Austenesque Reviews is excited to welcome C. Allyn Pierson, who has graciously answered some questions of mine about writing, Jane Austen, and her novel Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister. Thank you so very much, Carey, for your time and participation in this interview.

Tell us about yourself as a writer. How long have you been writing?

CAP: I always loved writing and in grade school I wanted to be a writer as a career (and I decided that C. Allyn Pierson would be my pen name). By the time I was twelve, I decided that I wanted to go into medicine and I stuck with that. During my schooling and then raising a young family, including a special needs child, I did not have the time or energy to write. When my eldest son went off to college I found that I had a bit more time and, more importantly, the desire and energy to start writing.

Where and when did you first discover Jane Austen? What do you love most about Jane Austen’s writing?

CAP: I would have to say that I discovered Jane Austen when I was in my thirties. Although I had read Pride and Prejudice in school it did not resonate with me at the time and seemed really dry. I rediscovered her through one of the English au pairs who came over to care for my children when she introduced me to the 1995 film with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle and I was hooked. I went back and reread all my Austen books and really appreciated the subtlety and wit of her stories. I think the films really helped me appreciate the time period of the books, especially since we learn virtually nothing about the Regency Era in school.

There are many directions an author can take when penning a Pride and Prejudice sequel. How did you decide which characters, storylines, and settings to feature and which to exclude?

CAP: I would love to write about Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage, and that is what my first, self-published book, “And This Our Life” was in the beginning, but during the editing process Georgiana Darcy became more and more important in the story. I found myself intrigued by her because she is really just a shadow in the book- almost everything we know about her is second hand, and some of that, such as Wickham’s comments, were outright lies. When we meet her in the story it is very briefly and we find out that, instead of being haughty and proud, she is extremely shy to the point of not being able to carry on a conversation. So, Georgiana is an enigma and I found that intriguing. I am also interested in some of the other, lesser characters such as Anne de Bourgh. As far as Darcy and Elizabeth, unfortunately for me there have been many sequels already written about them!

Georgiana Darcy is a very intriguing and complex teenage girl, and in your novel she is not perfectly docile or reserved. What went into your thought process when creating your Georgiana?

CAP: I felt that Georgiana’s life was very lonely as she was so much younger than her brother that she could not really spend a lot of time with his friends and the child rearing methods among the upper classes meant that she was raised by nurses, then governesses instead of her parents. I thought that this would cause her to be very repressed, but, as we know, the teenage years can be very difficult to navigate and I thought this would be so for Georgiana, as well. It is not uncommon for very intelligent and educated teens to be socially awkward, but all teens have to deal with the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence as they try to find who they are. Georgiana is no exception and she sometimes responds emotionally to the well-meaning efforts of her guardians to find her a suitable husband and then later regrets it. I also felt that her acceptance of Wickham’s plans to elope indicated that she did have a bit of a teenage rebellious streak in her. To write about Georgiana I had to go back (a very long way!) to my own teenage years and resurrect my emotions and impatience, because fortunately for me, my own children were quite atypical in their teenage experiences.

CAP: She was used by the other characters as a device to pursue their own agendas: Miss Bingley wanted to make Elizabeth Bennet feel inadequate and to interest her brother in marrying Georgiana, and Wickham used her to fill out his lies about the Darcys. Darcy was the only on who spoke genuinely about his sister, but his reticence kept him from saying much about her. In many ways this left me free to develop Georgiana’s character as I wished and I felt that down underneath all her shyness and nervousness she had a strong character that Elizabeth would help bring out with her support and friendship. Overall, I think that the less we know about a character, the more freedom I have to develop an entire story around them.

In your novel, we are introduced to Colonel Fitzwilliam’s parents and older brother, characters whom Jane Austen mentioned but never wrote for. Why did you chose feature these characters? What inspired you to give them the personalities you did?

CAP: I was interested in Colonel Fitzwilliam’s brother because he is not even mentioned in Pride and Prejudice (except that we know the colonel is a younger son). Why was he, the future head of that branch of the family, not made Georgiana’s guardian instead of the colonel? It seemed to me that Georgiana’s father would leave her care to him instead of the colonel unless there was a strong reason not to, and I chose to make him arrogant and spoiled. Some sequels to P&P have made the colonel a fribble, interested only in a good time, but I felt that he had a much more substantial character if the elder Mr. Darcy thought he was an appropriate guardian for his daughter. The senior Fitzwilliams, Lord and Lady Whitwell, seemed an obvious choice to help bring Georgiana out, since Lady Catherine was clearly out of the question!

[Meredith:  That is a very good point about Colonel Fitzwilliam!]

Your writing is rich with historical detail and accuracy, and as mentioned in my review, it reminded me of Georgette Heyer’s writing. Did Georgette Heyer influence your writing? Do you have a favorite Heyer novel?

CAP: Actually, I did not read a Georgette Heyer romance until about six months ago! I had read her mysteries and thought they were so-so, but I had never touched her Regency romances. I have now read them all, twice, thanks to Sourcebooks reissuing many of the best and making a lot of them available on the Kindle! I prefer to not use a lot of slang terms, which her characters do, because that was not something Jane Austen would do, so my writing is more similar to JA in that sense, but in many other ways I think Heyer’s books are brilliant and I would love to follow in her footsteps. I am amazed that she can take such a narrow time and place and come up with so many different scenarios and make you care about her characters! I also enjoy her historical references which place her stories in time. I felt that when Elizabeth married Darcy that she would move out of the narrow, intimate society she grew up in and would have more contact with what was going on in the rest of the world and so my use of historical information is much more like Heyer’s. My favorite Heyer novel is Grand Sophy because I love how free-spirited she is and she keeps everyone off-balance during the entire book.

Similar to Georgette Heyer as well, you included actual historical figures in your novel, such as the Prince Regent and Lord Byron. Were there other less obivious historical figures in your novel? What prompted you to include them?

CAP: I mentioned Angelica Catalani once in the book because she was the undisputed finest soprano in London at that time and so I felt that I might as well use a real person since I was aware of her. I like to do a lot of research so that I can feel comfortable with a historical period and during that process I pick up a lot of tidbits of information which I think add verisimilitude, without drowning the story under the history. The Prince Regent and Lord Byron, of course had actual roles in the story, if only small ones.

In Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister, Mr. Darcy is sent on a secret mission to Paris to save the hide of The Prince Regent, what prompted you to have Darcy go on this adventure?

CAP: I was intrigued by the story of the Prince Regent’s illegal and secret marriage and I wanted to get Darcy away from London so that Colonel Fitzwilliam would be in charge of Georgiana, but the tale also helped develop the colonel’s character by filling out his role in the Horse Guards and at the palace. The fact that the marriage actually happened was like a pearl dropped in my lap and I used it to my advantage. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction!

What scene did you have the most fun writing? Which scene was the most challenging?

CAP: The last scene in the book, after Georgiana is married. It was also the most challenging because I had to decide how much sexual detail I was going to put in my books, so I wrote several versions, from G rated to X rated. I decided that I did not want to be the one to make Jane Austen spin in her grave, so I went with the G to PG rating. I really don’t think sex is a spectator sport but it is sometimes difficult to bring in the characters’ passion without getting too explicit.

What are three words you would use to describe your book?

CAP: Intriguing, sweet, accomplished (that word for which all Regency ladies aspire!)

What is the next project you are working on? Will you write more for the characters of Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister?

CAP: I would like to write more about these characters and have about 2/3 of another sequel finished, but I need to see what the publisher will accept. I have at least two sequels I would like to do.

[Meredith: Sounds great!]

I read on your site that some of your hobbies include playing the piano and violin. I am happy to say that this is a hobby we both share, I play the flute and piano! What is your favorite type of music to play or listen to?

CAP: I took up the violin at age 35, so I am not very good, but I like both classical and popular music. If you looked at the music stacked on my piano you would find Beethoven, Chopin, show tunes, and fiddle music. I really love playing fiddle music; it’s a lot of fun! My favorite relaxation is to play with my sister, who plays the piano while I play the violin. We are actually quite bad, but we have a lot of fun! If you looked at my CDs you would find stage and movie soundtracks, pop and country western music, which is rather a strange assortment, but I like variety. I rarely listen to classical music because most of my listening is in the car and classical music is too relaxing and makes me want to doze off on long driving trips. I listen to classical music at work while I do surgery.

If you could ask Jane Austen any question today, what would it be?

CAP: Jane Austen told her family the fates of Kitty and Mary Bennet. I would like to know what she thought happened to Georgiana after the end of P&P.