Heather Lynn Rigaud
Moving On
It’s with very mixed feelings that I’m posting this, my last Austen Author’s blog. As you know, I’m a woman of very many interests, and simply not enough time to do them all. I wish I had clones, so I could keep everything going, but I don’t, and with a limited number of hours in a day, it’s time for me to give AuAu’s up to focus elsewhere.
I want to thank all the amazing and talented writers I’ve come to have known here. They have been a tremendous resource for me. They’ve answered my newbie questions and made invaluable suggestions that have helped me develop as a writer. Through them I’ve found new ideas and developed different points of view.
These wonderful women (and Jack) have also helped make things comfortable in a sometimes awkward world. Jane Austen based fiction is never going to have the same kind of respect as traditional novels, despite the generally excellent quality of the writing. By coming together, this site formed a safety net, protecting me from feeling alone and weird in the big, bad publishing world.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who reads and comments on Austen Authors. Our readers are so supportive and generous. I think my favorite part of this community is the openness, sharing and affection between readers and writers. It’s a wonderful time to be a writer because of the huge amount of interaction that is possible with our readers through blogs, facebook and twitter. In my time here, I’ve gotten to know so many of you and it’s been an enriching experiences.
So, that’s my well wishes to all of you: May you all have wonderful stories to read, write and share! Thank you for this wonderful experience.
Do what you want to do
Hey friends,
Last time I posted I was leaving for vacation and now, I’m back! Vacation was awesome. I had a wonderful time, and best of all, I really got away from my worries. That’s what makes a successful vacation for me: If I can spend the time not worrying about my house, my kitchen, my laundry, my car, my bills, my work, my husband’s work, my sons’ schools, and the like, I’m a happy camper. (Literally, in this case)
I’m sure I’m not alone in that I need some time every year to unplug and detach from my day-in-day-out. It’s healing and leaves me invigorated to go back to my regular routine. It’s also good because when I do go back to the real world, I’ve got a little distance, and can evaluate what’s working and what needs to change.
My evaluation this year basically came down to ‘I’ve got to do what I want to do’. Yeah, I know. This is pretty low-level self-awareness stuff, but I’ll take inspiration where I can find it. What I mean specifically (because the devil’s in the details) is I’ve got to stop feeling so bad that I’m not living by someone else’s rules of what a ‘good and successful’ person does, and make up my own rules that work for me.
What has this got to do with writing? Because writing is making stuff up. In our stories, we make up all the rules. We decide what’s normal and what’s not. We decide if our heroine is being truly self-destructive or simply flighty. We draw the boundaries and we can change them, as we will. Continue reading
A Working Vacation
Hi friends,
I’m going to be quick here (or as quick as I can be) because we’re living tomorrow for vacation. For most people vacation means taking it easy and not working, but when you’re a mom, it often doesn’t quite happen that way. So for me, there is currently packing, laundry, shopping, more packing, and extensive planning. Did I mention the packing? Then I kick things off with an 8 hour drive through the night, complete with pulling a trailer. Whooo-hoo! If you’re thinking this sounds crazy, you’re not wrong.
But it’s worth it, at least for me. Once we get there and get set up, then fun begins. Parties, shopping, taking classes, watching battles and visiting friends become the order of the day and it’s all good.
If it seems like I’m being a little vague, and possibly a bit evasive, it’s probably because I am. My vacation is also the setting for my next book, and sharing it cuts a little close to the bone for comfort. As many of you know (but many don’t) I’m going on a two week trip to the Middle Ages.
For many years, my family and friends have been going to the Pennsic Wars, a medieval recreation event that takes place every August in Western Pennsylvania. It sounds weird, and it is, but over 10,000 people attend every year and camp and fight and cook and generally have a great time. Pennsic is also the setting of my next book, Longbourn & Pemberley Go To War, which is a modern day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Continue reading
Remembering Nora Ephron
Hello friends,
I was going to post about Canada Day and my mixed marriage, but something else came up that pushed me in a different direction. And since Neil Gaiman (my hero) said
“The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself. That’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.”
So, I have to blog follow my blogging heart. I was saddened to hear of the death of writer Nora Ephron last week at age 71. Ephron was of my mom’s generation and I have to admit just that fact is enough to (positively) color my thoughts about her. But she was also brilliant writer who had the gift of expressing the truth of life, love and relationships in modern culture. (And that’s what ties her to Austen in my mind, in case you were wondering) As any writer can tell you, one of the hardest parts of the job is keeping your fiction ‘real’- the dialog, the interactions, the behaviors, they all have to be believable. Trying to mimic life is much harder than it sounds.
And that was what I admired in Ephron: her ability to make ‘true love’ seem like something that could truly happen. Continue reading
Gaming Report
Hi friends!
I hope you’re all doing well. I’m pleased to announce that I have my new computer, The Beast and its transition has gone very well. It’s wonderful having a huge screen to work with, as well as not having to worry about memory space. So far the only problems have come from my sons wanting to use it to play Diablo and Civilization V.
As I type, the E3 conference is going on, and its something my whole family watches. E3 is the biggest video game industry trade show, and it’s when all the new games and equipment get announced, discussed and evaluated. My son Nikolai’s a first person shooter fan, so he’s very excited about the new Resident Evil game, where as Alexei is jazzed about the new Assassin’s Creed. (I’m interested in that one too) Me? I’m all about the Role Playing Games, so I’m looking forward to hearing and seeing more on the new Elder Scrolls explanation and Dragon Age 3!
By now you’re probably wondering how this is relevant. Fair question. My answer is that video games have come a long, long way over the years, and now the best of them are more than just a game but a form of story telling. There is plot, character motivations and interactions, background story, and especially character growth- all things you would find in a novel. At this point, video games can (and do) fill a nitch between movies and books, and that’s relevant. Continue reading
Old and New
Hi friends,
Well, the stress of figuring out what College we’re sending my oldest to is finally over (We went with RIT) and I can get on to other topics. Hoorah! So let’s talk about some old and new things.
I remember this. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it, but I recently found myself rediscovering fan fiction. And, in the interest of honesty, I have to say not specifically Jane Austen fan fiction. What I had forgotten is that while there is some really dreadful (and sometimes accidentally funny) work out there, there’s also a fair amount of gems; Stories with great characterization or plot twists. I’m rediscovering the fun of reading 18 different stories simultaneously. (Okay, ‘fun’ might not be the right word, but you get what I mean.) And stalking for updates- Wee! It’s all stuff I’ve done before, but not recently, and I am surprised at how much I’ve been enjoying it.
It’s a Beast! I said this post was about old and new. Here’s the new: what does every cool mom/writer need? Yes, a new computer! I’m very happy and a bit nervous. (Story of my life) The new computer, which is named The Beast, is an AsusG75VW-AS71. What does that mean? It means it’s a big laptop (17″) with a huge hard drive (750 GB) and a vast amount of ram (16G!) and a smoking graphics card (Nvidia 660). According to the people who know (my husband and sons) these are all excellent things. Do I need such a beast for writing? No, I don’t. Nope. Not even a little bit. Got to be honest here. But for gaming, oh honey! And is Diablo III coming out on Tuesday? Why, yes, yes it is. Funny that. Continue reading
Milestones
My family is coming up on another milestone: my oldest son will be graduating from High School in June and we’ve been very busy in the last 6 months applying to- and visiting- different colleges. Having passed through all the stress of filling out applications and waiting for the results, we’re now at the final decision phase where the hardest question gets asked: How are we going to pay for this? I foresee a lot of cheap dinners in my future.
In all the deadlines and traveling to different campuses, I’ve had a quiet terror building in the back of my head: My baby is leaving home! Now, of course, he’s not a baby. He’s 6 feet tall and man-shaped in every way. And he’s as mature as you would hope any 18 year old to be. He’s very thoughtful and responsible in some areas, and not so much in others. He can be forgetful and oblivious, and like so many 18 year olds, he thinks he understands the world much better than he actually does.
But my point is that I have no real reason to worry (overly) about him. And yet I do. I worry about him remembering to eat and to get up on time. I worry about him washing his clothes and remembering that he’s washing his clothes. I worry about big things, like will he be safe and I worry about little things, like will he lose his ID card. Continue reading
My Love of Modern Novels
Hi friends!
Earlier in the month I posted about Jane Austen’s role in modern culture. This time, it’s my chance to post about my contemporary Jane Austen fiction. In my blog tour for Fitzwilliam Darcy Rock Star, I was asked again and again how I felt about modern settings. There seemed to be an assumption that because I write modern novels that I didn’t like Regency novels, which is certainly not true.
There are a couple reason for my writing of contemporary fiction. My pragmatic side is quick to point out that I’m really bad at writing Regency speech patterns, which as reasons go, is not a bad one. But there are other reasons too.
Some readers enjoy Regency novels for the escapism, a way of getting away from their day-to-day worries. And while I do get pleasure from that, I find I also like being able to place myself in modern novels. I like imagining I could be the heroine and this leads to writing my own works. Of course, it’s a little more challenging as a writer is to keep the story exciting when it’s in a more familiar setting. I could write about going the supermarket, but who’d want to read it? Hence the Rock Stars. Continue reading
Jane Austen Forever!
Welcome to Contemporary Month at Austen Authors. Now, don’t go scurrying away if you’re a Regency fan. I promise we’ll have some interesting reading for you! During this month we’re going to talking about Jane Austen’s influence on modern culture as well as Austen-based contemporary novels. I hope you’ll join us for what will be fun, interesting and thoughtful month.
I’m so happy to have the first post on this topic, because it’s a subject near and dear to my heart. I believe Austen’s work is an important part of modern romantic fiction and I can write (and talk) about that topic for hours. (As my poor husband can tell you)
Right now, behind the scenes, Jane Austen based fiction is having a bit of a Hamlet moment. Austen writers are asking themselves ‘to be or not to be’. Not that I’m predicting a rash of author suicides, but I am talking about our careers. At least one of the publishing companies that first championed Austen-based fiction is dramatically cutting back its output of those works. While they haven’t announced this decision publicly, it’s clear from the writing on the wall that they feel the market for Jane Austen stories is tapped out. (I’m not going to name names, because it’s not my information to announce, and because I want to talk about the writer’s perspective) Continue reading
Oh Henry!
Good morning (afternoon, evening, middle of the night, sunrise, sunset, witching hour, etc) my friends. In my part of the world it’s winter right now, and well, I have a bit of the doldrums. I’m really done with being cold and am ready for spring. Or chocolate. Whichever comes first. I’m easy.
So, I’m going to trust my good friend Jane, who said, “To be very brief was all that she could determine on with any confidence of safety.”
I’m all about safety.
I was thinking last night about what I should be writing for this blog post. And what did I have playing on my laptop while I was musing? Northanger Abbey, of course! I love Northanger Abbey. It’s one of my favorite books, right up there with P&P and Persuasion. I’ve read it so many times I’ve got it memorized and I’ve enjoyed both film versions. (Although I really prefer the 2007 Andrew Davies one over the vaguely creepy 1987 Peter Firth edition)
Henry is in many ways an overlooked Austen hero. He’s not haughty like Darcy, he’s not angry like Wentworth, he’s not humorless like Knightly (or Bertram or Brandon) (Jane really had a trend there, didn’t she?) Henry is an all-around nice guy. The problem(s) he has are all based around his father, who is not a nice person at all. Henry likes dancing, he makes jokes, he is simply charming. Continue reading
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