Janeites Rejoice ...

... for we have a solid month and a half of celebrations before us. Two event will see us through these last hot weeks of summer, ringing in the invigorating, autumnal months ahead. First we have Austen in August, starting the 15th (next week!) and taking us through to the end of the month. Hosted by Misty, The Book Rat, this will be a celebration of all things Austen, complete with giveaways and guest posts, including one of each from yours truly, plus a read along! Be sure to vote on which novel we'll read before time runs out: www.thebookrat.com. For the past two years, I have been able to participate in Misty's Jane in June, of which Austen in August is the reincarnation, and I am always impressed by the frolicking atmosphere she creates in homage to dear Jane, who would certainly approve. Then fasten your seat belts ladies and gents, because September 1st bring us the Austenesque Extravganza, hosted by Meredith of Austenesque Reviews. I was astounded by this phenomenal happening when she held the first Extravaganza last year, and Meredith and her team seem posed to outdo themselves this time around. An entire month completely devoted to Austenesque is a miracle in and of itself, but when you see how much work these ladies have put into making their extravaganza fully extravagant, you will feel humbled by the astonishing depths of their achievement. I'm grateful to be able to do my little part to add to the party.

As observant followers may have noticed, I'm sort of beginning to rethink the purpose of this blog. When I first started it in the fall of '09, I intended it as a vehicle for marketing my book, but quickly I found myself using it to share my obsession for the emerging genre to which I was going to contribute, what I knew as Jane Austen Fan Fiction, or JAFF (thanks again to Meredith for providing a better title, for I believe it was she who first called it Austenesque). Book reviews became my main focus, I believe to the confusion of other writers and bloggers, who weren't quite sure what I was about. Perhaps that will now become clearer.

Though I intend to keep posting reviews, as I am able, the fact of the matter is I have no where near the time I once did to read. I cannot express strongly enough what agony this causes me, and for no one but my child would I make such a sacrifice. It is for her sake that I spend what spare time I now have writing rather than reading, for even if my work has little impact at large, it is a legacy for her, and I have a strong need to create something she can own. What better place to begin than right here?

In the coming weeks I am going to experiment with a few new notions and see what materializes. These upcoming Austen celebrations should provide a great deal of inspiration. I know I want to start playing with the Mashups again; now that we have a cast of characters, should we not see what we can make of them? Some might remember the post Austen in Walkingland, as might followers on Twitter: my contribution to last year's Extravaganza. I think this will be the premise for much fun with the Mashups. I hope you'll come back to check it out!