Category: book excerpt
-
Christmas Celebrations: Short Stories of Jane Austen Fan Fiction
At Christmas time, we return to Jane Austen’s world where warmth, wit, and hope remind us of what truly endures. This sixth Christmas Anthology gathers new stories inspired by Jane Austen’s beloved characters, imagined by authors who offer fresh insight into their emotions, their choices, and the moments left untold. These tales remind us why her creations…
-
“Lyon in Disguise: The Lyon’s Den Connected World” from Dragonblade Publishing, Releasing December 17 from Regina Jeffers
Lyon in Disguise: Lyon’s Den Connected World A handsome rake meets his match in a red-headed enchantress who is his enemy! They may be on different sides of the law, but Lord Navan Beaufort is not going to permit that to stop him from protecting Miss Audrey Moreau. Navan has never thought truly to love…
-
An Early Christmas Gift
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And I’ve been going back through some older writings. Five years ago, I put together a collection of scenes called 12 Months of Darcy to give away to readers who signed up for my newsletter. I thought I would share December with you today. December A weak…
-
Caroline Bingley Goes to Sea: On Reforming a Snob
Several people have asked if they could read my latest novel without reading the previous books in the series. “Is it self-contained, would it still make sense?” And the answer is yes! Er, sort of! Here’s the main thing: If you’re willing to take it on faith that Caroline Bingley had a moment of clarity…
-
Pride, Pursuit, and Pictures
It’s just over a year since I released Pride and Pursuit, my most recent Pride and Prejudice variation, a caper wherein Darcy steals a carriage… with Elizabeth Bennet inside! On the run for their lives, they need to put personal differences aside as they make all haste for the one place Darcy thinks they will…
-
The Rules of Austenesque Fiction
Before I wrote this column, I listened to Benjamin Grosvenor’s performance—with the Royal Liverpool Phil—of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin’s work played a central part in the opening movement of the Bennet Wardrobe Series, The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey. The music allows us to find something familiar that serves to link the Mary…
-
Packet Ships, Peril, and Persuasion: Setting Sail in 1813 (+ an Excerpt)
There’s something gloriously impractical about sending a lady to sea in the Regency era. The skirts! The cockroaches! The chamber pots that slid everywhere! Yet by 1813, Britain was bursting with people doing exactly that—soldiers, diplomats, merchants, and, occasionally, their wives—rattling around the globe in those sturdy little packet ships I’ve been describing lately. My…
-
Orwell Nailed It
#PrideAndPerjury #JAFF #HistoricalFiction #SelfPublishing “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.” George Orwell First, please note what Orwell did not say. Writing is often intensely enjoyable – even non-fiction. It’s when your enjoyable project turns into a judgeable, sellable, editable book that the illness kicks in… My…
-
Hearts Unspoken & What Opportunities Await
I’m thrilled to announce that my newest Pride and Prejudice variation, Hearts Unspoken, is now available wherever eBooks are sold. Book Premise: When Miss Elizabeth Bennet accepts a position as the paid companion of the mistress of Pemberley, would she have chosen differently had she known what lay ahead? Mr. Darcy, an honorable man, who…
-
A Sneak Peek at What’s Coming
Growing up with two younger brothers was an adventure. I may not have found a snake in my bed, but that did not mean restful and peaceful sleep was always had. What I also remember was trying to tell them how to avoid my mistakes, like taking a bike down a hill that had a…