I'm so excited today to have the opportunity to have Rebecca H. Jamison here today on my blog to introduce her new book
Emma: A Latter-Day Tale, which is a fun retelling of Jane Austen's novel
Emma, but from an LDS perspective (which fits with a lot of students here in my area). When I was approached to read this novel, I was pretty intrigued with this retelling, so I thought I'd give it a try, so thank you to Rebecca Jamison and Cedar Fort for this fun opportunity! Also, don't forget to check out the giveaway at the end.
Jane Austen's No Excuse Approach to Writing
Jane Austen had plenty of excuses to stop writing. She lived
in a time when it wasn’t completely acceptable for a woman to write novels, let
alone publish them. In fact, she kept her writing secret for years, hiding her
manuscripts away whenever guests arrived. She wrote multiple novels before any
of her writing was published. When she finally did publish her work, she had to
rely on her brother to negotiate with the publisher, and she published under a
pen name. Her first published novel, Sense
and Sensibility, was published fifteen years after she started writing it.
Writing itself was difficult for Jane. By her own admission,
she was a bad speller. Her writing desk was tiny. Just imagine what she’d say
to you if you complained that your computer crashed. At least we have ballpoint
pens! Even on her deathbed, with nothing more than pen, ink, and paper, Jane
Austen managed to write Persuasion
and revise Northanger Abbey.
Yet there was a time when Jane didn’t write much. During the
years she lived in Bath, perhaps because of poverty or discouragement, she
wrote very little. Later, when she went to live with her brother, she could
have told herself that she hadn’t written in years and that it would be silly
to go back to it. Thankfully, she chose to write.
Those of us who write have many of the same excuses.
Though it’s now acceptable for women to publish novels, it’s not really
acceptable for anyone other than a published author to admit she’s writing a
novel. We’re luckier than Jane, in that we have word processors, laptops, and other
technology to help us write. What we don’t have is time. It takes ingenuity and
sacrifice to fit writing into a busy schedule. And, like Jane, we writers can
easily fall victim to discouragement. One day of not writing can easily turn
into years. The moral of Jane Austen’s story for me is this: Write anyway.
Rebecca H. Jamison Biography
Looking
for love? Rebecca H. Jamison would love to set you up with that special
someone, but you’re better off reading her books. She has a terrible track
record as a matchmaker.
Rebecca
grew up in Virginia. She attended Brigham Young University, where she earned a
BA and MA in English with an emphasis in creative writing. In between college
and graduate school, she served a mission to Portugal and Cape Verde.
Book Summary for Emma: A Latter-day Tale
Title: Emma: A Latter-day
Tale
Author: Rebecca H. Jamison
ISBN: 978-1-4621-1260-9
Price: $16.99/$19.99
256 pages
Short Blurb: Emma's her name and
matchmaking is her game! Quirky life coach Emma wants to help her first-ever
client, a lonely nanny named Harriet. But all of her attempts at matchmaking
result only in embarrassing miscues and blunders, leaving the pair disheartened
and confused. This modern take on the Jane Austen classic shows that sometimes
the greatest match is the one we make for ourselves.
Cover Blurb:
NOT Looking for Love: Single woman (23) seeks best friend to chat on
the phone, shop the clearance racks, watch chick flicks, try out messy cooking
projects, and eat Dove dark chocolates.
Emma isn’t so good at the
whole life-coaching thing. Her first client ended up with a broken heart and is
threatening to relapse in her bad habits. Now Emma has problems of her own to
deal with, and all those problems start with one name: Justin.
Justin is her best
friend, so it’s hard for Emma not to feel betrayed when she suspects he is
falling for her childhood rival. And she knows she’s losing him despite her
best efforts. No matter how much she tries, she keeps running up against
obstacles. How is she supposed to help other people when she’s drowning in her
own failures?
Fans of
Jane Austen’s Emma will love this modern retelling of the classic romance
novel. Fall in love with Emma’s latter-day tale of redemption, forgiveness, and
the quest for true love.
Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaHJamison
To buy:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Emma-Latter-day-Rebecca-H-Jamison/dp/1462112609
Excerpt:
It was amazing how much
more snow Phil could pick up with his shovel than I could with mine. He cleared
three feet of the driveway before I was done with one.
“When we’re done, if you
have time, you should come in and meet Harri. I think you two will get along.”
Phil stopped and looked at
his watch. “I’m planning to do a couple more driveways before it gets dark.”
“I’ll go get Harri now if
you’re in a hurry. She wants to meet you.”
Phil leaned on his shovel.
“Harry is a she?”
“Her real name is Harriet. She moved here a
couple months ago and she’s hardly met anybody. I think you’ll like her.”
Phil threw his head back,
laughed, and started shoveling again. “I thought you were trying to introduce
me to your new boyfriend.”
“You think I would be out
here shoveling snow while my new boyfriend stays inside?” I grabbed a handful
of snow and threw it at him. I didn’t mean to hit him in the face, but that’s
where it landed.
Phil wiped the snow off his
face and grinned. “I wondered why you were dating such a loser.” I expected him
to throw a snowball at me, but he just stood there. “So you don’t have a
boyfriend?”
I giggled a little at his
awkwardness. “Nope. Harri doesn’t either.”
Phil threw another
shovelful of snow away from the driveway. “So you . . . I mean, you and your
friend are . . . available?” Phil didn’t open his mouth enough when he talked.
That was the one thing about him that always distracted me. I couldn’t help
staring at his mouth.
I had to force myself to
look into his eyes. “Why is that a shock, Phil? Every woman in that house right
now is available. You can take your pick—Harri, me, or Barbara. You’re
surrounded by single women.” It was safe to assume Phil wouldn’t pick me. I was
at least three inches taller than he was, and it was a rare man who dated a
taller woman.
Giveaway: For the giveaway, Cedar Fort has one e-book version in Nook, Kindle, or PDF to award. To be considered, leave a comment telling me what you are going to try not to give yourself any excuses with during the last half of the year.
Because the giveaway is digital format, as long as you can accept via these formats, you can enter! :) Please leave a comment by next Wednesday, 8/14 by midnight and include your email address.
Thank you again to Rebecca Jamison for stopping in today on her Blog Tour! Don't forget to check out her other stops. You can check them out right here. Also, stop back by later on this week for my review of her book!
