Follow Friday: Jane Austen Addict

Follow Friday is a tradition begun by Laurel Ann that I shall continue. My first selection is Laurie Viera Rigler's website, Jane Austen Addict. This site has more bells and whistles than my budgerigar's cage. Laurie, the author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict features videos, a blog, a chatroom, information about her books and tours, and all sorts of what nots. I love the purple and blue cover of the new paperback version of Rude Awakenings, and her many tidbits of information.

Book Giveaway Winners Announced! Get Ready For Fun Reading.

Giveaway Winners Announced

Thank you to all of the participants and congratulations to the six lucky winners in our recent book giveaway that concluded on November 23rd. Please contact me with your full name, address and which book won at austenprose at verizon dot net by November 30th to claim your prize. Enjoy!

READING GROUP CHOICES 2009: Aranel, Katie, Holly & Midnight Cowgirl

CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT: Amanda

THE LOST MEMOIRS OF JANE AUSTEN: Merinitta

Two Austen Inspired Novels Included in the New Reading Group Choices 2009

It is such happiness when good people get together – and they always do. Miss Bates, Emma, Chapter 21

READING GROUP CHOICES 2009

When a book begins with a Jane Austen quote, I know that it’s sure to be filled with great things. Lucky for me, my assumption played out when I discovered two very worthy Jane Austen inspired novels from 2008 included in the new 15th anniversary edition of Reading Group Choices 2009. A big congratulations to Laurie Viera Rigler author Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Syrie James author of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen for being selected from a very competitive field for the new annual reading guide, Reading Group Choices 2009. The guide includes recommendations by book group members, librarians, booksellers, literary agents, publicists, authors, and publishers and features 75 book selections such as best sellers The Memory Keepers Daughter; Eat, Pray, Love; and Water for Elephants. Each of the titles is featured with a two page spread listing the books particulars (author, publisher, websites, format, number of pages, price subject, and ISBN), reviews, summary, about the author and a full page of discussion questions to get the conversation rolling when your book groups meet. Here is a bit of what they have to says about the two Austen inspired books.

CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT

Summary: After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy? Try as she might to control her mind and find her way home, Courtney cannot deny that she is becoming this other woman – and being this other woman is not without its advantages.

Question 5. One of the ways in which Courtney/Jane defines herself is by what she reads. To what extent do we define ourselves by what we read? To what extent do we form our opinions of others based on what they read?

THE LOST MEMOIRS OF JANE AUSTEN

What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen’s memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? That’s the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen’s life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.

Jane Austen has given up her writing when, on a fateful trip to Lyme, she meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by his faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.

Question 2. Which character archetypes do we see in The Lost Memoirs that are reflections of the archetypes in Jane Austen’s novels?

Reading Group Choices 2009 is a handy and concise resource for book group readers who need suggestions and focus for their discussions. Individual readers will feel the rush when they crack open this nifty guide and recognize some previous best sellers and new discoveries that will make your next visit to the book store a pleasure. The guide can be purchased online at the Reading Group Choices website.

Book Giveaways

Leave a comment by Sunday, November 23 to qualify for a drawing on Monday, November 24th for one copy each of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen. Also available to four lucky readers are one copy of The Reading Group Choices 2009. Tell us which books you have read in 2008 that you would recommend for the 2010 guide that will be published next year. All suggestions will be forwarded to the publisher. Everyone’s selections count, so please share! Good luck to all, and happy reading.

Announcing: Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler!

GREAT NEWS FOR JANEITES EVERYWHERE!

While snooping about on Amazon.com tonight, I had a wonderful surprise when I discovered that the title of Laurie Viera Rigler’s sequel/parallel story to her popular Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict would be Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict. I immediately wrote to Laurie who is traveling in Tennessee and confimred my discovery sharing my excitement and enthusiasm for her new novel. Imagine my delight when I found the cover posted on her agent’s web site. Hurrah! Isn’t it beautiful? Here is the blurb from Laurie’s literary agent, Marly Rusoff & Associates, Inc.

RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT by Laurie Viera Rigler, Publisher Dutton, June 2009. The eagerly anticipated sequel/parallel story to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.

Laurie Viera Rigler’s debut novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, was a hit with fans and critics, and a BookSense and Los Angeles Times bestseller. Its open-to-interpretation ending left readers begging for more-and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict delivers. While Confessions took twenty-first-century free spirit Courtney Stone into the social confines of Jane Austen’s era, Rude Awakenings tells the parallel story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman’s daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in Courtney’s overly wired and morally confused L.A. life.

For Jane, the modern world is not wholly disagreeable. Her apartment may be smaller than a dressing closet, but it is fitted up with lights that burn without candles, machines that wash bodies and clothes, and a glossy rectangle in which tiny people perform scenes from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Granted, if she wants to travel she may have to drive a formidable metal carriage, but she may do so without a chaperone. And oh, what places she goes! Public assemblies that pulsate with pounding music. Unbound hair and unrestricted clothing. The freedom to say what she wants when she wants-even to men without a proper introduction.

Privacy, independence, even the power to earn her own money. But how is she to fathom her employer’s incomprehensible dictates about “syncing a BlackBerry” and “rolling a call”? How can she navigate a world in which entire publications are devoted to brides but flirting and kissing and even the sexual act itself raise no matrimonial expectations? Even more bewildering are the memories that are not her own. And the friend named Wes, who is as attractive and confusing to Jane as the man who broke her heart back home. It’s enough to make her wonder if she would be better off in her own time, where at least the rules are clear-that is, if returning is even an option.

You can also read a preview of the story line on Laurie’s web site. I am so excited for this book and can’t wait to read it. Check out Laurie’s first novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.

Congratulations Laurie, and best wishes! Laurel Ann, Austenprose & Vic (Ms. Place, Jane Austen's World

You Are Cordially Invited to Participate in a Live Chat With Author Laurie Viera Rigler on August 12th

Oh, what wonderful news! Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict has graciously agreed to chat with us on August 12th! I will place the link to my chat room on this site just before our scheduled two-hour coast-to-coast talk at 10 PM - 12 AM EST, and 7 - 9 PM Pacific time.

Win a Book!
In honor of this new feature on Jane Austen Today, Laurie will be giving away five autographed copies of the paperback version of her novel!

If you have questions to ask of Laurie about her best seller or the writing process please leave your comment below. On August 12th, we will draw a commentor's name and award a book to that person! Even better, Laurie will answer all the comment questions.

The first two people to sign in the chatroom and begin talking will also receive books. The last two people in the chatroom will receive books as well. How much fun is that? So, mark your calendars, Janeites, and join us for a two-hour gab fest in August.

Posted by Ms. Place

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Aynike for being the lucky winner of a new paperback copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler in our contest. Please contact us via e-mail, since you did not include your e-mail address with your post, and a new copy of the book will be shipped to you.

We are anxious to know your opinion of the hilarious Courtney Stone and her exploits in Regency England, so please drop us a line after you finish reading.

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose & Ms. Place, Jane Austen’s World

Ten Ways to Cope Without The Complete Jane Austen Series

Inquiring Readers, Our fifth and last guest blogger for The Complete Jane Austen on Masterpiece Classic is Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. Laurie needs no introduction. She has written a best seller, was a guest blogger on Remotely Connected, and contributes timely and interesting posts to her own website. In this post, Laurie addresses the withdrawal symptoms we are all feeling now that the wildly successful PBS Jane Austen series is over. When you reach the bottom of this post, you will have an opportunity to win a paperback copy of Laurie's book. All you need to do is add you own ideas to this list! (Please note: Contest is over as of 4-26)

What? No more weekly doses of Austen on PBS? Fear not, my fellow addicts. Help is here. All you need to do is follow this ten-part program.

Re-reading Austen's six novels (or reading them for the first time) will of course play a big role in this program. Ah, but what accompanies each read will make your experience even sweeter.

1. Try Northanger Abbey for your first post-Masterpiece read. Why Northanger Abbey? One reason could be that it was the first of Austen's novels to be accepted by a publisher—who then couldn't be bothered to publish it. Idiot. Thumbing your nose at such stupidity is one reason to read it first. Another, even better reason, is that NA's a fun way to shake off the post-Masterpiece blues.

After you read the book, see what it's like to be Catherine Morland, the heroine of Northanger Abbey. How? Drive or walk around your city or town and pretend you are seeing it from the point of view of someone who has never been there and finds it fascinating and exciting. See? You're experiencing your world like Catherine experienced the city of Bath. If you're hard pressed to find something exciting or fascinating about your world, go into the nearest flower garden and learn to love a hyacinth. Or just think about how a young woman from the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century might respond to some of the modern technological wonders you take for granted. Like hot showers, for example. Flush toilets in every house. Mascara. Tampons.

Then, top off your newfound sense of wonder and appreciation for your world by firing up your DVD player with the 2007 adaptation of Northanger Abbey* starring J.J. Feild and Felicity Jones. There. Aren't you feeling better already?

*Ready for more? Try the 1986 adaptation of Northanger Abbey. Though it's unpopular with a lot of Janeites, you might, like me, find it entertaining.

2. Read Sense and Sensibility.

After you close the book on Elinor and Marianne, imagine what happens next. (We all know these characters are real and keep living their lives after the books end, don't we?) Here's a fun situation to ponder: What happens the first time Edward and Elinor go to London and have dinner at Edward's mother's house—and are sitting across the table from Lucy and Robert? What do they talk about? Imagine Elinor sitting in the drawing room after dinner with Mrs. Ferrars and Lucy. And here's another one to consider: Should Marianne, or Mrs. Dashwood, ever confront John Dashwood about his broken promise to help them financially? If you were to write that speech, what would you have Marianne say? Or should the Dashwood ladies let John's own guilty conscience do all the work?

Now that you've survived all those Dashwood/Ferrars family reunions, reward yourself with a screening of the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson Oscar-winning Sense and Sensibility (1995)* And while you're at it, order yourself a large pizza, chocolate cake, and/or a trough of margaritas. Yes. This program is definitely working.

3. Read Pride and Prejudice.

After you read the book, imagine that you are Elizabeth experiencing your first visit to Rosings as Mrs. Darcy. (Lady Catherine has cooled down by now and consoles herself by hoping that her nephew will be so fortunate as to become widowed at a young age and redeem himself by taking a second wife, i.e., Anne de Bourgh.) Amuse yourself by observing the gyrations of Mr. Collins when he and Charlotte join the Rosings party for dinner. As Elizabeth once said to Mr. Darcy, "Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can."


But wait, there's more. It's time to watch the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle P&P mini again (one can never watch it too many times), and/or the 2005 movie with Keira Knightley, depending on whether your idea of Mr. Darcy is Colin Firth or Matthew MacFadyen or both. The 1995 mini is a great excuse to have a pajama party (where I grew up, we called them slumber parties). And one is never too old to have a slumber party. Send the kids away for sleepovers and banish any curmudgeonly significant others. Then, bring in lots of goodies, because five hours of viewing requires a great deal of fuel. There's all that fencing and swimming and dancing and taking refreshing turns around the room. I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it. No matter which film you watch (or even if you watch both), be sure to buy the soundtrack of the 2005 film and play often. It's stunning.

4. Read Mansfield Park.

Even if you're a reader who can't quite warm up to Austen's heroine Fanny Price (I feel your pain, but do give her some time; she grew on me after awhile), you can have a lot of fun thinking about how this book could have ended but didn't. For me, that's the most fascinating, thought-provoking aspect of Mansfield Park. As Patricia Rozema, director of the controversial 1999 adaptation of Mansfield Park, put it in her screenplay, "It could have all turned out differently, I suppose. But it didn't." With that in mind, imagine what would have happened if Edmund had married Mary Crawford, and if Fanny had given in and married Henry Crawford. Happy marriages? Reformed rakes? Or a disaster?

As compensation for the lack of a truly satisfying Mansfield Park film (see below)*, you get to watch the lovely 2007 BBC mini of Sense and Sensibility instead. I know, it's Sense and Sensibility, not Mansfield Park, and you just saw it on TV, but who cares? It's worth seeing again. It'll make you feel good. And isn't that what this program is all about?

*I'm one of the minority of Janeites who liked the 1999 Patricia Rozema adaptation of Mansfield Park, but I liked it more as a story inspired by Mansfield Park than as an adaptation per se. Rozema's rendering of Fanny Price is more like the director's idea of a young Jane Austen than the protagonist Jane Austen wrote for Mansfield Park. And Rozema's vision of the story's subtext is pretty dark. But then again, the book itself is perhaps the least "light, and bright, and sparkling" of Austen's works. By the way, there is a fascinating article on this film by Kathi Groenendyk in JASNA's journal Persuasions. As for the latest adaptation that aired on PBS, it has such a truncated version of the story that one wonders how anyone who didn't read the book could figure out what's going on. Mrs. Norris, Fanny's main nemesis, has mysteriously turned into a bland creature. And Fanny Price looks entirely too 21st-century and wears cleavage-baring day dresses (none of this is the fault of the actors, but still). As for the 1983 BBC mini, the heroine is more faithful to the book than its companions. However, while the principal actors are unquestionably talented I couldn't quite see some of them in their roles. And it's got that static, video-on-a-stage feel of early BBC productions that I find challenging to watch.

5. Read Emma.

After you finish the book, play a little game called "Emma, Reformed Matchmaker." You'll need to play with a single friend (preferably a single friend who would like to be in a couple). Each of you sits down and writes a list of qualities that your friend's perfect, future mate should possess. Do not reveal what is on your lists until both of you are finished writing. Now share. You may be surprised to find that your lists differ greatly. When you read your friend's list, refrain from exclamations of horror unless one of the items on that list includes "must be incarcerated in a maximum security prison." Now, give your list to your friend to take home with her. Tell her she is free to cross out whatever she doesn't like on your list and keep whatever she does like. Or burn the whole thing. If she cares to share her final list with you, you may keep your eyes open for appropriate candidates and discreetly point them out to her. That's "point them out," not shove them in her face. Remember, you are "Emma, Reformed Matchmaker." If your friend doesn't care to share her final list, then graciously wish her all the best in finding her dream partner and promptly change the subject. Then, take her to Ford's (or local emporium of your choice) to buy a new dress. Or draw her picture. Without a potential mate watching the proceedings. See? You're a better, happier human being already.

Now that you've had a successful run at self-improvement, Jane Austen-style, you deserve to have an Emma film festival. That's three very clever films indeed: The Kate Beckinsale/Mark Strong-starrer, the Gwyneth Paltrow/Jeremy Northam movie, and the brilliant Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone and directed by Amy Heckerling. Three fabulous films means you get to invite at least three friends over to have a viewing party or slumber party. And stock up on provisions, for a private screening of three films, without sitting down to supper, [would be] pronounced an infamous fraud upon the rights of men and women.



6. Read Persuasion.

After you finish the book, amuse yourself by imagining whether or not Mrs. Clay will indeed become the next Lady Eliot. If she does, will Anne and Frederick, or any of her family, ever visit Sir William and Lady Eliot? How will Mary's health survive it? Or Elizabeth's pride? Or on a pleasanter note, will Capt. Wentworth allow his wife on board his ship? If so, what exciting places will Anne visit?




Watch the lovely, 1995 adaptation of Persuasion starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. Optional: the 2007 version of Persuasion. Although Austen's story is compressed into a scant 93 minutes in the latest version, this one is also worth watching, particularly if you love Rupert Penry-Jones as much as I do. Besides, the DVD restores the small but significant bits that were cut from the PBS broadcast.

7. Join the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and mingle with fellow Janeites at local and national meetings. I know what you're thinking, and yes, the rumors are all true. It's a cult. We have a secret handshake. We aim for total world domination. Okay, you can stop sweating now. I'm kidding. Really. JASNA is a community of warm, welcoming, fun-loving people who love Jane Austen and love getting together and talking about their favorite author with like-minded people. Like you. There are local reading groups (think Jane Austen Book Club, but usually with more than just the six Austen novels), regional get-togethers with fascinating speakers, entertainment, and delicious food, special screenings for members, and annual general meetings (AGMs) in a different city each year with talks and panels and workshops and English country dance lessons and a banquet and a Regency ball. At my first AGM I thought I'd died and gone to Austen heaven.

8. Watch a film that's so life-affirming and joyful that it merits a place of its own on this list: Bride and Prejudice, Gurinder Chadha's Bollywood-meets-Hollywood tribute to Pride and Prejudice. It's way better than a year's supply of antidepressants or a gallon of Absolut martinis. Hint: This one merits a party or at least inviting one friend over to watch with you. First, order in Indian food. Then, before popping in the DVD, unearth floaty scarves from your wardrobe or nearest accessory emporium, and keep them on hand to wave around while you dance along with the various musical numbers. Be sure to buy the soundtrack and play it in your car or on your iPod while commuting to work the next day. I feel better just thinking about it.

9. Now that you've got that Indian groove thang going, try English country dancing. Then you can watch all the movies set in Jane Austen's time again, and at the ballroom scenes you can dance along. There are many places to learn English country dancing, and from my experience, the people are friendly and welcome beginners, and there's no need to bring a partner with you. Some dance societies hold regular dances and even annual balls. In Southern California, check out Vintage Dance & History. Nationwide, go to the English Country Dance Webring and the Country Dance and Song Society.

10. Finally, take a trip back in time to Regency England. No, I haven't lost my mind. I have, however, written a novel that will transport you to 1813 England. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict is the story of a modern L.A. girl and Austen fan who wakes up one morning as an Englishwoman's in Austen's time. As of April 29, Confessions comes out in paperback, which means the fare to Jane Austen's world becomes even more affordable.

Win a free paperback copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict!
If you have another item or two to add to this list, the folks at Jane Austen Today and I would love to hear your suggestions, and I'm sure the readers of this blog will thank you. Just enter your suggestions as a comment below, and we'll enter you in a random drawing. The winner gets a copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.

WIN a Collection of Austen Inspired Novels at Book Club Girl!

Which Masterpiece Classic Austen adaptation is your favorite?

Book Club Girl is awarding a collection of advanced readers copies of Austen inspired novels to the lucky winner of her random drawing. Just enter a comment and share your favorite Austen adaptation from the recent The Complete Jane Austen series and why, and the lucky winner will receive copies of:

Darcy's Story: Pride and Prejudice Told from a Whole New Perspective, Janet Aylmer, Harper Collins, (2006). Publisher’s synopsis: With the utmost respect for Austen's original masterwork, author Janet Aylmer loving retells Pride and Prejudice from a bold new perspective: seeing events as they transpire through the eyes of Darcy himself. One of world's great love stories takes on breathtaking new life, and one of fiction's greatest romantic heroes becomes even more sympathetic, compelling, attractive, and accessible, all through the imagination and artistry of a truly gifted storyteller. ISBN: 9780641891229





Cassandra and Jane: A Personal Journey Through the Lives of the Austen Sisters, by Jill Pitkeathley, Harper Collins, (9 Sep 2008). Publisher’s Synopsis: This is the story of a relationship between two sisters. One, Jane Austen, became a famous author; the other, her beloved elder sister Cassandra, was her confidante and supporter. After their father’s death, they lived together with their mother, suffering at first hand the lack of income and dependency on their relatives which was the fate of the single woman with little status in the social hierarchies of the time, and which Jane Austen used to such brilliant effect in her novels. ISBN: 978-0061446399





Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure, by Emma Campbell Webster, Penguin Group (2007). Publishers synopsis: The journey begins in Pride and Prejudice but quickly takes off on a whimsical Austen adventure of the reader's own creation. A series of choices leads the reader into the plots and romances of Austen's other works. Choosing to walk home from Netherfield Hall means falling into Sense and Sensibility and the infatuating spell of Mr. Willoughby. Accepting an invitation to Bath leads to Northanger Abbey and the beguiling Henry Tilney. And just where will Emma's Mr. Knightley fit in to the quest for a worthy husband? It's all up to the reader. ISBN: 9780641903861




Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler, Penguin Group, (2007). Publisher’s synopsis. After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up to find herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

But not even Courtney's level of Austen mania has prepared her for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience. Enter the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, a suitor who may turn out not to be a familiar species of philanderer after all. ISBN: 9780452289727 (paperback), 978-0525950400 (hardback)

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, by Syrie James, Harper Collins (2007) What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.

Deft and witty, written in a style that echoes Austen's own, this unforgettable novel offers a delightfully possible scenario for the inspiration behind this beloved author's romantic tales. It's a remarkable book, irresistible to anyone who loves Jane Austen—and to anyone who loves a great story. ISBN: 9780061341427

The winner will be chosen from a random drawing from visitors who leave a comment including their choice of theirr favorite adaptation. The winner will also receive a DVD of the most popular adaptation from the current Book Club Girl poll. The contest will end on Next Monday, April 14th, so don’t delay!

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict: Video Lecture With the Author

Click here to view and listen to a 25 minute visit with author, Laurie Viera Rigler, who discusses her book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, as part of the Authors@Google series. This event took place September 20, 2007 at Google's office in Ann Arbor, MI. In this discussion, Laurie reveals that she is working on the sequel to the book. She will follow "Jane" to the modern world and describe her bewildering experiences as a Regency miss in the 21st century. Jane, as all readers of the novel know, is the woman Courtney replaced in the Regency world, and whose life she took over.

If you are thinking of purchasing the book as a gift, Lauri offers a free signed bookplate. Go to her site to request one.

If you do not have 25 minutes to view Laurie's discussion,click here for a 60-second book review.