Charlotte's Story
Pride and Prejudice from Charlotte Lucas's point of view.
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In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy engage in a famously tangled romance, but Elizabeth’s friend, Charlotte Lucas, also strives for happiness and a husband. Being neither pretty nor rich, Charlotte accepts the proposal of the loquacious William Collins, reckoning that his tedious conversation is a small price to pay for the prosperous home and family she hopes to gain. However, trouble brews within the first months of marriage, for they are not nearly as good a match as she hoped, and she is upset and angered by his presumptuous tendency to interfere with her friendships. In this story, Charlotte gives her own account of how she tackles the tribulations of her relationships, including a daring solution to a potential calamity.
A review from the Historical Fiction Society can be read here. And another appreciative review can be read here. My blog post about writing historical fiction can be read here. An author interview appears here. An interview with Joy Held, Books by my Friends, appears here. An interview with Barry Eva is here. (Click on August, 2022.) Charlotte's Story is available from TouchPoint Press. And from amazon. |
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Little Follies: A Mystery at the Millennium
A visit to Krakow intended to test a new relationship turns out to be fraught with danger when two Americans encounter a man pursuing a dark ambition in the waning months of the last millennium.
Adam Kasper is a historian delving into the archives of an old museum; traveling with him is Joan Templeton, a journalist. Although they have come to Poland together in hopes that their new romance might flourish, Adam's work is all-consuming, and Joan finds better company with Rudy Vander Lage, a lecturer at the university who is coping with widowhood. By chance, they cross paths with Pawel Radincki, a man of unstable mind who hopes to transform his life by means both criminal and occult. Adam's obsession with his research leads him to commit a serious breach of academic protocol. Although their relationship is disintegrating, Joan decides to help him with a bold and risky plan, and she enlists the aid of Rudy. Neither realizes that the risks they take will stymie Pawel's plans and put Joan's life in danger. Theft, murder, and magic propel the plot, which reaches a climax at the turn of the millennium, when relationships are realigned and follies laid bare. My blog post about an aspect of the plot can be found at Lesa's Book Critiques. Little Follies is available from the publisher, Black Rose Writing, and from amazon, as well as other outlets. |
"A Murder, A Mystery, and a Marriage"
In 2001 I entered and won a writing contest for completing an unpublished story by Mark Twain.
My winning entry is available as a pdf by clicking here.
My winning entry is available as a pdf by clicking here.
Copyright 2022