It has been some months since a guest last visited My Love for Jane Austen. This will change with three authors planning to share their new releases for this month alone. First up is Heather Moll who previously publicised her debut novel titled His Choice of a Wife. Let's welcome Heather again on her concluding leg of the two-week tour with an informative guest post. Don't forget to participate in the worldwide giveaway too because this is the final chance to get your entries in.
obsessing over accurate details taking a deep dive down the historical research rabbit hole, why did I write a story that has rocks with druid time travel powers?
In my house growing up, we had books everywhere, took weekly library visits, spent Saturdays at Barnes and Noble, and put books in every suitcase when we went on vacation. My mother gave me mysteries and classics to read — but not Pride and Prejudice — and my father read science fiction and fantasy. Wheel of Time, Star Wars expanded universe, Michael Crichton, Ender's Game, Mists of Avalon, Tad Williams... I was all over the place. From my mother's influence I read classics with those same elements: Verne, Wells, Bradbury, Orwell. Dune, LOTR, The Handmaid's Tale.
What's the appeal of these stories to a Regency-loving nerd, and why have stories with these fantastic elements endured? Is it the simple fun and escapism of aliens or elves? That's a valid reason, but I think it's also because sci-fi and fantasy have incredible world building and they're an opportunity to create a new universe with its own mythology and rules.
It's not that different from bringing a reader into Regency England with all of its social customs and culture that are recognisable to us in 2021, but it still feels a bit like we landed on another planet.
The technology or the magic — or, in Nine Ladies, the time travel — is the element that brings us to that unique realm. It only sets the stage for the story; it isn't the point of the story, and it should never overshadow it.
In A Christmas Carol, spirits take Scrooge back and forth through time, but the book isn't about time travel. It's about seeing the error of your ways and changing for the better before it's too late. Nine Ladies employs time travel to get our characters together, but it's really a romance that touches on societal views on women and also about how we find our own happiness in life.
Do we watch Star Wars for the lightsabers or because we enjoy a well-told hero's tale? Do we read Pride and Prejudice and its variations for the setting with different mores or because of the characters' personal growth and love story? It doesn't have to be an either/or, but I think that a story set in a disparate world to ours won't be appealing if the main characters and their journey don't capture us as they navigate that unique world.
Nine Ladies is firmly in the genre fiction category, a time travel romance. It has a fantasy element, a heavier romance element, with a few mysteries thrown in. But don't get hung up on the labels. At the end of the day, it's a page-turning Darcy and Elizabeth story with a happy ever after.
How can Darcy and Elizabeth overcome 200 years of differences in this era-spanning love story?
The Darcy family has grudgingly kept the secret about the power contained within a nearby stone circle called Nine Ladies. Fitzwilliam Darcy is forced to contend with this secret when a young woman from the future appears at Pemberley. Until the opinionated stranger can return to when she belongs, Darcy is responsible not only for her safety, but also for ensuring that nothing she does threatens Pemberley's well-being.
Elizabeth Bennet has returned to England to take care of her estranged father and her life was off track long before she walked into that stone circle at sunset. She quickly discovers that, as a poor and single woman, she'll have to rely on the arrogant Mr. Darcy. She tries her best to survive in the nineteenth-century until she can return home but, as she and Darcy grow closer, the truth she knows about his and Pemberley's bleak future becomes harder to keep.
Will their love prove timeless as centuries and cultures collide in this time travel Pride and Prejudice variation?
Heather Moll is an avid reader of mysteries and biographies with a masters in information science. She found Jane Austen later than she should have and made up for lost time by devouring her letters and unpublished works, joining JASNA and spending too much time researching the Regency era. She is the author of Nine Ladies, Two More Days at Netherfield and His Choice of a Wife. She lives with her husband and son and struggles to balance all of the important things, like whether or not to buy groceries or stay home and write. Visit her blog and subscribe to her newsletter for a freebie and monthly updates.
As mentioned earlier, today is the closing day to win one of six e-books of Nine Ladies courtesy of the author. So fill up the following Rafflecopter form to be counted.
How does time travel smash up with a classic?
Hi Lúthien84 and thank you for welcoming me back to My Love for Jane Austen! Happy Lunar New Year to you and all of your readers. I'm excited to talk a little about my new P&P time travel variation Nine Ladies. As someone who writes Regencies, someone who's known for In my house growing up, we had books everywhere, took weekly library visits, spent Saturdays at Barnes and Noble, and put books in every suitcase when we went on vacation. My mother gave me mysteries and classics to read — but not Pride and Prejudice — and my father read science fiction and fantasy. Wheel of Time, Star Wars expanded universe, Michael Crichton, Ender's Game, Mists of Avalon, Tad Williams... I was all over the place. From my mother's influence I read classics with those same elements: Verne, Wells, Bradbury, Orwell. Dune, LOTR, The Handmaid's Tale.
What's the appeal of these stories to a Regency-loving nerd, and why have stories with these fantastic elements endured? Is it the simple fun and escapism of aliens or elves? That's a valid reason, but I think it's also because sci-fi and fantasy have incredible world building and they're an opportunity to create a new universe with its own mythology and rules.
It's not that different from bringing a reader into Regency England with all of its social customs and culture that are recognisable to us in 2021, but it still feels a bit like we landed on another planet.
The technology or the magic — or, in Nine Ladies, the time travel — is the element that brings us to that unique realm. It only sets the stage for the story; it isn't the point of the story, and it should never overshadow it.
In A Christmas Carol, spirits take Scrooge back and forth through time, but the book isn't about time travel. It's about seeing the error of your ways and changing for the better before it's too late. Nine Ladies employs time travel to get our characters together, but it's really a romance that touches on societal views on women and also about how we find our own happiness in life.
Do we watch Star Wars for the lightsabers or because we enjoy a well-told hero's tale? Do we read Pride and Prejudice and its variations for the setting with different mores or because of the characters' personal growth and love story? It doesn't have to be an either/or, but I think that a story set in a disparate world to ours won't be appealing if the main characters and their journey don't capture us as they navigate that unique world.
Nine Ladies is firmly in the genre fiction category, a time travel romance. It has a fantasy element, a heavier romance element, with a few mysteries thrown in. But don't get hung up on the labels. At the end of the day, it's a page-turning Darcy and Elizabeth story with a happy ever after.
Book Blurb
The Darcy family has grudgingly kept the secret about the power contained within a nearby stone circle called Nine Ladies. Fitzwilliam Darcy is forced to contend with this secret when a young woman from the future appears at Pemberley. Until the opinionated stranger can return to when she belongs, Darcy is responsible not only for her safety, but also for ensuring that nothing she does threatens Pemberley's well-being.
Elizabeth Bennet has returned to England to take care of her estranged father and her life was off track long before she walked into that stone circle at sunset. She quickly discovers that, as a poor and single woman, she'll have to rely on the arrogant Mr. Darcy. She tries her best to survive in the nineteenth-century until she can return home but, as she and Darcy grow closer, the truth she knows about his and Pemberley's bleak future becomes harder to keep.
Will their love prove timeless as centuries and cultures collide in this time travel Pride and Prejudice variation?
Author Bio
Giveaway
Thank you for inviting my blog to be part of your online tour, Heather. It is a privilege to be your host and learn about your love for fantasy and science fiction stories. Hope you will drop by again in future when there is a new book coming out.As mentioned earlier, today is the closing day to win one of six e-books of Nine Ladies courtesy of the author. So fill up the following Rafflecopter form to be counted.
Thank you so much for hosting me and Nine Ladies!
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