Tag: Inspired by Pride and Prejudice

Dispelling the Gloom, Part 3

Elizabeth and Darcy Halloween scene

Happy end of October! Below you’ll find Part III of the story I began here and continued here, in honor of this month’s theme, Which Witch: Magic and Malevolence in Austen. Many years ago, when I was posting regularly on one of the fan boards, I claimed to be the Wickham of my own life—and …

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Dispelling the Gloom, Part 1

Elizabeth and Darcy Halloween scene

Happy October! When I saw this month’s theme—“Which Witch: Magic and Malevolence in Austen”—I was frightened, terribly frightened! While magic and malevolence are perfect concepts for the month of Halloween, I have never once attempted a fantastical Austenesque variation. Many authors—many here at Austen Variations—have written compelling  Austenesque fantasies; indeed, they have taken some of …

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The Peculiarity of Mr. Darcy’s Mirror – Release Day Celebration!

It’s release day!! I hope you’re ready for Ellie’s adventure and to read the entirety! You can find the book on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited. If you haven’t read the preview, click here to read Chapter 1 . I also have extra content posts at my website: one on inspiration, one on …

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Finery and Folly: a Lydia Story by Diana Birchall

“When Lydia went away, she promised to write very often and very minutely to her mother and Kitty; but her letters were always long expected, and always very short. Those to her mother contained little else than that they were just returned from the library, where such and such officers had attended them, and where …

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The Travails of Mr Charles Bingley, Part 1

Hello everyone! Today, I’m posting the first part of a short story. I’m not sure exactly how many parts there will be—three or four. I sought inspiration in the July monthly theme, “When One Travels in the Summer”, but when I needed a little more to get the ideas flowing, I went back to another …

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new book excerpt-The happiest couple in the world

My thanks to all who weighed in a left me little comments on the last. I know some of you have felt apologetic about being not up to the angst you sensed coming in this one, and don’t worry, I totally get that! Some stories just insist on being told, and I had to follow …

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A Double Cameo for Ukraine by Diana Birchall

  In our Austen Variations fundraiser for Ukraine, our authors offered cameos in their forthcoming novels in exchange for donations to the cause. My first cameo was written for donor Michelle d’Arcy (a most fortuitous name to work with!), to be included in my next novel The Darcys and Lord Byron in Venice, and it …

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Love is in the Air–a Sneak Peek at a work in progress…

Good morning! Hope you all will enjoy this little nugget which is a part of a larger work I have going.  We begin in London where Darcy has been summoned to the Matlock town house by his cousins for an important announcement! No one has edited this and I am probably the worst proofreader in …

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A Garden Path for Friday the Thirteenth

When Friday the thirteenth occurs during a summer month, it never seems quite as spooky to me as when it falls in October. Still, it is Friday the thirteenth, and while Austen was surely too rational to care much for superstitions, I am not a particularly rational person. So, here is a short scene from …

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Blossoming Love: The Rosarian (Excerpts from Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma)

While ruminating on our theme for June, Blossoming Love, and having written a piece on the subject already (“I have always been indifferent to flowers,” June 3), I was reminded of roses, and the fact that in my first Austenesque novel, I wrote a character who was actually a Rosarian. He was a minor character, …

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