New Kid on the Block

Hello! I’m Elizabeth Adams, and I’m the new kid on the block at Austen Variations.

I’m an author with six books published and two more on the way. (Three-ish, really.)

ElizabethAdams-Covers-2

I write romantic comedy and comedic drama in historic and modern settings. Most of my books are JAFF and those that aren’t are usually inspired by Austen—even when I try no to be. Her work has a way of getting under your skin and sneaking up on you in unsuspecting moments. Thankfully, I’m not the only person inflicted with this compulsion to see Austen everywhere I look.

Luckily for me, I’ve become friends with several other Janeites and have had the opportunity to meet many in person. If you’re going to geek out over something, it’s more fun with company, right?

In the spirit of friendship, here are a few random details about me.

  • I’m not from anywhere. (Navy brat)
  • My husband is Ukrainian.
  • I have a blind cat.
  • I speak Russian.
  • I used to be a professional ballroom dancer.
  • I have a terribly wonderful travel addiction.

 

Feel like you know me a bit better?

I’ve been writing since I was a little kid, and I discovered JAFF at Target in 2010 when I decided to pick up a book to get me through my long hair appointment that afternoon. (I was going blond at the time and it took FOREVER to color.) Anyway, I ended up reading something else that day, but later that summer, I read that (gateway) book and I was hooked. I ordered the rest on Amazon and began scouring my library for anything with the word ‘Darcy’ in the title. Then I realized I could download Kindle to my computer and I quickly tore through Abigail Reynolds’s books. In one of hers, she thanked another writer and mentioned a forum, and that sent me searching yet again.

Once I got on the forums, it was only a matter of time before I began posting my first book, The Houseguest, which I had begun writing in Autumn of 2010 before I even knew forums existed.

The first Austen book I ever read was Emma, a gift from my grandfather for Christmas the year I was twelve. I’ll admit that the social commentary was over my head, and I skimmed Mr. Woodhouse’s hypochondriacal worries and Miss Bates’s nonsensical speeches. I scanned the pages for capital Ks, hoping Mr. Knightley would come back soon. Whether or not Emma knew it, 12-year-old me realized he was a hero early in the book.

I doubt my grandfather had any idea what he was starting, but that hardback collector’s edition sits proudly on my bookshelf today, now crowded by variations and annotated editions of Austen’s other works.

I don’t know that I have a favorite Austen book, but I really appreciate Persuasion. I love Captain Wentworth because I find him incredibly believable and authentic. And of course, I love a man in uniform. Anne is nothing at all like me, so I find her a little harder to relate to, but I have a deep appreciation for her.

My childhood looked a lot like this.

I’m more of an Elizabeth Bennet (in name and in character), and I relate to her situation more in real life. I had an indifferent education, an inquiring mind, and an embarrassing mother. I also come from a large, noisy family, though mine is filled with boys instead of girls. I have five brothers (yes, five!) and I’m the only girl. The oldest and youngest are ten years apart, and I’m smack in the middle at number three.

Part of what I love about P&P is the idea of a house full of girls. When I was a teenager, sharing a single bathroom with what felt like a barracks full of boys, I could only dream of having sisters. The Bennet family sounded like heaven. Better-smelling, clothes-sharing heaven. Now, regardless of what I’m writing, my main character always has sisters. I think my sub-conscious is telling on me.

Look how clean and happy they look. I’m sure they smell lovely.

This world of JAFF and Austen is also populated with more women than men, and I love that about it. I love the sense of camaraderie and the Austen-bridge that allows us to have friends anywhere in the world, all over a shared interest.

Do you think Jane Austen knew she was bringing so many people together when she began writing over two hundred years ago?

 

Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and at www.EAdamswrites.com.

 

 

59 comments

Skip to comment form

    • caroline on April 3, 2019 at 1:03 am
    • Reply

    yes yes yes! i am happy to see you here 🙂 i so much loved your books – i can‘t wait for the TWO next to come!

    thank you so much for your work!

    best wishes from germany,
    caroline

    1. Thank you! I can’t wait either – now I just have to finish them!!!

    • Terri on April 3, 2019 at 1:06 am
    • Reply

    Welcome love this forum blog whatever it’s called. I don’t always comment but I always read it
    I have read your work and have enjoyed very much . For me there is something about L& D that gets me. But I love Persuasion as I love the idea of a second chance.
    Not big on modern versions but love Regency era best.

    1. Thanks, Terri! I agree, there is something about that couple that keeps me coming back for more… And I love second chances (and sailors). I used to only read regency, but after so many I wanted to branch out and now I like both. Sometimes I’m just in the mood for something modern.

    • Glynis on April 3, 2019 at 5:09 am
    • Reply

    Two (possibly three) new books? Ooooh what a treat! I have all your others which are on my ever increasing re read list. Including both versions of Green Card – I love that book!
    Welcome to this fabulous group with such great company, I look forward to your posts. I must say I am happy reading any era as long as the main characters are (or are based on) Darcy and Elizabeth, and that the characters are recognisable.

    1. Hey Glynis! I am so glad you love Green Card – it’s my baby. 🙂 I’m looking forward to seeing you around here!

  1. Yay! So happy to have you with us and I love your introduction! I know what you mean about the Austen creeping in when you don’t even mean it to (as well as the two/three-ish books. LOL). Look forward to reading what you have up your sleeve 🙂 Welcome!

    1. She is sneaky like that, isn’t she? It’s time to wrap up! The number of unfinished manuscripts on my computer is getting a little ridiculous. LOL

      1. Hah! I have four or five that are on my desktop partially written or in editing. The problem is the muse keeps finding something new to write! I also have a plot bunny sanctuary. Maybe one day I’ll actually delve into it.

        1. Plot bunny sanctuary! I love it! I have three (okay four) with several chapters and solid plans to finish, and another three or four that I hope/think I will finish. The problem is the muse keeps getting distracted and so do I. Maybe we should have a challenge or something and see how many manuscripts we can finish. :-p

          1. LOL! That might be fun. 😉

    • Audrey on April 3, 2019 at 7:43 am
    • Reply

    Welcome! I love your books and am looking forward to more!

    1. Thank you!

      • Lynley on April 3, 2019 at 9:58 am
      • Reply

      Lovely to see you here and love your books. Your books are among my re-read several times list. 🙂
      Isn’t it funny? I grew up in a house of girls, was the middle child, read voraciously, had an, on occasions, embarrassing mother, and was the clear favourite of my dad. I would have traded a sister for a brother in a heartbeat though I wouldn’t be without them now. Families are a wonderful melting pot – I adore that your story heriones are not alone.
      Thanks for writing – now quit reading this and go finish writing a book! Your reading friends are in need of a new novel 🙂

      1. Haha! Yes, Ma’am! *slinks away to write alone*

    2. I’m sure you’re a welcome addition to this site.
      I find great delight in discuss that someone who spent their childhood ramming around on motorbikes now spends their time immersed in the words the and manners of a refined author like Austen.

      1. Haha! I tell people I’m either really well-rounded or really screwed up!

    • CE on April 3, 2019 at 8:28 am
    • Reply

    Your writing is wonderful. I would LOVE to see you write Persuasion variations!

    1. Thanks! I would love to do that, too. I just haven’t had any ideas for one. Got any suggestions?

    • CE on April 3, 2019 at 9:02 am
    • Reply

    I do! I have read some that had Frederick with amnesia – but none with Anne. What if: Anne was in horrible accident that left her with amnesia. Anne is back to her 19 yr-old self (not feeling beaten down but always reminded by those around her that she is). When Frederick makes those comments about “06” at the dinner party, Anne doesn’t react the way he wants her to, and he keeps throwing zings at her and she is confused. When he finds out about her amnesia (Louisa’s comment on the Winthrop walk could have been more like she wished the accident had happened before Charles had married Mary so he could have convinced Anne that she had said yes to his proposal), Frederick had to decide whether he wants to let things ride and not remind Anne of their past, remind her so he could still rub her nose in her decision, or try to win her over again, from the beginning. I have a whole outline I tried, but I don’t have your talent for writing all the important things – all the details, dialog and descriptions.

    1. Wow! I LOVE that idea! Write it! And I’ll think about it if you don’t… 🙂

        • CE on April 3, 2019 at 11:48 am
        • Reply

        It’s all yours – or anyone’s. I can’t write – but I love to read all the wonderful JAFF writers.

    • Jennifer Redlarczyk on April 3, 2019 at 9:09 am
    • Reply

    Welcome! It’s great to see you here!

    1. Thank you!

    • Nicole Clarkston on April 3, 2019 at 9:23 am
    • Reply

    So glad to see you here! I am a big fan, and I always love seeing your sunny face. Welcome, welcome! 🥰

    Hey, we have something else in common! I married into a motorcycle family, so those muddy kids look a lot like mine! Oh, and I’m a sucker for Captain Wentworth, too.

    Loved the post, welcome to the gang!

    1. Thanks, Nicole! I’m glad I married out of it. You can only smell so much 2-stroke before it gets to you. When I started dating my husband, one of the first questions I asked him was if he was into cars or motorcycles. Thankfully, his answer was no. It was a deal breaker for me. LOL My brothers and I (3 of whom are mechanics) joke that I can smell a mechanic a mile away now. 😉

    • J. W. Garrett on April 3, 2019 at 9:25 am
    • Reply

    It is so good to see you here Elizabeth. I have nearly all your books. You keep adding [I’m so happy] to my growing list titled ‘I want that book.’ I look forward to hearing about the launch. Blessings on your hard work and I look forward to seeing you in the posts.

    1. Thank you! Hopefully, I’ll have something ready soon (ish).

    • Betty Campbell Madden on April 3, 2019 at 10:14 am
    • Reply

    What a delightful introduction, Elizabeth. I think I have read all of your published stories and enjoyed them, although I have a strong preference for the Regency settings. P&P variations are all I’m able to read because the negative effects of general anesthetics from my cancer surgeries. I studied and taught the book years before, so I’m able to remember the characters and the canon features of the story well enough to be able to put a variation down and return to where I left off. In fact, I’m able to do editing for a large number of the best P&P authors from both the US and several other countries. I’ve read over two thousand variations, if I can believe my Kindle, Nook, and all the FF sites of otherwise non-published versions.

    Please continue to write. You give me, as well as many others, a great deal of pleasure with your works.

    1. Wow! I had no idea! I’m so glad there is a genre that works for you. And I don’t think I could stop writing if I tried. I sort of tried once, and it was a dismal failure. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

    • Shelley Hoisington on April 3, 2019 at 11:18 am
    • Reply

    Two or three books in the making! Jumping for joy! I have all of your books and loved them all. Funny you mention Abigail Reynolds and then searching for anything Darcy related. I myself loved Pride and Prejudice. I read Darcy takes a Wife and was susprised to find out there were Pride and Prejudice variations out there. From there I have fallen down the rabbit hole of must read anything Pride and Prejudice related . Your two book…The Green Card and the Houseguest are on numerous list of must reads.
    Excited to learn more about you next book.

    1. Thanks! I hope the new one can come together more quickly than it has been… It’s a beast (the regency one) and has me going in circles. The moderns are easier somehow. Of course, I say that and then remember that Green Card was written over three years, but to be fair, I wasn’t constantly writing and I did have a baby and graduate college in that time, so… yeah. 🙂

    • Carole in Canada on April 3, 2019 at 11:46 am
    • Reply

    Welcome and thrilled to see you here! I am a huge fan and still have two of yours to read…your ‘baby’ Green Card on my Kindle and ‘The 26th of November’ to order! To know that you have 2 maybe 3 in the works is music to my ears! As to Jane Austen wondering if she realized she would be bringing so many people together? Probably not but I think she would be ‘excessively diverted’ by all the variations and sequels her works have spawned and her great following of admirers!

    1. Thanks, Carole! I hope you like Green Card! And 26th!

      I’m sure JA would find this all terribly amusing. How I would love to hear her strictures on us! LOL

    • Cindy H on April 3, 2019 at 1:42 pm
    • Reply

    Your Green Card is one of my very favorite books!

    1. Yay! I’m so glad to hear that!

    • S.Mya on April 3, 2019 at 3:00 pm
    • Reply

    I’m so glad to see you’ve joined! I’m literally reading Green Card at this very moment (started it a few days ago on Kindle Unlimited, now on chapter 26), so this is a nice coincidence!
    I also plan on finishing ‘On Equal Ground’ and ‘The 26th of November’ because the beginnings are sooo good.

    Looking forward to your future posts!

    1. Girl, message me when you get to chapter 28. I got a LOT of comments on that one! LOL

    • Ruth clapp on April 3, 2019 at 3:18 pm
    • Reply

    Welcome! I am happy to know I’ll be hearing more about you here. HOUSEGUEST is one of my favorites, frequently re-read. Now I will go and look at your list on Amazon and see if there is more for me. I pretty much restrict myself to the Regency books. How much time would I spend reading if I read the contemporaries too?

    1. Thank you! I only have one contemporary book out at the moment, Green Card. It is long, but it is also a fairly quick read because of the pacing and style. It’s the length of The Houseguest and 26th put together, but I think it reads faster than The Houseguest because of the way it’s written. Lots of dialog, fairly snappy. Maybe 14 hours? Depends on how fast you read… Hope this helps!

    • Zoe on April 3, 2019 at 4:04 pm
    • Reply

    Hello! The Houseguest was my very own gateway to reading published P&P as my first purchase! But I think my favourite so far is Unwilling, which I recently re-read. Unlike you or the Bennet sisters, I didn’t grow up with any siblings, but I can relate to Elizabeth Bennet having a close relationship to her father. Anyway, I will look out for your next works. Great stuff!

    1. Hi Zoe! I am thrilled The Houseguest was your gateway book! You’ve made my day! As for siblings, it’s a bit of a love/hate thing. And they steal all the parental attention. I always wanted to be an only child… Ha!

    • Pam Hunter on April 3, 2019 at 6:19 pm
    • Reply

    It’s so great to have you here! Welcome!
    Your “On Equal Ground” is one of my all-time favorites. You made me cry. I love it when an author can do that. I look forward to what you’ll bring us in the future!

    1. Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it! It’s my favorite regency and I have a special place in my heart for Lord Asheland. That’s probably why I’m writing his prequel…

        • Dung on April 3, 2019 at 8:30 pm
        • Reply

        Yay, I can’t wait to read it! I ❤️him too!

        1. I may come looking for you when I need a cold reader. 😉

    • Marsha on April 3, 2019 at 7:44 pm
    • Reply

    I have loved all of your books again and again😄

    1. Thanks! That makes me so happy to hear!

    • Dung on April 3, 2019 at 8:29 pm
    • Reply

    Yay, welcome! I’ve read all your stories and ❤️them! They are definitely re-read material!

    I love that you used to be a professional ballroom dancer! Do you ever watch the show “Dancing with the Stars” and critique them?

    What’s your favorite travel destination so far and do you have a bucket list place you want to go to but haven’t?

    1. Thank you! And yes, I occasionally watch the show and critique them and I’m not very nice about it. Ha!

      As far as travel goes, there are very few places I wouldn’t want to visit. My favorite move-there-tomorrow-if-I-could cities are Krakow, Poland and London, England. I LOVE Venice and am actively trying to talk my husband into moving there for six months. It would be educational! I feel so inspired by Italy. When we were there last summer, I was thrumming with ideas. I still haven’t been to Amsterdam. Hoping to do that this summer.

      I am really Jonesing for southeast Asia at the moment. I want to see Hanoi and the Marble Mountains in Vietnam. Also Kuala Lumpur, Singapore,Bangkok. I’ve got it bad. 🙂 Also would love to do South Africa and Morocco. And Spain, though I’ll see it this summer so I don’t feel so anxious about that one. Oh, Buenos Aires! I want to tango on the street. And Montevideo, too.

      This list could just keep going… 🙂

    • Irene on April 3, 2019 at 9:04 pm
    • Reply

    I absolutely love your books and love that there are more on the way. CAN’T wait!!

    1. Than you! I promise I’m trying really hard to finish and get them out!

  2. Welcome, Elizabeth!!!

    I read Unwilling recently and completely LOVED it!! I am thrilled that you’ve joined the crew at Austen Variations so that we can get to know you better and can enjoy more of your writing!!!

    Enjoy!!

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

    1. Thank you! I’m so glad you liked Unwilling!

    • Kruck on April 7, 2019 at 6:14 pm
    • Reply

    Elizabeth, am in the middle of “The 26th of November,” and it’s brilliant. Delighted that you used the plot device to develop the characters. Very well done. Love an Elizabeth Bennet who gets to drug her mom!
    Kathy (Born on 26th of Nov., 19 xx)

    1. Ha! I enjoyed that so much! I’ve always wondered why no one ever told Mrs. B that she was a massive embarrassment and to please put a sock in it. But no one else would be rude, so they all stood by and cringed while she was the rudest of them all. Did they believe the only thing ruder than rudeness is pointing it out? Or did they think she wouldn’t listen and talking to her was pointless? We’ll never know. But I’ve always wanted a character to just get mad and tell everyone to stuff it. This story was an excellent opportunity to vent my character frustrations. LOL

    • Chelsea Knestrick on April 7, 2019 at 7:32 pm
    • Reply

    I LOVED your book “The Houseguest” and also really enjoyed your book “Unwilling” as well . I have some of your other books on my TBR List.

    1. Thank you! I’m so glad you liked them!

    • Anji on April 22, 2019 at 2:51 pm
    • Reply

    I’m a bit late to the welcome party, but “Welcome” anyway! I haven’t read/listened to all of your books yet but so far, On Equal Ground is my favourite. Oh I cried! Next up will be The 26th of November, I think. Looking forward to that one a lot as I love the Groundhog Day scenario. It’s great to see that you’ve at least two more books in the works, too.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.