Monica Fairview's Blog, page 63
June 22, 2022
Flights of Fancy in Jane Austen by Diana Birchall
New York flowers on the Upper West Side
“Flights of Fancy” is our theme this month, so let us take a flight into seeing how Jane Austen used the concept of fancy in her novels. The meaning of the word itself is not so much changed since her day as many words are; we might still say that we fancy something (or someone!) and be understood by others. Perhaps surprisingly we may almost rule out fancy in the sense of handiwork or in describing something elaborate and pretty; for I haven’t found an ex...
June 21, 2022
Diversity in Regency England: Indigenous People From Canada
Hello everyone!
I’m going to start this post a little differently by doing a land acknowledgement. In Canada, and elsewhere, land acknowledgements are used to recognise and honour the Indigenous people who live or have lived on the land we are currently occupying.
As I sit in my home in Toronto, I acknowledge that I am on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and that Toronto i...
June 19, 2022
Excerpt from Brother of the Bride
Excerpt from Brother of the Bride, by Jack CaldwellGreetings everyone. Jack Caldwell here.
A little while ago, I posted a scene from my upcoming Pride and Prejudice sequel, Brother of the Bride. That post may be found HERE. Now, several people were confused by the title. Was the bride in the title Lydia Wickham? She is Mr. Darcy’s sister by marriage, after all.
Short answer: no.
So, who is the bride? The following except may give you a clue.
London, February 1816
THE BALL HOSTED BY Mr. and Mr...
June 15, 2022
That Perfect Someone Audiobook Release Celebration
It’s a release celebration! That Perfect Someone is finally on audiobook and can be found on Audible and Amazon! Sara Jo Elice did an amazing job, and I can’t wait for you to hear it. This was a story I had in my head for some time, so it’s great to get it published and on audiobook for everyone to enjoy.
First I have a sample of the finished audiobook!
https://austenvariations.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/That-Perfect-Someone-Retail-Sample.mp3Second!! I’m so excited about the release, I’m g...
June 14, 2022
God Save the Queen!
Sometimes, life has other plans for us, and no matter what time we set aside to accomplish our ‘goals’ we just cannot make things work. After my fun little post about Jane Austen’s love for the monarchy last week (God Save the King!), I was going to do a parallel post about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee from the perspective of an American and WWJhD (What Would Jane have Done).
However, life got in the way…and so instead, I am taking this title and flipping it to work with an oldie but go...
June 10, 2022
Celebrating Pride Month
Hello everyone,
I remember when my daughter was making her way through primary and secondary school, each month we would get an email that listed all the events, holidays, and groups being celebrated. Inevitably, there would be many. June is one of those months, and in this post and another in about ten days, I want to acknowledge two important issues we celebrate this last month of spring/first month of summer: Pride and, in Canada, National Indigenous History. Both of these are complex subject...
June 7, 2022
Any Excuse Will Do – or, Procrastination
Pink gilia in Sequoia National Park in June
Come to think of it, Procrastination is not a bad title for a pseudo Jane Austen novel, is it? Starting a fashion for one word titles with her own Persuasion, Jane Austen also wrote to her niece Anna, approving of the one-word title of her work in progress, Enthusiasm. She wrote, “Enthusiasm is such an excellent title, nothing could surpass it!” So perhaps she might also have approved of Procrastination as a title. Imagine her writing a novel about tw...
June 6, 2022
God Save the King!
Happy post-Jubilee, readers! I hope you were able to experience the pageantry in one form or another this past weekend. Whether it was watching clips on the news, or as our own Joana Starnes, camping out to see the Windsors parade by, this American hopes all your royal dreams came true!
With the onset of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, I began to wonder about our dear Jane’s affection and
love for the monarchy during her lifetime. Even though she dedicated Emma to the Prince Regent, her dislike ...
June 3, 2022
New Story!
I have a new book coming out! Say hello to The Peculiar Talent of Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
In this story, Elizabeth is a little bit… special. You’ll see why. Here is the prologue and first chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
Look for the pre-order next week!
Prologue
September 1798
Longbourn, Hertfordshire
“Come sit by me, Elizabeth.”
“Yes, Granny.”
At seven years of age, Elizabeth was a precocious little thing with curling brown hair and bright sparkling eyes. Cora Bennet smiled at her great-gra...
May 31, 2022
Cover Reveal for “Colonel Brandon in His Own Words”!
Next to the actual book debut, I think the cover reveal is the most exciting! I’m very involved in the design of my book covers, so for me, it’s another enjoyable aspect of the creative process. Even though this is my 12th book, it never gets old.
Anyway, I hope you like what we came up with for the cover of Colonel Brandon in His Own Words!
Cover design always starts with inspiration. In this case, that meant referring to the cover of my previous book, Fitzwilliam Darcy in His Own Words. Altho...
