Hello dear Austenite friends! I'm really glad and honored to give the start to this great blog tour.
Award winning historical romance author Julie Klassen tours the blogosphere February 16 through March 2 to share her latest release, The Secret of Pembrooke Park. Twenty five popular book bloggers specializing in historical and Austenesque fiction will feature guest blogs, interviews, book reviews and excerpts of this acclaimed gothic Regency romance novel. A fabulous giveaway contest, including copies of all of Ms. Klassen’s eight books and other Jane Austen-themed items, is open to those who join the festivities.
Inspiration for The Secret of Pembrooke Park,
Guest post by Julie Klassen
People often ask me where I find the ideas
for my books. And the answer varies. Most ideas have come from
research—historical practices, professions, or events that spark the idea for a
situation or premise. Some ideas have been inspired by movies I’ve seen, or
books I’ve loved, especially those by Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte. Others
have come from historic places I’ve visited in England—if only I could travel
there more often!
My latest book, The Secret of Pembrooke Park, is about a young woman who moves with
her family into a mysterious manor abandoned for eighteen years. With help from
a handsome neighbor, she searches the house, hoping to find its secret room and
rumored hidden treasure—but finds danger instead. The idea for this setting came from closer to home.
I grew up in rural Central Illinois. We
could only see one house from ours, and that was across a field. (I spent a lot
of time playing alone as a girl, which likely helped develop my imagination.) About
a half mile behind our house was a wood. I liked to walk there, all the while
making up stories in my head. In these woods, I stumbled upon an abandoned
house. The roof and most of the upper story was gone, but three walls still
stood. Through the gaped opening, you could see the entire ground floor, still
furnished. A moldering piano listed in one corner, a tattered blue dress hung
on the wall, a set of stairs lead upwards to nowhere… Behind the house I
discovered a root cellar—a hollowed out mound of earth with stairs leading down
into it. Inside there were still shelves filled with mason jars of home-canned
peaches and vegetables.
