#at the end of the day i think i prefer fitzwilliam/darcy/elizabeth but it's a fun thought experiment

[anghraine]

I don't teach on Thursdays, so I spent a good hour today contemplating the ways in which the foundations for Elizabeth's escalating mistakes with Darcy are laid not only in her previous interactions with him but in her relationship with Charlotte Lucas.

(Then I played GW2 for another hour, and then I thought about whether Charlotte/Elizabeth/Darcy would appeal to me. V-shaped polyships are often a hard sell for me personally and it would have to be that, IMO, unless Darcy is genderbent. Obviously I have no objection whatsoever to f!Darcy after writing three different variations on the theme, but I was curious about how it would work without a change like that... idk.)

[sophiarose1816]

Happy Release Day for The Flight Path Less Traveled by Leigh Dreyer

I am tickled to be able to share a special post about this exciting second entry in the Pride of Flight series, a Pride & Prejudice modern continuation story. Blurb:

In this modern Pride and Prejudice continuation and sequel to The Best Laid Flight Plans, 2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Bennet and Captain William Darcy are facing trials after the events of Elizabeth’s last flight. Darcy’s proposal lingers between them as Elizabeth becomes almost single sighted to her rehabilitation and her return to pilot training. A secret is revealed to Elizabeth about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s past that throws all she has known to be true into a tail spin. The romance between our hero and heroine begins to blossom through military separations, sisterly pranks, and miscommunications. Can Darcy and Elizabeth come together or will flying in the Air Force keep them apart?

Let me introduce author, Leigh Dreyer, and her books through a Q&A she is sharing with us.

1.                Tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I work as a speech pathologist, currently in the Las Vegas area. I work both in person at a charter middle/high school and a long term acute care facility and doing teletherapy (which I absolutely love) from my home. Yes. I have three jobs plus writing because I apparently enjoy being crazy.  I write while my kids take naps, during teletherapy breaks, and at night. I have an incredible husband who is a pilot in the Air Force and two amazing kids. My son is four and my daughter is two. Both my husband and I are children of Air Force pilots which makes for fun family get togethers. Needless to say, I very rarely have to do a lot of plane-related research.

 2.                Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?

Elizabeth Bennet has just gone through tremendous trauma at the end of The Best Laid Flight Plans and now she has to get back up, brush herself off, and push forward. In the original Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth faces a lot of invisible enemies (marriage or lack thereof, the entailment, etc.), but I wanted to see where she would take me when her enemies were very much physical. Would she be strong and fight?

3.                Which writers inspire you?

Jane Austen is the obvious answer, but I’m also inspired by so many JAFF authors. People like (in no particular order) Linda Wells, Joy King, Diana J Oaks, Maria Grace, Abigail Reynolds, Jenetta James, Karen Cox, Beau North, Jan Hahn, Elizabeth Ann West, Rose Fairbanks, etc. inspire me to fall more deeply in love with characters I already enjoy. I also love Diana Gabaldon, Neil Gaman, Aled Hossein, Tom Wolfe, William Makepeace Thackeray, Agatha Christie, and CS Forester.

 4.                What are you working on at the minute?

Book three, Came a Flight Gently and a short story about how Mr. and Mrs. Bennet meet and get married. I’m also working on outlining a time-travel story.

 5.                What’s it about?

Came a Flight Gently will start where The Flight Path Less Traveled ends and will continue the story in New York and feature the Reno Air Races (National Championship Air Races), the last of the great pylon races.

 6.                Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?

When I answered this for The Best Laid Flight Plans, I said maybe David Gandy for Darcy and Katherine McNamara or Lily Collins for Elizabeth. Now, I’m kind of thinking brunette Chris Evans and Gal Gadot or a young Marissa Tomei. I picture a modern Elizabeth as a strong, independent female, but also fun and feisty and never cruel.

 7.                How much research do you do?

It really depends on the scenes I’m writing. My favorite research to do is everything to do with food. I have spent many the hour figuring out what to for a big event catered by Mrs. Bennet. I like to really think through what each character would be eating and making. Obviously, Mr. Collins likes potatoes and, if you read book 1, you know Darcy does not eat bacon, but what about everyone else? For flight scenes, I write a lot of them on my own then send them to my husband, father, and father in law to be checked for accuracy. Normally this results in a long page of notes from my father to make it sound authentic (apparently I am very bad at writing what the characters might say on the radio when speaking to tower).

 8.                What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?

After going through The Best Laid Flight Plans I changed the ending because I just wasn’t ready for it to end. I wanted to see what happened next and leave the door open to really learn more about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Colonel Fitzwilliam, etc. I needed another book or two or three for the story to end for me.

 9.                This book is part of a series, tell us a little about it?

The Flight Path Less Traveled is book two in a series of three planned books: The Best Laid Flight Plans, The Flight Path Less Traveled, and Came a Flight Gently. The first book is a P&P variation whose story line closely follows the events of P&P. The next two are original continuations although you will definitely see other favorite Austen characters and events as the story continues. Each book is an altered line from a poem that I find meaningful and that I feel speaks to the tone of book I wanted to write.

 10.             For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?

I prefer paper books, but I do the vast majority of my reading on kindle or on my phone because they are so easy to drag around with me. I work a lot and am frequently running around with my kids so carrying a paperback isn’t always practical. I do all my reading on my Kindle Paperwhite and have for about five years.

 11.             What book/s are you reading at present?

Right now I’m reading Rational Creatures edited by Christina Boyd on Kindle and listening to Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford, but ask me in a few days and I’ll be on to something else. I’ve averaged at least five books a month for the last six or seven years.

 12.             Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?

I was blessed to work with Christina Boyd of The Quill Ink. Let me tell you, she is amazing to work with and the book is so much better for having had a professional editor. My sister in law is also great about giving me really fantastic feedback as a beta and ARC reader. She is currently working as an editor for some online sources and is amazing.

 13.             Tell us about the cover/s and how it/they came about.

The photoshoot was done in Utah by Monica Cook, a military spouse, who runs Joyous Reflections Photography and Portraiture, at the Air Force museum at Hill Air Force Base. It was important to me to highlight Elizabeth as a female officer. Females are so rare in the pilot world that I wanted to be able to see Elizabeth as I see her, a strong woman who is willing to work harder than anyone else to achieve what she sees for herself. I made the choice to have the little ringlets and her hair up in a kind of braid Mohawk, because I thought it was a fun throwback to the Regency hairstyles. Of course, after the events at the end of The Best Laid Flight Plans, she is pictured out of a flight suit and in her blues, but I wanted to continue to present that strong image as she fights to recover.

 14.             Who designed your book cover/s?

My amazing friend Alishia Mattee. She is a military spouse and my next door neighbor when we were stationed together at Hickam Air Force Base and she is so talented.

 15.             What is your favorite movie and why?

Gone With The Wind. Partly because I am an eighty-five year old woman trapped in a thirty year old’s body (please see my love for all classic film, 1940s jazz and classical music, and other habits like insisting my family eat at the table) I love the costumes, the romance, the huge sets, the language. I love it all. Scarlett is one of my all-time favorite characters. She doesn’t let other people tell her she can’t achieve. She needs to take care of her family, so she does, in whatever way she can. I find her strong, capable head something I would love to emulate, even if she is a little stupid with her heart.

 16.             What advice would you give to your younger self?

Just do it. Jump in. You can figure it out while you’re doing it, but if you wait until you understand every nuance of a task, years will pass and it still won’t be done.

 17.             What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Write. Also, edit. I recently had a friend who decided her NaNoWriMo draft was ready for publication. She had not even re-read it. Yikes.  I tell every aspiring writer I know to write and then let someone read it and critique it. Critique can be hard to accept, but you’ll only get better.

 18.             Can we recognize your adopted hometown of Del Rio, Texas in The Flight Path Less Traveled?

Absolutely. Longbourn City is based on my hometown of Del Rio and Meryton Air Force Base is based on Laughlin Air Force Base which is about fifteen minutes out of town. My parents and siblings still live and work there. You see less of Longbourn in this novel, but the place that Aunt Gardiner takes Elizabeth to eat taquitos rancheros is Julio’s on Highway 90. Julio’s is famous for their chips and salsa. Love those things—seriously, they are amazing.

 19.             What’s the worst job you’ve had?

I worked at a restaurant (which will remain nameless because I signed an “I won’t whine on the internet” clause when I got hired) during grad school in Lubbock and I often refer to it as “the worst job ever.” It was on fourth street in Lubbock, Texas, although that location is now a Chick Fil-A. My manager was crazy and often switched from sickly sweet to horribly insulting. The food was meh at best. I worked there for three months and outlasted eleven employees. That should tell you something about the work environment.

 20.             Where do you get your ideas?

Well, book two is not just a general pilot training book anymore. You read the basics of Air Force life in The Best Laid Flight Plans, but now Elizabeth isn’t a naïve butter-bar Second Lieutenant anymore. She’s learned and grown. Many of her experiences in the novel are based on my friends and family who have had similar things happen to them and gone through the board process. I’m trying to avoid spoilers in these questions, but let’s just say, the events that occur to her are certainly not out of the ordinary. For Darcy, many of his experiences are based on my growing up with a T-38 instructor. Cross-countries were just part of the gig. My husband is in a staff-type job now, but when he was actively flying, he was gone more than he was home.

I do love interviews for all that I learn about the background for author and books.  Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Leigh!

Where can you find Leigh and her book? Flight Path Less Traveled Links

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44427328-the-flight-path-less-traveled?ac=1&from_search=true

US link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PNFN962/ref=x_gr_w_glide_ku?caller=Goodreads&callerLink=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44427328-the-flight-path-less-traveled?ac=1&from_search=true&tag=x_gr_w_glide_ku-20

UK link:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flight-Path-Less-Traveled-Continuation-ebook/dp/B07PNFN962/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+flight+path+less+traveled&qid=1552874830&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell

The Best Laid Flight Plans Links

US link: https://amzn.to/2IkAWTF

UK link: https://amzn.to/2SfGA9m

Contact Information

Email: leighdreyerauthor@gmail.com

Facebook: Leigh Dreyer

Facebook Page: @leighdreyerauthor

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/leighdreyer

Website: http://www.leighdreyer.com/

 Social Media Information

Hashtags: #TheFlightPathLessTraveled #LeighDreyer #JAFF #AustenInspired

 Before she heads out on tour with The Flight Plath Less Traveled, let me share the blog tour schedule so you can join in with more fabulous posts.

March 19- From Pemberley to Milton

https://frompemberleytomilton.wordpress.com/

March 21/22- My Jane Austen Book Club

March 23- My Love for Jane Austen

March 23- Interests of a Jane Austen Girl

March 25- Austenesque Reviews

March 26- So Little Time

March 27- Diary of an Eccentric

March 28- More Agreeably Engaged

April 3-Half Agony Half Hope

April 4/5- Margie’s Must Reads

[austenmarriage]

New Post has been published on Austen Marriage

New Post has been published on http://austenmarriage.com/1425-2/

Survey of Janeites, Thoughts on the Results

In 2008, the Jane Austen Society of North America took a survey of its membership about Austen’s characters. I’ve come across the results several times. I thought I’d recap them here and offer a few thoughts of my own.

Fully one-third of Janeites read three or more of Austen’s books in a year. Eleven percent read all six every year. By far (53 percent), Pride and Prejudice is the most popular book. Next is Persuasion (28 percent). Though it’s also my second favorite, most of my Janeite friends, plus several academics I respect, prefer Emma. I assume Persuasion carries the day because mature readers like the story of a mature woman having her “second spring.”

From Persuasion it’s a big drop down to Emma at 7 percent. Because of the popularity of the movie(s) made of Sense and Sensibility (especially Emma Thompson’s 1995 version, which set off the current Austen stampede), I was a little short of stunned that this book was so far down the list at 5 percent. I guess readers are more discerning than movie viewers; or, perhaps, the movie overcomes some of the book’s weaknesses.

Dragging their petticoats through the mud are Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey at 4 percent each. I admire a lot of things about MP, especially the large cast of characters, but I don’t think Austen quite pulls off the multiple story lines. I always felt that Northanger was a nice first try, though I’ve gained more respect for it in recent close readings. When Austen gets away from the Gothic schtick, the writing in NA is, to me, better than that in S&S. I suggest that S&S was a more complete story in its original form of a novel-in-letters but that Austen did little in the way of revision beyond converting it to a direct narrative. On the other hand, NA seems much “younger” in some ways and limited by the Gothic framing device. Yet in other places, the writing is far crisper and more advanced than what seems to be the slightly more old-fashioned form in S&S.

Here’s a shock: The favorite heroine was Elizabeth Bennet (58 percent) over Anne Elliot (24 percent). Liz is the only heroine who goes toe to toe with every antagonist. I often wonder why Austen never came back to a similar strong lead character. No one else gets more votes than Elinor Dashwood’s 7 percent. Emma Woodhouse, whom I thought would poll higher, gets only 5 percent. Emma is strong, but she was born into a superior position. I feel a certain bemusement that Fanny Price would slightly outpoll Catherine Moreland, 3 percent to 2 percent. Fanny may have ramrod moral fiber, but Catherine’s a whole lot more interesting. Janeites feel no sympathy for the sensibility-laden Marianne Dashwood at 1 percent.

No surprise, either, for favorite hero: Fitzwilliam Darcy, 51 percent. Given the strong second position of Persuasion, it’s surprising that only 17 percent voted for Frederick Wentworth. I would have picked George Knightley as my leading man, but he polled only 14 percent. I guess a man’s being perceptive, kind, and hard-working doesn’t do it for the ladies (96 percent of survey respondents were female). Henry Tilney manages 10 percent and Colonel Brandon, 5 percent. I like Henry’s sense of humor, but he also does a lot of mansplaining to the ladies. I’m not sure I want to meet the 1 percent each who voted for Edward Ferrars and Edmund Bertram as the leading males. Austen must have liked them, but there’s no reason for anyone else to. I’ll qualify that by pointing out Edmund’s kindness to Fanny early on. But he’s oblivious to her feelings when it matters. His purloining of her horse for Mary Crawford is downright cruel. Edmund seems to marry Fanny because she’s the only female within sight at the end.

In the category of favorite bad boys, the top three were predictable: 33 percent chose Wickham; 28 percent, Willoughby; and 16 percent, Crawford. The rest of the list is puzzling. Frank Churchill, who polled 10 percent, is not a bad boy in the sense of an evil person with superficial charm. He’s an honest charmer and insensitive jerk. Flirting with another woman to disguise an engagement is not in the same league as seducing young women. William Elliot, on the other hand, is manifestly evil, yet he pulled fewer votes at 7 percent. Six percent went for General Tilney, who’s not a charmer or a boy. The General is nasty stuff, but Austen leavens him subtly by showing his continuing grief for his late wife. Catherine Morland misunderstands this as guilt over his having done away with her.

Here’s a survey question I’d have never thought of: Worst Parents. Sir Walter Elliot of Persuasion is the runaway winner at 54 percent. It’s sad to see Mansfield Park get all the other votes: 16 percent for Mr. and Mrs. Price and 15 percent for Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram.

I take exception to the votes against Sir Thomas. He takes in Fanny (and later her sister), he helps her brother get into the Navy and even pays to outfit him. It’s true that Sir Thomas angrily banishes Fanny to Portsmouth for rejecting Henry Crawford. But Sir Thomas doesn’t know she loves Edmund. He fears she is giving up a good man in Crawford and possibly the best offer she may ever receive. He thinks she’s being obstinate when she’s being true to her own beliefs. Fanny’s unpleasant stay at Portsmouth does teach her to appreciate Mansfield Park. Her absence, meanwhile, teaches Sir Thomas to appreciate Fanny.

Another fun category was four comic characters who delight us. P&P brings home the prize here, with Mrs. Bennet at 74 percent and Mr. Collins at 70 percent. The other two were Admiral Croft at 56 percent and Miss Bates at 50.

It’s understandable for Mrs. Bennet to lead the list. Being crass, she’s unintentionally funny. But she has also, I think, received more bad press than she deserves. Austen gives both sides of the story with her synopsis: “She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married.”

Unlike her husband, who seems content with whatever may happen with his brood, Mrs. Bennet is desperate to see them settled in a decent home. She lacks the natural joy of Jane or the intelligence and class of Liz, but she’s trying to take care of her children the only way she knows how. We sympathize, even as we chuckle.

Admiral Croft is more than a funny guy. He’s astute enough to let Anne Elliot know that she’ll have another chance at Captain Wentworth: The Admiral’s wife, Sophy, is inviting him to Bath. Scene from the 1995 Persuasion movie directed by Roger Michell.

The Admiral is another puzzler. He has his amusing moments. He can navigate a 74-gun battleship around the world but can’t manage a one-horse gig on a country lane. Yet he is not a comic character. He’s a very wise one. Along, no doubt, with his wife, Sophy, Admiral Croft is a shrewd observer of people. His conversation with Anne Elliot on the streets of Bath is not that of a man oblivious to her situation but one very much aware of her feelings for Wentworth, and his for her. He lets Anne know she’ll get another shot at her man:

“Poor Frederick!” said he at last. “Now he must begin all over again with somebody else. I think we must get him to Bath. Sophy must write, and beg him to come to Bath. Here are pretty girls enough, I am sure. Do not you think, Miss Elliot, we had better try to get him to Bath?”

I have no idea if JASNA plans to update the survey. It’d be interesting to see if the responses have changed significantly over the last decade. About 4,500 people participated, a huge turnout. Janeites love their Austen characters, and love to offer their views on them.

—

The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen, which traces love from a charming courtship through the richness and complexity of marriage and concludes with a test of the heroine’s courage and moral convictions, is now complete and available from Amazon and Jane Austen Books.