GUESTPOST & GIVEAWAY- LAUREL ANN NATTRESS AND JANE AUSTEN MADE ME DO IT: After two hundred years in print, why does Jane Austen appeal to book clubs?

Today I'm incredibly happy and proud to host "Lady Austenprose", friendly and generous Laurel Ann Nattress, on her blog tour for the launch of " Jane Austen Made Me Do It". This collection of Austen- inspired short stories promises to be as exciting as a firework show! Reading the Austen authors who contributed their stories one at a time is pure delight, can you imagine them all together in one book?
Pamela Aidan • Elizabeth Aston • Stephanie Barron • Carrie Bebris • Jo Beverley • Diana Birchall • Monica Fairview • Amanda Grange • Syrie James • Diane Meier and Frank Delaney • Janet Mullany • Jane Odiwe • Alexandra Potter • Beth Pattillo • Myretta Robens • Laurie Viera Rigler • Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway • Maya Slater • Margaret C. Sullivan • Adriana Trigiani • Lauren Willig • and Brenna Aubrey, the winner of a story contest hosted by the Republic of Pemberley website.


Here's to you the lovely piece Laurel Anne Nattress wrote for My Jane Austen Book Club. Read it carefully, then take your chance to win her book. Giveaway details at the bottom of the post. Good luck!

Many thanks Maria for hosting me at your lovely My Jane Austen Book Club blog during my Grand Tour of the blogosphere in celebration of the release of my new Austen-inspired anthology, Jane Austen Made Me Do It.

Book clubs are incredibly popular today and I am so happy to hear of Jane Austen novels being selected, read and discussed at your Jane Austen Book Club. In fact, the notion of people getting together for tea, scones and Jane Austen sounds like a wonderful way to spend an afternoon with friends. Probably the most famous Jane Austen book club is the group of six individuals in Karen Joy Fowler’s bestselling novel of the same name, The Jane Austen Book Club. We were fortunate that it was made into a movie in 2007. I loved how they read one of the books every two months and how the plot of the novel parallels one of the characters own life.

I think that Jane Austen’s novels appeal to book clubs because they have plots that are character driven. Her dialogue fuels the narrative, and not external events, which make the stories very personal. It is one of her enduring contributions to literature. We have been reading and discussion her works for two hundred years now. Every time I re-read one her novels I see something new, and reading along in a book group gives you an even wider perspective.

I am happy to say that many of the twenty-two short stories in my new anthology, Jane Austen Made Me Do It, are character driven too. Inspired by Jane Austen, her novels, and her life, the stories range from Austen as a character such as “Jane Austen’s Nightmare,” by Syrie James and “Jane Austen’s Cat,” by Diana Birchall, to stories about her characters like “Waiting: A story inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion,” by Jane Odiwe and “Nothing Less Than Fairy-land,” by Monica Fairview, to stories inspired by Jane Austen’s actual life events such as “Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane,” by Adriana Trigiani and “Jane and the Gentleman Rouge,” by Stephanie Barron. As you can see, there is something for everyone in this anthology.

Knowing how much readers love to learn about and discuss Austen, her novels, and the Regency era in which they were published, we thought a Reader’s Guide to the stories in Jane Austen Made Me Do It would be very helpful and enjoyable for book clubs. The twenty-nine intriguing questions listed in the back of the book make you think about each of the stories and help get the conversation rolling. I hope you and your Jane Austen Book Club will give them a try.

Thank you again Maria, for letting me share my thoughts on why book clubs enjoy reading my favorite author,and a few insights into the stories in my new Austen-inspired anthology, Jane Austen Made Me Do It, that released was this week by Ballantine Books. It was a delight to work with all of the authors and edit the book. I hope Janeites, fiction, mystery and paranormal readers enjoy it as much as I did helping create it.

Cheers, Laurel Ann

Editor bio:

A life-long acolyte of Jane Austen, Laurel Ann Nattress is the author/editor of Austenprose.com a blog devoted to the oeuvre of her favorite author and the many books and movies that she has inspired. She is a life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, a regular contributor to the PBS blog Remotely Connected and the Jane Austen Centre online magazine. An expatriate of southern California, Laurel Ann lives in a country cottage near Snohomish, Washington. Visit Laurel Ann at her blogs Austenprose.com and JaneAustenMadeMeDoIt.com, on Twitter as @Austenprose, and on Facebook as Laurel Ann Nattress.

Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original Stories Inspired by Literature’s Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart, edited by Laurel Ann Nattress

Ballantine Books • ISBN: 978-0345524966

Giveaway of Jane Austen Made Me Do It

Enter a chance to win one copy of Jane Austen Made Me Do It by leaving a comment by 21^st   October, stating what intrigues you about reading an Austen-inspired short story anthology. Please add  your e-mail address, if you want to be entered in the giveaway contest.  Winner to be drawn at random and announced on October 22^nd . Shipment Internationally. Good luck to all!