Confessions & Correspondence: Darcy’s London housekeeper writes to Mrs Reynolds Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Mrs Hodges to Mrs Reynolds Grosvenor Square, London22 April 1812 My dear Mrs. Reynolds, I trust this letter finds you in good health, and that all at Pemberley continues in its usual order and comfort.

Confessions & Correspondence: Darcy’s London housekeeper writes to Mrs Reynolds

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new…

The Cajun Cheesehead Analyzes Mr. Darcy The Cajun Cheesehead Analyzes Austen’s Characters #2 – Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, from Pride and Prejudice Greetings everyone. Jack Caldwell here. This time, I’m looking at the Big Guy. Yep—Mr. Darcy goes under the microscope. Pray remember that my analysis is based solely on what Miss Jane Austen wrote. So, forget all about P&P 95 vs P&P 05. I don’t care about moody Colin Firth or tortured Matthew Macfadyen.

The Cajun Cheesehead Analyzes Mr. Darcy

The Cajun Cheesehead Analyzes Austen’s Characters #2 – Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, from Pride and Prejudice Greetings everyone. Jack Caldwell here. This time, I’m looking at the Big Guy. Yep—Mr. Darcy goes under the microscope. Pray remember that my analysis is…

Create Your Own JAFF Adventure – Part 7

Thanks for joining me on our Create Your Own JAFF Adventure! Just starting? You can catch up on previous posts collected here: . Last week, Elizabeth saw Mr. Wickham at the park and told him about her dance at the Netherfield Ball with Mr. Darcy, then…

“An Odyssey of Affection”- Chapter 1

Happy Friday, Friends!  Oh, the twists and turns our lives take when we least expect it. I am so happy to say that I am finally at a point where my newest novel is almost complete. Just a little polishing and editing, and it will grace your kindles mid-summer.…

Confessions and Correspondence: Elizabeth Writes in Her Journal Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen’s original version of the story, First Impressions, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We’ll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Elizabeth Bennet's Journal Hunsford: April 15, 1811 I will soon take my leave of Hunsford, but will Hunsford ever take its leave of me?

Confessions and Correspondence: Elizabeth Writes in Her Journal

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen’s original version of the story, First Impressions, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We’ll be posting a new letter every…

Create Your Own JAFF Adventure – Post 6

Thanks for joining me on our Create Your Own JAFF Adventure! Just starting? You can catch up on previous posts collected here: . Last week, Elizabeth went with her cousins to the park, where she ran into Mr. Wickham, whom she considered telling of Mr.…

When History is Convenient: The Act of Union and The Princess Problem

One of the pleasures of writing in the wider Regency world—though The Princess Problem is technically set in 1809, two years before the official Regency—is finding those moments when history offers a novelist exactly the…

Confessions and Correspondence: Mrs. Jenkinson Suspects

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday. …

The Lantern Keeper’s Promise Launch The Story Behind The Lantern Keeper's Promise The Myths That Haunt This Story Sea Brides, Lost Coasts, and Why Darcy Ran to the Edge of England Every coastal culture has a version of the same story. Someone goes into the sea. The sea keeps them. And the people left on shore have to decide how long to wait. In Cornwall, the kingdom of Lyonesse is said to lie drowned beneath the waves off Land's End, its church bells still ringing on quiet evenings.

The Lantern Keeper’s Promise Launch

The Story Behind The Lantern Keeper's Promise The Myths That Haunt This Story Sea Brides, Lost Coasts, and Why Darcy Ran to the Edge of England Every coastal culture has a version of the same story. Someone goes into the sea. The sea keeps them. And the people…

Tricky Titles

Did you pour over the pages of a baby name book for hours and hours before finally deciding what moniker your darling child would be saddled with for life? Authors give nearly as much thought to titling their latest works before sending them out into the world. A lot rides on that…

Confessions & Correspondence: Col. Fitzwilliam writes to his eldest brother Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Colonel Fitzwilliam to Viscount Langley  April 1, 1812 Rosings Park What ho, brother! I hope this letter finds you well. Certainly better than I am, as I have been suffering in durance vile at Rosings for the past week.

Confessions & Correspondence: Col. Fitzwilliam writes to his eldest brother

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter…

Create Your Own JAFF Adventure – Post 5

Thanks for joining me on our Create Your Own JAFF Adventure! Just starting? You can catch up on previous posts collected here: . Last week, the injured Mr. Darcy, currently safe in the care of the Gardiners', asked for his sister. Readers voted that…

Confessions & Correspondence: Darcy Writes in his Journal after Discovering Elizabeth at Rosings Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Private Journal of Fitzwilliam Darcy 25 March 1813 — Rosings Park, Kent The journey from London was unremarkable in all the ways that matter and rather too remarkable in all the ways that do not.

Confessions & Correspondence: Darcy Writes in his Journal after Discovering Elizabeth at Rosings

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be…

“Oh, I Long for a Ball!”

Lydia Bennet was described in Chapter 9 of Pride and Prejudice as... "a stout, well-grown girl of fifteen... high animal spirits and a sort of natural self-consequence, which the attention of the officers...had increased to assurance." Therefore it is no wonder that when…

Create Your Own JAFF Adventure – Post 4

Thanks for joining me on our Create Your Own JAFF Adventure! Just starting? You can catch up on previous posts collected here: . Last week, Elizabeth arrived in London with Mr. Darcy after finding him injured on the roadside, and the majority vote was that…

Confessions and Correspondence: Anne Frets Over Darcy’s Impending Visit to Rosings Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen’s original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We’ll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Anne writes in her journal... March 18th, 1812 Dear Diary, William Darcy is coming to Rosings, and I am a bundle of nerves.

Confessions and Correspondence: Anne Frets Over Darcy’s Impending Visit to Rosings

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen’s original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We’ll be posting a new…

St. Patrick’s Day in the Regency: Before Green Beer and the Parade

When we think of St. Patrick’s Day now, we tend to picture a great deal of green, a great many decorations, and more shamrock-themed enthusiasm than anyone in the Regency would have recognized. In Austen’s era, March 17 was first…

Create Your Own JAFF Adventure – Post 3

Thanks for joining me on our Create Your Own JAFF Adventure! Just starting? You can catch up on previous posts collected here: . Last week, Elizabeth found Mr. Darcy injured on the roadside, and the majority vote was that she should take him to London as he…

The Cajun Cheesehead Critic Ranks Pride and Prejudice Adaptations The Cajun Cheesehead Critic Ranks Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, by Jack Caldwell Greetings, everybody. Jack Caldwell here. The JA Universe was recently shaken by the titanic news that Netflix was producing a new adaptation of Miss Jane Austen’s most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice. Forgive me if I restrain my enthusiasm, given what they did with Persuasion in 2022. I have a feeling they will “Bridgerton-ize” …

The Cajun Cheesehead Critic Ranks Pride and Prejudice Adaptations

The Cajun Cheesehead Critic Ranks Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, by Jack Caldwell Greetings, everybody. Jack Caldwell here. The JA Universe was recently shaken by the titanic news that Netflix was producing a new adaptation of…

Confessions & Correspondence: Colonel Fitzwilliam writes to Darcy Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Colonel Fitzwilliam writes to Darcy March 9th, 1811 Letter from Colonel Fitzwilliam to Darcy Dear Darcy, I have just received a letter of complaint from Aunt Catherine about what she calls your dawdling and dilly-dallying.

Confessions & Correspondence: Colonel Fitzwilliam writes to Darcy

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every…

Create Your Own JAFF Adventure – Post2

The readers have spoken! Thank you to all of you who read the first part of the Create Your Own JAFF Adventure and voted.  If you missed the first post, don't worry! You can still jump in any time and vote on the next choice. We had a fairly even split…

Confessions and Correspondence: Mr. Gardiner Writes to Mr. Bennet about Jane Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Gracechurch Street, 4 March 1812 Bennet, Though you are generally too indolent to maintain your correspondence and too indifferent to ease your daughters’ burdens, I beg you to reply promptly to this letter so that you may advise how I am to improve your eldest daughter’s spirits.

Confessions and Correspondence: Mr. Gardiner Writes to Mr. Bennet about Jane

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter…

The History Behind My WIP: No Particular Importance

The inspiration for this book came from a favorite History Channel on Facebook: History with Amy. You can find her videos here: One particular video focused on Caroline of Brunswick, the unfortunate wife of the prince regent. In that video, I…

The Lady of the Thorn Launch The Story Behind The Lady of the Thorn A Regency Romance Rooted in Arthurian Legend There are certain legends that never truly leave us. They linger at the edges of the countryside — in thorn trees that bloom when they should not, in rivers that feel older than their banks, in family stories that refuse to settle into mere superstition. I have always been drawn to those kinds of myths.

The Lady of the Thorn Launch

The Story Behind The Lady of the Thorn A Regency Romance Rooted in Arthurian Legend There are certain legends that never truly leave us. They linger at the edges of the countryside — in thorn trees that bloom when they should not, in rivers that feel older than their…

Confessions & Correspondence: Elizabeth to Mrs Gardiner Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Elizabeth to Mrs Gardiner Longbourn, 25 February 1812 My dearest Aunt, I must begin by entreating your forgiveness for the long delay of my reply, and assuring you that it has arisen not from indifference, but from a succession of occupations which have laid a most unreasonable claim upon both my time and attention.

Confessions & Correspondence: Elizabeth to Mrs Gardiner

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday. …

Create Your Own JAFF Adventure – Post 1

Have you ever read a JAFF story and wished you could shake some sense into a character or two? Tell them not to open that door, to tell the truth, to get out of that carriage, to stay at Netherfield? Now is your chance! Travel back to the autumn of 1811 and…

Confessions & Correspondence: Lady Catherine Writes to Darcy About Visiting at Easter Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a new letter every Wednesday.  Lady Catherine de Bourgh Rosings, 18 February 1812 Dear Darcy, With Easter fast approaching, I find myself obliged to set pen to paper so that we may settle the principal points regarding your upcoming visit.

Confessions & Correspondence: Lady Catherine Writes to Darcy About Visiting at Easter

Welcome to our epistolary retelling of Pride & Prejudice! Jane Austen's original version of the story, First Impression, was told entirely in letters, so it seemed like a great group project. We'll be posting a…

Disguise of Any Sort is Available NOW!

New Release Spotlight + Giveaway Disguise of Any Sort I am delighted to announce the release of Disguise of Any Sort, a Regency-era novel that begins with one irreversible moment and unfolds into a story shaped by secrecy, consequence, and quiet courage. To…

A Little Royal Trouble (And an Audiobook Giveaway)

It’s Monday (day 4 after release) and I’m celebrating The Princess Problem with an audiobook code drop! Want to listen? Comment on this post with the phrase “PRINCESS AUDIO” and tell me: if you were offered a title, would you take it ? I’ll pick…

Elizabeth is not a Bennet

Elizabeth is not a Bennet. It’s a common, even favorite, trope in fanfiction. Elizabeth isn’t really a Bennet. But why do we love it so much? Elizabeth and Jane, to most readers, stand out among their sisters. They are the most rational and level-headed, they don’t…