Guest Review (and Giveaway) - Abigail Reynolds author of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World

I apologize to my blog readers that I have been offline this week. A good friend of mine passed away unexpectedly. I will post more on that later.

Today I am thrilled to have Abigail Reynolds the author of the new novel Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World as a guest blogger. This books sounds fascinating and I can't wait to get my hands on it! Thank-you for writing a great guest post Abigail!

The Accidental Writer
I never intended to become a writer, and certainly not a writer of Jane Austen-related fiction. Jane Austen was sacrosanct, and I wasn’t a writer. I’d dabbled a little in high school, co-writing a few chapters of a fantasy novel with a friend, but that was it. For the next couple of decades, my writing took the form of telling myself stories in my head. Some were historical, some romantic, some bizarre. I’d polish the scenes of my mental stories, getting the lines and characters just so, then I’d run the scenes in my head when I was bored. I didn’t put anything down on paper, though I knew the stories well enough to do it.

A few years back, I discovered what I was missing. It was readers. I’d stumbled across Jane Austen fanfiction sites on the internet and read the stories there. My next mental story was From Lambton to Longbourn, the first of my Pemberley Variations. I take my beloved Pride & Prejudice and find a turning point in the plot, then turn it the other way and see what happens. For example, in Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World, Elizabeth Bennet finds herself unable to refuse Mr. Darcy’s offer of marriage, even though he is, as she says in Jane Austen’s original, the last man in the world she could be prevailed upon to marry. What follows is a tale of love growing after marriage, despite misunderstanding and impediments.

So I started writing this story in my head, but this time I knew there were people who might want to read it if I wrote it. Maybe. Possibly. If it wasn’t nightmarishly bad. But the idea of sharing my story intrigued me, so I started writing it down and posting it chapter by chapter on the internet, frantically waiting to see if readers would like it. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. But it taught me the importance of having an audience, even if it’s just one person. When you know your writing will be read, it becomes a dialogue of sorts. The pressure from readers kept me from giving up when I reached difficult sections – after all, I couldn’t let down my dozen or so anonymous readers. So I kept going and eventually posted the final chapter, heaved a sigh of relief, and swore never to do it again.

I’d reckoned without how addictive writing is. Once you start, it’s almost impossible to stop. I lasted a week and a half in writing withdrawal before I gave in to temptation. But now I admitted that I was actually writing, not dabbling. Because I’m a bit of a perfectionist I took some helpful classes that improved my writing no end, though my otherwise insightful teacher assured me several times that no one would ever be interested in Jane Austen-related fiction.

The next thing I knew, I had six books and lots of readers begging for more.

But I’ve never forgotten the importance of an audience. I’ve come to know a few of my readers, and I think about them when I’m writing. Not out of desire to please them, but to motivate myself. So here are my thanks to my readers, because you’re an essential part of my writing process.

That, and I really like thinking about Darcy and Elizabeth.

Thanks for inviting me!

Giveaway Details

Danielle of Sourebooks has been kind enough to offer two copies of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World by Abigail Reynolds for this giveaway.

If you would like to enter this contest do any of the following:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway or post about it on your sidebar. (1 entry)

3. Become a follower or leave a comment that you already are a follower of this blog. (1 entry)

There are three ways to enter, but you can put all three entries as one comment.

I will be using random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to US and Canadian residents (Sorry!).

No P.O. Boxes.

The deadline for entry is midnight, Friday February 12th.

Good luck!