Sharon Lathan: More Than a Diversion

Welcome Sharon Lathan to Darcyholic Diversions!

Hi, Darcyholics!  I am thrilled to welcome Sharon Lathan to Darcyholic Diversions today!  I was one of those that discovered her series when she was posting it on her own website and am very happy to have had the opportunity to get to know her.  I am looking forward to learning about her slide into 'Darcyholism'.  Hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Upcoming Guest Posts Are As Follows:
June 8--Gayle Mills
June 10--Jan Ashe
June 12--Shannon Winslow
June 15--Karen Wasylowski
June 19--Krista Bagley
June 22--Stephanie Hamm
June 26--Laurel Ann Nattress
June 29--Pam Dixon
July 3--Jennifer Petkus
July 6--Karen Aminada
July 10--Marilyn Brant
July 13--Meredith Esparanza
July 17--Lori Smith
July 20--Bernadette
July 24--Barbara Tiller Cole: Christmas in July
July 27--Amy Cecil
July 31--Maria Grace
August 3--Wendi S.
And Many more to come!

&*&*&*&*&*&

Comments on Sharon's post will be entered into a contest to 1 of two books that she will be giving away here in the monthly drawings--Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Darcy Falls in Love!  Winners will be from US and Canada. Comments will also enter you into the other monthly drawings here at Darcyholic Diversions.  Winners will be selected along with other June winners, at the beginning to July.  Entries will be based on comments on blog posts; but additional chances will be given for joining this site, tweeting this post, Joining this site as a member via Google Friend Connect (GFC)!, sharing this on Facebook or your blog, Friend me on Facebook, clicking 'like’ on Barbara Tiller Cole, Author's Facebook page, Join Darcyholic Diversions Facebook Page or following BarbTCole on Twitter.

More Than a Diversion

by Sharon Lathan

I am not sure if calling myself a “Darcyholic” is adequate. It is a great term to aptly identify one who loves Darcy-related stuff to an obsessive degree. Once upon a time, like maybe four or five years ago, that was me. Now? Hmm.... I think I have tipped over an edge into another realm. My love affair with Darcy has gone WAY past being a diversion curable with a 12-Step Program!

Because of that it would be impossible for me to attempt summing up my “story” of How It All Began. If really interested you can read about it on my website. I have to reread my story upon occasion to refresh my own memory! When reminded that my introduction to Austen and Mr. Darcy was a mere 6 years ago I shake my head and mutter, “Impossible!” But it was.

That was when I saw the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. I fell in love. Fine and Dandy. Many of us did. Weird thing is that I wasn’t content to keep it there. I wanted MORE, and that is always a scary desire! Before a year had passed I was repeating Mr. Darcy’s line by declaring that I was in the middle of something huge before I knew it.

The huge something I was into was writing a sequel to P&P. At this point I was a Darcyholic who could not and would not let these characters go. Man, was I ever having fun! I was part of an awesome JAFF community and sharing my chapters of love everlasting between Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth. Daily I was falling deeper in love with them and their extended families. I was envisioning futures for all the bit players and creating new characters to enhance the fun.

I was also daily falling deeper in love with writing and research and Austen. This is when it began to subtly shift from a simple obsessive diversion. When my first novel, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, was published by Sourcebooks in March 2009 I suspected my life was on a pathway of radical change. Before 2009 was over two more novels in The Darcy Saga sequel had been published - Loving Mr. Darcy and My Dearest Mr. Darcy - and I was under contract for more.

This was no longer a diversion or guilty pleasure. This was a career.

2010 welcomed the release of In The Arms of Mr. Darcy and my novella in the anthology A Darcy Christmas. In 2011 the fifth full-length novel centering on the Darcys arrived - The Trouble With Mr. Darcy - and in November I turned to a secondary character in my first departure novel Miss Darcy Falls in Love.

Writing Georgiana Darcy’s love story was an amazing challenge for me. I was granted the opportunity to travel to France (figuratively) in 1820 and write a complete love story rather than an after-the-wedding tale. I missed Darcy and Lizzy, as did many of my readers, but it was fabulous to stretch my wings. I needed the chance to prove I could write a novel independent of them. For me it was another sign that writing was my passion, not only the Darcys and Austen. Best of all, veering off with Georgiana convinced me I could write anything if I put my mind to it!

I grabbed ahold of that conviction and followed my heart. I am now literally in the final days of completing and polishing my eighth novel, this one about a character of my own creation. The Passions of Dr. Darcy is the story of Darcy’s Uncle George. Fans of The Darcy Saga know George and universally love him. I do too! This novel, scheduled tentatively for April 2013, goes back in time to 1789 India and covers over 30 years of this incredible man’s life. All I will say here is that it is amazing! More details are on my website.

My passion for the Darcys and Austen birthed all of this and much more to come in the future. It lead to the establishment of Austen Authors (www.austenauthors.net). It introduced me to JASNA and the enormous network of Austen lovers worldwide. All because I watched a movie! I think that is fantastic! Just goes to show that you never know where a Darcyholic diversion will lead you.

Sharon Lathan is the best-selling author of The Darcy Saga sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Her previously published novels are: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, Loving Mr. Darcy, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, In the Arms of Mr. Darcy, A Darcy Christmas, The Trouble With Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy Falls in Love. In addition to her writing, Sharon works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. She resides with her family in Hanford, California in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. Visit Sharon on her website: www.sharonlathan.net and on Austen Authors, her group blog with 20 novelist of Austen literature: www.austenauthors.com

A Link to Sharon Lathan's Books on Amazon