This is a busy, busy month for me, with travels, big changes, and lots and lots of book news.
In a few days I’m heading off to the UK for the rest of September. I’ll be visiting old friends and meeting some of my wonderful co-authors, who until now have just been lovely people chatting on the Internet. I cannot tell you have thrilled I am about this! I’m also helping my “baby” move to Wales, where she’ll be doing a law degree for the next three years. I’ll miss her a lot, but I’m so excited for her. Of course, I’ll need to spend a lot of time travelling to Wales while she’s there… to make sure she’s doing alright, of course. No touristy ulterior motives at all. None. I might even stop in to see here once or twice.
It’s also a busy, busy book month!
A few days ago, Romance Café Publishing’s latest Austen-inspired anthology was released. Tea with Austen is a fun collection, including my humorous story called “A Mistaken Impression,” wherein Mr Darcy’s plans to propose to Elizabeth are interrupted by fate… and a few other things.
That’s number one.
Number two is a contemporary anthology called Falling for You, being published as a fundraiser for the International Red Cross. No Austen in this one, but the stories are lovely. Mine features a newly divorced woman in her late 40s who absolutely has no interest whatsoever in her temporary housemate, even if he is distractingly handsome. Falling for You is coming out on September 7. Whew…
Number four is my next full-length P&P variation, due to be published at the end of September. In an act of desperation, with a murderous Wickham close on his heels, Darcy resorts to the unthinkable, and finds himself fleeing through the wilds of Wales, with a most displeased Elizabeth Bennet as his unwitting companion! I’ll be in Wales at the time of release, so more news on Pride and Pursuit will be coming soon.
But wait… I skipped Number Three. And that’s mostly what I want to talk about today. Because number three is a project quite close to my heart. Crime and Culpability is an amazing collection of Austen-inspired mysteries, assembled and edited by Elizabeth Gilliland and with a foreword (and story, of course) by Always Austen’s amazing Regina Jeffers. I mean… SQUEEEEEE, right?
I was honoured to be invited to contribute to this anthology, and of course, I had to write about my two favourite Austenesque sleuths, Mary Bennet and her friend Alexander Lyons. I’ve been writing their next full adventure, but writer’s block and real life have interfered with that novel to a ridiculous degree. I’m hoping that a day or two in Bath will help jiggle a few brain cells and get the muse back on the job. But “Death at the Races,” my short story in this anthology, flowed easily, and I was thrilled to spend time with these characters again.
It’s a fine day at the races. Mr Darcy and Elizabeth are there, as are some old friends and new, and everybody is having a grand time until a nasty incident disturbs their friendly gathering. Then a man is found dead, and things are not looking good for one of Darcy’s oldest friends. Can Mary and Alexander put their heads together to find whodunnit before the last horse reaches the finish line?
I know all the other stories in the anthology are equally fun, so definitely check it out… and see if you can work out who the culprit is before the sleuths make their pronouncements!
Here’s the official blurb:
“No one can withstand the charm of such a mystery.” – Jane Austen, Persuasion
Jane Austen mysteries have become a popular subgenre of Austen variations, but this is more than just a trend. Austen was a masterful storyteller who embedded clues within her stories for her readers to follow, inviting readers to read between the lines and “gather the evidence” to follow her intricate plotlines.
In this anthology, various authors who are also fans and admirers of Austen’s work have taken the challenge to add some mystery to Austen’s stories and characters. From Regency sequels to film noir retellings to cozy art heists, Crime and
Culpability: A Jane Austen Mystery Anthology explores the many faces of Austen and all of her
enigmas.
Featuring stories by Regina Jeffers, Riana Everly, Jeanette Watts, Michael Rands, Linne Elizabeth, Emma Dalgety, and Elizabeth Gilliland, with a foreword by Regina Jeffers and an introduction by Elizabeth Gilliland Rands.
Crime and Culpability will be released on September 10, but you can preorder it now.
Happy September, and Happy Reading. There’s plenty to keep you all well-supplied with words this month.
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