The paperbacks are from the ’60s and early ’70s. The hardback is copyright 1939. It’s a bit fragile but I still intend to read it.

Ahhh…it’s so nice to have a copy of Cotillion back in my possession. I have to read that one first — it’s like visiting an old friend.

I was in high school when I first started reading Georgette Heyer. I think The Black Moth might have been one of my first — either that or The Grand Sophy. On Facebook some of us were talking about how we’ve been so influenced by Heyer. I think she’s had an enormous impact on my writing. It’s a good influence to have.

I also love her non-romances. Her genius at capturing people in any era, whether contemporary with her own or historically, works no matter what genre she is writing in.

Happy sigh. The Heyers are here.

February

Event name:  Romance Readers Social

Time:  1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Date:   Saturday, February 25

Description:  Meet local romance authors April Kihlstrom, Jane Myers Perrine, and Patrice Sarath at the library’s annual Romance Readers Social. Enjoy refreshments and bring your old romance paperbacks for a book swap.

Location:  Pflugerville Community Library

Street address:  102 S. 10th Street, Pflugerville

Phone:  512-251-9185

Cost:  N/A

Website: http://www.pflugervilletx.gov/library

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March 10 (date and time tentative; more details as they come in)

Houston Town & Country Barnes & Noble: with Jennifer Ziegler and Alyssa Goodnight.

Expect lots of fun and a good time. Alyssa Goodnight is the author of Austentatious, which comes out any second now and looks like so much fun I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy (January 31 is the official date), and Unladylike Pursuits, which also looks like a romp (come on — highwaymen? an arranged marriage? I am so there).

Jennifer Ziegler is the author of Sass & Serendipity and several other young adult and children’s novels. Join us!

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May 19 (details to come)

BookPeople: Austen in Austin! The three Musketeers (Alyssa, Jenny, and me) join forces again at Austin’s own BookPeople for Jane, more Jane, and still more Jane. There will no doubt be Pride, Persuasion, and Sensibility.

So here is my question, Heyer fans: Which Heyers are your favorites? Or more to the point, which of the less well-known Heyers are your favorites? After all, we all know The Grand Sophy, and for good reason. I’m including her mysteries, contemporary books, and non-Regencies.

Comment away!

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE JANE AUSTEN’S BIRTHDAY SOIREE

Sharon Lathan
Giveaway : Miss Darcy Falls in Love

Emily Snyder
Giveaway: Letters of Love & Deception

Laurel Ann Nattress
Giveaway: signed copy of Jane Austen Made Me Do It

C. Allyn Pierson
Giveaway: Mr Darcy Little Sister (open worldwide)

Cindy Jones
Giveaway: a signed copy of “My Jane Austen Summer” and a package of Lily Berry’s Pink Rose Tea by Bingley’s, Ltd.

Farida Mestek
Giveaway: I was Jane Austen Best Friend by Cora Harrison

Marilyn Brant
Giveaway : A canvas ACCORDING TO JANE tote bag and a pair of A SUMMER IN EUROPE luggage tags.

Prue Batten
Giveaway : Anna Elliot’s “Georgiana Darcy” (Kindle book)

Erin Blakemore
Giveaway : a set of Potter-Style Pride and Prejudice notecards

Velvet
Giveaway: Jane Austen’s Little Instruction Book (Charming Petites) By Jane Austen, Edited by Sophia Bedford-Pierce, Illustrated by Mullen & Katz, Introduction by Barbara Paulding

Karen Doornebos
Giveaway: 2 Jane Austen Candles and 2 signed DNMD books plus drink coasters and tea!

Regina Jeffers
Giveaway: An autographed copy of “Christmas at Pemberley “

Alyssa Goodnight
Giveaway: Jane Austen Action figure

Deb
Giveaway: JASNA 2012 calendars from the Wisconsin JASNA Region

Laura Hile, Susan Kaye, Pamela Aidan, and Barbara Cornthwaite
Giveaway:
•    One copy of Young Master Darcy: A Lesson in Honour by Pamela Aidan
•    One set of Frederick Wentworth, Captain (Books 1 and 2) by Susan Kaye
•    Two copies of Mercy’s Embrace: So Rough a Course (Book 1) by Laura Hile
•    George Kinghtley, Gentleman (Books 1 and 2) by Barbara Cornthwaite

Juliet Archer
Giveaway: a copy of “Persuade Me” and one of “The Importance of Being Emma”

Jane Greensmith
Giveaway: a copy of “Intimations of Austen” and Sense & Sensibility (Marvel Illustrated)

Jenny Allworthy
Giveaway: a copy of Northanger Abbey DVD starring Felicity Jones and JJ Feild (The winner will choose region 1 or 2 DVD)

Sitio Jane Austen
Giveaway: – Spanish edition of Sense and Sensibility for the 200th Anniversary + A DVD package with adaptations of Jane Austen
(It’s only zone 2, but it’s in Spanish and English ) + blu-ray of the BBC’s Emma with Romola Garai

Kaitlin Saunders
Giveaway: “A Modern Day Persuasion”

Becky Rhodehouse
Giveaway: selection of Austenesque Reads

Adriana Zardini
Giveaway: DVD – Sense and Sensibility (1995) – English / Portuguese subtitles

Jane Odiwe
Giveaway: a mug with one of Jane Odiwe’s illustrations and a copy of her “Mr Darcy’s Secret”

Courtney Webb
Giveaway: Noble Satyr by Lucinda Brant (Regency Romance)

Jennifer Becton
Giveaway: An ebook of the Personages of Pride and Prejudice Collection, which contains all of my Austenesque works: Charlotte Collins, “Maria Lucas,” and Caroline Bingley. The giveaway will be open internationally.

Vera Nazarian
Giveaway: a copy of Vera Nazarian’s gift hardcover edition of her inspirational calendar and diary, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Abigail Reynolds
Giveaway: a signed copy of “Mr. Darcy’s Undoing”

AustenAuthors
Giveaway: Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Jennifer Kloester

Katherine Cox
Giveaway :$10 B&N Gift-card (US only)

Maria Grazia
Giveaway : A selection of Austenesque reads

Jim C. Hines has an excellent post on his blog about sexual harassment at cons and what can be done; you can read it here. He has some very sensible suggestions.

I would like to add one more suggestion.

I call upon con committees to take on sexual harassment in a proactive way by clarifying what it is and that it will NOT be tolerated at their conventions. They can communicate this on their websites and in their programs, which often have rules of behavior anyway. Yes, this is a bummer. A convention is supposed to be a great time for fans and authors, and nobody wants to think about this stuff. On the other hand, no one needs to be intruded upon, harassed, made to feel uncomfortable, or actively threatened at a convention. Since it’s such an issue, it needs to be addressed.

These episodes are not rare occurrences. They happen often enough that a lot of authors and fans have the same story. There are repeat offenders. And while the stereotype of the congoer is of the socially maladjusted male, I cry bullshit on that. Harassers and predators know exactly what they are doing.

So if cons make it explicitly clear that harassment will not be tolerated and offenders will not be given a second chance but will be removed immediately, I think it will go a long way to making sure that cons are fun and welcome for everyone.

Yes, there are going to be gray areas. Where human intersects with human, there always are. I trust that we can work through the gray areas to come to the truth of a situation.

I love cons. I love fans. I love how smart attendees are, how interesting, and how funny. I just want everyone to enjoy their experience without weird sexual power-tripping going on.

From a commenter on Lauren Willig’s blog:

I’m reading a new release through for the second time for the pure joy of it: The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath. It is one of the very BEST P & P sequels I have ever read and my review will be posted on Nov 30th on a neighboring website. The author has created an unlikely hero much like our loveable Turnip!

(Note: Turnip refers to Lauren Willig’s novel “The Mischief of the Mistletoe,” and she writes more about him in “A Very Turnip Wedding,” and yes, Mr. Aikens is like Turnip. All hail the nice guy, y’all. Sexier than any alpha male out there.)

From Five Minutes for Books:

I enjoyed following along as Patrice Sarath developed Mary into an accomplished young woman. I appreciated that most of the characters from Pride and Prejudice appeared in the tale, some with more prominent roles, and I thought the new characters added to the appeal as well.

The weather is colder–it is the perfect time to snuggle with a good book. The Unexpected Miss Bennet is a wonderful choice, and it would make a great gift for an Austen fan.

“It’s a little bit of immortality,” I said.

(Note: Children are too of course; my friend calls her son her genetic legacy, and it’s true — that lure to reproduce has as much to do with immortality on a cellular level as it does with S-E-X. And in her Vorkisigan saga, Lois McMaster Bujold writes about how Cordelia is awash with an atavistic sense of genetic greed when she realizes she can have as many children as she wants. But we’re talking about books now, so for all those people who think a female writer or artist who thinks of immortality in terms other than children is unnatural and a terrible mother, you can hush. We covered it.)

Everyone wants to live forever. I hope my little books give me the kind of immortality I crave; but I know that’s not likely. Also, it’s harder nowadays, because there’s far more noise to signal.We can’t all be famous!

However, I feel very lucky that I can write my books and create my worlds and bring the characters who live in my head to the page or screen. It’s a privilege.

Here’s my latest little legacy to be birthed upon the world.

The new arrival!

We celebrate with the fancy teapot when the new book comes in the mail.

I just got my copy of the US edition of The Unexpected Miss Bennet — and my editor is right, it does look better in person! There is nothing like holding one’s own book, and I got to experience that twice this year.Whee!

I would have pictures except that my camera’s battery died. No problem — I’ll just put in the spare … oh yeah, the spare that I didn’t charge. So, pics tomorrow, promise, after the battery charges up.

For now, Vicariously Jane Austen has an interview up with me.

Here’s an excerpt:

Carolyn: What intrigues you about Jane Austen?

Patrice: Her genius as a novelist puts her on the same level as Shakespeare, yet she is absolutely unpretentious and accessible. Six books, all of them some of the best writing in the English language. Plus, she’s funny, and timeless and her characters are recognizable.

Remember, December 6 is the pub date for The Unexpected Miss Bennet, just in time for Christmas or Hannukah. You can pre-order online or at your favorite bookstore. My favorite bookstore just happens to be the lovely BookPeople in Austin, Texas.

At first I wasn’t too worried. I finished a novel earlier this year, and created a screenplay from a short story, and then last month wrote two short stories in record time.

So what is this about writers block then?

Well, I haven’t been able to start anything new, except for the short stories, and they are both finished and off to markets. And that’s scary, not having anything to write. no new projects. No new characters living in my head with which to have conversations.

The creative well has dried up.

So yeah, while at the beginning of the year, through the summer and up until September 30, I was pretty much okay with it. Something would come. It always did.

I finally broke down and admitted what was going on. See, the thing is, I don’t believe in writers block. The fear that comes with writing is mostly of our own making, and I’ve gotten very good at not letting that fear stop me. But this is different. I want to write. I feel the itchy restlessness that I get when a project is welling up and ready to go. But I sit at the computer and nothing comes out. I tried to get started on something new that I have the merest glimmering of a concept for, and got a bit sick to my stomach at the words that I got down.

I turned to my colleagues, writers who have been there, done that, experienced the same thing. Here’s what they came up with:

• Create a particular character type and give that character a problem. It doesn’t matter what the problem is or who the character is, or even whether this becomes a short story or a novel.
• Exercise. Physical activity.
• If your brain doesn’t want to write, say “fine.” And then embargo the computer for two weeks and don’t write a word. (This is opposite from below; depends upon your personality.)
• Get a checkup — sometimes malaise can have a physical cause.
• Read nonfiction.
• Force yourself to write — don’t allow yourself to get up from the chair until you’ve gotten down 200 words. (this is actually a good one for me. I’m very good at distracting myself.)

I’ve done some form of all of these and have not had a breakthrough — yet. But in a way, it’s comforting that other writers go through this, that sometimes the well does run dry, that writers block is not malingering, no matter how much I tended to think that way (and boy is that a case of eating crow), and that eventually I will get unstuck. In the meantime, I will take a deep breath and stay calm.

I know the next story is coming. It’s just taking a little longer to break the surface.

How do you break through writers block?

I loved Halloween as a kid. Such a spooky, scary night, running all over the neighborhood without parents, dressed in all kinds of homemade creative costumes, and candy. It was cool, dark, windy (usually), leaves scattering across the street, voices wafting through the dark, and flashlights darting to and fro.

There was a little bit of danger, of transgression — out after dark! Without parents (well, they trailed behind)! Candy! Staying up late! And even some mischief — what with egging houses (actually a bad one) and smashing pumpkins.

And now? Grownups dress up. Kids wear store-bought costumes and go trick or treating in the mall.

Grownups got Halloween. Kids got rocks. (name that reference).

It was a busy weekend. Coffee on Saturday morning with writer friends so we could commiserate about not being at WFC like all the other “real” writers. (Maybe that last part was just me.) Then the Pflugerville Science Fiction and Fantasy Meetup, which was a good time. One thing that doesn’t change — the kids who like science fiction and fantasy are some of the smartest kids around.

Then a party! With karaoke! And Rock Band! And general silliness.

And for Halloween at work I went as Inigo Montoya, because our theme was heroes and villains. So I had a little bit of the Halloween spirit, okay?

There’s more news to come about The Unexpected Miss Bennet — I will keep you posted.