Dedications

One of the most special things of having a book published is having the opportunity to dedicate your book to someone. Even royalty consider such a thing an honour, so much so that Jane Austen received a 'suggestion' from the Prince Regent's librarian that she dedicate her novel Emma to him. Despite holding an unfavourable opinion of the profligate Prince, Jane knew ignoring the suggestion might be unwise, and so the first edition of Emma has a dedication that reads (somewhat sarcastically):

To 

His Royal Highness 

the Prince Regent, 

this work is,

by His Royal Highness's permission,

most respectfully dedicated 

by His Royal Highness's

dutiful and obedient humble servant,

the author.

Of course, most of us these days are not coerced into writing dedications to people we don't like, which makes the selection of the people we do dedicate our books to rather important.

Some people seem to prefer the pithy "For so-and-so" kind of definition; others are renowned for writing dedications to (multiple) people that can take up half a page (each)! Personally, I think such such long 'dedications' read more as an author's note, which might be better served at the end - after all, readers want to read a story, not a lengthy dedication to someone they have never met :)

Regarding the dedications of my novels, I am trying to show my appreciation for people who have supported me on my writing journey. My debut novel, The Elusive Miss Ellison, I dedicated to my husband; my second,  The Captivating Lady Charlotte, is dedicated to my parents; my third, The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey is dedicated to my sister, with a thank you 'for sharing your Georgette Heyer books with me.' With each of these I've been conscious of balancing the content with the dedication, which is why the most romantic novel had to be dedicated to my husband :)

Of course, now my first three books are dedicated, it leaves the door open for my next novels. Hmm, whom to dedicate to. My children? Good friends? Favourite Beta readers? It's a nice problem to have.

How about you? Do you notice book dedications? Do you have particular methods for selecting to whom you dedicate your books? Do you prefer short and pithy or something more lengthy?

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years, and worked part-time as a public high school English and Learning and Support teacher.

A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives.

Her Regency novels are available from Amazon, Book Depository, Koorong, etc

Connect with her:        www.carolynmillerauthor.com

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Book Recommendation ~ The Elusive Miss Ellison by Carolyn Miller

Book Description:

Handsome appearance counts for naught unless matched by good character and actions.

That's the firm opinion of not-so-meek minister's daughter Lavinia Ellison. So even though all the other villagers of St. Hampton Heath are swooning over the newly returned seventh Earl of Hawkesbury, she is not impressed. If a man won't take his responsibilities seriously and help those who are supposed to be able to depend on him, he deserves no respect from her. In Lavinia's pretty, gray eyes, Nicholas Stamford is just as arrogant and reckless as his brother--who stole the most important person in Livvie's world.

Nicholas is weighed down by his own guilt and responsibility, by the pain his careless brother caused, and by the legacy of war he's just left. This quick visit home to St. Hampton Heath will be just long enough to ease a small part of that burden. Asking him to bother with the lives of the villagers when there's already a bailiff on the job is simply too much to expect.

That is, until the hoydenish, intelligent, and very opinionated Miss Ellison challenges him to see past his pain and pride. With her angelic voice in his head, he may even be beginning to care. But his isn't the only heart that needs to change.

These two lonely hearts may each have something the other needs. But with society's opposition, ancestral obligations, and a shocking family secret, there may be too many obstacles in their way.

Fans of Georgette Heyer, Lori Wick, and Julie Klassen will enjoy the spirited exchanges between the bluestocking minister's daughter and the bruised war hero as they move past pride and presumption to a humbled appreciation of God's grace and the true strength of love.

Narelle's thoughts:

I really enjoyed reading The Elusive Miss Ellison, Book 1 in the Regency Brides series. The regency era is one of my favourite historical romance time periods, and it was a pleasure to read Carolyn Miller's excellent debut novel.

Lavinia Ellison has a heart for the poor people who live in her village. Her faith inspires her to care for the poor and needy, even if there's a personal cost to her own welfare. Lavinia has lived with the trauma from witnessing the accident that killed her mother when she was a young girl. She was raised by her church minster father and devoted aunt who encouraged her to pursue her love for music. 

Nicholas Stamford never expected to become the seventh Earl of Hawkesbury, a title he inherited after the death of his irresponsible older brother. A former soldier, Nicholas is a handsome and honourable man who is adjusting to his new life and responsibilities. 

Lavinia is on a mission to convince the Earl that he needs to repair the dilapidated village homes. She is wary of him, knowing that his brother was involved in the accident that killed her mother. Lavinia is convinced that Nicholas' questionable character, lack of faith, and higher social standing rule him out as a potential suitor. 

Nicholas is intrigued by Lavinia, charmed by her beauty, and appreciative of her sharp wit. His mother is scheming to match him with a lady of means who will add to the family fortune and maintain their social status. A delightful twist in the story changes everything, forcing both Nicholas and Lavinia to move in a different direction and question their long held values and beliefs.

The story is beautifully paced with lively banter and plot twists that raised the stakes and kept me turning the page. Nicholas and Lavinia develop a friendship and the rules of society dictate how they relate to each other. The faith element is a natural part of the story and we journey with Lavinia and Nicholas as they grow in their faith.     

I highly recommend The Elusive Miss Ellison to regency romance fans who enjoy a fast paced and entertaining Christian romance. Book 2, The Captivating Lady Charlotte, will release on June 27, 2017.

Learn more about Carolyn Miller and her books at her website.

New Car Blessing?

By Carolyn Miller

We recently bought a New Car. A brand spanker. New. Car. Complete with New Car smell. And New Car gadgets and gizmos, like CarPlay and Siri-like phone connectivity!

We’ve been needing to upgrade for ages, as our four children are only getting bigger and couldn’t fit in the third row too well, and our previous 4WD – though it had a great engine, enabling smug smiles as we sailed past less grunty beasts - was over 12 years old.

I should have been thrilled, driving it from the New Car lot. And I was excited. Except…

The New Car doesn’t have a CD player.

Now, I know most people entered the 21st Century long before me and have been using MP3s and Bluetooth and Apple Play for ages, but I’m a little technologically averse. I write Regency-era fiction, stories set in Jane Austen’s day (my debut novel releases at the end of this month!).

It hurts my brain to try to deal with too much technical stuff. I like old things, vintage clothes, reading – and listening to - historical fiction. In the past few years I’ve built up a reasonable collection of Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen audiobooks. On CD. And now we have a New Car (!). With no CD player.

I don’t know how many hours I spent trying to download the CDs to my computer, renaming tracks, putting it on my USB, only to put the USB in the New Car to find it didn’t read it. Then I spent hours trying to figure out how to reformat the USB then redo the song formatting so it met their standards. Only to find it played the songs out of order. I later found out this was nothing new (yay, Apple!), but you can imagine the frustration.

I wanted to enjoy my New Car. But I was stuck on this one thing. I couldn’t play my audiobooks. (Later, much later, I finally conceded and transferred the audiobooks to my phone – that’s a whole other story!)

My point is this: how easy is it to be blind to the blessings by focusing on the one thing deemed non-blessing. 

How easy is it to stress and forget God’s past deliverance and promises for the future by letting something minor become too major.

I have some friends who have taken on the gratitude challenge, finding things to be thankful for each day. I’ve enjoyed seeing their posts as it reminds me to do the same. To pause and reflect. To appreciate God’s goodness. To be thankful.

So I’ll be thankful. I do so appreciate my New Car. 

I appreciate God for the right sale happening at the right time when we could justify it - I know new cars won’t happen frequently in our lives. I appreciate the gadgets, the extra leg space, the lack of clunk as we round corners, the door that closes properly instead of catching on trim, the shiny gleam (that won’t last in Aussie Summer dust!), the ability to call my husband’s phone without having to lift a finger.

And I appreciate the lessons learned. I’ve learned a lot about what NOT to do on my Mac. I appreciate the opportunity to clear out hard drive-sucking apps and junk. I also have fresh appreciation for those who DO know about this technical technology. God bless them!

And God bless us, as we focus on Him and His word, counting our blessings – naming them one by one, if necessary! – as we live in His grace, surprised and filled with gratitude for what the Lord has done.

About Carolyn Miller

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of romance, especially that of the Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. Her Regency novel 'The Elusive Miss Ellison' will be published in the US by Kregel in February 2017, and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com, CBD, Barnes & Noble and Book Depository

Connect with her: www.carolynmiller.org
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Small Beginnings

By Carolyn Miller

"Do not despise the small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…"

(Zechariah 4.10)

Zechariah is not exactly my go-to book in the Bible, but in a recent reading this particular verse jumped out. And while this verse concerns the rebuilding of the Temple in Judah in 520BC, I believe the truth resonates still today.

How easy it is to want the ‘all’ now, to want the success without the hard yards. To want to see the Temple built without clearing debris to establish solid foundations. To be 10kg lighter but keep eating the same foods. To want to say ‘I’m a published author’ without finishing that first (or second, or third…) draft.

As a soon-to-be published author, the road to publication has felt amazingly long at times, weighed by waiting, disappointment, hope, rejection and prayers.

But I’ve learned those small beginnings are so important. 

Those contests I entered where feedback indicated judges hadn’t read my manuscript properly or thought my characters too whiney forced me to toughen up under the tears, to learn to let go of the small criticisms to fight for what’s more important. The rejections saying my characters and settings needed to be American in order to be accepted by a US publisher might have made me want to quit, but they also helped guide me – into English characters and settings of the Regency period ;)

Learning to stick at the physical aspects of writing, to park myself in a chair until I’ve met my word target for the day has been invaluable this year, when I’ve been contracted to deliver two brand new 90K novels to my publishers. If I’d kept only ever dabbling - wondering what was the point, no one would ever see my words so being haphazard in my work ethic didn’t really matter - then I would not have coped with writing two books in six months whilst diving deep into the world of edits and marketing – at a time when it really did matter.

How easy it can be to think that small beginnings aren’t worth it. 

That the obstacles of my situation are too vast, and I should either give up, or rail against God for allowing such problems to occur.

Zerubbabel seemed to need encouragement, his initial God-sparked enthusiasm needing to be bolstered by prophetic words to ‘be strong’ and to remember ‘it is not by force nor by strength but by my Spirit says the Lord.’ How much do we need to remember these verses in our own lives.

Five years ago the road to publication seemed too steep for this little Aussie author, the mountains huge and the point lost – yet the dream kept on. The mountains started to move. I gained some positive feedback. Won some contests. Found an agent. Gained further clarity as to my genre. Found a publisher.

I know writing journey will necessitate SO much more learning, but I’m encouraged by looking back on the past years of writing knowing that God has been faithful throughout, and that He will continue to orchestrate circumstances as I seek to glorify Him.

Those little efforts might seem insignificant at first, but ultimately they do have an effect - as anyone who semi-regularly eats Cadbury Dairy milk will tell you! Making a start might seem hard – whether it be cutting down on the junk food, making time for that family member, finishing that manuscript or starting a new one – but small beginnings are not to be despised. Just like Zerubbabel, we press on, remembering God’s Spirit strengthens us, and that His timing is perfect. The Lord rejoices to see the work begin - work that ultimately exists to glorify Him.

About Carolyn Miller

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of romance, especially that of the Regency era, 

Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. 

Her Regency novel 'The Elusive Miss Ellison' will be published in the US by Kregel in February 2017, and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com

Connect with her: www.carolynmiller.org
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