Pride & Prejudice Blog's Q&A with Laurel Ann Nattress
Laurel Ann: Hi Jeane, I am very happy to be here today at Pride and Prejudice 2005 blog on my Grand Tour of the blogosphere to celebrate therelease of Jane Austen Made Me Do It.I love talking about my favorite author Jane Austen and my new short storyanthology.
I was first introduced to Jane Austen as a pre-teen by mymother Carolyn. We had watched the 1940 MGM Prideand Prejudice together. I liked it, but I was not really hooked until 1980when I saw the Masterpiece Theatre mini-series of Pride and Prejudice on television. It was a seminal moment. I readthe novel and all of Jane’s works shortly after and have been a fan ever since.
J: Did you read all of her novels? If so, which one of her 6 novels isyour favorite and why?
LA: It is difficult to pare it down to just one favorite, but ofher six major works, I am most drawn to MansfieldPark. It is Austen’s dark horse. Many readers are mystified by it being sodifferent than her light and bright and sparkling P&P. I like her more complex characterizations of Mary andHenry Crawford, Mrs. Norris, the dysfunctional Bertram family, and of coursethe quasi-heroine, the prudential Fanny Price. Austen gives us much tocontemplate and I have found over the years that I am intrigued most by one ofher novels that she wrote in a more mature phase of her life.
J: Being an Austen fan, have you seen all the Austen TV and filmadaptations? If so, which one of her 6 adapted to the big and small screen isyour favorite and why?
LA: Yes, I will readily admit that I have seen all the adaptationsof the novels and anything that might be called related to Austen and hercharacters. Of her novels I like the 1995 Persuasionand the 1995 Pride and Prejudice. Ialso like Clueless which is a modern Emma, and You’ve Got Mail, which is really a modern P&P. I think each of these succeeds because, of the noveladaptations, they are faithful to Austen’s intent, and of the inspired-by’s,they capture her spirit in a positive and enjoyable way.
J: I love your Austenprose blog. It's very insightful and informativewith all things Jane Austen. How did you get started with your blog?
LA: Austenprose was started totally on a whim. I just wanted acreative outlet for my lifelong obsession with Jane Austen. I had no grandintensions for it, nor did I think that it would eventually culminate into abook deal for me. The phrase “follow your bliss” is droned into us, but in mycase, I am the poster girl for it.
J: What's your favorite part on blogging about Jane Austen?
LA: Meeting other Austen obsessives of course! It is also athrill to introduce new readers to Austen and other authors that I enjoy.
J: What is it about Austen that fascinated you, made you admire herwork and have been a lifelong fan of hers?
LA: Looking back on my first viewing of P&P 1980, the strong first impression that it made on me wasdefinitely from the romantic tension and the fine resolution between ElizabethBennet and Mr. Darcy. I was of course a young woman keen for my own romance atthe time, but I also remember laughing at the sharp dialogue and loving theRegency era and its civility and manners. When I read P&P for the first time, it was challenge to get through thelanguage, but I soon got the hang of it, and have read the novel every yearsince. I think my continued attraction to Austen is her witty dialogue, beinglost in the language and the Regency era.
J: Who is your favorite Darcy actor and Elizabeth actress?
LA: They say that one is bonded with the first Pride and Prejudice adaptation that yousee. I must agree, because Elizabeth Garvie will always be the perfectElizabeth Bennet for me, and David Rintoul actually plays Darcy closer toAusten’s intensions than anyone else. I do enjoy Colin Firth & Matthew Macfadyen’s interpretations, but Rintoul is just such an arrogant andmysterious Darcy, that I continue to be engrossed by his performance.
LA: Over the years I had been working with many authors to helppromote their new books on Austenprose. They were such an agreeable group, sopassionate about Jane and enthusiastic about their work. I thought to myself “Iwant to work with these authors. Why couldn’t I be the editor of anAusten-inspired short story anthology and ask them to contribute?” At that timethere were no Austen anthologies in print. I thought it is a grand idea, I justdidn’t know how to get it published.
After I had my book deal with Random House, I compiled alist of my “dream team” of authors and my editor added a few authors that she thought might be interesting and I emailed them allone momentous day in January 2010. The first response came back in about 5minutes from Lauren Willig with a profound yes. The rest followed shortly afterand in about a month, we had the line-up set. It was surreal.
J: How did the title came about?
LA: I give full credit to the title to my brilliant agentMitchell Waters. He is a Janeite and a gentleman in the true Darcy spirit. Thesubtitle was a combination of some writing that my editor liked from my blogand her own modification. I was very pleased with both.
J: How did you get it published, and what was your first reaction whenyou found out it was being published and you were the editor/author?
LA: I asked some the authors that I had been working with on myblog for advice, and before I could write up a book proposal, I was contactedby a literary agent thanking me for the work I had done with his client. Ithought about it for about 10 seconds, then, I seized the opportunity at once,called him and pitched my idea. He loved it. So did Random House!
It all happened so quickly that it was like a dream. It tooka while for the reality to sink in. It was all a big secret for almost sixmonths. That was the hard part. Not being able to talk about it on my blog. Theday I signed the publication contract and later posted the announcement on myblog were big milestones. Another was the day the editing was complete and thebook was done. It has continued to be an exciting ride.
J: What's next for you after this novel? Will there be another one and are you editingit again or will you be writing it?
LA: I have two projects in development. One is another anthologyand the second is a new kind of annotated Austen edition. I can’t say muchmore, but I am quite excited about both of them.
Thanks for hosting me here today Jeane. It was a pleasure.
Cheers, Laurel Ann Nattress
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Want to win a copy of Jane Austen Made Me Do It novel? If so, check out the previous post...
Pride and Prejudice’s Indelible Influence by Laurel Ann Nattress (with a Book Giveaway!)
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Want to win a copy of Jane Austen Made Me Do It novel? If so, check out the previous post...
Pride and Prejudice’s Indelible Influence by Laurel Ann Nattress (with a Book Giveaway!)
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