Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).
Emile-Pierre Metzmacher – Her First Steps, 1878; [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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At this Mrs. Bennet giggled, and then, with a slight arch to her right eyebrow responded in a whisper, “I should not say it, for I would not wish to hinder your regard for her, but there are few who can force Elizabeth to do that which she does not wish to do. She is a very determined young lady and has been so since before she was in leading strings.”
To Darcy’s surprise, there was a look of pride on the woman’s face that seemed to run contrary to her disparaging words.
Bingley rose from his chair and crossed to the wardrobe. “Do you have a man?” he asked as he pulled the doors open.
“No, I cannot justify such a luxury.”
“You will need one,” Bingley said as he looked through Collins’s possessions. “However, we will have to make do for now. I know a thing or two.” He turned and looked at Collins with a grimace. “I think it would be best if my man had a go at your hair and taught you a few more knots.” He pointed to his own cravat. “A lady does like a well-turned-out gentleman.”
[From Master of Longbourn]
DreamyViper. “Period Drama Men // Sharp Dressed Man.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 July 2011, youtu.be/svKWGnrbVos.
While Master of Longbourn has a lot of soft, sweet, and gentle moments in it, it also has a few scenes that should draw a smile or even a chuckle. Bingley tends to be the cause of those chuckles. He was such a pleasure to write in this story. He added the light-hearted balance that was needed.
Bingley laughed heartily. “You would like us to –”
“Be my tutors,” Collins pled. “I shall die a lonely old man as my father said if you do not.”
Bingley turns out to be a rather demanding tutor! 😀
However, it is not just the instruction Collins receives from his new found friends, Darcy and Bingley, that helps him to be successful. It is the acceptance he finds within the walls of Longbourn that truly propels him to transform from how he views himself to how he wishes to be.
The quotes above are from chapter 3. You can read chapter three as part of an extended preview until June 28, 2018, at this link.
In other news, I am still in the planning stages for Mr. Edwards’s story. No story words have been written on it. I’m hoping to change that this week. 🙂
I did add a few more thousand words to Delighting Mrs. Bennet last week. I am hoping to be able to work myself back into writing on two stories at a time since the cast of characters are so different. I started using a timer to limit the amount of time I was spending on Delighting Mrs. Bennet. I found myself enjoying the competition of beating the clock and still producing the number (and quality) of words I wanted to produce. 🙂 (I have a strong competitive streak even if just competing with myself. LOL)
Since the song this week is about being a sharp dresser, I thought I would share an excerpt from my writing that includes Bingley speaking about another person who is very aware of fashion. This excerpt will be included in the post on September 6.
It’s Monday — again. Time for some music, a story excerpt (but not from my current work in progress), and some writing news which includes news of a limited time price reduction on one of my books. (No, I’m not going to tell you which book here. I am going to make you scroll down. 🙂 But today’s song choice and story excerpt go with that book.)
Let’s start with some writing news. It might not be a lot of news, but, it’s kind of exciting. 🙂
First, Master of Longbourn is in the formatting stage of production. That means it will be on pre-order by the end of the week and advance reader copies will have been sent out. I’ll have all the ordering details for you next Monday.
Second, I have added an item to the menu here on the blog. There is a “Varied Thoughts on Writing” option there now. This link will take you to a journal where I am gathering together some of my Austen Authors posts that I have written about writing in general as well as specific to various books. I have only gotten last Tuesday’s post added to that journal so far. That post was about Master of Longbourn and how I developed my Mr. Collins.
Third, I have made a decision about which story is getting written next. It has no title yet, nor does it have any beginning story notes. It is, at this moment, just a decision. 🙂 Here it is:
~ I have decided that I am going to be writing Mr. Edwards’s story. ~
Tea in the Parlour at Prescott House Museum, Port Williams, NS. Photo by Leenie Brown
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“Are you married?”
Lydia’s question to Richard snapped Darcy from his contemplation of Elizabeth. What conversation had she started that he had missed while contemplating her sister?
[a bit of teatime conversation from Delighting Mrs. Bennet]
