Hello from Caitlin Williams

‘I think I may boast myself to be, with all possible vanity,
the most unlearned and uninformed female
who ever dared to be an authoress’

– Jane Austen

What a big day for me. How fitting it is that I am writing my first blog post and joining Austen Variations on the same day my first-born goes back to school in a brand new class. I imagine we’re both experiencing the same range of emotions at this moment – excited, but nervous, wondering if anyone will like us – will anyone talk to us and if they do, will we say something monumentally stupid in return? Surely we are too small to be playing with these big kids? But here goes, time to stand up in front of the class and deliver my book report. If you hear a knocking noise as you read this, it’ll be my knees.

I am from Kent, England, not too far from Bromley, where Lady Catherine recommends they change the horses in Pride and Prejudice, and just down the road from me is an inn where Jane Austen once spent the night. A large portion of my days are spent trying to prevent my two children from killing each other, but I do manage to fit in the odd spot of reading, and I’m a sucker for anything on television that involves handsome men in frockcoats and breeches.

Caitlin Williams

I fell in love with Jane Austen’s stories when I was sixteen or seventeen. I remember clearly the crushing disappointment I felt when I realised that, although there were some unfinished works and letters to be enjoyed, there were only six novels to cherish and adore. I read them all, but wanted there to be more. I tried all the Brontes, I admire Dickens and I’m particularly partial to a spot of Du Maurier, but for me, Austen is the best. It’s the humour, the way she can turn a phrase, and her wonderful characters, from the sublimely ridiculous Mr Collins, to the simply sublime Mr Darcy. Those were the things that drew me in and kept me re-reading. What an incredibly strong character Austen created in Elizabeth Bennet. A heroine who staunchly defended her principles and standards, a woman who was unwilling to settle for anything less than true love*. I wanted more of her, but where was more Elizabeth to be found?

About two years ago, by chance, I picked up Longbourn by Jo Baker and while my two favourite characters only play a minor part in her version, it left me thirsty. Were there other spin offs and variations? Imagine my delight when a quick Amazon search revealed there were hundreds on offer. I gobbled them up, laughed, cried and was astounded at the creativity and talent of the writers. There will only ever be one Jane Austen, and while no one can completely capture her style, there is some wonderful writing to be enjoyed in this genre. Many of those books I admired were, of course, written by authors who are part of Austen Variations, and so I feel honoured to be asked to join their ranks. These are the people who inspired me to ‘have a go’ and write my own stories, so thank you.

A Bath adventure

A Bath adventure

And while I have the opportunity, I must tell you what an outstanding bunch of people you JAFF readers are. Everyone I have ‘met’ in the JAFF community has been warm and friendly. How kind you are to new writers. I never expected anyone to read my first book ‘Ardently’ but they did, and left reviews, lots of them and I am so very grateful. My second book is called ‘The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet’ (I gave it a really long title because it took me such a long time to write!) I was very nervous about what sort of reaction it would get, as it was so far from canon, but I had some lovely JAFF friends who helped me enormously. They cheered me on and told me everything would be ok, and it was.

That difficult second book...

That difficult second book…

Luckily, I am joining this merry band on a month when we are talking about Austen Locations, and Bath in particular, which happens to be one of my favourite places in the world. Ardently is based in Bath and I’ll admit to having spent many a happy hour in various pubs on the banks of the Avon River (all in the name of research of course), so I should have no problems with my homework.

And now I must leave you, for while I have been writing this, my first-born has arrived home from school. Apparently it was ‘brilliant’ and I’m sure my days as an Austen Variations member will be too (the other members seem really nice – so far, nobody has tried to steal my lunch money).

I will do my very best to excessively divert you with my blog posts, and maybe even inflict you with a short story or two in the coming months. Happy reading, and I hope you have an Austentastic day.

*and a very big house

 

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    • Julie Buck on September 9, 2016 at 2:14 am
    • Reply

    You have lunch money? Why don’t you come over here and sit next to me? Hee Hee. Lucky you to live in such a wonderful place and to have “breathed the same air” as our Jane… Welcome to this batch of Janeites – I find the people, the comments, everything to be very kind encouraging and enthusiastic, and hope you will too.

  1. Thanks Julie, for the welcome.
    Haha. I’m showing my age, ‘lunch money’ is becoming a thing of the past. Kids around here pay for school lunches by way of their fingerprints on a touch-screen reader now! No need for cash.

      • Julie Buck on September 9, 2016 at 3:22 pm
      • Reply

      Oh, dear – fingerprints does make it a little harder to take a kid’s lunch money, doesn’t it? Lovely to meet you – looking forward to reading lots from you!

    • Glynis on September 9, 2016 at 5:06 am
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    Hi Caitlin. I’m so glad you managed to survive your first day and that everyone played nice. I have Ardently on my wish list and will definitely be reading it soon and I really really enjoyed The Coming Of Age of Elizabeth Bennet. I do love it when they get married early in the book. I look forward to more posts and short (or long!) stories 😊

      • Caitlin Williams on September 9, 2016 at 6:17 am
      • Reply

      Hi Glynis
      So Glad to hear you liked The Coming of Age. I love the early marriage scenarios too, it gives a story such great tension when they are forced together, with no promise of escape.
      I hope you enjoy Ardently if you get to it.
      Thanks for the welcome

    • Deborah on September 9, 2016 at 5:46 am
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    Welcome. It is wonderful to have you here. Both books are on my wish list. I enjoyed being introduced to you this morning and look forward to reading more of your posts.

      • Caitlin Williams on September 9, 2016 at 6:18 am
      • Reply

      Thanks, Deborah. Very kind words, it’s a lovely community to be part of.

    • Mari on September 9, 2016 at 6:38 am
    • Reply

    That was a lot of fun! I don’t have lunch money these days because I eat a late breakfast, and because I always have a book in my hand, so who needs lunch? I am always delighted to see a new author, and after that delightful introduction, I went over to Amazon just to have a look – which is the adult equivalent of being five years old and turned loose in a candy store. I bought Ardently and got a sample of The Coming Of Age. If anyone is looking for me later this afternoon, I will be hiding in my room with my books. There may be a large mug of chai involved, and an apple slice. The chai is for me, and the apple slice is for my conure, so he stays away from my Kindle and my chai. 🙂

    1. Thanks, Mari
      I hope you have a lovely afternoon – sounds heavenly.
      Chai, and some quiet time with Mr Darcy. Enjoy.

  2. Welcome! I really enjoyed The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet, so much so that Ardently is now on my wish list!

    1. Thanks for the welcome, Anna
      Hope you like Ardently too

    • Theresa M on September 9, 2016 at 9:31 am
    • Reply

    Welcome! I have to admit it took me a long long time to embrace JAFF. I guess I felt I was cheating on dear Jane.
    Having said that Ardently was one of my favorites and I have The Coming of Age on my KIndle next up.
    Thanks for your stories. I look forward to many more!

    1. Thanks Theresa
      I know what you mean, I do wonder sometimes what Jane Austen would think of JAFF.
      I hope she’d just sort of raise an eyebrow in surprise and have a wry chuckle to herself.
      Glad to hear Ardently was a favourite and thanks for the welcome

    • Nicole Barton Sasser on September 9, 2016 at 10:02 am
    • Reply

    I absolutely loved “Ardently”! It easily earned a rare 5 Star rating from me on Goodreads. I thought it had to be a fluke. Whose first book is THAT good? Then “The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet” came out and it was amazing – another rare 5 Star rating from me on Goodreads. Keep it up! No pressure 🙂

    Welcome. YOU ARE AWESOME!

    1. Thanks Nicole
      And I know you can always be relied upon to be very straight and honest with your reviews, so it means a lot. I’m touched.

        • Nicole Barton Sasser on September 9, 2016 at 1:01 pm
        • Reply

        Correction: Sorry, I rated “The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet” as 4.5 Stars and rounded up to 5. But this was only due to the fact that I liked “Ardently” a bit better. It’s all relative. In this case, to me, it means the same.

    • Kathy Berlin on September 9, 2016 at 10:06 am
    • Reply

    Hello, Caitlin ! I adored Ardently and have read it several times. I also have Coming of Age and loved it. Keep writing please, you have a wonderful voice.

    • Carole in Canada on September 9, 2016 at 11:11 am
    • Reply

    Hurray and Welcome! This was my first JAFF site too when I went searching several years ago! I have read and loved ‘Ardently’ twice on my Kindle now and last month bought the paperback! I plan to re-read again and write a review this time! I hadn’t started writing reviews until this year on Goodreads. I did read and absolutely loved ‘The Coming of Age of Miss Elizabeth Bennet’ and wrote a review. So looking forward to anything else you may write…short story, posting or novel!

    Glad your first born and yourself have had a ‘brilliant’ first day!

    1. Thanks Carole
      Glad you liked both books and such kind words.
      Austen Variations is a great site and the posts are always so informative and entertaining. I feel very inexperienced and a bit of a fraud amongst such good company. But they’ve offered me such a warm welcome. I shall have to grow into my role here.

  3. Thanks Kathy,
    I certainly will keep writing. Very kind of you to leave such lovely comments.

    • Joy King on September 9, 2016 at 12:13 pm
    • Reply

    For me it’s a pleasure to get to know other authors through their extracurricular posts on these JAFF sites. I very much look forward to reading your offerings here, Caitlin.

    1. Thanks Joy. Yes, it’s been lovely getting to know fellow authors, and meeting people who are just as crazy about Austen as you are!

    • Stephanie Mudd Carrico on September 9, 2016 at 1:53 pm
    • Reply

    Welcome. How very nice to meet you. Look forward to your posts.

    1. Thanks Stephanie, nice to meet you too

    • Clytie koehler on September 9, 2016 at 2:24 pm
    • Reply

    What a great first post! – and I loved Coming of Age for many reasons as stated above and because it was a fresh new look at our dear characters! Ardently is on my wish list now and I look forward to hearing more of you as we go on!

    1. Thanks Clytie, for the kind welcome.
      So glad you liked The Coming of Age, and I hope you’ll enjoy my future posts

  4. Just wanted to say WELCOME to you, Caitlin!
    Glad to have you joining us 🙂 .

    1. Thank you, Marilyn.

    • Jennifer Redlarczyk on September 9, 2016 at 9:20 pm
    • Reply

    Welcome! Looking forward to reading your books! Jen Red ♫

      • Caitlin Williams on September 10, 2016 at 1:51 am
      • Reply

      Thanks, though I know you are busy writing yourself!
      Very kind of you to welcome me

  5. Welcome, Caitlin!!

    I just finished reading The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet a week or so ago and posted reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Eventually the reviews are posted on my blog, so I’ll be sure to tag you when I publish it there. I absolutely adored your book, BTW.

    After a school year of non-stop teaching (homeschooling our youngest–the only one yet to graduate high school, teaching 15 students Expository Essay all year long at our homeschool co-op, and teaching nine online courses in writing and literature this year at Brave Writer), I rewarded myself with two months of Kindle Unlimited this summer…with the promise-to-self that I’d review every book I read there to be sure that the authors were properly compensated with plenteous reviews. After all, I’ve been able to read more than 40 books for only $20. Can’t beat that! 😀

    So welcome to Austen Variations, Caitlin!! So glad you’ve joined this merry band!

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

  6. P.S. I just went to Goodreads to follow you, Caitlin, and realized that I have also read Ardently as well as The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet. And I also loved Jo Baker’s Longbourn–so brilliantly written with such unflinching realism.

    ~Susanne, who will stop bothering you now, LOL! 😉

      • Caitlin Williams on September 10, 2016 at 2:23 am
      • Reply

      Hi Susanne
      You may bother me all you want LOL. I look forward to seeing the review on your blog. I have a KU subscription too, it’s great value if you read a lot of books. Thanks for the welcome

  7. Caitlin,
    What a lovely post. I do envy you living in Kent.
    I spend many days wandering the area pretending to be British. 🙂
    I look forward to reading your novels.

    1. Hi Barbara
      Thanks. My little part of Kent really isn’t that pretty, but it’s nice to be within travelling distance of some great Austen locations.
      take care and glad you liked the post

  8. I am late to the “welcome party,” but you know I am an ardent admirer of your work! I am thrilled to see you join this group. I have no doubt that your talents will shine and that you will add your own kind of bright sparkle to their offerings.

    Congratulations! You deserve all the praise and kindness sent your way.

  9. Welcome, Caitlin! We’re thrilled to have you and look forward to what you’ll post in the future 🙂

    • Caitlin Williams on September 13, 2016 at 1:37 pm
    • Reply

    What, Leslie, you mean I have to write another post?
    Only kidding, of course. Very much look forward to being part of Austen Variations and couldn’t have happened upon a nicer bunch of people.

  10. You know I’m a huge fan of your novels, Caitlin, and I’m also a huge fan of Austen Variations, as several of their members have been instrumental in helping me with great advice and friendship over the years. That’s aside from being a huge fan of their novels as well. You found a fantastic home! There’s a great deal of value added for the author and reader from this particular group of authors dedicated to quality in their craft. Have fun along with them!

    • Caitlin Williams on September 14, 2016 at 3:17 am
    • Reply

    Thanks, Suzan. For your very kind comments and for your continued support.

    • Mary on September 15, 2016 at 3:57 pm
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    Caitlin,this was a lovely article,hopefully the first of many!!

    Have read your three books and although ‘Ardently’ and ‘Even More Ardently’ were fabulous reads,I was just blown away by ‘The Coming Of Age Of Elizabeth Bennet’!

    It was such a beautifully crafted story,that I,like many others,found utterly compelling!! You simply have a wonderful way with words that cannot but envelop the reader from first page to last!

    Best of luck with this new venture!!!

      • Caitlin Williams on September 16, 2016 at 2:47 am
      • Reply

      Thanks, Mary

      Such very kind words. I am looking forward to future posts and hope you enjoy them

    • Dung on September 22, 2016 at 2:18 pm
    • Reply

    Welcome to Austen Variations Caitlin! You’re such a talented writer! I loved both of your books and can’t wait to read your next novel and see what other projects you’ll be working on!

    • Jay on February 2, 2018 at 11:41 am
    • Reply

    I’d love to read the story of Jane Bennet and Mr. turner.

  11. Happy New Year Caitlin! And a safe good year ahead!
    Any idea when Ardently will be released on Kindle again?

  1. […] I also want to congratulate Caitlin, as she joins the group, Austen Variations, this week. You can visit here to read her first post on Austen Variations. […]

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