To get this launch party started, I will post the blurb for the book first; then we will hear from Trudy Brasure and Nicole Clarkston. They will tell us how the anthology came into being. Next on the queue, the authors will be introduced and each will share how they first discovered John Thornton and Margaret Hale. Have you discovered them yet? If so, in the comments, tell us how you discovered them. I will, if you will! :)
Thanks for stopping by today. Let's have a great time and show these ladies and all their hard work some love!
Book
Blurb:
Amidst the turbulent backdrop of a manufacturing town
in the grips of the Industrial Revolution, Elizabeth Gaskell penned the
timeless passion of Mr. Thornton and Margaret Hale. A mixing of contemporary
and Victorian, this short story anthology by twelve beloved authors considers
familiar scenes from new points of view or re-imagined entirely. Capturing all
the poignancy, heartbreak, and romance of the original tale, Falling for Mr.
Thornton is a collection you will treasure again and again.
Stories by: Trudy Brasure * Nicole Clarkston * Julia
Daniels * Rose Fairbanks * Don Jacobson * Evy Journey * Nancy Klein * M. Liza
Marte * Elaine Owen * Damaris Osborne * Melanie Stanford ** Foreword by Mimi
Matthews **
Trudy and Nicole, I'm turning this over to you!
Q: How
did this project all start?
Trudy
Brasure:
The initial motive was a bit personal. It had been over five years since
my last N&S variation was published and I really wanted to publish
something before another year had passed. My current work in progress has been
long in coming, so I decided that if I started a short story collection with
other authors, I could reach my goal of publishing within a year.
But
besides all that, it's one of my great joys to spread and encourage
the love North and South in any way. I was particularly eager to entice
some Austen writers to join my venture! I knew there were a few of them who
were Thornton fans as well. And since I already knew most of the other North
and South authors out there, I was fairly confident there would be interest in
creating a North and South anthology.
Not
wanting to do this all on my own, I asked Nicole if she would be my partner in
this project. Nicole has the unique distinction of being the only author to
have successfully straddled both the Austen and Gaskell domains—she has
published multiple novels in each world. And I needed someone who
had current experience in the ever-changing publishing scene.
Q:
So what was your response to Trudy’s idea, Nicole?
Nicole
Clarkston:
I didn’t have to think about it for even a second. I loved the idea! How could
I not? I had been toying with the notion of doing a North and South story
collection, but the idea was bigger than I wanted to tackle on my own.
Teaming
up with Trudy was a dream! Hers were the first North and South variations I
found when I first fell in love with John Thornton, and she has been a dear
friend for a few years now. We have had so many fun chats about our favorite
top-hat-wearing gentleman! She is truly knowledgeable about the era and the
Victorian authors, and she knows these characters like they are her best
friends.
I will
be honest: some readers and authors are hesitant to give North and South
variations a try. I believe part of that is because it is a more sombre
original work, being set in an industrial Victorian city rather than a cheerful
countryside of a (slightly) more carefree era. However, that only highlights
how rich and admirable the story and the characters truly are. In order to draw
out the depth and feeling of the story, an author needs to understand the very
Victorian challenges, attitudes, morals, and faith that these characters must
wrestle with. Every author in this collection has invested a lot of time and
heart to earnestly search out the nuggets of inspiration and breathe life into
the characters.
I knew
I wanted to ask all the previously published N&S authors if they would like
to contribute a story for the project. And I knew a couple of Austen writers
who I thought would love to try a short story as their first dabble in Milton.
It wasn't hard to find enthusiastic authors, was it, Nicole?
Nicole
Clarkston: No, the problem was actually that
some had to bow out due to scheduling
conflicts after joyfully embracing the
idea. Everyone we talked to was excited about the project and it was truly a
delight to see it come together. Most of us didn’t know each other well, but
everyone was such a pleasure to work with! These are some remarkable authors
and human beings, and the early stage of writing and taking over plot lines was
a blast.
When the stories started rolling in,
we knew we had a special collection. Each author truly went for the heart of
the story, and each in their own unique style. The blending of voices and
imaginations beautifully captures just why North and South resonates with so
many readers: because it is a story that transcends circumstances and styles
and speaks to the root of human relationships.
Speaking of what is so special about
North and South, we asked each of our authors how they first discovered John
Thornton and Margaret Hale.
Nancy Klein I read "North
and South" in graduate school in 1985. It was part of my Victorian Novel
class and loved it. Fast forward to 2005 and I'm strolling around Best Buys on
Christmas Eve, looking for a DVD to play on the player my brother and sister
are buying for me in another part of the store. Bingo--there's "North and
South." I watched it in one sitting on December 26, and there was no going
back after that. The music, the smouldering, the scene at the train station--wait,
that didn't happen in the book. Who cares? I'm in love.
Nicole Clarkston I was already in love
with "Pride and Prejudice" and I was looking for something I could
love just as much. I happened to turn on the miniseries during a home
renovation project, when I needed something to keep me awake while I worked
through the night. My expectations were not very high. However, by the time The
Kiss happened, I was a drooling, wide-eyed, sleep-deprived John Thornton
devotee. I drove all the way across Portland the next day after calling all the
local book retailers to see who had it on the shelf (because 2 day shipping was
way too long to wait). I loved the book even more! After three years had gone
by with no sign of my obsession abating, I decided I had to put pen to paper,
and here we are.
Kate Forrester A confession, my love
of North and South came from the BBC adaptation staring Danielle Denby Ash and
Richard Armitage and not Mrs Gaskells novel, my love of that came later.
Christmas 2007 my daughter received North and South as a gift. We didn’t watch
it until the new year - the first Sunday in January to be precise. From the
opening scene I was hooked. I loved the train, and Margaret’s reflection. I
adored the minor characters Mr Hale, Bessie Higgins, Nicholas Higgins, the
fabulous Fanny Thornton, and the indomitable Hannah Thornton. Then there was
John Thornton, Master of Marlborough Mill – the man who didn’t know how to
dabble but had a foolish passion for a woman who didn’t look back but who did
eventually come home with him after the most romantic kiss ever seen in a BBC
Sunday drama. Richard Armitage’s portrayal of Thornton was perfection. Sunday
lunch was forgotten as we binged watched all four episodes – the first of many
viewings.
Rose Fairbanks I fell in love with
North and South after watching the BBC production with Richard Armitage. I was
so good back then and only watched one episode a night even though I was
watching on Netflix. By episode two, Mr. Thornton was haunting my dreams. I
watched several more times back to back and it reignited my love for Victorian
literature. I finally realized it was based on a book and decided to read it. I
actually didn’t think the book could be even better than the production (I
mean, that kiss!), but I was so pleasantly surprised.
Damaris Osborne My husband was on
deployment abroad, and my daughter and I sat down to watch another Sunday
evening BBC four parter from 19thC literature. Austen was exhausted, Dickens
was getting dreary. North & South sounded potentially a bit ’trouble at
t’mill’ grim, but the quality of the production both in front of and behind the
camera made it a ‘we must see next episode’ from the first. However, it was the
‘look back at me’ scene that left me speechless. Good looking chaps in their
thirties are not rare on screen, but one who could draw one into the anguish of
a soul through eyes alone was amazing. By the end (despite shouting at the
screen that anyone canoodling on a station platform would have caused public
outrage) I was eager to see how much of the tale was dramatic television
licence and how much was the brilliance of Gaskell. It turned out that the book
was different, but had its own glittering high points, and showed just how
underrated Mrs Gaskell has been for far too long. My parody is of the
television series, since parodying Mrs Gaskell would be an insult.
Don Jacobson The honest truth is
that I went backwards into "North and South" after reading Nicole
Clarkston's variations. Up to the point, I had been exclusively reading Pride
and Prejudice variations. When Nicole asked me to beta-read "Northern
Rain" (we had been sharing each other's work for a year by that point) I
was hooked. Then I resolved to go back and read the original source story. WOW
again. Buried inside of the traditional romance was a potent social commentary
about rising by the dint of one's talents while also being held back by those
who rose before you were able to escape your station.
Elaine Owen I got into North
and South around 2015, after seeing so many people who were usually calm and
sensible completely gush about something that happened on a train platform! I
finally gave into curiosity and watched the movie, and just that fast, I was
one of those people whimpering over a solitary yellow rose. Then I read the
book and fell in love once more.
Evy Journey I actually didn’t
know about Gaskell’s novel until I saw the miniseries which I found surfing
Netflix for something to watch. Like many viewers, I loved it. When that
happens I very often read the book it’s based on. As it also sometimes happens
when a book or film touches me, I continue the story in my mind.
Trudy Brasure I stumbled upon
the BBC’s adaptation of North and South in October 2009 when my friend and I
searched for something to watch on Netflix. I didn’t know it then, but it was a
pivotal event for me. I’d never heard of Elizabeth Gaskell before. Richard’s
performance of the lonely and misunderstood John Thornton was utterly riveting.
I don’t think I’d ever seen a romantic hero as vulnerable as Thornton was
during that profoundly moving scene with his mother the night before he
proposed. I immediately searched for information on Richard Armitage and
Gaskell’s story afterward and found a community of fans at C19 that encouraged
and nourished my fascination with North and South. I ordered the book and flew
through it—it’s now one of my prized possessions, with all my markings over the
years on its pages. Consumed with re-imagining that painful good-bye scene from
the mini-series, I began writing the opening scenes of A Heart for Milton early
in 2010.
M. Liza Marte In all honesty, I found Elizabeth Gaskell and her story, North & South by way of John Jakes. I was a huge fan of the TV mini-series, North and South based on John Jakes novels. When I heard there was a BBC adaptation I thought, “How can they remake a British version of the Civil War story?” It made no sense to me. A friend, who was a great admirer of the lead actor in the BBC version told me it was a different story, with many similarities to “Pride & Prejudice,” my favorite book. With that inducement I watched and fell in love with the story, the characters, Milton, everything!
Blog Tour Schedule:
Buy Link:
It is so exciting to have this many authors together and writing about John Thornton and Margaret Hale. I've been anxious to have this in my hands and read it anytime I have a few minutes. I will be able to get my North & South fix and enjoy a story or two. I know I will be reading Falling for Mr. Thornton over and over.
For those of you that love Pride & Prejudice with Darcy and Elizabeth, I hope you will give this anthology about the beloved characters of North & South a chance. You may just fall in love with them too. Who knows, you may then move on to the original book by Elizabeth Gaskell. You may even want to watch the miniseries with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe, if you have not already done so.
Congratulations to each of the twelve authors. You have an awesome anthology that will introduce new readers to the wonderful world of Milton, John Thornton, Margaret Hale, and even Nicholas Higgins!
If you would like to read the full blurb for each of the twelve stories and see what type of story it is, please click here. It will pull up a pdf document for you to read. It also includes the author bio and contact information for each author.
Thank you, Rita Deodato, for organizing the blog tour and allowing me to launch it!
Congratulations to each of the twelve authors. You have an awesome anthology that will introduce new readers to the wonderful world of Milton, John Thornton, Margaret Hale, and even Nicholas Higgins!
If you would like to read the full blurb for each of the twelve stories and see what type of story it is, please click here. It will pull up a pdf document for you to read. It also includes the author bio and contact information for each author.
Thank you, Rita Deodato, for organizing the blog tour and allowing me to launch it!
Giveaway:
Take a look at all those books above which are the main giveaway for this blog tour. That is amazing! Good luck to everyone!
The authors will offer one big prize to one reader following the entire blog tour. This prize will contain 13 different ebooks, once copy of Falling For Mr. Thornton and one other ebook from each author.
Additionally, the authors would also like to offer 2 bookmarks of Falling for Mr. Thornton at each blog. Both giveaways are international.
Leave a comment below to be entered for the bookmarks. Use the Rafflecopter to enter the grand prize of thirteen eBooks. Good luck to all of you.
Leave a comment below to be entered for the bookmarks. Use the Rafflecopter to enter the grand prize of thirteen eBooks. Good luck to all of you.
Rafflecopter:
