Guest Author Nina Benneton~Jane Austen Christmas Week!

SUMMARY :

For anyone obsessed with Pride & Prejudice, it's Darcy and Elizabeth like you've never see them before!

This modern take introduces us to the wealthy philanthropist Fitzwilliam Darcy, a handsome and brooding bachelor who yearns for love but doubts any woman could handle his obsessive tendencies. Meanwhile, Dr. Elizabeth Bennet has her own intimacy issues that ensure her terrible luck with men.

When the two meet up in the emergency room after Darcy's best friend, Charles Bingley, gets into an accident, Elizabeth thinks the two men are a couple. As Darcy and Elizabeth unravel their misconceptions about each other, they have to decide just how far they're willing to go to accept each other's quirky ways...

See my full review of "Compulsively Mr. Darcy" by "Search"ing on my sidebar at the left hand side of my blog!


PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Publisher:  Sourcebooks
Pages:  352
Genre:  Fiction/Jane Austen inspired
Find this author:  Nina Benneton
To purchase her book, find links on her site above!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Picture of the author incognito with bookmark: 

Nina Benneton was on her way to save the world and win a Nobel Prize in something, anything, when a rare-bird enthusiast nut whisked her off her restless feet. A flock of beautiful children and a comfy nest kept Nina contented in domestic bliss until one day, she woke up and saw that she was too obsessed with alphabetizing her spices and searching for stray Barbie shoes. A dare and a supportive nudge from her nearest and dearest diverted Nina's obsessive energy into writing fiction. Compulsively Mr. Darcy is her first novel. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.





GUEST POST FROM THE WITTY AND WISE MS BENNETON :

I'm so thrilled to bring you this post today from Nina who is a dear friend and wonderful writer.  I caution you that she is a writer of the absurd and wacky, which is why I adore her!!

I give you Ms Benneton:

Dear Austenesque Author,

Bah, humbug!

Yes, I am quite aware that expression came from the works of another famous nineteenth century writer, that young whippersnapper Charles Dickens, who was a mere child of five and not yet out of leading strings when I prematurely departed to meet my maker. But, no, I am not writing to you to talk about my life-cut-too-short situation.

What I wish to discuss tonight is thievery! Intellectual thievery! Thievery by you, the audacious Austenesque author. You have stolen my characters, my plot, and even my life for your own novels. Have you modern writer no imagination, no innovation, no inspiration of your own? Have you no neighbors, relations, or friends of your own to use as models for your writings?

If I, a genteelly impoverished spinster, who had hardly traveled much except a few trips to Town and to Kent to visit relatives, could write diverse characters such as Lady Catherine and Harriet Smith, how could you, with all your twenty-first century advantages and conveniences, not be able to use all original characters in your novels? Surely, there must be a Mrs. Elton, Mrs. Norris, or Mrs. Jennings in your neighborhood you can acquaint yourself with, and then use later for inspiration?

What's that? You only have Facebook friends and Twitter friends and Instagram friends?

Bah, humbug! 'Tis a shame you are too busy writing to have a life—.

No, you shall not distract me into commenting on the sad state of interpersonal relationships today. I shall keep my focus on helping you find other sources of inspiration.

The tabloids! Such a rich source of real life characters on which to base your fictional characters! Though, may I suggest some creative rearrangement…

Instead of having your fictional Mr. Tom Cruise's fourth wife be some ingénue actress in her twenties, may I suggest pairing him with Mama Boo Boo? Think of Suri Cruise as Emma Woodhouse trying to help her stepsister Honey Boo Boo as Miss Harriet Martin gain some Vogue town-bronze.

Instead of having your fictional Mr. Hugh Hefner (a Wickham, Willoughby and Sir William Elliot combined) marry the fictional Miss Crystal Harris, pair him with Octomom. A rakehell (a much more dashing term than your 'playboy') who's nearly ninety deserves to be stepfather to eight children under five! 'Tis very unlikely that he's still fertile, and thus I think there's very little risk of her becoming a Novemom or Decemom.

Instead of having your fictional Mr. Sean Penn be disappointed in love with a young actresses half his age, may I suggest pairing him with one twice his age. Who else could offer more womanly loving than the indomitable and warm-hearted Betty White, especially to such a brooding Bronte-ish, my mad-wives-never-loved-me hero?

On further thought, may I suggest all you Austenesque authors become Brontesque authors? After all, should you turn your attention to stealing from their works for your sequels, prequels, re-imaginings and so forth, there are three of them to roll over in their respective graves.

I am heartily tired of these constant rollings over in my grave—after having read some of your Austenesque novels, especially the salacious ones.

Yours, etc…

Jane Austen

 

Austenesque author Nina Benneton's first novel, Compulsively Mr. Darcy, was published earlier this year. Though her second novel, Spices of Pemberley, will be released in 2013, she wishes to reassure Miss Jane Austen that not all of her subsequent novels she's currently at work on are Austenesque stories, salacious or otherwise. She's also published in an anthology, Death Sparkles.

Link for Compuslively Mr. Darcy: http://www.amazon.com/Compulsively-Mr-Darcy-Nina-Benneton/dp/1402262493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356212981&sr=8-1&keywords=Compulsively+Mr.+Darcy

Link for Death Sparkles: http://www.amazon.com/Death-Sparkles-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B009OX9V2W/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top



                          WE WISH YOU A VERY
                   
                             HAPPY HOLIDAY!!!!


Nina Benneton and Deborah/TheBookishDame  

"Brave" Disney/Pixar Movie~Is It Feminist Enough?

Gorgeous artwork, as always!  I'm so excited to see this latest in the Disney/Pixar family of pictures for children (and their adult children).

Telling the story of a daring and beautiful Scottish princess, this one reminds me of the old legend of Atalanta whose

father wanted her to marry the strongest fighter

in the land, but who bested them at archery and refused to marry!

The question has been brought up about whether this time

Disney has missed or made its mark...

Has it done the wonderful by creating a film, finally, about strong, independent young girls; or, has it only made them

partial heroines who want to be "just like Dad," and

eventually come home to a handsome prince,

home and hearth in the end?

Well, let me pose the question...what's wrong with having it all?

Early feminists wanted it all.  I still want it all.  And, I suspect most of my friends do, too.  What's not to love about being able to best a boy/man at a sport or a game of business?  What's not to be proud of when you rank at the top of the class...or pass the bar #1 ?

What's  not to be proud of when you're able to give birth

to the most beautiful babies on earth, run a household, and be a famous writer like Nina Benneton?

I see no big problem with "Brave" if that's how the story is going to be told.

I also see no problem if it's told from the perspective of a young girl-woman who is brave and strong and who meets a young boy-man who is also brave and strong.  And who both tackle a villain or foe together. (I'm not sure this is what happens at all...)

Don't we, most of us, ban together in some way to fight significant battles?

Even in Disney/Pixar movies with male central figures, often female counterparts help win the day. 

As a modern-day feminist who isn't a hard-shell one, I have to say that I'm delighted that Disney/Pixar has chosen to give us this little heroine.  Feisty, fiery, independent and strong...she just might show little girls it's okay in every way to be themselves if "themselves" is to step out of the

traditional princess role.  We don't all have to faint at the feet of

the handsome prince to win his love.  We can also fight beside him.

And, if this little Scottish firebrand was cursed by a witch for her streak of independence and defiance, she certainly met the challenge!  Young women for ages have been similarly "cursed" and look how far we've come. 

"Can't touch this..."  LOL

I'm looking forward to seeing and cheering for "Brave."

Thanks for stopping by!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Compulsively Mr. Darcy"~Nina Benneton Chats w/Commenters on A Bookish Libraria

If you missed my review of "Compulsively Mr. Darcy" of last week, please take a look at it.  You may have to click on it from the sidebar, but it's well worth your gander.  Nina has stretched herself past the confines of the paged post and gone down into the comments with a new rash of commentaries that are hilarious and so apropos of  her slightly skewed sense of humor.  I adore her, and her flamboyant style.  You probably will, too. 

And, it will give you just a spy glass view of what's coming for you in her Darcy books.

Hop on down and read about her book and her.

She's the best!

Thanks for visiting me this week..

Deborah/TheBookishDame

PS:  Please let me know here if you like this new interactive author with commenters feature....