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Friday, January 20, 2012

Hi, I'm Wendi And I AM a Darcyholic!


Today's Guest Post and Give-Away is From Wendi
Hi, Darcyholics.  It is your chief addict, Barbara Tiller Cole!  I am honored to have a guest post from Wendi today.  She didn't provide a picture of herself for me to share with you, so I am going back to my FIRST picture (above) as it is one of the best examples I have been able to find for the love we have of the Mythical Mr. Darcy!

Unless otherwise stated, all of the give-aways winners here at Darcyholic Diversions will be selected one week from posting.  So you still have till Tuesday midnight to enter Maria Grace's Giveaway, by commenting on her guest post.

Wendi is providing 2 copies of Promises.  Anyone living outside of North America will win an eBook. Winners living in North America have a choice between an autographed copy of the soft cover book or an eBook--Winner's preference.  Anyone who wins an eBook can have an autographed bookmark mailed to them.  Entries will be based on comments on the blog post; but additional chances will be given for joining this site, tweeting this post, clicking 'like' on Barbara Tiller Cole, Author's Facebook page, or following BarbTCole on Twitter (please note any of those in your blog post).

And Now....I present.........Wendi.........

Hi, I’m Wendi and I am a Darcyholic. 
It began simple enough.  I had read Jane Austen’s novels repeatedly through the years, Pride and Prejudice quite a number of times more often than the rest.  

The first true symptom of dependency showed itself soon after I had purchased the 1995 BBC miniseries when my mother asked if she could borrow my set of tapes.  As I tried to hand it to her, my heart beat wildly and we found that no matter what we attempted, the box could not be pried from my grip.  “Mamma!” exclaimed I, “Is this to be endured? It must not, shall not be!” She rented it.


At some point after what I refer to as “the lost years” (having triplets will do that to your memory, trust me), something started niggling at the edges of my mind, eating away toward the center of my awareness until it became almost a physical need.  I had to know what Darcy had been thinking throughout the novel and what he had done during his time apart from Elizabeth! I guessed that there must be an author out there somewhere who felt the same way and had attempted to write it.

I searched the internet for four little words:
Darcy point of view


Little did I know that typing that phrase into a search engine would change my life – there would be no turning back!  Jane Austen fan fiction (or JAFF to those of us who live with this dependency) became a daily part of my existence. I could actually spend time with my favorite characters and not know exactly what would happen next?  From the moment I read the opening sentence of the first story online, I was utterly obsessed. There were a limitless number of possible “what if” scenarios, and I wanted to read them all!

Then one day it happened; my very own JAFF story was literally dreamt up.  It was an original story, coming straight out of my imagination, and the entire thing was bursting to come out yesterday!  I found myself scribbling phrases, scenes, and bits of dialog on scraps of paper and receipts no matter where I was.  Researching every aspect of the story became a normal part of my life. 
Ever since childhood I had wanted to be a writer, and I am doing it... combining two things that I love.  It is a dream come true.

So yes, I must confess – I am a Darcyholic... but I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Promises final cover.jpg
Wendi’s novel, Promises, is available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble .  Her next novel, Dreams and Expectations, should be available sometime this spring.  


Book blurb:  

Adopting characters from Jane Austen's much loved tale, this novel takes Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy on a much different journey than Austen originally had in store for them in Pride and Prejudice.

Through their fathers' friendship, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet as children. Over the years, their feelings for each other grow and they promise themselves to each other, but unfortunate circumstances and interfering family members seek to keep them apart.

Will misunderstandings and mistaken impressions divide Elizabeth and William forever?

19 comments:

  1. How wonderful, Wendi. I am glad that you were able to fulfill a childhood dream.

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  2. Lovely post! Promises sounds like a great book! Can't wait to read it! Thanks for the giveaway!

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    1. Hi, Jakki, Good luck and I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for tweeting :)

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  3. Oh, I tweeted this and I follow Barbara on FB!
    Thanks!

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    1. Thanks Jakki! I appreciate it and know that Wendi does as well!

      BTCole..

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  4. Wendi, I've so enjoyed reading your stories on FFN and I'm glad the JAFF muse struck you. Dreams&Expectations was one of the first stories I read online and for awhile after that I had particular scenes in my memory of D&E but couldn't remember where they came from. I came upon it again later and I was like Oh my Gosh, that's it! Lol

    I'd love to win a copy of Promises!

    I tweeted this: --http://twitter.com/jaffobsession/status/160476662964822016 and I follow Wendi and Barbara on Twitter. I swear, Twitter has turned me quite the blog-stalker!

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  5. Hey, Monica, That happens to me all the time - it is so cool that you found it happening with some scenes that I wrote :) Good luck with the giveaway!

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  6. Thanks for the chance to win! Here are some items that may count toward entries:

    **Following blog on GFC as LHartness
    **"Liked" Barbara's page on FB as Laura Woodside Hartness
    **"Liked" Wendi's page on FB
    **Following Wendi on Twitter as LHartness
    **Following Barbara on Twitter
    **Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/lhartness/status/160504134393536512
    ** Did a +1 for Google+ on the blog post: https://plus.google.com/u/0/117823560348925895624/plusones

    Thanks!

    Laura

    CalicoCritic at gmail dot com

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  7. Wendi...

    Thanks again for being willing to admit your powerlessness over Darcy! :D I enjoyed your post. Glad you liked the pictures I added for the fun of it! :D

    Barbara

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  8. Yes, I loved the pictures, Barbara! Thanks so much for asking me to post here. It was a lot of fun to write.

    Wendi

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  9. What a wonderful post, Wendi! It's always so interesting hearing about how people came to love our Darcy. :)

    Promises is on my summer reading list -- now I can't wait to delve into it!

    Thank you so much for sharing!

    Beck

    PS - What in the world is GFC?

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    1. Oh, I looked up GFC and don't find anything that makes sense, Becky. I just might have to email her to find out what it means!

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  10. Thanks, Becky! I'm glad you liked the post - my first ever guest blog. Good luck in the giveaway!

    Wendi

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  11. Congratulations Wendi on your first blog - You did great! I would love to win a copy of Promises! and am looking forward to Dreams and Expectations being published too. And I amore than anxuiys for the next chapter of All Hallows Eve

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  12. Thanks, Jan! Good luck with the giveaway!

    The good news is that Gayle and Robin are editing Dreams and Expectations, the bad news is that I re-read the first chapter yesterday when someone commented on my website and found some things I wanted to change, lol. At some point I have to stop looking or I'd be editing forever!

    The next chapter of All Hallows Eve is with Gayle at the moment, and then Robin will swipe her red pen across it as well - but you'll see it soon!

    Wendi

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  13. I love your story about your copy of the BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice and 'attempting' to loan it to your mother! It gave me laugh. I think I would be the same way...don't think I could part with mine. I would have withdrawals as I watch parts of it often. I can't always sit through all of it so I watch my favorite parts...of course they all include Mr. Darcy!

    Your book sounds like a great story. It would be fun to read about our favorite characters having known each other since childhood. I already have so many books on my TBR list but will be adding one more! Thanks for your interesting post and your giveaway.

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  14. Thanks, jt! My mom again wanted to watch it after I got the DVDs, so I gave her the tape set and told her she could keep that (of course, I was expecting her to become as addicted as I was ;) Problem was that I had watched them so many times, she said that she could barely see the picture!!! LOL! I have to admit the DVD picture was a heck of a lot better than my tapes. I'm sooooo tempted to get the bluray after hearing that it's like seeing it for the first time again. I skipped the Mr. Collins scenes quite a few times.

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