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THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN by 12 authors of Austen-inspired fiction who are part of the Jane Austen Variations group blog. Our books include both Regency-set and modern novels, sequels, variations, retellings, and mash-ups.
If you would like to learn more about our authors, please visit our web site at http://www.austenvariations.com.
Maria Grace
Though Maria Grace has been writing fiction since she was ten years old, those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely to see the light of day again, for which many are grateful. After penning five file-drawer novels in high school, she took a break from writing to pursue college and earn her doctorate in Educational Psychology. After 16 years of university teaching, she returned to her first love, fiction writing.
She has one husband and one grandson, two graduate degrees and two black belts, three sons, four undergraduate majors, five nieces, written six different series, built seven websites, started her eighth year blogging on Random Bits of Fascination, sewn nine Regency era costumes, and shared her life with ten cats.
Visit Maria Grace at her blog, Random Bits of Fascination, on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
Susan Mason-Milks
You might be surprised to learn that when Ms. Mason-Milks read Pride and Prejudice for the first time in the eighth grade, she thought Mr Darcy must be the most boring, least romantic character ever created. That changed when she saw the now famous 1995 mini-series version of the story. Deciding to give Austen another chance, she read all of Austen’s novels and fell in love.
In addition to writing, her interests include reading, walking, swimming, dabbling in crafts, and travel. She currently lives in Oregon with her husband, their Tibetan terrier (AKA Tibetan terror), and a very lazy cat.
Her books include Mr. Darcy’s Proposal, co-authorship of The Darcy Brothers, and contributions to Pride & Prejudice: Behind the Scenes, and Persuasion: Behind the Scenes.
You can find her at: www.austenvariations.com, www.austen-whatif-stories.com, on Facebook and Twitter.
Diana Birchall
Diana Birchall retired recently from her career as a story analyst for Warner Bros Studios. She is still pursuing her lifetime immersion in Jane Austen homage and scholarship, and was a very early pioneer of Austenesque fiction writing, beginning with winning a JASNA writing contest as long ago as 1985. She is the author of Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma and Mrs. Elton in America, both published by Sourcebooks, as well as In Defense of Mrs. Elton, published by JASNA, and hundreds of short stories. Her plays have been performed in many cities, with “You Are Passionate, Jane,” about Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, featured at Chawton House Library in England. Famous actresses Kathleen Chalfont and Miriam Margolyes have participated in readings of her work. With Syrie James, Diana has written and performed in plays for JASNA AGMs, including “The Austen Assizes” in Brooklyn, NY, and “A Dangerous Intimacy: Behind the Scenes in Mansfield Park” in Montreal.
Diana has also written a scholarly biography of her grandmother, the first Asian American novelist, Onoto Watanna, and lectured widely about her books at universities across the U.S., Canada and England, including Oxford, Yale, Columbia, and NYU. Diana grew up in New York City, and now lives in Santa Monica, California with her poet husband, librarian son, and three illiterate cats.
Marilyn Brant
Marilyn Brant is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery. She received an M.A. in educational psychology from Loyola University Chicago, dabbled in both fiction and art at Northwestern University, studied the works of Austen at Oxford University, and is a Lifetime Member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her debut novel, According to Jane, won RWA's prestigious Golden Heart Award for Best Mainstream Novel with Romantic Elements, the site Buzzle.com named it one of the “100 Best Romance Novels of All Time,” and it was a #1 bestseller on Kindle in 2010.
She also wrote a pair of sweet romances, Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match & Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet, as well as the sexy contemporary love stories in her Mirabelle Harbor series. The Illinois Association of Teachers of English chose Marilyn to be their Author of the Year in 2013 and, in 2017, her Austen-inspired short story, “When Life Imitates Art,” was included in the Romance Writers of America’s anthology, Second Chances. She’s written twenty novels and novellas to date and is hard at work on her next book. When she’s not watching those addictive “Tasty” videos on YouTube, she loves to chat with readers on social media! Please visit her website, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
Jack Caldwell
Jack Caldwell, born and raised in the Bayou County of Louisiana, is an author, amateur historian, professional economic development consultant, playwright, and like many Cajuns, a darn good cook.
Always a history buff, Jack found and fell in love with Jane Austen in his twenties, struck by her innate understanding of the human condition. Jack uses his work to share his knowledge of history. Through his characters, he hopes the reader gains a better understanding of what went on before, developing an appreciation for our ancestors' trials and tribulations.
Jack’s novels include Pemberley Ranch, Mr. Darcy Came to Dinner, and The Companion of His Future Life, his Jane Austen’s Fighting Men Series: The Three Colonels and The Last Adventure of the Scarlet Pimpernel, and his Crescent City Series:The Plains of Chalmette, Bourbon Street Nights, Elysian Dreams, and Ruin and Renewal.
When not writing or traveling with Barbara, Jack attempts to play golf. A devout convert to Roman Catholicism, Jack is married with three grown sons.
Jack's blog postings–The Cajun Cheesehead Chronicles–appear regularly at Austen Variations.
L.L. Diamond
L.L. Diamond is more commonly known as Leslie to her friends and Mom to her three kids. A native of Louisiana, she spent the majority of her life living within an hour of New Orleans before following her husband all over as a military wife. Louisiana, Mississippi, California, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, and now England have all been called home along the way.
After watching Sense and Sensibility with her mother, Leslie became a fan of Jane Austen, reading her collected works over the next few years. Pride and Prejudice stood out as a favourite and has dominated her writing since finding Jane Austen Fan Fiction. Leslie’s books include Rain and Retribution, A Matter of Chance, An Unwavering Trust, The Earl’s Conquest, Particular Intentions, Particular Attachments, and Unwrapping Mr. Darcy.
Visit Leslie’s website lldiamondwrites.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter @lldiamond2
Cass Grafton
Cass Grafton dreamed of being a writer for many years, but a love for all things Jane Austen inspired her novels, A Fair Prospect and A Quest for Mr Darcy. She went on to co-write a contemporary story of friendship and romance with one of her best friends, Ada Bright, The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen, which has now been picked up by Canelo Digital Publishing. A sequel is in the works and will be released in late 2019. Cass is also penning a feel-good romance series set in Cornwall.
Cass has lived in three countries, and loves travelling, reading, cats and dry wine. She has two grown up children and splits her time between Switzerland, where she lives with her husband, and England, where she lives with her characters.
She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Society of Authors, Jane Austen Society UK and is a founding member of the Jane Austen Society of Switzerland.
Kara Louise
Kara Louise began writing in 2001, and has now written and published 12 books, and contributed to 2 anthologies that are based on Jane Austen’s works. Two of her novels, Darcy’s Voyage and Only Mr. Darcy Will Do were published by Sourcebooks Publishers. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, moved to Wichita, KS, in 1991 with her husband and son, and then in 2013 she and her husband moved to the St. Louis area to be near their son and his wife and their children. She balances her time between the two things she loves most: writing and watching her grandchildren.
Jane Odiwe
Jane Odiwe is a British author and illustrator/artist. Her novels are all inspired by Jane Austen’s works and continue the stories of beloved characters like Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy in Mr Darcy’s Secret, or tell Jane Austen’s own story, as in the novels, Searching for Captain Wentworth, Searching for Mr Tilney, Project Darcy, and Jane Austen Lives Again.
C. Allyn Pierson
C. Allyn Pierson is the pen name of Carey A. Bligard, an Iowa physician and long-time fan of both Jane Austen and Regency history. Although she read Pride and Prejudice in her youth, it was not until she had an English au pair living with her who was in love with Mr. Darcy that she looked at Jane Austen’s masterpiece again. She was hooked.
Pierson has also traveled all over the world doing medical mission trips, including China, The Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, and ten+ trips to Central America. When she has spare time she reads, plays the piano and violin, reads, crochets her own designs, and reads. Her plans for the future include several more Austen sequels and a modern mystery series.
Mary Lydon Simonsen
Mary first became acquainted with Jane Austen when she was a senior in high school in the late 1960s in northern New Jersey. As soon as she finished reading Pride and Prejudice, she went on an Austen marathon and read all of her books one after the other. Little did she know that forty years later, she would publish Searching for Pemberley, with a Pride and Prejudice tie-in.
After retiring as a special education assistant, she started to write fiction. She has published three P&P re-imaginings with Sourcebooks, The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy, A Wife for Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy’s Bite, before she returned to self-publishing.
Shannon Winslow
Shannon Winslow claims she was minding her own business when an ordinary trip to Costco about a dozen years ago changed her life. That was the day a copy of the ’95 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice fairly leapt off the shelf and into her oversized shopping cart. Ever since, she has been hopelessly hooked on all things Jane Austen, her obsession ultimately inspired her to begin writing her own stories a la Austen. Winslow's 2011 debut novel, The Darcys of Pemberley, quickly become a best seller, praised for the authentic Austen style and faithfulness to the original characters. Several more have since followed, with no end in sight.
Her two sons now grown, Shannon lives with her husband in the log home they built in the countryside south of Seattle, where she writes and paints in her studio facing Mr. Rainier. Visit Shannon at her website/blog: Shannon Winslow’s “Jane Austen Says...” and follow her on Facebook.
