Thrilled to be part of this month’s Austenesque Extravaganza, put together by bloggers Meredith Esparza and Jakki Leatherberry.  For my part in this month-long celebration of everything Austen, I got to meet Austen authors Alyssa Goodnight and Karalynne Mackrory and chat via Skype about (gasp!) Our Jane Austen Pet Peeves.  (Sacrilege!)  Hope you enjoy!

Alyssa Goodnight: I’m Alyssa Goodnight, and my Austen-inspired novels are modern-day homages that make the assumption that Jane Austen’s spirit is alive and well, offering up romantic advice from a journal.

Lori Smith: Sounds like fun!  I’ve written Austen-related non-fiction, most recently The Jane Austen Guide to Life, which takes practical lessons from both Austen’s fiction and her life stories.  If she could give us advice today, what would she tell us?  Similar to yours a bit, Alyssa.

KaraLynne Mackrory: I am KaraLynne Mackrory and I live in a fantasy world where I believe Mr. Darcy is real.  Well, real enough to invade my thoughts and make me produce giggle-fest stories of him.

Alyssa Goodnight: So…I assume  Mr. Darcy is your favorite Austen hero?

KaraLynne Mackrory: Hmm… that’s a good question. And the answer might not even be yes.  I liked him a lot – though probably because P & P is my favorite of Jane Austen’s books, but I almost liked Edmund Bertram or the charming Mr. Tilney as much.  How about you guys? Continue reading »

Monday, July 9 – Capital Christian Writers – Fairfax, VA – 7-9 PM – “The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing”

Have you been thinking about publishing?  Wondering whether — and how — to self-publish?  What are the advantages of traditional publishing?  Come out for a presentation and discussion.  I’ll be speaking and sharing some self-publishing resources.

I’m feeling overwhelmed today.

I dream of something like this (from Ekster Antiques):

My dining room looks like this:

I’ve been wanting to recover those chairs for, umm… 10 years.  (If you can see them beyond the mess.)

That about sums up how I’m feeling today. Anybody relate?

I really, really want to win this.

Athleta is giving away a Boga paddleboard, Dakine bags, and a bunch of their favorite summer styles.  Here’s my entry.  (AP – I stole your line about feeling like a zombie.)

Now that they have a store in Reston Town Center, my budget is in serious trouble.  I went in the other day and bought this hat:

How cute is that!  And this skort:

And an adorable beach cover-up which I can’t find a great pic of online.  That was my version of restraint.  Going to have to stay away from that place for a while.

I’m looking forward to signing books tomorrow at Barnes & Noble in Fair Lakes, VA.  (It’s in the shopping center with Nordstrom Rack – love that place!)  I’ll be there from 1-3. I’m hoping to do a short reading as well, but they’re putting me right at the front of the store, without a lot of room for people to congregate, so I’ll have to play that by ear.  Here’s all the info (although they did get my name wrong; they seem to be confusing me with someone…).

Last week was quiet here as I was at the beach with three great friends from college and their families.  We had a wonderful time — played games, rode waves, laughed, ate way too much. Had forgotten how it feels to be tumbled feet over head by a wave.  Emerged slightly shaken with a bathing suit full of sand. Love spending time with their kids and watching them grow up.  Youngest is two, oldest is about to turn sixteen (ack!).  Wanted to share this one picture.  Actually, it’s a double rainbow, but not sure you can see the double here.

I really enjoyed doing this interview for Maria Grazia’s lovely site, My Jane Austen Book Club:

Laurel Ann posted a lovely review on her blog, Austenprose, this morning.  I was thrilled to read it — and completely understand her skepticism about self-help books.

I never feel more like Lydia Bennet when someone recommends a self-help book to me. Remember in Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Collins reads from Fordyce’s Sermons and she gaped in horror? I can totally relate. I deplore being preached to and am quite the skeptic. Even though I opened this book with grave trepidation, I was soon won over by the author’s knowledge of Jane Austen and her upbeat, approachable style. Each chapter is well researched offering topics and examples from the novels that modern readers can relate to. My favorite chapter was the last: Austen’s Ethos. read more

Austenprose is a treasure with all kinds of information about any literature related to Austen.  I don’t know how Laurel Ann does it all along with her day job of selling books to the masses.  Spend some time there if you haven’t yet.

Over the weekend, Vic posted an interview on her lovely blog about The Jane Austen Guide to Life:

What were your reasons for writing this book as your follow up to A Walk With Jane Austen?

You know, I didn’t expect to write another Jane Austen book, so this book, which was actually my editor’s idea initially, came as a great gift and a surprise. It covers some of the same material as A Walk with Jane, but from a completely different viewpoint. While A Walk with Jane was so deeply personal and so much about my journey, this book steps back and looks at how Austen would advise women today if she could. I took everything we know about her life and all the wonderful stories she gave us, and tried to ferret out how she might guide us today.  Read more

The rest of the interview covers why people would want to take advice from a 19th century country spinster, what about today’s society would scandalize Austen the most, and what advice meant the most to me personally.  Read the whole thing, and while you’re there, spend some time with the wealth of material Vic has compiled at her blog.  Great stuff.

Second stop in the blog tour today is over at Austenesque Reviews, where Meredith gave me the chance to do a guest post — and we’re giving away another copy of the book.  Just comment on the post to be entered for your chance to win.

One area that I know Austen would want to caution us about is the idea of romance. We get caught up in it, in the idea of “just knowing” that someone is right for us, in the thought that there will be a moment when a guy walks into a room and—suddenly!—life will sort of snap into place. We will fall hopelessly in love and there will be that happy ending we’ve been looking for. For Austen, though, as much as this may surprise us, love was as much about thought as about feeling. She wanted her heroines not just to fall in love but to think their way there as well. To slow down and carefully examine a guy’s character and reasonably assess whether or not he would be good for them, feelings aside. It’s a concept that may sound strange to us today, and one I wish I had gleaned from Austen sooner.  (read more)

Other blog tour events have been delayed a bit because there was some kind of glitch and books are still making their way to bloggers.  Hoping to have that all resolved very quickly.

If you have a blog and would like to be part of the tour, drop me a line.