Take a Dash of Pride & Prejudice, Sprinkle with Dr. Who & Fold in a Touch of C. S. Lewis
An Interview with Don Jacobson
by Barbara Tiller Cole
BTCole: I am very happy to have Don Jacobsen visiting us today at Darcyholic Diversions. I have really enjoyed getting a chance to meet Don, and have a chance to read the first two in his series highly creative Austenesque series! I look forward to reading more down the road! I don't know if I would have read them if I hadn't been asked to be a part of this blog tour and what a waste that would have been! His love of history and reading shines through in this very creative Jane Austen inspired series! Be sure to read to the end to find out about give aways!
And with that I would like to turn to Don and get this interview started...
BTCole: Don, tell us a little bit about how and when you
first discovered any of Jane Austen's works.
Don: Can I
plead that the mists of time obscure my hindsight? Actually, I have followed
Austen since at least the early 90s and am a huge fan of the video
adaptations! I think it was ‘The
Jane Austen Book Club’ that really caught my attention. It was at this pint
that I realized that the books had layers of meaning. Then I went out and
purchased a copy of ‘Mansfield Park.’ It was and still remains my
favorite…particularly because of the social commentary that floats just beneath
the surface.
BTCole: I am always so excited when I discover another
male writer of Jane Austen inspired literature. Was it Austen love at
first site? Or did you read one of the novels and come back to it at some
point?
Don: This
is sort of an interesting question. It does seem that male writers of JAFF are
a rare breed…just as there are not female writers of Napoleonic sea sagas.
I do
not think I had ever read romance novels. I may have picked up on of my mom’s
Jacqueline Susan paperbacks when I had nothing else to read (one of her favorite
stories was about the time she discovered an eight-year-old me reading the
dictionary because ‘I read all the books I brought home from the library.’).
However,
as I have been teaching history and research writing for over 15 years, I came
across one of the most important pieces of writing of the 20th
Century (after watching ‘The Hours”). That was Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs.
Dalloway’…probably the best novel of the 20th Century. That led me
to a work I now assign to both my writing classes as well as my Western Civ II
classes—‘A Room of One’s Own’—likewise by Woolf.
I
step past the discussion of women writing fiction. I focus on another point of
hers—Colridge’s ‘androgynous mind’—which she uses to explore how writing
man-womanly or woman-manly allows the author to express human emotion in a
non-gendered manner. A brilliant and powerful assertion.
Consider
my opening point in this response…why should there not be a hundred women
writing Napoleonic sea sagas…or spy novels? Why should there not be a hundred
men writing Jane Austen Fan Fiction? Oddly enough, while novels were seen as
not ‘serious’ writing in the Regency, we need to recall that one of Ms Austen’s
biggest fans was the most important man in the kingdom!
If
the writing is honest and does not reflect either the male ego or the female
ego in its structure, can it not transcend biases and reach an even broader
audience? I found Austen’s original stories to resonate as truthful
examinations of human behavior. It was her truthfulness that spurred me forward
to try to offer my own variations on her efforts.
BTCole: Was it one of Jane Austen's novels or one of the
Austen movie adaptations that really began your love affair? (If your
answer is just for instance 'Pride and Prejudice' you can skip this
question. This question is primarily for those authors who have an
interesting story about how they found this genre.)
Don: It
was my daughter gifting me a Kindle in 2010 that got me going. I have always
been a bookhound. Learning that Kindle Unlimited (the modern model of the
Regency subscription library) could keep me reading for $10 a month, I was
lost! I had always been a classic science fiction reader, but the modern
writers offered little fulfillment. But, Kindle offered me the entire Canon for
99 cents. I figured…why not?
And
that led me to ‘The Watsons.’ Somehow I found Ann Mychal’s ‘Emma and
Elizabeth,’ and the rest is history. Suddenly my popular search term was “pride
and prejudice variations.” I had honestly never realized that anyone would
write a story about another author’s characters.
BTCole: I can tell by reading your latest novel that you
are a lover of history. How did your love for history begin?
Don: I had
fallen into science fiction in about fifth grade. There I was exposed to two
large arc authors/collections…Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy which told a
future/past history analog to the Roman Empire…but with the inclusion of psychohistory…and
Robert A. Heinlein’s stories which examined a 6,000 year arc of history
centered around the Wilson family (folks who were genetically predisposed to
very long life).
The
fact that there was an entire mythology and backstory running in the background
of these stories hooked me. Then, of course, my next stop was J.R.R. Tolkein,
an inventive writer who was a full-blown academic and turned that ability into
the creation of an utterly logical world (Middle Earth) with a complete history
(Silmarillion).
I
found that human history was really nothing more than (or less than) the record
of the greatest saga. So, I went to university and earned a degree in
History…and followed it up with a Master’s in Modern European history. Using
the tools I learned in the discipline have, I believe, made me a stronger
writer.
BTCole: I was intrigued by the influence of C. S. Lewis
and Dr. Who on your writing. Can you tell us about their influence in
your life?
Don: A lot
of folks have keyed upon the Bennet Wardrobe and have said “Ah-hah. He is using
a Wardrobe…” True. And it is true that C.S. Lewis used a Wardrobe. However,
these two pieces of furniture differ utterly in function.
Lewis’
Wardrobe sent the children to another world…with no reference to time. It is
clear that the deep need for these youngsters to escape from the horrors of
their time, to find a solution to relieve their powerlessness in the face of
the Blitz, led them to Narnia. The Narnia Wardrobe seems to have little power
beyond its role as a portal between worlds.
The
Bennet Wardrobe, built by the natural philosopher and renowned Restoration
cabinet-maker Grinling Gibbons, is a very active force in the transport of
those of the Bennet bloodline. The Wardrobe is deeply connected with the
currents of the universe reaching beyond the traditional three dimensions and
delving into not only the realms of time, but also of Original Intent. The
Bennet Wardrobe sends Bennets to the where/when that will offer them the best
opportunity to learn that which they need to realize their destinies.
Same
holds for the TARDIS. Dr. Who (in whichever incarnation you prefer) controls
exactly where and when the trip goes—past, present or future.
The
Bennet Wardrobe can only transport those of the Bennet genome to a future
iteration of the Wardrobe. No travel to the past—except for that Bennet to
return to the immediate present.
BTCole: How did the inspiration come to you to do this
mash-up all three?
Don: Not
necessarily a mash-up…but, I did seek to place the Bennet Wardrobe within the
context of many forms of British magical transport. And, I decided to treat
them as real.
You see, I subscribe to the
idea that the act of imagining characters
brings them into reality. I follow Robert A. Heinlein who believed
in…”World as Myth" — the idea that universes are created by the act of imagining them, so that all fictional
worlds are in fact real and all real worlds are figments of fictional figures' fancy…”[i]
For instance, in Chapter XXIII of ‘The Exile,’ Holmes (himself being treated as
real within the Bennet Wardrobe universe) refers to Pride & Prejudice as if
it is a nonfiction book.
Thus, The Bennet Wardrobe, the
Narnia wardrobe, The King’s Roads, the TARDIS, and the flue network do exist
because their universes have been created through their authors’ imaginations.
BTCole: Is there a particular reason that you chose to
send Kitty to the particular time frame that you use in this particular story?
Don: I
imagined Kitty being told by Mr. Bennet that her future life was going to
revolve around a particularly austere seminary in Cornwall. Then, she would
react as a teenager might…by throwing a tantrum. In the process, she was
thinking/feeling ‘Anywhere but Cornwall. Anywhere but here. I wish that
everybody plaguing me would just leave me alone!’ A fist slam against the front
of the Wardrobe and “a thousand bees buzzed...and the pressure built.”
Now, the question you did not ask was ‘why Kitty?’ The answer rests in
my attraction to the side characters.
The Bennet Wardrobe Series is an alternative history in the
Pride & Prejudice Universe. While
the lead characters are familiar to all but only as secondary personalities, I
have endeavored to provide each of them (Mary, Kitty, Lydia, and Thomas) with
an opportunity to grow into three-dimensional persons, although not necessarily
in the Regency. If they were shaped
or stifled by the conventions of the period, the time-traveling powers of The
Wardrobe helped solve their problems, make penance, and learn lessons by giving
them a chance to escape that time frame, if only for a brief, life-changing
interlude.
BTCole: I know that this is your second in a series of
'time traveling tales'. How many do you plan for your series? What
is the next one going to be?
Don: Here
is the entire series along with potential publication dates:
The
Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey (2016)
The
Exile: Kitty Bennet and the Belle Époque (2017)
The
Exile (pt. 2): The Countess Visits Longbourn (2017 proj.)
The
Avenger: Thomas Bennet and A Father’s Lament (2018)
The
Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and A Soldier’s Portion (2018-19)
The
Grail: The Saving of Elizabeth Darcy (2019)
BTCole: Are you currently writing anything new you wish
to tell us about?
Don: I
have been busy finalizing publication on ‘The Exile’ and working on the blog
tour. However, by the end of June,
I plan to go back into writing a novella that is within the Bennet Wardrobe
universe which will offer a couple of twists: “The Darcys Meet Frankenstein.”
Then there is a Christmas story which fits between the end of a work I am
considering (“The Education of Caroline Bingley”) and Book Five in The Keeper.
I hope to have “A Thornhill Christmas” released by the holidays. And, then I
will also be writing Part 2 of ‘The Exile.’
BTCole:Anything else you would like to share with the
readers here at Darcyholic Diversions?
Don: Yes, I thought I might share an exerpt of the book with your readers...
Chapter VII
Darcy House, August 21,
1886
The idea
that she was to greet guests by Maddie’s side unnerved Kitty. Who was she—silly
Kitty Bennet of Longbourn—to stand next to the grande dame of the Bennet/Darcy clan? She craved the support and
cover of her missing sisters now more than at any other time in the past four
months.
Tears
welled up in her large eyes as she stared at Lizzy’s doppelganger. While she had wept over Mama and Papa’s grave, she
had never really felt the dams holding back lifelong fears and sadness crack in
the slightest. Now, however, this loving silver-haired woman with deep
chocolate brown eyes had put paid to years of invisibility and criticism as
well as her reserve with a simple statement of regard; for was not the request
to stand to the left of the hostess at a society ball nothing less than a
supreme recognition of worthiness? The frightened little girl inside the
teenaged Catherine Marie Bennet…the wee child who had cowered behind nervous
coughing and slavish following of Lydia…now clawed her way to the surface. Her
need to be loved had been unleashed by a simple act of
caring.
Her head
drooped. Great shuddering sobs shook her shoulders. Fat tears dripped from her
eyes. Her wails, moans really,
started low in her belly and were only broken in their ascent to her throat by
powerful gasps as her lungs fought for the air she needed to avoid falling to
the floor in a dead faint.
The
sudden transition from seeming calm to quivering distraction momentarily
stunned Madelyn, freezing her in her seat. Then, in an instant, she flew across
the narrow gap separating them, nearly upsetting the table in between. Kneeling
next to the girl and ignoring the seven decades in her joints, Maddie pulled
Kitty’s head to her breast and began stroking her corn silk hair.
“There…there,
my darling girl,” crooned the matriarch, recalling when she soothed her own
daughters suffering from what at the time seemed to be terminal heartbreak,
“All will be well. You are not alone. I am here. We are all here.”
Kitty
calmed somewhat, but continued to weep. Then there was a minutes-long silence
throughout which her body periodically shook with paroxysms of emotion
bolstered by renewed sobs. After a
while, even these subsided.
Maddie
sensed that she could release the girl and did so, allowing Kitty to compose
herself on her own terms. After pressing her handkerchief on Kitty, she pushed
herself from her knees and stepped back to her seat.
Her nose
and eyes reddened from her crying fit, Kitty sat slightly slumped in her own
chair. She stared at her niece over the cloth square she held tightly in her
fist that was planted firmly against clamped lips. She audibly inhaled and then
sighed out her exhaled breaths as she sought to further calm herself. Another
minute passed during which Maddie, brows knit together, calmly regarded her.
Then Kitty took one last deep breath, straightened in her seat and began to
exorcise her demons.
Meeting
Maddie’s gaze, she began in a little voice, “I do not know if I am sad because
of what I have left behind or worried about what is in store for me.
“Oh,
Aunt Maddie, if I could be certain that I would have a future in that world, I
would leap into the Wardrobe and fly back there right now. But nothing would
change. I still would be ignored by Papa for my silliness, hectored by Mama for
coughing, and reminded of Lydia’s darling
Wickham.
“So,
that there/then offers nothing better
than this here/now…and it may be
worse.”
She
paused and began nervously to twist the handkerchief in her hands.
She
ventured forward, “I do not know what Lizzy may have told you of our family’s
history…of how Mama became more and more upset and worried after each girl
child she bore.
“Lizzy
always had Jane and Papa to protect her from the worst of Mama’s fits of
nerves. Sad Mary sought comfort in
the musty leaves of Fordyce or in
pounding the pianoforte so poorly that nobody would come near her. Papa
disappeared into the bookroom at Longbourn or went shooting or visited tenants:
anything to avoid Mama’s exclamations.
“Lydia
was always Mama’s favorite. She could do no wrong bad enough to earn Mama’s
disapprobation.
“I can
hear Mama even now. ‘Kitty, do let Lydia
have that ribbon. How is she to attract an officer without looking her best?’
or ‘Now Kitty, you know that Lydia is far
prettier than you. She must have the new gown…or bonnet…or gloves.’ Oh, if
I could erase that voice!”
Anger
made Kitty’s china blue eyes darken and flash. Her voice became stronger.
“Lydia
always came first. One pout or whine and she got whatever she wanted.
“Then there was Jane. She sat in the
middle of the storm…calm and serene. And why not? There was never, never, a harsh word directed at her. She
could sit there and be the perfect lady: placid with never an eyelash out of
place. Jane never had to put herself forward because she so clearly stood out
from the rest of the babbling, bickering Bennets.
“Mary…poor
Mary…Mama could not keep from picking at her about her looks…her voice…her
hair…her choice of reading material…her lack of accomplishments. Is it any
wonder that she excluded herself from our family in so many ways?
“As for
me, being much closer in age to Lydia than Jane, I was more often exiled in the
nursery with Lydia while the older girls got to play with the Lucases. But
outside of being tasked by Mama to watch Lydie, I was usually ignored.
“Lizzy,
at least, was noticed enough to be frequently scolded. I am convinced she took
perverse pleasure in acting hoydenish just to aggravate Mama, although I doubt
if she refused Mr…well, you know who…just to upset Mama’s applecart. Lizzy
always said she would marry only for love, but I am sure that she would have
had to drink much of Mama’s special restorative to accept that odious man.”
Kitty
threw a watery smile Maddie’s way.
“Of
course, she had to refuse Hunsford or she would never have been in a position
to accept Pemberley.”
Madelyn
chuckled as Kitty’s black mood seemed to lift a bit.
“I can
assure you that my children and grandchildren are thankful for my Mama’s high
standards.
“I
cannot imagine your life inside that tempest that was the Longbourn sitting
room. What I can tell you is that every one of your sisters became remarkable
women as they grew up.
“Mary
and Lydia probably became the most famous of the Bennet sisters.
“You
cannot look out your window today without seeing the impact Aunt Mary and her
husband Edward Benton had on Great Britain. Abolition, the Factory Acts, the Reform Acts and countless
other causes are the handiwork of that incredible duo.
“And, if
you chose to go University, you will now be able to attend Somerville Hall at Oxford.[ii]
That was a project close to Aunt Mary’s heart, but it was Lydia’s dear friend,
Lady Martha Campbell, a teacher herself, who was the true driving force behind
advanced education for women.
“Of
course Aunt Lydia, as the Countess of Matlock, stood astride Victorian society.
However, she is also beloved by all the unfortunate women who gave their
husbands to the expansion of Empire.
Her unflagging advocacy for war widows and their children began shortly
after Waterloo and continued to her dying day.
“Aunt
Jane was happiest when she was in the precincts of Thornhill with her husband,
Mr. Bingley, and their children. She was supremely content to be known as
mother and wife. Note that I did not say ‘only a mother and wife.’
“My Aunt
Jane was the one every Bennet, Darcy, Fitzwilliam and Benton child would run to
for solace. In fact, my Mama and Aunt Lydia would chide Aunt Jane that she
would have been happier to claim as her those extra ten children who chased
after her seven throughout Thornhill’s halls during the summer months,” Madelyn
said before a somber look crossed her face and she fell silent.
Only one
generation separated Kitty from Maddie.
Unlike with Lady Elaine Fitzwilliam, Henry’s mother, she could speak of
things Bennet with this elderly lady, her niece.
“I
noticed how your story did not reach Lizzy and Mr. Darcy before you became sad.
“The
last time I saw Lizzy was just after her wedding breakfast. All I know of her
life after marrying Mr. Darcy is what I have seen in the family history at the
Trust and a letter from my sisters dated in 1836,” Kitty commented.
Madelyn
started. Her eyes took on a faraway look as she replied, “Yes, 1836. That was
the year Mama left us. Papa was never the same man after that.”
Now it
was Kitty’s turn to be the healer. She reached across the table and grasped the
wrinkled hand that rested upon Mrs. Johnson’s knee.
She
prompted Maddie saying, “Tell me about Lizzy and Mr. Darcy. What were they
like?”
Madelyn
looked away from those intense blue eyes as they bored deeply into her soul.
What of Papa and Mama’s love? It was the
stuff of legend, so strong that after Mama was gone, Papa never really smiled
again.
Oh, he could be happy as when his
grandchildren would circle his long legs begging to be lifted ever so high. But
he was neither deeply joyful nor contented. He came the closest when he would
sit with Aunt Jane and Uncle Charles. Then Mama was only a shade away. Of all
of those of his generation, maybe Mrs. Johnson offered him the greatest comfort
because she gave nothing but quiet companionship having lost such as he had.
“What I
can say,” she replied sadly, “is that theirs was the truest love…the Greeks
call it agape. A stone of the highest
clarity could not have been more beautiful as when Mama and Papa shared a quiet
moment watching the sun set over the Peaks. They found their pleasure in stolen
moments.
“They
were two halves of the same whole, thoroughly attuned to one another’s
thoughts. Such a universal love could not be extinguished.
“Many
were amazed that my father survived for nearly twenty years without her—just
five fewer than their marriage—before he, too, left us.”
With
that she rose from her seat and smoothed her gown with both hands. Shaking herself as if to dust off the
memories, she closed with a pronouncement that left Kitty puzzled.
“My
faith tells me I will see my Thomas again. But I will have no certainty of that
until the last moment when I let go and pass through the final veil. As for my
parents, I have no doubt that they will be together again in this world and the
next.”
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Number_of_the_Beast_(novel) accessed 7/26/16.
[ii] In 1879, Somerville Hall was the first women’s college
founded at Oxford University. The school was named after Scottish mathematician
Mary Somerville. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville_College,_Oxford accessed 2/22/17.
Blurb:
Beware
of What You Wish For
The Bennet Wardrobe may grant it!
Longbourn,
December 1811. The day after Jane
and Lizzy marry dawns especially cold for young Kitty Bennet. Called to Papa’s
bookroom, she is faced with a resolute Mr. Bennet who intends to punish her
complicity in her sister’s elopement. She will be sent packing to a seminary in
far-off Cornwall.
She reacts like any teenager chafing under the “burden” of
parental rules—she throws a tantrum. In her fury, she slams her hands against
the doors of The Bennet Wardrobe.
Her heart’s desire?
I wish they were
dead! Anywhere but Cornwall! Anywhere but here!
As Lydia later said, “The
Wardrobe has a unique sense of humor.”
London, May 1886. Seventeen-year-old Catherine Marie Bennet tumbles
out of The Wardrobe at Matlock House to come face-to-face with the austere
Viscount Henry Fitzwilliam, a scion of the Five Families and one of the
wealthiest men in the world. However, while their paths may have crossed that
May morning, Henry still fights his feelings for another woman, lost to him
nearly thirty years in his future. And Miss Bennet must decide between
exile to the remote wastelands of Cornwall or making a new life for herself in
Victorian Britain and Belle Époque France.
ArkansasAustenFan reviews “The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey”:
What an amazing historical novel that
has a paranormal Wardrobe, which transports members of the Bennet-blood-family
into the future and back… Don Jacobson is a master storyteller weaving English
history into the lives of the P&P characters in a unique way. This book is
not light, fluffy reading. It is an intriguing novel that would make a
wonderful mini series on BBC much like Downton Abby.
Author Bio:
Don Jacobson has
written professionally for forty years.
His output has ranged from news and features to advertising, television
and radio. His work has been
nominated for Emmys and other awards.
He has previously published five books, all non-fiction. In 2016, he published the first volume
of The Bennet Wardrobe Series—The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary
Journey, novel that grew from two earlier novellas. The Exile is the second volume of The Bennet Wardrobe Series.
Other JAFF P&P Variations include the paired books “Of Fortune’s Reversal” and “The Maid and The Footman.”
Jacobson holds an advanced degree in History with a
specialty in American Foreign Relations.
As a college instructor, Don teaches United States History, World
History, the History of Western Civilization and Research Writing.
He is a member of
JASNA-Puget Sound. Likewise, Don
is a member of the Austen Authors
collective (see the internet, Facebook and Twitter).
He
lives in the Seattle, WA area with his wife and co-author, Pam, a woman Ms.
Austen would have been hard-pressed to categorize, and their rather assertive
four-and-twenty pound cat, Bear.
Besides thoroughly immersing himself in the JAFF world, Don also enjoys
cooking; dining out, fine wine and well-aged scotch whiskey.
His other passion
is cycling. Most days from April
through October will find him “putting in the miles” around the Seattle area
(yes there are hills). He has
ridden several “centuries” (100 mile days). Don is especially proud that he successfully completed the
AIDS Ride—Midwest (500 miles from Minneapolis to Chicago) and the Make-A-Wish
Miracle Ride (300 miles from Traverse City, MI to Brooklyn, MI).
Contact Info: (Link
is embedded in the name)
Buy Links:
Blog Tour Schedule:
06/18 Free
Date
06/20 Savvy Verse and Wit; Guest Post, GA
06/25 Free
Date
06/28 Laughing
With Lizzie; Guest Post or Vignette, Excerpt, GA
Giveaway:
Terms and Conditions For Blog Tour Give Aways:
Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once a day and daily commenting on a blog post or
review that has a giveaway attached for the tour. Entrants must provide the
name of the blog where they commented (which will be verified). If an entrant
does not do so, that entry will be disqualified. Remember: Tweet and
comment once daily to earn extra entries.
A winner may win ONLY 1 (ONE) eBook of The Exile: Kitty Bennet and the
Belle Époque by Don Jacobson. Each winner will be randomly selected by
Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international.