SPOTLIGHT ON ... FINDING THE RAINBOW BY TRACI BORUM

Life seems nothing more than a quick succession of busy nothings.  ~Jane Austen 

   

This is precisely how Holly Newbury would sum up her life. At twenty-eight, she lives in a charming Cotswold village, serving as caretaker to three younger sisters—a rewarding job, but a tedious one. 

Soon, news of a Jane Austen movie filming nearby creates a snap of change in the air.  The villagers become involved as movie extras, and Holly starts up an Emma book club in honor of the film.  At the same time, Holly's own family drama plays out—her sisters experience heartaches and growing pains, while her widowed father finds new love in an unexpected place. 

Most importantly, the film brings with it an American screenwriter named Fletcher Hays, who ends up becoming Holly's very own Mr. Knightley.  But will she realize it too late?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Traci Borum is a writing teacher and native Texan. She's also an avid reader of women's fiction, most especially Elin Hilderbrand and Rosamunde Pilcher novels. Since the age of 12, she's written poetry, short stories, magazine articles, and novels.

Traci also adores all things British. She even owns a British dog (Corgi) and is completely addicted to Masterpiece Theater---must be all those dreamy accents! Aside from having big dreams of getting a book published, it's the little things that make her the happiest: deep talks with friends, a strong cup of hot chocolate, a hearty game of fetch with her Corgi, and puffy white Texas clouds always reminding her to "look up, slow down, enjoy your life." 

Website - Facebook page - Twitter - Goodreads page - Amazon link 

READ AN EXCERPT 

SPOTLIGHT ON ... HOPE FOR MR DARCY BY JEANNA ELLWORTH + GIVEAWAY

Jeanna Ellsworth Lake

Thank you for the chance to share with you my latest release! The Hope Series Trilogy is a series of love stories where each character has to endure the hopelessness of unrequited love.

But where there is love, there is always hopeI thought I would give you one of my favorite scenes in Hope for Mr. Darcy, the first in the Hope Series Trilogy. But I will have to give you a bit of background to help you understand the dynamics of the environment.  Darcy had been refused the day before. The first part of the excerpt is from Elizabeth’s perspective, while she is very ill and delusional. 

However, every word and touch between Darcy and Elizabeth are actually happening in the real world where Darcy is questionably sane himself. (LOL – I mean who has ever suffered unrequited love is truly in their right mind??). The second section is from Darcy’s perspective and what is actually happening in the Collins’ parsonage sitting room. I would apologize for the length of it . . . but I think you might thank me instead!   *wink wink

Read an excerpt  

Elizabeth had felt alone for a brief moment. But no sooner had she called out for Mr. Darcy, than he was right beside her again, his hand in hers again.

“Do not fret, Elizabeth,” he whispered. “I am here.”

Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked to her left, and sure enough, he was there. Her gaze returned to the sun. “This is such a beautiful place. I believe I could stay here forever. Do you ever stay here for long periods of time?”

“No, not usually. But I will stay if you wish.”

Elizabeth was sure she already knew that. This place seemed to effectively communicate things with accuracy; she felt privileged to partake of it. She could hear things without ears. She observed without seeing. Without speaking, she was able to say exactly what she meant. Her heart spoke for her, yet she never felt her lips move, although they might have out of habit. Her only limitation in communicating in this garden was her ability to describe it.

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... AUTHOR JOANA STARNES + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY OF THE SUBSEQUENT PROPOSAL

Hello  Joana. I’m glad you accepted to join us here at our online book club to talk Jane Austen with us. Welcome!

Many thanks for inviting me, Maria Grazia – it’s a great pleasure to be here!

My first question is: when and how did your lucky encounter with Jane Austen take place?

If we’re talking ‘first encounters’, like many of us here, I began reading Jane Austen in my teens. Real appreciation, though, came much later. At first, I read her novels for the storyline, but as I grew older, I began to look for context, and reading them in context made me love them so much more!

And then came the 1995 adaptation, which I absolutely adored, not only for the usual reasons – i.e. Colin Firth J - but also for the fantastic attention to detail! Having watched the miniseries, I was left craving for more. Luckily, I came across ‘The Making of Pride and Prejudice’, a book explaining how the 1995 adaptation was put together and I was mesmerised by all the details it mentioned, from the endless hours spent looking for the perfect location, to the countless photographs and sketches done in order to get Lydia’s hairstyle right, or Mr. Bennet’s powdering gown, or the colour and the cut of Darcy’s coat! I was thrilled with the little inside stories too, like Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet) recounting how the period cook was kind enough to ask for his favourite pudding, so that it could be used in one of the scenes – and how he gorged himself on gooseberry fool during the first, second and third take, only to end up hating the very sight of it by the time that particular scene was finally ‘in the can’!

Then, having devoured the book, unlike Mr. Whitrow and his favourite pudding I was still left wanting more, so I began trawling the internet until one happy day I discovered JAFF – and the rest is history!

BLOG TOUR - ALIAS THOMAS BENNET BY SUZAN LAUDER

In Alias Thomas Bennet, Thomas and Fanny Bennet travel to Bermuda in June of 1792. Very little is said in the book about what that trip might be like, since most of the book takes place in 1811, but the two chapters aboard the ship are pivotal to the back story. Today, I’ve used Fanny’s point of view to give you a flavour for their experiences during that trip.

Mr. Bennet’s late father purchased a home in Hamilton two years before the younger Bennets hasty relocation there, when the town was spurting with growth, in fact, before Sir Henry Hamilton had given the town his name. Thomas and Fanny sailed from Portsmouth aboard a ship called the Valhalla, which some might think an odd name for a boat, but Thomas was amused by the irony, so it suited him quite well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN! REGINA JEFFERS, WRITER

What would my life have been without Jane Austen? Regina Jeffers answers: 

If Jane Austen had not quietly crept into my world when I was but twelve, I would have developed a liking for Edith Wharton, and a recent New Yorker article summed it that possibility: “Nobody Likes Edith Wharton.” In 1929, Janet Flanner described Wharton as: “On the whole she finds herself living in a generation in which conversation is lost. She is a dignified little woman set down in the middle of her past. She says that to the greener growths of her day, she must seem like a taffeta sofa under a gas-lit chandelier. Certainly she is old-fashioned in that she reserves her magnanimity for special occasions. In belief she is still nothing of an iconoclast but has become liberal through reflection.”
 Now, I ask you what kind of role model would that have been for an impressionable young girl, who was inflicted at birth with the “Cinderella” gene? A girl who craves her “Happily Ever After”? I prefer my characters to learn to love intelligently, as well as to have the weak and the powerless protected by a formal code of behavior. I also prefer the “sound” of Austen’s slightly biting voice in my head rather than the sound of wealth and disdain found in Wharton’s novels. I was raised on the ideals of duty to society, the want for education and extensive reading, religious seriousness, and the need for manners. I required an author who would speak to those issues and provide them importance. So, without Austen, I would go to sleep with images of Selden discovering Lily’s overdosed body or of Zeena tending to Mattie after Ethan Frome’s death. I am much more inclined toward the delicious Mr. Darcy, the honorable Captain Wentworth, and excessively understanding Mr. Knightley to the “reality” of Wharton’s works. In truth, there is already too much reality in my life; I require my HEA to know hope for a brighter tomorrow. That is Jane Austen’s place in my life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN! VICTORIA CONNELLY, WRITER

 “What would my life have been like without Jane Austen?” 

I can't imagine a life without Jane Austen. She is the reason that I am now a full-time author. It was when I was visiting her cottage in Hampshire a few years ago that I came up with the idea of writing a trilogy about Jane Austen addicts - with each book set in a beautiful Austen location. Before I'd even finished writing the first story, I'd been offered my first book deal in the US and, since then, my books have been published in the UK, Russia and Finland. It's so exciting.

As well as the writing, there are the friends I have made through researching my books and attending events like the Jane Austen Festival in Bath and holidaying with 'Pride and Prejudice Tours'. Austen addicts have to be the nicest people in the world!

And, on a personal level, her novels have enriched my life in so many ways - they are beautiful love stories told with warmth and humour and I never tire of rereading them and watching the gorgeous film adaptations. I am truly an Austen addict!

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... MELANIE KERR, AUTHOR OF FOLLIES PAST + GIVEAWAY

First of all Melanie, welcome to our online book club. Would you mind to introduce yourself to our readers?

Thank-you, I am thrilled to have this chance to talk with you. I am a long-time Austenite as well as a lawyer and a mother of two little boys. I make my own Regency costumes and force my friends to drink tea out of china cups.  I have just released my first novel, Follies Past: a Prequel to Pride and Prejudice.

Of course, my first question is:  “When was your first encounter with Jane Austen and how was that?

A friend gave me Pride and Prejudice in university, about 15 years ago. She had read it in a literature class and thought I would like it. She was right -  I couldn’t put it down. When I look back on it, I remember sort of imagining it in a modern setting, because I didn’t have any references for the aesthetic of the period. I hadn’t seen any of the movies and didn’t know what anything would have looked like. I have, over time, come to love all Jane Austen’s work, and to develop a fascination for the period, which is consistent with my lifelong love of petticoats and pastoral imagery, but my first encounter with Jane Austen didn’t involve any of that, and I loved it anyway.

“Follies Past: A Prequel to Pride and Prejudice”  has just been released.  How would you invite our Janeite friends to grab their copy and read it in about 50 words?

Before Darcy came to Netherfield, refused to dance at Meryton or laid eyes on Elizabeth, he rescued his sister from certain peril at the hands of the infamous Mr. Wickham. This is that story, knitted together with characters and histories of my own invention and all told with love and reverence.

 What was your intent at rewriting Wickham and Georgiana’s story?

One of the great things about Jane Austen’s storytelling is the way she ties everything up into a deeply satisfying ending. We all want the books to go on and on, but extending the characters and the plot after the final chapter felt to me like interfering with that perfect ending. And it would all  have to be speculative. Nobody knows what happens after the close of a book, but Jane Austen herself tells

TESS QUINN, ‘TIS THE SEASON! …for COOKIES! AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Thanksgiving being later this year, the whole holiday season has seemed to just suddenly appear out of nowhere!  It hit me yesterday – attending first Sunday of advent services and coming home to open the inaugural box on that Advent calendar that has been sitting on my counter for weeks calling to me – that it’s time to break out the holiday cards and start baking and planning menus and decorations and renewing all the wonderful family traditions that this season brings.   If I close my eyes, I can smell the spice-laden kitchen and the welcome heat of the oven that receives a continually rotating array of goods for baking. 

Cookies are my specialty – I generally make anywhere from sixteen to twenty different varieties every year at this time, and I have a tradition for that as well.   I pore over my recipe files and books for a week or two, picking out the family favorites that simply must be made, and finding several more new ones to try.  Then I go through them all to make up a grocery list, purchase the supplies and spread them all out on my kitchen table within easy reach.   The measuring cups and spoons and whisks and mixers and all the paraphernalia of baking line up on the counter ready for duty.   I start on a Friday evening right after work, making up several different batches of dough that can be refrigerated for baking later.  Then I rinse out the mixing bowl to start on another right away.  Early on Saturday morning I am back at it, baking the previous night’s efforts while I make up more batches of dough.  The extra warmth of the kitchen at this time is always welcome.  And the smells – ah! the smells!  Chocolate, of course.  Cinnamon.  Raspberry jam.  Vanilla extract, and toasted almonds or hazelnuts. Coconut, and caramel and… sugar.  They all merge together into a welcoming balm that brings contentment even in the bustle of activity – aromatherapy at its best!

DARCY'S TALE - MEET AUTHOR STAN HURD, INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

First of all Stan, let me welcome you to our online book club. I’m really glad you’re here to introduce yourself and present your new book to our readers.

Thank you very much for having me. I think yours is one of the most appealing and impressive websites devoted to the works of Jane Austen, and I marvel at how you manage to keep it up with all your other jobs: wife and mother, teacher, and two other blogs! Well done!

Well, thank you very much, Stan. Blogging is a very engaging but very rewarding hobby for me. Now let’s focus on you, instead and of course, my first question is:  “How did it come that you decided to write your own version of Pride and Prejudice”?

My introduction to Jane Austen was the Keira Knightly / Matthew Macfadyen movie in 2005; I was in my 50’s then. I was caught immediately, even though most Austen fans think it one of the worst versions ever made; I began reading all her novels, followed by the rest of the movie and TV productions. When I ran out of those, a friend introduced me to another trilogy. While I was at first delighted simply to be back in the world created by Jane Austen, subsequent readings left me unsatisfied (I should say that I wolf down new books like a starving man at his first meal; then, once sated, I go back to savour it with a more discriminating palate). The Darcy in that series, while certainly well-written, bothered me enough that I felt the need to attempt it myself; I almost felt as if someone of my acquaintance had come off badly in the press, and that I needed to correct it. The one thing that troubled me most was that this Darcy did not, to my mind, act the way a man really would. Then I went back to P & P and asked myself if Austen’s Darcy could be more fully imagined in the way I would expect a man to act; and, to no one’s surprise, I’m sure, I found that he could. Over time, what had started off as a purely personal quest to fill in the gaps Austen left for us, turned into a larger project.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... A LOT OF PRIDE AND SOME PREJUDICE BY PETRONELA UNGUREANU + GIVEAWAY

I'm always surprised and happy to find Austenite friends loving Jane and her works just all over the world. And when they decide to write fan fiction and want to share their fondness and their achievements I'm always glad to let them share here at My Jane Austen Book Club. Today I'd like you to meet and welcome Petronela Ungureanu from Romania. Read an excerpt from her "A Lot of Pride and Some Prejudice" and try to win 2 e-books in the giveaway contest linked to this post  (see rafflecopter form below).

Maria Grazia

Read an excerpt 

-    “My dear miss Clairon I am mortified, I cannot explain how such an abominable mistake could have been produced. Please allow me to apologize profusely, I intend to take drastic measures for this unforgivable negligence.

Lord Salisbury was indeed very mortified, since the luggage of his guest, Miss Clairon, had been misplaced, and the old governess was purple with embarrassment. Lord Salisbury was ceaselessly waving his short chubby arms like he was trying to express the magnitude of his regret, yet Miss Clairon seemed to be unmoved. Through the peephole of the dining room’s door, Portia was observing with tremendous amusement the entire  commotion from the hall, when she suddenly realized that she was not alone. She turned around in a startling rush and she saw a tall, imposing man observing her with an amused expression on his face,. There was no reproof in his eyes, just a cheerful flicker of extreme diversion. When he spoke, his voice was kind and his tone excessively polite.

-    Were you listening at the door, Madame, or were you looking through the peep

LOVE AT FIRST SLIGHT - BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY: J. MARIE CROFT, THE LOVE AT FIRST SLIGHT BOOK CLUB.

Today we are at the Hunsford parsonage to discuss Pride and Prejudice with several characters from Love at First Slight. We are just waiting for Miss Collins and her houseguest to arrange refreshments and for three young ladies to arrive from Rosings Park. 

Before everyone assembles here in the parlour, it behooves me to apologize in advance. These dramatis personae are, after all, characters; and I cannot vouch for their conduct. More than anyone, I know how unpredictable their behaviour can be; and althou –

From the vicinity of the kitchen, voices are heard loud and clear. 

Miss Collins: “That cannot be an option. Even if such potation were befitting the occasion, my brother does not condone the imbibition of fortified wine by the fair sex, as he calls us. Good Christians should be filled with the Spirit, not spirits.  We do not stock alcoholic beverages here.”

VALERIE LAWS, GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY - DISSING DARCY, LIFTING UP LYDIA: LYDIA BENNET’S BLOG

  

Newly-engaged Lizzy ‘remembered that [Darcy] had yet to learn to be laughed at, and it was rather too early to begin.’ In my subversion of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, he has already been laughed at, and tricked into doing what will benefit himself, the Bennets, but mainly the trickster. For who is as brilliant at getting what(or who!) she wants than a teenage girl, a penniless princess, entitled without a title - Lydia Bennet. After many readings, it dawned on me that Austen roots for certain characters, and yet alternative interpretations shine through. Most post-Austen sequels or spin-offs stick to the orthodox views - Darcy the Ideal Alpha Male, Lizzy the feisty romantic heroine, Mrs Bennet a neurotic airhead, Mr Bennet clever (and who can blame him for hiding in the library), Lydia Bennet annoyingly stupid and shallow. But in fact husband-hunting Mrs Bennet has the brains - when Mr Bennet dies, which could be any time back then, they will all be literally homeless. Marriage, to a man able to support the whole family, was the only option for women. Mr Bennet’s scorn is cruel and selfish, he’s safe in Longbourn until he’s ‘carked it’ as Lydia would say. For Lydia, as Austen writes her, is a modern teenager, she loves shopping, fashion, flirting, fun, and why not? She’s only 15/16! She wants Wickham? So does Lizzy for quite a while. And he’s hot as hell, a sexy bad boy. What if powerless Lydia B is as brilliant

Challenging the Fates: Discovering A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM - Author guest post by Scott Southard

Scott Southard

The fates gave Jane Austen a bum rap.

Yes, she is remembered as one of the most important writers in all of literature, defined for generations what it means to be in love and have a successful relationship, and inspired countless writers and genres. That is all fine and very good, but that is now… for us.

For Miss Austen’s reality, she died young (only 41) in a cottage in a small village where she was living with her sister and mother and her books were published anonymously. Sadly, it is hard for us to even know her that well, with the destruction of many of his letters and writings by her sister. After that, we have to rely on a biography written by her nephew that seems more concerned with the family’s name as compared to the truth of this great person.  She joins Shakespeare in our mystery-lost genius category, the ones we only have our hopes and dreams to point to for truth.

This harsh and very cruel choice of the fates is what inspired a good part of A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM, my new novel. And honestly, writing this book terrified me for many years. See, I knew from the start I wanted to give Jane an adventure and a love story much like her own characters experienced, but taking that idea to the next step was where it became tricky.

SPOTLIGHT ON ..." HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR DARCY" BY VICTORIA CONNELLY + E-BOOK GIVEAWAY

Happy Birthday Mr. Darcy" is the fifth installment in the Austen Addicts series by Victoria Connelly. I've read and loved them all, could I miss this new one? 
A delightful novella set in the magnificent Purley Hall,  where two of the lovely characters we met first time in "A Weekend with Mr Darcy" are going to get married: Katherine Roberts and Warwick Lawton. 

It's been great to join all the familiar characters again and follow them while preparing themselves to take part in the wedding celebrations. Dame Pamela, Robyn and Dan, Higgins, Doris Noris, Mrs Soames, Mia Castle, Shelley Quantock, Gabe and Pie are excited to take part in a real Regency-style celebration. 

It is not only a great moment for Katherine and Warwick, but also Mr Darcy's birthday! And can the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice not influence the cheerful atmosphere at the Hall and the festive plans of such enthusiastic Austen fans? 

This is a fast paced, light-hearted novella you can plan to read on a rainy autumn day, in order to lit it up with romance, comedy and a lot of Austen quotes and references. 

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... JEANNA ELLSWORTH + GIVEAWAY OF MR DARCY'S PROMISE

Hello,  Jeanna, and welcome at My Jane Austen Book Club. My first question for you is: When and How did your lucky encounter with Jane Austen take place?

My very first encounter was at a garage sale at least 10 years ago where I picked up my first copy of Pride and Prejudice (couldn’t tell you where that copy went since then). My reintroduction was with the 2005 movie, of which I loved and bought a copy immediately. But it wasn’t until my sister, KaraLynne Mackrory, started writing JAFF books and sending me the chapters as she wrote them that I went from liking the book, to loving the story, to obsessing over it and becoming a badge-wearing-fully-fledged-hopeless addict.  That was January 2012. I remember it well because my divorce had been final for just over a year and I hadn’t ventured into the dating world yet. Darcy looked pretty darn good to a romance-starved single mother of three daughters.

How did it change your life?

It has changed my life in so many ways. First, I started reading every JAFF book I could find on Amazon.com, at the library, loaned from my fellow JAFF addict sister, and those I researched online. I currently have about 6 JAFF books on my kindle waiting for me to read, a few more on my wish list on Amazon, and I just ordered another that will be coming in the mail.  I get a little jittery when I don’t have a “to be read next” list. But it is more than that. It changed the way I look at life. I wish I could be more like Elizabeth Bennet. My bad marriage and good divorce (let’s face it, a good divorce is better than any bad marriage) left me with a lack of faith in men in general and a sense of I-can-do-it-on-my-own-I-don’t-need-a-man attitude. I also went from repressing my inner Lizzy due to shell shock, to being a little impertinent at times, more so than before I fell in love with Elizabeth Bennet. It changed my vocabulary which now has affected my daughters’ vocabulary as well, whose affirmative answer to me when I ask them a question is now “Indeed”. It made me push myself outside of my very comfortable (and single) life into one where I risk loving and being loved, all because now I believe there are real Mr. Darcys out there, and let’s face it, I kind of would like to find a Mr. Darcy. And of course, it changed the fact that now I am an author, a title I never thought I wanted for myself.

BOOK BLAST & GIVEAWAY - MY OWN MR DARCY BY KAREY WHITE

My Own Mr. Darcy 

After being dragged to the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice by her mother, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth’s life changes when Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy appears on the screen. Lizzie falls hard and makes a promise to herself that she will settle for nothing less than her own Mr. Darcy. This ill-advised pledge threatens to ruin any chance of finding true love. During the six intervening years, she has refused to give any interested suitors a chance. They weren’t Mr. Darcy enough. Coerced by her roommate, Elizabeth agrees to give the next interested guy ten dates before she dumps him. That guy is Chad, a kind and thoughtful science teacher and swim coach. While she’s dating Chad, her dream comes true in the form of a wealthy bookstore owner named Matt Dawson, who looks and acts like her Mr. Darcy. Of course she has to follow her dream. But as Elizabeth simultaneously dates a regular guy and the dazzling Mr. Dawson, she’s forced to re-evaluate what it was she loved about Mr. Darcy in the first place.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

SPOTLIGHT ON ... JESSICA DOTTA, BORN OF PERSUASION + JANE AUSTEN PILLOW GIVEAWAY

Book Blurb 

The year is 1838, and seventeen-year-old Julia Elliston’s position has never been more fragile. Orphaned and unmarried in a time when women are legal property of their fathers, husbands, and guardians, she finds herself at the mercy of an anonymous guardian who plans to establish her as a servant in far-off Scotland.

With two months to devise a better plan, Julia’s first choice to marry her childhood sweetheart is denied. But when a titled dowager offers to introduce Julia into society, a realm of possibilities opens. However, treachery and deception are as much a part of Victorian society as titles and decorum, and Julia quickly discovers her present is deeply entangled with her mother’s mysterious past. Before she knows what’s happening, Julia finds herself a pawn in a deadly game between two of the country’s most powerful men. With no laws to protect her, she must unravel the secrets on her own. But sometimes truth is elusive and knowledge is deadly.

A Sneak Peek: Chapter 1

“I am quite vexed with you.” Mrs. Windham placed a slice of lard cake on a plate. She eyed my dress hanging loosely over my frame, then added another sliver alongside a gooseberry tart. “Why did you not tell us your mother was ailing? Had I knowledge, I would have visited before she passed; indeed, I would have.”

My hand faltered as I reached for the plate. While I’d known the topic of Mama’s death was unavoidable, I

JANE, ACTUALLY. MEET AUTHOR JENNIFER PETKUS

Hello Jennifer and first of all let me welcome you back at My Jane Austen Book Club. 

Thanks very much, Maria, I really appreciate the support you’ve given me and other authors at your book club.

The Premise to your latest release Jane, Actually sounds really intriguing! Do you want to present it to our readers briefly?

Briefly? As my friends will attest, I never do anything briefly, but here goes. Because of an accidental discovery/invention, it’s possible for the dead to communicate with the living and with each other via the Internet. Basically everyone who ever died is now free to watch cat videos, criticize the government or in the case of Jane Austen, finally publish “Sanditon,” the book she was writing when she died.

Unfortunately it’s difficult for the dead, or the disembodied as they prefer to be called, to prove who they were when alive. And the longer ago you died and the more famous you were, the more difficult it is. Fortunately Austen’s agent has helped Jane prove her identity, so the famous Regency author has landed a book contract with Random House and is on a book tour that will culminate in the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America in Fort Worth, Texas.

THANK YOU, MISS AUSTEN! LEO CHARLES TAYLOR PRESENTS HIS "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ASSASSINATIONS"

In February of 1813 Miss Jane Austen wrote a letter to her sister Cassandra. Pride & Prejudice had just been published and Miss Austen took the time to express her thoughts on the novel. On the whole she was pleased, although she did not care for her mother's audible presentation of the novel to their friends. Near the beginning of the letter Jane stated that the work was a little too bright and needed shade, perhaps a mention of Napoleon.

 It has now been 200 years since this wonderful novel has been printed and the letters of Miss Austen bring a sense of reality to her work and her character. She was not wholly pleased, but then again, are any of us ever satisfied with our work. A novel, which had taken the better part of two decades to get into print, was found to still contain an editing mistake, and while the reviews were favorable, Miss Austen had sold the copyright to a Mr. Egerton and signed away her rights for future financial gain. While Miss Austen may not have greatly profited from her novel, she did achieve a much more sought after goal. She is now known the world over and will continue to influence men and women in a positive way; Miss Austen achieved immortality. Whether Jane wanted this immortality we may not know, but it is hers and I wish to thank her for her influence.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... LADY HARRIETTE: FITZWILLIAM'S HEART & SOUL BY P.O. DIXON + GIVEAWAY

From the Author

__________________________________________________________

As the story goes in To Have His Cake (and Eat It Too) and its sequel, What He Would Not Do, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam enjoyed making light of his younger cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy’s deep affection for Miss Elizabeth Bennet in what seemed destined to be an unrequited love. After Darcy won Elizabeth’s heart and made her his wife, Richard continued his wont of taunting his love-sick friend.

Now, the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. It’s Darcy’s turn to make light of Richard’s struggles to prove himself worthy of pleasing the woman in his life. Can Richard stay true to his purpose or will the worrisome winds of ill fate intervene?

The Book

Lady Harriette: Fitzwilliam’s Heart & Soul

Past is Prologue …

After his father threatened to cut him off financially for what the Earl of Matlock deemed his son’s debauched, heedless way of life, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam set his cap at young Lady Harriette Middleton. A second son whose habits of taste demanded he marry a woman of substantial means, Richard’s sole intention was securing her dowry. Having entered her bedchamber under the cover of darkness, he set upon his course. He promised to court her, to win her heart, to marry her.