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.

LONA MANNING, A MARRIAGE OF ATTACHMENT. EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

A Marriage of Attachment, Lona Manning’s sequel to A Contrary Wind: a variation on Mansfield Park, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

Haven’t read A Contrary Wind yet? No problem it’s on sale this week for $0.99 at Amazon.com. It is also available to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

GIVEAWAY!!! 

Choose one or all the options you find in the rafflecopter form below the post to be entered into a draw for both ebooks. This offer is open internationally.  The giveaway ends on 13th July 2018. 

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.

MARIA GRACE, THREE CHRISTMASES - BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY

Thanks so much for having me Maria Grazia! I’m so excited about this Christmas season! It’s been a doozy of a year in these parts with Hurricane Harvey just being the icing on the cake. So much has happened that it calls for not one, but two Christmas books.  The two books go along with The Darcys’ First Christmas, kind of forming bookends to the story. Darcy and Elizabeth: Christmas 1811 tells the behind the scenes story of what might have happened during the Christmastide Darcy spent in London, while the militia (and Wickham!) wintered in Meryton. From Admiration to Love tells the story of the Darcys’ second Christmas as they try to hold Georgiana’s coming out at the Twelfth Night ball as Lady Catherine and Anne de Bourgh descend as very unwelcome guests. (The story was such fun to write, I hope you love it as much as I do!)

ALL THE THINGS I KNOW BLOG TOUR: AUDREY RYAN ON WRITING PRIDE AND PREJUDICE FOR THE MILLENIALS

 I’ve chosen an excerpt to feature in this post that’s related to finding the perfect job. Why is this important? Because there some very unique trends in the current job market.

     There is no more glass ceiling. This means climbing the ladder doesn’t really exist anymore. Instead, we career hop. It’s rare and frowned upon to be in a role longer than 4 years. People wonder why you haven’t tried anything new. They think you’re lazy if you don’t move around. Where’s your ambition?

2   40-hour work week is becoming obsolete. Instead, flexible hours are the thing. While this seems awesome (I can travel as much as I want?!), this also means you’re constantly on the clock. Canceling plans last minute so you can finish a presentation for your 9PM meeting with New Zealand office is not unusual. It just is. Going to a coffee shop and seeing other people on a work computer, also normal. As is the person on their laptop on the bus, working during the commute home. God forbid if you have to travel for work the plane doesn’t have Wi-Fi.

THE MARRIAGE OF MISS JANE AUSTEN VOLUME III IS OUT! INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR COLLINS HEMINGWAY + GIVEAWAY

Welcome back to My Jane Austen Book Club, Collins! Congratulations on your latest release and thanks for accepting to answer a few questions. Here's the first one: most of the authors writing in the Jane Austen world are doing sequels to her books or variations on her plots and characters. You chose to write about Austen herself. Why?

I had two different ideas come together. The first is that I wanted to tell a serious story of what life was like for women in the early 1800s. This was a time when everything was against them, from society to biology. I wanted to test the heart and soul of an intelligent, sensitive woman. As I began the early scenes, the voice that kept coming to me was that remarkable voice. Also, I had a literature professor at university, long ago, who encouraged me to see the depth of Austen’s writing as well as its brilliance. The literary constraints on a woman of that day limited Jane to courtship novels and forced her to deal with important issues in the background or in passing, with secondary characters.

Through the years, I kept asking myself: What would have happened if Jane Austen had been able to put her talents toward the serious issues of life after marriage? What if she had been able to write directly about some of the big social issues of the day? What if she herself had faced the good and bad of married life, as most women of that era did? How would all that come together in a story involving a man very much her equal—though unsuitable, perhaps, to her family.

DANGEROUS TO KNOW BLOG TOUR - AMY D'ORAZIO, CAPTAIN TILNEY vs MR DARCY

Was Captain Tilney the Darcy of Northanger Abbey?

 Ok, stay with me here.

I was really excited to have the opportunity to write Captain’s Tilney’s story for my recent project with Christina Boyd’s Dangerousto Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes and Gentleman Rogues. He’s always intrigued me — strange, I know, but I guess I like a bad boy. Sure, I know his younger brother Henry is supposed to be the real hero of the story but if I’m being completely honest here, I would have to say that squeaky-clean Henry and sweet-but-silly Catherine don’t really fascinate me.

VICTORIA GROSSACK, LIES & LIARS IN JANE AUSTEN

(by Victoria Grossack)

 In Jane Austen’s works, the bad guys lie.  A lot.

In fact, dishonesty in both word and deed frequently propels the plot.  Let’s take a tour through the deceptions in Jane Austen’s six novels and then discuss her depictions of lies, liars, and those who believe them.

Northanger Abbey.  One of the things I like about this novel is that much of the plot turns on the lies that characters tell about each other.  Most are delivered by John Thorpe, who tells many lies to General Tilney about Catherine Morland, the novel’s protagonist.  Northanger Abbey is, as many people know, Austen’s riposte to the over-the-top melodrama of the gothic novels that were so popular in the late 1700s.  And although Austen incorporated some gothic imaginings, she was able to devise a lovely little novel with prosaic lies.

BARBARA SILKSTONE, MY FAIR LIZZY - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

The fun things you discover while creating a new adventure for Darcy and Lizzy! It was important to my new release, a mashup of Pride and Prejudice and Pygmalion, that Lizzy talk with a cockney accent. But how could I do that to our darling girl? And how much of her quirky speech pattern would the reader enjoy? I hope I hit a near perfect balance as the tale begins with Lizzy speaking in cockney only to blend into proper English.

Amazon   Kobo   iBooks   Nook 

A Regency tale ~ Lizzy Bennet, a sassy London shop girl is instantly attracted to Fitzwilliam Darcy, the arrogant, handsome visitor to the Bennets’ struggling Covent Garden flower shop. Darcy insists on purchasing Lizzy’s lucky orchid as a gift for his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Will Lizzy sell her family’s much needed good fortune to the haughty know it all?

SHARON LATHAN, THREE WAYS TO WED DURING THE REGENCY - GUEST BLOG & GIVEAWAY

My sincerest thanks to Maria Grazia for hosting me on My Jane Austen Book Club today. It is an honor to be here, and a great pleasure to share a bit of my research with your readers, as well as my latest novel. Darcy and Elizabeth: Hope of the Future is the second book in the two-volume Darcy Saga Prequel Duo, which began with Darcy and Elizabeth: A Season of Courtship. These two novels perfectly fit with my Darcy Saga Sequel to Pride and Prejudice, the series now including nine lengthy novels and one novella.

Three Ways to Wed during the Regency

Today I thought I would talk about the legitimate avenues for a legal marriage in England during the period our beloved characters lived. As a result of the Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1753, the rules and requirements were strictly detailed, in large part to prevent the rash marriages of the prior decades. 

The five major points of the 1753 Marriage Act were:

      1.  A license and/or the reading of the banns were required to legally marry.

2. Essential parental consent if either person was under the age of 21.
3. The ceremony must take place in a public chapel or church where at least one of the two resided AND by an authorized Church of England clergyman.
4. The marriage must be performed between 8am and noon, AND before designated witnesses.
5. The marriage had to be recorded in the marriage register with the signatures of both parties, the witnesses, and the minister.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... P.O. DIXON, BY REASON, BY REFLECTION, BY EVERYTHING + GIVEAWAY

From the Author

Thank you so much, Maria Grazia, for this opportunity to visit My Jane Austen Book Club and share an excerpt from my new release, By Reason, by Reflection, by Everything. It’s always a great pleasure to be here.

About the Book

What if Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her late sister, Lady Anne, were not the only two who enjoyed a favorite wish for Fitzwilliam Darcy’s future marital felicity? What if the elder Mr. Darcy had a favorite wish of his own? What if he promised his firstborn son to the firstborn daughter of his old university friend, Thomas Bennet? Are promises made always promises kept? Or is a love like Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet's destined to prevail? 

GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY: ALEXA ADAMS, FRIENDS & FOES FROM PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IN WONDERLAND

Thank you so much for hosting me today at My Jane Austen Book Club! It’s always a pleasure to drop in.

Today I’d like to focus on some of the side characters in my book, Darcy in Wonderland, all of whom are of great interest to Janeites. While the story primarily focuses on the immediate Darcy family, particularly Mr. Darcy and Alice, many of our friends and foes from Pride and Prejudice receive mention, and some even play a major role in the plot, like Lady Catherine. She has had ample time in the spotlight over the past several days as I’ve done the rounds of the blogs, so let’s set that imposing grand dame aside and turn our attention to quieter members of the cast.

Mary Harding and Kitty Crawford

Austen was rather specific regarding the fates of some of her characters, and even though this is a rather unorthodox continuation, I have stuck to cannon as much as possible. For example, the fates of Mary and Kitty Bennet are clearly disclosed at the end of Pride and Prejudice, so I didn’t tamper with their destinies.

“The days passed quickly in a frenzy of preparations, visiting, and new arrivals, who swelled the numbers in the dining room. Elizabeth’s sister, Mary Harding, her husband, and their three rather grown children arrived from Hertfordshire two days before the ball. They traveled with the Collinses of Longbourn, who left their children at home. Kitty Crawford and four of her brood of nine did not descend upon Pemberley until the following day, as her husband, a clergyman, worked in a parish not far away. The halls of the great house veritably rang with the footsteps and laughter of children while the nights were marked by family gatherings in the drawing room, full of games, performances, conversation, and laughter. What did it matter if Mr. Collins was abysmal at cards? Under his wife’s skillful management, the former rector’s absurdities were never subjected on any single person for too long, and Bennet was often happy to partner him, finding his cousin just as diverting a source of entertainment as his grandfather had before him.”

MR DARCY'S BRIDEs BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY - AUTHOR REGINA JEFFERS, BREACH OF PROMISE LEGALITIES IN THE REGENCY

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Miss Austen brings up the issue of “Breach of Promise Suits” as they apply to Lydia and Wickham. This exchange actually occurs after Darcy’s second proposal (chapter 60) when Elizabeth is asking Darcy when he fell in love with her:

SPOTLIGHT ON ... THE JOURNEY HOME BY KAREN M. COX

The Journey Home

Georgiana Darcy has left girlhood far behind her. A young, single mother with two small daughters, she escaped a precarious existence. Now she has returned to her ancestral home, ready to rebuild her life. Her brother, William, welcomed her with open arms and helped her back on her feet. But home is more than a place—it’s a state of mind, and Georgiana has a journey of the heart ahead of her. As her brother falls in love with Elizabeth, the new girl in town, Georgiana finds herself drawn to William’s long-time friend, Sheriff Richard Fitzwilliam, a widower fifteen years her senior. Richard would never want her, or so she believes, but when he’s near, her sorrow vanishes. When Georgiana’s past comes roaring back to haunt her, can Richard and his kind, gentle ways help see her through?

LINDA BEUTLER LAUNCHES MY MR DARCY & YOUR MR BINGLEY BLOG TOUR WITH A BRILLIANT VIGNETTE + GIVEAWAY

Greetings again, Maria Grazia, and thank you infinitely for hosting the My Mr. Darcy & Your Mr. Bingley blog tour—it’s first stop, too, you brave lady! It is a pleasure to be back at My Jane Austen Book Club. Hard to believe we met here four years ago, for the debut of The Red Chrysanthemum! You have requested I share an unpublished vignette from my new novel with your readers, and since you and I both adore Colonel Fitzwilliam, I offer this little scene. (I’ll just mention I gave the dear colonel the Christian name Alexander in my third novel, A Will of Iron and my best friend loves it so, I’m likely to stick with it, rather than the ubiquitous “Richard”.)

To set the scene, we have the Colonel heading to bed in the room saved for him at Darcy House. He and Darcy suffered a less than enjoyable evening at the London theatre in a box adjoining that used by the Gardiners and their guests, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. It is about ten days since the contretemps between Darcy and Elizabeth at Hunsford. The colonel has been scolding Darcy, but has now retired from that particular field of battle.

JANE AUSTEN FOR CHILDREN. ALICE CHANDLER, AUNT JANE AND THE MISSING CHERRY PIE

Jane Austen has been part of my life ever since I read Pride and Prejudice as a book-loving child. The book-loving child grew up to be an English professor, and I’ve taught Jane Austen, written about Jane Austen, and lectured abroad about Jane Austen. Currently, I am giving a Jane Austen course at our local senior citizens’ center.

But what to do about my granddaughter Dana? How could I introduce her to the author I loved and give her at least a sense of what Jane Austen was like? I thought Dana would like a story about Jane Austen, if only I could find the right format for it.

My first decision was borrowed straight from Stephanie Barron, whose Jane Austen mysteries I so much enjoyed. Mine would be a mystery story, too—only at a child’s level rather than an adult’s. That was how the mystery of “Aunt Jane and the Missing CherryPie” originated.

My next decision was deciding who should be the narrator. Jane Austen lived surrounded by visiting nieces and nephews—some, very sadly, because they needed childcare after their mothers had died in childbirth. (Four of Jane Austen’s sisters-in-law died in this way—two after the birth of their eleventh child.) We know from Jane Austen’s nephew that she told “the most delightful stories, chiefly of fairyland, and her fairies had all characters of their own.” We also know that she wrote what she called Miscellaneous Morsels for her brother James’s daughter. So, Jane-Anna-Elizabeth Austen (always called Anna) became the narrator of my story.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... SNOWBOUND AT HARTFIELD BY MARIA GRACE + GIVEAWAY

One of the things I love about Jane Austen’s characters is that they stay with you long after you’ve read the book. They become like old friends and you wonder how they would get along if they met each other. Of course, it might be challenging to manage to get them all together for tea, or better yet a house party, but it certainly would make for a fascinating time.

In Snowbound at Hartfield, a freak blizzard is just the thing to strand the Darcy party, including the Darcys, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Bennet, and Sir Walter Elliot’s party at Hartfield with Emma and George Knightley. Though Knightley has Emma’s assurances that she is finished with matchmaking, can she really resist the temptation their guests provide?

Maria Grace

 About the book: Snowbound at Hartfield  

Colonel Fitzwilliam should have been happy facing retirement. No more Napoleon, no more tromping the Continent, and his distant cousin had unexpectedly left him an estate. What was more, two of his favorite people, Darcy and Elizabeth, were travelling with him to visit his new home.

But the colonel wasn’t happy, not when he was forced to watch Darcy exchanging enamored glances with his wife. No, he wanted to pitch his cousin out the window. It didn’t help when Darcy kept lecturing him on the joys of wedded life— as if women like Elizabeth Darcy grew on every tree.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... TIMELESS BY DENISE O'HARA + GIVEAWAY

Timeless: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Elizabeth eagerly awaits her sister Jane's letter while visiting Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle Gardiner. But circumstances cause the letter to be delayed by two additional days. The extra time with Darcy changes the course of both of their lives, in ways no one could have predicted... or even thought possible. In a plot twist, you won't see coming, Darcy and Elizabeth find out if their love is truly timeless...

(This book has a sci-fi element which brings the couple into the present. It's written to be believably scientific.)

Read an excerpt from the book

Lizzy had been a good deal disappointed in not finding a letter from her sister, Jane, on their first arrival at Lambton, and this disappointment had been renewed on each of the mornings that had now been spent there. Today was now the third morning and still no post arrived.  She became slightly worried over this, but she directly abandoned the thought and shifted her focus to something entirely different. A variety of thoughts were vying for her attention; she made a frantic emotional effort to sift them as they flowed in. The manner in which Mr. Darcy continued to behave since first seeing him at Pemberly was at the forefront of her mind.

 “Lizzy dear, good morning,” aunt Gardiner said as her niece entered the breakfast room.

“Good morning, Aunt.” They engaged in tête-à-tête for a few minutes before her aunt informed her that the family would spend the morning taking a walking tour around the town. Lizzy quickly agreed to the prospect of getting to know a few of the modern shops and other interesting sights in the small town of Lambton.

The Gardiners and their niece were preparing to take their leave when the housemaid at the Lambton Inn, where they were staying, opened the door to announce Mr. Darcy.

Lizzy was not expecting to see him today. She was filled with a heightened sense of every feeling when he entered the room. She could not help but notice how very handsome he looked in his black wool suit and black hat. He had come alone on horseback that morning. On seeing the ladies with their hats on already and Mr. Gardiner with his walking stick, he quickly surmised they were on their way out and apologised for his intrusion.

MR DARCY'S PRESENT BLOG TOUR - REGINA JEFFERS' S GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

I admit it. I love autumn. I live in North Carolina where for the past two summers we have had a string of 90+ degrees days. This year, since May 27, we have had 82 such days. The lowest temperature we have experienced in three months is 83. So, I am thankful for the latter days of September and the early days of October when the heat and the humidity take a backseat. We will still receive a few days of 85+ degrees until November, but the heat eases, and people start thinking of the upcoming holidays.

Moreover, in my family, we have a series of birthdays between now and year’s end. I turned a sweet 69 years on September 17. [There was a time I thought being 69 meant one was ANCIENT! Not so much now.] My granddaughter Annalise turns 3 in early October. My stepson Tim will be 40 on Halloween. My grandson James will be 5 in early November, and his father (my son) Josh will be 32 in mid November. We have Thanksgiving in the States at the end of November [which included my late mother’s birthday] and Christmas in December. And the much anticipated event at the beginning of January will be a new grandchild. So you can see how my heart grows lighter once the heat of summer disappears.

On one of those recent hot summer evenings, I was speaking to my long time friend Charlotte on the phone, and is customary between us, we were reminiscing about some crazy antics from our childhood. Soon, I was telling her about the year I received four Easter baskets. This was a monumental event for my parents were separated in a time when divorce was still not “accepted.” My mother did not know whether she could scrap up enough money to purchase an Easter basket, and so she had prepared me for disappointment. Then God smiled on my 10-year-old self for my grandfather bought me a basket, our neighbors, who had no children of their own, did likewise, the woman for whom my mother worked presented me with a third one, and my mother was the bearer of the fourth. It was too much chocolate for one child, but I rationed it out to last a LONG time. What was odd about each was that somehow the little note from the presenters were mixed up, and I kept thanking the wrong people for the chocolate bunnies or the jelly beans. Soon the situation became a family source of laughter.

IMPERTINENT STRANGERS, A PRIDE & PREJUDICE STORY BY P.O. DIXON - EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY

From the Author

I am happy for the chance to visit My Jane Austen Book Club once again to share an excerpt from my newest release, Impertinent Strangers. It’s always a great pleasure to be here. Thank you so much, Maria Grazia!

The Book

Impertinent Strangers: A Pride and Prejudice Story

An impertinent stranger is thrown into Fitzwilliam Darcy's path and, even though he declares her tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt him, it is all he can do not to think of her. Upon first making Mr. Darcy's acquaintance, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is quite fascinated with him. Then she discovers that the gentleman is haughty and above his company, and she wants nothing to do with him. Still, the prospect of spending time in each other's company is beyond their power to resist. Will Darcy and Elizabeth stop denying the truth to themselves and find in the other what's been missing in their lives?

Read an Excerpt (Reprinted with Author’s Permission. All Rights Reserved)

The first day passed much the same as the second day of her arrival. On the third day, the Collinses received a much-anticipated invitation to dine at Rosings. Taking advantage of the pleasant weather, they walked the half mile or so across the park in companionable silence. That was until the manor house appeared on the horizon, at which point her party members’ enthusiasm was scarcely contained.