spine straight as a sword. “That is entirely beside the point.”

“Is it?” Ellen asked gently.

Phee didn’t answer. Her gaze had returned to the far corner of the room, where Lord Quarrington now leaned in slightly, saying something that made Lady Cecilia smile. Not the demure smile expected of a debutante, but something sly, knowing. And downright possessive.

Phee’s hands clenched at her sides.

The room was stifling. The scent of beeswax and lavender hung heavy in the air, mingling with the perfume of roses and the faint tang of perspiration. Music drifted from the musicians’ gallery playing a waltz, languid and sweet but Phee heard none of it. Her world had narrowed to that corner of the room, to that smile, to the way Richard’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed.

He had laughed like that with her once.

Massive probs for Amazon

I think my time placing Ads on Amazon to promote my books is over.

For the last 18 months I have the feeling they are benefitting from me rather me benefitting from them. Sales are way down and even KENP reads are none-existent. Now this may be for a number of reason but  Amazon glitches are not helping.

To be honest, this time my bank had a rather large part to play because they declined to pay off the invoice for no other reason than fraud protection. They suspected/were checking that I was really me, so they said when I rang today. So they were the reason Amazon stopped everything dead. 

I think the banks should at least e-mail people if they are going to do this. Their action has caused me awful problems and all for nothing - there was no fraud.

Though I have spent a good hour online with Amazon Ads AI helper today telling them their billing page does not allow me to pay the wretched unpaid invoice (for $9.18 cents.) In the end the AI helper handed over to an attendant and though Avindar could send a message to me, I could not send one back to him. No joy with  Microsoft Edge (my normal browser)  or with Firefox or Google Chrome. (The AI helper thought that would help if I changed browsers.) I think Amazon Ads has massive problems these days.  Anyway, I gave up and took the dog for a walk.

No more ticks!

Autumn is here at last and I for one am well pleased. I was so tired of the flies and ticks not to mention coming back home sweating. The ticks attempted to attack my dog, not me! but I got bitten by midgies and other assorted flying insects quite often. We used an antic-tick collar to protect her and though we had to remove perhaps 3 ticks over the season, they proved to be dead on removal so the yellow  collar that smells so beautiful did its job. Nala is much more lively out on walks now the days are cooler, so she is benefitting too.

Last night the forecast said the temperature would drop to 2 degrees C, so I changed the beds over to duvets in anticipation of chilly weather but I don't think it really got that cold. Anything under 3 is likely to produce frost here in the north east. I was toasty warm, and I had been chilly the previous night, so it was a good decision regardless of temperature.

My new novel is progressing. 48,150 word count now but moving awfully slowly.

I have never known a story grow, word-count-wise, so slowly. I am beginning to doubt it will ever be finished!

The picture seemed suitably autumnal - it was taken last year about this time when we went to Gamrie in Aberdeenshire for a week. Nala is just about to fall asleep, dreaming no doubt of her runs along the beach chasing the seagulls.

no longer A Good Thing To Do.

 It may be that selling books on Kindle (otherwise Amazon KDP) is no longer A Good Thing To Do. Sales for the last year have not been anything like they have in the past. Amazon tells me I have clicks, for which they charge, but the charge for clicks outweighs the profit from sales.

KENP  (page reads)are also just about vanished. My career as an author is just about over even though I am 40,000 words into a new Regency romance.

Audible (talking books) is taking over so they say and I think that is sad on many levels. Reading is a skill that needs to be practiced, whereas anyone can listen. Every time I have tried listening to a book, I have fallen asleep, only to wake  a little later to find I have missed a good deal of the book. Often it is two in the morning and then I struggle to get back to sleep, so maybe this colours my view!  The less one reads over time the harder it seems to be when one comes back to it.

I look at this photo of Stac Polly and think once upon a time I climbed to the top of that (and almost got eaten alive by the infamous Scottish midgie) but now the thought of doing it again makes me smile, sit down and read a book.