Ask Me Anything! by Jennifer Altman

Hello friends!

First, a big thank you to everyone who commented on my last post! I am so excited to be back today with an “Ask Me Anything!”

But before we get started, I wanted to take a moment to announce the giveaway winners! Congratulations to Rebecca L McBrayer and Kelly! Each of you will receive a free Kindle/ebook copy of my next novel as soon as it’s released. 🎉

Now, on to the main event! I had some great questions come in via Facebook and the blog, and I had a lot of fun answering. 🙂 Also, since some of these questions were specific to my WIP, if you’re interested, you can find my previous two excerpts HERE and HERE.

I hope you enjoy!

Ask Me Anything!

What gave you the idea for your current WIP?

Hmm… this is a difficult question to answer without giving too much away! But I guess I’ll just say that in this Pride and Prejudice variation, Darcy has a secret, and it’s something that I’ve had an interest in exploring for a while. 😏

Beyond that, the idea of Bingley meeting Elizabeth before he meets Jane has also been something I’d wondered about. On the surface, I think Bingley and Elizabeth actually share several key personality traits. They are both friendly, good-natured, and easy-going. Both are sociable and unpretentious, and neither of them are particularly concerned with issues of class. So I could see them being drawn to one another due to these similarities. We also know from P&P canon that Bingley is a bit capricious, so I could easily see how he might shift his interest from one lady to another. Given that fact, I thought it could be fun to see how Bingley would handle a situation where he has already begun a relationship with Elizabeth when he meets Jane. How would he extricate himself (in an honorable way) from one sister in order to pursue the other? And what kind of strain might this put on Elizabeth and Jane’s relationship?

Another thing I’ve always wondered about was how Mrs. Bennet would react to Mr. Darcy if he had never snubbed Elizabeth at the Meryton Assembly. There is certainly no doubt that between Bingley and Darcy, Darcy is the “better catch” (at least in terms of status and wealth) so it’s fairly easy to imagine Mrs. Bennet turning a blind eye to Darcy’s less desirable traits if it meant she could match him with one of her daughters!

Do you tend to write a book chronologically or do your books come together in various scenes that you then weave together?

This is a great question! The answer, unfortunately, is the latter—I write scenes out of order and then put them together. To be honest, I think it would be a lot faster and easier to write my novels chronologically, however, I never seem to be able to make that work! I will say that I do always know how the story is going to start, and I do begin at the beginning. But after that, I really just write whatever happens to pop into my head, which is often a scene from later in the book. As I’m writing, I do my best to put everything into some semblance of order (like, I know this scene will have to come after this one, but before that) but I will confess that I generally end up with something that looks a lot like Frankenstein’s monster when I’m about halfway through the writing process! At that point, I try to clean things up and start putting in chapter breaks. Then I begin filling in the missing pieces until I have a somewhat coherent story!

Do you read JAFF published by other authors? If so, what are some of your favorites?

Yes! I do read JAFF published by other authors! While I know there are some writers who don’t like to read in their genre (usually to avoid being influenced by other authors), I was a JAFF reader long before I wrote a word of my first P&P variation. To be honest, I love the genre and wouldn’t want to give up reading it just because I have crossed over to writing my own stories.

As far as favorite books go, honestly, there are probably way too many to name! But I can tell you that all of my fellow Austen Variations authors turn out amazing work, and I was a huge fan of many of them (including Joana Starnes, Abigail Reynolds, Amy D’Orazio, and Elizabeth Adams) way before I ever decided to try penning anything of my own. And since I continue to read within the genre, I am constantly discovering new authors and novels that I genuinely love.

Do you have any plans to tackle any of Jane Austen’s other novels? 

This is an interesting question, and I’d say for right now, the answer is no. For one thing, Pride & Prejudice fan fiction (specifically books featuring Darcy and Elizabeth) definitely seem to be the stories that most JAFF readers prefer, but beyond that, I feel like those are the stories I most enjoy telling. So, while I personally love many of Austen’s other novels (FYI, Emma is probably my second favorite after P&P), I’m very happy to be holed up in the P&P universe indefinitely!

Do you know how this book will turn out, or could something surprising happen in it of which you are unaware?

Ooh, another great question! I do know how the book will turn out. And as a matter of fact, I’ve already written most of the ending. 🙂 While I don’t write outlines for my novels, when I start a new book, I always know: how the story begins, four or five plot points that I want to hit to move the story forward, and how the story ends. Then it’s really just a question of getting from point A to point B, point B to point C, etc. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a surprise or two along the way! And I’ve definitely had situations where how I get from one plot point to another differs from what I had originally imagined.

Is Mr. Walsh going to be a Wickham-replacement or Wickham-like character? Are we going to see Wickham in this book?

Oh my goodness! No! Mr. Walsh is one of the good guys, although I do find it interesting that some of you seemed to be unsure based on the excerpts I’ve posted. What I can say is that his relationship with Darcy will be the cause of some speculation, but he is NOT a George Wickham replacement.

Regarding whether or not Wickham will play a role in this story, personally, I’m not a huge fan of this particular character, so I generally don’t include him (except peripherally) in my variations. In this book, Wickham is mentioned briefly a couple of times, but that’s about it. He does not feature prominently in the story.

Will Jane and Elizabeth be interested in the same gentleman? Should I be nervous?

LOL! Well, I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say that there is no need to be nervous. 🙂 One thing I can promise you is a happily-ever-after for all of the main characters, including Elizabeth and Jane. However, we will have a situation where both Jane and Elizabeth are… perhaps I will say enamored with the same gentleman to varying degrees within the story.

What do you find most challenging/intimidating about writing in the Regency period? 

Another great question! I definitely don’t think I find any aspect of writing in the Regency period intimidating. I actually really enjoy writing in the more formal style that this time period requires, and since I’ve been doing it for three books now, I think it comes fairly easily to me.

As far as the most challenging part, I think the main issue is that writing in a different time period requires you to do a certain amount of research. And I have definitely had instances where the results of that research have contradicted a story element that I wanted to include in the book. For example, in my last novel, Faults of Understanding, Darcy and Elizabeth attend a St. Valentine’s Day ball. It’s kind of a turning point in their relationship, as it’s at this event that they each start to realize/admit/understand that they have feelings for one another. As such, I really wanted to have them dance a waltz. However, when I began to research the origins of the waltz, I realized that most scholars believe the dance was popularized in England around 1812. Since the ball in my novel takes place in February of 1812, it made it somewhat unlikely that (a) a waltz would be played and (b) that Darcy and Elizabeth would both be familiar enough with the dance to already know the steps. But as I said, I was pretty set on including it, so, although I did make a few minor adjustments, I ended up keeping that scene in the novel. 🙂

Is there any trope you don’t feel comfortable writing and why?

Well, one of the things I love about writing Pride & Prejudice variations (and one of the reasons I don’t really see myself branching out to cover other Austen novels) is that there are SO MANY different “what if” scenarios to explore, just with Darcy and Elizabeth alone! But for me personally, I tend to like to write stories that stay fairly close to canon, so I think I would be less likely to work with tropes that stray too far from the original, such as modern retellings or alternate settings (like P&P in space, or set in a different location or time period). I’m also not really big on high fantasy, however I could definitely see writing something with some slight magical elements to it. (As a matter of fact, my next story may just incorporate a tiny sprinkle of this!). But I will also say “never say never,” so who knows? It’s definitely possible that I will branch out if the right idea comes my way!

How do you stay focused? Do you reward yourself when you’ve completed a chapter?

Ugh, this is a tough one to answer! As someone who can’t seem to publish more than one book every 2-3 years, I think it’s fairly obvious that focus is not my strong suit! 😂 But while I definitely do struggle with keeping myself on track, I think one thing that really helps (although I’m not always very good about implementing it!) is to try to write a little bit every day. Even if it’s only a few paragraphs, or a little snippet of dialogue, it really does keep the momentum going and helps to keep you grounded in the story. I always say that writing is a little bit like going to the gym. Once you’re in a regular routine, it’s not that bad, but the longer you stay away, the harder it is to go back!

As for rewarding myself when I’ve completed a chapter: I wish! Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, I don’t write my novels in chronological order, so I’m generally all over the place until pretty close to the end. I suppose I could reward myself for reaching a certain word count a day, though. Hmm… maybe that’s something I need to look into!

When will your WIP be published?

This is a question that I was asked by more than one person, and the best answer I can give is that I’m writing as fast as I can! 😂 Right now, my word count is about 60k, and I’m aiming for 80k (although it’s hard to say whether the book will turn out to be longer or shorter than that). But if all goes well, my goal is to release it in early 2025, so hopefully you won’t have too much longer to wait!🤞

Thanks so much for reading!

Until next time!

JA