Winners and Author Chat Announcements!

Winners of the 'All For The Love Of Darcy' Contests AND My Author Chat at Meryton.com/aha at 1pm EST, 11 AM PST Today, March 23!!

And The Winner of the Kindle with eBooks from:

Barbara Tiller Cole, Both of her books

Maria Grace, Volumes 1 and 2 of the Given Good Principles Series

Brenda Bigbee, Both of her books

Linda Wells, One of her Books

Karen Amindr, Charlotte

Ruth Oakland, My BFF

Nancy Kelly, Loving Miss Darcy
Sally Smith-O'Rourke, Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen

P. O. Dixon, Bewitched, Body and Soul

Marsha Altman, One of her Books

Nina Bennetton, Compulsively Mr. Darcy

A Copy of Jane Austen's Works for Kindle

Abigail Reynolds, Mr. Darcy's Refuge

Susan Mason-Milks, Mr. Darcy's Proposal

Sharon Lathan, One of her eBooks

Laurel Ann Nattress, Jane Austen Made Me Do It

Grand Prize Winner IS.....TiDubb (Tina Brown Wheatley) 

Winner of Softcover Book of your choice by Linda Wells

IS.....Di/Diane Sallans

Charlotte by Karen Amindra

IS.....Jeanna Ellsworth 

Longbourn State of Mind by Rebecca Thumann

IS..... LisaS

Friendship of a Special Kind by Moira Bianchi

IS.....Lieder Madchen 

My BFF by Ruth Oakland

IS..... Mari/Marilyn

Holiday Man by Marilyn Brant

IS.....Amanda (K Di.) 

A Book by Abigail Reynolds

IS..... Michele Fidler

An "I Love Darcy' Gift Set from Bath given by Nina Bennetton

IS.....Casseopia 

Authors Celebrate Mr. Darcy: 24 Hours Till Time Runs Out To Win!

Authors Celebrate Mr. Darcy

'All For The Love of Darcy Anniversary Celebration' is coming to a close. I was very excited to have some many authors share their special thoughts about Mr. Darcy with me throughout this month. Included in this post are some links to posts on THEIR sites, as well as some paragraphs that many wrote about their thoughts on Darcy.  The drawing for the Kindle and other special giveaways will be done AFTER MIDNIGHT on Sunday 3/4.  MANY authors have offered additional give aways, in addition to the Grand Prize.  So remember to post a comment HERE if you have not done so thus far to be entered to win ALL of the give aways. Additionally, you will win addition entries for each comment to a post made this month.  (As well as your links, reblogs, tweets, etc. will count as an additional entries as well!)  Good luck! 

First Of All Are the Links to Posts on Author Blogs That they wrote during this month to Celebrate Their Love for Darcy.

The 5 Best Things About Darcy: Karen M Cox

Stop by to Read Karen's special post about the things she likes best about Darcy.

The Love of Love: P. O. Dixon
Pam Dixon shares about her love of Darcy. 

Why I Will Always Be a Darcy Girl: Nancy Kelly
Nancy Kelly's Special Darcyholic Post.

Victoria Connelly's special Happy Birthday Darcy Post 
Victoria Connelly wanted to participate by linking this post to this celebration

 Ola Wegner Highlights All For The Love For Darcy Month. 
Grateful for Ola Wegner featuring my special celebration on her blog. 

Special Author Perspectives on Why They Love Darcy.

Ruth Oakland's Thoughts on Darcy

What makes Darcy so addictive for me is not so much Darcy himself, but Elizabeth Bennet.  Elizabeth is intelligent, selfless, independent and brinming with self-confidence.  She is honest to a fault and fiercely loyal, even when those loyalties are misplaced.  And other than his penchant for fine eyes and light and pleasing figures, it is that combination of qualities, good and bad, that Darcy cannot resist, that overcome all his scruples and cause him to utterly surrender his heart.  Yes, Darcy is handsome, tall and rich, but because Jane Austen shows us so little from his point of view, it is the qualities he loves in Elizabeth that tells me the most about him. A Darcy who fell for Fanny Price or Anne Elliot would not be half so attractive. (Sorry, Captain Wentworth.)  It is Elizabeth Bennet who makes Darcy my favorite hero.

My Love For Darcy: Marilyn Brant

What is there not to love about Mr. Darcy?! Sure, he seems arrogant and hard to please at first, but beneath the cool demeanor and the air of seriousness beats the heart of a deeply principled, intelligent and unerringly responsible man. One who will stand behind his beliefs and defend those he cares about...no matter what the cost to himself. Plus, he looks pretty dashing on the dance floor and can handle those complicated Regency reels with ease, while still carrying on a civil conversation. All this, and he's really nice to his little sister, too! He's a gem ;-).
~Marilyn Brant, author of According to Jane and Pride, Prejudice & the Perfect Match

 Linda Wells on Darcy and Keeping Calm

I fell in love with Fitzwilliam Darcy long before I even liked Elizabeth Bennet.  Yes, yes, I know she was the one who was insulted, but if she had just taken the time to look at this man who was clearly looking at her instead of dwelling on his comment . . .  Well, that is a story for another day.  My goal here is in praising Darcy.  Whether you prescribe to Darcy as socially awkward or insufferably arrogant, the satisfaction of watching him fall in love is irresistible.  Jane Austen did not put us in his head, but we got to see him taking pleasure in Elizabeth, her look, her conversation, her joie de vivre, and fight with himself even as he fell more deeply under her spell.  I was rooting for him even as I groaned when each of his mistakes came to light.  I cheered when he demonstrated that he had grown, and felt his hope as he walked into the inn, hat in hand, only to have it all dashed by the unfortunate delivery of that letter from Jane.  Of course at that point he became Super Darcy, rescuing foolish Lydia, handling evil Wickham, putting himself out solely for the love of this woman he thought he might have lost forever.  Sigh.  Come on, how can you resist that?  You can’t.  And happily, Elizabeth didn’t either.  Smart girl. 

Linda is currently posting her work in progress, Keeping Calm, a WWII-set story, at AHA and AU. (And has an additional give away in addition to the grand prize.  See link above!)

Artists Are Darcyholics Too: Janet Taylor

Artists are Darcyholics Too:  Janet Taylor

( Count Down Till Winners will be drawn in the All For The Love of Darcy contest!  Kindle and eBooks--Grand Prize as well as many others.  Comment HERE before Midnight Sunday 3/4/13 for your main entry. Comment on each post throughout this past month up until 3/4 for additional chances.  Reblogs, tweets, facebook reposts, likes, etc. will all count as additional entries!  Good luck! And Thanks to Janet for this post!)
Thank you, Barbara, for inviting me to talk about my drawings. When we visited last year and you saw my first three drawings, my plans for a calendar had not yet been conceived. Then when it was, time became a major factor. I didn’t get the calendar out as early as I needed but wanted to do it anyway.  It was my contribution to the 200^th Anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice and keepsake commemorative of this special event. My calendar is to be included in the Jane Austen Today exhibition at The Jane Austen Centre in Bath!  I am both humbled and honored to have my work displayed there. My drawings are a tribute to Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and the 1995 BBC miniseries. (pic calendar front and back)

I have plans to draw more scenes that include Elizabeth and Darcy together, as well as other characters from the miniseries.  Eventually I will branch out to the 2005 P n P movie; then draw scenes from the movies of Jane Austen’s other books.

Besides my calendar, I have small and medium note cards with my drawings and appropriate quotes. I will soon have 6”x6” tiles, mouse pads and mugs available. The mugs will have a drawing on the front. The back will have the title of the drawing and a corresponding quote from the book.  Since I don’t have a sample for the mouse pad yet, if you were to get a mouse pad, which drawing would like to have on it? Let me know in your comments.  (pics of mugs and tiles)

Thanks again, Barbara, for having me today.