HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN! SALLY SMITH O'ROURKE, WRITER

My mother was somewhat disappointed that I wasn’t a reader. I was a true tom boy, hanging by my knees from the swing set, climbing trees, playing ball, riding bikes. Sitting around reading seemed such a waste of time. In an attempt to change that mom gave me ‘Forever Amber’ by Kathleen Winsor. She thought I might like it because I enjoyed history. Set in Restoration England the book covered politics and fashion as well as the black plague and the Great London Fire.

I enjoyed Forever Amber but it didn’t really spark my interest in reading more. My mother’s next attempt came on my fifteenth birthday when she gave me a beautifully bound copy of ‘Pride and Prejudice’

One by one mom gave me each of Jane Austen’s novels. If I didn’t read anything else she wanted me to read the classics, particularly Austen. My teachers had opted for Dickens and Hugo but their dark story telling was not to my mother’s liking she preferred Austen’s quirky, playful take on the Regency middle class and aristocracy. That hooked me; Jane Austen was the reason I started to enjoy reading.

One of the last gifts I got from my mother was a set of special edition Jane Austen novels. I’m fairly certain had it not been for my mother, Jane Austen and my late husband, Michael I never would have become a writer. I like to think that my mother is proud, Michael is pleased and Jane is smiling at my attempts on the literary stage.

Sally 

About the Author

“Which of all my important nothings shall I tell you first?” (J.A. June 15, 1808)

I reside in a small Victorian village in southern California; a mere two miles from my place of employment, a local hospital where I spend most daylight hours as a scrub nurse in the operating room.

That I have very domestic hobbies.

That Mike, my late husband, teacher and mentor, taught me to treat writing like a job; so every day no matter how tired I am I write.

And so you have a few of my nothings.

Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen eEdition is on sale for .99 until the end of the year.

 Kindle - http://amzn.to/GJ1Hfg

Nook - http://bit.ly/1fVaVFM

Audible - http://bit.ly/199IDjf

The Man Who Loved Jane Austen

Kindle - http://amzn.to/16OmgUt

Nook - http://bit.ly/15Wp23J

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You can find Sally Smith O'Rourke at  

 http://austenticity.com (the everything Austen site)

http://sallysmithorourke.com (blog)

http://www.facebook.com/sally.s.orourke

https://twitter.com/Chawton1810  (@Chawton1810)

http://www.pinterest.com/orourke1590/boards/ (Pinterest)

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sally-orourke/3a/725/43 (LinkedIn)

Book Trailer

Sally Smith O'Rourke is giving away eEditions of both her Austen-inspired novels. Check them out in the rafflecopter form below a Rafflecopter giveaway