Interview + Giveaway with Kara Louise

June 19, 2013 • Author Features, Giveaways • 66 Comments

AuthorInterview

Interview with Fitzwilliam Darcy

The Scene: While her husband (Mr. Bingley) is out late playing for a show, Meredith Esparza decides to wait up for him and begins reading a riveting new release by Kara Louise, Pirates and Prejudice. Meredith is only a couple of chapters in when Mr. Bingley returns and they both turn in for the night. During the night, Meredith begins to have a dream, and she finds herself at an inn, where a very gruff looking pirate comes in and asks the proprietor for a bath, haircut, and shave! When he emerges, she realizes it is none other than Mr. Darcy! So she does what any Janeite would do…(after staring at him in stunned silence for five minutes and unsuccessfully attempting to slow down her rapid heartbeat)…she starts to converse with him!

Pirates and PrejudiceThis is a record of their conversation:

[blurry, wavy image and harp music]

Meredith: [nervously takes a deep breath] Hello, I’m sorry to disturb you, but…are you not Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy?

Darcy: Me? Fitzwilliam Darcy? [shaking head] I feel a bit more like him now that I’ve had a good bath and shave, and this mop of hair is trimmed. [He rakes his fingers through his hair.] But if you had asked me that question even just two weeks ago, I would not have been able to answer that way. For I was in such a state, that in my head I believed very much that I was he, but I had felt quite unlike him for several months. In fact, as you likely saw from my appearance when I first arrived, I was almost as unrecognizable to others on the outside as I was to myself on the inside.

Meredith: What happened that made you feel so unlike yourself?

Darcy: It began one fateful day a few months back that is seared upon my memory with such clarity and in such detail that I can practically recite to you every word uttered and expression displayed. I shall not, however, take up your time with the sordid details. Suffice it to say, the woman I ardently loved and admired refused my offer of marriage. I foolishly anticipated a favourable reply, but was harshly rejected. The effect her refusal had on me ranged from anger to despair to a complete questioning of who I was – or who I thought I was. As a result, me existence, excuse me – my existence – these months passed had been one o’ neglectin’ me person, tryin’ to drown those memories with an excess of strong drink, an’ wantin’ nothin’ but to disappear from all me family, friends, an’ acquaintances.

Meredith: [smiling at his language] Oh…I am sorry for your disappointment and heartache, Mr. Darcy! [after a brief pause] Maybe you will get a second chance with this woman… [Darcy jerks his head up and a glimmer of hope appears in his eyes, but then he scoffs and shakes his head] Umm…and so this neglect of your person and newfound habit of being in your cups led to your being mistaken for a pirate?

Darcy: Aye! [shakes head and rolls eyes] Yes! It were – it was – terrible bein’ arrested an’ thrown into that foul cell knowin’ they believed I were – was – Lockerly, an escaped pirate! Fer some reason they didn’t believe that I was Fitzwilliam Darcy! Well, I suppose I ken guess why they didn’t believe me, but I thought I’d be hung an’ no one would ever know what become – became – of me! It seemed hopeless.

Meredith: How did you ever get out of jail and convince everyone you were not Lockerly? Given your appearance when you walked in – your long, unruly hair, full beard, and flamboyant choice of apparel – you looked much more like a pirate than you did a gentleman.

Darcy: ‘Twas fortunate… ahem… It was fortunate that a man came by the next morning who knew Lockerly well and who knew he had a scar on his chest up by his shoulder. [points to area] He made me open me shirt an’… [shakes head again] ahem… open my shirt, of all things, and show him I had no scar. But at least he realized who I was. Unfortunately, because of me resemblance, that were only the beginning of the story! For when I was released, I agreed to impersonate this pirate an’ then ’ad to relearn to walk an’ talk like the lowly miscreant he was, as well as dress like ’im, as a way to try an’ lure him into the hands of the police! It weren’t easy to teach me to talk like a man without gentlemanlike manners, [mumbles softly] although once I had been accused of that very thing. An’ anyone who knows me, knows that disguise of any sort is my abhorrence!

Meredith: Yes, I know it is! I’m surprised you would agree to impersonate a pirate and go through all the challenges and discomforts you did. Why did you do it, Mr. Darcy?

Darcy: I only agreed to do this because of her – because of Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the lovely, beautiful, lively lady who refused me. [lets out a long sigh] It was a futile attempt on my part to try to forget her and put the shambles of a life back together, a life broken and filled with hopelessness. Little did I know, however, that by doing this, our two paths would once again intersect, as the very pirate I had been asked to impersonate – Lockerly – had taken her captive. So instead of being able to forget her, I had the honour of rescuing her, while at the same time unknowingly putting her in even greater risk.

Meredith: Oh my! What did Miss Bennet think when she saw you impersonating a pirate?

Darcy: What did she think? She thought I was a pirate and hit me in the face with a rock! I was quickly able to convince her I was not a pirate, but when I realized she did not recognize me – what with me talk, me clothes, long hair an’ beard, an’ now a very bruised an’ swollen eye – I confess I acted in a most abhorrent manner. [lowers head and shakes it slowly] I allowed her to believe I was someone else fer the sole purpose of enjoyin’ her smiles an’ laughter an’ conversation again. An’ even carin’ for me injured eye! Nope, she didn’t know it were me, an’ I wasn’t about to tell her! Acted jest like a scallywag, I did, hornswaggling her into thinkin’ I was somebody else.

[Meredith, eager to ask Darcy more questions about his mis-adventures as a pirate and his interactions with Elizabeth Bennet, is poised and ready to voice her next query when all of a sudden she hears a strange, electronic melody…the sound startles her out of her dream and she wakes up to the realization that Mr. Bingley’s alarm to wake up is going off! Drats! Feeling a little disappointed that her interview with Mr. Darcy came to such an abrupt end, she sits up in bed and looks around crossly for the offending object when her eye lands on the book at her bedside… Realizing that her adventures with pirate Darcy can continue right away, Meredith grabs her handy book light and settles back in bed with Pirates and Prejudice!

Hoist the colors and full-speed ahead, mateys!!
 
 

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Kara Louise has kindly offered to giveaway one copy (paperback for US, ebook for international) of her new release, Pirates and Prejudice, in conjunction with this post and my review (which will be posted on Friday).

To enter and win this lovely prize all you have to do is comment below.

Psst!  If you comment on Friday’s post, you will be entered twice!

 

  • To save your inbox from unwanted spam, please  leave your email address with an [at] instead of @.
    • (You could also leave a Twitter handle or Facebook username instead).
  • This giveaway is open worldwide! (paperback for US residents, ebook for international readers)
  • This giveaway ends June 26th.
 

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Disclaimer: The Amazon links used in this post are affiliate links. 

66 comments

  2. I admit, I’m having a hard time seing Darcy as a pirate.

    “He was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious.” Not exactly a description that makes me think of a swashbuckling pirate captain.

    But … Kara Louise hasn’t disappointed me yet, so I guess I’m ready to climb aboard.

    Heather M
    Hmoll (at) nycap (dot) rr (dot) com

    Reply

    1. Darcy does make quite a peculiar pirate…despite the clothing and unruly appearance, he is still recognizable as Darcy. I don’t think you will be disappointed in this one – I think I love it almost as much as I love Darcy’s Voyage!

      Reply

  5. Thanks, all! It was a fun interview to do. And thanks to Meredith for coming up with the idea! I hope you will enjoy it, and Heather, thanks for braving the waters and climbing aboard!

    Reply

  7. Love all her books….cannot wait to get my hands on this one…
    have a thing for pirates…think Darcy has a bit of the rogue wrapped up in his proper person…

    Stephanie

    Reply

  8. Thanks for stopping by, Sonia and Stephanie! I think we just don’t know how much Elizabeth’s refusal did to him! Of course ‘training’ him to learn his manners and speech was quite an effort, but he was able to pull it off – well, most of the time! Good luck in the giveaway!

    Reply

  9. I loved how he kept slipping with his speech. Fun interview! Looking forward to the book. And now I’m envious of Meredith for getting to meet Pirate Darcy in her dreams. ;D

    Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
    sophiarose1816 at gmail dot com

    Reply

  10. Oh. My Goodness!! What a fun review!! I *adore* Kara’s books, she is one of my two favorite Auestenesque authors!! I would love to win a free book!!!

    gracej.wang at gmail dot com

    Reply

    1. So glad this made you smile! That’s what I hope people will do when they see Darcy struggle with having to unlearn everything! Thanks for stopping by, Toni!

      Reply

  16. What a fun interview, Meredith! I adore everything that Kara Louise writes and Darcy has a pirate sounds great!!:)
    kellik115(at)yahoo(dot)com

    Reply

  17. Such a cute and fun interview! I already purchased this book and can’t wait to start! Darcy’s Voyage is at the top of my list of favorites so I am always am eager to read any of Kara’s books!

    Reply

    2. Thank you, Joy! I enjoyed working together with Kara on this very much! I think you will enjoy this one as much as Darcy’s Voyage, for sure!

      Reply

  18. Thank you for this funny interview! And for the giveaway too!!
    My email address: carrer.loredanaATyahoo.it

    Reply

  24. I would love to win the Pirates & Prejudice, even though it sounds a little strange!! However, one of my all time favorite JAFF’s is Kara Louise’s Darcy’s Voyage, and I hesitated to read it as well. Kara Louise is amazing!
    Catherine Commons
    catcommons[at]Comcast[dot]net

    Reply

  28. Whenever I think of pirates, Johnny Depp comes to mind. Darcy and pirates? I am getting an image of Colin Firth dressed like Jack Sparrow. Very interesting.
    Raquel36m (at) gmail (dot) com

    Reply

  29. Loved the interview, loved the book! Darcy’s pirate talk is certainly entertaining, and it was hilarious to read about his attempts to speak in an unrefined manner in the book. Although Mr. Darcy’s Voyage remains my favorite Kara Louise book (how could it not be my favorite, since it was the first of her books that I read! Plus, I found it in a public library in Singapore!)…nonetheless, Pirates & Prejudice is now on my list of top five favorite P&P variations. Nice work, Kara Louise!

    (P.S. Since I have a copy, no need to enter me in the giveaway!)

    Reply

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