L.P. Kirkbride's Blog

Margaret Dashwood: In Between Two Worlds, The Importance of Minor Characters, Part 2

This is part 2 in my importance of minor characters series. This time it is Margaret Dashwood from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

Austen states in the novel that Margaret isn’t like either of her sisters, with Elinor’s decorum and Marianne’s overstated emotions. And because of this she lacks a certain amount of sense. But I would have to say that she displays a lot more than that. Serving, perhaps albeit a more hidden role, but also an important one.

At 13 she is not quite an adult yet, nor is she still completely a child, so perhaps she shows how as adults we need to keep in touch with our inner child, so we can see the lighter side of life. And which if both her sisters adhered to this more, Elinor might see the good in things more, as she is more adult like; and Marianne might be less emotional, capable of controlling herself as she can act childlike in this way. But like Margaret maybe they both need part of what she represents, Elinor to be more childlike and Marianne behave more like an adult.

So this is why Margaret Dashwood is another of my secret favourite characters as she shows how we can be blissful by remembering our childlike ways in an adult world. And, again further showing the importance of minor characters. All hail Margaret!––L.P. Kirkbride, 18 June, 2024

Miss Bates and Mrs. Palmer: In Their Own World, The Importance of Minor Characters

I’m going to do a short series about the importance of minor characters, which given their own relative roles in a story I suppose you could say they are not so minor! As they provide key support to the main characters, especially the protagonist.

I’d like to start with Miss Bates from Jane Austen’s Emma, and likewise Mrs. Palmer from Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. I’m putting them together as they have similar characteristics and roles in their stories, but also present some contrasts to one another.

For example, Miss Bates is unmarried and so she is also poor, but she is completely happy with everything around her even her cozy bedsit. And Mrs. Palmer is married with a rude husband, but he doesn’t bother her at all, she is truly happy with everyone about her.

But, perhaps they both serve as an example of how to be happy in life no matter what. It is like they are in their own world, maybe the way to living joyfully, which could serve as a lesson to the main characters. For example, Miss Bates can be seen as “a standing lesson of how to be happy” (Emma). And Mrs. Palmer could show Marianne how to be happier for she is emotional about everything even the dead leaves at Norland! Yet part of Austen’s genius is to show the full scope of human nature and how we are all different. But still it is food for thought to not let anyone take away your bliss.

And in regards to Miss Bates it is through her cheerful chatterings that Emma almost unintentionally puts down at the Box Hill picnic, no doubt driven to it by the annoyance it causes her. But it’s through this that she finally goes through her personal growth and gets together with Mr. Knightley.

And as I write my Jane Austen inspired romantic comedy A Modern Mr. Darcy, keeping in mind the minor characters is important.

So feel free to share you own favourite minor characters. Another of mine is Margaret Dashwood , also from Sense and Sensibility, and who I will write about in my next installment of important minor characters.

Happy reading! L.P. Kirkbride––September, 2023

Strawberries: Spending the Summer with Emma

With the strawberries ripening in my garden, the Jane Austen novel Emma comes to mind with the summer scene of strawberry picking. Firstly it is my favourite Austen novel, only with Persuasion coming in as a close second. I think it’s because love the theme of the two old friends falling in love, which resonates with my novel, A Modern Mr. Darcy.

But getting back to the strawberries for a moment, they can symbolize purity, love, passion and fertility, which seems apt in this scene with Emma and Mr. Knightley slowing realizing that they love each other.

And getting back to Emma, every summer to acknowledge Jane’s unfortunate passing at 41 on the 18 July, 1817, I reread another of her novels and this time it’s Emma under the sun and enjoying some strawberries. And lastly, another thing I like about the novel is Emma’s own growth and change, which think can reflect on all of us. It’s nice to know we can always progress with things, as the strawberries ripen so do we in our lives. Have a great summer!––L.P. Kirkbride, 27 June, 2023

A Jane Austen Christmas: A Step Back in Time

With all of the commercialism in our modern day Christmas holidays it can be nice to take a step back in time to a simpler era where celebrations involved visiting family, having small parties, balls, playing games and giving homemade presents. I am referring to Christmas as it was during Jane Austen’s time or the Regency era.

During Austen’s time Christmas went beyond 12th Night and ran from 6 December through to 6 January! It included decorating with evergreens such as holly, ivy and laurel. Goose was a favourite main dish as well as plum pudding for dessert. Boxing Day came about from giving gifts to the poor in donation boxes. Parlour games were also popular. It all sounds lovely to me!

I write this just as Yule and 12th Night approaches wishing you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2023!–L.P. Kirkbride, 20 December, 2022

Writing and Classical Music: Notes on How Music Can Help with Creativity

Classical music can aid with writing or any creative project. The notes are relaxing and can help create a great flow in the thought process. So I often find myself listening to Bach, Chopin and Boccherini and then I am more focused on my literary tasks.

Or even nature sounds can be an aid in this way, as we return to our primordial past, and what talents it can bring to us now. Baroque though can be best, as it’s the most relaxing, even-paced, quiet.

Or I will listen to music depending on what project I am working on. Such as with my current A Modern Mr. Darcy story I enjoy Regency music or in particular the soundtrack from the 1996 movie version of Emma. With my Kate Hawkins series I like Boccherini from the Master and Commander soundtrack with Russell Crowe. All very inspirational.

So whatever project you may be working on I hope you will give music a try––it just may be something that really sings to you!––L.P. Kirkbride, March, 2022

John Singer Sargent: The Greatest Portrait Artist

One of if not my favourite artist is John Singer Sargent. I think his work is truly sublime. He is my artistic guru. Best known for his oil portraits. He has also done some charming watercolour scenery. It’s good to see an artist branch out in different areas. Myself I started with cartooning now I am currently working on a black and white portrait. But his greatest talent has been his portraits; and I think they can show so much of the human spirit.

I have also studied Sargent, as he is truly a master. And I have learned a lot from him that I use in my own art. I encourage any artist to make a study of him. His basic premise is to use just as many paint strokes as needed, no more, no less. And to paint just what’s there, more sage advice. Though a lot of his portraits were commissioned, they are still great works of art. And I’m sure all artists are commissioned from a higher source. So if you ever have a chance to see a Sargent painting, be sure to take it and I’m sure it will enlighten you.––L.P. Kirkbride, October, 2021

You Can Have Your Cake and Write it Too: The 80/20 Guideline in Writing

I came upon this literary principle from a dietary one. That is the 80/20 rule in eating. If you eat healthy 80% of the time, you can have treats for the other 20%. The same can apply to writing.

How it applies is that 80% of the time you focus on the main theme of your story, and for the other 20% you can stray from it a bit. Though granted with this formula, most of your story should be focused on your theme, or it could lack focus. But to go away from it a little can create more of a realistic balance, as in life not everything goes entirely in one direction. For example, we all have different things going on in our lives, work, hobbies, family, etc…, also with a variety of tastes and interests.

Another example, is the current series I’m working on, A Modern Mr. Darcy, where the main character, Russell Neale is going through a divorce and finds solace and inspiration writing romance novels and with Jane Austen. So though he really likes Austen, he also has other pursuits, such as racquetball and hockey and other things going on in his life, such as his good friend, Lucy, dealing with his ex, Betty, while having a long lost high school sweetheart reenter his life. Again, it’s all about balance, like food, like life and writing too!––L.P. Kirkbride, June, 2021

Vavoom Vermeer: The Girl in the Red Hat

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One of my favourite painters is Vermeer and one of my favourite paintings by him is The Girl in the Red Hat. He has truly captured everything here––not just the subject but also the feeling, light and colour in the work––all working together to create a masterpiece. I love especially the great splash of colour with her red hat as a central focus. Red, perhaps, representing a passion for all things in life.

Being an artist myself, I have studied Vermeer’s method, which involves a more elaborate form of the camera obscura, which results in a very life like painting, almost like a photo. I employed some of this in my most recent still life, Just Lemons, which I posted in a previous blog. It can help to study the masters! It’s good to explore new methods and ideas in art and life.––L.P. Kirkbride, September, 2020

Summer Reading: The Princess and the Goblin

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A book I’m currently reading, recommended by a friend, that I recommend for some summer reading, is The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.  It has everything really––good plot, interesting characters, great descriptions and it’s illustrated with black and white etchings.  What more could one want?  It has a princess, a castle in the mountains and goblins.

Though a children’s story it has adult appeal too.  Apparently MacDonald influenced Tolkien, though I think this story reminds me more of C.S. Lewis.

I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but I’d read more MacDonald and I’m quite the Tolkien fan, having read Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

So if you’re looking for something to add to your summer reading list, give this a try.  Happy summer reading!––L.P. Kirkbride, June, 2020

Just Lemons: A Zest for Life

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This is my latest still life, titled Just Lemons.  It’s done on paper with a mix of art pencils  and oil pastels.  I have used some art methods by two of my favourite artists, Vermeer and John Singer Sargent, including my own artistic bent.

The painting portrays the zest for life, just as lemon rinds have zest and zing.  For example, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade; or the colour of yellow represents happiness.  So I’ve tried to use lots of good bright colour in this piece.  I look forward to the Spring and its new projects.––L.P. Kirkbride, April, 2020