Letters from the Heart Blog Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway

Dear readers, I hope that you are still reveling and enjoying the festive holiday season. If you stop by today, you are in for a treat as I'm thrilled to welcome the author of The Gentleman's Impertinent Daughter for a visit. Rose Fairbanks is here to share Letters from the Heart, which is her second Austenesque title, with you. Let's sit back, relax and read her guest post below.

The Illustration of Character

First of all, thanks for having me on your blog, Lúthien84, and promoting Letters from the Heart!

I recently went on cruise for vacation and I thought of Pride and Prejudice the whole time, beginning when I was standing in line to check in. It was such an excellent time to observe people. I was certain Elizabeth Bennet and her father would have loved being there. A week later with these people and some of them really had me thinking of this line: "Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture..."

It's easy to be like Elizabeth Bennet and think you have people all figured out from just a few viewings and while there are people whose character are more easily made out in the book, I really believe everyone has a deeper story and some inconsistencies — in the story and in real life.

I've posted in another guest post that I already expanded this story one other time before editing for publication. When I considered publishing it a friend suggested I expand it again. She didn't really give any suggestions on where and for a time I was a bit miffed. I started with expanding a few scenes that had only been summarised and not actually shown but that only went so far. Usually in my short stories I focus only on Darcy and Elizabeth. You can only have so much conflict in a novella without it just being ridiculous and someone waving a magic wand at the end of the book and poof, everyone lives happily ever after!

I really spent a lot of time rereading the original and noticed a theme of selfishness in everyone, yes everyone. But are they only selfish? Or are their actions motivated by understandable fears? Mr. Bennet is an intelligent man and holds a special place in Elizabeth's heart. Why doesn't he take his family in hand? How does he not see how serious their lapse in decorum is? Jane always speaks her mind and is firm where she knows she's right but several people thought she was indifferent to Mr. Bingley. Could it be she was not certain she was right? How is Bingley so easily led by Darcy? Why does Darcy push him away from Jane if his primary argument was her lack of interest? It's called courting her good opinion, Darcy. You should try it sometime. Why does Lydia not emulate her elder sisters? What made Georgiana consider eloping with Wickham and how would she react if criticised for it by another?

These are all questions, and many others, I considered when writing Letters from the Heart. It turned out the conflict of the story became more character driven instead of plot driven. Instead of the anxiety being placed only on Darcy and Elizabeth getting married and maybe wrapping up Jane and Bingley's love story, each character faced the same challenge but in different ways. I'm really happy with how the story turned out and how that challenge became a unifying factor for the characters so it feels like one cohesive story instead of different plots held together with a thread and a magic wand.

I found that every character I chose to examine had an intricate character, even someone like Mrs. Bennet. We're told her mind was easy to develop but I still believe her character was not so easily made out. In the end it was a pleasure to consider how Darcy, Elizabeth, Jane, Bingley, Lydia, Georgiana and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet would face the issue of selfishness and fear. Here's one person's answer to the issue:

       "But if your actions were due to concern for the other, how is that selfish?"

       "Because ultimately we were more worried about our own feelings and could not face knowing our fates — if we were accepted or rejected. If we were less selfish we would have reached for each other instead of standing on our own."

Book Blurb

Resolved to forget Elizabeth Bennet during a winter in London, Fitzwilliam Darcy writes a letter in bitterness of spirit. Frustrated by her growing obsession with the arrogant man, Elizabeth commits her thoughts to paper. But angry people are not always wise, and secret thoughts do not always remain secret. Compelled to face their selfishness and fears, their actions encourage those dearest to them to change as well.

Book Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author Bio

Rose Fairbanks fell in love with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy twelve years ago. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, she also met her real life Mr. Darcy twelve years ago. They had their series of missteps, just like Elizabeth and Darcy, but are now teaching the admiring multitude what happiness in marriage really looks like and have been blessed with two children, a four-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter.

Previously re-reading her favourite Austen novels several times a year, Rose discovered Jane Austen Fan Fiction due to pregnancy-induced insomnia. Several months later she began writing. Letters from the Heart is Rose's second published work.

Rose has a degree in history and hopes to one day finish her MA in Modern Europe and will focus on the Regency Era in Great Britain. For now, she gets to satiate her love of research, Pride and Prejudice, reading and writing.... and the only thing she has to sacrifice is sleep! She proudly admits to her Darcy obsession, addictions to reading, chocolate and sweet tea, is always in the mood for a good debate and dearly loves to laugh.

Author Links

Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter

Giveaway

Rose has agreed to sponsor an e-book edition of Letters from the Heart to one lucky reader who leave a comment. The competition is open worldwide and ends on Tuesday, 6 January 2015.

As usual, the winner will be announced two days later and have 72 hours to claim the prize by contacting me on this page. If you fail to do so within the stated time, another winner will be picked instead.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Rose Fairbanks for contacting me and providing a delightful guest post in addition to her donation of an e-book.