Julianne Donaldson's Blog, page 7

And the Mr. Darcy Winner Is...

Colin Firth by a landslide!

And here is my own very strong opinion: Colin Firth is the man I think of when I imagine Mr. Darcy. Although there are a few things I like about Matthew Mcfadyen's performance, he's not Mr. Darcy in the same way that Colin Firth is. And, let's face it, nobody else can do this look like Colin Firth.




You will notice that he is not actually smiling. But his eyes are screaming "I love you, Elizabeth Bennet!" That is some fine acting, Mr. Firth. A couple of people commented that they don't love Mr. Darcy. I will forgive you for that, and what's more, I will have a post about some alternate heroes if Mr. Darcy isn't your cup of tea.

If you love Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, then you would relate to the heroine in Shannon Hale's Austenland. Jane is so besotted with the on-screen Mr. Darcy that she can't have a real relationship with a real man. A wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to Austenland, a resort for women who are obsessed with the Regency period and want to live it for themselves. (I wish this really existed. I would go in a heartbeat.) It's a fun story with some good banter and tongue-in-cheek humor. (But I'm not sure I love the ending. You'll have to tell me what you think.)

And as a fun side note, Austenland was recently made into a movie, produced by Stephenie Meyer (who is close friends with Shannon Hale). It's in the editing stage right now. I will definitely be looking forward to it when it's released.

Have you read Austenland? What did you think about it? Or have you read any Pride and Prejudice spin-offs?

Vote for Your Favorite Mr. Darcy

As a great Jane Austen fan, I have to state that Pride and Prejudice is one of the best love stories ever written, and Mr. Darcy is, for many women, the epitome of Mr. Right. Ms. Austen certainly supplied us with much to long for and dream about when she wrote his character. And thank goodness for movie adaptations for giving us a man of flesh and blood to associate with the great name of Mr. Darcy.

But which Mr. Darcy is your favorite? Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen?




Vote in the comments, and I'll reveal my own strong opinion next week!

Five Tips for Writing a Letter, Jane Austen Style

I was inspired by this picture to imagine what advice Jane Austen might give to those who want to write a good, old-fashioned letter. (I'm not the only one who misses real letter-writing, am I?) And so, without further ado, here is an imagined letter from Jane herself.

Gentle Reader:

I understand you have suffered of late from a serious lack of letter-writing. I cannot comprehend how such a thing can have happened, but I am distressed on your behalf. One may do away with embroidery, the pianoforte, or the hunt, for all I care, but the joy of penning a letter is a pleasure I cannot imagine doing without. Therefore, I am moved upon to instruct you somewhat in the ways of letter-writing.

To write a good letter, one must:

1. Have appropriate tools. A good pen is essential. Choose one that does not trail ink around in unwanted pools or faint away before a word is completed.

2. Choose high quality stationery. For maximum enjoyment for the reader, ensure the paper is smooth to the touch and of such quality that the ink does not bleed through from one side to the next.

3. Take your time. Letters are meant to be read over and over again. Do not rush your writing. This is not the appropriate place for abbreviations or sloppy penmanship. Make your words beautiful to both the eye and the mind.

4. Say something worth the time, effort, and cost of a letter. Platitudes that have become customary in social settings are often unnecessary in the real communication made possible through letter writing. Put your heart in your letter, and you will have created something worth saving.

5. Write regularly. Practice will increase your skill as a correspondent, and, as a result, the pleasure you take in the activity. With a little perseverance, you may form a habit of letter writing which will bring you joy for years to come.

Sincerely,

Jane Austen


Let's write more letters! I'm going to write a real letter in December and actually mail it, instead of letting it sit on my desk for months. I'll let you know who I send it to. What about you? 

Happy Thanksgiving!

What I will NOT be eating today.Today I will be eating my first gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner.

My gluten-free diet is something I have to do or else I will be doubled over in pain all day. If it weren't for the pain, I would eat nothing but bread morning, noon and night. I love it. I love it so much that I've been mourning its loss for the past five months.

But I have so much to be thankful for, too. I'm thankful that I finally discovered what was causing me such pain every day. I'm thankful that I don't have to take medicine to treat my condition. I'm thankful that my dad has been experimenting with gluten-free pie crusts just for me. There is so much to be thankful for, even while I am secretly mourning the lack of warm rolls, stuffing, and flaky pie crusts. It is a bittersweet experience.

Perhaps the great accomplishment of this season is to focus our attention on the sweet so fully that the bitter simply slips out of sight.

Writing Tip: Using Find and Replace

There is a tool in Word that can be great for writers. It's called "find and replace." I have used it lots and lots. (You probably have too, right?) For example, when my friend noticed that I referred to dresses as dresses and not gowns, I went "oops!" and used good ol' find and replace to fix that. But I have also had disastrous fall-outs from using that tool.

Here are a couple of  real examples of using "find and replace."
1. I had a nice handsome character named William. Some people called him Will. I decided he should be called Henry instead. So I did a find and replace "William = Henry." And then, thinking of his nickname, I did "Will = Henry." 
Guess what happened to my manuscript? Horrible things like, "When Henry you depart for London?" and "I Henry not dance with you this evening." It was everywhere! I had no idea how often I used the word "will" until I had Henrys dotting my page and making crazy sentences. I had to go through the whole manuscript to correct it.
2. I was changing a character's name from Emma to Rachel. That should have been straight-forward, right? Wrong! Because Word will find the letters "emma" in any word and replace them with "Rachel." I didn't realize that until I had already sent my manuscript to an agent! And then, because I was a little anxious, I was reading through my manuscript again, just to double-check everything, and I discovered this word: dilRachel. It used to be dilemma, until find and replace got involved. I can imagine that agent thinking, "And what exactly is the main character's dilRachel?"

So, the moral of my story is this:
Check every word before you replace it. Never click "replace all."


What about you? Have you had anything funny/disastrous happen with "find and replace?"

Reading: A Countess Below Stairs

Eva Ibbotson is a gem among writers. I stumbled upon her quite by accident in the YA section of my local bookstore. But her stories are not YA. I mean, if a teen picks it up and enjoys it, that's great. But her stories transcend the brief span of teenage years and the angst of teenage problems. Her characters hail from Russia and Vienna and England. They are endearing and flawed and very easy to like. Her heroes and heroines are people you absolutely want to get together in the end. And when they do, it's magical.

A Countess Below Stairs is my favorite of her books. (But my friend Jaime loves A Morning Gift the best. They're both great.) It's one of the first books I recommend to anyone who likes romances or books set in England. Here's the back cover description:

"After the Russian Revolution turns her world topsy-turvy, Anna, a young Russian countess, has no choice but to flee to England. Penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as servant in the house hold of the esteemed Westerholme family, armed only with an outdated housekeeping manual and sheer determination. Desperate to keep her past a secret, Anna is nearly overwhelmed by her new duties--not to mention her instant attraction to Rupert, the handsome Earl of Westerholme. To make matters worse, Rupert appears to be falling for her as well. As their attraction grows stronger, Anna finds it more and more difficult to keep her most dearly held secrets from unraveling. And then there's the small matter of Rupert's beautiful and nasty fiancee..."

Doesn't that sound fantastic? And did I mention that there are no bedroom scenes? Yeah, it's one of those. A classic. Five stars in my book.

Follow Your Passion

My brown-eyed baby



A friend of mine recently said to me, "I have been dying to live the dream of being an author for years, but I don't even know how to start or what to do." Some of you may have the same feeling. I hope that I can offer some good advice through this blog of mine. This is a big question, and to give it justice I'll have to spend more than one post on it. But to begin, the first thing I suggest you do is to figure out what you're passionate about.

Writing a book is like having a baby as opposed to getting a dog. I got a dog a couple of years ago, and the first thing she did was pee on the bed. When she bit one of my kids, she was gone. I also had a baby who peed on my bed and bit other children. But I kept him, because I adore him. I love his laugh and his kissable cheeks and his small hands. I love his auburn hair and deep brown eyes. I love my baby, even when he misbehaves.

The story you write is bound to misbehave at times. All stories do. If you don't at least begin with excitement about it, you will have a long, tortuous road ahead of you. Edenbrooke spent the first two years of its life misbehaving for me. I nearly threw it out many times. But in the end, I simply couldn't let go of it, because I loved my characters. I was, and still am, passionate about that story, five years and dozens of drafts later.

So what do you get excited about? What do you love to think about or talk about? What, in essence, is your passion? 

Once you find your passion, follow it, and it may lead you to a great story. But whether it does or not, it will definitely make your creative journey something you look forward to every day. It will be like that adorable baby that you're happy to wake up to. You will love your story, and you will want to spend time with it every day. And there is no greater motivation.