I Shall be Released (Eventually)

PRIDE AND PREP SCHOOL comes out in mid-October and, hopefully, I will soon have a cover to show you all. Until then, I want to thank everyone who’s read the first two installments of the Snark and Circumstance series and remind you, in case you’ve forgotten, or tell you, in case you didn’t know, that it is based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Now, it’s not an exact replica, because that would be boring and pointless. It is, instead, a YA take on it. So if you want to play along with Spot the Parallels, I can get you caught up before the third installment.

The Characters

Georgiana, or Georgia, is, of course, Elizabeth Bennett, the second-eldest sister who’s a little too snarky and sure of herself, especially in regard to the snotty perfidy of Michael/Mr. Darcy.  In my version they do not look anything like these people .  More like this , an image from bleedingcool.com and this .  Georgia’s parents are like the Bennett parents. Tori is Jane Bennett, the sweet, sensible sister, who is in love with a sweet and eligible bachelor, Trey Billingsley III in my book, Mr. Bingley In Austen’s.  I cut out one of the Bennett sisters and made twins – the flighty, trampy Lydia has become my Cassie and quiet, religious Mary is my Leigh.  And I made Leigh fall in love with the Mr.Collins figure in my book, Alistair, the son of Chinese missionaries. (He is not as annoying as Mr. Collins because no one could be). Finally, Book Two introduced you to the dashing Mr. Wickham figure, Jeremy Wrentham, with whom Georgia flirted with danger. He’s going to really mess things up in Book Three, especially for Cassie. Plus there will be a weird sort of proposal, much like Darcy’s, in the next installment, but I don’t want to give too much away.

The Plot

Both books involve a set of unlikely lovers that eventually realize they belong together. Both involve parties, dances, and other sites of potential social embarrassment, as well as daring and anonymous rescues; mine includes vegan activism, shocking selfies, and a punk rock band.

If you haven’t dusted off your copy of P&P yet, you can take this quickie refresher course from my new favorite source of literary analysis, Thug Notes on Youtube.

And if you haven’t checked out the first two installments of Snark, why wait? You can get them here or here.

And I’ll be posting teasers about Book Three over the next few weeks, along with writing advice, recipes, and other fun stuff I encounter along the way.

Happy reading!