Austen in Austin event

Had a wonderful time at the Austen in Austin event. Margie Longoria asked great questions and we — Jennifer, Alyssa, and I– got to talk about how we wrote our books, who our influences are, and what we are working on next. Jennifer, a YA author, pointed out that Jane Austen could be considered YA, which is true, since she writes about young people on the cusp of their adult lives, when they leave home and make their way in the world.

Margie asked us which Austen heroes we loved the best — and it was interesting that none of us said Darcy. For me it has always been Captain Wentworth, for Alyssa it’s Mr. Knightley, and for Jennifer, Col. Brandon. And that says so much about each of us. As I pointed out, Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne Eliot is the most romantic letter in the English language. It just doesn’t get any more swoonworthy.

“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.

“I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father’s house this evening or never.”

Sailors are so romantic.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for an enjoyable afternoon.