Shannon Winslow claims she was minding her own business – raising two sons and pursuing a very sensible career – when an ordinary trip to Costco about fifteen years ago changed her life. That was the day a copy of the ’95 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice fairly leapt off the shelf and into her oversized shopping cart. After watching the mini-series, Shannon was hopelessly hooked on the story, Colin Firth’s Darcy, and all things Jane Austen. One may guess what followed – compulsive reading, late-night trips to the library and video store, secret rendezvous with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightley. Finally, only one thing remained. Her dedication (or obsession, as it could more rightly be described) ultimately inspired her to begin writing her own stories a la Austen. Here's what Shannon says about her unique approach to writing JAFF: "Since I’m just sappy enough to believe there’s only one true story for the characters I’ve grown to love (and Jane Austen wrote it), I amuse myself with adding onto rather than varying from canon - expanding on what Jane Austen gave us and filling in the blanks in the record with prequel, sequel, and supplemental views. What was Mr. Darcy doing all the time he’s absent from the page? What happened to Colonel Brandon in India? And how did our favorite couples fare after the wedding? Inquiring minds want to know, and I’m happy to deliver the answers!"

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Author's posts

Sanditon Group Read: Chapters 1-3

We’re off and running with our group reading of Jane Austen’s unfinished last novel Sanditon! (If you missed the introduction to this series, read it here to get caught up) I hope you enjoyed the first three chapters as I did. I’ve only read this delightful fragment once before, several years ago now, so I …

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Sanditon Group Read – Introduction

Several months ago, tremendous excitement overtook the Jane Austen world when we learned there would soon be an entirely new film adaptations coming our way! Not only was this one going to be based on a never-before-attempted Jane Austen work (her unfinished novel Sanditon), but it was being written by Andrew Davies, talented screenwriter of …

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Book Launch from Shannon Winslow!

Woohoo! It’s book launch day for Prayer and Praise: A Jane Austen Devotional! It’s been well over a year since I had a new release, not because I haven’t been writing, but because, for a change, I’ve been working on more than one project at once – a short story, a play, and another novel …

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A Haunted House?

Your Austen Variations authors have so much going on this month (with new releases, etc.) that there haven’t been many posts so far using this month’s theme: Fantastical Austen, where the strange and paranormal are meant to be featured. I imaging that will change, as we now drawing closer to Halloween, though. For my contribution, …

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A “Stormy” Excerpt from “Return to Longbourn”

Normally I wouldn’t have much first-hand info to report on storms from the first half of September. In fact, we often have some of our nicest weather this month. Yes, a few spots of the rain Seattle is famous for, but lots of sun and warm temperatures too. This year has been different, however. We’ve …

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Austen in August: Jane Austen’s Devotion

Welcome Austen-in-August Readers! Austen Variations is joining The Book Rat for a month-long celebration of all things Austen!  Today, we’re looking at the spiritual side of the famous authoress. I have always been curious about Jane Austen’s spiritual side. She lived in a very different time and culture, but was her experience of faith similar nonetheless? …

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An Inspiring Trip to the Lake

“Austen at the Beach” is the July theme here at the blog. The weather is getting hot, and aren’t we all thinking about how refreshing it would be to spend some time on or near water? But the only “beachy” scenes I’ve written for my books are ones I’ve already shared here at Austen Variations: …

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The Newlywed Tilneys with a View to a Picnic

Picnics! What a fun theme! Only one problem; I didn’t have a single picnic scene in any of my books to share… so I wrote one for the Northanger Abbey sequel I have underway (working title: Murder at Northanger Abbey).  It fit nicely into the first chapter where I’m giving a snap shot of Catherine …

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The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen – Wrapping It Up!

Don’t you wish Jane Austen could have enjoyed the same kind of romance and happy ending she carefully crafted for each of her heroines? Perhaps she did after all! This was my inspiration for The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen.  I also drew a bit of inspiration from this photo, which I took of a …

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The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen – Part 3: Falling in Love

In last week’s episode, Jane met the dashing and mysterious Captain Devereaux at her brother Henry’s wedding. Although she doesn’t expect to see him ever again, she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him. Will fate take a hand? Need to review? See Part 1 and Part 2 before continuing. ~ Chapter 4 ~ …

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