L.L. Diamond's Blog, page 25

The Linda Beutler interview is in!

Wow!
Everyone asked some great questions this month!

Linda is the author of Longbourn to London, The Red Chrysanthemum, and her newest

A Will of Iron

 

 

 

 

 

Are you ready for Linda’s answers? I know I am!

 

 

Just a quick note to let the inquisitors and readers know most of these questions were answered from the beautiful campus of Linfield College in McMinnville, OR. There is nothing like an arboretum and fresh oxygen to get the words flowing.

 

Besides P&P, what is your favourite JA novel?

(Lúthien84)

We were just talking about this in the AHA chat room the other night. It might be Sense and Sensibility for me. I appreciate Elinor, although she has lousy taste in men. But I like how she thinks, generally. And I pity her a vast deal, being saddled with a sister with not much more wit than Lydia Bennet.

 

I know most JAFF writers prefer to write stories based on characters and themes from P&P especially if it involves Darcy and Elizabeth. Have you ever thought of reaching out to other five novels of Jane Austen? If so, which book will you pick?

(Lúthien84 & Michelle Hall)

How about an Anne Elliot with a spine, or at least spine enough to tell Wentworth he behaved like a right bastard when he reappeared in her life. His flirtatious behavior with the young cute girls was unappealingly vengeful. Another option would be revisiting Sanditon to write my own ending.

 

Which Austen character would your husband say you most resemble?

(J Dawn King)

Given his limited knowledge on the subject (and I’d prefer to keep it that way), he might say Mrs. Gardiner. DH has watched P&P’95 with me, and is reading an annotated version of P&P now. These are his only brushes with JA. DH has not read my stories. My fiction writing is my thing, and mine alone. He had no idea I was writing JAFF, or any fiction at all, until I showed him the email from Meryton Press accepting the proposal for The Red Chrysanthemum.

 

If you could relive your 20’s in 2015, which Austen character would best describe you?

(J Dawn King)

Great question. The knee-jerk response is Elizabeth Bennet, but Charlotte Lucas might be more honest—not a beauty but I liked to dance; cynical about men and marriage from a young age. It is a difficult comparison. I was active in an Elizabeth Bennet sort of way, running, hiking, biking—outdoorsy. EB is really the only of JA’s heroines about whom that could be said. I was a great reader. I’ve always felt EB was showing a good deal of false modesty when she said she was not a great reader. At that age I was not so quietly compassionate as Anne Elliot, I was not a matchmaker and gossip like Emma, and I was not a sanctimonious innocent like Fanny Price.

 

Which Jane Austen character do you think you most closely resemble?(Debbie Fortin)

At this point in my life see myself as a mash-up of Charlotte Lucas (pre-marriage) and Aunt Gardiner. I am often asked to occupy an advisory role.

 

What inspired you to start writing P&P stories?

(Dung)

Conceited arrogance.

 

Do you like variations and alternate paths or would you consider writing a sequel to Pride & Prejudice?

(Michelle Hall)

Taking the original canon plot of P&P and giving it a twist here and a tug there is much more interesting to me than writing a sequel. I have written one three-part short story, a sequel “of sorts” to Longbourn to London, called A Little Night Music at Rosings. The story is a peek at the Darcy’s relationship about eight or so years—and several children—into their marriage. I have a nearly completed shorter story about Elizabeth working herself up to tell Darcy they are expecting their first child; it takes place about five months into their first year of marriage. It is very sexy; she’s afraid he’ll stop granting her his favors if he knows she’s in a delicate condition.

But those two short stories aside, I am much more intrigued to find some chink in the armour of P & P’s plot, or in the motivations of the characters, and exploit it. Then it becomes a puzzle for me, to match the Regency language, lifestyle details/history, personalities, and plot points.

 

Do you have a favourite time and place to write your novels?

(Lúthien84 & Debbie Fortin)

I am a night owl. I wrote a portion of Longbourn to London in Chinese hotels in the summer of 2012. I did not have a laptop then, and was writing longhand on legal pads. It was fun to write that way again. Editing was a bugger, though, with arrows all over the place! I love writing in quiet hotel rooms. Weird, I know, but there are so few distractions.

My absolute favorite place to write is my mother’s home on the Oregon coast. Fabulous view, and I can lay out my laptop, research materials and note pad, plus a coaster with wine glass on her dining room table and get so much done! I must be alone to write. I can edit with folks around if they’re respectful, but the original creation takes silence and solitude.

I always have a copy of the annotated P & P with me as I write. Jane Austen has been all over the world with me (well, since I started writing JAFF in early 2012).

 

Where/how do you get fresh ideas for stories? There’s written so much already, so it’s hard to think of something new and original, I imagine

(arjanne)

Have you heard of “peak oil”? It is the notion that at some point we will have reached maximum oil extraction from the earth, and production will diminish after that. It is said we have already passed “peak oil”, sometime in the 1990s. I often wonder if we are near “peak Austen”. Is there a point where there will be no new questions to answer about Elizabeth and Darcy and the Bennets, and no new ways to tweak the plot?

That answers the second part of your question first, which is typical of me, non-linear thinking. To answer your first part, at the point where I said, “Hey, I bet I can do this as well as some of these other folks”, I looked into Pride and Prejudice for a place where the plot was not filled in well. That became Longbourn to London, which is the betrothal period of six weeks, followed by earning my Pervy Horde credentials adding the first week of their marriage. Yes, you read that right: L to L came before The Red Chrysanthemum.

In canon, Darcy reveals a lot about himself in those last few pages, but the question that always burned in my mind was, why was he at the Lambton inn when EB got the news about Lydia? It shows a staggering and uncharacteristic lack of curiosity that she never asks him how he came to be there. In L to L she asks, but his answer, to talk about Bingley and Jane, proved to be the taking off point for The Red Chrysanthemum.

Within the editing process of TRC, my editor and I started riffing on what would happen if Elizabeth and Darcy got back together sooner than at Pemberley. That conversation became the plot bunny for A Will of Iron.

When Meryton Press accepted The Red Chrysanthemum, they suggested I check out the A Happy Assembly website. I had no idea there were sites devoted to writers of Jane Austen fan fiction. I was utterly intimidated. (I will refrain from the usual quote about courage rising and intimidation…) Meryton Press suggested that, if I had any other story besides TRC, to consider posting it there. Hence, L to L was posted in the spring/summer of 2013.

 

What do you do that helps your creativity (walking, gardening, etc)?

(Debbie Fortin)

I come up with things while I am driving. Elizabeth and Darcy sometimes talk to me as I drive. (Uh oh, what are those men with straight-jackets doing here?) Also, there is a wonderful island in the Willamette River, accessible in the summer, and I love walking my dog Tess Waterdog Trueheart there. In fact, I never go now without a legal pad and pen. I think I can remember really good dialogue until I get home (it is only 10 minutes away), but I can’t. And of course, walking on the Oregon beaches. In editing Longbourn to London for publication, my editor set me a tough challenge. By the fourth long walk over a weekend, I not only admitted she was right, but I had a handle on how to solve the problem.

 

How long does it usually take you to go from idea to finished rough draft? Do you use an outline or write as you go?

(J Dawn King)

Longbourn to London came barreling out of me at breakneck speed, finished in less than three months. Once the plot bunny for TRC emerged, I had to force myself to finish L to L. TRC took perhaps six months. I knew it was a better first novel to pitch to a publisher than L to L because of the meaning of flowers twist, which had not been done before. (“But aren’t there a lot of them now?” she asked, winking.)

Once I was a reader on AHA, I was seeing a lot more moderns than I had reading JAFF from the library and Powell’s Books. The first five and last four chapters of Mr Darcy’s Gardener, my one long modern posted at AHA, were also written very fast. Before MDG, I had never written with betas. It never occurred to me! (That conceited arrogance thing again.) But with MDG knew I needed help bridging the powerful opening with the HMS at the end. I enlisted two betas to look over the outline. They then assisted in the usual beta way to get from beginning to end. Finally, because Liz Bennet is an American working in England, I had an English cold-reader look it over.

It felt like it took forever to get A Will of Iron completed. The plot bunny hatched in the spring of 2013. It is just now published! MDG happened in the middle of it, as well as many short stories. I submitted L to L to Meryton Press for publication to buy time to complete AWOI, but L to L needed more work to get prepped that I anticipated; nothing got done on AWOI while L to L was in edits. That plan backfired!

 

Do you dream about your stories while you write them? Are the characters that real in your mind?

(J Dawn King)

I don’t nighttime dream about my stories, but I daydream constantly. Yes, the characters are real in my mind. Vividly so.

 

Are any of the scenes in your novels based on real life situations? Any characters based on real life individuals?

(Suzan Lauder)

When I write Regency, I am following canon and P&P’95 pretty strictly. I don’t add major new characters, as some authors do. Sure, a servant or lawyer or doctor now and then, but no new love interest to muddy the waters. I like many stories with well done new characters, but it isn’t how my mind works as a writer. So no real life people in my Regency stories. As for situations, well, a lady doesn’t kiss—or worse—and tell.

In Mr Darcy’s Gardener, there are characters drawn from my life mashed up with the P & P characters when I needed certain niches filled. I call MDG “canonesque”; it only sort of follows canon. There are fewer characters—Liz is an only child—but some characters, like Jillian, fill multiple roles.

My father was a Mr. Bennet, and I was his Lizzy. So there’s that.

 

You are one of the best writers of steamy scenes in JAFF. What is your process for writing them?

(Suzan Lauder)

Wow. I wish I could explain this. I am writing what I want to read. If I had picked up JAFF titles with sex scenes like mine, I wouldn’t have had to try to write my own! How’s that for conceited arrogance?

I can say this for a certainty: the most difficult sex scene I ever wrote was Lizzy and Darcy’s wedding night in AWOI. I could not get the tone exactly right, fussing with it until the manuscript had to go to my (our!) editor at Meryton Press. What ultimately made the chapter work was the addition of another entry in Anne de Bourgh’s journal. It felt right that she have the last word!

And thank you, Suzan, for the compliment; you’re no slouch yourself!

           

What intrigues you about Fitzwilliam Darcy? Do you have a definite picture of his looks and actions in your mind or is he a vague image that changes from story to story?

(J Dawn King)

What intrigues me about Darcy? What doesn’t? I think Wickham reveals a lot when he says Darcy can be liberal-minded. Darcy is used to getting what he wants and being in control even in situations where he has no skin in the game. But to reconcile himself to loving Elizabeth Bennet, he has to strain the limits of his liberal-mindedness to the nth degree to make that first calamitous proposal.

As for your second question, the answer is Colin Firth, every time. My devotion is unwavering. Which is not to say I think the 1995 Darcy is perfect, but my quibble is with the script and direction. How many half-smiles were left on the cutting room floor? Those of us steeped in the Darcy minutiae in canon know there were smiles as they debated at Netherfield or early on in their one dance. Was the decision for Darcy to be more buttoned up Firth’s, the script’s, or the director’s? Andrew Davies said he wishes he had written a Darcy more forthcoming after the second proposal. Poor Jennifer Ehle looks so ready to be kissed.

But no one before or since gives us the essence of Darcy’s unwanted but infuriatingly ceaseless passion for Elizabeth Bennet the way Firth does. And that is the core of Darcy…love beyond his power to reason. He is the only Austen hero so utterly taken beyond himself by love…what woman could resist?

 

Do you have any modern plot bunnies bouncing around waiting for their story to be told?

(J Dawn King)

No, I cannot say as I do. Mr Darcy’s Gardener cuts too close to my bones. They say to write what you know, and in a modern I think this is key. So that’s what I did. I wrote a Liz Bennet who is, in her late 20s, what I would have wanted to be academically, knowing what I know of myself now. And she has the “does not suffer fools gladly” attitude I had at that age. I wrote about vines and curating a plant collection, something I do daily. And I’ve visited England four times, touring public and private gardens for at least two weeks on each visit. I know some of the gardeners I name-drop, because they have visited Portland, Oregon to speak, or to visit the plant collection and garden I administer. Perhaps my reluctance to publish MDG is because it is, in some ways, too personal. I have always said MDG, posted at AHA, will likely be my only modern long story. So far, so true.

I have done a couple of modern short stories, and more might bubble to the surface. With short stories, I never know what is coming next. They just arrive and I write them out as quick as I can.

 

I would like to know which you prefer to write, Regency or Modern as you have a great talent for both.

(Jen Red)

Thank you (she said getting all fan-girl flustered being asked by the wonderful Jen Red). I prefer Regency.

   

I really enjoyed The Red Chrysanthemum, it was a lovely book. I am not a purist so I do not mind steamy scenes. Do you like time travel books? I have read two by Mary Lydon Simonsen and thoroughly enjoyed them.

(Michelle Hall) 

Time travel with Austen characters has not captured my imagination. Of course I say that knowing full well Darcy and Elizabeth are, as their Regency selves, watching out my eyes as I drive to work, amazed at our fleet horseless carriages and wide roads, the radio blaring, and are appalled at the fast food I occasionally talk myself into buying. They are also in a state of wonderment at me knowing so much about their sex lives. So I’m not going to say never.

 

How did it ever occur to you to have Anne de Bourgh be the center of all the plot in this book?

(tgruy)

This was alluded to earlier, but I had to get Darcy back to Elizabeth while they were both still raw and shaken by the Hunsford proposal and his letter in response. Anne’s death became the way to do it, but I couldn’t have her just die of boredom. Once I hit upon her having complications from a hidden pregnancy, everything else fell into place, because her journal could document not just her hasty decisions, but her shrewd observations about her cousins, the Hunsford crowd, and her mother. She was a right minx to write, my Anne. Being her mother’s daughter, she tried more than once to upstage the other major players. This was one story that absolutely required an outline. Dates had to be adhered to for both the journal and the real-time story.

 

You are giving Anne a life of the mind…are you revealing any other character’s hidden depth or secrets?

(ladysusanpdx)

Both Bingley and Jane show more moxie here than most readers assume they have, as perceived in canon. I do not think it was ever JA’s intention to have either Bingley seen as a puppyish buffoon or Jane Bennet as a Pollyanna-like simpleton. That is our collective modern spin on those characters. We get an interesting look at Charlotte Collins in AWOI, too.

 

You were a bit of a mentor and sounding board for me when I published, as The Red Chrysanthemum came out a couple months before Alias Thomas Bennet. You continue to help authors as a beta and cheerleader when they’re starting out, encourage select individuals to submit to Meryton Press, and give advice to friends. Do you see commonalities in what new authors should know? How about established authors? Are there any tips you’d like to share for someone considering publication of their story?

(Suzan Lauder)

Thank you, Suzan. You were one of the first to befriend me at AHA (and within months we had met in RL!) and you have filled much the same role, too. I think the most important advice to any author is to stand back and allow your work to be edited. None of us have the genius of Jane Austen. I have accused myself of conceited arrogance, and as I write my rough drafts this is much in evidence. But I turn groveling and submissive once my stories are in the hands of a professional editor. I also see a rush to publish in the face of rejection from a “bricks and mortar” publisher, as an all too human reaction: I’ll show them. That attitude misses a profound opportunity to be honest with yourself as a writer. Ask yourself why you’re writing. We all become praise junkies as we post online. How could all of those readers love us, and a publisher not? Instead of assuming you know something a publisher doesn’t, the more realistic (and yes, painful) admission is that they know A LOT more than a new author does. It is a fearful thing, to send your baby out into the world. It is a delicate balance to both believe in your story, yet understand it can be improved. Hell, TRC won an award the year it came out, and I still know exactly where more could be cut to tighten the doldrums as we wait for Lydia and Wickham to marry and head north.

There are other advantages to holding back, refining your stories, and waiting to get on with an established publisher. In addition to great editors, a publisher will connect you to an artist who will create an original cover for you. Our L. L. Diamond is Lucky Lady Diamond to be both a gifted writer and able to create her own unique covers. In the past month, I am seeing the same Elizabeth and Darcy (and he is MUCH too swarthy for my taste) on numerous self-published offerings on amazon. I do hope the model for Elizabeth in particular is getting some royalties for the over-use of her image. Don’t authors look at what else is out there before selecting a cover? I am sorry to insult anyone, but I am less likely to buy a new story with the same Elizabeth Bennet as on the last two I bought!

 

Are you writing something new at the moment?

(arjanne)

My next long story is entitled “Your Mr Bingley”. The prologue and first chapter is in the Coming Attractions forum at AHA. The premise is Bingley shaking out of the tight leash Darcy and Caroline Bingley have him wearing, and he sneaks back to Netherfield in late January, unknowing Jane is still in London. The trick in writing this is, if Bingley becomes his own hero, where does that leave Darcy? Bingley must bumble along under his own power, and Jane is not disposed to be instantly forgiving. This story will post online before it is published.

 

Why clematis? What intrigues you so about this particular plant?

(J Dawn King)

There are over 300 clematis species worldwide. They are on all the major continents except Antarctica (but including Oceania). They can be anything from 8” x 8” shrublets growing in the subalpine scree on the South Island of New Zealand, to charming herbaceous perennials thriving along the frozen shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia, to vines used by Tarzan (one hopes) in Africa. As I write, new species are being documented for the first time in the southeastern USA. Infinite variety has bred infinite fascination, at least for the late Brewster Rogerson, founder of the collection I curate, and for me. I have about 200+ clematis in my own garden.

 

What is your absolute favorite clematis? Is there an elusive plant you would love to have?

(J Dawn King)

My favorite clematis is ‘Venosa Violacea’. My “Holy Grail” clematis was ‘Hainton Ruby’, a luscious red hybrid. I searched for it from 1996, when I first saw it at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, to autumn 2014, when it was given to me by the astonishing, generous Sue Austin of Completely Clematis Nursery in Ipswich, MA. I have yet to develop a similar lust for another clematis, but I assume I will! You can see these plants at Clematis on the Web, http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemalphasearch.cfm

   

Loved reading The Red Chrysanthemum. Do you consider the meaning of a flower or bouquet when giving it to someone?

(Dung)

I do, even when I know they won’t know the meaning. And in a modern short story I wrote, Nothing Like a Dispute, which is a P&P/Monty Python mash-up, I was careful to look up the meaning of the flowers Darcy brings to Elizabeth on their first date, even though I didn’t mention it in the story.

 

Which Austen character would you most like to join you for a glass (or a bottle) of wine? (A glass/bottle of red or white?)

(J Dawn King)

Mr. Bennet. My dad died in 2002, and I miss him. He would drink port; I’d drink champagne.

   

What is the one question you would like to ask Jane Austen if you had the opportunity?

(J Dawn King)

I would take an artist with me in the way-back machine, and demand she sit for a portrait.

 

 

 

Before you go don’t forget to leave that question because Linda is offering one signed paperback of A Will of Iron as a giveaway and the giveaway is open internationally! Everyone who leaves a question or more gets their name put into the pot once, but if you leave a question and give a comment on the final interview, you get two chances to win!

I hope everyone has a query or two for Linda!

Final date for comments to be entered into the drawing Wednesday, 12 August.

Winner will be announced Friday, 14 August! 

Leave Linda your questions in the comments below!

Good luck everyone!!

 

August – Linda Beutler!

It’s Ask the Author time!

Can you believe it’s August already!

At least we have a new Ask the Author victim!

Linda Beutler!

Linda has just released her newest JAFF novel A Will of Iron!

I just spoke to Linda about the release of this book during her trip to England last month, and she is so excited. I also happen to know she is raring for a good interview, so I’m certain she will happily answer even the most difficult questions! ;)

 

Blurb for A Will of Iron –

Only days after his disastrous proposal, the untimely death of Anne de Bourgh draws Fitzwilliam Darcy and his cousin Colonel Alexander Fitzwilliam back to Rosings Park before Elizabeth Bennet has left the neighborhood. Their return finds Rosings swathed in mourning. In death, Anne is revealed as having lived a rich life of the mind, and she plotted rather constantly to escape her loathsome mother, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Anne’s journal—spirited into the hands of Elizabeth and Charlotte Collins—holds her candid observations on life and her family. It also exposes her final, and sadly fatal, means of outwitting her mother. Anne’s Last Will and Testament, with its peculiar bequests, sends Lady Catherine into a tailspin and throws into turmoil every relationship amongst the Bennets, Darcys, Fitzwilliams, Collinses, and even the Bingleys! Was Anne de Bourgh a shrewder judge of character than Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy combined?

Includes mature content.

 

Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it!!

 

Before you go don’t forget to leave that question because Linda is offering one signed paperback of A Will of Iron as a giveaway and the giveaway is open internationally! Everyone who leaves a question or more gets their name put into the pot once, but if you leave a question and give a comment on the final interview, you get two chances to win!

I hope everyone has a query or two for Linda!

All questions must be submitted by Friday, 7 August.

The final interview will be posted Monday, 10 August.

Final date for comments to be entered into the drawing Wednesday, 12 August.

Winner will be announced Friday, 14 August! 

Leave Linda your questions in the comments below!

Good luck everyone!!

 

Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove

This was a difficult trip! We set out to drive almost an hour and a half to see this nature reserve just outside of Colchester in Sussex, but from there we had a myriad of difficulty finding the place. We punched the location into the sat nav (GPS) and found ourselves in the middle of a neighbourhood. We happened to find one entrance by a single sign, but there was only street parking and no one else was parked along the road. We then tried the second sat nav and after giving up on its direction, turned around to happen upon another place to enter the park, but again, no parking other than on the road (I won’t even go into our attempt to turn into the local Aldi for parking!) — I will say that the parking issue was unusual in our experience for an English Heritage Site. Eventually, we decided to park on Church Lane and go into an entrance labeled Lexden Nature Reserve. According to Google Maps, it is a part of the Earthworks, but we could not tell on the map on the sat nav, and it’s not labelled as such when you arrive at that entrance.

The forest was lovely with a myriad of paths and pretty views. There are plenty of old wide-trunked oaks that are a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we had no idea through means available to us how large the Earthworks was, so after a short time and not seeing anywhere new to wander and due to the rain, we decided to leave.

I wish I had more on this, but I felt it might help someone else if I posted our experience. If you want to give the Earthworks a try, I wish you better luck than we had!

 

Winners of the Maria Grace Ask the Author Giveaway!

A huge thank you to everyone

who contributed questions and comments

for Ask the Author this month!

I’d like to give a special thanks to those repeat offenders out there who have been contributing questions or comments on every interview. Y’all are awesome! 

Without further ado…

Using my super-scientific method for selecting winners!

Winner of Mistaking Her Character e-book is

Beatrice!

 

Congratulations, Beatrice!

Also a huge thank you to Maria Grace
for stopping by and answering your questions!!!

Don’t forget to stop by Maria Grace’s Facebook page or her blog, RandomBitsofFascination.com for further dates for her blog tour.

 

 

Next month’s Author is Linda Beutler

so get reading her new book A Will of Iron. We’ll need questions!

Call for questions posts is August 3rd! Stay tuned!

Maria Grace’s Interview is IN!

 

Thanks for everyone’s questions for Maria Grace! Don’t forget to read on after the interview because Maria Grace is generously giving away one e-book of Mistaking Her Character!

 

But onto the questions and answers!!!

 

Since you are married to the rare specimen of manliness who is willing to dress in Regency togs and wear it with considerable style, would you please tell us a bit about your marriage, Maria Grace? How long have you been married to your Mr. Darcy? How does he feel about your writing career? Has he read Jane Austen? Does he read your stories?(Joy Dawn King)

My husband and I have been married 25 years this year. We met in college in a computer programing class and married four years after that. He is an electrical engineer and very much like Mr. Darcy. From the beginning we’ve always done things together and as the kids came along that expanded to include them. We are very much a family team.

My Mr. Darcy has a background in musical theater, so he isn’t put off by costuming at all and his experience in marching band left him open to the idea of Regency era dance. We have a great deal of fun with it.

He is probably the most supportive human being on the planet and has been entirely supportive of my writing. I really could imagine how he could be more so. He is an avid reader, but the period style of Jane Austen is not his cup of tea. He tried. But he does love all the film adaptations of her books and we watch them together, at his suggestion, often. He has read all of my books and gets the very first electronic copies delivered straight to his reading app!

 

If your family could choose one of Jane Austen’s characters to describe you, who would it be?

(Joy Dawn King)

Hands down, no doubt it would be Anne Elliot. Persuasion is my favorite of Jane Austen’s books because of the kinship I’ve always felt with Anne.

 

Do you read other authors that were Jane Austen contemporaries? (Radcliffe, Bronte sisters)

(Joy Dawn King)

I read Jane Eyre long before I was introduced to Jane Austen and that continues to be one of my favorite classics.

 

Do you have a favorite book that you read when you need to relax with a “friend”?

(Joy Dawn King)

I think the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery has always been a favorite friend of mine, all except the one where Anne’s son Walter dies in the war. That one I only read once—it left me crying for days!

 

Who is your favorite Austen hero?

(Joy Dawn King)

That’s a tough question. I love Mr. Darcy, of course, but there’s something about the way that Wentworth grows and comes to value Anne and realize that he has been as much to blame as she that deeply appeals to me.

 

Who is the Jane Austen character you think you are most like?

(Joy Dawn King)

No doubt, it is Anne Elliot. I have never been the bright, witty, popular Elizabeth Bennet. I’m the one people call when they need information or a favor, the dependable, if boring one. People talk to me like in the scene of the Ciarán Hinds/Amanda Root version of Persuasion where everyone is talking to Anne. My middle son has watched it happen in the grocery store where random people will just tell me things, sometimes very personal and private things, and I have no idea why. But I always try to lend an ear and encourage or sympathize where I can.

 

Have you always been a writer?

(Joy Dawn King)

Yes. I remember, and I think I still have my first writing project, a book of poetry and short stories I wrote in the third grade. I had a lovely, encouraging teacher who probably turned me into a life-long writer. I wrote though elementary, middle and high school. Some high school trauma and angst left me putting my pen down for the next couple of decades while college, marriage and children took center stage. I started back up eight years ago and wonder how I did without all those years!

 

This is my favourite question for authors of JAFF. I know the majority tend to write P&P stories because it is their favourite Jane Austen novel and the story gives us many ideas on how to continue the plot, retell it from a different character or point of view and even diverge somewhere in the original book. What is your opinion on this?(Lúthien84)

I think that in many ways the characters in Pride and Prejudice are the easiest to write about. Elizabeth is the girl we all want to be and Darcy is a dashing, wealthy hero, who is dark, brooding and handsome. They are the easiest to imagine in another story. Characters like Emma Woodhouse and Fanny Price are much harder to like and it is very, very difficult to write about characters one doesn’t really like. Anne Elliot and Elinor Dashwood are dull compared to Elizabeth and their partners are not nearly so romantic as Darcy. It is much harder to think about what-if scenarios about these other characters.

   

Maria, I have enjoyed reading your WIP as you post chapter by chapter. What motivates you to use this process? Also, what is your favourite of all your books? Thank you for the giveaway.

(BeckyC)

I like posting WIP because of the feedback and interaction I get with the readers. Writing can be very isolating and lonely and sometimes it is hard to tell how things will look from a reader’s perspective. I really love to hear what readers are thinking and feeling about the story as it progresses.

My favorite of my books? It is actually a series I have not yet finished or published it. It is in a very different genre, science fiction, so I don’t talk about it much in the Austen circles. I love it though because the characters and worlds are entirely my creations. I do hope to publish it eventually, but I recently realized I needed to restructure the series to make it a five book rather than a three book series. I have the middle three books drafted, but not the first and last. That’s what I’m working on now.

 

Do you use an outline when you write or do you write by the seat of your pants?

(Joy Dawn King)

I have tried to outline, really I have. I love lists and am a very organized person. But when it comes to writing, outlines are the bane of my muse. I write one and my muse leaves the building and won’t return until I throw it out. That is not to say I am entirely by the seat of my pants. I generally have a sense of the major plot points, so I know where each segment of the book is going and all of my scenes lead to that point. I write notes along the way, as the path to the next plot point becomes clear.

I usually handwrite my first draft and the top and side margins of my notes books are full of notes and diagrams about what scenes need to come next to get to my destination. I leave the first couple of pages in each notebook blank to record a list of what has been written and what I think needs to happen next, along with important lists like names and places to keep me straight. It seems to be a good working compromise with my muse.

 

Your books and stories always seem to have a “jumping off” point of a JA book, but you do something very different and show us a whole world that is different. How do you begin to research for this, as I know it must take a lot of research.

(abucksworth)

I discovered the ‘Feedly’ application that allows me to subscribe to over one hundred different websites, including many Regency and Georgian history sites. I keep extensive research material in my One Note program on my computer (backed up in three different places!). I also have a sizeable collection of digitized period references thanks to Google Books. So I read research material constantly and it kind of hangs around in the back of my mind.

The laudanum overdose scene in Mistaking Her Character came out of that. I found the case study in a period medical journal and it just stuck with me. As I was writing Mistaking Her Character I remembered it and realized it would make the perfect, historically accurate, plot point for the story.

Sometimes I will research specific issues, like how housekeeping and cleaning were done for Mrs. Drummond’s School for Girls. While I enjoy that part, I really rather just read whatever I can get my hands on and let the subconscious take over for how it all ends up on a page.

 

Which is your favorite part of the writing process? Your least favorite?(Joy Dawn King)

Rough/first drafts are my favorite part. I like the freedom to just let the characters and plot run in whatever direction they want and allow me to come along for the ride.

What do I hate? Editing. I don’t mind structural editing so much. That’s the process of making sure everything is happening in the right place and it all ties logically together. Sometimes it means I need to move things around, or add or delete a scene. I actually kind of enjoy that sort of polishing. But the final steps of polishing, making sure I haven’t over used words or actions, getting rid of lazy or sloppy wording, and checking all the punctuation, that part makes me utterly crazy.

If it weren’t for the help of some fabulous proofreaders who take over at that point, I think I’d be a jabbering idiot right now. 

 

What is your biggest distraction to getting a story done? Do you write on schedule or when the muse moves you?

(Joy Dawn King)

My biggest distractions? Real life is a huge distraction. Two of my three boys are still at home and life with teen-age/college age sons is always distracting!

I try to write every day, but I don’t put stories on schedule until I’m deep in editing. The muse checks out if I put too many constraints on her.

Sometimes it is hard to write when you think the story is going on way and the muse wants to take it a different path. Other times, the creative energies get drained by other things and it gets really difficult to write. During those times I try to work on something else. It is often a good time to work on non-fiction articles or website work.

 

I had not had the opportunity to read any of your novels (Given Good Principles series) yet, but it’s high on my TBR list of series to read. What inspired you to write the series?

(Dung)

Most of my writing is inspired by a ‘what if’ question. In the case of Given Good Principles, it was ‘What if Darcy had a mentor who taught him to follow the good principles he had been given?’ That gave rise to the entire series. For Remember the Past’ the question was ‘What if Mr. Bennet was a successful naval officer, not a land owner?’ In Mistaking Her Character I asked ‘What if Lady Catherine was Mr. Bennet’s patron and they were tied to Rosings Park?’

It is amazing how one little question can start the ball rolling and lead to a brand new world.

 

How did you come up with the concept for Mistaking Her Character? On Goodreads it says it volume I. Will there be more to the series and if so how many?

(Dung)

In Mistaking Her Character I played with Mr. Bennet’s profession, making him a second son who had to take on a gentlemanly profession to provide for his family. There were four options for such a son, clergy, medicine, law or the military. I made him a doctor, with Lady Catherine for a patron and the story took shape from here.

After the story was finished, so many readers asked me about the fates of the other sisters that I began writing those stories a well. Mrs. Drummond’s School for Girls, currently posting on my site, RandomBitsofFascination.com and JaneAustenVariations.com, is the second in the series. If follows Lydia as Mr. Darcy sends her off to school for improvement. It is quite the unexpected tale.

I think I’ll be writing Mary’s story next, called the Heir of Rosings Park. That will be the third book of the series. Jane’s story intimidates me, so I’m not sure if I’ll end up writing that one, and poor Kitty had very little part in the original story, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do with her.

 

In this story, Mr. Bennet is horrid. How did he come to be such a character in your thinking? (Maria Grace, can I just say that I hated my Mr. Bennet in A Father’s Sins, but I LOATHED yours. Talk about a well-written character.)

(Joy Dawn King)

I didn’t exactly intend for Mr. Bennet to be loathsome. My original plan was that it would be Mrs. Bennet who was awful, but in a different way.

This is where being a writer can get weird. The unconscious/subconscious can take over and surprising things happen.

While I was writing this, my mother had a major health crisis. In dealing with that, a great deal of personal angst got stirred up. All of that ended up written into the characters without really intending for it. You see, my mother is Mr. Bennet in this book. I really hadn’t intended to write it that way and I didn’t even know I had until readers started pointing it out to me. It was rather shocking to tell you the truth. Made me do a great deal of thinking.

 

 

Did you have more fun/interest in writing about ODC in Mistaking Her Character or Lydia in the sequel? I found the plot very original and loved the twists and layers that were added! Thank you for writing!(Nicole)

Writing about Elizabeth and Darcy is fairly natural and straight forward and I love doing it. I have no idea what possessed me to write about Lydia, to be honest. I have always hated the character and avoid her in the story whenever I can.

So when I started Lydia’s story, I didn’t have a whole lot invested as I didn’t like her at all. I vaguely knew where it was going and just let the characters run with it.

That has changed, pretty dramatically. The more I wrote, the more I found layers to Lydia’s character, and depth that I hadn’t expected were there. I began to see what made her who she was and that was fascinating. As the circumstances have changed and matured her, I have grown very fond of her and am rooting for her as the story draws to the climax. It has been a very different writing experience. 

 

Any thoughts on writing an Austenesque story other than P&P? Persuasion, Emma or perhaps S&S or NA? I’m hoping you will write a Persuasion-based story as it is one of my favourite novel.

(Lúthien84)

I love Persuasion, but I haven’t stumbled upon a plot I want to write yet, although there are the seeds of one kicking around in the back of my mind. I am also playing with a story about Harriet Smith from Emma. Everyone kind of dismisses Harriet as a dumb bunny, but I’ve wondered if she is really stupid, or just easily influenced by those she cares about because of a very sweet temperament. It is a short story now and I’m not sure it will be fleshed out to novel form. But I will be posting it soon.

 

All of your published works are historical based. Do you plan to try your hand at writing a modern story in future?

(Lúthien84)

I don’t think I will be writing moderns. Even from childhood writings, my stories have almost always been set in another world, either historical, fantasy or science fiction. Not sure why, but that’s how they end up evolving.

 

Is there a chance that you will publish a book that has nothing to do with JAFF?

(Lúthien84)

Absolutely. My dear husband is ever after me to finish my science fiction series and I do plan on doing just that. I also have a fantasy plot that I am developing and want to see in print.

 

What is your next book and when can we expect it will be published?(Lúthien84)

I think the next book will be a set of short stories, including Harriet’s. I hope to have it out by fall. After that I’m not sure. I am working on another non-fiction, Regency era history book and of course Lydia’s story. I fantasize about having one of those done by the end of the year, but I don’t want to promise anything just yet.

   

If you were stranded on a desert island with only five books, which five would you choose?

(Joy Dawn King)

Five? Only five? You must be joking! Pretty please, don’t leave me with only five books! Can’t I take my kindle?

 

I’d like to say a big Thank You to Maria Grace for being this month’s guest!

For those who haven’t yet checked out Mistaking Her Character, it’s now available on Amazon and other major retailers, and check in with Maria Grace on her blog, twitter, and Facebook for her latest news on her writing and the blog tour for Mistaking Her Character!

Website/Blog: Random Bits of Fascination

Austen Variations blog: Jane Austen Variations

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMariaG...

Twitter: @WriteMariaGrace

 

 

Don’t forget the GIVEAWAY!!!

Usual rules apply – Every person who submits a question gets one chance entered into the pot. If you submit a question and a comment on the final interview you get two chances!

Time to comment!

Final date for comments to be entered into the drawing Wednesday, 15  July.

Winner will be announced Friday, 17 July! 

Leave your comments below!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

 

Winchester, Hampshire

During Jane Austen Regency Week, we had a free day, so a group of us ventured to Winchester to the Cathedral so we could see Jane Austen’s grave and the house where she died.

The drive in itself was lovely, and I enjoyed catching glimpses of the picturesque countryside as I drove along. Parking is simple as it was just as we came into town from A31 and we made our way to the cathedral only to find that it was closed to prepare for a flower show that occurs every two years at the Winchester Cathedral.

 

We were disappointed, but moved on to College Street and the home where she died where we took pictures of the house and the surrounding area as someone pounded away on a piano inside.

A short walk down the road was the Wykeham Arms, a pub that was once a coaching inn and was likely where a post coach carrying Jane Austen would have come into Winchester.

After a quick cup of coffee, we walked down to the mill and toured the old flour mill. The best part of the experience would be going downstairs to see the water wheel, and the small island behind the mill where it now resembles a garden rather than something for livestock.

Winchester has a great old feel and it was a lot of fun just to wander. I can’t wait for next year when the flower show is in Chichester and we can see Jane Austen’s grave! (Why does that seem strange to be excited for that?)

 

Up next…Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove

July – Maria Grace!

It’s Ask the Author time!

July is upon us and a new book is out by our guest

Maria Grace

In June, Maria Grace released her newest JAFF novel

Mistaking Her Character.

Maria Grace is here to answer your questions, so don’t waste time and leave them in the comment thread below!

But wait!!! Maria Grace is offering one e-book of Mistaking Her Character for a giveaway! Usual rules apply – Every person who submits a question gets one chance entered into the pot. If you submit a question and a comment on the final interview you get two chances!

I hope everyone has a query for Maria Grace!

All questions must be submitted by Friday, 10 July.

The final interview will be posted Monday, 13 July.

Final date for comments to be entered into the drawing Wednesday, 15 July.

Winner will be announced Friday, 17 July! 

Leave me your questions in the comments below!

Good luck everyone!!

 

Chawton, Hampshire

In my previous post, I went over the Alton portion of Jane Austen Regency Week and in this post, I shall cover the Chawton events and sights I was able to enjoy while in Hampshire.

It is very difficult to find anything on the history of Chawton prior to Jane Austen. The fact that she lived there from 1809-1817 seems to have taken over any search of Chawton history, yet the town is steeped in Austen whether a particular cottage housed a labourer who worked on Chawton Cottage, or you venture down to Chawton House to take a tour of the library and its gardens.

My first experience of Chawton was walking to the village for lunch prior to the walking tour I took on the first Sunday of Jane Austen Regency Week. We dined at Cassandra’s Cup, a quaint teahouse directly opposite Jane Austen’s house, and chatted until it was time for the tour.

The walk, given by local historian Jane Hurst, began at the underpass between Alton and Chawton and made its way through the picturesque village as she explained different aspects of the roads in the early 19th century and a multitude of cottages. Ms. Hurst is remarkably knowledgeable and able to quote Jane Austen’s letters when she explains the connections, giving you a more in-depth and personal look in to the occupant of the dwelling and their impact on Austen’s life.

We returned to Chawton on Tuesday when I was able to tour Jane Austen’s house. The experience for me was extremely moving–particularly her writing table. I could not help but take a photo of the table and her chair, but also the top, which has some small holes and is very dark, almost indicating a good deal of ink made it to the table itself.

Tuesday night at the house was a special opening and tea service. Guided tours of the attic were given, and I was thrilled to be allowed inside a part of the house rarely opened for visitors. With the narrow and confined quarters and warped floorboards on the stairs, it is no wonder they do not open it on a constant basis.

 

I must say that I enjoyed wandering the house and gardens. I found it rather surreal to look out of the windows and knowing that Jane must’ve looked out and viewed a similar prospect.

My adventure with Jane Austen Regency Week ended on Wednesday morning, but I had not been able to see Chawton House, the home of Edward Austen-Knight, Jane’s brother, so I drove down and parked along the roadside. I could not resist the lure of grabbing my camera and taking a multitude of pictures as I walked down the lane–until I met up with the gate since the house was closed. Not to worry though! I will see it another time!

 

July Preview

July is upon us and it’s definitely summer here in England–I have the sunburn to prove it!

Anyway, as everyone has likely seen on my Facebook thread, I have returned from Jane Austen Regency Week with a ton of photos that I have posted. The group who attended from Austen Variations has posted their photos as well, and we will be blogging the event on the Austen Variations site over the next two weeks as well.

I have already blogged my impressions of the week here, but of course, the Expat will cover each location and a bit of the week as well. You can look forward to those.

For those awaiting Ask the Author, Maria Grace has graciously offered to answer your questions this month! Her new book, Mistaking Her Character is out at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, etc. Don’t forget to stop by and ask that nagging query you’ve always wanted to know! Call for questions goes out Monday, July 6, and Maria Grace has offered an e-book as a giveaway!

Other than the blog, I plan on writing! My calendar has cleared of travel–except for sightseeing on weekends, that is, and I look forward to attempting to get some of this in my head down in a document. We’ll see where that goes! :)

Hope you stop by and don’t forget to comment!

Leslie

Hampshire: Alton and Farringdon

The town of Alton began as a Saxon village first noted in historical record in 1101 and grew into a small market town by the 13th century. Today, it is a pleasant mix of old architecture and new with a unique feel and atmosphere. I visited Alton as a part of Jane Austen Regency Week that is held here and in Chawton during the last full week of June every year.

For those who are unfamiliar with Jane Austen’s link to Alton, Alton is adjacent to Chawton where Jane Austen lived from 1809 to 1817 with her mother and her sister Cassandra and also where she wrote the final drafts of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). Although Persuasion was completed in 1816, it was not published until a year after her death (1818), the same year as Northanger Abbey.

The 2015 Jane Austen Regency Week kicked off with a Regency Day, which was very much an outdoor market environment with vendor stalls. A variety of merchandise was for sale including children’s handmade dresses, Jane Austen inspired books (I’ll leave you to guess who manned that table :)  ) and I believe I even saw one selling ale and cider.

For additional entertainment, the Dandy Chargers glided down High Street on their “Hoppy Horses” along with a maypole dance, and sword fighting exhibitions.

Unfortunately, a muggy day (For England) and intermittent rain slowed down the people attending the event, although many still took a chance with the weather to come out and stroll down High Street where quite a few buildings boast connections to Jane Austen.

Saturday evening, a ball held in the Assembly Rooms drew quite a crowd with a group who led and helped teach the Regency dances we so commonly see in movie adaptations or read of in novels.

On Sunday, I took part in a walking tour of Chawton (I will blog about this when I cover Chawton), and attended an Evensong service at St. Lawrence Church where two of Jane Austen’s brothers preached and several of her nieces and nephews were christened. The music was lovely!

The last of the events I attended were an Abigail Reynolds talk at the Quaker Meeting house and a writer’s workshop also given by Abigail Reynolds at the Alton Community Centre, which were both entertaining and informative.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and so did my time in Alton. Please check back for my part of the week in Chawton. There was simply too much to put into one blog post!

Lastly, I would like to thank Kate of Old Timbers Bed and Breakfast for her wonderful cooking and for sharing her amazing old home! I was just outside of Chawton in Farringdon, which is a picturesque village and convenient (with a car of course) for access to both Alton and Chawton.

 

Next stop…Chawton and Jane Austen’s house!

 

For more info on Old Timbers Cottage Bed and Breakfast –

http://www.oldtimberscottage.co.uk

 

Sources:

http://www.janeaustenregencyweek.co.uk/jarw-events.html

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/austen/deane-parsonage/chawton-austen.htm

http://www.localhistories.org/alton.html