When Duty Calls by Belén Paccagnella - Blog Tour, Guest Post

I'm very happy to be welcoming author Belén Paccagnella here with the blog tour for the Pride & Prejudice variation, When Duty Calls. Belén has brought a guest post, and the opportunity to win an ebook of When Duty Calls. Let's look at the blurb and then I'll hand over to Belén for her guest post.

Book Description

The Netherfield ball brings about many changes for the population of Meryton, and more so for the female residents of Longbourn. Mr. Bingley’s departure leaves the eldest, Jane Bennet, heartbroken whilst Mr. Collins’s proposal induces Miss Elizabeth to make a hasty escape. During her flight, she happens upon Mr. Darcy, a gentleman she despises. A moment of solitude in the woods leads to rather improper behavior, and the couple departs with the promise they will tell no one about their minor indiscretion. When their secret is finally uncovered, marriage becomes the only solution to saving Elizabeth from social disgrace. Her other grudges against Mr. Darcy are amplified by resentment and the prospect of spending her life with a man she can never respect. Nonetheless, the marriage takes place, forcing the young couple to deal with their pride and prejudices as husband and wife.

Originally posted online almost twenty years ago, this Regency tale of redemption narrates the struggles of two people, their differences, and their rocky start. But will they succeed in overcoming lies, misunderstandings, and their own errors to finally find love?

Guest Post from Belén Paccagnella 

Hi Ceri! Thank you for hosting me here at Babblings of a Bookworm. I hope you enjoy what I wrote for this guest post

Lockets

I have always loved lockets. For some reason, I find them fascinating, not only for their unique designs but also because of what they represented along the centuries. There is something about these little pieces of jewelry that rouses my imagination and makes me want to guess what secrets they enclose, and why would someone want to carry them with them all the time. 

Over time, lockets were worn for different purposes, some of them quite obscure. Originally, especially in the 15th to 17th centuries, they were used to identify the members of one family, to hide amulets for good luck, as the symbol of some forbidden religion, or even to contain a vial of poison to be used in case of emergency. You never know when you’ll have to commit suicide or murder someone! 

In the 18th and 19th centuries, lockets grew in popularity and were associated with love, whether it was romantic or familial. They could contain the lock of hair of a lover or the ashes of a deceased spouse. Later, in the early 20th century, during World War I and II, soldiers wore lockets to carry with them pictures or letters of the family they left behind, and that they might never see again.

Some of you must be wondering why I chose this topic for this stop at Babblings of a Bookworm, and what it has to do with my story. Well, it has a good bit to do with my story. Sometimes, in books or movies, objects and props can become characters on their own right. They are almost an extension of the character. In others, like this locket, objects are simply tools the author uses to show a character’s frame of mind in a certain moment in time. 

When I first wrote When Duty Calls, almost twenty years ago, the locket wasn't even a locket, it was just a heart-shaped charm that was mentioned only twice in the book. The first time was when Elizabeth received it as a present from the man she’s forced to marry. The second one happened halfway through the story, in a very pivotal scene where she finally acknowledged she’s in love with her own husband. I didn’t think the locket was relevant for the plot at the time. To me, it was only a colorful way to portray the characters’ feelings through an everyday object. I don't even think its historically accurate, as heart-shaped lockets weren't a popular symbol of romantic love until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but I added it nonetheless.

It was Janet, the designer of the beautiful cover of When Duty Calls, who drew my attention to the locket when she told me she would use it on the cover. I loved the idea, I thought it was brilliant.  With her excellent eye for details and extraordinary sensibility, she made me realize its relevance within the story. This inspired me to include the locket in a third scene, and also make it part of this blog tour. Throughout the story, the locket reflects Elizabeth’s feelings in three very different stages of her relationship with Darcy. First it conveys her confusion and despondency for an unwanted marriage; later it becomes a way to demonstrate her growing affection for her husband, and in the third scene, when she believes everything is lost, she clings to it while blurting out the words that trigger Darcy’s (spoiler alert!) second proposal. (Fun fact: when Janet and I searched the Internet for images of lockets, we both chose the same picture!)

So now you know a little more about lockets and my fascination with them. Thank you for your participation in this blog tour, your encouragement, and words of affection. They mean the world to me. Also thank you, Ceri, for letting me be part of your blog and sharing with your readers this little secret of how a simple prop became a cherished part of my novel. 

For those who missed the previous posts and are curious about the two scenes that mention the locket, you can find them here, at Meryton Press and Austenprose. 

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Thanks so much to Belén Paccagnella for highlighting the significance of the locket in the story. Now it's been highlighted it's something I will look for when I read the story :)

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Author Bio

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Belén Paccagnella discovered the world of Jane Austen fan fiction after watching the 1995 BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. In her teens, she lived in Brazil when her family moved to the city of Curitiba due to her father’s work. She moved back to Buenos Aires a few years later, where she studied agronomy but finally pursued a different career and started working in the development and administration of shopping centers.

In 2001, she began writing both Regency and modern stories, adapting the Pride and Prejudice storyline to different backdrops, merging drama, humor, and adventure while creating characters with unique traits. Almost two decades later, she published Obstacles, a modern variation released in 2018 by Meryton Press.

Belén still lives in the suburbs of Buenos Aires where she shares her home with her pets while spending her time working, reading, and writing.

Links: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Buy Links

When Duty Calls is available to buy now in both paperback and ebook and to read via Kindle Unlimited - Amazon US / Amazon UK / Add to Goodreads Shelf

Giveaway Time!

Meryton Press is giving away 8 ebooks of When Duty Calls with this blog tour. To enter, please use the Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Blog Tour Schedule

March 11 Diary of an Eccentric

March 12 So Little Time…

March 13 Austenprose

March 16 Babblings of a Bookworm

March 17 Donadee’s Corner

March 18 Savvy Verse & Wit

March 19 Interests of a Jane Austen Girl

March 20 Austenesque Reviews

March 21 More Agreeably Engaged

March 23 From Pemberley to Milton

March 24 My Vices and Weaknesses

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