The Ladies of Norland: Excerpt and Giveaway at The Book Rat

Click here to return to the master list of Austen in August posts!

Austen in August roles on! I had great intentions of posting more frequently throughout this event. I also had great intentions of writing 20,000 words over the past few weeks. None of that came to fruition. I even missed my first, self-imposed Monday blogging schedule for the first time in six months. I was on such a role! I suppose I should know better than to have such high expectations of productivity during summer vacation. The good news: school resumed today.

Please do visit the post, read the excerpt, and enter to win a copy of my most recent Twisted Austen novella: The Ladies of Norland. It is a reimagination premised on the idea that the Dashwood ladies are not dispossessed from their home, because struggles often lead to happy endings, while a clear prospect often turn into a rainy day. Not the happiest story, but Twisted Austen tales never are. They are a place for me to explore darker ideas than are strictly marketable: http://www.thebookrat.com/2021/08/the-ladies-of-norland-excerpt-giveaway.html.  

Austen in August 2021

My dear readers, 

I invite you to join in one of my favorite annual events, Austen in August, hosted by The Book Rat. I have been so fortunate as to participate in this celebration of all things Jane from its inception in 2009, which just happens to be the same year as I began blogging. This year, I am again participating in the round table interviews (check them out every Monday - I'm in excellent company this year), as well as giveaways. There will be an excerpt from The Ladies of Norland, and a repost of my "Strange Beauty Secrets of the Late 18th/Early 19th Centuries" article, plus loads of contributions from other amazing authors and Austen aficionados. Don't miss out!

Click here to return to the master list of Austen in August posts!

Misty's introduction and invitation to this year's event made me feel very sentimental (also old). I started looking back through my posts for AIA over the years, beginning when it was still Jane in June, and just two weeks instead of four. I stumbled on this forgotten post from 2011, which went live three days before my first child's birth. Wow! What a trip down memory lane! The post includes an excerpt from the original draft of Second Glances which was completely scrapped before publication. I ended up splitting the original story into two books, somewhat ironically, as I am now trying to meld them back together again. This might be really interesting to those who have reads both Second Glances and Holidays at Pemberley and are curious about my writing process.

By the next year, I had managed to complete Second Glances (I really can't remember how I actually pulled it off, as I was totally overwhelmed), and I contributed an excerpt actually in the finished novel. Also in 2012, I dutifully posted along with AIA read along, which was Persuasion, my favorite Austen novel. It's great to have my thoughts on it recorded in this fashion. If you are interested, please follow the links to read: Intro, Ch. 1-7, Ch. 8-18, Ch. 19-end.

In 2013, I dug in deep to Austen's juvenilia, which I'm always pushing. Unfortunately, I think that was the last time I contributed new materials. It's a reflection on the huge upheavals experienced in the last eight years: the loss of so many loved ones in 2014, my father's catastrophic car accident in 2015, moving to Switzerland, the birth of my second fabulous but rambunctious child in 2017, and the pandemic. It's been a wild ride, and it's far from over. I want to thank Misty a thousand times over not only for all the memories, but also for simply keeping this thing going. It's no small feat organising an event like this, and it would have been easy to let it go after COVID cancelled last year's AIA. I'm extremely grateful for her grit. Now let's get this party started!

All the best,

Alexa

Austen in August at The Book Rat

I'm participating in The Book Rat's annual Austen extravaganza - Austen in August - with a guest post and excerpt from Darcy in Wonderland. Please stop by and check out my contribution, plus all the other excellent happenings:

http://www.thebookrat.com/2017/08/the-perfections-of-pemberley-guest-post.html

Amelia Webster at Austen in August, plus an Elegant Extracts Giveaway

 I just returned form five days in Texas with my family last night, and while the trip was lovely, the homecoming has been a series of minor crises. Sometimes its hard to get back into the rhythm of home.

It wasn't helpful that my daughter appropriated my Kindle for the entire trip, and the copy of Mansfield Park that I dutifully downloaded on to it in preparation for the Austen in August (at the thebookrat.com) read along (sign up here) has yet to be opened. Having already read all the magazines American Airlines has to offer, I broke down and bought a book in the Austin airport for the ride home: J. K. Rowling's A Casual Vacancy. It's awesome! I can't put it down.

Despite my distractions, Austen in August presses forward, and I'm actually featured there today. I've been making my Elegant Extracts books again, this time featuring a piece of Austen's juvenilia: a short epistolary piece entitled Amelia Webster. In my guest post (read it here), I dig into the short tale, examining it in the context of Austen's development as a writer. I hope you'll read it and enter to win one of three copies up for grabs!

Soon I will dig into Mansfield and post my thoughts on the first volume, but right now the people of Pagford are calling for my attention. They make the residents of Mansfield Park look downright cheery, even Mrs. Norris, but I'm afraid I can't bear to be out of their company right now.