We’re honored to host Amanda Grange as a Halloween treat today!
Jane Austen Award nominee Amanda Grange was born in Yorkshire, England. She spent her teenage years reading Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer whilst also finding time to study music at Nottingham University. She has had more than 20 books published including six Jane Austen retellings and Mr. Darcy, Vampyre.
Amanda Grange now lives in Cheshire. Visit Amanda at her website Amanda Grange, on Twitter as @HRomanceUK, and on Facebook as Amanda Grange.
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Carolyn Crist: What sparked you to pursue publication as an author?
Amanda Grange: I’d always loved writing, ever since I was a little girl, and as I grew older it became an ambition of mine to have a book published. I didn’t always finish my books when I wrote for myself, and I thought that aiming for publication would encourage me to finish a book, and to write the best book I possibly could.
Carolyn: What ideas led to your Jane Austen books, especially Mr. Darcy, Vampyre and Mr. Darcy’s Diary?
Amanda: My first Austen book was Mr Darcy’s Diary. I remember it very clearly, even though I wrote it about eight years ago. I was reading Pride and Prejudice again, and it occurred to me that it was a very modern book in many ways. It had a lot of short chapters, a lot of dialogue – both things that editors love today. But in one way it was very different to novels published today, because it didn’t have any sections written from the hero’s point of view. I started writing some of the scenes from Mr Darcy’s point of view and couldn’t stop, so that’s how I ended up writing Mr Darcy’s Diary (the UK hardback and the audio download are both called Darcy’s Diary, by the way).
With Mr Darcy, Vampyre I wanted to write a book in the tradition of the Gothic novels that Jane Austen read, books like The Mysteries of Udolpho by Mrs Radcliffe. I’d had the idea of making Mr Darcy a vampyre for some years, ever since watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because something about the Buffy/Angel dynamic reminded me of the Lizzy/Darcy dynamic. So when I had the idea of writing something in the great Gothic tradition, the two ideas merged and led to Mr Darcy, Vampyre.
Amanda: I like characters who are strongly drawn and who are true to themselves, like Lizzy Bennet. I like them to grow and develop throughout a book, and so I liked seeing Lizzy learn that she had been wrong to ridicule Mr Darcy and believe ill of him with very little reason. That’s also why I love Mr Darcy, because he changes. He’s proud and arrogant to begin with, but in the end he realises that Lizzy was right to reject him the first time round and confesses: “By you I was properly humbled.” I think it took a lot of courage for him to face his faults and change, and his ability to do that makes me really admire him.
Amanda: I’m fascinated by the way she writes such different novels, even though they are all about the same subject matter. Pride and Prejudice is light, bright and sparkling whilst Persuasion is elegiac and Mansfield Park is more serious in tone. Northanger Abbey is a spoof of the Gothic novels popular at the time, Sense and Sensibility is dramatic and Emma confines itself entirely to one neighbourhood. So within six novels there is an enormous range.
Amanda: I had a day job, which is essential for most writers as it can take years to get published and then many more years to get established. I wrote in the evenings and at weekends, and sometimes in the early mornings as well. It’s a lot harder than most people think to get published, and to stay published. I admire anyone who wants to achieve that ambition, but I think it’s necessary to be realistic. Publication doesn’t necessarily mean earning a living, so it’s important to have a reliable source of income as well.
Amanda: It’s about Mr and Mrs Bennet’s courtship. The story starts on Lizzy and Darcy’s wedding day, which reminds Mr Bennet of his own wedding day and the events leading up to it. I’ve often wondered why Mr Bennet married the silly Mrs Bennet, and so this story sets out to explain how it came about. There’s a lot of humour in it and we get to meet Mr Collins’s parents, as well as Mr Collins as a baby!
I also have another book coming out at the end of October, the UK paperback of Colonel Brandon’s Diary. I love this book. Colonel Brandon is such a romantic figure, and he has a tragic back story. A lot happened to him before he met Marianne, and Colonel Brandon’s Diary shows his life before and after he met her. It’s available from bookshops in the UK or from Amazon.
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Thank you, Amanda! We admire how much you’ve achieved as an author, and we’d love to hear more tips when you have a chance!
Vicariously Jane Austen 