Why I wrote a "Pride and Prejudice" variation.

"Why write a Pride and Prejudice inspired story?"

This question was posed in a Facebook event hosted by another Austenesque writer a couple of weeks ago. And the truth is... I almost didn't. Seriously. P&P and the Darcy and Elizabeth pairing are so zealously loved by Austen/JAFF readers that even the hint of their not being together (which I did consider) gets them insanely incensed. I've seen people comment that they won't read a variation if those two do not end up together, and most don't even like stories where they are with other people even temporarily. Fans don't seem to mind if Jane and Bingley are broken up, don't seem to mind if the main couples in other books are broken up, but woe betide any author that dares to break up D&E!

The fact that this one pair, of all Austen's couples, are so deeply regarded is wonderful, to be sure. But frankly, it's also incredibly intimidating. If one does not commit the unpardonable offense of pairing them with someone else, there's still the challenge of writing an enjoyable "What if?" story for them. Plus, with so many variations of P&P out there, it's monstrously difficult to come up with anything even remotely original. No matter what point in the story you start at, where you take it from there -- and how you get them to the HEA (and there absolutely must be such an ending!) -- is a daunting task. Doing what others have done, but doing it your way and making your own mark on the story, is not easy. And even if you do keep Darcy and Elizabeth together, the how and the why better be good.

Yet, I faced the challenge with Choice and Consequence. I had to. First and foremost because I'm writing a series, one in which I plan for all the stories -- mine and Austen's -- to be interconnected (that's pretty much the definition of "series", lol). If you've read my first book, you know that although it was mainly a Sense and Sensibility variation, Pride and Prejudice characters make an appearance. So there was no way I was going to get away with not writing a P&P variation. And really, I could not introduce them in the way I did and not complete that part of the story. I call C&C a concurrent sequel, because it begins during the epilogue of The Correction of Folly, so although you probably could read each book as a stand-alone novel, to get a full understanding it's a good idea to read TCoF first.

Of course, for those readers who just want their Darcy and Elizabeth fix without having to read book 1 first, I've included in the front of the book a cast of characters. This will hopefully help any readers who have not read the first book with understanding some of the characters' names and who they are (done, in part, because I don't use the same first name for Colonel Fitzwilliam as most every other JAFF writer; nor do I use Matlock for his father's title).

Why did I write a Pride and Prejudice variation? Why wouldn't I? 😉