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).
Those are just a few of the connections I've made as
I've written the series. Some are rather obvious, but I also snuck in a few in
that only hard-core fans would pick up (like the Smiths). Either way, I hope
you'll enjoy seeing characters from other stories popping in and out as their
lives intertwine, each helping or hindering depending on their respective
personalities.
About the book
Facing ruin, Elinor prepares to fight against the selfish, cruel man who would ensure that ruin. However, Edward turns out to be the opposite, a kind soul who only wants to fulfill his duty. So Elinor hatches a new plan: get Edward on her side and utilize their own legal technicality. The only problem? Edward would have to go against his very influential and wealthy family.
Would he risk losing everything–his job, his family, and his massive inheritance–to save Elinor?
About the author
Keena Richins has a curse: she must write the stories bubbling in her head or go mad. Seriously. You should see the hordes of characters in her head constantly babbling about their lives. When she needs a break, Keena will delve into books and her favorite are the Jane Austen books, so it is only fitting for her first debut to be a modern twist on one of those classics. And many more are soon to come.
WIN ONE OF THREE DIGITAL COPIES!
4 comments:
This book sounds so interesting – I like the twist on the title!
I love the idea of two of my favorite characters (Brandon and Wentworth) being friends....it allows for them to talk to each other while we get a peek at their thoughts that was not available in Austen's books. Looking forward to this series!
Thanks for hosting Keena today. What a lovely idea on how to connect Austen's stories.
This was lovely, thanks for writing this
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