This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a Jane Austen Coloring Book (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
Normally, I write historical fiction. I love history, but I love bringing together all of the human elements in an entertaining fashion. Most people don’t want to read history books. I love them, and I love translating them for mt readers. A fictional story set in a historic context reaches people on a deeper emotional level. They want to be entertained, as well as informed, and I like to be entertaining.
So Jane Austen Lied to Me is a departure into a genre I had not written in before! The spirit moved me to tackle new territory, because I ask too many questions. This isn’t a new thing. I always ask too many questions. I get in a lot of trouble for it. My mother tells stories about my being 10 years old and asking too many questions. I got kicked out of Sunday school for asking too many questions.
I love Jane Austen. I am a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. I have been to Bath and the Jane Austen Museum, I have three books written that are inspired by her. Loving her and her readers doesn’t make me stop asking questions. What is it about Mr. Darcy that makes women swoon over him? I teach historical dance, and I live in the world where I get to decode the mysteries of the ballroom, above and beyond just doing the dances. The first time we meet Mr. Darcy, he is exceedingly rude. The etiquette books say explicitly that if you aren’t planning on dancing, just stay home. Nobody wants to put up with you sulking around refusing to dance with people. We know there was a lack of enough gentlemen, so his refusal to dance was a bigger faux pas. When his friend Bingley tries to compel him to better behavior, Darcy then insults the looks of all the women in the room! And when pressed, insults Lizzy specifically. This is astounding behavior for a “gentleman” who should know better. If his mother or father were alive, they would have beaten him for disgracing the family like that.
An even bigger mystery to me, why does any woman swoon over Mr. Knightley in Emma? I have listened to women cringe over the age difference, but then still swoony. I have read Emma very thoroughly in the process of writing My Dearest Miss Fairfax. All I am finding in print is a really cranky jerk, who suddenly declares his love at the end of the book. And even then, he says he loves her, but he can’t talk about it. I don’t get it.
When I have long list of questions like that, next thing I know it gets turned into a book.
What research is required?
I absolutely adore research! That’s another reason why I usually write historical fiction. There’s nothing more fun than wallowing in old newspapers, reading random bits about dancing, and travel, and fashion, and the occasional oddly-placed poem about going sleigh riding with a pretty girl.
Research is also more than just reading. It’s also about doing. You can’t write about what it feels like to polka in a hoopskirt unless you do it. Or cook over a fire with a cast iron pot.
Since I am so used to doing research as part of my writing, Jane Austen Lied to Me felt like a naughty pleasure. I didn’t have to read old newspapers and keep a timeline of the intersection of historical and my fictional events. In fact, I really, really needed to not delve into any current events at all, not if I wanted to preserve a somewhat timeless story. My other modern Jane Austen novel is specifically 2007, but this book is supposed to be any girl, any college campus, anytime. The less detail the better.
That is not to say that I did not have to be very careful to make sure my world is internally consistent. I did have to ask a lot of questions of my students. I have been an adjunct professor for quite some time, and as a professor, I don’t always know things like what the registration process is. Since I teach the dancing class on campus in a studio and no one sits or takes notes, I needed to confirm that nowadays, students take notes on their laptop computers, not on paper.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
As a dance teacher, one of my favorite expressions is to tell people to “make a lot of mistakes and giggle a lot.” It’s something I am able to say, and do. I get to make mistakes. When I sew, I can pull out the stitch ripper and rip them out and try again. While dancing, a mistake is just a moment in time. Then it’s over, and you move on with the next measure of music. You and your partner can giggle about it. Mistakes are where new dance moves come from. I realize it’s a luxury; mistakes are not things that surgeons can make.
But my heroine showed me that mistakes aren’t always fun. Sometimes we don’t even learn from our mistakes. Sometimes, even when we try not to make the same mistakes over again, it turns out, we learned the wrong lessons from our last mistakes.
What, then, is my final take away from that? I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
This isn’t true anymore, but my first novel was entirely written by hand. I could not think and write fiction on the computer. The book is entirely written in my cursive, in large bundles of notebooks. I would sit by the sewing machine with the current chapter, and write and sew at the same time. I would write until I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say next. While I was thinking, rather than staring into space, I would turn to the sewing machine and sew. When I realized what I wanted to say next, I stopped sewing, and continued writing. I would go back-and-forth until I got up from the table.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
Definitely a pantser. Any AI algorithm can write an outline and fill it out with detail. But listening to your characters instead of dictating to them, means that the story is not going to go the direction you thought it would. Or the characters are not going to develop the way you thought. Forcing the story to fit the outline and ignoring the characters means you are shutting down your internal muse. How are you going to find out what magical directions you could have gone in, if you don’t listen?
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop. Normally I am outside on the wonderful patio, but it’s going to start raining any moment, so I am sitting inside. I’m in the corner, so I have a good view of the entire shop. Two little girls and their dad just down at the table next to me, clutching their hot chocolate and chocolate croissants. I very much appreciate a girl who wants chocolate with her chocolate. Dad just has a coffee.
The next two tables are occupied by regulars with their laptops. One of them is a professor at the University of Illinois. He wears this sweater jacket that gives him a collegiate air, it’s amusing how much he looks the part. The next fellow is always delightfully flamboyant, and almost always, like today, wearing purple. Right down to his tennis shoes. I first yalked to him along time ago to comment on his purple shoes. His mother hates them.
Another table is occupied by a gentleman wearing Cubs paraphernalia, and reading the Wallstreet Journal., A real live newspaper! There seems to be something quintessentially “Saturday morning” about coffee in a real coffee cup and a real live, old-fashioned newspaper.
Anything new coming up from you? What?
The big news right now is the release of my new audiobook for Jane Austen Lied to Me! It is read with great spunk by the talented Kristyna Zaharek. She really captures the spirit of all American college girl, and she brings a lot of heart to the aches and pains and joys of going to school the years before your 20th birthday.
Do you have a question for our readers?
Are you a Jane Austen fan? I wrote you a book for you!
What college girl doesn’t dream of meeting Mr. Darcy? Lizzy 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 think, except....
How could my hero be so wrong?
Read an Excerpt
Feb 7
This afternoon I got further confirmation that I’ve been seeing an awful lot of Michael. I was wandering back to the apartment, when Lon hailed me from one of the couches inside the lobby doors.
“I have a message for you from your boyfriend,” he said, kind of stiffly.
I looked at him stupidly for a moment. “My what?”
“Your boyfriend was here. He said his phone was dead, so he couldn’t call or text you to tell you that he can’t stick around for dinner tonight. He has a late meeting with a new client and he had to rush back to the office.”
I was still having trouble with the boyfriend thing. “Wait – do you mean Michael?”
“If that’s the guy you’ve been seeing the last couple of months,” Lon said with a shrug. “The one you’re always having dinner with.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I protested. “He’s an old friend of the family. We grew up together.”
Lon's head was back at his computer screen. “Boyfriend, friend. The guy who kisses you goodnight all the time after he takes you out for dinner. He’s not coming tonight. I’ve delivered my message, that’s all I’ve got.”
Right then Allie walked up. “Hey, Lizzie! Waiting for Michael?”
“No, he’s not coming tonight.” I headed to the elevator with her.
“That’s a shame. I know how much you enjoy having dinner with him, even if he does aggravate you a lot.”
“Yeah. It’s kind of a love-hate relationship,” I agreed.
About the Author:
When she is not writing, she is either dancing, sewing, or making videos for her YouTube channel and TikTok accounts, “History is My Playground.”
Website: https://www.JeanetteWatts.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeanetteWattsAuthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JeanetteAWatts
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6967936.Jeanette_Watts
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jeanette2420/_saved
Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClz5LwyUEhPYhBS6piNpBqQ
TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@historyismyplayground
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Thank you for featuring JANE AUSTEN LIED TO ME today.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.
ReplyDeleteThank you! This is the second cover for the book. The first cover was a photograph - but with the current trend of cartoon covers for romantic comedies...well, I figure people need to be able to look at the cover and discern what's going on...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for having me! You ask such fun questions!
ReplyDelete