Collide by Melanie Stanford - Blog Tour - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I'm joined by Melanie Stanford. Melanie is the writer of Sway and Clash, which are both nods to Austen's Persuasion, the first book being a modernisation of Anne and Captain Wentworth's story, and the second being a follow on focusing on the Elizabeth Eliot character. Melanie's latest book, Collide is a modernised version of North and South. These are pretty rare; in fact, I don't think that I've ever read one.

If you haven't read Mrs Gaskell's North and South I would heartily recommend that you do so. It's a wonderful book, looking at people across class divides and differences between the North and South of Victorian England. There is also a bit of a Pride & Prejudice-ish style romance and arguably the most delicious hero ever. John Thornton is an amazing man - both in terms of business and as a person. He runs a successful business from humble beginnings but what is more admirable than this are his personal qualities - he is hardworking, honourable and fair. He isn't perfect, and by the end of the novel has become a bit of a philanthropist, in addition to being a wonderful son and a loyal man ...... thump.... just swooned! You can see why something this complex, looking at Victorian issues might well be hard to translate to a modern day story and that is just what Melanie is here to discuss today. She's also brought a giveaway! Read on for more details.


Book Description

When their worlds collide, neither will be left unscarred.

Suffocated by her small-town life, Maggie Hale runs away to Las Vegas to pursue her dream as a contemporary dancer. But Vegas doesn’t turn out like she imagined. She doesn’t make it into Essence Dance Theater and the only job she can find is working in a greasy diner—again.

Jay Thornton wants to quit enforcing and own his own boxing gym one day. But his loan shark boss saved him from the streets as a kid and he owes the man everything. Cutting ties isn’t so simple.

When Maggie pledges to pay back a friend’s loan, she becomes Jay’s next mark. Sparks fly between them, but choosing each other could mean the end of both their dreams.

COLLIDE is inspired by Elizabeth Gaskell’s NORTH & SOUTH

Guest Post from Melanie Stanford

Thanks for having me today, Ceri!

COLLIDE, which is my second Romance Revisited novel, is revisiting Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South. I’m here today to talk about turning this beloved classic into a story that works in our modern times.

Turning North & South into a modern-day story wasn’t easy. In the original, you have two grown main characters who both live with their parents. Margaret moves because her father has a crisis of faith. There are many layers of class and status- Margaret being the gentleman’s daughter but not exactly rich- and John Thornton the rich mill owner who isn’t a “gentleman.” There’s a strike, poor people struggling to get by, and deaths galore. There’s a friend of the family who wants to marry Margaret, then gives her a bunch of money… These things aren’t easily translatable into modern times. I could have forced it, but I wanted my story to read as natural as possible.

So I went my own way. There is no strike. Only one death. No old family friend or inheritance. No adults still living with their parents. ;)

One of the biggest changes I made was to John Thornton’s character. I made him an enforcer to a loan shark. Instead of owning his own business as he does in the original, my Jay has a boss he’s trying to cut ties with. My Jay is almost like the early John Thornton, who started work in a draper’s shop and then worked his way up. My Jay is trying to open his own boxing gym, but his boss won’t let him.

This is a big change. Maggie isn’t meeting a man who’s already established, doing well, and has something to be proud of. Instead she’s meeting a man whose job she finds despicable. But this, to me, only adds to the tension. It makes the reasons for her disliking him all the more real, and the journey to discovering who he really is all the more potent. It also gives Jay a larger goal to strive for, a bigger obstacle to overcome.

While Jay’s job as an enforcer forced me to eliminate things from the original story, it also allowed me to keep some things. Margaret’s relationship to Bessie and Nicholas Higgins, for example, and the appearance of her brother, Fred. Bessie becomes Bronwyn, her roommate in Vegas, Nicholas becomes Bronwyn’s boyfriend Nico, and Maggie’s brother Frasier definitely pops in to cause some trouble.

Modernizing North & South wasn’t easy, but it was fun. I hope readers and fans will forgive me for eliminating the economic and social concerns of the original and appreciate the elements that I did keep: the moments, the character traits, the misunderstandings, the theme of opening your mind to new experiences, and people, and ways of life. And most especially, I hope you’ll enjoy the hard-fought love story.

Author Bio

Melanie Stanford writes romance and YA of different genres. Her first novel, SWAY, a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, debuted December 2015 from Samhain Publishing and was shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Since Samhain's closure, Melanie decided to republish SWAY herself, along with the rest of her Romance Revisited series: CLASH, a Romance Revisited novella, COLLIDE, and a third novel coming 2018. She also has short stories featured in the Austenesque anthologies THE DARCY MONOLOGUES and THEN COMES WINTER.

Melanie reads too much, plays music too loud, is sometimes dancing, and always daydreaming. She would also like her very own TARDIS, but only to travel to the past. She lives outside Calgary, Alberta, Canada with her husband, four kids, and ridiculous amounts of snow.

Connect with Melanie

• Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • Goodreads • 

Buy links

• Amazon US • Amazon Canada • Amazon UK • Barnes & Noble • Kobo • 

Giveaway Time!

Melanie is giving away a $25 Amazon card to celebrate Collide's arrival. To win, enter the rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much to Melanie for the guest post and giveaway. All the best with Collide!