Meet the Austen Variations Team!

Hello, friends! I hope everyone’s 2025 is off to a good start! 🙂

As we kick off a new year, we’ve decided to bring you a little something special — a fun Q&A with the JAV team! Whether you’re curious about where they live, their ideal writing location, or the one thing they couldn’t live without, we’re here to shed some light on the people who dream up some of your favorite stories.

So pour yourself a cup of tea, settle into your favorite armchair, and get ready to learn a bit more about our authors!

Abigail Reynolds

Where do you live? I’m lucky enough to live on Cape Cod, in the historic village of West Falmouth. Before coming here 12 years ago, I lived in Wisconsin for 25 years.

Drink of choice: Tossup between oolong tea and bittersweet hot chocolate.

Do you have any pets? The stories I could tell! Currently I only have 4 cats and a part-time golden retriever, which is quite low for me. Pfeffernusse and Pip are littermates, both long-haired white cats with orange Turkish Van markings. Bastet is a grey short-haired warrior goddess, and Snickerdoodle is a medium-hair cream tabby lovebug.

Place you most want to travel: Everywhere! I love to travel. I’d love to get back to the UK for part of the Jane Austen 250 celebration, and I’m aching to visit a couple of the locations in my fantasy series.

What food could you eat every day? Chocolate. Actually, I DO eat that everyday! And goat cheese.

What is something you couldn’t live without? Jane Austen!

What is your ideal writing location? At my desk, which is on the top floor looking out on two birdfeeders and a tiny distant view of Buzzards Bay.

Name something that instantly makes your day better: Cat cuddles.

Where is your happy place? Oh, so many of them! The Sippewisset salt marsh is a place I fell in love with 40 years ago and still find peace in.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you? I have a deep interest in tai chi, and I’m a teaching assistant in two tai chi groups. I love the flow of the movement and how much it’s helped me keep my inner and outer balance.

Alix James

Where do you live? I live in NorthWestern Oregon, about thirty miles east of Portland in a small town. I grew up in Boise, Idaho, and I still miss the mountain desert climate, but for now, the forest is home.

Drink of choice: A cold Pepsi (but no ice) or a hot white chocolate latte.

Do you have any pets? Zeena, the Jack Russell! Plus two Cattle Dogs, two tuxedo barn cats, and five Quarter Horses.

Place you most want to travel: We always said we’d love to see Australia, but right now, I’m in a Hawaii kind of mood.

What food could you eat every day? Mashed Potatoes.

What is something you couldn’t live without? My floor vacuum/mop thing. I have dogs…

What is your ideal writing location? Snuggled in my arm chair with my puppy in my lap and a fire in the hearth and rain outside.

Name something that instantly makes your day better: Hugging my family. Especially my cute hubby!

Where is your happy place? On my horse.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you? Usually, they’re surprised to learn I’m an author. Apparently there’s a “type?”  But if you already knew me as an author, you might not know I also love fixing things. I DIY everything!

Amy D’Orazio

Where do you live? Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Drink of choice: Iced tea with cinnamon.

Do you have any pets? Two Jack Russell terriers, Charlotte and Ivy.

Place you most want to travel: Norway.

What food could you eat every day? Ice cream.

What is something you couldn’t live without? Ice cream.

What is your ideal writing location? The beach!

Name something that instantly makes your day better: Hanging out with my dogs and my family.

Where is your happy place? Home with the family.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you? I love to remake old furniture whether by re-upholstering it, painting it, staining it, or whatever it needs. It is not uncommon for me to stop my car and snag a nice piece of furniture someone has put out for garbage!

Anngela Schroeder

Where do you live? I live on 5 acres in a small farming community in California. My husband grew up on acreage, and it has been a HUGE adjustment for this Los Angeles girl. I never knew there were so many bugs!

Drink of choice: Cold- Homemade Strawberry Lemonade; Hot- German Hot Chocolate  But, I actually prefer water with lemon most of the time. I’d rather eat my calories than drink them. 🙂

Do you have any pets? I have a golden Retriever named Millie who deserves so much better than me. She is the sweetest girl and loves to bring us offerings of squirrels, mice and birds. Her favorite past time is riding the Polaris with my sons throughout the property.

Place you most want to travel: There is just something about England the feeds my soul. I would love to go to the Yorkshire Dales (I can’t wait until All Creatures Great and Small begins again on PBS). I love to visit large houses, and Wentworth Woodhouse and Hadden Hall are on my bucket list. Until then, Chatsworth is my favorite!

What food could you eat every day? Grape Leaves or falafel. My father is Arabic, and I could eat his Arabic food every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. American food, a loaf of bread and butter. My husband knows when I’m in a mood because I buy 4 different types of bread and a brand new slab of real butter. Then, add strawberry jam?  Heaven!

What is something you couldn’t live without? Other than my family, a heater. I CANNOT handle the cold, and actually have a little space heater next to my bed. The joke amongst my extended family is that the Schroeder Boys wear shorts in the winter because our house is always at least 75 degrees.

What is your ideal writing location? Anywhere that I don’t have to stop in the middle to go do laundry or make dinner. I love sitting outside in our grove of redwoods, but Millie believes if I’m outside, I am supposed to play with her, so I’m not always productive.

Name something that instantly makes your day better:  When my sons do their chores without asking. It’s a small miracle, but always brightens my day.

Where is your happy place? Other than anywhere with my family, Disneyland, or a Friday night under the stadium lights watching my boys play a sport they love. I love the energy and emotion with competitive sport and the emotional and physical growth of the players. It warms my teacher heart.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?  I was a Southern California All-Star softball player and was introduced at Dodger Stadium my senior year of high school. I got to meet Tommy Lasorda. Surprisingly, I don’t watch a lot of baseball/softball because it’s so slow, but I love to play it.

Christina Morland

Where do you live? About 25 miles outside of Boston, Massachusetts. If you look west, you’ll see farms and fields; if you look east, you’ll see approximately eight thousand Starbucks and Dunkin Donut coffee shops.

Drink of choice: Hot tea, lots and lots of it!

Do you have any pets? A beautiful, hilarious cat named Dea. She’s a puppy cat: plays fetch, follows us around the house, sleeps at my feet, and gives a breathy bark instead of a meow! But when anyone other than my husband, daughter, or I comes into the house, she immediately hides. So, most people don’t believe me when I say we have a cat, for they never get to see her!

Place you most want to travel: Chawton House, of course! All of England. Make that all of the UK and Ireland! Many other places, but fingers crossed, we’re heading to England this summer for the first time. (We were supposed to go in June 2020, but you know how that went!)

What food could you eat every day? Pizza! It’s been my response since I was five, and I’m not changing it!

What is something you couldn’t live without? My first thought was my husband and daughter, but a.) that’s kind of morbid and b.) they aren’t things! So, a thing, a thing: food and water? Believe me, I’m not a minimalist; I have way too much stuff! But if I had to live without them, well, I hope I would be able to do so!

What is your ideal writing location? A desk or a table with a window and a cup of tea nearby. I love writing in libraries, if I can bring my tea and snacks with me. 🙂

Name something that instantly makes your day better:  Ah ha! Now I can say my husband and daughter without feeling weird about it! Also a beautiful sunrise, or snow on trees, or — of course — a cup of tea!

Where is your happy place? At home with my family. I’m not very adventurous, but goodness, I’m sitting here in this warm kitchen, wearing a cozy sweater, listening to my daughter play the piano somewhere else in the house, hearing my husband laugh at something he just read, glancing over my shoulder to see my cat sitting on the counter (she really shouldn’t be, but…) How could I not love this place?

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you? Who knows what surprises other people? I’d be surprised to learn I had gone to space or time traveled, but I haven’t done either of those things — yet. 🙂

Thanks so much for reading! We hope you enjoyed getting to know some of our authors. 🙂 We’ll be back next Friday with the second installment in this four part series.

Until next time!

JA