Humor / Satire
Date Published: September 2017
What college girl doesn’t dream of meeting Mr. Darcy? Lizzie was certainly no exception. But when Darcy Fitzwilliam comes into her life, he turns out to be every bit as aggravating as Elizabeth Bennett’s Fitzwilliam Darcy. So what’s a modern girl to do?
Jeanette Watts’ satire pokes loving fun at Jane and all of us who worship the characters who shall forever be our romantic ideals.
Interview
What is the hardest part
of writing your books?
Knowing when to stop editing! I will write, then rewrite, then re-rewrite. About then I feel it's "ripe" enough to let other people see it. I have a stable of smart friends who read my early drafts, and give me great feedback. Even after 5 or 6 people have edited, and proofread, and I edit and proofread between iterations that I send out to friends, inevitably on the last pass someone STILL finds missing punctuation, or a plot hole. Sooner or later, I have to close my eyes and jump in the pool.
Knowing when to stop editing! I will write, then rewrite, then re-rewrite. About then I feel it's "ripe" enough to let other people see it. I have a stable of smart friends who read my early drafts, and give me great feedback. Even after 5 or 6 people have edited, and proofread, and I edit and proofread between iterations that I send out to friends, inevitably on the last pass someone STILL finds missing punctuation, or a plot hole. Sooner or later, I have to close my eyes and jump in the pool.
What songs are most
played on your Ipod?
Waltzes! I am a dance teacher. Never
mind that hideously ugly box waltz that has dominated the last half of the 20th
century - it was the Queen of the Dances for a reason! I have waltz music from
1803, and Cradle of Filth's Nymphetamine is a waltz - when I edit out the time
signature changes!
Do you have critique
partners or beta readers?
Lol!
Yeah, I guess I've already sort of talked about that. My friends are
great, and insightful, and all of them find different things that need
improvement. Always find people smarter than you to be friends with. I want to
be the dumbest person in the room. You learn so much at parties that way!
What book are you
reading now?
A biography of J. Pierpont Morgan. My
next novel is going to be historical fiction set in New York around the turn of
the century. I usually write historical fiction, this next story is getting
insistent.
How did you start your
writing career?
I'm going to tell you a story I have
never told anyone during a book tour before... In high school, I was on the
staff for the school newspaper. I wanted to edit the whole newspaper, but the
faculty advisor put me in charge of the editorial page, because he said
"You know how to think." I had no idea what he was talking about. Now
I can tell you I still don't know if I'm much of a thinker, but I have a
lifelong habit of asking questions. I get in trouble for asking too many
questions. I ended up creating a controversy on the school paper for asking
questions. I wasn't in trouble with the
staff, but I wasn't too popular with my own senior class, because I put it in
writing that "Party More in 84" was an inappropriate slogan for a
class that was mostly serious, college-bound, studying hard, and playing hard
at sports, theatre arts, and other extracurricular activities in their spare
time. I didn't see much partying going on. Or maybe I just didn't get invited.
Not the best way to get an invitation, pissing off your classmates.
I still ask too many questions, and
that is where my newest novel comes from. Apparently no amount of trouble seems
to convince me to stop.
It's called Jane Austen Lied to Me. If it was a movie, it would be a romantic
comedy. There is an entire genre out
there of Austenesque stories, but mine isn't simply a retelling of Pride and
Prejudice. I have a modern college girl (I teach at the college level) who absolutely
adores everything about Jane Austen. She desperately wants her life to be like
one of Jane's novels. But now I start asking those pesky questions... what
would happen if a modern-day Lizzie met someone who was really like Mr. Darcy?
Does his money really excuse some of his behavior? What can possibly explain
and excuse Darcy's behavior the first time we see him?
I ask similarly obnoxious and amusing
questions of the characters in Northanger Abbey, Emma, etc. I don't touch on
Sanditon or Lady Susan, most people are not very well-versed in those tidbits,
and this story is only funny if you know your Jane Austen.
About the Author
Jeanette Watts had been writing historic fiction when the inspiration for Jane Austen Lied to Me hit her on the drive home from the Jane Austen Festival. The idea was simply irresistible, and she put aside other writing projects in order to focus on writing a satire, thinking it would be a "mental vacation." It turned out to take every bit as much research to write a modern story as it does to write a historical one.
She has written television commercials, marketing newspapers, stage melodramas, four screenplays, three novels, and a textbook on waltzing. When she isn’t writing, she teaches social ballroom dances, refinishes various parts of her house, and sews historical costumes. She has just relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina and is loving her new home town.
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