Playing Jane Austen ~ The Jane Game

January 27, 2013 BookLady Deb1 Comment

Hello all Jane Austen Readers! I append a note from Elizabeth Bankhead about her soon-to-be-released The Jane Game :

Hello, I am a fellow JASNA member and for three years have been developing The Jane Game, a Jane Austen board game with trivia from all six of her novels. You can finally see it in all its splendor at www.thejanegame.com. Right now the game is not for sale, though, you can enjoy daily trivia fun at www.facebook.com/thejanegame. And you can follow on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/thejanegame

Below is a visual teaser of the game-

I plan on bringing The Jane Game to market through Kickstarter.com . This is a web forum where funding of the game’s production can be provided by pre-orders. If you like the game and would like to own it someday, please do one (or all) of the following:

1. On the website — go to “The Game” at bottom left, then scroll down to the “Notify Me” button and fill in your email address

2. Send me your email address ( janesgame [at] gmail [dot] com ) preferably with your name and, if you feel inclined, one thing very clever, two things moderately clever, or three things very dull indeed. I promise to laugh heartily at them all :)

3. Or, like the Facebook page www.facebook.com/thejanegame

With your email (option 1 and 2) I will notify you when the game’s kickstarter campaign starts for pre-orders. The facebook page will stay updated with the game’s progress as well as provide trivia fun every day.

If you know anyone who would be interested in a Jane Austen trivia game, please let them know (forward this blog post or invite them to the Facebook trivia page). The more people who know about this game, the faster it will come!

Thank you,

Elizabeth Bankhead

janesgame [at] gmail [dot] com

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Some examples: [from The Jane Game facebook daily trivia]

Mansfield Park: The day after the ball at Mansfield, two men leave. Who were they (choose two)? Mr. Crawford, Edmund, William, Tom, Mr. Yates

Pride and Prejudice: What is Georgiana Darcy’s most praised accomplishment?

Emma: Who was the first person to tell Emma that Mr. Elton could very well be in love with her?–“Mr. Elton in love with me! What an idea!”

Sense and Sensibility: How old is Colonel Brandon when we first meet him?

Persuasion: On meeting the Harvilles and Captain Benwick, Anne admires their informal hospitality, ingenuity and charm. Why does she struggle to remain in high spirits?

Northanger Abbey: Who does the heroine, Catherine Morland, marry?

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Thank you Elizabeth! – and best of luck with this – sounds like a great deal of fun, and who can resist anything to do with Jane Austen!

c2013, Jane Austen in Vermont

Austen Literary History & Criticism · Author Interviews · Book reviews · Collecting Jane Austen · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Jane Austen Societies · Regency England

Susannah Fullerton on Celebrating Pride and Prejudice ~ Guest Post and Book Giveaway

January 22, 2013 BookLady Deb26 Comments

Gentle Readers All: Please see below to enter into the Giveaway for a copy of Susannah Fullerton’s Celebrating Pride and Prejudice.

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Today I welcome Susannah Fullerton, president of JASA, author of numerous articles on Jane Austen, a leader of literary tours , and author of Jane Austen and Crime (2006), A Dance with Jane Austen (2012), and most recently the author of Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen’s Masterpiece [Happily Ever After in the UK].

Susannah shares with us a few thoughts on the her new work and the joys of discovering and re-discovering Austen’s most popular novel – and out just in time as we all celebrate the 200^th bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice this year, all beginning on January 28th. I highly recommend this book, a must-have for your Austen Library, a perfect companion to the novel, and a lovely work in its own right.

And now Susannah:

______________________

I was about 11 years old when my mother first read me Pride and Prejudice. We were away on a family holiday in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the only thing I remember of the visit there was lying at the end of a double bed while my Mum read aloud. It was not all joy – I did get very frustrated when she stopped to laugh. I was too young to appreciate the irony of the novel and just wanted to know what would happen to Elizabeth and Darcy. Now of course I know exactly why my mother laughed. In spite of my mother’s ‘interruptions’, I loved the story, and soon went back to read it by myself.

Mr Darcy, by Robert Ball. Pride and Prejudice (Doubleday 1945)
[image from Austenprose.com]

So for just over 40 years Pride and Prejudice has been a vital part of my life. That first reading has been followed by countless others. Sometimes I have just picked up the book and it has fallen open in just the right place (any place is the right place) and I’ve read of the Meryton Ball, or one of Darcy’s proposals, or a scene with Mr Collins making a fool of himself. Even a ‘one page reading’ has always left me feeling better. Again and again I have picked it up and started with that brilliant opening sentence (to which I devote a whole chapter in my book!) and gone through to the end, knowing exactly what would happen but loving it more every single time.

And I have read ‘P & P’ in other ways – I adore unabridged audio versions, I’ve read it as a comic book, I’ve read it on my Kindle, and of course I’ve seen film versions and loved them too. Elizabeth and Darcy are my dear friends and while I would not want to actually meet Mr Collins, I always delight in his company within the pages of Jane Austen’s great novel.

It has been said that you never read the same book twice! Every re-reading is a different experience – you know what is going to happen within the plot and so you look out for other things. And with ‘P & P’ there are always other things – some slight nuance you missed last time you read it, a different inflection by an audio book reader can make you react to a sentence you know well in a different way, and you pick up on the tiny details of setting or character that you failed to notice last time. And the other thing that means you are not reading exactly the same novel, is that you yourself have changed. You have grown older and wiser, experienced things in your own life that have slightly altered you from the person you were on the first reading. I groaned over Mrs Bennet when I first met her – she was so vulgar and embarrassing and I pitied Elizabeth for having to put up with her. But now I’m a mother myself, with children who are forming romantic partnerships, and I have so much more sympathy for Mrs Bennet. And as a wife, I can understand her frustration when Mr Bennet goes off to the library and shuts the door, leaving the worries of 5 unmarried daughters totally up to her. Reading Pride and Prejudice changes your life, but your life also changes each re-reading of Pride and Prejudice.

With such a deep love of this novel, you can imagine what a joy it was for me to sit down and write a book about its incredible 200 years. I could not think of a nicer way to celebrate this important literary anniversary. For months I was immersed in its pages, learning even more about the book and its characters as I worked on my own book. I was so fascinated by the translations of it – how very quickly it was translated into another language and what a mess was made of that first translation, and what huge challenges it gives a translator (do you think Mr and Mrs Bennet should say ‘vous’ or ‘tu’ to each other in a French translation – I’d love to hear your opinion?). I especially loved writing my chapter on Elizabeth, trying to analyse what it is that makes her so charming and lovable, while not making her a ‘goody-goody’ in whom we can’t believe. I had lots of fun with my chapter on all the merchandise inspired by this novel – don’t you just love the idea of a BBQ apron that announces ‘Let’s BBQ Wickham!’ And I was fascinated by the responses to ‘P & P’ over 200 years from famous people. A.A. Milne quite rightly judged people by their reactions to this book, while Robert Louis Stevenson wanted to go down on his knees and worship Elizabeth Bennet whenever she opened her mouth.

My book is very gorgeously illustrated and has pictures that may be unfamiliar to many. It is available in two editions – the American edition is Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen’s Masterpiece and the UK edition is Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I do hope my book gives pleasure to those of you who read it, and also teaches you new things about this much-loved novel.

HAPPY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ANNIVERSARY YEAR!

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About the Author:

Susannah Fullerton is President of JASA, and author of Jane Austen – Antipodean Views, Jane Austen and Crime, A Dance with Jane Austen, and her latest Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen’s Masterpiece – note that the UK title of this work is Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Frances Lincoln, 2012).

Celebrating Pride and Prejudice
Voyageur Press, January 1, 2013
ISBN-10: 0760344361; ISBN-13: 978-0760344361
$25.99

Contents: (I have abbreviated the title to P&P)

‘My Own Darling Child’- The Writing of P&P
‘A Very Superior Work’ – Reactions to P&P
‘A Truth Universally Acknowledged’ – The Famous First Sentence
‘Bright and Sparkling’ – The Style of P&P
‘As Charming a Creature’ – The Heroine, Elizabeth Bennet
‘Mr Darcy … is the Man!’ – The Hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy
‘The Female Line’ – Her Relations
‘The Same Noble Line’ – His Relations
‘Delighting in the Ridiculous’ – Other Characters
P&P Goes Overseas – The Translations
‘Pictures of Perfection’ – Illustrating and Covering P&P
Did They Live Happily Ever After? – Sequels and Adaptations
Bonnets and Bosoms – Film and Theatrical Versions
Mugs and Skateboards – Selling P&P
‘Behold Me Immortal’ – P&P Now and in the Future
Bibliography and Index

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Please enter into the drawing for a copy of Celebrating Pride and Prejudice by commenting below: either by asking Susannah a question or telling us of your first experience in reading Pride and Prejudice [or like Susannah, perhaps being read to?]. Deadline is Tuesday January 29, 2013 11:59 pm; winner will be announced on Wednesday January 30^th. Worldwide eligibility. Good luck all, and thank you to the publisher for donating the book for the giveaway [please note that I happily purchased my own copy].

c2013, Jane Austen in Vermont

Collecting Jane Austen · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Jane Austen Sequels · JASNA

Winner of The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James…

January 22, 2013 BookLady DebLeave a comment

… and the winner is: Dianna Anderson who commented on January 15:

I would love to comment on a book I’ve read but sadly I haven’t, but I would love to. If I were to win a book though I could easily read it and email a question later. :-)

Congratulations Dianna! – please email me your contact information and the book shall be sent to you right away. And after you have read it, we hope you shall comment!

And thank you all for your comments and to Syrie James for her great post about JASNA.

Great Britain - History · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Masterpiece Theatre

Downton Abbey ~ Carson’s Song

January 20, 2013January 20, 2013 BookLady Deb4 Comments

Last week, Downton Abbey ended with Carson singing a song while polishing the silver, quite jovial over hearing the positive prognosis for Mrs. Hughes. We can wonder at the plot turn – there have been previous intimations that Hughes and Carson should somehow hook up and exert even greater control over downstairs life – they do after all seem to genuinely care about and respect each other … but who knows what direction this shall all take – but just want to append the words of the song he was singing – a sure clue in this alone:

The song is titled “Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron” – “a traditional English folk song written in the 19th century about a housewife carrying out her linen chores” [wikipedia]:

‘Twas on a Monday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-washing of her linen, O

Refrain
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
She stole my heart away.

‘Twas on a Tuesday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-hanging out her linen, O (Refrain)

‘Twas on a Wednesday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-starching of her linen, O (Refrain)

‘Twas on a Thursday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-ironing of her linen, O (Refrain)

‘Twas on a Friday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-folding of her linen, O (Refrain)

‘Twas on a Saturday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-airing of her linen, O (Refrain)

‘Twas on a Sunday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-wearing of her linen, O (Refrain)

[Text from contemplator.com]

Further reading (and listening!):

You can hear the lyrics here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lICvOJoK2uw
or here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR3-_X1gG-I
the music: http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/264.html

c2013, Jane Austen in Vermont

Author Interviews · Book reviews · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Jane Austen Sequels · Jane Austen Societies · JASNA · Regency England

Guest Post and Giveaway ~ Syrie James on The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen

January 14, 2013 BookLady Deb18 Comments

Syrie James has been touring the blog world since the launch of her latest book The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen on December 31, 2012 – she started at Austenprose and has hit most of the Austen-related blogs out there (see below), each with a different guest post about her writing, research, travels, and love of Jane Austen. So I am thrilled to welcome Syrie here today to Jane Austen in Vermont, where she gives us a little history of her association with JASNA. [See below for giveaway instructions!]

I first met Syrie at the AGM in Fort Worth [along with her very own Mr. Darcy!], an honor for me as I had dearly loved The Memoirs of Jane Austen – I thought she captured very well the life and voice of Austen and her time. In The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen, she takes us again into this Austen world, offering up the most intriguing tale and what we all wish for: a missing manuscript, missing letters, missing anything from our favorite illusive author. And in Missing Manuscript, we have two books for the price of one – a delightful tale within a tale that gives us a lost Austen novel titled The Stanhopes, based in part on Austen’s own “Plan of a Novel” *, and the contemporary tale of the young woman who discovers the letter that leads her to the manuscript.

I loved this book! – Syrie has given us a story that would make Jane Austen proud and a fine taste of what such a real find might offer us (with of course the caveat that no one is really like Jane Austen…) [An Interesting Aside: I have been reading Trollope’s Barchester Towers, wherein we have a story of a vicar who is suffering from the loss of his parish, as well as a family named the Stanhopes! I asked Syrie if she had any of this in her mind when she was writing – she said she has never read any Trollope and had no idea! Another example of the “collective unconscious” at work in mysterious ways! – and I struggling to keep my Stanhopes straight!] So I highly recommend this book – a perfect winter read to curl up with – you will find endearing characters, sly allusions to Austen’s life and works that make this a bit of a treasure hunt, two love stories (who can resist!), and storytelling at its best.

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Syrie, I have been badgering you and Diana (Birchall) to come to visit us in person in Vermont, to perform any and all of your now famous plays – “The Austen Assizes” in Brooklyn was a great romp filled with Austen’s baddies, and by all accounts your performance of Diana’s play You are Passionate, Jane was a rousing hit [links to a few bits of both on youtube are below]. We look forward to another such performance in Montreal for the Mansfield Park AGM 2014, where you will finally be close enough to Vermont for me to entice you to stop in! – In the meantime, this blog visit shall have to do…

So please welcome Syrie as she discusses how important the Jane Austen Society of North America [JASNA: www.jasna.org] is to her and how it has helped her writing career.

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JASNA has become such an important part of my life. Interestingly, I hadn’t even heard of the organization until The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen came out. Following a suggestion from my readers, I checked it out and discovered that a spring meeting of JASNA-SW (my local Southwest chapter) was being held at the UCLA faculty club, which isn’t far from where I live. I signed up to go, having no idea what to expect. I arrived at the luncheon not knowing a soul—and to my surprise and delight found I was surrounded by remarkable, like-minded people from all different professions, all bound together by their love of literature in general and Jane Austen’s works in particular. Many of them had already read my novel. Talk about finding “my people”! The agenda was packed with interesting speakers and included an activity that to me was to die for: an excursion to the UCLA research library where we were allowed to view a first edition of Pride and Prejudice. I was hooked for life.

I attended my first JASNA AGM (Annual General Meeting) that fall in Chicago. An AGM is truly Jane Austen Heaven, with an emporium selling Austen-related goodies, and four days of sessions, speakers, special interest activities, dance lessons, and entertainment all related in some way to the Regency era or Austen’s books, culminating with a Regency Ball where everyone dresses in period attire. Since then, my husband and I have attended nearly every AGM (we plan our vacation schedules around wherever the next conference happens to be). Some attendees dress in period attire, and since I like to sew and love costumes, it’s a treat to have an excuse to don a Regency gown and bonnet!

Syrie and Bill James in full regalia
2011 Fort Worth AGM cLaurel Ann Nattress

The organization has been a tremendous help to my writing. I learn so much at the breakout sessions, both at the AGMs and local chapter meetings. Just as one example, at the AGM in Fort Worth in 2011, there was a session on transportation in the Regency era. I learned about the types of carriages used, how the system of changing horses worked throughout England, and how long such trips might take—all of which enhanced my own research and was valuable when I wrote the traveling scenes in The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen.

JASNA has also been a wonderful boon to my career. My local chapter is very supportive of my work, inviting me to do readings from my books (attendance at the meetings ranges from 65-160 people) and arranging for me to sign books at their booth at the annual L.A. Times Festival of Books. I’ve made so many friends through JASNA—many of whom live in far flung states and in England, Canada, and Australia—who I look forward to seeing once a year at the AGM.

I was the keynote speaker for a JASNA Boise Idaho’s Jane Austen tea, which made for a delightful wintry trip and forged lifelong friendships. The book launch and signing for Jane Austen Made Me Do It, an anthology edited by Laurel Ann Nattress to which I contributed an Austen-themed short story, was held at the 2011 AGM (and was great fun). At the meeting in Brooklyn last October, fellow author Diana Birchall and I co-wrote and presented a comedic play “The Austen Assizes” which was voted the #1 breakout session of the entire conference. (Highlights reel here). The committee hosting the Montreal AGM in 2014 recently commissioned us to write an original play for the plenary audience, and we couldn’t be more delighted. Diana and I have performed her comedic two-woman play “You Are Passionate, Jane” (where Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë meet in heaven) for two JASNA chapters (highlights video here)—fulfilling my dream to play Jane Austen on stage!

As you can see, I can’t stop talking (or writing) about JASNA! For anyone who enjoys Austen’s works, I highly recommend that you join!

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Syrie James is the bestselling author of eight critically acclaimed novels, including The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, Dracula My Love, Nocturne, Forbidden, and The Harrison Duet: Songbird and Propositions. Her books have been translated into eighteen foreign languages. In addition to her work as a novelist, she is a screenwriter, a member of the Writers Guild of America, and a life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. She lives with her family in Los Angeles, California. Connect with her on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

You can follow Syrie’s Blog tour here:

Gala Online Launch Party at austenprose.com!

My Jane Austen Book Club: Syrie James Discusses Why Jane Austen Captures Her Writing Imagination

Austen Authors: Syrie James celebrates The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen -–book launch and giveaway!

Historical-Fiction.com: Syrie James on Her Writing and Travels

RT Book Reviews: Syrie James Channels Jane Austen

Fresh Fiction: Syrie James | The challenges of the writing process

Risky Regencies: How Did You Research The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen?

Austenesque Reviews

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Information on joining JASNA is at their website: http://jasna.org/membership/index.html – like Syrie, you may discover there is a regional group close to you – there are over 70 regions in the US and Canada – the lists for each are here:

The US: http://jasna.org/regions/regional_uslist.html
Canada: http://jasna.org/regions/regional_canadalist.html

For the manuscript of “Plan of a Novel” – visit Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts

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Giveaway of The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen! please either ask Syrie a question or comment on your favorite Syrie James book (and why) to be entered into the random drawing for a copy of The Missing Manuscript – worldwide eligibility. Deadline: Monday January 21, 2013 11:59 pm – winner will be announced on Tuesday January 22nd.

Thank you all, and Thank You Syrie for posting here today!

Austen Literary History & Criticism · Books · Collecting Jane Austen · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Merchandise · Jane Austen Popular Culture · Jane Austen Sequels · Literature

On My Bookshelf ~ Jane Austen in 2013, Or, How My “Wish-List” Just Got Longer

January 1, 2013January 17, 2013 BookLady Deb6 Comments

A quick look at the upcoming Jane Austen books in 2013 has inflated my “Wish List” yet again – and I don’t even have all the 2012 books yet… alas! no shelf space! [not to mention my pocketbook…] – there are just some books you should not add to your kindle, though I might feel more strongly about this than many, but here is a quick list of what’s coming out in the next few months, more detailed info and reviews will follow, but for now, you can see that there is no slacking off in Austenland…

Continue reading “On My Bookshelf ~ Jane Austen in 2013, Or, How My “Wish-List” Just Got Longer” →

Austen Literary History & Criticism · Books · Collecting Jane Austen · Jane Austen · Jane Austen Merchandise · Jane Austen Popular Culture

All I Want for Christmas? ~ Anything Jane Austen Please! ~ Day 6: Jane Austen’s Complete Novels (in One Sitting)

December 30, 2012January 17, 2013 BookLady Deb6 Comments

The 12 Days of Christmas:

Day 6: Jane Austen: Her Complete Novels [In One Sitting]

Continue reading “All I Want for Christmas? ~ Anything Jane Austen Please! ~ Day 6: Jane Austen’s Complete Novels (in One Sitting)” →

Jane Austen · Jane Austen Merchandise · Jane Austen Popular Culture

All I Want for Christmas? ~ Anything Jane Austen Please! ~ Day 5: Jane Austen Bandages

December 29, 2012January 17, 2013 BookLady Deb4 Comments

The 12 Days of Christmas:

Day 5: Jane Austen Bandages

Continue reading “All I Want for Christmas? ~ Anything Jane Austen Please! ~ Day 5: Jane Austen Bandages” →

Jane Austen · Jane Austen Merchandise · Jane Austen Popular Culture · JASNA

Winner announced in Jane Austen Surprise Giveaway!

December 28, 2012December 28, 2012 BookLady Deb1 Comment

Announcing the winner in the surprise Jane Austen giveaway from the December 15th post on:

Happy Birthday Jane Austen – The Ten Best Reasons to Go to a JASNA AGM!

…and the winner is… Mary Preston! – who commented on December 16:

I’ve never attended a Jane Austen Society conference, but I would love to. To meet like minded people for a start. The dressing up would be fun.

Mary, please email me with your address information and I shall post the gift [a Jane Austen journal] to you right away.

Thank you all for commenting on why you would want to attend a JASNA Annual Meeting – hope to see some of you there next year in Minneapolis! http://jasna.org/agms/minneapolis/index.html