Brenda Webb and A Most Unlikely Couple

Brenda Webb is my guest today and I am so happy to finally have her visit. Brenda, I apologize again for having to postpone your post until today and I appreciate so much your patience and understanding! I truly enjoyed all your thoughts. Thank you for sharing with us how you came to love Jane Austen and began your own writing career. Now, dear readers, please welcome Brenda Webb. She is also having a very generous giveaway!

How and when did your interest in Jane Austen and Pride & Prejudice take root?

I have always been a voracious reader and had plenty of books to read thanks to my father’s love of reading. He belonged to a book club and went to the library often, taking me with him. I read Pride and Prejudice when I was a teenager because it was required for an English class, but I didn’t take a great interest in Jane Austen’s books until I was a lot older (and wiser).

As an adult, raising a family, caring for elderly parents and working full time filled my days, and it was not until I saw a rerun of the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and watched the 2005 movie version that I realized what I had missed in my reading as a teenager and reread the novel. After that, there was no turning back. I realized what a gifted writer Jane Austen was, and I wanted more P&P!

Aren't you glad you saw that rerun? After rereading 'Pride & Prejudice' and wanting more, what drove you to start writing your own books? Did you write other things before writing PnP variations?

I had begun a story earlier and still have it, though I haven’t finished it. It is a modern tale about a rock band made up of three brothers and the girl who falls in love with one of them.

After I rediscovered Jane Austen and then JAFF, I read everything I could find. I only decided to write when I ran out of stories that interested me. By then, Austen’s characters were so firmly rooted in my imagination that I thought it would be fun for me to start developing my own stories.

Reading everything JAFF you could find, sounds very familiar! Once you started writing your own stories, did/do you have a muse that cause your story to lead you at times or did/do you use an outline and follow it religiously? What is your writing routine?

Though I do have a basic story idea in mind before I begin, I’ve found that I cannot follow an outline. I tried several times, but the story always developed in other directions as I went along. An outline was useless to me.

I guess you could say my muse points out where I’ll begin, giving me the important plot elements initially and then helps me add characters and circumstances as I go along.

Is there any setting that is more inspirational to you or your muse when writing?

The only time I can write is when I’m completely alone and it’s quiet. For me, that’s my office, which happens to be in the corner of my bedroom. I would dearly love to have an entire room for an office, and I think my husband would like that too, since I am quickly taking over the bedroom. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon, so I’m content in my little corner.

Little corners can be very good! When you are there in the quiet and writing, or anywhere for that matter, what about the Regency era is appealing to you?

Other than the great looking clothes—tight breeches, tall boots, cravats, waist coats and lovely ball gowns—I love the magnificent homes of that era and the beautifully landscaped estates in the country. I would have loved to have lived back then, but only as a woman of means with a rich husband who adored me! I love the idea that most gentlemen then were honorable and chivalrous, with some notable exceptions.

As a child, I had more responsibility than most because I was in charge while my parents worked. I was expected to be strong and accountable. Growing up with that kind of real life, I doubt I would have chafed very much at Mr. Darcy’s take-charge attitude.  Who wouldn’t dream of a handsome, intelligent man saying the Regency equivalent of, “Relax, darlin’, I’ve got this.”

And, of course, if he looked at me devotedly whilst saying it, that would be the perfect Regency daydream.

Oh, I do like your dreams...tight breeches, tall boots cravats...oh my! Tell us something about your newest book that you love most. (if you can without giving anything away)

My new book, Darcy and Elizabeth, A Most Unlikely Couple, is primarily a love story between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. Their love story comes first in all my books, but one element I love involves a secondary character, Colonel Fitzwilliam. I love how Richard deals with Elizabeth’s misguided attitude towards Darcy in my book. He’s really a mover and shaker in this story, and I always love to write about Richard in all my novels. He is my go-to guy for humor and good sense when Darcy is spouting complete nonsense and Elizabeth fails to see what’s right before her eyes.

Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of my favorites, indeed. I look forward to reading your take on him in this new book. What have you learned from writing that has helped you in your daily life?

I’ve learned that you just can’t win over some people, so I write what interests me. I write the stories I want to tell. I write to entertain my devoted readers and those who like the type of “what if” stories I do. I prefer non-canon, detailed stories with familiar characters acting in unfamiliar ways, and publishing my writing has taught me there are many who feel the same way. That lesson led me to start my own website www.darcyandlizzy.com.

Your lessons learned are wise ones. I'm happy you chose to start your own website in the process too. Is there anything special about yourself or your writing that you would be willing to share with us?

As I said, I try to write the type of books I have always enjoyed. By that I mean I don’t write short, simple happy tales. My stories have angst and lots of side stories that are complex and take time to tell in full. That is why they are usually longer than the average JAFF book.

Thank you for sharing those thoughts. Do you have a modern day author that has inspired you? If yes, what was it about their writing that was an inspiration?

I would say Linda Berdoll is a favorite Austen-based author. She, of course, wrote one of the first JAFF variations. I think the fact that she wrote the story she wanted to write, despite being criticized, helped me to be bold enough to do the same.  Two other writers whose stories I admire are Sharon Lathan and Abigail Reynolds. I bought all their stories when I first started reading JAFF and found that their books were well written and anything but boring.  

These authors inspired me and other writers to publish our work. We owe a lot to them.

I have heard others say the same for the authors you mentioned. Now for a very important question, we all have our special reasons for loving Mr. Darcy, what are your reasons?

I love that he is abhors dishonesty, loves completely when he falls in love and recognizes when he has made a mistake and tries to correct it. I love his character.  

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Mr. Darcy is tall, dark and handsome!  

Blurb for Fitzwilliam Darcy, An Honourable Man:

Amazon

Fitzwilliam Darcy, An Honourable Man is a Pride and Prejudice variation. Not a simple retelling, it is an intriguing new story.

Leaving England after his disastrous proposal was refused at Hunsford, Darcy spent two lonely years in Scotland and Ireland before returning home to face Elizabeth Bennet, certain that he could regard her as an indifferent acquaintance.

Events that transpired in his absence have left Elizabeth a changed woman.  The victim of a marriage by deception to Count Stefano, she has suffered greatly at his hands.

Will Mr. Darcy rescue the woman he vowed to forget? 

Blurb for Mr. Darcy's Forbidden Love:

Amazon

When Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Elizabeth Bennet for the first time, he is already married to another woman. Forced into a loveless marriage to the widowed Lady Gisela Grantham because of his father’s sins, Darcy is obliged by honour to remain in the marriage to hide a dark secret.

That unhappy part of his life, however, is quickly coming to an end as he meets the love of his life in a little-known village in Hertfordshire. Mr. Darcy’s Forbidden Love is a Pride and Prejudice variation, not a simple retelling. It is the story of a love that was meant to be—a passion too strong to be denied. 

Blurb for Darcy and Elizabeth, A Most Unlikely Couple:

 With his persuasive tongue, Andrew Darcy is a very charismatic scoundrel. Having dealt for years with the scandals created by this wayward cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy has grown weary. Thus, when yet another gentleman confronts Darcy about Andrew’s blatant betrayal of his daughter, Darcy decides he has had enough.

He sets out for Meryton to find Andrew, but no sooner has Andrew left for Manchester to offer for the unfortunate lady, than Meryton is abuzz with a new scandal involving Andrew and a local woman.

Feeling obligated to offer his assistance to the father, Darcy has no idea that accompanying Bingley to Longbourn will change his life forever. For the lady whose reputation is now at stake, Elizabeth Bennet, is the very reason he fled Meryton only weeks before.

Brenda, the blurbs have my interest piqued and I look forward to reading the books. Your post was most definitely worth the wait! Thank you again, for being my guest and sharing with me and my readers your path to becoming an author! Thank you too, for your very generous giveaway.

Brenda is allowing me to host a lovely giveaway, one paperback, US only, and one eBook, internationally, of  her published books. That makes four books total...one paperback and one eBook of Fitzwilliam Darcy, An Honourable Man, and one paperback and one eBook of Mr. Darcy's Forbidden Love! YAY! Thank you, Brenda. To be entered leave a comment below as I always love reading your 'share in the conversation'!  Good luck to all. Be sure to include your email address in the comment. To prevent unwanted spam, put your email address with (at) instead of @. Winners will be chosen in a random drawing. Giveaway will end at midnight, June 17, 2014.