Welcome Beth! Thank you so much for
agreeing to this little interview with me. I really loved your story and I
would love to learn a little more about you and your latest release!
Thank you, Sophie! I've enjoyed answering
your questions.
1. It is evident from your stories that
you are an avid Janeite and very much enjoy Jane Austen’s work. How did you
first come across Jane Austen and fall in love with the regency world of
dancing, carriages and courtship?
I came to Jane Austen a bit later than
you did—in my mid-twenties when I was living in London as a post-graduate
student at Queen Mary College. I was poking around a Dillon's in Bloomsbury
one afternoon shortly after I'd arrived in London and found a copy of Pride and Prejudice in the sale bin. Somehow
I had managed to complete two degrees in English without reading any Jane
Austen (shocking, isn't it?), and I sought to right that wrong.
I had time before my course started, so I
indulged in my first Austen. Many of my fellow residents at William
Goodenough House—now called Goodenough College—studied at the Royal College of
Music. Our common room boasted a beautiful grand piano that was often being
used during the day. I have very fond memories of lying on my bed reading
P&P while a musician practiced across the courtyard. Sometimes I could
imagine that I was actually in a Jane Austen novel. Since then I've made a
habit of re-reading all the novels every couple of years.
2. Of Ms. Austen’s six major novels,
which is your favourite? What appeals to you about it? The characters, the
story, the humour?
Oh my, that is a difficult question to
answer as my allegiances shift from time to time. I adore Sense and Sensibility because I love the evolving relationship
between Marianne and Elinor. The characters develop so beautifully over the
course of the novel. Besides, I've just completed a book based on Sense and Sensibility, so I feel
rather close to it.
On another day I might say Mansfield Park, again because of the
characters. I especially enjoy despising Mrs. Norris!
3. In your two stories you take some of
Ms. Austen’s minor characters and create a story for them. You didn't write a
story based around Darcy and Lizzy, as is the majority of fan fiction. Did you
want to write a story about Mary Bennet and Margaret Dashwood, the lesser
explored characters, because they often get left out or fan fiction? Or had
you had enough of Darcy and Lizzy and the other major characters? Or did
writing a story for the minor characters intrigue you? It is very different
to have a story about Margaret Dashwood especially, and I am really looking
forward to reading it!
A few years ago I played Mary Bennet in a
stage production of Pride and Prejudice
and developed a real fondness for her. Just to give the poor girl a little
adventure, I wrote the first draft of Mary Bennet in one sitting in a café—it
was only about five pages long and took very little time to write. When my
writing partner Emily June Street and I decided to work together, I brought
this tiny story to our first meeting. She gave me a lot of great feedback,
and slowly the story began to evolve. As I worked on Mary's story, I began to
think about other minor characters and how I could give each of them magical
adventures. By the time I finished Mary
Bennet and the Bloomsbury Coven, Emily and I had started our own
publishing company, Luminous Creatures Press, and the Regency Magic series
was born!
4. As well as writing stories about the
secondary characters, your other unique feature to your books is that you add
a magical twist. I was wary of reading Mary Bennet and the Bloomsbury Coven
as I couldn't see how mixing Jane Austen and magic would work, but I really
enjoyed it! How did you come up with the idea in the first place? You are a
fan of magic I would assume? Perhaps a Harry Potter fan?
I am a huge Harry Potter fan! I've read
the series so many times that I count the characters as old friends.
When I sat down to write the little Mary
Bennet story, I had a vague idea that there would be something fantastical
happening to Mary, though I didn't necessarily plan the magic as it is in the
final draft. If I remember correctly, I had something along the lines of
Narnia in mind, but that's not the way the writing took me.
5. What is your opinion of modern
variations of Ms. Austen’s work such as Clueless, or the Bollywood Pride and
Prejudice or the recent YouTube series The Lizzy Bennet Diaries, or even
paranormal variations such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? I was
surprised but pleased that your story was kept in the same era as Jane
Austen's own stories, despite the addition of the magic element, which might
be seen as more appropriate or to be associated with modern tales.
I welcome modern adaptations of
classics—before I started writing fiction I wrote academic papers, an MPhil
thesis, and a PhD dissertation about Shakespeare films, including Ten Things I Hate About You, which is
based on Taming of the Shrew. The
Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet is one
of my favorite Shakespeare films. Shakespeare and Austen wrote stories about
people without hiding their flaws. I think that is why they still hold such
appeal to us now.
As for the adaptations themselves, I
adore Clueless and have seen it an
embarrassing number of times. I even worked it into my MPhil thesis (remember
the conversation Cher has about Hamlet and Mel Gibson?). Amy Heckerling did a
wonderful job adapting Emma to a teen flick set in Beverly Hills. I haven't
seen the Bollywood Pride and Prejudice, but it sounds like it would be a lot
of fun.
6. Mr Darcy has to be one of the most
famous heroes in all of literature. However, I very much enjoyed the hero you
created in Mary Bennet and the Bloomsbury Coven. How did you go about writing
a hero worthy of a Bennet daughter? Was it fun to create a new character?
That is a great question! I'm not sure
how clearly I can answer it without giving away too much, not about my
mysterious writing process, but about key plot details. I felt that in order
for it to be a successful Austen sequel there had to be some romance, and I
wanted to give Mary a little love—her life is definitely lacking in that
area! I also wanted the hero to be much nicer than Mr. Collins, whom many
people think Mary should have married. I did enjoy writing a hero worthy of a
Bennet daughter!
7. As well as the hero being a new
character that you created, how did you find creating the many other new
characters you have in your story, and having them interact with characters
we already know from Ms. Austen's own stories?
Creating new characters is one of my
favorite parts of writing the Regency Magic series. At the risk of sounding
too mystical, I have to say that the characters reveal themselves to me as I
go along. I very rarely have a plan, although I did base Mrs. Bristlethwaite
from Margaret Dashwood and the
Enchanted Atlas loosely on someone I know—Tina Packer, an English actor
who founded Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. I spent a month
there a few years ago, so got to know her a little. She's a marvelous actor
with a deliciously contagious chuckle. But even Mrs. Bristlethwaite didn't
conform to my expectations of her. I have a special fondness for another
character in Margaret's book called Mr. James.
In Mary
Bennet and the Bloomsbury Coven, Mr. Bennet gave me a little surprise—I
took a liberty that I hope Miss Austen wouldn't have minded. I based Mr.
Hartbustle on a friend of mine, although only in appearance.That character
also surprised me as the story unfolded.
Because people know Miss Austen's
characters so well, I strive to make their interactions with the new
characters as honest as possible. Luckily, Miss Austen's characters are so
beautifully drawn that I can easily imagine how they would react to my
characters.
8. As I have already said, I really
enjoyed Mary Bennet and am looking forward to reading your latest release.
Can you tell us more about it? Which character have you enjoyed writing about
more, Mary or Margaret?
The new book takes place several years
after Sense and Sensibility—Margaret
is eighteen and a fairly accomplished sorceress. She inherits the Enchanted
Atlas from her father—again, I took a little liberty with Miss Austen's
character by making Henry Dashwood an accomplished sorcerer who trained his
daughter until his death. Margaret's magical adventure begins after she finds
the atlas and meets Mrs. Bristlethwaite, a friend of her father's and a
prominent member of the Devonshire Coven. Together they learn about magical
items disappearing from sites around the world. With the Devonshire Coven,
Margaret embarks on a quest to stop the thefts and discover the culprit.
Naturally she also finds a little love.
As for which character I enjoyed writing
more—hmmm, that's another difficult question! I loved writing Mary because I
got to give her a voice and an explanation for her faults. Margaret was a lot
of fun because she's so romantic and earnest. But I haven't really answered
your question; to be honest I'm not sure I could pick between them.
9. I will wrap up the questions now, but
one final thing; do you have some other stories in the works? Are you going
to continue with your magical themed Austen books? You must excuse my
impatience, for I realise that your second story has only just been released,
but I had to ask!
I do have other stories in the works! I just started drafting a new novel about ballet dancers tentatively called Anna's Piece. Given the way my writing process works, I imagine I'll be done with the first draft by early February, but then it will sit for at least six months before I can come back to it. That's when I'm planning to start the first draft of Regency Magic Book Three: Susan Price and the Staff of Adalet. I'm basing this one on Mansfield Park—Susan being Fanny Price's younger sister who eventually comes to live at Mansfield Park. Right now I have only vague ideas about Susan's adventure, but I imagine I'll have a lot of fun discovering what it is!
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** GIVEAWAY - ends Wednesday 10th December**
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