I'm super excited to share with you the cover reveal of the new Austen inspired anthology called The Darcy Monologues, 15 short stories by 15 authors.
I'm also showcasing Sohpia Rose's short story, Darcy Strikes Out, cover
Also included is a link to the pre-order which is free if you're an Kindle Unlimited member.
And some information about the upcoming blog tour.
Plus just for the cover reveal there is are two fabulous #giveaways Open Internationally just scroll down to find them!
Good Luck!!
Get Ready, Get Set,
REVEAL!!!!!
Here's some information about the cover art from Christina Boyd
The
amazing cover art is the genius of Shari Ryan of MadHat Books. She took the
cover concept and created exactly as I envisioned. Shari professionally,
quickly, and concisely handled my countless questions, suggestions, and “just
one more tweak” in the challenging format of the print interior—even had a
special script code written to make it happen. And then when the original
concept had to be scrapped because of the print-on-demand company’s limitations
that were beyond our control (long, convoluted story only to be shared over
strong cocktails), Shari AGAIN created the present cover and interior for both
print and e-book. I could not recommend her expertise more!
Overview:
“You must allow me to tell you...”
For over two hundred years, Jane
Austen’s Mr. Darcy has captivated readers’ imaginations as the ultimate catch.
Rich. Powerful. Noble. Handsome. And yet, as Miss Austen’s “Pride and
Prejudice” is established through Elizabeth Bennet’s fine eyes, how are we to
know what his tortured soul is indeed thinking? How does Darcy progress from
“She is tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt me” to “I
thought only of you”?
In this romance anthology, fifteen
Austen-inspired authors assemble to sketch Darcy’s character through a series
of re-imaginings, set in the Regency through contemporary times—from faithful
narratives to the fanciful. Herein “The Darcy Monologues”, the man himself
reveals his intimate thoughts, his passionate dreams, and his journey to
love—all told with a previously concealed wit and enduring charm.
Stories by: Susan Adriani * Sara
Angelini * J. Marie Croft * Karen M Cox * Jan Hahn * Jenetta James * Lory
Lilian * KaraLynne Mackrory * Beau North * Ruth Phillips Oakland * Natalie
Richards * Sophia Rose * Joana Starnes * Melanie Stanford * Caitlin Williams
HERE is the pre-order link, again if you're a kindle unlimited member it's freeeeeeeee!
Here is the first #Giveaway remember it's open Internationally
And here is a sneak peek at Sophia Rose's short story cover and some short story cover art information
Multi-talented
author Beau North designed the individual fantastic short story graphics for our
social media promotions. I think each gives a lovely overall feel for each
story. And the color concept I think works well with #TheDarcyMonologues
branding, too!
Darcy Strikes Out
Author Information
Formally
trained as a fine artist and illustrator, Susan
Adriani discovered her passion for storytelling over a decade after she
graduated from a local art college near her childhood home in New England.
Susan is the author of The Truth about
Mr. Darcy and Darkness Falls upon
Pemberley.
Sara Angelini is a lawyer living in the San Francisco Bay area
with her husband, three kids, two dogs, a frog, some fish, and a few hundred
stick bugs. She never went to veterinary school but if she had, she would have
been a true proficient. She enjoys writing from Darcy’s point of view in a way
that shows his humor and vulnerability. Her first book, The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy, was published in 2008. She is
the co-founder of www.austenunderground.com, where her other Pride and Prejudice-inspired works can
be read.
Karen M Cox is an award-winning author of four novels
accented with romance and history: 1932,
Find Wonder in All Things, At the Edge of the Sea, and Undeceived. She also wrote “Northanger Revisited 2015”, which
appeared in the anthology Sun-Kissed:
Effusions of Summer. Originally from Everett, Washington, Karen now lives
in Central Kentucky with her husband, works as a pediatric speech pathologist,
encourages her children, and spoils her granddaughter. Like Austen’s Emma,
Karen has many hobbies and projects she doesn’t quite finish, but like
Elizabeth Bennet, she aspires to be a great reader and an excellent
walker.
J. Marie Croft is a self-proclaimed word nerd and
adherent of Jane Austen’s quote “Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery.’
Bearing witness to her fondness for Pride and Prejudice, wordplay, and
laughter are Joanne’s light-hearted novel, Love at First Slight, a
Babblings of a Bookworm Favourite Read of 2014, her humorous short story, “Spyglasses and Sunburns,” in the Sun-Kissed:
Effusions of Summer anthology, and a playful novella, A Little Whimsical
in His Civilities, Just Jane 1813’s Favorite JAFF Novella of 2016.
Award-winning writer Jan
Hahn is the author of four Austen-inspired novels. She studied music at the
University of Texas but discovered her true love was a combination of
journalism and literature. Her first book, An
Arranged Marriage, was published in 2011, followed by The Journey, The Secret Betrothal, and A Peculiar Connection. She agrees with Mr. Darcy’s words in Pride and Prejudice: “A lady’s
imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to
matrimony in a moment.” She is a member of the Jane Austen Society of North
America, lives in Texas, has five children and a gaggle of gorgeous
grandchildren.
Jenetta James is a mother, lawyer, writer, and taker-on of
too much. She grew up in Cambridge and read history at Oxford University where
she was a scholar and president of the Oxford University History Society. After
graduating, she took to the law and now practices full time as a barrister.
Over the years, she has lived in France, Hungary and Trinidad as well as her
native England. Jenetta currently lives in London with her husband and children
where she enjoys reading, laughing and playing with Lego. She is the author of Suddenly Mrs. Darcy and The Elizabeth Papers.
Lory Lilian fell in love with Pride
and Prejudice thirty-three years ago and discovered the charm of Jane
Austen fanfiction exactly twenty years later. She lives in Bucharest, Romania,
is a proud mother of an amazing daughter, and addicted to anything Austen.
After a career in business, she dedicates her time to reading and writing. Lory
is the author of six bestselling books:
Rainy Days, Remembrances of the Past, His Uncle’s Favorite, The Perfect Match,
Sketching Mr. Darcy, The Rainbow Promise, and A Man with Faults. JAFF readers call her the “Queen of Hot Mush”
and she loves it.
KaraLynne
Mackrory is no newbie to the writing world. She made her debut as an author at
the tender age of 13 when she wrote her first set of bad poetry. As a young
adult, she steered clear of bad prose and achieved a degree in social work.
Years later, she has published four Austen inspired novels so full of romantic
sensibilities as to give you a swoon and hopefully a few laughs. Her books
turned out better than her poetry and are: Falling
for Mr. Darcy, Bluebells in the
Mourning, the IPPY award-winning Haunting
Mr. Darcy, and Yours Forevermore,
Darcy.
Beau North is the author of Longbourn’s
Songbird, The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy, and a contributor to the
anthology Then Comes Winter. Beau is a native southerner who now calls
Portland, Oregon home with her husband and two cats. She attended the
University of South Carolina where she began a lifelong obsession with
literature. In her spare time, Beau is the co-host of the podcast Excessively
Diverted: Modern Austen Onscreen.
Mild-mannered
business woman by day, hopeless romantic by night, Ruth Phillips Oakland was always a fan of the fictional gentleman
from Derbyshire, but it was her discovery of Jane Austen fanfiction in 2006
that inspired Ruth to become a writer. Ruth has written dozens of short stories
posted online and the published novel entitled, My BFF. Ruth lives in New England with her favorite husband of over
thirty years and is thrilled to be included in this anthology with so many of
her favorite authors and friends.
Natalie Richards is a writer, blogger,
and singer. She started her book review blog, Songs & Stories, in late 2010
after falling in love with Jane Austen fanfiction. Her writing can also be
found on Figment, the Darcy & Lizzy Forum, TeenInk Magazine, and in the Austenesque
anthologies Sun-Kissed: Effusions of
Summer and Then Comes Winter. She
resides with her family in the Oregon countryside and currently works as a
waitress and babysitter.
Sophia Rose is a native Californian currently residing in
Michigan. A long-time Jane Austen fan, she is a contributing author to Sun-Kissed: Effusions of Summer and Then Comes Winter anthologies. Sophia’s
love for writing began as a teen writing humorous stories submitted for
creative writing class and high school writing club. Writing was set aside
while Sophia pursued degrees and certificates in education, special education,
family history, and social work leading to a rewarding career. Health issues
led to reduced work hours and an opportunity to read, beta, and review books,
and return to writing stories that lean toward the humorous side and always end
with a happily ever after.
Melanie Stanford reads too much, plays music too
loud, is sometimes dancing, and always daydreaming. She would also like her
very own TARDIS, but only to travel to the past. She lives in Canada with her
husband and four kids. She is the author of SWAY,
a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion,
shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, and the short story “Becoming
Fanny” featured in the anthology Then Comes
Winter. Her second novel, Collide,
inspired by Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and
South, is coming soon. You can find her at melaniestanfordbooks.com, on Twitter @MelMStanford, and on
Facebook @ MelanieStanfordauthor.
Joana
Starnes lives in the south of England with
her family. Over the years, she has swapped several hats—physician, lecturer,
clinical data analyst—but feels most comfortable in a bonnet. She has been
living in Georgian England for decades in her imagination and plans to continue
in that vein till she lays hands on a time machine. She is the author of seven
Austen-inspired novels: From This Day Forward ~ The Darcys of Pemberley,
The Subsequent Proposal, The Second Chance, The Falmouth
Connection, The Unthinkable Triangle, Miss Darcy’s Companion,
and Mr Bennet’s Dutiful Daughter. You can connect with Joana through her
website http://www.joanastarnes.co.uk/ and on Facebook via All Roads Lead to Pemberley.
Caitlin Williams is an award-winning author
of two novels, Ardently
and the best-selling The Coming of
Age of Elizabeth Bennet, both of which spin the plot of Pride and Prejudice around but keep the
characters just the same. Originally from South London, Caitlin spent thirteen
years as a detective in the Metropolitan Police but is currently on a break
from Scotland Yard so she can spend more time at home with her two children and
write. She now lives in Kent, where she spends a lot of time daydreaming about
Mr. Darcy, playing with dinosaurs, and trying not to look at the laundry pile.
Christina Boyd wears many hats as she is an editor under her own
banner The Quill Ink, a contributor
to Austenprose, and a ceramicist and proprietor of Stir Crazy Mama’s Artworks.
A life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Christina lives in
the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with her dear Mr. B, two busy teenagers, and
a retriever named BiBi. Visiting Jane Austen's England was made possible by her
book boyfriend and star crush Henry Cavill when she won a trip to meet him on
the London Eye in the spring of 2017.
#Giveaway #2
Here's the 2nd #Giveaway
This is for a $25.00 Etsy Gift Card
To enter this giveaway, readers will create a Pinterest Board named The Darcy Monologues and post all fifteen story images from the cover reveals, one per each author included in the anthology, and Tweet the board on Twitter. The Tweet must include the hashtag, #TheDarcyMonolgues.
This giveaway will take place
from March 27 – April 21, 2017
The winner will be announced on April 22, 2017.
The winner will be announced on April 22, 2017.
Blogs Participating in
the Cover Reveal
The
Darcy Monologues Blog Tour Schedule
April 3
/ My Jane Austen Book Club / Launch Post & Giveaway
April
10 / Babblings of a Bookworm/ Book Review & Giveaway
April
17 / The Reading Frenzy / Guest Post & Giveaway
April
20 / My Love for Jane Austen / Guest Post & Giveaway
April
24 / Margie’s Must Reads / Book Review & Giveaway
May 1 /
From Pemberley to Milton / Book Review & Giveaway
May 8 /
Just Jane 1813 / Excerpt Post & Giveaway
May 15
/ Austenesque Reviews / Book Review & Giveaway
May 22
/ Austenesque Reviews / Guest Post & Giveaway
May 25
/ Of Pens and Pages / Book Review & Giveaway
May 29
/ More Agreeably Engaged / Book Review & Giveaway
June 5
/ So Little Time / Book Review & Giveaway
June 12
/ Diary of an Eccentric/ Book Review & Giveaway
June 19
/ Book Lover in Florida / Book Excerpt & Giveaway
June 26
/ My Vices and Weaknesses / Book Review & Giveaway
July 3
/ Savvy Verse & Wit / Book Review & Giveaway
Howdy, Debbie the divine blog mistress. Thanks so much for posting our delicious cover reveal. And hey, three guesses what my story is about, LOL!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read it!!
DeleteThanks for the posting - I can't wait for Sophia's story personally:-)
ReplyDeleteI can't either!!
DeleteAfter all the quote teasers and notes, I'm eager to snag everyone else's and enjoy their Darcys. :)
DeleteHi Debbie - thank you for sharing our excitement today. It's getting down to the wire and, like Jenetta and Sophia, I'm looking forward to reading everyone's stories. (But Sophia, I am a sucker for an athletic Darcy - I can't wait to meet yours!)
ReplyDeleteCan't you just picture him in baseball pants? Swoon!!! ;)
DeleteThanks, Susan!
HI Sadriani, you're very welcome. I'm excited too!
DeleteThank you for sharing in our excitement. It looks fabulous on your site. Didn't Shari Ryan of MadHAT Covers do a great job with the cover?!
ReplyDeleteShe gets my vote. :)
DeleteWonderful cover LOVE the dimpled chin hubba hubba ;-)
DeleteThanks for taking part in our cover reveal! I can't wait to read about a baseball playing Darcy!
ReplyDeleteOr a certain 'beastly' Darcy. :)
DeleteHi Melanie, me either!!
DeleteSophia Rose..our Sophia. She never said a dang thing! You are in so much trouble missy..LOL Thanks for sharing Debbie! Gonna have to order it!
ReplyDeleteYeah Kim she's a sneaky one alright!
DeleteOh man! Busted, right, Kim?
DeleteI have this weirdo superstitious streak that makes me hide these projects until they come to fruition. But now this one is out in the open and I can get giddy with excitement.
Woohoo! Thanks for the vote of confidence by ordering our book. :)
It's a definite homerun, Sophia!
DeleteThanks, Debbie, for hosting the cover reveal tour! I'm a sucker for sports romances, so Sophia's story intrigues me! Good luck to everyone on the giveaways :)
ReplyDeletegotta love a b-ball romance!!
DeleteI only started reading sports romances in the last year or two, Karen. I've been missing out. :)
DeleteI guess my earlier comment didn't publish, so I'm late to the party.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie, for sharing the handsome TDM cover with your readers.
Sophia Rose certainly hit a home run with her contribution to the anthology!
thanks for keeping trying!!!
DeleteYour post is just gorgeous, Debbie, and it's wonderful to see you highlight Sophia's story. Seeing Darcy as an athlete was a new twist for me and I can't wait to see readers' responses to him!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your support!
Thanks Claudine this was fun!
DeleteStop No. 13. Not so unlucky, either!
ReplyDeleteDarcy as an athlete sounds so swoon-worthy! We tend to use that expression a lot in association with this particular gentleman, don't we? OK, as a Brit, baseball is something of a mystery to me. Till recently, what I knew of it was gleaned from the excellent film Field of Dreams but I've just finished a book mainly set in that sporting environment so I "get it" a bit more now.
Love Beau's graphic for this one especially.
Hi Anji, thanks for sharing!
DeleteYou totally get a pass if you still have baseball confusion, Anji. I've watched cricket matches and still haven't got it figured out. :)
DeleteAh, now cricket I can do! One of my school friends (a very long time ago) lived in a house whose back garden bordered our local county cricket ground. That's the cricket equivalent of living next door to somewhere like Fenway Park (the only baseball stadium I know the name of!). It also helped that at time, there were at least a couple of drop-dead gorgeous men playing for the England team. I learned a lot about the game by watching the international matches on TV with the sound off and listening to the radio commentary. I guess one of the things about cricket that you folk in the US might not get is that they can play for five (yes five!) days and it still ends up as a draw, but the whole match has been really exciting.
DeleteBuahaha! Yes! I did not get the extended time on the game. We have a large Pakistani population in our town and they play cricket down at the park and I was shocked when they told me a few days after I noticed the first match up that they were still working on the same game.
DeleteOh wow! Backyard seats to a cricket field. Neato! Sooo, maybe Darcy and Wentworth play cricket looking gorgeous in their cricket clothes? ;)
And yes, I must broaden your baseball park knowledge. My favorite team is the San Francisco Giants (orange and black colors) and they play at AT&T Park. ;)
Now that's an image to conjure with Sophia - Darcy and Wentworth as cricketers! I'm not entirely sure how long it's been around as a sport, but I do remember a scene in the dramatisation of Sharpe's Waterloo, where they had a cricket match. I've a feeling the format may have changed somewhat over the intervening centuries (bowling overarm now instead of underarm then) but the basic game is still the same I think.
DeleteAnd thanks for increasing my knowledge of baseball stadia 100%! 😊 I guess the Giants stadium is sponsored by AT&T? That happens over here too. Some of the major cricket grounds (especially the ones where they play international matches) have the name of the ground preceded by a sponsor's name.
Don't worry--even if you aren't a baseball fan, of course baseball is just the back drop. It's all about Darcy and characters we are quite familiar with in a modern setting.
DeleteYep, its a sponsor name, Anji.
DeleteAnd you're so right Christina. It's all about Dandy Darcy. ;)
Aw congrats Sophia!! I saw the title and was like well that's right up Sophia's alley! Ha! Seems so. lol
ReplyDeleteBuahaha! Yes, it really was. She approached me last fall and it took me very little time to say, oh boy, I'd love to. But writing about Darcy, yikes. I had to pretend it was someone else who had a similar character. ;)
DeleteThanks for stopping by Anna!
Delete