Category: Uncategorized
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The End
There’s a sad sort of clangingFrom the clock in the hallAnd the bells in the steeple, too;And up in the nurs’ryAn absurd little birdIs popping out to say “coo-coo.”(Coo-coo, coo-coo.)Regretfully they tell usBut firmly they compel usTo say goodbye to you . . .So long, farewell,Auf Wiedersehen, good night. [“So Long, Farewell” from The Sound of…
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A Final Excerpt
I am sad to say that this will be my last post with Always Austen. To commemorate this moment, I thought I would share one more excerpt from 12 Months of Darcy. It is, of course, for March, and one of my favorites. This month, Elizabeth gets to see a softer side of Darcy. MARCH…
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Fare Thee Well and Looking at What is to Come
It seems impossible, being part of Always Austen for years and now we come our final posts. To say I was excited when I was invited to be one of the staple authors to write blogs is too simplistic. To do so alongside Don, Melanie, Cherith, Pam, Kelly, and so many others, either in guest…
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A Fond Farewell and Giveaway Results
As the Always Austen blog draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the many years spent typing away in the company of Darcy, Elizabeth, and an endless parade of tea cups. Writing Jane Austen fan fiction has taught me a few things—some practical, some philosophical, and some just plain ridiculous. Here’s a small…
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Regency Childbirth
Forceps, anesthesia, and hot, spiced wine: What was it like to give birth in Regency England?
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A Valedictory Bow
As with all things, ends are inevitable. This will be my last post for Always Austen as the blog site winds down. Hard to believe this will be my forty-second post here at Always Austen! However, posts and all that mean little without the presence of a woman, an author, and, I dare say, a…
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Compelled Unions: Arranged and Underage Marriage in the Regency Era
When people picture Regency England, they often imagine elegant ballrooms and whispered declarations of love. But for many young women, marriage was not a matter of choice at all. Arranged matches, family duty, and questions of property meant that girls—sometimes shockingly young—could be pressed into marriages they did not want. Legal Framework Under Lord Hardwicke’s…
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Anatomy of a Book Cover Part I
When I first started writing, my former publisher encouraged me to work on a series. So, I started writing what would become The Darcy and Elizabeth Series that consisted of the following: The Women of Longbourn Attending a Ball Darcy and Bingley Darcy Chooses Part 1 Darcy Chooses Part 2 Elizabeth’s Choice The first three…
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An Affectionate Farewell
After a little more than two years, this will be my last post for “Always Austen.” The blog is coming to an end. For two years I’ve learned and enjoyed so much content from blog owner Regina Jeffers and the rest of the authors who participate. There’s a mind-blowing collection of experience, scholarship, and gifted…
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Unexpected Moments of Reaching Out
One scene has kept me coming back to George Eliot’s Middlemarch for fifty years. Dorothea, a young and engaging woman, has married an older man, clergyman Mr. Casaubon, out of an intellectual and religious ardor for his scholarship. After just eighteen months, she realizes that she is trapped in a loveless marriage with a third-rate…