A Fairly Recent Encounter
It’s been interesting and fun to read about the other authors here and find out a little more about them. There are some that seem so much like me – in fact, two of us share the same birthday on Valentines Day and I think we both attribute that to being hopeless romantics! (Do you know who the other is?) I have also enjoyed reading their individual stories about how they came to know and love the writings of Jane Austen. There are some very different — and some very similar — journeys that brought them to our dear Jane. Here is my story:
I hate to admit it, but I never read Jane Austen in high school. We read Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Charlotte Brontë, but nothing by Jane Austen. My first introduction to her was actually through the movies Emma and Sense and Sensibility in the 90s. I enjoyed those two films, but they were not enough to tempt me to read any of her works.
Jump ahead a couple of years. I overheard two friends talking about a 6-hour movie one was watching, how much she was enjoying it, and how far along she was. I inquired what they were talking about, and was told it was Pride and Prejudice. My friend, bless her heart, loaned me the new DVD she had just purchased, telling me I had to take it home and watch it. Little did it realize then how much this film would affect me.
The next day I settled myself in front of the television and began watching it. I will never forget how entranced I was with this story, the characters, and, of course, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. While I was anxious to see how it ended, I also didn’t want it to end!
The next day I watched the whole thing again. For the remainder of the week, I left the DVD in and just clicked ‘play’ whenever I had time and watched it several more times. On Saturday I knew I should return my friend’s DVD, so I went to the Best Buy store near me and found one copy. I promptly snatched it up.
After watching it countless times, I was now eager to see how the book compared. As you might imagine, I loved the book. That was followed by purchasing a book that contained all her novels, and I began reading each one, and when I could, viewed the film that had been made about it.
I then turned to the internet. As I searched online about Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice, I was amazed at how many people seemed to love her works as much as I did. I found websites where people were posting sequels, prequels, missing scenes, modernized, and variations of her novels.
As I read these stories, I came up with a variation of my own. Never having written more than 3 chapters of anything, I estimated this story would be about 7 chapters. When I was done, it was 18 chapters. That was my first attempt at writing a novel, Assumed Engagement.
Within about 5 years, I had written 5 novels as well as some shorter stories. The positive responses were amazing, and people encouraged me to try and publish them. My biggest supporter was my husband, but when I told him that publishers would never publish these ‘what-ifs,’ he refused to listen to me.
In 2006, I decided to self-publish my novels and researched the various self-publishing sites. I chose lulu.com. It was a very positive experience and I don’t regret it. At the same time as I published those, Abigail Reynolds was also self-publishing her 6 novels at lulu. Neither of us knew the other was doing the exact thing, but our books came out at just about the same time, which was a benefit to us both.
Abigail later contacted me and told me I should submit my books to Sourcebooks, as they were picking up a lot of Jane Austen authors. I sent them my 5 stories, but was initially rejected. About a year and a half later, I completed one more story, Something Like Regret, and just after I self-published it, Abigail contacted me again and said Sourcebooks was now interested in my books, but hadn’t been able to contact me. (My email had changed.)
This time Sourcebooks offered me a contract to publish Pemberley’s Promise (which they have retitled Darcy’s Voyage) and Something Like Regret (which they have retitled Only Mr. Darcy Will Do) in March, 2011, and have the option to pick up the others. This has been an amazing adventure, and while I have felt a little overwhelmed at times, it is one that I have thoroughly enjoyed!
44 Responses to A Fairly Recent Encounter
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Thank you for sharing your story! Like you, I often find my P&P in the DVD player waiting to be resumed. (It is a great thing for the kitchen while cooking or baking!) And congratulations on all your success! I look forward to every release!
Something like Regret is the first book of yours I read and truly enjoyed. The first time I read Pride and Prejudice was because of the movie "You Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. The movie makes reference to the book and I was curious. I loved it!! I read it probably three or four times and then my cousin lent me a couple of movie version. My favorite is the six hr with Collin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. My cousin then recommended Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre beginning is kind of slow but still thoroughly enjoyed it. I read Emma and sense and sensibility but it still did not beat Pride and Prejudice. This past year I read persuasion because of Regina Jeffers "Capt. Wentworths Persuasion. I had read her other books and I didn't want to read hers without reading the original. It took me awhile too find your books because they don't sell it in-store at the barnes and nobles by my house but when I started searching @ bn.com for Fitzwilliam Darcy, your books came up. Amanda Grange is the first book that was P&P retold, was the 1st I read. I was skeptical about actual buying it, so read a chapter or two in store and I couldn't put it down. there began my obsession with Mr. Darcy. Jane Austen's P&P is the only one that I read with ease (still read twice a yr), even Persuasion I had a hard time getting through the beginning; but I have since read it 3 or 4 times.
My husband wont let me watch p&p when he is home. He is tired of hearing it on the television. I have read parts of the books to him but he does not get the humor @ the beginning. I laugh through the first three chapters. I can't seem to get him to see the beauty of the story!
Thanks for sharing your story! It is amazing how many authors came to Austen later in life
Colin Firth has a lot to answer for! LOL! Congratulations – that is such a gorgeous cover.
Thanks for sharing your story and congrats on your success. I wish I could just be like you and hit the 'play' button and rewatch 1995 BBC's Pride and Prejudice whenever I'm free. This reminds me that I need to rewatch it soon.
Thank you Kara for sharing your experience with us. I have enjoyed your stories and books since I found JAFF about 5 years ago. It's fascinating to learn how you and the other authors arrived at your current Austen "location…" and I see some of my own experiences in your stories. I look forward to re-reading one of my favorite ff's of all time — now titled Darcy's Voyage. Wishing you much continued success. Amy Z
your book is on my ToBeReadList!!! can't wait to get to it!!
please continue to do what you do!!!!
Cynthia
Thanks for sharing your history!!! It's impressive how the movies…, have found our way to love JA work and over all of them P&P!!!
Wow Kara, it is really inspiring to see so many writers of stories that I have read become well known authors and not just in the JAFF forums. Pemberley's Promise is one of the very first books I purchased and I loved reading it. I loved reading all your stories when you were posting them and I am so happy to see you are publishing them. My sister use to make fun of me for reading such works then one day she borrowed my Pemberley's Promise and she couldn't put it down, she was hooked. I love the new title Darcy's Voyage and the cover is wonderful.
And Abigail is still bringing us all along–like a shepherd of her Austen Authors flock. What a wonderful story with a happy ending, Kara. Your experience with watching random scenes from the DVDs reminds me how I can just open any one of her books and read whatever is on the page and be perfectly happy.
Suze, I had to laugh at your post about "You've Got Mail" because that was where I first heard of "Pride and Prejudice." I had actually put that in my post here, but then felt I needed to shorten and removed it. But that movie put a little 'bug in my ear' thinking I'd like to read it, and when my friends mentioned that they were watching it (I didn't know there was a movie!), I was all ears! I have wondered whether "You've Got Mail" was written to be a modernized version of P&P.
Thanks for all your comments – we have literally grown together in a community of sorts, and it's been great!
Kara Louise,
Like you, I was not introduced to Jane in high school. Luckily, my mother chose to introduce me to the classics (besides Shakespeare and Dickens). I wish you the best with your writing.
So you had a good experience then with the self publishing. I have been looking into a few of the self publishing companies, but everyone I've talked to has a horror story about the companies.
What made you decide to go with lulu?
I got my copy of Darcys Voyage yesterday and I cant wait to dig into it when I get home from work today!
Monica
Kara, Love your story it seems to ring true for everyone. I have read everyone of your books. Loved them all. Though my favorite is a tie between Pemberley's Promise(Darcy's Voyage) and Something like regret. I have reread both those books to many times to count. I do have to admit that I resisted a lot of the what if alternate books at first. I wanted to be true to P&P. So my 1st book to read after rereading and watching bothe 1996 & 2005 movies was regina's P&p books. It started me reading more of the books out there like Sharon Lathan/Amanda Grange But then I ran out of books to read or reread. That's when I found your books and then Abigails. Wow I was hooked. As you can read I haven't stopped. Anyway my family started worrying about me when I read Reginalds view on the whole thing. Anyway love you books. Keep writing and thanks charlene
Our paths to Austen are fairly similar and more recent than others, neither of us having read her works in school. I arrived via Bridget Jones–>Colin Firth–>P&P 95–>reading Jane Austen–>obsession–>reading JAFF–>writing JAFF.
You and your works are very well respected in this community, and I'm so glad you are getting the recognition you deserve.
Thanks for sharing your (and Darcy's) voyage.
Best wishes,
Joanne
Kara sorry to do this on your blog, but I wanted to ask a question to another auther and make aware of some info th the general population here. Carey-loved your book MDLS. What I do not understand is why is ATOL is going out of print? Both books are stand alones. They each take a different perspective and though some of the incedences are similar the books are different. I think it is worth having both books. I was wondering if any other bloggers here agree with me. charlene
Hi Kara!
Thanks for your great story! Speaking of Bronte. I love Jane Eyre to bits as well!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your books a while back and bought the ebooks. Theres nothing like holding a great book in your hand though so as time and money permit I will be adding your books to my collection.
TSBO devotee
Vee
Thanks for sharing your story!
I am finding it really interesting how many of us never wrote before discovering JA. In general, for most novelists, that is unusual. I have often called myself an enigma because I don't think I have met but 2 or 3 other authors who had no idea they could write until later in life. I never gave writing a moment's consideration until discovering JAFF. Now I think we need to conduct a study!! Find out how many writers within the Fan Fiction community are like us!
Thanks for sharing your story with us. And thanks for being my friend! You and Abigail have been my email buddies for a while now so it is fabulous to be working together like this!
Thanks for sharing your story with us!
I so enjoyed watching you travel on your journey Karen. I have enjoyed everything you wrote even if it made me cry and am so thrilled with your success.
I look forward to more.
Terie
I was having a clear out of one of my e-mail boxes and just ran across some we exchanged years ago when we were posting on DWG. I am amazed how many of us have come the route of online fan fiction.
It's also nice to be in such kind and friendly company.
Congrats on your publishing adventure, Kara!! Love the Darcy's Voyage cover and looking forward to hearing more about Only Mr. Darcy Will Do this spring!
Many congratulations Karalou! 'Pemberley's Promise' will always be one of my all time favorite fanfics no matter what it's called!!! Your story will always have a special place in my heart because it's one of the very first I ever read!!! I wish you all the success in the world.
Oh! I forgot to say I am so excited to have won 'Assumed Obligation'. Thank you!
OK, first to respond to Kimberly, I have what might be called a love/hate relationship with lulu. They were great when I first published, but have made some rather poor decisions and changes since then. But I think you can still publish your book and get it online without having to put down a great deal of money. The site is not user friendly, though, and figuring things out is not always easy. They've probably even made more changes since I published a year ago, so I can't answer how things are now.
Joanne, I liked your formula! I think we should all post ours so it's easy to see. Mine would have to start out with You've Got Mail —>P&P 95 —>reading Jane Austen—>reading fanfic —>writing fanfic —>and I will add: being published!
chatty – you might want to post your comment on Carey's blog – she might have a better chance of seeing it there! Just scroll down the page to her post.
Thanks for all of your comments!
Kara Louise, Thanks so much for giving us a bit of a background of your writing. I have read and enjoyed your stories, I think, since the beginning. When you started the website ahhhs.net, I would go there and devour anything you wrote…time and time again.
As much as I enjoy reading electronically and can increase the type size…I still love having a real book on the shelf. You can bet that I'll be adding some of yours to my collection.
Sandy, USA
Thanks kara I'm sorry for the last post. I was just being lazy and not wanting to go out of this web site. Her blog down below is closed so I guess I'll just go to her web site. Thanks and sorry. charlene
Kara:
I loved learning more about you! I have enjoyed so much reading your books. I've read most. I still need to get "Assumed Obligation" and of course I'm looking forward to your new releases. "Pemberley's Promise" is my favorite what if. (I recently lent it to a friend with the understanding that I get it back. lol)I've read them over so many times that the dogears are a bit disconcerting. I'm thinking I was in my mid 40's before becoming an Austen fan. About 15 years ago one of my daughter's teen friends mentioned Pride and Prejudice. I didn't pay attention. Then about 6 or 7 years ago I needed a hobby and decided what better way to go than books and movies. So Jane Eyre, Gaskell's works and then Austen hit my shelf. I enjoyed them all and soon read all the novels as well as watched the movies. Just a short hop to finding sequels, variations etc on Amazon and other sites. Pamela Aidan's were my first. After reading many reviews I picked up yours and Abigail's and many others. I've enjoyed every minute..well almost. It seems like maybe "Austenland" but I'm not sure it could be another title mentions that Austen's works are like a child's bedtime story for adults. We are comforted by them and so with that reassurance we read them…something like that. I've gotten to where I watch the movies when I'm alert and at bedtime. So even if I fall asleep with it on (after all it's comforting)I still seem to awaken at most of my favorite parts. Funny and pathetic. Keep up the good work, as so many comments have alluded we enjoy your work tremendously.
COngrats on your great success! Thanks for sharing your story
Congratulations on your success. Wishing you all the best of happiness. What a great post which I enjoyed.
What a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing this lovely background.
I still remember the meeting with Deb when she asked me to contact you. She told me that she'd liked your books, but at first she thought Austen fans wouldn't go for something as "far out" as P&P on a ship, but that she'd since come to realize that Austen fans are more broad-minded than she thought! I think we've shocked her with the breadth and depth of our readership.
Thanks for sharing your story, Kara. It's been a pleasure to follow your writing from the beginning.
Thank goodness that Sourcebooks had the good sense to sign you. Best of luck with your work. Nice getting to know you. Mary
Thank you Kara's husband for supporting, encouraging, and determining her to publish this marvelous, wonderful books. Kara's books are part of my treasures on my library book's shelves.
You guys are all – authors and readers – very special. And Abigail, you'll never forget that meeting, and I'll never forget that email from you. Little did we know then that P&P on a ship would be nothing compared to P&P with vampires and zombies!
Kara,
Thank you for sharing your personal story with us. I recently finished Darcy's Voyage and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also just picked up a copy of Master Under Good Regulation. As a dog-woman, I can't wait to read Reggie's perspective on Darcy's decisions and lovelorn internal battles.
Thank you for sharing your story! It is making me think about my first introduction to Jane Austen. I think I was introduced to Jane Austen without realizing it was Jane Austen! I just reread Persuasion every year, liked Northam in Emma, and had Garvie P&P that I watched occasionally!
Congratulations, Kara – another Austen success story!
And modern technology has a lot to answer for. Whatever its drawbacks, without it there'd be no Austen related-films or internet communities.
Then where would we all be?!
denise, Kara did a absolutely wonderful job writing from the dogs perspective. I quite enjoyed it and I'm sure you will. charlene
Hi Kara,
Thanks for adding more jewels to Jane's crown. I enjoyed your post so much. All of the stories of inspiration continue to startle me and make me more sure that Jane is truly stirring the waters, conjuring up new authors.
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