Author: Don Jacobson
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Motivating Austenesque Characters
I have been writing Austenesque fiction since 2015—so about nine years now. In the beginning, I was certainly writing JAFF—Jane Austen Fan Fiction. Within a year, though, I found that the idea of JAFF, like an Aerosmith Tribute Band, was constraining my creativity. The idea that the characters began and ended on Austen’s little writing…
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Different Stories, Parallel Tracks
There are times when we get lost in the differences between Darcy and Elizabeth. One is filled with pride of position that informs his prejudices while the other suffers injured pride of person that sets her face against the author of her discomfort. Yet, both must overcome these barriers to discover love. As I was…
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The Sound of Writing
Inspired is a word I do not use lightly. However, working with my friend Benjamin Fife on the Audible performance of my upcoming novel, In Westminster’s Halls, is incredibly inspiring. I hope my writing is not just words on paper but a performance that resonates in readers’ minds. And while Benny is an exceptional voice…
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Side Characters Are Not Side Stories
One of the “funnest” things about writing Austenesque fiction is when supporting characters fight to the surface. I guess this comes from an inner voice telling me that the ODC from the Canonical books cannot be the only movers in the story. If we continue doing the whole JAFF Tribute Band thing, we will quickly…
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10,000 a Year or 5,000
Whether you’re a devoted reader of #Austenesque fiction or not, you’ve likely come across Mrs. Bennet’s waxing poetic about Darcy’s 10,000-a-year. Her words underscore the centrality of wealth in Austen’s works. While others, like my friend Heather Moll, have delved into what a certain income could afford in Austen’s Britain, that’s not the focus of…
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Taxes More Inevitable Than Death in Austen’s Britain
The blog schedule lobbed a fat one across the center of the plate this month! Tax Day in the United States is April 15th. Since that date is ingrained in the American national consciousness, this becomes the only realistic topic for a post dropping on the 12th. ’Tis true that Mr. Franklin sardonically noted, “…but…
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Writing an Author’s Truth in Austenesque Fiction
What makes writing Austenesque variations exciting is that, in the hands of an author ready to explore truths that informed Jane Austen’s life and those of her characters, we are no longer constrained by the epochal notions enshrined in film or video. Rather, fresh approaches are sought in fantasy (Maria Grace and Abigail Reynolds, for…
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Turning Austenesque to Write an ODC Variation
Something inside always held me back from writing a Darcy/Elizabeth novel. ’Twas not fear, dear friends, although the eternal binary is daunting for any writer. Seriously, how can one improve on the original? There was something else holding me back from tackling what is the mainstream in JAFF—Jane Austen Fan Fiction. It was JAFF itself.…
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The Lyrical Roots of Writing
I offer two selections from the redoubtable H.L. Mencken to defend my thesis. The first is an opening salvo by the great commentator. Who ever heard of a bad autobiography? That is, a bad honest one? I can scarcely imagine it. And two sentences later, still in the same paragraph: (For there is a dreadful…
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Plagued by Self-Doubt
Pemberley’s Awesome Burden When writing, most of us draw from the world around us, our lives, and the people in them. My Thomas Bennets tend to be somewhat autobiographical. Mrs. Bennet is a Nineteenth Century version of my mother. Elizabeth? She would be my wife, Pam. Other characters are composites of personality types I have…