July 13, 2014: My Obsession with the Cost of a Hack

I go a little crazy when I’m researching for a story. A little detail that might be three words can have a week of research behind it. Case in point: the cost of a hack from the mail coach terminus in London to Mayfair.

In my current story, I wrote a scene where Elizabeth traveled to London, and then to a friend’s house in Mayfair. During my research, I found out about the cost of mail coach trip, tips, meals, and extra weight charges for baggage. Oh! That last bit caught my writer’s interest!

The last time I traveled by air, I weighed my bag at home and removed a bunch of stuff to meet the maximum baggage weight. Of course, when I got to my destination, it was all the wrong stuff! But I managed to get away without any extra fee.

But not so lucky for my heroine: I decided to include an overweight charge for Elizabeth!

Not only that, but before she left Longbourn, she knew exactly how much her trip would cost, and had brought nothing extra. Knowing she’d be short for the hackney coach trip through London, she asked the hack driver to drop her part-way to her friend’s house. Of course, a certain someone just happens to be riding by in his carriage as she’s struggling to walk with her heavy bag, and rescues her!

It was fun trying to figure out the route of the mail coach and the location for Elizabeth to catch the hack. (Not “cab”—that name came about from “cabriolet,” in 1823.) I had to figure out Hertfordshire and Middlesex geography and find maps of old London. Of course, there was a huge gap in detail at the point of my interest! The most useful map (in terms of ease of reading and finding major locations) was Dickens’ London, from David Perdue’s Charles Dickens Page.

Other interesting pages emerged, including a book of anecdotes called The Interesting Adventures of a Hackney Coach, from 1813. It has the strangest punctuation I’ve ever seen.

But I was obsessed with making sure the extra “tanner” for the overweight bag would make a difference in the end. How much was the fare from Smithfield to Portman Square in 1813?

Hack fares

Great finds were on Wallis’s Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster (above), and tables in actual travel guides from 1786 and 1827—but I had to try to figure out the end points and probable routes, since fares tended to be listed from coaching inns and pubs, and not street addresses. Finally, I made an educated guess at 3 pence.

I have hundreds of bookmarked pages for story research, and this time, I added another dozen. Here are my favourite web sites for Regency research:

Jane Austen’s World
There are several useful tabs, but I like “Social Customs during the Regency Era.” There many interesting categories here. Sadly, there are some dead links.

Common Regency Errors by Alison Lane
This is a great resource to help to understand how to apply titles of the nobility, as well as a few other topics such as adoption and consanguinity.

The Online Etymology Dictionary
You can look up any word and find out when it was first recorded, under various definitions. It’s sometimes surprising which words are super-old and which are recent, or how a word changed its meaning after the Regency period, so the way we use it today didn’t apply back then.

Chapman’s Chronology of Pride and Prejudice
R. W. Chapman was a scholar who dedicated his life to Austen’s works. In 1923 he produced an edition of her books that was much more readable by today’s readers, and a companion book as well. In the process he created time lines for the novels. In writing a variation, it’s nice to know how your changes fit into the original.

Author confession: I was diverted from my purpose… which means a new redhead story on AHA!

With my current Austen-Inspired Regency Romance less than a chapter from being completed, why do I find myself scribbling down a short story that keeps sneaking additional ideas into itself, not to mention an original character? Authors will tell you this happens a lot. It seems like you’re in control, but you’re really not. The characters win, every time.

It’s good news for the readers, though! I’ve posted my short story, Storm About His Love, on AHA. Check it out!

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January 4, 2014: Eight Blogs in Nine Days, January 7-15!

As much as Jakki Leatherberry of Leatherbound Reviews would look great in the passenger seat, this is a trip that’s a bit too intense for the little car. Time to pull out the passport and the big suitcase (parka for the north, sunscreen for the south) because we’re heading to all kinds of interesting places. It’s the Leatherbound Reviews Alias Thomas Bennet Blog Tour, January 7-15, 2014!

ATB Blog Tour Banner

Did you wonder about that boat on the cover of Alias Thomas Bennet? Follow me across the sea to Italy (that could be a children’s song!) where I’ll blog about Thomas and Fanny Bennet’s boat trip on My Jane Austen Book Club on January 7 (which also happens to be Christmas Day in my family!).

From there, we’ll fly back to sneak some peeks at my book with an excerpt at eclectic blog Everything Books and Authors on January 8: more about that boat you see on the cover! We’re on the move from here, because on January 11 My Love for Jane Austen will feature a short clip with insight into some threats to the comfortable life Thomas Bennet has built for himself and his family, and on January 15 Elizabeth will find herself in a very precarious situation on Addicted to Jane Austen. But I’m known as the secret-keeper, so these are still going to be “teaser” posts, and you’re still going to have to read the book to find out everything!

I’m down for some cool quizzing with an author interview on Songs and Stories on January 10 following a review on January 9, then my friend and fellow AHA Chat Chit Rose Fairbanks will also interview me on her blog, The Darcy Obsession, on January 12.

Finally, join me in perusing reviews of my book, Alias Thomas Bennet, written by mega-reader Anna at Diary of an Eccentric, and Spanish language blog Warmisunqu’s Austen, on January 14 and 15 respectively. I know Warmisunqu is a great fan of Janet Taylor’s cover for ATB, and I hope she finds the book equally satisfying.

It’s going to be quite the trip. You’ll be surprised as the excerpts drive the story forward with glimpses into the dramatic tension in various sections of the book, and I think I’ll be equally surprised to react to the interviews and reviews. There will be plenty of chances for you to comment on each blog, as well as give-aways for those who love to win stuff. See you at the luggage carousel!

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Alias Thomas Bennet is available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

December 18, 2013: Outtake from Alias Thomas Bennet at Austenesque Reviews

I never knew Alias Thomas Bennet was so full of hints and spoilers until I tried to figure out what text I could present as an excerpt for a blog post. I love to tease readers about what might come next, but I’d also like them to have a chance to feel the excitement as each little thing is exposed and their suspicions are confirmed, and it wouldn’t be fun if you already knew everything before you read the book. So for today’s guest blog at Austenesque Reviews, I offered to write an outtake, something brand new and unique, to give the flavour of ATB without giving too much away. Meredith liked the idea, and I hope you do, too.

Austenesque Reviews

I didn’t bug my editor, Gail, to check this scene out (she’s on the road again!), but my friend Maria had a look and confirmed it wouldn’t embarrass me technically.

December 2, 2013: Excerpt from Alias Thomas Bennet

This is part of a scene where Darcy and Bennet are chatting at the Netherfield Ball, after Darcy dances with Elizabeth.

“Very well, Bennet, you are indeed a good friend,” said Darcy. “Now, since you chose that last disagreeable topic, I would like to challenge you with my choice.”

Bennet raised his brows, but Darcy’s demeanour revealed there was jest in his intended conversation, and a smile threatened on one side of his mouth.

Darcy saw his friend understood his intention and so continued, affecting outrage, “Tell me, as a friend, what in blazes is that cousin of yours thinking, dancing when he has no notion of the forms? I was pained to see the embarrassment on your daughters’ faces as he was disrupting all the participants in the dance and ruthlessly treading on the ladies’ feet!”

Bennet noticed a hint of a wry smile in Darcy’s eyes. “I see we have abandoned all principles of gentlemanly discourse, and I am sorely regretting upsetting your sensibilities with the last topic, such that you feel a need to punish me severely by bringing up my cousin in such a manner,” Bennet said, his mouth twitching to suppress a grin. “I too observed his performance, and if it were not likely that it would further mortify the young women on the receiving end of his company, I would drag him off by his ear like an errant school boy!” However much he thought his cousin ridiculous, his humour was severely tried by Collins.

“My apologies for his ungentlemanly conduct, old man,” he continued. “He drives me quite mad. I was hopeful about his improvement, but it is obvious he does not care how he exposes himself. I have had more than one occasion to chastise him discreetly this evening, but somehow he thinks he is above heeding my counsel. All the response I receive is another ill-mannered speech about your aunt and her condescension and how the import of his station bestows him the right to do as your aunt would admire. I hope you are not so unfortunate as to be much in his company at your aunt’s estate.”

“I imagine I have succeeded in obtaining a little retribution for your opinions on the last topic, Bennet.” Darcy smiled and added drily, “Perhaps if I am ever again in the company of Mr. Collins, I could imply that you are inferior in the skills needed for a proper supplicating sycophant and make the suggestion that he exert himself to provide you advice on how to show subjection towards me and my station! I am sure he would act on my advice with uncommon alacrity!” Darcy was trying not to laugh. Bennet showed no such restraint and threw his head back with a hearty guffaw.

“If he were able to convince me as you suggest, it would make our wrangling much less lively!”

“You are correct, Bennet; that would certainly be most regrettable. In that case, I have no choice but to amend my strategy. I will avoid him, scowl most viciously to show I am not at all approachable, and refuse to attend to his ridiculous speeches.”

“Well done. In any case, we will not long have him in Hertfordshire; he is to return to Kent next Saturday.”

“I am sure you will be most grateful.”

Bennet indicated his agreement and then paused. He took a deep breath and began, “Darcy, I have another serious matter to discuss. We have a new acquaintance in the neighbourhood who causes me concern. I worry because it is not likely this person will take his leave any time soon since he is in Colonel Forster’s group of militia officers. Do you know Mr. George Wickham?” Bennet turned to point the man out. “He is right now standing up with Miss Maria Lucas. I have not yet met him but have learned much of him. He claims to be known to you.”

Darcy’s defences immediately came to full alert. He roused himself from the amusing thoughts of a moment before, straightened to his full height, and clenched his fists at his sides. “I do know him, sir, and he is a scoundrel. He was the son of my father’s steward, a very good man, and I have known him most of my life. We played together as children, and I was aware of Wickham’s nature, but his pleasant manner allowed him to gain my late father’s good opinion. My father funded Mr. Wickham’s education through school and at Cambridge. Away from my father’s eyes, he used his charms to gain friends who shared his wicked ways. He quickly developed habits of gambling, deceit, and debauchery, which caused me to abandon any presumed friendship from our youth.” Darcy was unable to hide his disgust towards Wickham.

“He tells a tall tale of misuse at your hands, and as much as my family has tried to question the verity of his claims, much of Meryton is charmed by him.”

***

So how much will Darcy tell Bennet, and what does this mean for Wickham’s situation in Meryton? And why are the Bennets questioning his claims? What do they know? How will Wickham react to all of this?

Alias Thomas Bennet is available now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

November 26, 2013: The car’s in drive and the book’s on the shelves!

I’ve been a bit of a wreck all week knowing that Alias Thomas Bennet was to go on sale any day now. It really wasn’t warranted, but I think it’s traditional.

You see, the people at Meryton Press are so fantastic there was little to worry about, even if I’m a control freak and agonized over the times I had to stop and wait and let them do their jobs.

I had a lot of interaction when it came to editing and layout with Gail Warner and Ellen Pickels, as well as incorporating Janet Taylor’s ability to interpret and enhance my vision of the cover. My opinions were taken very seriously, and I think the only place I grumbled was when I wanted to keep a double negative (Austen used them, you know!) and Gail said she drew the line there! I’ve been told by other authors that I’m lucky I was allowed to be so involved with the process, since most publishers pretty much leave the writer out of the loop. Instead I came away from it with some new friends.

Then there are the invisible people like Zorylee Diaz-Lupitou and Michele Reed who work the marketing and production and strategy and who knows what else. It all happened with selective input by me, which felt strange because usually I’m the one in charge and on top of every detail. But being new to this, I had no clue what the details entailed, and thank goodness someone else was there to handle them.

I was cared for. That’s really a lovely feeling. I got to be the author. The one who was being helped, being pleased. Peel me a grape.

The silly thing is that my mind was dwelling on things like “Should I use a different picture on Amazon?” “What if there’s a problem getting the book on the market?” (Don’t go there, Suzan, even if a self-published friend had a few issues last week!) “Should I have cut ‘those’ scenes so I wouldn’t have to blush when my mom reads it?” and “How many copies do I need to give away to family and friends?” because “What if no one likes it?”

And there lies the classic author’s insecurity.

But see, I like it. That’s the thing. I’m very pleased with a plot that was supposed to be a rather simple “what-if” and turned into something I’ve been told over and over again is extremely unique. I love my new characters, and especially how they pushed their way into importance in the lives of the Bennets. I think I succeeded in the way I used the traditional characters from Pride and Prejudice and changed their actions because of their circumstances but stuck with the base personalities that Austen created for them. And I’m proud of how I put the words and scenes together to create something new and decidedly different.

When I look back and see all I learned as a writer through working with the betas for the original series on A Happy Assembly, and then with Gail on the book, I’m grateful that I had that chance to grow and to make Alias Thomas Bennet the kind of book I’m proud to share with the world. I get to go forward with more confidence and skill as I return to work on my next novel.

And while I’m writing that next book, my readers are getting to find out what’s behind that cover and blurb, like:

“What’s with the boat? Is it coming or going?”

“Who are these people?”
(A good guess is that it’s Jane, Elizabeth, and their father.)

“What is little Jane looking at?”

“Where is this quay that they are standing on, and why are they there?”

“What is the significance of the house on the back cover?”
(Which again a good guess would say is Longbourn.)

“If Jane and Elizabeth are really young, how much of the traditional time period of Pride and Prejudice will we see?”
(The main story is played parallel to canon in 1811-1812, with a few short flashbacks.)

“So if this story is about Mr. Bennet, what about Darcy and Elizabeth?”
(Don’t worry, it’s still all about Darcy and Elizabeth; in fact, our favourite couple’s slightly simpler romance makes for some prime snogging, and there’s a particularly steamy carriage scene!)

“So what is this mystery about the Bennets being recognized and Darcy being important to it all?”
(Okay, I started this post off okay but then got into the habit answering the questions a bit too easily. You’ll have to read the book for this one!)

Heh heh heh.

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Let me know what you think!