Brooding around with Jessie Lewis
by Barbara Tiller Cole
Jessie,
I am so happy to have you visiting us here at Darcyholic Diversions. Your new
book, Mistaken is a treasure trove! Today with so many people
writing shorter multi book series, it is nice to find a solid, fun meaty book
to read!
Thank
you for having me here, Barbara! It's great to be able to chat. Ask away - what
would you like to know?
I
know you are from England, land of Jane Austen herself. Tell us where you
have lived so we can know how it might have influenced your writing!
I
grew up in a sleepy little naval town on the south coast of England. My school
was on the beach and when you were in the maths classrooms in
the turret (yes, it had a turret! It was an old Victorian house), you
could just make out Queen Victoria's Summer Residence, Osborne
House, over on the Isle of Wight. The story I'm currently working on
is based in this location.
I've
lived in Hertfordshire for may years now - Bennet county! I adore it here and
am lucky enough to be surrounded by huge, grand Georgian houses and parks to
inspire my writing.
Is
writing your career job?
Yes, I'm
lucky enough to be able to treat writing as my day job. Before I took the
plunge into writing, I used to work in academic administration, but it was a
means to an end and writing is my vocation. I'm thoroughly enjoying being
able to concentrate on it more.
Well,
academic administration might have given you a desire to do something else from
what I have heard from a friend of mine, lol. When you are aren't writing
what do you do with your time?
Well,
it might sound silly, but I love writing. I often choose to write over any
other activity - especially TV which I rarely watch (apart from Game of
Thrones, of course!).
Oh,
I am a GOT fan as well! I knew there had to be some cross over GOT lovers
out there!
I'm
secretly proud of having discovered the books years before HBO got hold of
them, but I love the series just as much. But as well as writing and immersing
myself in dragon-lore, I love spending time with my kids, family and
friends. I enjoy reading, though I do far too little of it. I play the piano -
about as well as Elizabeth Bennet, if not a little worse - and I love
walking. For the last four years I've taken part in endurance walking events
for charity. It's great fun and keeps me in shape - which is good because
my favourite hobby is
eating chocolate and drinking wine.
I'm
also fascinated by old houses. Probably because my parents used to
take my brother and me visiting them all the time when we were younger. I adore
trying to imagine how people used to live. Also, my own family history is
quite interesting - my 4xgreat uncle was Roger Fenton, famous photographer of
the Crimean War. He and his family were quite well to-do and owned estates and
houses and bank balances that would have rivalled Mr Darcy's back in that era.
Sadly, the whole lot was lost on bad investments (darn it!) but I love trawling
through all the family records, seeing all the houses they used to own and all
the people they used to associate with, peers and royalty included. There's a
novel in all of that somewhere that I will write one day. I'm brewing that plot
bunny while I work on other things ;)
That
is fascinating. My great grandfather owned a large section of what is now the
high rent district in Greater Atlanta. Glad I didn't know that until I
got older... I will be interested to see where that plot bunny goes. I
have an entire farm of bunnies I am afraid. How did you discover
Austen's works and what inspired you writing etc.
I
studied Austen at school and loved her. I watched the 95 P&P miniseries and
loved her even more. But it wasn't until I was at home with very young
children that I really got stuck into Pride and Prejudice with a bit more zeal.
(You go a bit stir crazy when you only have babies to talk to, so Austen's wit
was a welcome sanctuary!) I adore Austen's humour. It's
quintessentially English; sarcastic, tongue in cheek, but never
mean-sprited. I wish directors of TV and movie adaptations would show more
of it, but they always focus on the drama and the brooding. It's a shame,
because I don't think most people associate Austen with humour and they
ought to.
I
think that is why over the years I have come to really like Emma. At
least when adaptations are done of that novel we see the humor of Jane
Austen. It is hysterical that you mention the work 'brood'. I was
part of a work group that wanted to name themselves the brood. I just
insisted on not doing that. We ended up being the 'colony' which I don't
like either, but it much better than than the brood.
So
did you become addicted to brooding Mr. Darcy?
Well,
he's difficult not to love, isn't he? Once I got myself re-hooked (as it were)
on Mr Darcy, I discovered JAFF, and read an embarrassing quantity of that
before I decided to have a go myself. It was nice to get back to writing.
My job before I had kids didn't involve writing, because, frankly, it doesn't
pay the bills! But I studied Literature and Philosophy at university and adore
writing and playing with words, so finding that I hadn't completely lost the
ability to string a sentence together was a very pleasant
surprise.
So
what was the inspiration for 'Mistaken'?
Mainly
- and I think this is probably true for most people who read JAFF - I
just wanted to see Darcy and Elizabeth's 'what next' told my way. I have a
lot of favourite JAFF stories - many that I absolutely love and re-read very
often - but inevitably there are always parts where I say "No! Don't do
that to them! Don't let this happen!" I wanted to try and write
a story that answered all my personal wishes for how they would succeed as
a couple. There were a few unfortunate side effects for other characters along
the way, but I soon learnt that the tension in a story has to come from
somewhere, and I was determined that in mine it wasn't going to come from Darcy
and Elizabeth.
I
enjoyed your humor! I think that I have an comedian inside of me so I
appreciate that in others. Without giving away too much, I enjoyed the humor of
Bingley's character. I have trouble with Bingley. I often accidentally
leave him out... Tell me what inspired you in regards to his character in
your story?
In
canon, I see Bingley as quite immature, with too little conviction in his own
opinions, too much reliance on the opinions of others, and not enough
responsibility to accept the fault when it's his. His thoughtlessness when he
leaves Jane without word simply because Darcy and his sisters tell him to,
makes him selfish. That's what I played with in Mistaken. I've kept him in
character, in that he is still well-intentioned and affable, and also still
capricious and thoughtless. What's different in Mistaken is that he's
unchecked (Darcy refuses to advise him any more) and as a result, his
worst traits are accentuated. He is not unkind and never malicious, but
he's completely oblivious and far too ready to blame everyone else for his
misfortunes, simply because nobody told him NOT to make those
bad decisions. He's funny because he's clueless, but there does come
a point in the story when clueless ceases to be amusing.
Writing
a JAFF story that begins after Darcy and Elizabeth's awful 'Hunsford' moment,
enables the exploration of how they both set about correcting their misconceptions.
It was fun dealing with a character (Bingley) who'd had no such self-awakening
and was still bumbling along entirely unawares, just as Elizabeth and Darcy
were before they smacked each other down with a few home truths. It's
surprising just how much of a pickle a person can get themselves into just by
being oblivious to his own faults!
Do
you have a new story that you are writing?
Yes,
I'm working on another regency story, though this one isn't JAFF. I have a few
plot bunnies for other P&P spin offs which I will hopefully get to, but
this other one is champing at the bit to be written so I'm pandering to the
muse and going with it. To anyone who knows how long it took me to finish
Mistaken I will just say that I am aiming to get this one finished
sooner!
Anything
else you would to share with the readers here at Darcyholic Diversions?
Thank
you for popping in to listen to me chat with Barbara, everybody! Feel free to
ask me other questions in the comments if there's anything you want to know that
we haven't covered, or you can interact with me on Twitter, FaceBook or my blog
(links below). I hope you enjoy the story!
Mistaken
Media Kit
By Jessie Lewis
Blurb:
Fitzwilliam Darcy is a single man in possession of a good
fortune, a broken heart, and tattered pride. Elizabeth Bennet is a young lady
in possession of a superior wit, flawed judgement, and a growing list of
unwanted suitors. With a tempestuous acquaintance, the merciless censure of
each other’s character, and the unenviable distinction of a failed proposal
behind them, they have parted ways on seemingly irreparable terms. Despairing
of a felicitous resolution for themselves, they both attend with great energy
to rekindling the courtship between Darcy’s friend Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth’s
sister Jane.
Regrettably, people are predisposed to mistake one another,
and rarely can two be so conveniently manoeuvred into love without some manner
of misunderstanding arising. Jane, crossed in love once already, is wary
of Bingley’s renewed attentions. Mistaking her guardedness for indifference,
Bingley is drawn to Elizabeth’s livelier company; rapidly, the defects in their
own characters become the least of the impediments to Darcy and Elizabeth’s
happiness.
Debut author Jessie Lewis’s Mistaken invites us to laugh along with Elizabeth Bennet at the
follies, nonsense, whims, and inconsistencies of characters both familiar and
new in this witty and romantic take on Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice.
Author Bio:
I’ve always loved words—reading them, writing them, and
as my friends and family will wearily attest, speaking them. I dabbled in
poetry during my angst-ridden teenage years, but it wasn’t until college that I
truly came to comprehend the potency of the English language.
That appreciation materialised into something more
tangible one dark wintry evening whilst I was making a papier-mâché Octonauts
Gup-A (Google it—you’ll be impressed) for my son, and watching a rerun of Pride and Prejudice on TV. Fired up by the remembrance of
Austen’s genius with words, I dug out my copy of the novel and in short order
had been inspired to set my mind to writing in earnest. I began work on a
Regency romance based on Austen’s timeless classic, and my debut novel Mistaken is the result.
The Regency period continues to fascinate me, and I spend
a good deal of my time cavorting about there in my daydreams, imagining all
manner of misadventures. The rest of the time I can be found at home in
Hertfordshire, where I live with my husband, two children, and an
out-of-tune piano. You can check out my musings on the absurdities of language
and life on my blog, Life in Words, or you can drop me a line on Twitter, @JessieWriter
or on my Facebook page, Jessie Lewis Author, or on
Goodreads, Jessie Lewis.
Contact Info is within the author bio.
(with embedded links)
Buy Links:
Mistaken (Amazon US)
Mistaken
(Amazon UK)
Mistaken is also available on Kindle
Unlimited
Blog Tour Schedule:
10/03 My Jane Austen Book Club; Vignette, Giveaway
10/04 Darcyholic
Diversions; Author Interview, Giveaway
10/05 Just Jane 1813; Review, Giveaway
10/06 Diary
of an Eccentric; Guest Post, Excerpt, Giveaway
10/07 My Love for Jane Austen; Character Interview, Giveaway
10/08 Of Pens and
Pages; Review, Giveaway
10/09 From Pemberley to Milton; Guest Post, Giveaway
10/10 Half
Agony, Half Hope; Review, Excerpt
10/11 Savvy Verse and Wit; Review, Giveaway
10/12 So little time…; Guest Post, Giveaway
10/13 Babblings
of a Bookworm; Vignette, Giveaway
10/14 Interests of
a Jane Austen Girl; Review, Giveaway
10/15 Laughing
With Lizzie; Guest Post, Excerpt, Giveaway
10/16 Austenesque Reviews; Vignette, GA
Terms and Conditions:
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. Remember: Tweet and comment once
daily to earn extra entries.
A winner may win ONLY 1 (ONE) eBook of Mistaken by Jessie Lewis.
Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international.
