Story Connections – Page 12

Meet the Characters: Henry and Constance

It will come as no surprise to those who have been readers of my stories for a while that I do not just write Austen-inspired stories that reimagine Austen characters in new places and situations. I do write those kinds of stories, but I also like to develop my own characters to insert into Austen-inspired stories and, of course, to populate my own original stories.

My Other Pens series is one that combines a few of Austen’s characters, as reimagined to some extent by me, and many original characters. This is a series where we step off of the last page of Mansfield Park and into Henry Crawford’s world as it continues past Austen’s novel.

Did you know?

The Other Pens series title comes from the first line of the final chapter of Mansfield Park:

Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.

Weapons of the Peninsular War (video)

FYI: This video is 13:38 minutes long. (So grab a cuppa before you click play 😉 )

A week or so ago, when I was scrolling through YouTube looking for something to watch as I sipped some herbal tea before bed, this video was recommended to me because I’ve watched other History Hit videos. I found the information in this to be quite interesting since I have written stories that reference the Napoleonic Wars.

The story that immediately came to mind was Midnight with Mary (Sweet Extra 2) because the Peninsular War is mentioned a couple of times in it (even though it is a short novelette), and I did a fair bit of research reading before writing that book. In fact, I read about the people and battles mentioned in this video.

Here is the first time the Peninsular War is mentioned. The colonel and Mary have gone to call on a widow and friend of Mary’s to help her. (It’s a rather long excerpt. I hope you don’t mind. 😉 )

Henry Angelo, fencer

Tonight (Tuesday), as I was looking up something of interest to share on social media, I thought “I should share these things on my blog as well.” So, I am. I can’t guarantee it will be a weekly thing, but sporadically, at least, I think I’ll share things like this on here as well as on my social media accounts. I hope you don’t mind. 🙂

View of Bartlett’s Buildings in Holborn by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd

Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Well, here’s a rare occurrence these days — a Wednesday post! As I was getting chapter 3 ready to share, this picture popped into my head. I had seen it way back when I was researching things for His Inconvenient Choice, and I simply could not post tomorrow’s chapter without sharing this image with you. Here’s a little snippet from that chapter to go with the image:

The next morning, after a less than restful night of sleep, Richard stood in front of number eight Bartlett’s Buildings and checked the slip of paper in his hand once again to make sure he had arrived where he was supposed to be. It was a tidy little lane of houses, well-cared for, and quite respectable looking. It seemed as if it would be a perfectly acceptable place to live.

He raised his hand, rapped on the door, and waited. There was a shuffling inside, and then a friendly looking man with a quick smile and spectacles perched on his end of his nose opened the door.

[from His Inconvenient Choice]

Choices Series, Books 1-4