Hi friends! I’m happy to welcome back author Caroline Cartier to Austenesque Reviews today! 🤗

Caroline is here to share about her special new release – A Lady’s Birthday Wish – which is an Austenesque novel about Jane Austen! 🙌🏼

And this Jane Austen gets to experience something we all wish we could…she enters the pages of Pride and Prejudice! 📖

Caroline brings with her a Q&A and an excerpt from A Lady’s Birthday Wish to share today. 🤩

We hope you enjoy!

A Pride and Prejudice Variation starring Jane Austen for Jane Austen’s birthday! An intriguing idea! Do you think Jane Austen would like the book?

CC: I think Jane Austen would either be appalled or astonished that her work had such an impact on the world that a group of dedicated writers spent their lives reimagining her work 250 years later, but I hope that she would be (at least secretly) flattered and pleased.

How do you approach world-building in your writing?

CC: I adore world building, probably because I have read SO MUCH fantasy and Tolkien. I tend to world-build more than many JAFF readers care for, and I have actually had to work very hard since last year on including more dialogue and less exposition. I think I have finally improved that balance, and hope that I continue to bring new concepts to JAFF through world-building.

What is your favourite scene of “A Lady’s Birthday Wish?”

CC: Oh gosh! There are so many great scenes. We have Jane sniffing out the problem between Darcy and Elizabeth, the visit to Scott’s Grotto, the wishing well, a Sadie Hawkins proposal, Lydia saving everyone from danger, and all of Jane’s special moments with her characters! I think Chapter 37 is my favourite, that is the last chapter before the epilogue, but I will let you all discover for yourself why.

How do you handle writer’s block or moments of creative doubt?

CC: I find that changing something, most often the weather, is a great way to write yourself out of a block. In such cases I research what sort of unseasonable weather events might have caused local hardship, and by the time I have written myself out of that, I have usually solved whatever uncertainty led to the block. Some authors say such tools should be removed in the revision process, but I do not see why. They had weather in the regency, and these are variations.

What character in this book did you like the least?

CC: I think that would have to be Mr Rupert Hurst, the younger brother of Mr Hurst. Readers may find that amusing, considering that he ended up far better off than he deserved in the end. But that is something I do quite a bit in my writing. It is a truth universally acknowledged that few people ever get what they really deserve, and the cruel or inconsiderate often get far better.

What projects are you currently working on, and can you offer any hints or teasers for your upcoming work?

CC: I am actually not working on anything right now. I fell in my kitchen in July, and will need surgery on my spine in a few months. I’ve decided I need a short sabbatical, to rest and market “A Lady’s Birthday Wish,” and so I was sadly obliged to withdraw from two collaborations I was looking forward to this winter. I cannot commit to anything with a fixed deadline just now, but I may start working lightly on something in the next month or so, with a hope of publishing in March, but no promises, because I really must focus on physical rehab. I will confess to feeling some very strong Bad Jane vibes lately, however, so it is possible I will get sucked down a rabbit hole and come up in the spring with something fresh.

Can we look forward to an audio version of “A Lady’s Birthday Wish?

CC: You can, and very soon indeed! I often release the audio version a few months after the kindle edition, but this time, the manuscript was ready 9 months before the anticipated release date, so there has been plenty of time to produce the audio, read by the famous and legendary Harry Frost, in a duet with a new female reader to JAFF, Anna Emmins! Audible can be tricky when trying to schedule things around the holidays, but the audio should become available the same day as the kindle version, or very soon after!

Do you read your book reviews?

CC: I find this question fascinating because some authors do and some don’t but we all have our own opinions about it. I read my reviews, because I like to share them on my social media and in groups, but I also compartmentalize very well, and am ok with the idea that it is impossible to be universally adored. If a review is particularly harsh, I go read some of the reviews that other famous authors have given Jane Austen herself, and then I feel better. My biggest pet peeve, however, is reviews where a reader says they love this book, but one thing they don’t like about my writing is something I did in another book, not the one they are reviewing! That is always a little hard to swallow, and I seem to get one or two of these reviews with each release, but I am very grateful that most of my reviews have been kind. This is my Public Service Announcement to all: Reviews and star ratings are important, and I am grateful for every single one! It only takes one second to leave a star rating!

Which of the characters from this newest book do you think you are most like?

CC: Not to flatter myself, but I believe in temperament, the character from “A Lady’s Birthday Wish” that I am probably most like would be Jane Austen herself. Not to compare myself with genius, of course, but I am a very practical, rational person, and I tend to be very open with my thoughts, and can be known for my sarcasm and even possibly caustic remarks. People who know me well will assure you that you ought never wonder what I think of you, because I will tell you myself, without hesitation or regret. I do not have much of a filter, and I tend to say exactly what I think. Miss Austen’s character in “A Lady’s Birthday Wish” was obligated to be rather nicer than she is historically known for, being dependent on Mr and Mrs Bingley’s good will, so she was on her best behaviour. Most of the time.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

CC: A warm fuzzy feeling, and excessive enthusiasm for my next book!

~ Excerpt from A Lady’s Birthday Wish ~

Miss Jane Austen walked the lane from Godmersham Park to the village. She had spent the early morning writing – or rather attempting to write – as she usually did, and then enjoyed breaking her fast with her family. She was now on her way to visit the vicar’s wife, and to see if her new cap was ready at the milliner’s; she wished to wear it tonight at the dinner her brother arranged to celebrate her thirty-seventh birthday. It was to be a private family dinner since Jane no longer cared to be public about her age. She looked forward to the evening and would do Edward the compliment of looking her very best.

When she returned to Godmersham Park, she would seek out Cassandra and bid her to do something more leisurely and fun besides helping with the children and Edward’s household. The sisters were in Canterbury with their mother to visit Edward’s family for the festive season, and Jane’s elder sister Cassandra was an industrious woman who was always helping or taking care of someone.

Jane thought about the story she was writing – Mansfield Park – and her difficulty this morning. Moving houses always disrupted her thinking, but it had been over a week since they arrived in Canterbury, and she was no closer to finishing the chapter she was working on since the day they left Chawton. Her current hero lacked the romantic appeal of her last, she mused as she enjoyed the bright sunshine on her face. She wondered if she would ever surpass Mr Darcy, who was lauded amongst those who had read Pride and Prejudice as the most divine hero ever to grace the page.

She veered off of the lane onto a small path leading to a local place of interest; the wishing well. A mere hole in the ground, the well was fed from an underground spring, and locals from miles around visited often, throwing in pins or coins for the spirit that resided within the well. Jane had come with Cassandra and the children many times. Once in a great while, she came just for herself alone.

She approached the spring quite by herself and pulled out a coin. What did she wish for? To write with ease tomorrow? To write a hero that would put even Mr Darcy to shame? Was it possible? Or did she wish for something more? The thought stopped her; more what? For once in her life she felt she did not know.

“I wish for something more this festive season,” Jane whispered as she tossed her coin into the bubbling water. She turned, and began to walk back the way she came as she pondered the last few minutes. She wondered if she had wasted a wish of special significance – her birthday wish – or if something special might happen. And she had spent money – a minuscule sum – but still, she usually only threw in a hairpin. Well; if she awoke tomorrow morning and wrote with ease, she would be grateful even for only that. When she told dear Cassandra about her whimsy later, her sister would surely call her a goose.

As she returned to the lane, a saddled, but unfamiliar horse thundered by without a rider, having obviously thrown the poor person. All Jane could think as she fell backwards from the path as the horse careened past was that she hoped the rider was unharmed. Could this horse belong to one of her nephews? Her panicked thought was cut short as her body was thrown backwards into a nearby stone wall by the horse’s flight. Everything turned white as her head struck hard rock, and she submitted to unconsciousness.

***

“Madam, madam, are you well? Can you hear me? Oh, please wake up!” Jane heard a feminine voice call out. Could the rider have been a woman? She could not recall if there had been a side saddle on the horse. She opened her eyes and saw a pretty young woman with dark chestnut curls and warm brown eyes above her.

“Is she dead?” asked another, obviously younger female voice from nearby.

“Are you certain it is safe? Have you ever seen her before, Lizzy?” asked another.

“Of course it is safe, Lydia! Do you see anyone else nearby? I cannot think who she might be,” said the first voice. “We are closer to Longbourn, but I think Jane’s household at Netherfield would be a better choice for welcoming an injured stranger. Our mother’s nerves might not be equal to the task today; she is too affected by our cousin’s upcoming visit to Meryton, and she was anxious about it at breakfast. Kitty, Charles is on the eastern border today, doing some work on the stile with Mr Kennedy. Run there as fast as you can, ask him to send help and a cart to move this lady.”

“Wha- who?” Jane attempted to ask as she blinked. The bright sunshine hurt her eyes, and the pain was blinding. She could hardly think at all. Had there been a carriage as well? How many women were there? Did someone say Longbourn?

“Oh, thank the Lord!” a young woman exclaimed as she saw Jane coming to. “I am Miss Elizabeth Bennet, madam. Can you tell me your name?” the young woman asked.

Elizabeth Bennet? Was she delirious? “Miss Jane-,” Jane tried, before a wave of nausea and pain in her injured head overtook her.

“Miss Jane? Miss Jane-what?” Miss Elizabeth asked insistently, but Miss Jane had already slipped back into unconsciousness.

***

When she woke again, she was indoors, on a very comfortable bed, and she had been changed and bathed. Jane kept her eyes closed, for the light from the window pained her. Two feminine voices spoke from across the room.

“All she said was Miss Jane?” said a very gentle female voice.

“Those were the only words that she spoke before she fainted, Jane,” answered the female voice from before, the one who had claimed to be Miss Elizabeth Bennet. “I thought you and Charles would manage a strange invalid much better than our mother.”

“I suppose you are right. Charles wishes to show her every courtesy,” said the other woman. Could this possibly be Miss Caroline Bingley? No, Miss Bennet had called the woman Jane. She specifically mentioned Jane’s household at Netherfield before. That would make Jane Mrs Bingley. But if Jane was Mrs Bingley, should not Elizabeth be Mrs Darcy, and not Miss Elizabeth Bennet?

They were to be married the same day. What has happened to my story? she wondered, recalling that Lydia had also been there when she was found. Should not Mrs Wickham be in Newcastle? Something has gone wrong, she thought as the pain pierced her head again, and she slipped once more into unconsciousness.

Imagine being in the pages of Pride and Prejudice…but things are all wrong! 😮

I wonder what caused these alterations… 🤔

And what can be done to set everything right. 📖

~~~

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In conjunction with her visit today, Caroline is giving away 1 audiobook code for A Lady’s Birthday Wish to one lucky commenter!

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment, question, or some love for Caroline below.

 

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Caroline!
• This giveaway ends December 15th. 

A Lady’s Birthday Wish is Available for Pre-Order!!!