Hello, blog friends! I hope everyone is doing well this week! We're back with another author mini-view and giveaway this week and joining us today is the lovely Debra E. Marvin. Let's get this interview started!
Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing. (How did you get started? How many books have you written? Where are you on your writing journey?)
Like many authors, I've been writing on and off for decades. Austen in Austin has actually been around for years since it was first a lively discussion among my Inkwell Inspirations blog-mates (back when most of us weren't published--we all are now, so keep at it!). Though I have written one contemporary novel (unpublished), my heart will always be in historicals, leaning toward British settings and mystery and I have multiple manuscripts that are quite unlike the playful tone of Alarmingly Charming and Desert Duet, my Christmas novella.
What is your favorite Bible verse?
My favorite Bible verse is Romans 8:38-39:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ...As our world swirls down, ever faster, ever deeper toward chaos, this verse calms me. It's good to remember on pleasant, sunny days too!
What have you read lately that you would recommend?
I'd recommend Lisa Karon Richardson's The Peacock Throne. It's all the things I like in a story: British, suspenseful, well-written--perfect for fans of historical romance without the bodice-ripping.
What book are you featuring today?
Today I'm thrilled to bring Austen in Austin to your blog. Four novellas (with four more coming later this year) are set in a (British) finishing school in Austin, Texas in the last two decades of the 19th Century. Each novella is a take on an Austen plot and heroine, and though they can be read as stand-alones, we enjoyed incorporating the same setting, and revisiting characters throughout 20 years in Austin history. I think it will be a delightful read for lovers of Austen, Cowboys and historical romance. Here's our 'blurb':
Discover four heroines in historical Austin, TX, as they find love--Jane Austen style. Volume 1 includes:
If I Loved You Less by Gina Welborn, based on Emma
A prideful matchmaker examines her own heart when her protégé falls for the wrong suitor.
Refinements by Anita Mae Draper, based on Sense and Sensibility
A misguided academy graduate spends the summer falling in love . . . twice.
One Word from You by Susanne Dietze, based on Pride and Prejudice
A down-on-her-luck journalist finds the story of her dreams, but her prejudice may cost her true love . . . and her career.
Alarmingly Charming by Debra E. Marvin, based on Northanger Abbey
A timid, gothic dime-novel enthusiast tries to solve the mystery of a haunted cemetery and, even more shocking, why two equally charming suitors compete for her attentions.
If you could tell people who are going to read/have read your books one thing, what would it be?
I hope readers can anticipate what fun we had with the plots. I had a bit of a challenge with Northanger Abbey, but I grabbed it because of my old love for gothic romance. (Yes. It's true!). Catherine Moreland might be the silliest, most naive of Austen's characters, but I focused on her big heart and kindness and wrote an intelligent bookworm heroine who, like so many of us, doesn't see just how strong she is until she's tested. And, I tried to write it all in a very light-hearted way...a parody, if you will, of Austen's own parody of the gothic novels of her time.
Thanks so much for allowing me to be part of your busy blog, Anna!
I'd love for your readers to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebraEMarvin
Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing. (How did you get started? How many books have you written? Where are you on your writing journey?)
Like many authors, I've been writing on and off for decades. Austen in Austin has actually been around for years since it was first a lively discussion among my Inkwell Inspirations blog-mates (back when most of us weren't published--we all are now, so keep at it!). Though I have written one contemporary novel (unpublished), my heart will always be in historicals, leaning toward British settings and mystery and I have multiple manuscripts that are quite unlike the playful tone of Alarmingly Charming and Desert Duet, my Christmas novella.
What is your favorite Bible verse?
My favorite Bible verse is Romans 8:38-39:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ...As our world swirls down, ever faster, ever deeper toward chaos, this verse calms me. It's good to remember on pleasant, sunny days too!
What have you read lately that you would recommend?
I'd recommend Lisa Karon Richardson's The Peacock Throne. It's all the things I like in a story: British, suspenseful, well-written--perfect for fans of historical romance without the bodice-ripping.
What book are you featuring today?
Today I'm thrilled to bring Austen in Austin to your blog. Four novellas (with four more coming later this year) are set in a (British) finishing school in Austin, Texas in the last two decades of the 19th Century. Each novella is a take on an Austen plot and heroine, and though they can be read as stand-alones, we enjoyed incorporating the same setting, and revisiting characters throughout 20 years in Austin history. I think it will be a delightful read for lovers of Austen, Cowboys and historical romance. Here's our 'blurb':
Discover four heroines in historical Austin, TX, as they find love--Jane Austen style. Volume 1 includes:
If I Loved You Less by Gina Welborn, based on Emma
A prideful matchmaker examines her own heart when her protégé falls for the wrong suitor.
Refinements by Anita Mae Draper, based on Sense and Sensibility
A misguided academy graduate spends the summer falling in love . . . twice.
One Word from You by Susanne Dietze, based on Pride and Prejudice
A down-on-her-luck journalist finds the story of her dreams, but her prejudice may cost her true love . . . and her career.
Alarmingly Charming by Debra E. Marvin, based on Northanger Abbey
A timid, gothic dime-novel enthusiast tries to solve the mystery of a haunted cemetery and, even more shocking, why two equally charming suitors compete for her attentions.
If you could tell people who are going to read/have read your books one thing, what would it be?
I hope readers can anticipate what fun we had with the plots. I had a bit of a challenge with Northanger Abbey, but I grabbed it because of my old love for gothic romance. (Yes. It's true!). Catherine Moreland might be the silliest, most naive of Austen's characters, but I focused on her big heart and kindness and wrote an intelligent bookworm heroine who, like so many of us, doesn't see just how strong she is until she's tested. And, I tried to write it all in a very light-hearted way...a parody, if you will, of Austen's own parody of the gothic novels of her time.
Thanks so much for allowing me to be part of your busy blog, Anna!
I'd love for your readers to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebraEMarvin
About the Author:
Debra E. Marvin tries not to run too far from real life but the imagination born out of being an only child has a powerful draw. Besides...the voices in her head tend to agree with all the sensible things she says. She'd like to live a wee bit closer to her grandchildren, but is thankful that God is in control, that He chooses to bless us despite ourselves and that He has a sense of humor.
Other than writing light-hearted romances and gritty gothics, she has rather normal obsessions such as fabric, peanut butter, vacations, British dramas, and whatever mystery series she's currently stuck on.
http://debraemarvin.com/
http://www.inkwellinspirations.com/
https://www.pinterest.com/debraemarvin/
https://www.facebook.com/Debra-E-Marvin-433266640199533/
https://twitter.com/DebraEMarvin
Other than writing light-hearted romances and gritty gothics, she has rather normal obsessions such as fabric, peanut butter, vacations, British dramas, and whatever mystery series she's currently stuck on.
http://debraemarvin.com/
http://www.inkwellinspirations.com/
https://www.pinterest.com/debraemarvin/
https://www.facebook.com/Debra-E-Marvin-433266640199533/
https://twitter.com/DebraEMarvin
Blurb:
As travel companion to her condescending cousin, Philadelphian Kathryn Morton dreamily anticipates a week in the Wild West as the best cure for meekness. After a long rail journey and a steady diet of gothic dime novels, she shivers, despite the Texas heat, at the ghastly tales of the Austin Axe Murderer. Kathryn has little time to fret, given the competing attentions of quiet rancher Harmon Gray and elegant gentleman Jonathan Wellington. With her new-found confidence and her boundless imagination, she sets out to solve the mystery of Hyde Park Cemetery before another student flees Austen Abbey. Only then can she return home to her English-born parents as an independent American woman. A woman in love. But on the stormiest of nights, Kathryn learns that solving the mystery may destroy a future with the man she’s fallen for in a big Texas way.
Giveaway!
Debra is generously giving away either a print copy or an e-copy (winner's choice) of "Austen in Austin" to one of my awesome subscribers! Just fill out the GiveawayTools form to enter. (If it doesn't show up in the email, click here http://www.annaweaverbooks.com/giveaways to enter from the website.) Giveaway ends 2/3. God bless and have a great week!
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