Category: book excerpt
-
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…
-
How evil can Wickham be?
One of the things I love about writing is playing with the characters. It is simple enough to take out frustrations, or pushing the characters further than Jane Austen did. What about not only pushing them to be far more evil than originally, but what about making the character softer, gentler, or even explain why…
-
An Audience with Mr. Bennet Part II
First of all, I must thank Vesper and Glynis for the great comments last month. I was in the midst of a Critical Approaches to Literature class and used our conversations on one of my assignments regarding the Reader-Response Theory. Now, I won’t make you wait any longer for the next installment. For those of…
-
Everything a Charming Story’s Depiction Ought to Be
I might have spent hours and hours searching for the perfect background picture for my newest audiobook, Irrevocably Gone, but then I came across this popular image that I’ve used in previous social media posts and thought, why not go with this? Does it not convey everything a Pride and Prejudice retelling ought to convey?…
-
Tea with Austen – A New Anthology
As we approach the middle of August, my calendar is starting to look quite busy. There is so much going on over the next several weeks, I think I’ll need three of me to keep up. For my family, the biggest news is my “baby,” heading off to Wales for university. She has been looking…
-
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…
-
Spin the wheel to pick next story
Hi everyone. Are you all having a great summer? If so, tell us where you are so we can join you in getting away from tropical storms, mudslides, wildfires, and extreme heat. I wonder if the polar bears make good neighbors. Here in Utah is the 24th of July, which is Pioneer Day. In SLC,…
-
An Audience with Mr. Bennet
Oh, I am so glad we finally got to this point. Mr. Bennet is one of my favorite characters to play with. In my opinion, he is quite aware of his family but is just too . . . I don’t want to say lazy but can’t think of a better word . . .…
-
Inspiration is Where You Find It
As a writer, the allure of a family outing to Medieval Times in Orlando, Florida, way back in Autumn 2013, was irresistible, especially with the popularity of my much-adored young knight, Bennet Carlton, featured in He Taught Me to Hope. My husband, our daughter and I arrived early, brimming with anticipation, determined to snag optimal…
-
Why Your Friends Hate Your Books . . .
I recently received an email from an old friend who’s also a novelist, though in a very different genre. “Hi Alice, I’m feeling low and in need of advice. Maybe everybody secretly dislikes me, but my friends and family, neighbours and acquaintances generally just don’t care about my books. They’ve sold great, and one was…