Update: Congrats to Kristine on winning the Julia Quinn book! Please email me (marilynbrant AT gmail DOT com) with your snail mail address and I’ll send it out to you! 
I’ve always enjoyed reading historical romances. (And, c’mon, who here doesn’t already know that my favorite novel of all time is Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice?! I’ve talked about it so often, LOL.) But, for a number of reasons, I’ve never tried my hand at writing a Regency or anything more historical than a story that takes place in the late 1970s…
Well, in a few weeks, I’m going to have the opportunity to write — if not an entire Regency-set novel — at least a full scene from one. The Austen Authors, of which I’m a member, are in the midst of creating a what-if, reader-involved P&P variation story, with a newly invented character (“Edward Bennet” — just imagine that the Bennet sisters suddenly had an elder brother) and a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure kind of plot. It’s called “Pride & Prejudice: Reader’s Choice.”
So far, 17 authors are joining together and each of us are writing one segment of the story. 
The readers will then vote after each post on what direction to take the story next. I’m curious to give it a try — and I’ll let you all know how it goes later — but, I’ll admit, I’m nervous. Just because I happen to love to read historicals, it doesn’t mean I have any skills when it comes to writing one… My most recent book, after all, was a very modern romantic comedy (Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match), where I played fast and loose with the Austen connections, the P&P themes and any details I wanted from the classic story! See how quickly I could get myself in trouble with people who really know their history?
And, so, I’d love some advice. When you read an historical novel (it could take place in any era, it doesn’t have to be the Regency period), are you easily pulled out of the story if you spot an anachronistic detail or two? Are you distracted by a writing voice that sounds too modern to your ear? Or, for anybody reading this who writes both historical and contemporary stories, do you have any good author tricks or strategies for getting into the right “writing state” when you transition from one genre to another? Are tea and crumpets involved? Watching missed episodes of “Downton Abbey”?? For me, I think I’m gonna need to pull out my well-worn Austen DVDs to try to get into the mood, but I’m open to other ideas, too…
Anyone who leaves a comment below is automatically 
entered in my giveaway (see below). I’ll do the drawing this coming Sunday night, 3/3/13, and announce the results on this post.
GIVEAWAY: Some of my personal historical-romance favorites are the “Bridgerton” books by Julia Quinn, so I’m giving away a paperback copy of The Duke and I, the first novel in that New York Times bestselling series to one random commenter on this post. (Open internationally.) Good luck & have a great weekend!
