Today, I’m doing a guest post on the blog of Christian author Shelley Ring, ‘Fraidy Cat Confessions. She read “The Darcys of Pemberley” and asked me to share a bit of my story with her readers. Begin reading here and then follow the link to her site to see the rest!

__________________________________

First, I should confess that I was as surprised as anyone that I turned out to be a novelist! I had a practical career, a house and husband to look after, and two sons to raise. I barely had time to read a book, let alone write one.

Then about ten years ago, I discovered Jane Austen and simply fell in love – with her beautiful stories, with the elegant period language she used, and with her witty writing style. I read and reread all her novels. I watched the movies based on them. But I kept coming back to my favorite: Pride and Prejudice– the book itself and the ’95 film adaptation with Colin Firth.

I didn’t want the story to end. The characters – the Bennets, the Darcys, the Bingleys, Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Wickham – all seemed so real to me, and I wanted to spend more time in their world.  I wondered what would come next for them. Would Elizabeth and Darcy really live happily ever after? Did Georgiana have romance waiting for her? What trouble would that wicked Wickham get into next? Would bossy Lady Catherine ever get her comeuppance?

With questions like these rolling around in my mind, I simply sat down at the computer one day and began to type. I had no idea if I could write a novel, but I decided… (continue here)

Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.  (Mansfield Park, chapter 48)