UNEXPECTED FRIENDS & RELATIONS - BLOG TOUR WITH AUTHOR JAYNE BAMBER

 The Faults in Austen’s Stars: Flawed Heroines

By Jayne Bamber, author of the Friends & Relations Series

In all the facets of Jane Austen’s genius, perhaps the most delightful is the reality she imbues in all her characters. No one is quite perfect, making them all the more relatable. We can easily imagine ourselves as one or other of her heroines, not because they are as perfect as we might wish to be, but because they, like us, are not. Elizabeth Bennet, the paragon every Janeites wishes to be, is prejudiced and faulty in her judgement. Anne Eliot is too easily persuaded, and Fanny Price rather a bore and a prude. Each of the Dashwood sisters lacks one of the titular traits, while experiencing rather too much of the other, and Catherine Morland literally accuses her future father-in-law of murder (yikes.)

PERILOUS SIEGE BLOG TOUR - PRIDE & PREJUDICE IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

A new awesome blog tour for Meryton Press starts today here at My Jane Austen Book Club. Are you ready for some more fun? Read what author C.P. Odom has written to introduce us to the alternate universe of his new Pride and Prejudice original retelling.  Good luck in the giveaway contest!  M.G.

Good day, Maria Grazia. It's a pleasure to be with your readers today to launch the tour for my latest release from Meryton Press, Perilous Siege: Pride & Prejudice in an Alternate Universe. Today I am sharing an insiders' look at the artwork behind this story because not only am I the author of this story, I am the illustrator of this 3-D art too!

I thought it would be fun to share this exclusive look inside my new book as a way for your readers to a sneak peek at this story and learn some more about this illustration process. Thank you for welcoming me to your blog and supporting authors, such as myself. 

NEW RELEASE! THE FLIGHT LESS TRAVELED: AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

Leigh Dreyer is a huge fan of Jane Austen variations and the JAFF community I had the pleasure to host with an interview about a year ago (HERE) when she released The Best Laid Flight Plans. But  I had so many other questions I wanted to ask her about her love for JAFF and  about 2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet and Captain William Darcy. That's why I've proposed her a few more questions to promote the sequel to her modernization of Pride and Prejudice: The Flight Path Less Traveled. 

In this modern Pride and Prejudice continuation and sequel to The Best Laid Flight Plans, 2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet and Captain William Darcy are facing trials after the events of Elizabeth’s last flight. Darcy’s proposal lingers between them as Elizabeth becomes almost single sighted to her rehabilitation and her return to pilot training. A secret is revealed to Elizabeth about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s past that throws all she has known to be true into a tail spin. The romance between our hero and heroine begins to blossom through military separations, sisterly pranks, and miscommunications.  

Are you ready to discover more about Leigh and her version of Elizabeth and Darcy? Go on reading. And, by the way, don't miss the chance to win your own copy of The Flight Path Less Traveled in our giveaway contest!

INSPIRATION BLOG TOUR - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Maria Grace stops with us at  My Jane Austen Book Club to present her new release: Inspiration, a novella that features  Mr Darcy as an artist. For further information go on reading! Enjoy the excerpt and good luck in the giveaway contest (check the rafflecopter widget below this post)

Hello, Maria Grazia! It’s so good to visit with you again. I’m really excited to share with you my latest project, Inspiration. This has been such an unexpected project for me—starting with the plan to just write a scene, then growing to a short story, and finally ending up a novella.

Inspiration tell the story of gentleman artist Darcy and his muse who has fixated upon the one woman in the world wants nothing to do with him. I suppose my muse has been just an insistent as Darcy’s, making sure this tale got told.

Here’s a peek inside:

BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - SHANNON WINSLOW ON PERSUASION BEHIND THE SCENES

Hello dear friends and welcome to our online book club. Today our guest is Shannon Winslow, who is one of the twelve authors of Austen-inspired fiction that collaborated in a unique, creative attempt to fill in "missing" scenes to Austen's classic work, Persuasion,  sure to delight any true fan. The result is Persuasion Behind the Scenes.   Enjoy Shannon's guest blog and take your chances to win in the giveaway contest you find below. 

BLOG TOUR: HAPPIER IN HER FRIENDS THAN RELATIONS. AUTHOR GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

Evil Jane!

By Jayne Bamber, Author of Happier in Her Friends Than Relations  

Giving you flowers or giving you the finger?

As a reader (okay, addict) of Austen fanfiction for over a decade I have, like many of you, consumed a lot of JAFF over the years, and have seen all sorts of wild liberties taken with the characters and storylines we love so dearly.

One of my favorite tropes in fanfiction is raising antagonists to Supervillain Status, and it’s been done with a lot of characters from Pride & Prejudice – Lady Catherine, Caroline Bingley, and George Wickham (the usual suspects) are often upgraded to evil masterminds with nefarious schemes against our dear Lizzy and Darcy. Even characters like Mr. Collins, Lydia Bennet, and Mrs. Bennet, who are more chaotic-neutral (or idiotic neutral?) than true evil, have taken their turn as villains, as have revered supporting characters like Mr. Bennet, Georgiana Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam. So why not the angelic Jane Bennet?

PRAYING WITH JANE: A NEW DEVOTIONAL BASED ON THE PRAYERS OF JANE AUSTEN

“Reading Jane’s prayers is a bit like looking into her heart.”

A New Devotional Based on the Prayers of Jane Austen:

Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen by Rachel Dodge

While much has been written about Jane Austen’s life and novels, less is known about her spiritual side or the three prayers she wrote. In Praying with Jane, Christian readers and Jane Austen fans can explore Austen’s prayers in an intimate devotional format as they learn about her personal faith, her Anglican upbringing, and the spiritual truths found in her novels.

Jane Austen’s faith comes to life in this beautiful 31-day devotional through her exquisite prayers, touching biographical anecdotes, and illuminating scenes from her novels. Each daily entry includes examples from Austen’s own life and novels, as well as key Scripture verses, ideas for personal application, and a prayer inspired by Jane’s petitions. 

The author, Rachel Dodge,  teaches college English and Jane Austen classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and Jane Austen groups, and is a writer for the popular Jane Austen’s World blog. She is passionate about prayer and the study of God’s Word. A true “Janeite” at heart, Rachel enjoys books, bonnets, and ball gowns. She makes her home in California with her husband and their two young children.

UNWRAPPING MR DARCY BLOG TOUR - GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Hello! Thanks so much Maria Grazia for having me today! I can’t wait for everyone to read Unwrapping Mr. Darcy, but in the meantime, I have an extra scene for you. When I first posted the prologue of Unwrapping Mr. Darcy as a sneak peek, someone wished they knew what Charlie said to Lizzy to keep her from quitting on her first day. I liked the idea so much, I wrote it. I’ve overlapped a little and added some in so Darcy’s insult is in the clip. I hope you enjoy it!

L.L. Diamond

Charlie exhaled, sounding a lot like a growl. “You always make a point of meeting new employees. Why are you being so stubborn about this one?”

Darcy slapped the papers in his hand on the work surface. “I’m busy, Bingley. If you haven’t noticed, I have a mountain of paperwork on my desk. I can’t be expected to take the time to welcome a new company attorney—especially one who required her sister’s boyfriend to get her the job. You hired her, Bingley. You make her feel welcome.”

What? Elizabeth gasped, they both looked up, but she backed from the door. She couldn’t stay—not in his office and certainly not at this job! She walked as fast as she could to the elevator. What a mess! Charlie insisted Darcy Holdings needed her, but apparently, he created the position for her. She never asked him for special treatment—after all, he’d been the one who bugged her for months about “moving to the dark side” as he liked to joke. She touched the down button, and thankfully, the door opened quickly.

Charlotte wasn’t around when Elizabeth returned, so she went into the office where her briefcase still remained sitting wide open on the desk. That would definitely make things easier! She reached up over the computer, pulled down her calendar, and threw it inside.

She certainly wasn’t staying where she wasn’t wanted! Charlie had sworn they needed someone with her skills. Why would he lie? She hadn’t been looking for a new job. She’d been happy where she was, but working for Darcy Holdings was a move up she couldn’t ignore. The company was larger than the law firm, and the position held more room for advancement.

“Don’t you dare put another thing back in the case!”

RATIONAL CREATURES BLOG TOUR: LAUNCH POST BY CHRISTINA MORLAND & SUPER GIVEAWAY

Thank you, Maria Grazia, for launching the tour of our book, Rational Creatures, at My Jane Austen Book Club. It’s a pleasure to be here with your readers and for me to have the opportunity to share my post about Miss Elinor Dashwood, one of Austen’s earliest heroines.

OBSTACLES BLOG TOUR - AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEWAY

WHY OBSTACLES

Thank you, Maria Grazia, for inviting me to launch the tour for my debut book, Obstacles, on your blog. For this launch post, I thought your readers would like to learn about the inspiration for this book.

The inspiration for Obstacles came soon after I finished posting my second story, Paper Jam, when I was thinking about what to write next. My sister and I were having dinner at a friend’s house, who happens to be a horse breeder and trainer, when she told us about the foal she wanted to import from Germany and all of the issues she was having with the stable that was currently housing her horses. Like us, she was a middle class woman who was struggling to pursue a dream with only a few resources, while the rich and powerful gloated about their insanely expensive Grand Prix horses and achievements that can usually only been obtained with tons of money. As I listened to her, I thought, “Wow! This would make an excellent setting for a Pride & Prejudice story.” I mean, what a better backdrop for a battle of the classes than the equestrian world? While more and more people around the globe practice equestrian sports, it still remains the one most associated with wealth and royalty.

REGINA JEFFERS, MOURNING CUSTOMS IN REGENCY ENGLAND & WHERE THERE'S A FITZWILLIAM DARCY, THERE'S A WAY

The mourning rites we customarily think of as being so strict during the Regency era, were actually those imposed by Queen Victoria after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Victoria was known to wear black for many years and strict forms of comportment during the mourning period. The Georgian Era/Regency held its moments, especially during the country's mourning for King George III and later, King George IV. But the mourning of individuals differed. 

LONDON HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY: NICOLE CLARKSTON, A FOOTMAN'S LIFE

In London Holiday, Darcy spends some time *gasp* in disguise as a footman. While the circumstance is terribly uncomfortable for him, it does afford him some freedoms he would not have had otherwise. However, life as a Regency era footman was no cake walk. If your name did not happen to be Fitzwilliam Darcy, and if you did not get to replace your livery with a custom-tailored set of clothing the next day, what would your life have been like?

First of all, footmen were typically fit, young, handsome, and tall. Darcy would have looked rather fetching in livery, and it is not so surprising that there might have been a set somewhere that would fit him. The footman was almost a functional piece of furniture in a wealthy household, for his appearance was one of the first considerations upon hiring him. His job, as Elizabeth says in the book, is to be handsome, and a well-turned calf which showed well in silk stockings was considered a job qualification.

CATHERINE BLOG TOUR - AUTHOR GUEST POST: TRANSITIONING FROM KITTY TO CATHERINE

I was asked about Kitty’s transformation in my latest release, CATHERINE: Pride & Prejudice continued… Book Two. At first, I was a bit flummoxed. You see, I never thought of my story in that manner. However, having mulled about this for a few days I came to the realization that this is exactly what I did.

Let me start in this manner. As I wrote the book I was very careful to portray Catherine’s POV (point of view) as being Kitty. When you think of Pride & Prejudice, this is how everyone saw her. Kitty Bennet who followed Lydia in all things. Kitty Bennet who was a silly girl. Kitty Bennet who coughed too much (thank you, Mrs. Bennet for that one). Her character was never fully developed and all we know from original canon ending that she became ‘less irritable, less ignorant, and less insipid’. Oh my.

MARIA GRACE: PRIDE, PREJUDICE & BRITISH MYTHOLOGY + GIVEAWAY

Two of my favorite books as a child were a huge illustrated book of world mythology and an equally huge anthology of fairy tales. I read those stories over and over despite the fact that many of them were rather gruesome with less than happy endings. (Hmmm … That just might be the source of my penchant for happily-ever-afters in my own writing.) So it shouldn’t be surprising that fantastical creatures have always run rampant in my imagination.

ROSE FAIRBANKS PRESENTS THE SECRETS OF PEMBERLEY BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY

Vignette: Outtake, Elizabeth Bennet’s Diary #3 Seeing Darcy in London

Thanks so much for hosting me, Maria Grazia! The Secrets of Pemberley is told entirely from Mr. Darcy’s perspective. In the book, Elizabeth’s diary becomes important, and as a long-time fan of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, I decided to do video entries for each of diary entry I’ll be sharing on the blog tour. I hope you enjoy as we get a bit of insight on what Elizabeth Bennet felt when seeing Darcy again for the first time after his proposal and reading his very different letter.

BLOG TOUR LAUNCH - LOVER'S KNOT BY JENETTA JAMES: AUTHOR GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY

The one where Mr. Darcy turns detective: non JAFF detective fiction influencing Lover’s Knot (or Regency Sleuths whom I have loved…)

Thank you to Maria Grazia for having me back at My Jane Austen Book Club. It is a pleasure and an honour to visit with my new book, “Lover’s Knot”.

“Detective” is not an epithet that fits particularly well on the shoulders of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. At least, not at first sight. The Regency is not the right period for a start, being well before the heyday of crime fiction and prior to the literary evolution of the “gentleman detective”. The formation of the police as we know and understand them had only just begun. What is more, fighting crime just isn’t what everyone’s favourite hero is about. Mr. Darcy’s world view was likely narrower than that of your average sleuth. He is, after all, a gentleman of the landed classes, a reluctant character of the ton, a man of means and a man of his age. His focus is family, home, close friends, dependants. He doesn’t look too hard at the wider world and nobody asks that he does.

THE LADIES OF ROSINGS BLOG TOUR - AUTHOR SHANNON WINSLOW'S MEETING WITH ONE OF THE LADIES

Several months ago, when author Shannon Winslow was still in the research phase of her just-released novel, she sat down with one of the principle subjects of her story. As it turned out, the lady was less that fully cooperative.

  

Winslow:  Thank you for meeting with me, Lady Catherine. As you know, I am writing a novel entitled The Ladies of Rosings Park, and so naturally I wanted to speak to you, among others – to get your opinions and some background information. You understand.

LC:  You are wise to come to me first, for I can save you a great deal of time. You shall find there is no need to speak to anybody else afterwards, because I can tell you what you need to know. I am very well informed.

Winslow:  I don’t doubt that for a minute.

LC:  Now, to begin with, I will set you straight about your title. What do you mean by ‘the ladies’ of Rosings Park, as if there were more than one? I am the mistress here. Certainly your title should more correctly be The Lady of Rosings Park or perhaps Portrait of an Illustrious Lady. That has a nice ring to it.

THE CHILD BLOG TOUR - AUTHOR JAN HAHN'S GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY

What a great place to begin the blog tour for my latest book! Thank you, Maria Grazia, for hosting me. I enjoy visiting your book club and discovering what you’re reading.

Most of my previous books have been written in Elizabeth Bennet’s voice, but I’ve ventured into new territory in The Child. It’s written strictly from Darcy’s viewpoint. Today, I thought we might start where he does, on the steps of St. George’s Church in London.

MONICA FAIRVIEW, MY TOP 3 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE MOVIE MOMENTS

It’s such a pleasure to appear once again on My Jane Austen Book Club. It’s very kind of you, Maria Grazia, to allow me to stop by on my Mysterious Mr. Darcy blog tour today, especially when I was held up by the flu and had to delay my visit.

Maria asked me if I could talk about my preferred scenes from Pride and Prejudice. I must admit I found it difficult to narrow them down – well, I love anything and everything to do with P&P! However, in the end, I realised I did have some particular ones I love to watch, so I have chosen three of them. Okay, they are not necessarily the top three, since obviously there are more major scenes like the proposals that are the top. However, these are the scenes that really linger in my mind, for better or for worse.

BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - THE EXILE: THE COUNTESS VISITS LONGBOURN BY DON JACOBSON

The Language of the Back Cover

By Don Jacobson

With the advent of e-books, readers now no longer have to go to the bookstore or library to pull their favorite author’s work off the shelf. All they need to do is download a copy and immediately start flipping pages.

Oh, yes…and that flipping invariably happens on the first item nested in the Table of Contents. In most cases, that is Chapter 1. What is rarely seen is the front cover.

Well, not exactly. The reader certainly saw the cover when visiting the website from which the book was obtained. And, yes, the cover does appear in a thumbnail form in the e-book reader library. However, the postage stamp’s worth of color art does little to provide anything more than the barest sense of theme and message.