
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.

