Author: Riana Everly
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The Author Travels: The Origins of a Tale
As I write this, I’m sitting in a lounge at the airport, waiting for my flight. My husband has a conference on the other side of the country, one which happens every year. Last year it was in Montreal. I am probably the only person alive who hates Montreal, but there you have it, and…
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A Rose by Any Other Name: Mr Collins’ Garden
“In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love” – Alfred Lord Tennyson It’s the middle of May. The sky is blue, the birds are singing, and rather than love, my fancy is lightly turning to thoughts of gardening. I have no particular talent for such an endeavour, and my vast…
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Confessions of an Unfaithful Author: The Shadow of Austen
I have a confession to make. I’m cheating. Yes, it’s true. I’ve written a non-JAFF novel, something that is not based on one of Jane Austen’s amazing works of fiction. Can you ever forgive me? I was asked to participate in a multi-author series of historical romances, and two original characters popped into my head…
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Some Music in the Parlour: Regency Keyboard Instruments
I’ve been thinking a bit about pianos of late. I am in the final stages of editing a non-JAFF Regency Romance that is coming out in mid-May. In this story, my heroine is exceptionally skilled at the pianoforte, which is what first draws the hero to her. This, of course, led to a bit of…
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When Characters Speak
This has been a busy month for me. Our fun fairytale-inspired anthology, Darcy Ever After, was released on February 1st, I’m doing final edits for a non-JAFF Regency Romance for the new Noble Hearts Romance series, coming out in May, writing another non-JAFF romance for the same series, and also writing a short story for…
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Once Upon a Time
It’s always such fun thinking up new What-Ifs for Jane Austen’s fabulous characters. For almost every plot point in Austen’s amazing novel Pride and Prejudice, there’s an option for a different direction; for every character, the possibility of a different choice. We have role reversals, Elizabeth as an heiress, Darcy as a werewolf, bad Jane,…
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A Trip to Italy
Aren’t I the lucky duck! I’ve just returned from a 12-day trip to Italy, and oh, the history geek/art-lover in me is still in raptures. My kid, who is studying in the UK, finished classes right when my husband was able to take a bit of time from work, and we decided to meet up…
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The Perfect Regency Heroine
Over the past few weeks I’ve been busy writing a new novel. I haven’t signed up for the official NaNoWriMo event this time, but I’m staying accountable in a small group with some friends. It’s been a great experience, since we’ve done some brainstorming as well as keeping up our word counts, and it’s a…
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Dinner is Served: Unusual Meals of Yore
It’s that time of year here where the big meals start appearing. The busy month of Jewish holidays has just concluded, Canadian Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks ago, and American Thanksgiving is rushing up at us. Diwali is in a few days, then several other events major and minor, and then the whirlwind of…
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Wandering through Wales
As I write this, I’m sitting in an old pub in Reading, England, on my way home after a fabulous visit to Wales. The primary purpose of this trip was to drop my daughter off at university there, but I had other plans as well. First, I wanted to visit friends in the UK. Some…