Becoming Jane Austen

A month ago, I watched the new PBS film "Miss Austen Regrets", and at last I have a chance to give my opinion!

I thought it was wonderful. The settings and costumes were impeccable to my eye. The period was fully realized and it appears now to be an enchanted world, though the struggles of people have not changed at all.

Jane Austen will now always be Olivia Williams to me. I thought she captured the edge that Miss Austen must have had, the slender brittle quality of tension, the qualified kindness and the keen intensity. The script gave Jane an authentic wit and a conversation full of enigmas and ambiguities.

The old romance with Brook Bridges was well done, if unexpected. Why not, after all? We really know very little about Jane's private life. We know her as sister and daughter, dutiful and conscientious. We think we know her very well, but we don't know her loves at all. This film offers a plausible view of those and of her state of mind toward the end of her life.

Her increasing frailty at the end of the film brought tears to my eyes, and I wept over her regrets. I'm looking forward to watching this film again and again, as I do the movies made from her books. I highly recommend this film to anyone with an interest in the author, the period or just a good story.

Hmmm, I think I need to add a Jane Austen page to my redesigned website. I'll add that to my to-do list. Do visit me at my new web address, www.lesleyannemcleod.com, and let me know what you think of the redesign!

New Website Up and Running!

I'm so pleased! I finally finished my new website--I think it looks great--and everything is changed over. I had to change servers, and so my address changed, but there is a redirect on my old page so I hope that everyone will find me easily.

New website address: www.lesleyannemcleod.com

Please visit soon, and let me know what you think of the redesign. You can email me at lesleyannemcleod@gmail.com.

With the new website, there is a new contest. The "Panoramas of England" book was won by Diane from the U.S.A. The new prize is a wonderful out-of-print reference book "Leisure and Pleasure in the 19th Century" by Stella Margetson. If you sign my new guestbook, you will be entered to win this book.

Now that I am finished the website, I will be blogging more frequently. Please subscribe; I'll be talking more soon about the new Jane Austen films that were shown on PBS.

Two big projects

I have two sizeable projects underway right now, and they are limiting my time for blogging and reading.

The first is the complete redesign of my website. I'm very excited about this--it's going to look professional and polished and be much easier to navigate. But...I'm doing it all myself, with help from my teacher and web designer Shakoriel. So it's taking lots of my time, but I enjoy it so much. It's nearly as creative as writing, in a very different way. It also takes blank pages and fills them with interesting things.

My website has always been a reader oriented site. I leave it to others to provide in depth research oriented material; if I did that I would have no time to write books. Instead I try to provide readers with a glimpse of the world of the Regency about which I write. Readers want to know what things and people looked like in Great Britain two hundred years ago, and that I aim to provide.

The header at the top of this page will appear on all my webpages. Shakoriel designed it, and I think it's beautiful. Green is my favourite colour and it predominates on all my sites...blog, YouTube, and MySpace. Please watch for the launch of my redesigned website; I hope to have it ready by the end of this month--but only time will tell...

My other project is my new full-length Regency 'The Education of Portia'. It is complete now, but still needs another full edit. So I will be spending the next three months on in-depth revision. This is the part of writing I really enjoy; when I finally have the draft down--something to work on--and I can expand and embellish and breathe life into it all.

So you can see, I have my hands full. But I'll be in touch :)

Carolina's Walking Tour -- A New Release!

Just a quick note about the release of my newest 'Novel Byte' from Uncial Press. Carolina's Walking Tour was released yesterday and is available for purchase. Here's a blurb about the story:

On his return from the Peninsular War, grievously wounded and troubled in spirit, Alexander Quainton decides that an insouciant manner is the best way to avoid the pity he abhors. Exercising his damaged body with daily walking excursions proves an excellent way of avoiding social engagements. Carolina Finmere, shy and no more than passable in looks, has failed in three seasons to attract a suitor.

For three months, they tramp Bath and its surrounding hills together, gaining in strength and--unwittingly--in intimacy. When September comes it is time to part, unless they admit their love for each other. Carolina knows she must initiate the declarations of devotion, for Alexander is convinced that a man so damaged is no fit mate for a gently bred woman. How can Carolina love someone so scarred and deformed as he?

Plucking up her courage, Carolina declares her love for Alexander. Will he admit his for her, or will his fear of seeing revulsion in her eyes put paid to their blossoming love?

I hope you will check it out at http://www.uncialpress.com/books/carolina/carolina.html

Austenland by Shannon Hale

I just finished reading "Austenland" by Shannon Hale, and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you enjoy a contemporary romance with Regency overtones, this book is for you. The heroine is obsessed with Colin Firth's Darcy and is given an opportunity to experience the Regency lifestyle at a Regency theme-park style resort. The real and make-believe worlds collide and for a while it's anyone's guess which will triumph.

The heroine's confusion became my confusion for a while--I can't decide if that was good writing or bad writing--or just my problem . The heroine was definitely conflicted about what she was experiencing and her tussles with truth and fiction became bewildering. Eventually however the heroine and this reader settled down. For a while toward the end, I thought the writer might be going to sermonize on the ills of expecting real life to imitate fiction, but she avoided that trap. A happy ending was believably achieved, and there were some good insights along the way.
An enjoyable read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Now back to work; Carolina's Walking Tour will be released on Friday by Uncial Press, and this afternoon is dedicated to work on The Education of Portia.

A new contest on my website

It's that time again; a new bi-monthly contest has gone up on my website. The John Lennon poster was won by Anne from Alaska! The new prize is a book -- "Panoramas of England" -- and it's a great book if you love England. It has double page spread pictures of wonderful English views that give you a feeling of seeing the vista in person. If you sign the guest book during March or April you are automatically entered to win the book. You also get added to my mailing list, but you'll never be spammed--I only send one email every two months! And I never share my mailing list.

I've been busy with contest work, and website updates, and preparing for my release on March 14. "Carolina's Walking Tour" used to be available free on my stories page, but I always loved the story and when Uncial Press gave me the opportunity to turn it into a 'Novel Byte' I jumped at the chance. It's been expanded, and carefully edited, and given a wonderful cover by Shakoriel. This might be my favourite of all Shakoriel's covers, but it would be hard to choose which I like best.

Go to my website to read an excerpt of Carolina's Walking Tour.

The Jane Austen Handbook

I'm currently reading "The Jane Austen Handbook" by Margaret C. Sullivan. It's a beautifully produced little package--handsome paper, charming fonts and borders, and delightful illustrations. If you are new to Jane Austen's books and the Regency world, then this book is for you. It covers all the aspects of that society that will be new to you, and it will introduce you to this new world in a light-hearted, tongue in cheek manner.

I'm a little disappointed in the content however. Anyone who has read Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and/or a host of others will not find anything new in this Handbook. Still, all the information is laid out in an easy to find, easy to read manner. There are several useful appendices; a glossary should you still have any questions about Regency words, a short bibliography and other resources.

All in all, the Handbook is a charming addition to a Jane Austen bookshelf, though not a must-have reference book.