Monica Fairview's Blog, page 52

Sneak Peak: Allow Me to Tell You

At long last, I am at the final stages of my non-magical  WIP,  Allow Me to Tell You: A Regency Pride and Prejudice Variation.

Writing this novel has been a strange and convoluted process. Originally, it was supposed to be a very short comic novella, part of a series of novellas that started with Longbourn Entanglement. I meant to publish it in November. Unfortunately, it took on a life of its own and got longer and longer, becoming less comic as it went along. Then it began to veer in a complet...

Young Bennets by Diana Birchall

It had been a quiet three weeks at Longbourn, to Mr. Bennet’s satisfaction. His wife and daughters were having all the enjoyment of a visit to her brother Gardiner’s house in London, and since their leaving the countryside in a wild and noisy burst of excitement, Mr. Bennet had not been sorry to be left in peace and quiet. He had his library to himself; the cook prepared his simple meals with little fanfare and fuss; and as his womenfolk were traveling post with the family carriage, the horses ...

When They Were Young: The Truth About Family Deleted Scenes

Happy Friday, everyone!

In honour of this month’s theme, ‘When They Were Young’, I am sharing some deleted scenes from my latest novel, The Truth About Family. It can be very difficult deciding what to leave in or discard when editing, but ultimately, I focused the story on Elizabeth, Darcy, and their friends and relations when they were adults, with a few mentions or flashbacks of their childhoods. I have scenes from two different time periods. The first is from when Elizabeth was five and Darc...

When We Were Young – Eliza and Col. Brandon

Although I don’t think anybody’s used it yet, the optional theme for this month is “When We Were Young.” So today I have an excerpt of a young Eliza and Colonel Brandon, taken from Colonel Brandon in His Own Words. In Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen gives us just a teaser about their relationship, so that’s one of many blanks in Brandon’s life that I had fun filling in for this book!

Before I get to your excerpt, though, I thought I’d share something from when I was young.  And yes,...

Choose Your Own Adventure

Happy Monday, dear Janeites!

I was contemplating upcoming decisions in my life and what I believe would be to the chagrin of my younger self, things have NOT gotten easier since becoming an adult. Luckily, I have our dear Jane to help me escape.

I believe we all need a little escape, and often want to play the hero or heroine in our own stories. But how to do this?  Where to begin?  Pull up a chair, pour yourself a cuppa, and let me help you ‘Choose Your Own Adventure.’

Similar to previous char...

When Darcy Met Bingley…

When We Were Young?

Twenty-six years ago today, when I was a sophomore in college, I went on a date. It was…meh. Not a disaster; I mean, we had ice cream, and we laughed a little, so that’s good, right?

But it wasn’t a miracle, you know? This was definitely not love at first date. There were awkward pauses in the conversation, I kept worrying about the spot on my chin, and I chose an ice cream flavor I really didn’t like. (I was trying to be adventurous by choosing something new instead of going...

New Release!

I have a new book out! A Curative Touch is available in Kindle and Kindle Unlimited, paperback coming soon. It’s a short novel of about 210 pages. This is my first book told completely in first person, and it was super fun to write.

It starts with Elizabeth’s point of view, but once the Netherfield party arrives, it alternates between her and Darcy. Telling everything from inside his head was hilarious. He’s quite wry, that one.

In this book, Elizabeth is born with a special ability. She does no...

Interview with Jack Caldwell

Hello everyone!

I’m here today with the second in our author interview series, the first being when Christina and I sat down for a chat via Google Docs (it worked for us!). More recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down via Zoom with Jack Caldwell.

 

Jack published his twelfth book Brother of the Bride in December. It is the final book in the five-book Jane Austen’s Fighting Men series (although this is considered the fourth book of the series), and it is receiving rave reviews. As you can se...

Snowbound Reselase Day – Giveaway Winners and New Excerpt

 

Good morning, and thank you all ever so much for your amazing support and encouragement over the last couple of weeks! Your wonderful comments kept me going!

So, my latest Pride & Prejudice variation is out at last. The Kindle version of Snowbound is already live on Amazon. The paperback version has also been published, and is currently in review.

And now let’s have a drumroll for the winners of the paperbacks giveaway:

The winners are:

Deborah,  Marie H,  Debby Sangiovanni, and  Kate B

Congratu...

Written in herown hand–Pennamanship in Austen’s Day

Today, when pennmanship is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and we type notes into our phones rather than write them by hand, we give little thought to handwriting, much less the different ways in which letters might be formed. That was not the case during the days of writing with quill and ink.

The Polite Lady advised her daughter,

Let me , therefore , advise you , my dear Sophy, to be remarkably careful and diligent in learning the art of writing. Follow the directions of your ...