Another giveaway: Send an email to Austenblog (see rules here) by noon on December 21 to be eligible for a random drawing. The winner will received an inscribed copy of CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT.
Even if you don't win the book, you'll be happy you stopped by Austenblog, It's the perfect respite from holiday madness and one of my favorite spots in the Janeiverse.
Happy Holidays, and good luck!
Check out my guest post at Book Club Girl, which is one of my absolute favorite blogs. I talk about giving books for the holidays and, in particular, giving a book by Jane Austen.
If you post a comment at Book Club Girl by Thursday, December 18, you'll be eligible to enter a drawing for one of two signed copies of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, which I'm giving away in honor of the holiday season and Jane Austen's birthday (that's today, December 16th).
Happy Holidays, and happy birthday, Jane Austen!
I've done a Q&A on a cool literary blog called Scobberblotch, which is the blog of Karen Harrington, author of the fascinating novel Janeology (nothing to do with Jane Austen).
Check out my Q&A for insights on writing, Austen, and Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. Please post a comment on Scobberlotch if you'd like to be entered in the drawing for a signed copy of Confessions.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
For me, a JASNA AGM (Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America) can be anywhere. As long as there are breakouts and panels and all-Jane-Austen-all-the-time, it doesn't matter where I am in the world. But the location of this AGM was particularly captivating. Perhaps it was because I'd never been to Chicago before (other than various layovers in O'Hare Airport). Perhaps it was because my hotel room had a lake view. Or perhaps it was because the shops and bustle of Michigan Avenue were right outside my door. All I know is that I fell in love with Chi-town and know I will return for more.
As for the AGM itself, it was like one of those dreams that you never want to wake up from, the one where you turn on the hotel TV and there are Jane Austen movies playing 24 hours a day on one of the channels—I'm not kidding; the AGM folks really did make that happen. That and having costume rentals on site for those who wished to dance at the ball in Regency costume and didn't have their own. And a professional photographer to memorialize the occasion.
And all that was in addition to the main attraction, which was an array of breakouts and panels and poster sessions that were so fascinating I wished I could have slipped out of my own breakout (yes, my very first time as a breakout speaker) to attend at least three others that were going on at the same time. An embarrassment of riches it was, from the Thursday night curtain-raiser, Visualizing Jane Austen and Jane Austen Visualizing, featuring Jeff Nigro of the Art Institute of Chicago talking about the elusive portraits of Austen, to the riveting panel on Friday, entitled How far across countries, cultures and disciplines does Jane Austen's legacy reach? featuring Austen scholars Inger Sigrun Brodey, Paula Marantz Cohen, Gillian Dow, Peter Graham and Elisabeth Lenckos. And so much more.
My only regrets were that I missed Claudia Johnson's Saturday morning talk and that I couldn't figure out how to attend the ball and the panel on Romance Fiction in the Wake of Austen at the same time. I really do think that a cloning workshop must be offered at an AGM of the future!
Then there were all the little touches, like witnessing a marriage proposal at the opening of the Saturday night Regency ball. The aspiring groom quoted from the famous Persuasion love letter, and his beloved of course said yes. There was even a preview of the upcoming Broadway musical version of Pride and Prejudice at the Sunday brunch. Not being a big musical aficionado, I didn't expect to be moved to tears, as I was, by the musical talents of co-creators Lindsay Baker and Amanda Jacobs, not to mention besotted with the production's Mr. Darcy, Colin Donnell (nice first name, don't you think?), who made the pulses of every female in the room start racing.
Speaking of Mr. Darcy, here I am with my own.
For more photos from the AGM, please visit my photo gallery. Hope to see you in Philadelphia for the 2009 AGM!
Naida of The Bookworm, an excellent book blog I recently discovered, interviewed me for her blog and is giving away two personally inscribed copies of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.
Click here to read the Q&A and enter the giveaway.
Winners will be announced Monday, September 15 by The Bookworm.
"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."
--Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
I've recently discovered a fascinating blog called Writers Read.
Each post features an author talking about what he or she is reading and why. What makes it most exciting is that the books are often what you'd least expect that author to be reading.
Last month, Writers Read asked me to talk about what I've been reading, and the post is up here. Do visit Writers Read and its related blog, Campaign for the American Reader, where you'll find a shorter version of my post.
There's a fun giveaway going on at She Is Too Fond Of Books. To take your chance at winning one of two signed copies of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, here's what you need to do:
Click on this link to the post at She Is Too Fond of Books and enter, as a comment, what you would find most appealing and what you would find most challenging about living in Jane Austen's world.
Even if you don't win, it's a fascinating thing to contemplate what it
would be like to ride in a barouche, dance at a ball, spend all day
reading and taking turns in the shrubbery instead of answering
emails...oh yeah, what would it be like to give up email, and movies,
and my cellphone, and mascara, and...
Enter by midnight on Friday, September 5, 2008. Good luck!
"Are you going to be on Oprah?"
This is the first thing friends and family will ask any soon-to-be-published author.
It's very sweet that our loved ones have so much faith in us. However, it's sort of like asking, "Are you going to win the lottery?"
Consider the numbers: Since 2002 Oprah has chosen anywhere from one to five books per year. Grand total so far for 2008: One book. Even in the earlier years of Oprah's Book Club, when Oprah would choose as many as eight or nine books per year, it was still a long shot. After all, there are 175,000 books published every year.
Clearly, having your book chosen by Oprah is the holy grail of publishing good fortune.The books Oprah chooses are instant #1 New York Times Bestsellers. But more important than the glory Oprah's Book Club bestows on authors is the service it does for readers, for Oprah has single-handedly done more to revitalize adults' interest in reading than just about anyone. For that we all owe her a debt of gratitude.
About a month ago, one of my readers, a lovely woman named Christina, gave me something more important to dream about than getting the call from Oprah. Christina got me thinking about Jane Austen getting the call from Oprah or, more precisely, an entire community of surrogates known as the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) getting the call from Oprah.
It just so happens that JASNA will be descending upon Oprah territory in October 2008 and would love nothing better than to bring Austen to Oprah's audience.
Why are the Janeites coming to Chicago? Every October, Jane Austen addicts convene in a different city for JASNA's Annual General Meeting. It's wall-to-wall, nonstop Austen: breakout sessions, plenary speakers, poster sessions, panels and performances, a Regency Emporium where Janeites can buy Austen-related books and other goodies (and this year, rent costumes), a banquet, and a Regency ball, complete with English country dance and a whole lot of us dressed in costume. In other words, if you're like me, you feel like you died and went to Austen heaven.
I can't think of an author more Oprah-worthy than Jane Austen. After all, Oprah has always been big on self-help and self-discovery, and in my opinion, one couldn't ask for a more comprehensive and entertaining set of self-help books than Jane Austen's six novels. Every time I read them I learn something new about myself, including discovering more ways to "make sport for my neighbors, and laugh at them in my turn." After all, it is Austen's sense of humor, coupled with her keen observation of human nature, that make her stories timeless.
Here is what Christina envisions for a special Oprah show (fears, actually, because sadly Christina cannot afford the trip to Chicago, what with gas prices being what they are, and therefore she'd miss out on being in the studio audience):
"Oprah will do a special show that week just on the Jane Austen phenomenon and have an audience full of JASNA people and give out cars and iPods to everyone—and first editions of P&P to a special audience member with the winning ticket under her seat—and have Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen [the two Mr. Darcys from the last two film versions of Pride and Prejudice] and Rupert Penry-Jones [Captain Wentworth from the latest Persuasion movie] as surprise guests—and then end the show by sending everyone to England for a Jane Austen tour! 
Alas, I will bitterly watch it all on TV, green with Caroline Bingleyesque envy!" 
Okay, maybe cars and first editions and transatlantic travel are a little excessive. But surely Oprah could give everyone in the audience the Penguin edition of the complete works. And the guest line-up is certainly do-able. In costume, of course.
I would suggest adding Jennifer Ehle and Keira Knightley as guests, so that the two Mr. Darcys can have their Elizabeth Bennets by their side. Hey, dueling Lizzie and Darcys! As for the JASNA folks bringing entertainment value to the mix, William Phillips, one of the coordinators of the JASNA AGM, spoke at last year's AGM, and he was brilliant--charming and funny and informative. And William is just one of the many bright and sparkling speakers and storytellers who will be at the AGM. Another thought: Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club, would also be an excellent guest—brought down the house with her witty speech at the 2004 AGM.
As for me, I'll be happy to be in the audience and offer up all of my swag to the lovely Christina.
What a show. Oprah, we await your call.
My live chat with Vic of Jane Austen Today will begin tonight at 7 p.m. Pacific time and 10 p.m. EST.
Please join us for a fun discussion and a chance to win a book!
Here are the instructions Vic gave me for participating in the chat:
Please click on this link:
You will see a page that looks like this:
Enter your name. For example, you will see Vic's name listed as Vic, Ms. Place. You do not need to enter your profile.
Then click on Chat!
You will see this screen (and hear a knocking sound):
The arrow points to a window/address bar. This is where you will type your questions or chat with the others in the chatroom. Click on enter to submit your discussion. You will see the dialogue in the large blank field on top of the address bar. You will see the names of the chatters on the top right, however, you will not see your name. This is normal.
We are looking forward to meeting you and talking with you in the chat! If you live in other parts of the world or country, please check this time zone clock for conversions.
Email Vic at janeaustensworld at gmail dot com if you encounter difficulties.
Sincerely, Vic (Ms. Place)
Julie of Booking Mama, an excellent blog whose tagline is "Sharing ideas on books and book clubs (and occasionally other things)," interviewed me for her blog. Here is the post, which you can also read on her blog. Do visit Booking Mama if you're searching for something fabulous to read on your own or with your book group.
Booking Mama: I am absolutely thrilled that Laurie Viera Rigler, author of CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, agreed to answer a few of my questions. I read her book back in June when I was fortunate enough to participate in Book Club Girl's BlogTalk Radio Show; and I really enjoyed both the book as well as the discussion with Ms. Viera Rigler (you can read my review here.) I highly recommend CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, and I hope this interview will give you some insight into the book and entice you to read it!
Booking Mama: I love the concept for CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT – it’s such a unique idea to combine time travel with a historical fiction-type book. How did the idea for this novel come to you?
Laurie Viera Rigler: Hi, Julie, and thanks for asking me about CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. The idea didn't come about deliberately; I wasn't trying to think of an idea for an Austen-inspired novel or an idea for any novel. I was just standing in my kitchen one day and saw, in my mind's eye, this twenty-first-century Austen devotee, Courtney Stone, waking up in that four-poster bed in 1813 England in someone else's body.
Booking Mama: To write a historical fiction book like this, you must have done a ton of research to make it “feel” authentic. What types of research did you conduct, and how much time did you spend doing the research for CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT?
Laurie Viera Rigler: I spent six years writing the book and did research throughout that entire period. I read many books and periodicals about the period, traveled to England, and made use of excellent Internet resources such as Google Books and the Jane Austen Society of North America's website, http://jasna.org. I also conducted some experiential research (not time-traveling, unfortunately) by taking English country dance lessons and going to a few balls, including one I attended with my husband in which I discovered that English country dance is indeed a very sexy thing to do with the handsomest man that ever was seen.
Booking Mama: Jane Austen is huge right now with so many books and movies out there! Why do you think she is so popular today, almost 200 years since she wrote her novels?
Laurie Viera Rigler: What makes Jane Austen timeless is her keen observation of human nature, and human nature has not changed at all in the past 200 years. That is why we can read about Elizabeth and Darcy and see ourselves in a heroine who thinks she knows everything about another person and realizes she's been blinded by the same pride and prejudice she ascribed to him. That is why we can see ourselves in Anne Eliot of Persuasion and relate to someone who has been misguided and unappreciated, and who finally gets a second chance to make things right. The other novels have equally resonant universal themes. Plus there is the pure delight of reading a well-constructed, funny, and touching story with a satisfying conclusion and so many layers of mastery that it can be read again and again with increasing pleasure.
The movies attempt to capture that mastery, and some succeed better than others. Emma Thompson wrote the best Austen screenplay, in my opinion, because she truly captured some of that Austen wit and genius. In any case, the movies are almost always fun escapist entertainments, providing a doorway to another time and place, an accessible and low-risk form of time travel. And they are an excellent way to introduce potential readers to Austen's novels.
Booking Mama: I found the ending to be very interesting, and I like how you left the ending open for different interpretations by your readers. As the author of the story, do you have a definite theory on the ending or does your opinion change?
Laurie Viera Rigler: What an intriguing question! The ending has a very specific meaning for me. However, once I started hearing various interpretations of the ending from my readers, I decided not to interfere with the individual reader's interpretation by imposing my own. Generally, the interpretations fall into two main categories, but to say any more might spoil it for those who have not yet read the book. I will only say that the ending is a truly happy one, and that my protagonist gets exactly what she wants.
Booking Mama: Your second novel is kind of being described as a sequel to CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT since it will have some of the characters who were in the first book– this time Jane finds herself in the body and life of a 21st-century woman. Did you always know that you wanted to write this book when you began CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, or did you decide to tell this story after the success of your first book?
Laurie Viera Rigler: The sequel to CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT is more like a parallel story/sequel in that it follows the adventures of Jane Mansfield (the nineteenth-century character from CONFESSIONS, not the twentieth-century screen goddess) who has woken up in Courtney Stone's twenty-first-century life (and body). So basically, while Courtney is taking over Jane's life in the first book, Jane is taking over Courtney's life in the second book.
The idea for the second book came up while I was writing CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. I did consider including Jane's twenty-first-century story in the first book; however, it just didn't feel right. Her journey is a very different journey, and it just didn't fit inside the first book. So I decided it would be my second novel, and I decided this way before I had a publisher.
Booking Mama: As I read this book, I could totally picture it as a movie. Is there any chance that CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT will appear on the big screen? Are there any specific actors/actresses you see in the roles?
Laurie Viera Rigler: I too would love to see CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT as a movie, and the rights are available if some clever producer would like to make me an offer I can't refuse. There are so many wonderful actors and actresses I admire that I couldn't possibly limit my fantasy choices. But I've certainly enjoyed reading and participating in the forum thread on my website that's devoted to casting the movie.
Booking Mama: I have to admit that I am not a huge “Jane Austen Addict;” but after reading your novel, I have to say that I want to re-visit some of her books. That has to make you pretty happy if you’re having that effect on your readers. Besides creating some new Austen fans, what else would you like for your readers to learn from or take away from this book?
Laurie Viera Rigler: I can't tell you how happy that makes me, Julie. It was my intention to write this book so that it would be completely accessible to those who had never read Austen or who had read a little Austen. And then there are all sorts of allusions to the novels that Austen addicts like myself would enjoy as well. It is tremendously gratifying to me that someone who reads my book would then become interested in revisiting Austen or reading her for the first time, which I have heard as well.
What I'd like
readers to take away from this book, aside from the pleasure of a fun
read, is a desire to explore some of the central questions that
Courtney faces. One of those questions is: What makes up my identity?
Am I who I am because of what I remember, or because of what people
remember about me? Am I whoever people think I am, or am I someone else
entirely? And what would I be willing to give up to live in a different
time, and what would I gain?
Booking Mama: What is the best
thing about being a writer? What is the strangest thing that’s happened
to you since your novel was published?
Laurie Viera Rigler:
The best thing about being a writer is being able to immerse myself in
the world of my protagonists. It is a privilege and an adventure to see
a whole new world through their eyes. I may not, in "reality," have
time-traveled to Jane Austen's world and switched identities with a
Regency gentlewoman, but thanks to Courtney I feel like I've shared her
experiences.
The strangest thing that's
happened to me since my novel was published was seeing my book in an
airport bookstore, because back when I was fantasizing about being
published I was traveling with my husband, and in an airport bookstore
I said, wouldn't it be fantastic one day to see my book here?
Booking Mama: Besides Jane Austen (of course), who are some of your favorite authors and what are some of your favorite books?
Laurie Viera Rigler: I adore Zadie Smith. On Beauty is one of my favorite books and very much reminds me of Austen, even though it is an homage to E.M. Forster's Howard's End. I also love Nick Hornby, who also reminds me of Austen (About a Boy, High Fidelity, Long Way Down, How to Be Good). And I love Ian McEwan (Atonement, On Chesil Beach), Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Vine of Desire, Sister of My Heart), Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake), and so many other authors. I'm an avid reader. A few novels I've recently read and loved: Keeping the House by Ellen Baker, Fifteen Minutes of Shame by Lisa Daily, Angelica by Arthur Phillips, The Jewel Trader of Pegu by Jeffrey Hantover. I could go on and on but will restrain myself!
Thanks again for asking me about CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. It's been a lot of fun talking to you, Julie, and I hope to do it again soon!
Booking Mama: A huge thanks goes out to Ms. Viera Rigler for this interview. If you would like to learn more about CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, you can visit the book's website. I have had almost as much fun playing around on this website as I did reading the book! The site is very interesting (as well as entertaining) and has tons of information for the "Jane Austen Addict" in all of us.
There is also another great opportunity to "talk" with Ms. Viera Rigler on August 12th. She will be joining Jane Austen Today for a live chat, and you can ask her some of your questions about the book. Click here for more details about how to participate - you could even win a copy of the book.
Not only has Ms. Viera Rigler been extremely gracious in answering all of my questions, but she has also offered to give away two
signed copies of CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT! If you are
interested in winning a copy of this book, please leave a comment with
the name of your favorite Jane Austen book (or movie). Don't forget to
leave an e-mail address so I have a way to contact you. If you'd like
to double your chances to win, blog about the contest (and the
interview) with a link to this post. You have until August 8th to
enter. This contest is open to citizens of the United States and Canada
only.
