MEET BECCA HEMMINGS, JANE AUSTEN CENTRE ONLINE GIFTSHOP MANAGER - INTERVIEW + GREAT GIVEAWAY!

Becca Hemmings, Online Giftshop Manager for The Jane Austen Centre in Bath, is my guest today with an interesting interview and a lovely Austenesque giveaway. Read through her answers to my questions, discover more about her job and her love for Jane Austen, leave your comments and e-mail address to enter the giveaway contest. For more details about the gift and the giveaway, check at the end of this post. 

Thanks for accepting answering some questions for My Jane Austen Book Club, Becca. Welcome!

My first curiosity is … What is living and working in such a lovely place as Bath like?

Thanks for having me! Last year I moved from Bath to London, but still work on the site remotely. I loved Bath for the 7 years that I lived there, and didn’t leave with ‘such happy feelings of escape’ as Jane did. Bath was a great as you always feel like you are on holiday; even walking to work through the golden buildings was a pleasure. However, I must confress I love London with its incredible history and culture!

How do you like working at the Jane Austen Centre, instead?

The Jane Austen Centre is wonderful, the staff are like family to me and, despite being in London, I still see them often.

What kind of people visit you  and where are they from?

People visit our online shop from literally all around the world! It just shows that there are Austen fans everywhere. Our low Worldwide postage means we can send our Austen treats at a good price.

Did you already love Jane Austen before starting working there, or did it come as a result later on?

I already loved Austen, which is why I was so thrilled when I got the job at the centre! My mam introduced me to her; we watched the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice together every Sunday. I was 12 and read the book straight after the series ended.

Is Jane more part of your professional life, or is she someone like … an old friend to you?

Austen is part of both, really. I have to ensure I am always supplying Austen fans with affordable, good quality gifts - which means being quite professional. At the same time she is my favourite author.

What is it that you most admire in her?

Her wit. I would love to have come up with some of her comebacks!

What is your favourite Austen novel?

This has to be Pride and Prejudice, as it was my ‘first love’. Though Persuasion comes very close as it is so romantic, but then Emma is so funny. Ah it is hard to choose!

Most charming Austen  hero?

Most charming has to be Mr Knightley. I think he is wonderful. Everyone would love him on first aqquantience (unlike Mr Darcy I suppose!)

And what about the heroine  you most sympathize with?

Definitley Anne Elliot - it must have been awful for her to have been persuaded against marrying her true love, then never forgetting him or forgiving herself. Can you imagine how hard those first few chapters would have been for her? Dear me!

What do you most like in JA’s world? 

The clothing is beautiful, and, so long as you were a lady of good fortune, the way of life would be bliss! 

Walks, sewing, reading, balls, how nice would that be?

We know that the years she spent  in Bath were not her best , but she chose to set part of Northanger Abbey and of Persuasion there. How much of her Bath can a Janeite visitor recognize nowadays?

I would say most of it! The main building are all still there; Camden Crescent, Westgate Buildings, Putney street. You can still walk along the paths of Anne and Catherine, as well as where Austen herself. When the Jane Austen Festival is on and hundreds of people dress up in Regency attire you could be in the Regency period.

And what are the places/sites which are unmissable for a Janeite?

The Jane Austen Centre (of course), 4 Sydney Place (where she wrote of seeing the fireworks in Sydeny Gardens) and St Swithin's Church, where her lovely father, George, was buried.

What is exactly your job at the Jane Austen Centre?

I run the online giftshop, which includes keeping the site up to date, sending out newsletters, posting on Twitter and Facebook and (my favourite) sourcing Austen goods that everyone would like.

So you never meet customers visiting the centre?

When I worked at the centre as a guide I would often meet with customers. It was really nice to hear positive feedback about the work we do and find out what they would like to see for sale online. Now I souly run the online giftshop.

What Austen related gifts are the most popular?

Definitley the ‘I Love Darcy’ range, the bags being the most popular. But we have a new contender - the ‘Keep Calm and Read Jane Austen’ tea towels are this month’s best seller - and we are going to extend this range in the next few months!

Where do you mostly send gadgets and books to? What countries in the world, I mean?

No.1 is here in UK, but USA is a very close second. Australia is third. We literally sell goods to Austen fans everywhere! Our low Worldwide Postage rates means everyone can enjoy a bit of Austen. Sometimes we have free worldwide postage weekends!

Have you got a very special item to recommend these days?

I would personally recommend the ‘Keep Calm and Read Jane Austen’ Tea towel - it is such a good price and excellent quality. I have mine framed so it looks like a canvas print! It always reminds me to pick up an Austen novel before I venture out into the modern world :-)

That’s all Becca. Thank you very much for being my guest. Good luck and great success with your job.

Thanks very much, I have enjoyed answering your questions!

GIVEAWAY

Becca Hemmings has granted the readers of My Jane Austen Book Club the chance to win a ‘Keep Calm and Read Jane Austen’ Tea towel . Have a look at the lovely gift  HERE, then leave your comment and your e-mail address in order to be entered in the giveaway contest. The name of the winner will be announced on March 23rd. This giveaway is open internationally.

CYNTHIA INGRAM HENSLEY, ECHOES OF PEMBERLEY -- AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

The author: Cynthia Ingram Hensley 

I turned 40. In a nutshell, that’s the reason I began writing books. Echoes of Pemberley, my debut novel, started as nothing more than a personal challenge for that dreaded milestone. I figured writing a novel was better than jumping out of an airplane—I hate heights! After years of jotting down short stories and poetry in my free moments, I quit my career in early childhood education and started writing full-time, praying I hadn’t made a terrible mistake. Thankfully, I had a husband and children who cheered me on. Almost three years later, Meryton Press took a chance on my novel and here I am!

Born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, storytelling is in my blood. My hometown of Asheville, NC was birthplace to many famous writers such as Thomas Wolfe and John Ehle—Jennifer Ehle’s papa and one of my personal favorite storytellers. I grew up in the rich history of the early Scottish and Irish settlers. Their music and ballads passed down through the generations and played on my grandfather’s banjo.

Being published was nothing short of a dream come true for me, but nothing compared to the kind words of praise and encouragement that have followed from family, friends, and complete strangers. I’ve been truly humbled and honored by the excitement so many have shared with me on this journey.

Echoes of Pemberley has been nominated for a 2011 Independent Publisher Book Award. I am currently working on my next novel.

The guest post

First let me say, it is a privilege to be a guest on My Jane Austen Book Club. Thank you, Maria Grazia, for inviting me. I am grateful for the incredible opportunity to share Echoes of Pemberley with your readers.

I’ll admit—Pride and Prejudice made me a textbook case anglophile. When not writing or reading—my two favorite pastimes—you’ll find me standing on an upturned crate, on my tippy-toes, peering at what’s going on over the pond. I love all things English, but nothing so much as Jane Austen, her novels, and the brilliant assortment of fan fiction that has followed. I read it all!

I have always greatly admired writers who have taken up the questions of “what happened next” and “what if” and written sequels or variations of Pride and Prejudice. Try as I might, however, I couldn’t do it. And I really wanted to!  Instead, I dwelled on other questions. Such as: What if the Darcys still lived at Pemberley? Isn’t there a whole host of great country houses scattered throughout the U.K., occupied to this day by the original families? What would the modern descendants of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy be like—their personalities, peculiarities, strengths and weaknesses—can you imagine? So, I gave in, grabbed my laptop, and started writing. After all, maybe I wasn’t the only one curious?

 Echoes of Pemberley is neither a sequel to nor a variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It is a renewal of sorts, a continuation of the family Jane Austen started two centuries ago. In my novel, I wanted to offer devoted Pride and Prejudice readers a chance to meet Darcy and Elizabeth’s descendants, their modern-day counterparts. Echoes of Pemberley is just that—an echo of Pride and Prejudice.

Like Ms. Austen’s Georgiana Darcy, Catherine (Catie) Elizabeth Darcy was orphaned at a young age and left in the custody of her overly protective brother, Bennet Fitzwilliam Darcy—a man worthy of his lineage. A true romantic who has never been kissed, Catie Darcy spends her school holidays at Pemberley—the Darcy’s ancestral home in Derbyshire, England—reading romance novels that her brother calls “rubbish.”

Enter nineteen-year-old Sean Kelly, an Irishman from his flat cap to his boots, who arrives at Pemberley in his relic Land Rover to give Miss Darcy riding lessons. Sean lives at Kells Down, his family’s horse farm in Northern Ireland. One of five—what some might call rowdy—brothers, Sean is most unwilling to bow down to Pemberley’s “perceived” haughty young heiress. Oh, those wretched first impressions! Starting to sound familiar?

Echoes of Pemberley is a love story with a slight, respectful nod to Pride and Prejudice. However, it is also a heartwarming tale of siblings and family devotion. Like Fitzwilliam and Georgiana Darcy, Ben and Catie’s lives have been complicated by death and grief governs their obligation to each other. Throw in a WWI-era diary, which Catie finds in her window seat, and you have a plot full of twists and turns that is sure to entertain. If you didn’t laugh, cry, cringe, and gasp during Pride and Prejudice then I’d suggest you check your pulse then go back and read it all over again. It was my hope to make my readers react similarly to my humble addition to Ms. Austen’s original story.

It is my sincere belief that Ms. Austen would appreciate how she has inspired so many women and writers. For me, Jane Austen’s novels are like a slow Sunday afternoon on the porch swing or the homey comfort of visiting a close friend. Her characters are imperfect, passionate, endearing and wicked. Essentially—they’re real! Using the human spirit as her canvas, Jane Austen set the standard for romance.

Thanks you again, Maria Grazia, for allowing me to share Echoes of Pemberley with your lovely readers. I truly hope everyone enjoys reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Cynthia

The giveaway

There are two copies of Echoes of Pemberley for the readers of My Jane Austen Book Club who will enter this giveaway contest:

- 1 paperback copy for US readers

- 1 e-book for readers from the rest of the world

Please,  remember to say which country in the world you live in in your comment and add your e-mail address to be contacted in case you are the winner.

The contest will end on March 21,  when the name of the winners will be announced.

You can find Cynthia Ingram Hensley at www.cynthiahensley.merytonpress.com and on Twitter:  @Writer_CHensley. Also, you can follow the book’s progress on Echoes of Pemberley/Facebook and at Goodreads.com.

JANE AUSTEN IN LOVE, AN ENTERTAINMENT BY ELSA SOLENDER - GIVEAWAY WINNER

The Book Fall in love with the gentleman at Sidmouth who won Jane Austen's heart, as Elsa Solender fills in the blanks of Jane Austen's romantic “career.” In this continuation of her prize winning short story, Austen enthusiasts will find the known facts of Austen’s life meticulously brought to life in a narrative that is rich in elegant Austenian turns of phrase and references. The rest of the story— as it might have happened— is told by the only possible narrator, one who knew Jane Austen intimately enough to dare to enter her consciousness and reveal missing and hidden details with a persuasive touch of the novelist’s own wit, style and insight. Sometimes poignantly, sometimes ironically, readers meet colorful characters as they educate, inspire and amuse the creator of six of the world’s most memorable novels. Finally, in her biographical “entertainment,” Solender gives Jane Austen the gift of a true love worthy of her genius.     

The Author Past president of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Elsa Solender worked as a journalist, editor and college teacher before turning to fiction. Her writing has appeared in a wide variety of publications including The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun and Persuasions, the Journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America. She was a prize-winner in the first Chawton House Library Jane Austen Story Contest, the only American whose work was included in the anthology of top 20 stories (Dancing with Mr. Darcy).  She was a finalist in a Glimmertrain short fiction contest in 2009. As representative of an international women's organization to the United Nations in Geneva, she wrote and delivered the first-ever joint statement of all accredited women's non-governmental organizations on the right of women and girls to participate in the development of their countries. She lives and works in New York City.

THE WINNER

The winner of Jane Austen in Love  is ... Patricia!!!

Congratulations! MG

;

P&P - GOOD COMIC BOOKS WANTED

The Bennet sisters in the Marvel edition

I like the idea of popularizing classics through graphic versions. For children, young adults, teenagers and fans of the genre of any age they may be a great chance to discover old classic authors and texts.
I guess you may have already seen or read the 5  Issues in the  Pride & Prejudice Marvel Comic Books series. In fact, they are not new.
The idea of creating graphic tales based on P&P was not bad at all, either. Marvel launched  the series with a hammering campaign when the series came out but I finally I didn't read any of the issues released at that time because I wasn't so attracted by the style of the graphics. What didn't I like?

P&P - Eye Classics Edition

Look at the  Bennet sisters in the picture above: don't they remind you of  Desperate Housewives? Of female vampires in recent TV series? To be honest - and  I hope not too direct -  don't you think silicon lips are a bit anacronistic in  a Regency tale? Rather disturbing, I'd say. At least, to me. Maybe,  it is because I definitely  hate silicon lips even on nowadays real faces. So unnatural! Anyway,  if you are not disturbed by those details and like to collect any edition of P&P you can find, you may be interested ( or might have been in the past) in getting the Marvel copies for your Austenesque shelf.

What I'm here to tell you is that I've found a graphic version of Pride and Prejudice which is lovelier or which I liked much more (on the right and below).  Neither this one is new, you may have seen it already. But  I have only  discovered it recently,  so I  borrowed  and read it few days ago , thanks to a Janeite friend  who collects as many editions of the novel as she can. Let's start having a look at its cover:

This Eye Classics edition of Pride and Prejudice features Ian Edginton’s script -  an honest, reverent adaptation – and Robert Deas's design.  

What I liked is that the core story is there, nothwistanding the inevitable cuts,  and the dialogue sounds pretty and  mostly Austen. Many of the scenes recalls Pride and Prejudice 1995, the BBC series, more than Jane Austen's novel, which is something I didn't mind at all. The graphics is lovely though some of the characters may look  like one another (Darcy, Bingley, Wickham, for instance) and that may confuse a newbie.
It was an enjoyable read and  a delightful way to go back to the familiar moments we all love in Elizabeth and Darcy's story.
Do you know any other graphic version of Pride and Prejudice which could be worth reading and collecting?

IMPERATIVE BY LINDA WELLS - GIVEAWAY WINNERS

It's time to reveal the names of the winners of Linda Wells' IMPERATIVE linked to her lovely guest post,

 

            Darcy & Elizabeth: at the core of it all is passion

BRENDANZ   wins 1 complete set of the ebooks (non US reader)

KRISTA wins  1 complete set of either the ebooks or Volume 1 of the paperback  (US reader)

Many thanks to the author, Linda Wells, for being my guest at My Jane Austen Book Club and for providing  the e-books and paperback copies for the giveaway.

NEW WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE SET (DVD + JANE AUSTEN TEA) OFFERED BY BINGLEY'S TEAS

Last week I announced the name of the winner ( HERE ) of this great set ( DVD + Tea  Box) offered by Bingley's Teas but nobody claimed the prize. Believe me or not, it is the first time it happens to me! After waiting for about 10 days I decided to pick up a new name. Let's hope it comes out well this time and that the new winner is interested in getting this awesome prize.

So, I'm glad to announce the name of the new lucky winner :

Joslyn!!!

GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY - ELSA SOLENDER, WHO IS WILLIAM DARBY? IN SEARCH OF A PERFECT PARTNER

THE GUEST : ELSA SOLENDER

Past president of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Elsa Solender worked as a journalist, editor and college teacher before turning to fiction. Her writing has appeared in a wide variety of publications including The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun and Persuasions, the Journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America. She was a prize-winner in the first Chawton House Library Jane Austen Story Contest, the only American whose work was included in the anthology of top 20 stories (Dancing with Mr. Darcy).  She was a finalist in a Glimmertrain short fiction contest in 2009. As representative of an international women's organization to the United Nations in Geneva, she wrote and delivered the first-ever joint statement of all accredited women's non-governmental organizations on the right of women and girls to participate in the development of their countries. She lives and works in New York City.

THE GIVEAWAY 
Read through Elsa Solender's  brilliant guest post below and leave your comment + e-mail address to get a chance to win her new book: Jane Austen in Love: an entertainment  (e-book format for kindle reader or kindle for PC,  any Mac or tablet ). This giveaway is open internationally and ends on March 13th.

In Search of a Perfect Partner

By Elsa A. Solender

“Who is William Darby, really?” asked my friend Victoria. She had just read an early draft of the section of my novel— Jane Austen in Love: AnEntertainment— that I would later title “A Suitable Partner.”

My reply was that “William Darby danced effortlessly into my consciousness, then sprang fully formed from my laptop, like Athena from the head of Zeus.”

My friend uttered a sound somewhere between a snort and a sigh.

Also a writer, she believes that novelists base all their fictional characters on real people, whether consciously or not.

To a certain extent, I agree: I have always been skeptical of assurances from Jane Austen’s family that she never drew her characters from life.

Really?

Just think what the neighbors would say if they recognized similarities between their own eccentricities and those of, say, Mr. Elton, Mr. Collins, Miss Bates, Lady Catherine de B. or Aunt Norris?

Victoria suggested: “I think he looks rather like Steve Lawrence the director of Chawton House Library.”

“Possibly,” I said. My laptop and I have worked at CHL.

My William Darby also looks —in my own mind —something like one of my sons (I have two, both handsome, clever, prosperous and married to accomplished women with minds of their own. Reader Alert: That last statement was not a digression).

My plan in writing the novel had been to expand upon the story that had won me a prize in the Chawton House Library Short Story Competition about a single event in what the principal judge, novelist Sarah Waters, called “Jane Austen’s romantic career.” My objective as I wrote of William Darby was to create a male character worthy of Jane Austen’s love and esteem, a character that she –and my readers and I — might fall in love with.

I had to keep in mind, however, that I could not write a conventional romance in which my hero and heroine might be made to undergo some trials and tribulations before uniting and living happily ever after. Mine would be a biographical /historical novel, dramatizing the known events and individuals in Jane Austen’s life while using my fiction-writer’s privilege to fill in some of the most intriguing blanks of her life story plausibly, but without changing the inevitable outcome. My William Darby was intended as a fictional tribute of sorts to thank Jane Austen for many hours of joy that her work has given me. I also wanted to portray her as a woman ultimately content with choices that she made in her “romantic career.”

I agreed with my friend Victoria that I could not develop a credible partner for my fictional Jane Austen without drawing upon my knowledge of the men she admired during her lifetime, including her brothers. I would need to speculate, in particular, about the identity as well as the character and personality of the gentleman —probably a clergyman— who had reportedly captured her heart during a month’s holiday at the seaside.  Jane’s sister Cassandra declared that particular young man so charming that he was worthy even of the young Jane Austen – but she carefully suppressed his identity when she consigned to the fire the better part of Jane’s correspondence and no doubt her own.

Was that mysterious man a model for one or more of Austen’s fictional heroes?  I knew I needed to consider seriously the qualities she gave to the men she invented as I invented my own particular gentleman at Sidmouth.

Victoria asked me to elaborate.

“Well, I would have to rule out Edmund Bertram right away even though he was a clergyman: We simply should not suit.”

Similarly, Edward Ferrars never particularly inspired me, and while my William Darby might someday come to resemble Emma’s Mr. Knightley, he doesn’t in my novel.

I do admire Henry Tilney’s dancing and his candid admission that he is a reading man. His clever repartee is just what I like in a partner, dancing or not. He seems to have a lively and benevolent disposition.

I respect Capt. Frederick Wentworth for his enterprising spirit, his passion and his worldliness. As a self-made man, the breadth of his experience beyond the confines of his own country must surely have made him more tolerant of others from different classes and backgrounds than he would have been otherwise. [I wish I didn’t know as much as I do of what the commander of a ship felt compelled to do to impose seaworthiness and discipline on his crew. Pace, Patrick O’Brian.]

Finally, I admire so very much about Fitzwilliam Darcy, but nothing so much as his willingness to change himself in order to win his Elizabeth.

I told my friend Victoria, finally, that  “My William Darby is all of those men, and none of them, at the same time. He may even possess something of myself in his nature, as must all my characters.”

“Then who is your Jane Austen, really?” she asked.

“Oh, that is another story entirely,” I said.

To find out, I invited her to read the complete novel —available as an e-Book for the Amazon Kindle, but downloadable to be read on any computer or tablet with the free Kindle app—and to let me know what she thought. I extend the same invitation to other readers.

In advance of reading the novel, I recommend looking up the meaning of that endlessly fascinating word that we all learned  and played with as kids: antidisestablishmentarianism.

THE BOOK: JANE AUSTEN IN LOVE, AN ENTERTAINMENT

Fall in love with the gentleman at Sidmouth who won Jane Austen's heart, as Elsa Solender fills in the blanks of Jane Austen's romantic “career.” In this continuation of her prize winning short story, Austen enthusiasts will find the known facts of Austen’s life meticulously brought to life in a narrative that is rich in elegant Austenian turns of phrase and references. The rest of the story— as it might have happened— is told by the only possible narrator, one who knew Jane Austen intimately enough to dare to enter her consciousness and reveal missing and hidden details with a persuasive touch of the novelist’s own wit, style and insight. Sometimes poignantly, sometimes ironically, readers meet colorful characters as they educate, inspire and amuse the creator of six of the world’s most memorable novels. Finally, in her biographical “entertainment,” Solender gives Jane Austen the gift of a true love worthy of her genius.

Now to your comments. Good luck in the giveaway contest, everyone!


Get to know more about Elsa Solender reading this interesting interview 
with her by Deb Barnum at Jane Austen in Vermont

JANE AUSTEN IN ITALY

1. NEW LOVELY EDITION OF THE MAJOR SIX

One of the most popular Italian women's magazine, Donna Moderna, is going to feature one of Jane Austen's six major novels each week.

Starting with Persuasione -  Persuasion, of course -  on March 8th , Italian Janeites will get also a nice box to contain their new collection at the cost of 6.90 euros. Then, week after week, Orgoglio e pregiudizio (Pride and Prejudice) on March 15th, Emma on March 22nd, Ragione e Sentimento (Sense and Sensibility) on March 29th, Mansfield Park on April 5th e L'abbazia di Northanger (Northanger Abbey) on April 12th. This is the new look for our beloved classics.

2. REGENCY DANCE WORKSHOP

Riccione - March 16th-18th - "When Emma met Darcy"

Regency Dance Workshop

+ Final Ball 

The event is organized by "Il Club Sofa and Carpet di Jane Austen"

3. MANGA VERSION OF EMMA

In February Goen released EMMA
by  Yoko Hanabusa, Jane Austen

ISBN 978-88-97349-89-1
13×18, B, 208 pp, w/b
€ 5,95
Target : Adult readers
Genre: novel
Type: Josei

Drawn by Yoko Hanabusa ( the artist of  Lady!! – Milly),  a modern graphic version of Jane Austen masterpiece for Italian readers, first of a series dedicated to the great English writer. 

THE FOOL'S JOURNEY BY MARY CHASE - GIVEAWAY WINNERS

This book giveaway was linked to Mary Chase's guest post + interview 


The Fool's Journey  is a mystery novel available both as a paperback and e-book.

Signs and symbols surround us. No one knows that better than poet, Deirdre Kildeer. She's hidden for most of her life, and now the signs are her again: Run! 

Danger is everywhere, but this time she has reasons to stay and fight, something she's never considered before. With the help of handsome detective Manny Ruiz and his psychic Aunt Rosa, will Deirdre at lat prevail? Or will she continue to tread the long haunted trail of the Fool's Journey? Signs and symbols surround us. No one knows that better than poet, Deirdre Kildeer. She's hidden for most of her life, and now the signs are her again: Run! 

Danger is everywhere, but this time she has reasons to stay and fight, something she's never considered before. With the help of handsome detective Manny Ruiz and his psychic Aunt Rosa, will Deirdre at lat prevail? Or will she continue to tread the long haunted trail of the Fool's Journey? (Read an excerpt from the book here and watch the book trailer here)

Here are the names of the winners who can choose between the paperback version or the e-book:

Krista

Cyn209

Congratulations to the winner and many thanks to Mary Chase for being my guest here at My Jane Austen Book Club!

Read about Mary Chase and her work at her Mystery Website: http://marychasecomstock.com/ and  her Educational Consulting Website: http://renegadeducation.com/ . You'll find Mary's Regency Romances here

LINDA WELLS - DARCY AND ELIZABETH ... AT THE CORE OF IT ALL IS PASSION - GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

Linda Wells worked for years in the environmental engineering world until she traded her career as a geographer and technical editor for one as a mom to a challenging and really great son.  After seeing the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice, she bought a copy of Jane Austen’s novel and found JAFF.  Eventually, a story of her own started nagging at her until she finally wrote it down.  It has become a wonderful experience to stretch her imagination, but the true reward has been the friends she has made along the way.

  

While she has no blog, she is always happy to hear from people on her author page at amazon.com/author/lindawells She is also on Facebook, or welcomes emails to lindawellsbooknut@gmail.com

Darcy & Elizabeth ... at the core of it all is passion 

I was thinking about Jane Austen, the author.  While it is wonderful knowing the details of her life, where she grew up, her family, her experiences; it is Jane Austen’s imagination that I treasure.  She did not marry her Mr. Darcy.  She did not become the mistress of a grand estate, or have a lost love return to sweep her off her feet, but what she wrote about, and imagined, was passion.  It might have been expressed, or perhaps suppressed is a better word, gently, like Jane Bennet’s feelings for Charles Bingley.  Or it could be furiously spoken as in the wordplay of Elizabeth and Darcy.  But in the end, it proves that an author need not experience a situation firsthand to give it life in her writing. 

When I fell into writing JAFF, I was no expert in the life and times of the early nineteenth century, although I have learned a great deal since I began, but I was deeply attracted to the timeless and universal characters Jane Austen created.  And for me, it is Darcy and Elizabeth who drive my imagination.  Jane Austen gifted me with the desire to find the layers beneath these characters.  No matter how I look at it, how I chose to begin a story, how I change the circumstances and have them meet, at the core of it all is passion. 

I love the idea of Darcy being an impossibly handsome and noble man striding into Elizabeth’s limited world and opening her eyes to what life could be.  And him, used to spending his time standing stiffly in corners making the proper polite conversation, where laughing is frowned upon and order is expected, coming face to face with this sparkling, challenging woman who is not the ideal beauty, but for him glows and turns his world upside down.  That is the heart of the stories I like to tell.  I completely believe in their love being at first sight, even if they don’t realize it.  I love the struggle of them both wanting each other despite their differences.  It is all passion. 

Another word that applies here is trust.  For a man such as Fitzwilliam Darcy to allow himself to love and be loved, and even more to marry Elizabeth Bennet is an exceptional show of trust on his part.  He had to believe that this woman who had absolutely nothing to offer but herself was the only choice for his wife and the future of his estate.  And for Elizabeth, upon opening her heart to this man who was tearing her from everything she knew, and bringing her into a society she could hardly imagine, had to trust him to care for her with the love and respect she both needed and deserved as she learned her role in his world. 

Linda Wells 

The book 

Trust and passion are the driving forces in Imperative.  All of the characters experience it on one level or another through their various trials and dramas.  But it is Darcy and Elizabeth, and their love, that is at the center, and through them everything revolves. 

In Volume 1 of this variation, Fitzwilliam Darcy is a man with a great many secrets to keep, one involves his sister, and the other involves his heart.  The problem is, he cannot just keep the secrets.  They demand attention, and action, and in hopeless times, a good man does not always think things through, even when he is desperately trying to do the right thing for the two most important women in his life.  

In Volume 2, Fitzwilliam Darcy has survived threats to his mind and body, exposure of his deepest secrets, and endless challenges from his family. He could never have come so far without Elizabeth Bennet by his side. She has accepted and excelled in the position she has taken, and is the reason why he is so clearly the Master of Pemberley. Now he must finish the task he began the day they took their vows. He must safeguard his sister while protecting his estate, his family, and their future. Hope is their byword, love is the key.

This story contains scenes of a mature nature between a happily married couple.  The entire story is 1500 pages.

Giveaway

1 complete set of the ebooks to a non US reader.

1 complete set of either the ebooks or Volume 1 of the paperback to a US reader.


The name of the winners will be announced on March 9th. Leave your comment + e-mail address + country of residence to enter the giveaway contest.

The ebooks are available at Amazon (worldwide sites) and Barnes and Noble, $9.99

The paper books are available only at Amazon.com, Volume 1: $24.00, Volume 2: $22.25

Volume 1

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007AKDC0S
http://www.barnesand...n=2940013954328

Volume 2

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007AKDCHQ
http://www.barnesand...n=2940013954335

COMPULSIVELY MR DARCY BY NINA BENNETON - GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Nina Benneton,  on her blog tour to launch her brilliant modernization of Mr Darcy's story, stopped here at My Jane Austen Book Club for an interesting chat about our beloved hero and about the English language, which for us both is not our first, not our mother tongue. It was interesting, wasn't it? (Check it out HERE, if you've missed it).

Among the readers who commented to enter the giveaway contest, two winners for this brand new Austenesque novel: Compulsively Mr Darcy .

My congratulations to

1. Heather M.

2. Margaret

Enjoy your new read and thanks for taking part!

Many thanks to Nina Benneton for being such  a generous kind guest!

   Website/blog:  www.NinaBenneton.com

Find Nina on Facebook  

Find her on Twitter: @NinaBenneton

or on her groupblog: www.AustenAuthors.com