Marilyn Brant
Going On A Bingley Hunt…by Marilyn Brant
There’s a children’s book and kiddie camp song that my son used to love when he was a preschooler called We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. (Anyone familiar with it?) I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately because I’m doing an Austenesque version of it this month…except, in my case, it would be called: I’m Going on a Bingley Hunt!
Why?
Well, because I’ve gotten a significant number of emails, tweets and even some Facebook requests from readers this year requesting a sequel to my latest ebook romantic comedy Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match and asking if I’d consider writing Jane and Bingley’s story this time.
Special requests from awesome and supportive readers like these are ones I take very seriously and, in pondering the possibilities, I realized I did have a few ideas already about what might happen between these characters… So, I’ve been doing a fair bit of thinking and some plotting and even several pages of draft writing.
But, I ran into a little snag and I’d love the help of the Austen experts, i.e. All of YOU!!
Here’s the thing, I need to find an image of an actor or male model to fit my Bingley. The Bingley that I described in Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match doesn’t look like either of the two famous Bingleys from the most well known Pride and Prejudice movie adaptations. In fact, for a number of narrative reasons, I’d set out to make him resemble my Darcy character. One major reason is because — in my novel — “Will Darcy” and “Bingley McNamara” are first cousins. So, my Bingley needs to be tall and lean and dark haired and, of course, rather handsome. He, along with his heroine Jane, are also not quite so obviously nice at first glance as they were in Austen’s original (!!), so he doesn’t necessarily need to have the same look of innocence as was portrayed so well by Crispin Bonham-Carter in 1995 or Simon Woods in 2005. Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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The Bennet Brother: P&P Reader’s Choice, Scene #6
Welcome to the sixth installment of The Bennet Brother, the interactive group writing project from Austen Authors! At the end of this segment, you’ll have a chance to vote on what happens next. There are also extra details on Twitter, where this story has taken on a life of its own. Mr. Edward Bennet (@edwbennet) already has a notable presence and regularly interacts with readers, including this interview with Miss Leatherberry on Leatherbound Reviews:
Interview with Mr. Edward Bennet
Full details on Pride & Prejudice Reader’s Choice can be read by clicking to the page via the menu above or the icon to the left.
Voting for today’s installment will end at 6am tomorrow – Thursday, March 21. Next week, the story continues with a new addition by Diana Birchall. The previous five installments can be read in order on The Writers Block.
And, now, without any further ado, here is Scene #6 by Marilyn Brant:
“A Night of Revelations at Pemberley”
Lizzy palmed the watch in her pocket numerous times, then traced the engraved initials with the pad of her thumb. The weight of her forthcoming revelation was far heavier than that of the golden timekeeper, but the dread etched upon her heart was as surely scripted as the letters “GW” upon the object in her possession.
She drew in a deep breath, calling upon her usually unfailing sense of courage, despite the awkwardness of the situation. Mr. Darcy should and would be told the truth, but perhaps she ought to wait until his complexion looked less pale? Until after he’d eaten at least a few morsels of his meal? She wouldn’t want to be responsible for undoing the remedies Mr. Morgan had provided too quickly, although she took some comfort in knowing the skilled surgeon wasn’t far away.
“It would be a pleasure to dine with you, Mr. Darcy,” she said at last and with a smile, radiating what she hoped was a look of reassurance at him, rather than the near panic she actually felt.
He smiled back, the expression of pleasure bringing a hint of color to his noticeable pallor. Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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Mix-n-Matchmaking by Marilyn Brant
First and foremost, I want to say thanks to YOU for making my first White Soup Press book, Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match, an Amazon top 100 bestselling title in both Single Women’s Fiction and in Humor! I’ve heard from readers who’ve told me they picked it up just for the contemporary romance, but I know it’s truly my fellow Austen fans from around the world that have made it my fastest-selling ebook thus far. I can’t express to you all how much that’s meant to me…thank you.
For those of you who have read it or are reading it now, it was also chosen as the Nook Feature for February at the Barnes & Noble General Fiction Book Club! The direct link to discussion is here, and it’s open to everyone all month long. We’re not talking just about the book, by the way. We’ve chatted about other favorite classic novels and, of course, all of those great Austen films… 
In my novel, the matchmaking method that’s used to connect my main characters — Beth Ann Bennet and Dr. William Darcy – is the fictional ”Lady Catherine’s Love Match Website.” Well, I’d like to have some fun today and give us ALL the chance to play matchmakers by uniting some other potential lovers! Which romantic pairings do you think would be especially delightful, if we were to mix-n-match heroes and heroines from across the Austen novels? Any character (primary or secondary) from any of Jane’s original books is fair game — although I’ve listed 60 ladies and gents in the character database below to get us started. Just imagine their names are being entered into an online matchmaking website under “AustenMatch.com,” LOL. I wonder what the “love match” results will be… Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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Marilyn’s Launch Celebration for Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match!
I was lucky enough to be asked to join Austen Authors about a year after my debut novel, According to Jane, was released. That book was a romantic women’s fiction story about a modern woman who had the ghost of Jane Austen in her head giving her dating advice. I loved writing it!
But, in the past few years, the books I was contracted by my print publisher to write and the few other stories I released digitally were all contemporary novels about other topics. Several of the books had nods to our dear Jane somewhere in the narrative (I couldn’t help myself…LOL), but, aside from my debut novel, none of those books were specifically Austen-inspired fiction.
Until now.
I have been SO looking forward to sharing with everyone here my seventh novel: Pride Prejudice and the Perfect Match!!! It’s a contemporary romance that I wrote, quite literally, for all of YOU, my fellow fans of Austen. Considering that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel of all time, I really wanted to do something special to celebrate its 200th birthday, and this story is the result. But I didn’t take the final steps alone! The release of my latest book was made much smoother thanks to a number of wonderful helpers that many of you may already know: Our publishing imprint, White Soup Press; critique partners from my local RWA chapter, Chicago-North; reviewer and freelance manuscript editor, Jakki Leatherberry; and book-cover designer, Rebecca Young. Thank you all so much for your contributions to this story!! Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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Love Never Takes a Holiday… New Book & Giveaway!
WINNERS!!! 12-6-12
I’d planned to draw just one name, but there were so many wonderful comments, I had to draw two… Thank you all SO much for celebrating this new book with me!!
Congrats to June A and Lisa S on winning a copy of HOLIDAY MAN! Please email me (marilynbrant AT gmail DOT com) or let me know your best email address in the comments section below, and I’ll send it out to you right away.
And, to everyone reading this, a very Happy St. Nick’s Day to you all!!
***
Just a couple of weeks ago, I released my sixth novel — a light, steamy, contemporary romantic comedy called Holiday Man – and I’m thrilled to get to share it with all of you!! In celebration, I’m giving away one PDF copy (open internationally) to one commenter on today’s post. The random drawing will be around noon on St. Nick’s Day, December 6th!
This is a romance told over a year of holidays, much like one of my favorite classic Christmas musicals, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire’s “Holiday Inn.” (Have you seen it? Do you like it, too??) The love story is between Shannon Quinn, who owns the holiday-themed resort in scenic Door County, Wisconsin, and Bram Hartwick, the wealthy businessman from Minneapolis, Minnesota who keeps coming back to visit her.
Unlike my debut novel, According to Jane, this new story isn’t an Austenesque one, but the cover (which I love!) was designed by Abigail Reynolds’s talented daughter, Rebecca Young. She also designed the cover of my upcoming January book from WSP, Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match, which — as I’m sure you can guess from the title! — is definitely an Austen-inspired novel.
Below is an excerpt from HOLIDAY MAN (this scene is from the middle of the book, but you can also read the entire first chapter in The Writer’s Block). I really hope you’ll enjoy it!
*** EXCERPT ***
Bram dialed room service in his Belgian hotel and had them send up a cup of decaf with cream and a chocolate croissant. Carbs usually knocked him out fast and he needed that. He was having a devil of a time falling asleep. But the sweet pastry, like virtually everything else he laid his eyes on, made him think of Shannon.
So he tried some strong bourbon from the mini bar. No such luck.
The late-night TV show in Flemish didn’t help either. Nor did the French one.
He checked the clock and, counting backward seven hours, he decided there remained only one viable option. He punched in a phone number he’d long since memorized.
“Hello, you’ve reached the voicemail of Shannon Quinn. I’m unable to take your call right now, but please leave your name and message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Have a wonderful day.” Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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P&P200: Lady Catherine Sends Regrets
My Very Own Nephew… what have you done?
I have no words.
The shades of Pemberley are darkening as I write this, and my speechlessness at your pointed betrayal of our family is equaled only by my shock. And after our recent conversation, too! We discussed this in London, Darcy!! You were standing but two feet in front of me. I know you heard my well-informed opinion of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and my report of her alarming behavior in Hertfordshire. I relayed it to you at length! You were neither asleep nor in some lamentable comatose state, which might have at least justified slightly your having not comprehended the full meaning of our discourse. But there is no excuse. You heard every sentence.
So, what could possibly have induced you to make an offer of marriage to that woman?!! I cannot account for such a frightening lapse in judgment.
I can only conclude that you must have been drugged at the time, perhaps by one of her many relatives. She seems to have an unlimited supply of sisters. Or you were otherwise induced by bribery or by the dark arts. Were some gypsies casting spells while you were dallying about in the wilderness? I am quite certain I saw a clan of them skittering along the side of the road when I visited that little place where she lives. Long…something. Out in the middle of nowhere fashionable. Not a high-class lady or gentleman to be found. Oh, Nephew, I am most seriously displeased. Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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P&P200: Anne de Bourgh Sends Regrets
To Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley
Sent on Behalf of Anne de Bourgh of Rosings by Mrs. Jenkinson
My Dear Cousin,
I have but a moment alone whilst my mother is attending to a number of decorative details at the parsonage — you know how keenly she wishes to be of service to Mr. and Mrs. Collins — so I must endeavor to keep this note brief.
This morning, I happened upon my mother’s letter to you in response to your kind wedding invitation. Indeed, she shared with me several passages from it and seemed, at times, rather feverish as she read it aloud. Although she may have presented to you my opinion on your upcoming nuptials in a somewhat different manner from what I, in fact, stated to her in private, I did want to assure you personally that I wish you and your bride the very best as you begin your life together.
Having had the pleasure of Miss Eliza Bennet’s lively company at multiple dinners during her visits to Rosings, I could see clearly the attention the two of you paid to one another. Certainly, it was apparent to me (and, I dare say, even to my mother…) that your interest in her was of a deep and longlasting nature. I was pleased to learn that Miss Bennet shared your affections. 
My only regret now is that I will not be able to make the journey to watch your exchange of vows from the nearest pew.
May the two of you pass many wonderful years together at Pemberley. I dearly hope to be able to congratulate you both in person before too long.
Fondly,
Anne de Bourgh
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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Celebrating the (Almond) Joys of Autumn by Marilyn Brant
Like many of my fellow Austen Authors, I love this time of year. The scent of a pumpkin-spice latte…the crisp autumn wind…the gorgeous changing of the leaves here in my little corner of the Midwest…and, of course, the taste of fall, which, in my opinion, comes in the form of caramel apples and savory turkey stuffing. (And do I need to even mention Halloween candy miniatures?! Just the sight of an Almond Joy wrapper brings me…well, joy. )
I also love carving pumpkins, although I did not carve these two on the table. They’re actually the jack-o-lanterns that were on display at the Timberline Lodge in Mt. Hood last October (I was there for a women’s fiction writing retreat). For those unfamiliar with it, that’s the hotel where several aerial shots were taken for the famous film “The Shining,” based on Stephen King’s terrifying novel by the same name. (I like to think I’m brave but, really, I’m a huge scaredy cat when it comes to any kind of horror story!)
I may not write with a narrative style that resembles King’s at all,
but I do enjoy putting fall themes to use in my books. For anyone who’s read According to Jane, you know that the story begins and ends in the autumn. In fact, on the very first page of the novel is this sentence: “I was in sophomore lit then — midweek, early November, daydreaming of life after high school — when Sam Blaine made his first move and Jane Austen made her first comment.” I wrote that line in the fall of 2004, when I initially began drafting what became my debut novel, and they were, in fact, the very first words I composed in the writing of the book. Probably why I always get a little sentimental when I read them… It was also the middle of fall when I first read Pride and Prejudice, and I’ll never forget the way I ignored everything and everyone when I was engrossed in that amazing novel. Looking back, I can’t believe there was really a time when I had no idea what would happen Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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A Darcy By Any Other Name…
Everyone here knows the handsome Matthew Macfadyen from his role as Mr. Darcy in the 2005 adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice,” and I’ll confess to have greatly admired his work in that film.
However, just as it was fascinating to see Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” or in “Mamma Mia,” I’ve been curious to watch Matthew in some of his other acting roles, which I hadn’t yet had the pleasure of seeing. I mean, c’mon — it’s pretty easy to love a man when he’s portraying Darcy (!!), but what about when he’s playing a different character altogether? A modern spy with a gun, perhaps?
Well, for years, I’ve heard about the long-running British series “Spooks,” aka “MI-5.” Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been watching episodes from the show’s first and second seasons — devouring them one at a time, like chocolate truffles — and falling hopelessly in love with Matthew all over again!
I know, I know, I’m a decade behind the times on this, but you have to understand something about me and TV shows: I’m not quick to jump on series bandwagons. I didn’t start watching “ER” until the episode at the end of the 5th season when George Clooney’s character was leaving the show. I didn’t so much as allow myself to watch those (scary!) commercials for “The X-Files” (let alone an entire episode) until late in the 7th season when I heard David Duchovny’s character would be leaving as a regular cast member. I didn’t begin watching any of “The Vampire Diaries” until the 3rd season finale because…well, no major character was leaving, but I just didn’t think I’d like a teen vampire show. And in every single case, I wished I would have flipped on my TV years earlier so I could start enjoying these programs sooner. Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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P&P200 — Elizabeth’s Letter to Mrs. Gardiner
My Dear Aunt Gardiner,
Elizabeth paused in thought and worry. Not that this wasn’t an appropriate beginning for a letter, but she was at odds with herself as to what the next line should be. Mentally, she tried out a few possibilities:
I’ve been meaning to ask you about some specifics regarding Lydia’s wedding. Aside from you and Uncle Gardiner, the minister and the bride and groom, of course, who else was there?
No, that made her query too openended and it was, in fact, not what she desperately wished to know.
I’d heard some mention of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy being in attendance at my youngest sister’s wedding. Could that be true?
Better, but her aunt could merely confirm or deny his presence. Elizabeth needed to know WHY he was there.
Why on earth was Mr. Darcy — of all people! — at my sister Lydia’s wedding?!! What possessed you to invite him? Or did he just barge into the ceremony? And for what reason? And for how long? What did he say or do? Tell me everything! Continue reading
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a National Bestselling Author of Contemporary Women's Fiction and Romantic Comedy. She's published seven novels including ACCORDING TO JANE, which was a #1 Kindle Bestseller, won RWA's Golden Heart Award and was named one of Buzzle.com's "100 Best Romance Novels of All Time." She also wrote PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND THE PERFECT MATCH, which was a Top 100 bestselling book on Amazon in the "Humor" category.
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