TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... KAREN M. COX & GIVEAWAY OF FIND WONDER IN ALL THINGS

My guest today is Karen M. Cox, author of Austen-inspired books like 1932 and Find Wonder in All Things. Read my interview with her, leave your comments/questions + e-mail address and get a chance to win 1 signed paperback copy of her latest novel, inspired to Austen's Persuasion, Find Wonder in All Things. This giveaway contest is open internationally and ends on October 10th. Enjoy our chat and join us!

How did it come that you  started writing Austen – inspired novels?

Off and on during my life, since I was about nine years old anyway, I have written stories for my own enjoyment or as an outlet—to relieve anger, to soothe grief, to release pent-up creative energy.   But I never shared my writing because I was afraid; I was shy about it.  I found Jane Austen Fan Fiction in 2006, and devoured everything I could find until the spring of 2009, when I had a conversation with my son, who was then fifteen.  We discovered that we both read fanfiction, but in different genres.   As a mother, it’s hard to find something in common with your fifteen year-old son, so I kept talking with him about the stories we read, and the fandoms we were part of, and one day, he bowled me over by telling me that he also wrote stories...and posted them.  I asked him if he ever got flamed, and he said he had a couple of times.  When I asked him how he handled that, he just kind of shrugged and said, ‘I thanked the guy for his input and told him he could leave out the profanity next time.’  Well, all the Jane Austen fans seemed a lot nicer than THAT guy, so I decided to try my hand at posting a story too.  I could be as brave as my kid, right? 

So I posted a modern P&P story at A Happy Assembly called ‘D-Day: D Stands For...’  I had so much fun, I wrote another story, and another, and some short pieces, and then I wrote and posted 1932.  Meryton Press expressed an interest in publishing  it in the summer of 2010, and it was released in print and ebook formats later that year.  1932 won a Bronze medal in Romance at the 2011 Independent Book Publishers Book Awards (IPPYs), and that gave me the courage to try something else I’d always wanted to do, a modern variation of Persuasion.  That book, Find Wonder in All Things, was released in February of this year, and I was thrilled when Michele Reed at Meryton Press submitted it for the 2012 IPPYs, and floored when it won the Gold medal in the Romance category.  So, it’s been a whirlwind couple of years, full of  lots of hard work , but I loved learning about book editing and publishing.  It’s an opportunity and a privlege I never expected to have.

FROM MY AUSTENESQUE SHELF - GIVEAWAY WINNER

The winner in this giveaway contest is Valerie who chose HIS GOOD OPINION by Nancy Kelley.

Congratulations !!!

JANE AUSTEN AND CHARLOTTE BRONTE - PARALLEL LIVES

Picture from Austenprose

Jane Austen, famous for her books Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility (to name a few), and fellow English writer, Charlotte Bronte, known for having penned the classics Jane Eyre, Villette among others, belong to the elite of great female writers of all time.  However, they have more than just that in common. 

A Century Apart

Jane Austen was born in the Georgian era,on 16 December, 1775, while Charlotte Bronte was a Victorian, born eighty years later, on 21 April, 1855.  While they lived a century apart, both were born at a time when women had few rights. If they were not married, they depended on their fathers or brothers to support them financially.  They lived in an age in which middle class women were only accepted to work as companions or as governesses.  Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte both defied their time – they wrote, got published and later on were recognized for their genius.

MARY LYDON SIMONSEN, DARCY GOES TO WAR - AUTHOR GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

Thank you, Maria Grazia, for inviting me to post on your blog. It is always a pleasure.

My latest release, Darcy Goes to War, has been out for about two weeks, and there are two questions that keep popping up: why World War II as a setting and do Darcy and Elizabeth fit into that time period?

Let’s start with Darcy and Elizabeth. One of the reasons we love these characters so much is because they have traits that are admirable. For Elizabeth, because of a lack of planning on her father’s part, she will inherit a paltry annuity. There is also an entail on the Bennet estate. This is a very serious situation. At the time of their father’s death, it is possible that the Bennet daughters and their mother will be asked to leave Longbourn, and it will not be Mr. Collins’s problem to find them a place to live. Despite her predicament, Elizabeth refuses Mr. Darcy’s first offer of marriage. At this point in the novel, Mr. Darcy, although rich and of a superior rank and someone who would solve most of her problems, is not worthy of Elizabeth’s love. Saying “no” to Mr. Darcy took guts.

And what of Mr. Darcy? Our first encounter with the gentleman at the Meryton assembly exposes a man who exhibits a “selfish disdain for the feelings of others.” There is only marginal improvement in his behavior at Rosings, but he blows that all to heck with his obnoxious marriage proposal. It is only when we see Mr. Darcy through the eyes of others: a good friend, a devoted sister, a loyal servant, do we catch a glimpse of the goodness of the gentleman from Derbyshire. But in my mind, it is Darcy’s response to Lydia’s situation that reveals the most about our hero. He didn’t have to intervene. It must have been painful for him to interact with George Wickham, a man who tried to elope with his fifteen-year-old sister. Despite the unpleasantness of dealing with the morally bankrupt Wickham, Darcy rescues Lydia. Why? He does it primarily because he loves Elizabeth, but he also does it because it is the right thing to do.

AUTHOR GUEST POST- SANDY HAYDEN, FINDING MR DARCY

Why would a modern woman want to find a man who, at first glance, appears to be both arrogant and aloof, not to mention condescending?  Only after knowing him for more than a year did Elizabeth Bennet discover the “real” Mister Darcy under the cold and intimidating mask he showed to society. Dear Reader, if you finished the book, you know that Mister Darcy’s true nature made him the good husband material that Mrs. Bennet hoped to find for all of her daughters. In short, he “had much to recommend him”.  (If you didn’t finish “Pride and Prejudice”, you will find a short summary of it at the end “Finding Mister Darcy”.

Jane Austen’s works are almost two hundred years old.  Although the clothing and language are changed, her advice still rings true.  And her works are still serving as the basis for countless new novels and movies.  It seems human nature and the workings of society remain the same no matter how much their appearance differs. 

PICTURES FROM BATH - GUEST BLOGGER MONICA CARDINALE

My friend Monica Cardinale, Italian but living in Amsterdam, was lucky enough to be in Bath for the Festival. She accepted to share her shots with all of us here at My Jane Austen Book Club. Thanks a lot, Monica! 

Hello everyone! I visited Bath for the first time last weekend and was so lucky to be able to experience the Jane Austen Festival atmosphere in town: the people gathering in Queen Square before the start of the Regency Costume Promenade, the activities at the Guildhall (where the Festival Fayre was held) and Regency "appearances" throughout the town.

Here are some pictures that hopefully will give you a feel of this very special event.

People gathering at Queen Square

SEARCHING FOR CAPTAIN WENTWORTH BY JANE ODIWE - GIVEAWAY WINNER

Thanks a lot everyone for the great interest shown in this lovely book and to Jane Odiwe for being again an exquisite guest here at My Jane Austen Book Club! Ready to discover the name of the winner I picked up via random.org? 

Congratulations to 

Michelle F.  !!!

Read my interview with Jane Odiwe

WINNERS OF CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT

Thanks to Sylvia Chan for writing the lovely guest post linked to this giveaway contest and for granting you these 2 paperback copies of Laurie Viera Rigler's first Austen-inspired novel: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. Don't forget to visit Sylvia's cute, informative blog, My Love for Jane Austen.

Here are the names of the two lucky winners picked up through random.org

Congratulations to 

Patricia & Julienne!!!

Stanford Researchers: Reading Jane Austen “A Truly Valuable Exercise of People's Brains”

If you haven't read about it yet , click the link below and go! They've discovered Jane Austen is very good for our brain... Who doubted that? None of us Janeites, of course. Only now there's scientific evidence!

Stanford Researchers: Reading Jane Austen “A Truly Valuable Exercise of People's Brains" 

A LETTER FROM MR WICKHAM

Greetings and salutations, gentle readers.

I have been invited by the lovely and charming Miss Grazia to share a few words with you, her ardent followers, and I must confess I find myself honored and perhaps even a bit humbled by the task.

Certainly it’s a bit different from when I was penning my memoirs, as I had good reason to suspect that due to the scandalous material to be found within those pages, they should not see the light of day for many a long year.

In this case, I am obliged to suspect that hundreds of lovely eyes shall be scanning this page in short order, so I shall endeavour not to disappoint.

But whatever shall I write about?

Having been given no particular task by our delightful hostess, I shall venture, perhaps, to write about the role of the scoundrel in polite society.

“Come, come, Mister Impudence,” I can hear all of the Mrs Jennings in the audience begin to chide us (oh, yes, my friend Willoughby did acquaint me with the activities of that meddlesome old harridan, and I’ve known many more of her sort in my day) “polite society has no place for rakes, rogues, and ramblers!”

Au contraire, Mrs Jennings!

FROM MY AUSTENESQUE SHELF - QUICK REVIEWS & GIVEAWAY

2012 was a feast for any fan of Austen-inspired fiction and non-fiction. Lots of new books were released and I've been able to read and enjoy many of them as well as  to interview or feature their talented authors here at My Jane Austen Book Club. My bookshelf  labelled Austenesque is crammed with review copies and lovely paperbacks. Would you like to get one? I'm ready to give away one book at your choice among the ones below. Read my quick reviews and choose the book you like best among Austentatious by Alyssa Goodnight, His Good Opinion by Nancy Kelley and All Roads Lead To Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith. Then leave your comment adding your e-mail address. Spread the word through twitter or facebook, your blog or site! This contest is open worldwide and ends at the end of the month, September 30th.

HIS GOOD OPINION BY NANCY KELLEY

Though tired of Society's manipulations, Darcy never thought to be enchanted by a country maiden. However, on a visit to rural Hertfordshire, Elizabeth Bennet captivates him. Lovely and vivacious, she is everything he is not and everything he longs to have. Unfortunately, her connections put her decidedly beneath him, and the improprieties he observes in her family do not win his favour. Putting her firmly out of his mind, Darcy returns to London, but Elizabeth is not so easily forgotten.

SEARCHING FOR CAPTAIN WENTWORTH BLOG TOUR - INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR JANE ODIWE + GIVEAWAY

After reading Searching for Captain Wentworth, her Persuasion based just released novel I had some questions for Jane Odiwe. She gladly accepted to answer and even granted you readers of My Jane Austen Book Club a signed paperback copy of the book. Leave your comment + your e-mail address, where we can contact you in order to be entered in the giveaway contest. It's open internationally and ends on 21st September.

Hello Jane and welcome back to My Jane Austen Book Club. I’ve just finished reading your new Searching For Captain Wentworth and I’ve got some questions for you.  First of all, congratulations on another delightful Austen-inspired novel.  I loved reading it. Then, to my first question: are you still searching for your Captain Wentworth?

No, I’m very lucky - I met my Captain Wentworth when I was 17 - there were a few obstacles in our way at first, but we overcame them and have been happily married for many years!

If you had to choose between Captain Wentworth and Mr Darcy?

Captain Wentworth every time! What’s not to love? He’s a man in uniform, a self-made man and writes an amazing love letter! Mr Darcy can be a bit of a stuffed shirt, though I love the way he realises his mistakes.

LOVELY JANEITES - SYLVIA CHAN, HOW JANE AUSTEN GOT ME HOOKED ON READING ... AND OTHER THINGS + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!

Greetings, Janeites. I would like to thank Maria Grazia for graciously inviting me to guest post on her wonderful Jane Austen dedicated blog.

After perusing many Austen-inspired tales in addition to her two novels that I have read (Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion), I find myself asking in what ways Jane Austen has influenced my life. I’m sure our dear Jane has touched your life one way or another so I’m going to share one of the things that inspire me the most — reading.

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH … THE CAST OF AUSTENTATIOUS: AN IMPROVISED NOVEL

Undoubtedly one of the most talked about shows on the improvised comedy circuit, Austentatious:  An Improvised Novel is an hour long comedy play spun in the inimitable style of Jane Austen and based entirely on audience suggestions. Never has Austen been more hilarious!  A seasoned cast including: Cariad Lloyd (Fosters Best Newcomer Nominee 2011), Rachel Parris (Hackney Empire Finallist 2011), Amy Cooke-Hodgson (Olivier winning La Boheme), Joseph Morpurgo (Oxford Imps), Graham Dickson (UCB) &  Andy Murray (Private Eye) present an eloquent, irreverent, 100% improvised take on the works of our beloved author.  Performed in period costume with live accompaniment, Austentatious is an immersive and hilarious treat for fans of Austen and improvised comedy alike.  Austentatious perform regularly at The Wheatsheaf, Rathbone Place (London)  but have  recently performed at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012. 

I contacted Cariad Lloyd who kindly accepted to coordinate an interview with the rest of the  cast via e-mail. This is the result of our exchange. It's time to meet the brilliant Austentatious and enjoy our chit chat about Jane Austen and their own work.  

MY JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB NEW GRAPHICS

Isn't she lovely? The pretty Jane in my header?  I'm so proud of my new avatar and of my new header! Of course,  she's Jane Austen just  as I imagine her,  between past and present. A cup of tea in her hand and  a laptop instead of paper and a quill, books on the table, always nearby. What do you think? Wouldn't she have been a terrific blogger if she had lived nowadays? I bet, a very successful one! 

That's lovely Jane, certainly. However,  I like to think that's also me, always moving between my books and my computer , between the past and the present, with a  cup or a mug at hand. Maybe not wearing a long, elegant, Regency dress actually,  but virtually. 

The new graphics for my Jane Austen Book Club have been designed by talented Cecilia Latella and I'm so gratefully she perfectly caught what I wanted and made my wishes beautiful, colourful images.  Thank you so much, Cecilia!

To discover more about Cecilia and her work I suggest a visit to her personal blog cecilialart.blogspot.com.

If you wanted to add the vertical banner here on the left to your blog sidebar, I'd be really grateful and honored, especially if you linked it to My Jane Austen Book Club (http://thesecretunderstandingofthehearts.blogspot.it/). Leave a comment with a link to your own blog, if you decide to do it, I'll be glad to visit and say THANK YOU!

TALKING JANE AUSTEN WITH ... SARAH SELTZER, WRITER AND JOURNALIST

After reading this article of hers, Jane Austen Does Not Adhere To Your Ideology, I contacted Sarah Seltzer, writer. I had to “Talk Jane Austen with ...” her!

 

Welcome at My Jane Austen Book Club, Sarah. It’s a great pleasure to have you here. Thanks for accepting to talk Jane Austen with me! This is my first question for you: You defined yourself a self-avowed Janeite. Could you tell us something more about your fondness for Austen’s work? 

 

I first read Pride and Prejudice at age 11 or 12, and within the next three or four years, I had read “all six of them”--all of Austen’s completed novels and then the unfinished ones. I still re-read her works periodically and have yet to find another author who combines her sharp observations, her emotional accessibility, her perfect prose and her humor (that last one is the secret ingredient that makes Jane the best).

 

WOMEN, POPULAR CULTURE, AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY - BOOK REVIEW

The book

(description of the book from Amazon.com) In contemporary pop culture, the pursuits regarded as the most frivolous are typically understood to be more feminine in nature than masculine. This collection illustrates how ideas of the popular and the feminine were assumed to be equally naturally intertwined in the eighteenth century, and the ways in which that association facilitates the ongoing trivialization of both.

Top scholars in eighteenth-century studies examine the significance of the parallel devaluations of women's culture and popular culture by looking at theatres and actresses; novels, magazines, and cookbooks; and

MY TWO FAVOURITE GIRLS, EMMA AND CHER BY GUEST BLOGGER MELISSA MILLER

Romola Garai as Emma (BBC 2009)

Unknowingly, I was familiar with Jane Austen before I had ever picked up one of her novels. As a child of the 90s, I was captivated with the film Clueless. The film offered a glimpse into a glamorous world of designer clothes, wealth and romance. Although it was wildly out of my everyday reality, I viewed Cher Horowitz's Beverly Hills world as the quintessential representation of popularity in teenage America.

It wasn't until years later, when I was studying English literature in college, that I discovered the movie had been written as an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. After re-watching the movie and reading the novel, I was pleasantly surprised at how well each of the works captured the snobbery, frivolity and generosity that is transferred between social classes.

Cher Horowitz and Emma Woodhouse are both arrogant, spoiled daughters of over-indulgent fathers. Though their time periods are separated by more than a century, there remain distinct similarities among the demands and expectations of their elitist societies. While Emma lives in the well-bred haven of nineteenth century England, Cher's Beverly Hill high school is ruled by a similar combination of money and charm. In both instances, snobbery is rampant.

SEARCHING FOR CAPTAIN WENTWORTH BY JANE ODIWE - BOOK REVIEW

Synopsis: When aspiring writer, Sophie Elliot, receives the keys to the family townhouse in Bath, it’s an invitation she can’t turn down, especially when she learns that she will be living next door to the house that Jane Austen lived in. But, Sophie’s neglected ancestral home is harbouring more than the antiquated furniture and nesting mice, though initially Sophie tries to dismiss the haunting visions of a young girl. On discovering that an ancient glove belonging to her mysterious neighbour, Josh Strafford, will transport her back in time to Regency Bath, she questions her sanity, but Sophie is soon caught up in two dimensions, each reality as certain as the other. Torn between her life in the modern world, and that of her ancestor who befriends Jane Austen and her fascinating brother Charles, Sophie’s story travels two hundred years across time, and back again, to unite this modern heroine with her own Captain Wentworth. Blending fact and fiction together the tale of Jane Austen’s own quest for happiness weaves alongside, creating a believable world of new possibilities for the inspiration behind the beloved novel, Persuasion (from the author’s site)

Searching for Captain Wentworth is different from Jane Odiwe’s previous Austen-inspired novels, Willoughby’s Return and Mr Darcy’sSecret. Not only  because it deals mainly with characters and events connected with Austen’s last novel, Persuasion - while the others continued the stories of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice  respectively - but especially because the author adds a spicy ingredient to her narrative to avoid writing the usual sequel.  She adds time travelling and creates two parallel narrative levels between which the protagonist, Sophie Elliot, unexpectedly and inexplicably  moves. She   gets  involved in a series of different adventures and is torn between two men. Is it possible to fall in love with two differently  handsome,  kind, extraordinary  gentlemen , one living in Jane Austen’s time and one in the modern world? Make your acquaintance with Charles and Josh in Jane Odiwe’s new book and you will find yourself sympathizing  with the heroine.

WENDI SOTIS - DREAMS AND EXPECTATIONS: GIVEAWAY WINNERS.

Welcome back to all the readers who commented Wendi Sotis's interview and entered the giveaway of her Dreams and Expectations.  Here are the names of the lucky ones!

1. suzan has won the paperback

&

2. kaewink gets the eBook  

Congratulations to both winners and many thanks to Wendi Sotis for being our guest!