It's a pleasure to welcome women's fiction author, Marilyn Brant, visiting with us today.
What I enjoy about Marilyn's stories is, while she may touch on themes of Pride and Prejudice, it's not actually fanfiction—using the actual characters of Jane Austen's tale and retelling the same story—it's fresh and new. Original. I love her imagination and ability to extrapolate from the original without reusing the characters. She creates new characters and situations with a nod to Austen. The stories are fun!
Thanks
to Sia for being so gracious and inviting me back to visit you all at Over
Coffee!
I
know sometimes, after a writer has published a few books, some may think that
it’s old hat, and not as exciting as it was in those early days... But that’s
really not true for me, especially in this case. Pride, Prejudice and the
Perfect Match
is my seventh novel (“Lucky 7?!”) and, in a way, I’m even more excited this
time around because I’m getting to come full circle.
When
I was writing the book, I thought it would be funny for the hero and heroine to
fall prey to a bunch of different stereotypes about each other, which is easy
to do if you’re trying to judge somebody’s character from a list of qualities
on an online dating site or based on their choice of a latté. I’m a devoted
coffee drinker, so I have a little bit of experience with the latter...however,
I had no experience at all with the former!
I met my husband over 20 years ago, and the internet didn't exist in any widespread mainstream way back then. So, I've always been really curious about the whole online dating process. And, as a novelist who wanted use this activity as part of my plot, I had to resort to sneaky tactics (like interrogating my single friends who had Match.com profiles!) in order to find out about the kinds of dating experiences that were out there--both good and seriously-not-so-good.
One twenty-something guy friend of ours would entertain me almost every week with talkes of his latest Internet love matches. Some of them were VERY WILD! I'm pleased to say that he's happily married now, although he didn't meet his new bride online...A female colleague I used to teach with, however, had far more success (although, her romantic tales were not nearly as soap-opera worthy, LOL!), and she did, in fact, meet her husband via the Internet.
I met my husband over 20 years ago, and the internet didn't exist in any widespread mainstream way back then. So, I've always been really curious about the whole online dating process. And, as a novelist who wanted use this activity as part of my plot, I had to resort to sneaky tactics (like interrogating my single friends who had Match.com profiles!) in order to find out about the kinds of dating experiences that were out there--both good and seriously-not-so-good.
One twenty-something guy friend of ours would entertain me almost every week with talkes of his latest Internet love matches. Some of them were VERY WILD! I'm pleased to say that he's happily married now, although he didn't meet his new bride online...A female colleague I used to teach with, however, had far more success (although, her romantic tales were not nearly as soap-opera worthy, LOL!), and she did, in fact, meet her husband via the Internet.
All
in all, I think if Jane Austen had the ability to do any modern matchmaking, I
more than suspect she’d be all over the idea of online dating. *grin*
- Have you or anyone you know tried to meet potential love interests on Match.com or any of the other dating sites? If you haven’t tried it yourself, would you want to? I’d love to know your thoughts!
Wishing you all a wonderful 2013!!
Giveaway:
Because Sia included my last novel, Holiday Man, on her recent post “Hot Reads for Cold Winter Nights” (Over Coffee, January 2nd), I’ll give away one PDF copy of that ebook to one commenter on this post. Open internationally!
 |
| BUY: AMAZON AND B&N |
A single mother and an ER doctor meet
on an Internet dating site—each for reasons that have little to do with finding
their perfect match—in this modern, Austen-inspired story. It’s a tribute to
the power of both “pride” and “prejudice” in bringing two people romantically
together, despite their mutual insistence that they should stay apart…
Would an Elizabeth Bennet by any
other name be as appealing to a Darcy?
Beth Ann Bennet isn’t looking for
love. She’s an aspiring social worker using an online alias to study sex-role
stereotypes. Dr. William Darcy isn’t looking for love either. He’s just trying
to fund his new clinic by winning a major bet. Both think Lady Catherine’s Love
Match Website will help them get what they want—fast, easy and without
endangering their hearts. Both are in for a big surprise.
first chapter excerpt
