Keira: I noticed that the title What Would Jane Austen Do? appeared a few times in the book. Was this your original title? If not, what was it? What were some other titles that were possibilities?

Laurie: Yes, that was the original title. I don't think any others were considered.

Keira: What was your inspiration for WWJAD?

Laurie: I was having coffee with several writer friends when the topic of conversation turned to "If time travel were possible, would you go?" I really had to think about that. Aside from missing my family and friends, there are so many things not available in the Regency that I consider absolute necessities. Although tempted, I realized I'm a modern woman through and through. I'd like to go for short time, like going on a camping trip, but for the rest of my life? I don't know. And so the idea of a heroine who loves Jane Austen's books and the fashions of the Regency gets a chance to go back in time where (among other things which I hadn't figured out at the time) she has to come to term with her modern-ness.

Keira: How did you come up with the names for your characters?

Laurie: Characters names seem to pop into my head in all different sorts of ways. Sometimes, I can see them, or hear them and their name seems obvious. If not, I have a number of name books that I flip through until the right name jumps out at me. I wanted the heroine in WWJAD to feel a bond to JA, so I named her Eleanor after Elinor Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility. I changed the spelling in case I wanted to use a quote from Elinor later in the book.

Keira: Speaking of characters, did you draw their appearances based on anybody in particular and do you have pictures?

Laurie: I don't have pictures of them except in my head, and I don't consciously model them after anyone in particular. Though I admit that occasionally there must be a subconscious association. My hero in Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake looked suspiciously like Hugh Jackman in a high crowned hat, snowy cravat, buff riding breeches, and tall Hessian boots.

Keira: When you started writing WWJAD did you know anything about the JAFF (Jane Austen Fanfiction) community? How do you think the community will receive your offshoot?

Laurie: Actually I didn't know much about it. After I sold the book I got an inkling of the enormity of the fan base and the variety of fiction that is out there, but by then I couldn't read any of it for fear that someone else's vision might color mine. I've added a few titles to my TBR pile but I haven't had much reading time lately.

I sincerely hope the members of the community will enjoy reading my story even though it's not technically fan fiction. None of JA's famous characters are characters in the book. It's more fiction that incorporates a real life person into the story. The heroine recalls bits of her favorite JA stories to help her survive culture shock when she travels back in time to 1814. And she gets to meet Jane Austen in person.

Keira: What are some challenges in writing Austen based romance?

Laurie: When Eleanor meets the real Jane Austen, I had to be careful to remain true to historical fact. For instance, my description of JA's dress is based on her own words when she describes her dress in a letter to her sister Cassandra. When JA mentions having been in Bath the previous April, she really was in Bath then.

In 1814, Jane Austen was nearing forty, had had two books published, and another soon to be released. My heroine wants to ask her where she got the inspiration for Mr. Darcy, hoping he was based on a real person, and that she will get to meet him at the ball. But because JA had not publicly admitted she was the author, Eleanor had to be circumspect in her questioning, and I had to be very careful constructing that scene.

Keira: What's one of your favorite Jane Austen inspired novels?

Laurie: I have Pemberley Manor and The Darcys & the Bingleys in my TBR pile. I'm looking forward to the Sept. release of Marilyn Brant's According To Jane.

Keira: Who are your favorite authors besides Jane Austen?

Laurie: I'm going to take a pass on that question because I'd like to list all my friends who are writers. And if I missed one I'd never forgive myself.

Keira: How do you define love?

Laurie: Love is being the wind beneath each other's wings.

Keira: What makes a great (written) bedroom scene?

Laurie: I personally like the characters to have some doubts going into the situation. Not necessarily performance issues but questions about the wisdom of continuing. I like female characters with some doubts about their bodies/attractiveness when naked, male characters who second guess their decision/motivation. I'd like the characters to know beforehand that making love will change the relationship, then make the decision to go ahead anyway. I want them to be swept away physically and emotionally like never before. Along the way I like a bit of humor here and there. When it's over, I want to see that making love has changed everything.

I just reread that paragraph and it sounds rather dry. Maybe I should have just said, I want a love scene to make me smile and leave me breathless.

Keira: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

Laurie: Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to tell you about my new book. It's been fun.  One last plug: What Would Jane Austen Do? May 2009. Hope you enjoy reading it.

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Highlander in Love is one of the sweetest, most delightful romances I have had the pleasure to read. Julia London spins a masterful tale that weaves the magic of Scotland into your heart. The intimate scenes between Payton and Mared are thrillingly sensual and are on a scale of not to hot, super hot. Highlander in Love combines all of the genre’s standard plots in a delightful new way.

Payton Douglas, Laird of Eilean Ros, has two hobbies: sheep raising, whiskey brewing. He has been in love with Mared Lockhart for years, the vibrant young woman from the castle Talla Dileas on the other side of the mountain. She does not hold any affection for him at all as he’s a Douglas, the enemy, the man she believes who brought destitution down on the heads of her family.

Mared has a curse upon her, one that has lived in the family for hundreds of years with devastating consequences. No daughter of a Lockhart will ever marry until she looks into the belly of the devil. Those that try to wed find themselves dead or their lovers dead. Separated from the rest of the lochs because of this curse, Mared grew into a young vivacious woman with a lot of sass. Payton finds her irresistible.

However, the Lockharts’ are in dire straights. With the introduction of sheep to the lochs, cows were not bringing in the money they’d used to bring. A large loan of 3,000 pounds was extended by Payton to Mared’s father with her hand in marriage as collateral should they fail to pay the loan back in a year.

Then the scoundrel Hugh MacAlister stole the beastie from the Lockharts, leaving them without a way to repay Douglas. But Mared won’t marry a Douglas! Determined to bring Miss Beitris Crowley into Payton’s esteem, Mared hopes that he’ll offer for Beitris instead. But Payton won’t be deterred, and in desperation Mared breaks off the betrothal.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Wounded by her refusal, Payton lashes out and demands that the loan be paid, as agreed upon the collateral of Mared’s promise. He forces Mared into his house as a housekeeper. But she vows to never serve him.

Packed full of wonderful dialogue and scenes, this is just the tip of the iceberg with Highlander in Love. Payton is the new Mr. Darcy; composed, misunderstood, passionate, wealthy, and desperately lonely. How will he overcome Mared’s hate of the Douglas clan and see his way to a future built on the glimmering foundation of dreams?

Rating: 5 Stars

Buy: Highlander in Love

Originally posted 2008-12-02 14:44:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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