Happy Anniversary!

07/07/201707/07/2017 ~ Ada ~ 12 Comments

One year ago today The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen was published! It also happens to be on sale right now on Amazon or available free in Kindle Unlimited!!

As many of you know, we celebrated the launch of the book in Bath at 4 Sydney Place (thank you again, Bath Boutique Stays!). This was an incredible event for the two of us as we were surrounded by such lovely support celebrating the publication of the book. Do you want to see pictures? Here! Look! It was so much fun!

We were able to have the books carried in JA Centre Bath and Visitor Information Centre Bath for what was initially a ten day period during the Jane Austen Festival. Well, we are very proud that The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen is still being sold in both places ten months later. This tickles us endlessly as I’m sure you can imagine.

Now it’s time to work on my side of the globe. Anyone who has spent any length of time in Pasadena will have heard of Vroman’s Bookstore. They are a large, local bookseller with amazing character. They have championed the local artist and author for many years… and, starting a couple days ago, that includes me (and Cass, who is an honorary local).

IMG_2743 copy The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen will be sold in both of their locations through October.

Here it is at the main location on historic Colorado Blvd:

And here it is at the Hastings Ranch location which is conveniently located next to an Einstein Bros Bagel shop ;)!

But, wait! There’s more! As part of the deal with Vroman’s, they will host a book signing at the Colorado Blvd location on September 24! BOTH authors will be there, (though one of us may be slightly jet lagged).

This is not a drill! Friends from near and far, please save the date as we would love you to show up and say hi! More information to come!

There have been a couple other notable things happening this year with the book which Cass will share soon, but for now I must end this post because it’s my birthday!

Thank you for your support on social media and in purchasing our novel. We will hopefully be sharing updates on… *gasp* the sequel soon.

*If it’s not July 7th where you are, please pretend it is. Having writing partners in different time zones does make anniversaries confusing!

Rounding up Another Particularly Charming Month!

01/11/201601/11/2016 ~ Cass ~ 9 Comments

We’ve had another exciting month in October of visits to Blogspots, and there have also been some more lovely reviews coming in for The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen!

Firstly, we were delighted to visit talented author, Wendy Clarke, on her blog, Wendy’s Writing Now, for a guest post a few weeks ago. We talked about how our co-writing works on a day-to-day basis, and you can read all about it here!

Sophia Lykke Illner Thorsen invited us back to her Blog, Interests of a Jane Austen Girl, where we answered several questions, including ones on our inspirations for the men in the book! You can read the interview here.

Then, to round off a wonderful month on the ‘road’, we have been delighted by several lovely reviews of the book coming in on blogs, Amazon and Goodreads, including Sophia at the aforementioned Interests of a Jane Austen Girl, Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer, Christina Boyd, Sophia Rose of Sophia’s Sofa Chats on Goodreads and the lovely Claudine at Just Jane 1813!

You can read Sophia’s review in full here, but we did love this bit (we’re assuming Sophia was in an aeroplane when she read the book!):

It felt like being there through Roses eyes, even if I was sitting 42000 feet above ground reading this exciting, lovely and nerve wracking book. You are definitely being forced through a lot of emotions, while reading, which I see as one of the best achievements an author/authoress can accomplish.

You can read Sophia Rose’s full review here. There was so much we loved about it, it’s hard to pick a quote, so we opted for her summary at the end!

This was a gently-paced, thoughtful, and heartwarming story of a woman and her simple life which grows richer for having her friends, her daydream romance maybe come to life, and her love of Jane Austen and her stories in it. I would recommend this to Austenesque lovers, of course, but also fans of contemporary romance and women’s fiction who don’t mind a bit of magical realism.

Christina Boyd is a Vine Voice reviewer on Amazon, and you can read her review here. We loved this review, but in particular, this:

Wow– just wow! What a story. The unrequited love was touching and the longing felt believable. I was captivated by the women’s friendships–rang very true to me. This is a great story that I’m glad I took the time to read. Now just to make time to get to Bath!

Finally, this week we’re part of the Haunted Austen feature over on Just Jane 1813, where we’ve shared an excerpt of the book and there’s also a giveaway!

You can read the full (lovely) review from Claudine here. We really enjoyed reading this, especially:

Ada Bright and Cass Grafton communicate their shared vision and passion for this story through their seamless collaboration. As an ardent Austen admirer, I could certainly relate to their love for Austen and the sheer despair their characters experienced in a world void of Austen’s work. My hope is that they’ve written this ending with a sequel in mind, even though the ending wraps this story up quite nicely.

I highly recommend this story to Janeites who want to experience the pleasures of Bath alongside the lovely Jane Austen and friends, as well as for readers who enjoy stories that allow us to explore the possibilities offered to us through friendship, shared optimism, and the bond we can share with other people through our love for the treasures found in the past.

Just leave a comment on the post on Just Jane 1813 to enter the GIVEAWAY, a chance to win one of two eBook copies of The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen!

What next for us? Well, we still have our virtual passports in our pockets as we have more Blog visits coming up between now and the end of the year and also quite a few reviews due to come in (continued serious nail biting on our side!), so we will continue to summarise things here in case you miss anything!

Aside from that, I’ve started to post a Pride & Prejudice inspired story (two chapters a week) called A Quest for Mr Darcy over on my Blog, Cass Grafton – Author. Do come on over and enjoy the read (and the comments!)

You can find the blurb and the chapters posted so far here!

quest6

Be Charmed Like Jane Austen!

24/10/2016 ~ Cass ~ 8 Comments

Step over the threshold into No 4 Sydney Place, Bath

Ever fancied sleeping in a house once lived in by Jane Austen? What about spending the night in the very bedroom she shared with her sister, Cassandra? Here’s the icing on the cake! How about spending the night there on the 200th anniversary of Jane’s last ever birthday – 16th December 2016!

December is an expensive time of year, of course, but hey, this year we’ve had the Brexit vote, one notable result of which is the vast slump in the value of the pound! This means if you are living outside the UK (and quite a few people do!), there has never been a better time to book a trip to England, because your currency is going to go a lot further.

If you are living in the UK, it means travelling abroad is much more expensive, so if you fancy a pre-Christmas break, what better time is there to buy British and take a mini-break in your home country?

IMG_5541c — Outside No 4 with our book! Proud moment!

This is a wonderful opportunity for any dedicated Jane Austen fan! No 4 Sydney Place in the beautiful city of Bath is the only former residence of the author where you can go and stay. As you probably know if you’re here on Tabby Cow, Ada and I set a large part of our recent release, The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen, in and around Sydney Place. Our heroine, Rose, lives in the basement flat of No 4, and a certain lady authoress is staying in the ground floor holiday apartment during the annual Jane Austen Festival.

The house is looked after by the lovely, friendly team at Bath Boutique Stays, led by the equally lovely Marcus Whittington (who even has a cameo in the book)!

The property has been beautifully renovated and can be rented either as an entire house for larger parties or as one of four separate apartments, with each one sleeping up to four people (even better value, you see, if you can bring along some fellow Jane Austen fans)!

It is a light-filled house with beautifully preserved original features: ceiling roses, cornices, bell pulls, fireplaces and etched glass panels etc. However, do not fear this means you need to get your water from a well, bathe in front of the fire and hand-wash all your clothes! The apartments are all equipped with brand new modern kitchens and bathrooms with all the essential appliances!

The view from Jane’s bedroom looking towards Camden Crescent, Bath

Two years ago, on 16th December 2014, I was fortunate enough to stay in Mr Darcy’s Apartment (yes, I know. He’s terribly accommodating!) which is located on the second floor and has that very special bedroom! Last year, I was holidaying in Bath with my lovely friend, Rita Watts, and she had the pleasure of staying in the same apartment on Jane’s birthday. We can both promise you it’s a truly wonderful thing at any time of year to have a few nights in Jane’s former home; but on this particular day? Nothing could be more special!

Outside 4 Sydney Place — Rita outside 4 Sydney Place on 16th December 2015

Bath itself, of course, is gorgeous all year round, but in December it truly sparkles under the shimmer of its stunning Christmas lighting. There are festive menus on offer in the vast range of eating establishments and the shop window displays are typically reflective of the season.

So here you are! The perfect gift for the Janeite in your life (which may, in fact, be you!) Go on; treat yourself – or leave this blog post strategically where your nearest and dearest might see it! After all, people always get stuck for ideas for Christmas!

If you’re lucky, you may even see Bath with a dusting of snow or, if you’re like Rose, you may find someone quite unexpected staying in one of the other apartments in No 4 Sydney Place!

STOP PRESS: Bath Boutique Stays currently still has availability for 3 of the 4 apartments at No 4 Sydney Place on Jane’s birthday this December, including Mr Darcy’s Apartment with that unique bedroom and the ground-floor Emma’s Garden Apartment, where you can stay as though you are a character in The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen! Follow the link below to check them out and get booking:

No 4 Sydney Place, Bath

Don’t forget to tell us about your adventures when you’ve stayed there!

What about Jane Austen? What was she doing on her 41st birthday?

She seemed perfectly happy on this particular day, which she spent at home in Chawton. How do we know this? Because she wrote to her nephew, James ‘Edward’ Austen (son of her eldest brother, James) in a letter written across the 16th and 17th December that year.

She doesn’t mention her birthday, and the only reference to her health is that the walk to visit her brother Charles is beyond her strength (though she adds she is otherwise very well). In the main, she teases her nephew a great deal, most notably about writing and the fact he has allegedly mislaid two and a half chapters of the novel he is attempting to write! Jane writes the following:

It is well that I have not been at Steventon lately & therefore cannot be suspected of purloining them; two strong twigs & a half towards a Nest of my own, would have been something.

Soon after follows a very well-known quote from Jane’s letters:

How could I possibly join them on to the little bit (two inches wide) of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labour?

If only she knew the ‘little effect’ of her labours… or perhaps she does! 😉

Rounding up a Particularly Charming Month!

30/09/201630/09/2016 ~ Cass ~ 4 Comments

So! September draws to a close, and so do our recent travels, both actual and virtual!

Earlier this month, I took myself off to the annual Jane Austen Festival in the beautiful city of Bath in search of our characters and, more particularly, Jane Austen herself, as Ada and I had a few pertinent questions for her!

At this stage, I can’t reveal how successful or otherwise this quest was, but aside from that adventure, I did make some exciting discoveries during my brief trip, including spotting The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen on the bookshelves in the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street, the Bath Visitor Information Centre near the abbey and as part of an Austen-themed display in Bath Central Library!

As for our virtual travels, we’ve had a busy month! Firstly, we were delighted to visit talented author Karen King on her blog for her Friday Reads Blogspot a few weeks ago, where we answered questions about our writing habits, our inspirations and more, and you can read all about it here!

Then, Sophia Lykke Illner Thorsen interviewed me for her Blog, Interests of a Jane Austen Girl, where I answered several questions, including ones on my favourite Austen novel, my favourite Darcy and even my favourite Pemberley!

You can read this interview here, and soon Ada and I will back to visit Sophia, when she will interview us about the story and characters of The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen and the potential sequel! (Shh, we’re not talking about it!)

This week we also had the honour of being featured guests on Being Anne, a lovely Blog where we had the chance to talk about the some of the inspiration behind the story, and you can read this post here!

There is also a GIVEAWAY! All you have to do is enter the draw for a paperback or eBook copy of our book (winner’s choice), open internationally.

Then, to round off a wonderful month on the ‘road’, we have been delighted by three lovely reviews of the book from popular bloggers, Susanne at Meditative Meanderings, Meredith at Austenesque Reviews and Kelly at Sweet is Always in Style!

You can read Susanne’s review in full here, but we did love these quotes:

What a wonderful “ride,” ladies, and congratulations on a delightful book!

And how in the world do two authors write in tandem so seamlessly??? So very impressive!!

Meredith’s full review can be found here, and as you might imagine, we were over the moon with this lovely, thoughtful and fun reflection on the story and characters, especially seeing them all through Meredith’s eyes!

We particularly loved this:

A tale of dear friends coming together, a mystery turned adventure, and more than one budding romance – Ada Bright and Cass Grafton seamlessly blended and perfectly balanced every ingredient of this novel. Each component was well-crafted and it is impossible to tell where one author’s writing ends and one begins. Hats off to such a stellar writing team!

And also, for those who recall how Ada and I first met:

I love it when characters geek out over Jane Austen! Not only did this book show that in abundance, but they threw in some Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings geekery for us multi-fandom book lovers! Readers who love these series will be pleased to find so many references and nods to these stories. I loved how they all tied together.

Kelly’s review was full of enthusiasm and so enjoyable to read, and we particularly loved this:

I was completely captivated by this story and the characters, so much so that there was a huge void in my world when I finished it. I missed the characters so much and visiting their world each day like you wouldn’t believe!

and also this:

The men in this book were also a huge plus. They were utterly adorable and downright gentlemen. James, Rose’s boss was sweet, kind and cute and I liked that he and Rose got on so well outside of work and that he looked after her. As for Doctor Aiden Trevellyan, there was just something irresistible about him, maybe it was the passion he had for his work and his good looks, or maybe it was the fact that he was so unaware of Rose’s feelings, which in turn made him seem a little mysterious. I don’t know, but whatever it was, I loved him and I still miss him…..

And you can read the full review here!

What next for us? Well, we still have our virtual passports in our pockets as we have several more Blog visits coming up between now and the end of the year and also quite a few reviews due to come in (cue serious nail biting on our side!), so we will continue to summarise things here in case you miss anything!

Aside from that, it seems we may have a little bit of writing to do ourselves… 😉

48 hours left for 1/2 off!

16/09/2016 ~ Ada ~ 1 Comment

Only 48 hours (from LA time) left to get The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen on sale at only $2.99! That’s a 50% saving on the usual price of $5.99!

Read more about it and a couple of excerpts on the About the Book page here!

You can obtain a Kindle copy at this special price at Amazon.com orAmazon.co.uk (and hopefully every other Amazon site there is!)

The price reduction probably won’t be reflected in the Nook, Kobo and Apple stores anymore, but if you go to Smashwords.com here and enter the code LK28F at checkout the 50% reduction will still be applied!

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A Particularly Charming Offer! 50% off the eBook!

08/09/201608/09/2016 ~ Cass ~ 4 Comments

Woo hoo! Friday, 9th September kicks off the annual 10-day Jane Austen Festival in the beautiful city of Bath, and to celebrate, the eBook of The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen is on sale at only $2.99 for the whole duration of the Festival! That’s a 50% saving on the usual price of $5.99!

Set in the city during the very same Festival, this is a story of friendship and fun (too many ‘f’s?), it’s a mystery and a bit of a rom-com, and as if that isn’t a wide enough variety of genres, there’s also the small matter of a little bit of fantasy woven into the story – something for everyone!! (Except vampire lovers. There are no vampires. Or zombies. Or… well, you get the gist!)

Read more about it and a couple of excerpts on the About the Book page here!

Jane photo of San — Photo Credit: Jane Odiwe

You can obtain a Kindle copy at this special price at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk (and hopefully every other Amazon site there is!)

The price reduction should also be reflected in the Nook, Kobo and Apple stores, but sometimes it takes a while to filter through. If it still shows the $5.99 normal price, then please go to Smashwords.com here and enter the code LK28F at checkout and the 50% reduction will be applied!

(Any problems finding your favourite eBook format at the reduced price, including PDF, let us know in the Comments below, and we will do our best to sort it out!)

How to Eat Your Way Thru Our Book!

05/09/201605/09/2016 ~ Ada ~ 7 Comments

One unexpected result of writing our book was that Bath became more than a setting in The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen. The city has such a unique feel to it, a really lovely regal quaintness. Anyway, we strived to paint a picture of this place the way we know it very, very accurately. We knew exactly where each of our characters would live, socialize and… just as importantly, where they would eat!

I’m not sure how this became such a priority for us, but I think it started with Las Iguanas. Cass wanted to make sure I tried their fajitas (which is a favorite food of mine), and we had such a nice seat by a big window overlooking an attractive little courtyard that we immediately agreed the moment had to be mirrored in the book.

From there, the idea took root. By the time we were together again for the book launch we pretty much exclusively went to the restaurants that our characters had gone to.

The Boater is a cute little pub close to where we (and one of our characters, Morgan) stayed. It is a little dark, in a homey sort of way, and only about two tables wide (though it goes back quite a bit and there are other levels, including a garden!).

Bill’s Restaurant is a nice restaurant, very amenable even when your very large, loud group want to stay to close out the place. They had the BEST spicy chicken sandwich. I tried to get Cass go to back only to there the whole rest of the trip.

Las Iguanas, as I’ve already mentioned, has a really nice location and very good food. After a few days without salsa, my California soul starts to shrivel up, so they were incredibly refreshing.

Speaking of location, Graze has an incredible one:

They are on the top floor of a building near the train station so not only do they overlook the tracks, but the city centre below. We had some lovely blue skies which shone through the 360 degree windows when we ate there and the food was great (and the scene set here is a fav with some of our readers – we know, because they told us so!)

The Chequers feels like more of a secret Bath location, though I’m assured they are well known. It’s very nice inside, with easy seating and the menu feels straight out of a reality show cooking competition.

Hall & Woodhouse has special significance because this is where our two female lead characters meet face to face for the first time. It is one of those bars that has a ton of character. The outside feels very traditional Bath, and the large sprawling inside is inviting and warm even though it’s spread over two floors – and it has an awesome roof terrace!

Finally, there’s also a key scene set in the Roman Baths Kitchen. We didn’t get to eat there together (though Cass is a bit of a regular!), but they did us the most awesome buffet for our post book launch party… party!!

Basically, even if you have no interest in Jane Austen or the Roman Baths, Bath is still a wonderful place to spend some time at and, oh yes, with more than a few delicious fares to choose from.

“If you’re going to Bath – take it (The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen) with you – it’s also a wonderful guide to some of the best pubs and restaurants in town.” – Jane Odiwe

On my to do list for next time (because our characters got there before me!):

Jolly’s Tea Room, The Pulteney Arms and The Raven

21 Reasons to Choose our Book for your Next Book Club Selection!

16/08/201616/08/2016 ~ Ada ~ 12 Comments

IMG_5563c copy What Book Club charm does The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen hold? We’ve been considering just that question after the subject was broached by some of our friends indicating we might be their next pick.

FRIENDSHIP is a strong theme in the book and also sometimes in Book Clubs! (I mean, I guess it’s not a pre-requisite for those of you into the serious art of reading literature, but I assume it helps!)
It’s got history in it! I mean, not all of it is totally true, but a good amount of it is, and I think it’s fairly easy to spot where we deviate (intentionally anyway).
It’s a virtual tour of Bath, UK. And trust me, Bath is AWESOME. I hate traveling. But I love Bath. When a cranky traveler gives a place a thumbs up, I feel that should mean something.
It’s FUNNY. And considering the sometimes subtle, sometimes substantial differences in UK and US humor, the fact that we both thought it was funny might just mean it is.
It’s LIGHT (the Kindle edition is anyway – *insert rim shot here*). In some Book Clubs, the books (no matter how worthy of being read) can be a tad heavy and depressing. The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen can be a nice palette cleanser between Nobel prize winning novels.
ROMANCE that you don’t have to cover your eyes for. I mean, I enjoy extra steamy love scenes as much as the next gal, but I grew up with the sort of subtle, funny romance that was almost like a secret between the writer, the characters, and only some of the readers. All my favorite romance novels have dog-eared pages where I’ve distinguished hints that the relationship is progressing, but would otherwise struggle to find those moments again.
Most our characters have British Accents! Okay, perhaps not as fascinating to you British people, but I love the British accent and feel extremely lucky to have an actual, real, live British person writing with me, transforming my Americanisms into verified Britspeak (unless I’m writing for an American character).
It has at least one American accent! No? This doesn’t get anyone excited? Of all the billions of people that adore the British accent, I thought maybe there would be one oddball who wanted an American one but no… How about… It has an American! Which I find funny and refreshing because it does help to highlight some of those subtle but all important differences between our cultures and why we should appreciate each other.
The Brit & The American (authors, that is)!
The characters are NERDS for Jane Austen (for those of you less nerdy than me, a nerd nowadays can be another way of saying fanatic). I know there are people out there that would not count themselves as nerds for anything, but these people are basically nerds about not being nerds. I mean, you kinda have to work at not being a nerd nowadays. We are in the Age of Nerd! a time when you can nerd out on gourmet cooking shows as easily as you can Star Trek. I can proudly list a dozen things in which I am overly invested (read: nerdy about) and a million ways to connect with others through each and every one of them.
Nerd Alert!

Nerds create communities in which to be our most nerdy selves and these communities can be long- lasting, rock solid, and immeasurably fulfilling. Hey! Book clubs are communities too! Even if it’s not Jane Austen that you’re nerdy for, I bet you will recognize that spark – that love that inspires your nerd-hood in our characters’ love for Regency fiction.
A reader recently said of our book that “Loving Jane Austen is not a prerequisite but is a repercussion“. Speaking of, The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen has a lot of Austen references: JANE AUSTEN character references, JANE AUSTEN book scene location references, etc. It was a little unbelievable for me to be walking the SAME streets, seeing many of the same facades, the same views not simply of THE Jane Austen, but of her imagination as well. BUT you don’t need to ‘know’ Jane Austen or her life to enjoy the book. We know; we’ve been told!
There are animals! Both Cass and I adore animals and maybe your Book Club does too! One animal in particular changes the course of our character’s lives in an unexpected, but we hope charming, way.
Our main female characters are SMART. There are no damsels in this book, though one of our main females does tend to be flighty about directions and keys which may or may not reflect the real life of one of the two authors of this book who still believes she is smart despite this defect and a few more she may or may not have. No, don’t ask my husband if it’s me, I don’t want to talk about it! I have degrees people! Okay, they are in English and Art, but that doesn’t make me any less of a female person!
Our male characters are smart too. Our female characters do not need to put men, individually or as a gender, down to prove their own salt. Everyone’s great in their own way – except for that one character and, face it, we all know that one person we wish no harm to, but would rather not be forced to work with daily! It’s probably that person you talk about with your Book Club before you all buckle down to business and discuss the book you’re supposed to have read but didn’t have enough time to because THAT person mucked up the workflow and you were late.
There are HATS. Actually, this is just a test to see if you’re still reading.
This novel is rare in that it is co-written. That could be an interesting topic of discussion in a Book Club. It certainly was an interesting topic of conversation between us while we were co-writing it!
There is a lot of talk of what influences shaped our characters that could be good Book Club discussion. What are the small things that would change in your life if one key influence from your past disappeared? What were those influences? How would their absence have affected your life (if at all)? And would you be the only one who’s life changed? Would an entire industry or city change? Or… would there simply be something indefinable in the universe missing?

17. It introduces us Americans to the Love Hearts candy which you can have shipped and available to serve at your Book Club meeting. Cheerful colors, sweet messages and it doesn’t even have to be Valentine’s Day!

18. There’s an element of fantasy to The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen. And how often do you have an element of fantasy in your Book Club selection? Probably often if you’re fantasy fans… but if you are… all the more reason to choose us.

19. Our characters love books too! I mean – if you’re in a Book Club you are probably there for one of two main reasons. 1. You wanted to spend more time with the people in your Book Club; 2. You wanted to read more books. Both of these themes – friendship and the love of reading – are of central importance in The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen.

13914098 20. Our book is set during the Jane Austen Festival in Bath. This is an amazing annual event that you and your book club could attend together after reading the novel! And if you book thru Bath Boutique Stays, you might even be able to stay in 4 Sydney Place (one of Jane Austen’s actual residences!).

21. And finally, our TPCoMJA (wow, what a catchy acronym!) would be a great addition to your Book Club list because: For a limited time we are trying to figure out a way to get you a discount on the physical books if you buy 6 or more for your Book Club. Full disclosure: We haven’t figured out shipping costs yet, and I am slightly concerned that shipping will end up making this less exciting. But we’re working on it! Message us and you might be the Beta group for this offer!!

Once Upon a Time

03/08/201612/08/2016 ~ Ada ~ 18 Comments

Many years ago, I lived with my husband in a house on a hill. We were both working for my Father-in-Law and we had three cats even though we didn’t realize my husband was allergic to them yet. I was (and still am) a homebody and a book worm – which made online friendships extremely handy.

As with most people, the illusion of anonymity on the Internet lent me to do things that I wouldn’t normally do… like share my stories with them (thought I was going somewhere else with that didn’t you? Get your minds out of the gutter!).

You see, I’d been writing fanfiction long before I knew what fanfiction was. In high school, I used to write stories for my friends using their real life hopes and dreams… mostly about the boys they liked. So, when I was introduced to the idea of fanfiction thru the Scarecrow & Mrs. King community, it made absolute sense to me. Looking back, I realize it was an incredibly small and oddly like minded set of people compared to most fandoms. When I discovered them, they were just a bunch of fans rejuvenating a television show that had limped so sadly to its end. It was incredibly cathartic.

So when I quickly became obsessive about Harry Potter and impatient for the publication of new books in the series, I innocently searched for what the fans were doing in the fanfiction world. And… my eyes! my eyes!!!!

I realized quickly that what I had to find was another, smaller, set of like minded fans to obsess and share with. And that is where Cass comes in. On a sweet little Harry Potter site, a fellow forum poster and I hit it off. We were both totally hilarious, if I do say so myself. Once we were both assured that the other was not a psycho serial killer pretending to be an awesomely funny person, we became “real” friends who talked about “real” life. And one day, I honestly can’t remember how or why (maybe she does?), we started writing Harry Potter fanfiction together.

And that is how Cass and Ada first met and…why Cass and Ada finally met in person.

(TO WRITE! Isn’t that crazy? And 14 years later, that’s what we’re STILL doing!)

Anyway, I was pregnant, and not at all nervous… until I was at the baggage claim. Then, several concerns crowded me all at once:

What if I didn’t recognize her? All the pictures of her I’d seen to that point suddenly melded together in my mind as one (kind of general) amalgamation of a nice human face with brownish reddish hair.
What if I’d screwed up in some way the directions? I am NOTORIOUS for getting directions wrong and giving bad directions. Granted, the airport should have sent her in a pretty direct way to baggage claim, but… I really can’t take any chances with my direction-challenged brain.
What if my cell battery died? Oh – by the way – it did.

For at least five minutes I smiled at every female-ish person in the LAX baggage claim hoping to send a welcoming, non-psycho vibe that I wouldn’t be kicked out of the airport for. It was at this point that anxiety started in. I jealously thought, well at least SHE knows she’s looking for a pregnant person. That’s at least SOMETHING. Why hadn’t we worked out a code? A red hat! A white rose! A Harry Potter Scarf!

But it wasn’t long before a person with a suddenly distinct Cass looking face appeared on the escalator. Crazy how people look how they are supposed to when you’re not in an anxiety fueled panic.

Anyway, a big hug and a lot of undignified giggles later we were off.

The drive to and from LAX had long ago become old hat to me. Apparently it didn’t feel terribly old hat to Cass who looked green and not at all impressed with my impromptu attempts at tour guide (there may have been some weaving involved).

This started a several years long in joke with me sending her pictures of the Staples Center lit up purple at night (it was midday when we passed it so she couldn’t see how purple it got!).

We learned several things during the trip:

California waiters cannot understand the word “water” when said with a British accent
My three cats had no hunting prowess (they surrounded a spider and it got away)
We CAN write together faster in person
We DO like each other in person
We CANNOT understand each other in a loud restaurant

And it was upon these truths that our “real life” friendship was founded and these truths have carried us through!*

*ok, the inability of my now deceased cats to catch spiders has not recently affected us, but you get the idea.

Lord of the Rings (ORC) Convention – Pasadena, January 2005

Double Giveaway Winners Announced!

01/08/2016 ~ Cass ~ 28 Comments

We’ve finally come to the end of our first series of Guest Posts to celebrate the launch of our debut co-written novel, The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen!

Thank you so much to our seven lovely guests, who generously gave their time to write a blog post for us, sent us oodles of photos and responded to the lovely comments on each post.

Thank you also to all the many commenters from around the world who read the guest posts and entered each week’s draw, and congratulations to all our winners!

Today, we’re delighted to announce the last two giveaway winners for this series, and they are:

US Winner

Karylee Marin

Rest of the World Winner

thatlittlegirl

Congratulations to you both! We will contact you by email to find out your choice of book and your address for the Jane Austen goodies!

And thank you again to our gallery of guests! You’ve all been amazing, and we hope you’ll come back to see us again soon!

Hazel Mills