A book blog which mostly features books about or inspired by Jane Austen.
I’m happy to be welcoming Bronwen Chisholm to the blog today. Recently Bronwen joined us for the first book in her Pride & Prejudice-inspired Defying Propriety series. The second book, Son of an Earl, is coming out on 22 December and should be available for pre-order today! Bronwen has come here today with a guest post, excerpt and an ebook giveaway of Son of an Earl.
It’s a nice long read, so grab
yourself a cuppa and I will hand over to Bronwen for her to introduce the excerpt.
Well hello everybody! I am posting again after a longer than expected summer hiatus, in which I started a new job and like everybody else in the UK tried to do some home improvements! Now the autumn is coming and the nights are drawing in it’s time to make time for some reading.
Today I’m welcoming author Bronwen Chisholm back to the blog. Bronwen has a new book coming out on 1 October. The story is a Pride & Prejudice variation called As a Proper Lady Would and it’s the first in a series. Bronwen is joining us with a guest post, and she’s kindly brought a giveaway with her! Without further ado, I will hand over to her.
* * *
Hi, Ceri! I am tickled to visit with your readers here at Babblings of a Bookworm again. The first novel in my Defying Propriety Series, As a Proper Lady Would, will be available October 1st on Kindle and in paperback. Though I did a cover reveal last week at Austen Authors, it has changed slightly. Here it is along with the blurbs for both the series and this first book.
So,
let’s back that up a bit. I have a tendency to get scene ideas lying in bed
either before I fall asleep or just after waking up. If it’s the “before
sleep”, I usually forget the really good stuff by the time I wake up (yes, I
should jot it down, but they usually come the very moment my eyes are drifting
shut, and I just can’t force myself to wake up to do it). If they are in the
morning, my mind runs with it until I am able to get it on paper. Luckily, in
this instance, it was a morning idea.
The
idea was a scene with nine year old Fitzwilliam Darcy and his ten year old
cousin, Phillip Fitzwilliam (the colonel in this series is named Phillip, click
here
for that explanation), playing war while their uncle, Lt. Anthony Fitzwilliam,
watches them. The comments got me thinking about what Darcy, Elizabeth, and the
other characters would be like as children. The opening scene came to me, and
then I just couldn’t stop.
As
the series blurb says, so much of who we are comes from our childhood
experiences and the people in our lives. It was a blast thinking about what
made Wickham such a rake, why Lizzy and Jane were more ladylike than Lydia and
Kitty, and how Caroline became such a social climber. And the best part, I got
to add new characters here and there.
That
leads us to the series. Up until now, I have written stand alone stories (Mistress
Mary and the General is technically a spin off of Behind the Mask, but it
can be read alone). When I got to what should have been the end of this story,
there were just too many lose threads. The only couple who had married was
Darcy and Elizabeth. Yes, Jane appeared to be engaged, but there were at least
two other couples making eyes at each other, and then there was Darcy’s eldest
cousin, the viscount. I quickly realized I could not say it all in one book. So
that is how the book and the series began.
Now, a GIVEAWAY! Just make a comment on this blog
and Ceri will pick 1 lucky winner to receive an ebook copy of As a Proper Lady Would. Good
luck! I can’t wait to read your comments.
Her
love of writing has led her to several writing groups, and she is currently
serving as the vice president of the Riverside Writers and organizes the
Riverside Young Writers.
For
more information, visit her at www.bronwenchisholm.com.
Usually I’d add a buy link but I couldn’t find one! I’ll link instead to Bronwen’s works on various Amazon sites. Remember, As a Proper Lady Would will be released on Friday 1 October in paperback and kindle.
• Amazon US • Amazon UK • Amazon CA •
Add to Goodreads shelf
Giveaway Time!
Blog Tour Schedule
Please check out the other stops on the
blog tour. Details are below:
What
I find particularly exciting about this story is that it crosses over into
Wales, which is the part of the UK where I come from. I’m not sure how polite
the society was here in Regency times, which is why Wales may be a bit of a
mystery to some historical romance readers (there is also the interesting point of the moving
border, which means that although I live about 30 miles from the England/Wales
border, the part of Wales I live in was part of Monmouthshire which was technically considered part of England
in those times!). I think the closest Austen gets to Wales is a mention of a picture of Tintern Abbey (also in Monmouthshire) in Fanny Price's little room in Mansfield Park.
Let’s take a look at the blurb and then I will and over to Bronwen for her guest post.
Book
Description
Mr. Bennet is dead; his daughters “scattered to the winds,” according to Mrs. Bennet.
And the eldest Miss Bennet? No one really knows.
Poor Mr. Bingley is led to believe she is no more, but her sister swears she is alive.
Can Mr. Darcy and his friend find her and, in turn, their own happily ever afters?
