TENTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF 1932 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE REVISITED

Thank you for letting me stop in here at My Jane Austen Book Club! This month, I’m celebrating the tenth anniversary of my debut novel, 1932, by re-releasing the book with a new cover, some book group questions, and some new scenes and chapters. 

SENSE WITHOUT SENSIBILITY BY KEENA RICHINS - AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

I love interconnected stories where characters from one story will be in another one. I always find them fun to read. So it was a no-brainer that when I decided to modernize the Jane Austen stories, that they would all be interconnected.

The easiest way to pull this off was to have Darcy be the CEO of a huge corporation and have most of the other characters either work for him directly or indirectly in some form. But I also loved the idea of characters from other books being best friends. Colonel Brandon and Captain Wentworth both had military service in Austen's version. That makes it easy for them to have met each other during their naval service in my modern version and, since they both were denied their first loves, become instant best friends.

Frank Churchill from Emma has a rather controlling aunt. Edward Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility has an equally controlling mother. Having those two bond together due to similar family situations was a fun connection.

The Elliots from Persuasion were aristocrats (Sir Elliot is a baron). They're in their own class and so it made sense to make them a family of lawyers, dealing with high-end cases. The first chapter of Persuading Him (my modern version of Persuasion) shows Anne Elliot working on a case for Darcy v Wickham (mwahaha).

Another fun fact is that Jane Austen used the last name of Smith rather often in her books. This gave me the fun opportunity to make those Smiths the same person. So, Anne's good friend, Mrs. Smith, in Persuasion is now also the Mrs. Smith that is related to Mr. Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility (I made her a cousin instead of the aunt).

TWO MORE DAYS AT NETHERFIELD BLOG TOUR

 "Oh!" cried Miss Bingley, "Charles writes in the most careless way imaginable. He leaves out half his words, and blots the rest."

   "My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express them -- by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas at all to my correspondents."

Hello Maria Grazia and thank you for welcoming me back to My Jane Austen Book Club to share my new release, Two More Days at Netherfield, with you and your readers. An overhearing and an extended stay during Jane’s illness shift this story’s plot away from canon, but Bingley’s notoriously bad handwriting also has a significant impact on Darcy and Elizabeth’s journey to their happy ever after.

FIND WONDER IN ALL THINGS - FEATURE POST

*****Book Blurb*****

“There could have never been two hearts so open… Now they were as strangers”

—Persuasion

Mountain Laurel Elliot is like her name—she blooms best in the cool comfort of shade, hidden in the Kentucky foothills of Appalachia. Alone on her mountain, she lives a private existence with only her pottery—and her regrets—for company.

James Marshall had a secret dream and Laurel was part of it, but dreams sometimes lead to unexpected places. James’s heart broke when Laurel cut him loose, but he moved on—and became successful beyond his wildest dreams.

For one glorious summer, James and Laurel had each other, but life has kept them far apart.

Until now.

MR DARCY'S PERFECT MATCH BLOG TOUR: AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Austentatious and Covent Garden

If you live in London or ever travel there, do yourself a favor and go see Austentatious at the Fortune Theatre. The theatre is located within the Covent Garden section of London, a delightful area to have dinner and explore. Covent Garden is served by the Piccadilly line at Covent Garden Tube station on the corner of Long Acre and James Streets. During my family’s first ever vacation in England this past June, we found London’s subway system to be a wonderfully efficient, economical, and speedy way to travel throughout the city.

When strolling the streets of Covent Garden, you are apt to find a restaurant to suit anyone’s tastes. All manner of shops are scattered throughout the area, ranging from the most exclusive upscale shops to popular chain stores. Covent Garden’s Apple Market offers a wide range of homemade goods and art. The East Colonnade Market features a variety of gift items, jewelry, and sweet treats. Street performers often entertain the passersby on the pedestrianized piazza.

BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY - JANE AUSTEN & KATE RIORDAN, SANDITON

Jane Austen's Sanditon

When Jane Austen was chronically ill with a mysterious disease in early 1817, she turned her thoughts to a happier subject. She started working on a witty and delightful novel set in a seaside town, Sanditon.  She never finished it. She just left us 11 chapters, about 60 pages.

Sanditon tells the story of Tom Parker, who is obsessed with turning the sleepy seaside village of Sanditon into a fashionable health resort. He enlists the backing of local bigwig Lady Denham. Through a mishap, Tom makes the acquaintance of the Heywoods and invites their eldest daughter, Charlotte for an extended stay at Sanditon.

Meanwhile, Lady Denham, a widow, is playing matchmaker for her destitute nephew, Sir Edward, who is determined to seduce Lady Denham’s ward, Clara. The arrival of wealthy, mixed-race heiress Miss Lambe, under the protection of Tom’s upright brother Sidney, adds an interesting complication. Eligible men naturally find Miss Lambe fascinating, while Charlotte is intrigued by Sidney…

THAW: A QUILLS & QUARTOS BLOG TOUR

Hello everyone, and thank you,  Maria Grazia, for hosting this stop of the blog tour for my new novella Thaw! As Thaw is an epistolary story, I thought I’d take the opportunity today to say a few words about writing a story through letters.

When I first started writing Thaw some ten years ago, it was meant to be a very short story. I had never written a story told entirely through letters before, and intended it as a quick experiment. But what started out as an experiment of 10 to 12 letters soon grew into something bigger—when I finished the original version of the story in 2011, it was three times longer than I had originally intended. And now, in its expanded, published form, Thaw has grown into a collection of altogether 51 letters, describing the early days of a forced marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy—and the events that led to it.

JAYNE BAMBER, MY FANON FAVORITES - GUEST POST, EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Hi everyone, it’s great to be here and talk about my upcoming release, Strong Objections to the Lady. This is my fourth novel, and after a year last week (yay!) of writing full time, I love being able to sink my teeth into all the best parts of Jane Austen Fan Fiction.  

SPEECHLESS BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY: TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH AUTHOR JESSIE LEWIS

Hello and welcome to My Jane Austen Book Club, Jessie. Congratulations on your new release,

Speechless! Let’s start right away talking about the premise of your Pride and Prejudice Variation. 

It’s set during the winter following the Netherfield ball, after which Darcy leaves Hertfordshire and takes Bingley with him. As I’m sure your readers will know, at that point in the original story, Darcy is in denial about his feelings for Elizabeth, whereas Elizabeth is very clear about her feelings for Darcy: she detests him! That is how we find them at the start of Speechless, when a horrible accident leaves them stranded together at a remote inn. Darcy has been badly injured,and despite her antipathy towards him, Elizabeth is forced to be his nursemaid. You can imagine how unimpressed either of them is with this turn of events, and it gets even worse when they realise Darcy’s wound has left him unable to speak. Our dear couple have to work out how to understand the words they’re saying before they can even begin to understand what each other means.

BLOG TOUR FALLING FOR MR THORNTON - INTERVIEW WITH DON JACOBSON, ELAINE OWEN, NICOLE CLARKSTON AND ROSE FAIRBANKS

First of all  as an old fan of North and South (1855) and Mrs Gaskell’s work, I was super happy when I  discovered an anthology of short stories inspired to her novel was going to be released.  I can’t wait to read Falling for Mr Thornton! You can bet I’ll do it as soon as possible and I’ll keep you updated of my progress and my response, of course. 

Meanwhile,  I have had the opportunity to ask three of the authors in the anthology a few questions about their approach to the novel. First of all, I asked  Rose Fairbanks, Don Jacobson, Elaine Owen and Nicole Clarkston, four Austen authors you’ve already met on different occasions here at My Jane Austen Book Club, how difficult  it was to move from Austen’s world to Gaskell’s. 

C. P. ODOM, A COVENANT OF MARRIAGE - GUEST POST, EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

The Marriage of Georgiana Darcy and Charles Bingley

I suppose I ought to warn readers that there are spoilers in this guest post about one of the situations from my new Pride and Prejudice variation, A Covenant of Marriage, but I’ve probably already let the cat out of the bag by the title of this post. This particular variation on Jane Austen’s signature work revolves around the summer holiday planned by Elizabeth Bennet’s aunt and uncle, who invited her to accompany them. In P&P, the original plan was for an excursion to the Lake District for six weeks in June, but the tour had to be delayed and shortened to four weeks because of Mr. Gardiner’s business. So, instead of journeying to the Lakes, they decided on a shorter vacation to Derbyshire, with the result that Elizabeth coincidentally meets Darcy when her party is visiting his estate of Pemberley, which leads to events critical to the happy ending of the novel. My thought was to allow the original tour to take place as planned and see what develops.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... GRAVITY BY P.O.DIXON: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

From the Author

Thank you so much, Maria Grazia, for this opportunity to visit My Jane Austen Book Club and talk about my new release, Gravity. It’s such a great pleasure to be here.

When I can, I always like to include a Jane Austen quote as the epigraph in my books. I was amazed to find one so ideally suited to my new release as the following words from Sense and Sensibility:

“What have wealth or grandeur to do with happiness?”

In Gravity, Mr. Darcy is about to find out.

P.O. Dixon

THE WORLD OF SANDITON: BOOK REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

This post offers you the chance to win an ebook copy of the book described, The World of Sanditon, The Official Companion to the ITV series.Thanks to Orion Books for providing a free copy to give away.  Scroll down and take your chances to win. The giveaway contest ends on 12th November and it is open internationally. Good luck! 

The World of Sanditon, the official companion to the ITV series, published by Orion Books,  delves behind the scenes giving you the inside scoop on Andrew Davies’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s last, unfinished work.

The book allows you to go behind the scenes with the cast and crew, exploring the world that Austen created and offering fascinating insights about a period and the real – life heartbreak behind her final story.

The book will be a gorgeous addition to your Austen or period drama shelf: good-sized, beautifully designed, loads of pictures and the best information on every Regency and Sanditon related subject you can imagine.

You will also have access to location guides, interviews with the cast, beautiful photography from the series and in-depth historical information by esteemed author Sara Sheridan.

THE BRIDE OF NORTHANGER BY DIANA BIRCHALL: BLOG TOUR LAUNCH

Hello #Janeites and welcome to My Jane Austen Book Club! I'm so glad  to be opening a new great event here at our online club. Aren't you thrilled too? There aren't so many Northanger Abbey-inspired novels out there so this is a truly special event. 

The Doyenne of Austenesque fiction, Diana Birchall, tours the blogosphere starting today October 28 through November 15 to share her latest release, The Bride of Northanger. I'm in truly good company in this adventure: thirty popular bloggers specializing in historical and Austenesque fiction will feature guest blogs, interviews, excerpts, and book reviews of this acclaimed continuation of Jane Austen’s Gothic parody, Northanger Abbey.  

INTERVIEW WITH DIANA BIRCHALL

Hello Diana and welcome back to My Jane Austen Book Club. You were one the first Jane Austen Fan Fiction writers in the 1990s. Can you share your inspiration to become an Austenesque writer and your career journey so far?

“Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure,” as Elizabeth told Darcy, and it does give me pleasure, Maria Grazia, for you to invite me to talk about the past! My Jane Austen adventure began when I won a contest in the JASNA journal Persuasions, as long ago as 1984, writing Austen style dialogue, a little sketch of the chatter of Miss Bates, in Emma. It was so much fun, and I was so pleased at winning, that I decided to do more. Over the next few years I wrote lots of what I thought of as pastiche (the terms Austenesque and fan fic hadn’t yet been invented!), and this led to my writing a full-length novel: Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma was written in 1992. At the time there had not been a Pride and Prejudice sequel since the 1940s, and I thought it was an idea whose time had come. Two other authors had the same brain wave simultaneously, and there was a fierce competition. I had an excited New York literary agent and was told to expect a bidding war – but no. The others (Emma Tennant with Pemberley and Julia Barrett with Presumption) were better known, I was as yet unpublished, and the publishing world decreed that there was no ROOM for a third Pride and Prejudice sequel, if you can believe that, in a world where there are now hundreds!

THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN BY JULIE COOPER: BLOG TOUR LAUNCH & GIVEAWAY

Hello everyone and welcome to a new great event. The Perfect Gentleman Blog Tour starts here at My Jane Austen Book Club today. Author Julie Cooper introduces you to the world of her novel with a lovely excerpt and offers you the chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card from Quills & Quartos Publishing!

By the way, it's time to reveal the winner of the giveaway of a $20 Amazon gift card from Quills & Quartos Publishing attached to our previous cover reveal post! 

VICTORIA KINCAID, WHEN CHARLOTTE BECAME ROMANTIC. AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Hi Maria Grazia, thank you for having me as a guest!  I am pleased to announce the release of a new Pride and Prejudice variation, When Charlotte Became Romantic.  It’s part of a series of secondary character books I’ve been writing that envision the women of Pride and Prejudice in a new light. This novel is for any reader who felt sorry for Charlotte and bemoaned her fate of being stuck with Collins for the rest of her life.  It imagines what would happen if she had other choices and the chance to revisit her opinion on romance.  Below is an excerpt from the very beginning of the book.  Enjoy! 

Desperate to escape her parents’ constant criticism, Charlotte has accepted a proposal from Mr. Collins despite recognizing his stupid and selfish nature.  But when a mysterious man from her past visits Meryton for the Christmas season, he arouses long-buried feelings and causes her to doubt her decision. 

James Sinclair’s mistakes cost him a chance with Charlotte three years ago, and he is devastated to find her engaged to another man.  Honor demands that he step aside, but his heart will not allow him to leave Meryton. Their mutual attraction deepens; however, breaking an engagement is not a simple matter and scandal looms.  If they are to be happy, they must face her parents’ opposition, Lady Catherine’s disapproval, dangerous figures from James’s past...and Charlotte’s nagging feeling that maybe she should just marry Mr. Collins.  

Charlotte had forsworn romance years ago; is it possible for her to become romantic again?

BLOG TOUR - ELIZA SHEARER, MISS PRICE'S DECISION: AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Finding Inspiration in Jane Austen: Introducing Miss Price’s Decision

Thank you, Maria Grazia, for having me today! It is a pleasure to be amongst Janeites to present Miss Price’s Decision, my latest novel in the Austeniana series.

Jane Austen’s novels have accompanied me since my teens. To me, they are a source of solace, amusement and hope. But my favourite thing about Jane Austen is that, no matter how many times I re-read her novels, I always discover something new.

At times the finding is about me. Austen’s stories connect with my inner world in a way few other books do, and as a result, immersing myself in them is different every time, depending on my circumstances and what I am experiencing in life.

On other occasions, however, I notice elements in the novel that were always there, but I had not seen before. And sometimes, these nuggets of new information will develop into full-blown ideas for my own stories.

This is precisely what happened two summers ago, upon re-reading Mansfield Park, when I came across a particular sentence that inspired a great deal of Miss Price’s Decision.

NEW RELEASE! ELAINE JEREMIAH, BY TIME DIVIDED: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

 A year ago, in October 2018, Elaine Jeremiah was my guest here at My Jane Austen Book Club and we discussed time travel fiction, Jane Austen fanfiction and other Austen-related topics. The occasion was the release of her debut novel, Love Without Time. (Read the post HERE).

Today I'm thrilled to celebrate with you all the release of her second novel, By Time Divided, with a lovely excerpt and a double giveaway! 

MARIA GRACE, FINE EYES AND PERT OPINIONS

Hello, Maria Grazia! It’s so good to visit with you again at My Jane Austen Book Club. I’m really excited to share with you my latest project, Fine Eyes and Pert Opinions. This has been an odd project for me—I started it, handwritten in 2014 and then set it aside when something shiny and urgent crossed my path. Recently I found the old notebooks and realized I had to finish to tale. I didn’t know how it ended and I just had to find out!

 In Fine Eyes and Pert Opinions Vicar’s daughter, Elizabeth has grown up in the shades of Pemberley, a great friend to Darcy and his sister Georgiana. A baronet’s elegant daughter distracts Darcy from his duties, leaving the Darcy family on the brink of disaster. Elizabeth holds the key to their restoration, but she has fled Pemberley, unable to tolerate another day there. Will Darcy relinquish his pride and prejudice to seek out a woman below his notice before his family is irreparably ruined?

BLOG TOUR - A CASE OF SOME DELICACY BY KC KAHLER: EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

The plot of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice hinges on timing: when characters meet, when characters travel, when characters read letters. What if one small change occurs in the timing of events early in the novel?

“About a month ago I received this letter, and about a fortnight ago I answered it; for I thought it a case of some delicacy, and requiring early attention. It is from my cousin, Mr. Collins, who, when I am dead, may turn you all out of this house as soon as he pleases.”

~Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 13

In A Case of Some Delicacy, Mr. Collins offers his olive branch to Mr. Bennet a month earlier. When the heir of Longbourn visits with the aim of marrying one of its daughters, he precedes Mr. Bingley’s coming into Hertfordshire. Mrs. Bennet is nothing but encouraging for a match between Jane and Mr. Collins. Elizabeth cannot sit by while the happiness of her most beloved sister is sacrificed for the good of the family. But interfering in the fawning parson’s courtship is a full-time job. Elizabeth receives help from an unexpected ally: Mr. Darcy.

A Case of Some Delicacy is a fun romp with the characters you already love, and a few new ones you’ll come to love. All of the Bennet sisters play roles in the altered events in Hertfordshire, some of them in surprising ways. Eavesdropping abounds, secret partnerships are formed, matchmakers and matchbreakers run rampant, and general hijinks ensue.