Sophia Rose's Blog - Posts Tagged "austenseque"

As I stand here prepping dinner with a new style of chicken and rice one-pan recipe I’ve been playing with involving my recently picked hot peppers and onions (more cumin and garlic, yep, too bland…. Ouchiwawa, juices from the pepper got into a cut on my finger…) and attempt to listen to Lady Susan on my phone with the volume turned up as loud as it will go (oh for sound cancelling headphones), the city guys are working on the sidewalk across the street by breaking up the old concrete first.
Man, there is a cacophony going on between jackhammer, earthmover, and trucks.
How will I ever conduct a chat with my latest guest? Is it polite to offer a visitor to your home earplugs and use semaphore flags to communicate? Haha! Good thing she has already visited once before and her first impression has already been made.

I’m tickled to death to welcome back author Karen Cox for a Sofa Chat in honor of her latest release, I Could Write a Book, an other-era modern Emma retelling.
See, guys, I Could Write a Book was an ongoing future release project when I last chatted with Karen and she got me all jazzed to read it with her hints and descriptions. Now, it’s here! I want to warble on like Miss Bates, but I guess I should finish up this food and welcome Karen to the chaos.

Hey, Karen! *shouts to the lovely lady at the front door* Come on in and let me close out the noise if I can. Sorry about all that. *quieter now with the door closed*
I work with preschoolers, a little noise won’t bother me! (Unless I’m writing, of course :) )

How have you been?
Great! Thrilled, excited, swamped, overwhelmed, nervous…you know, everything an author is when she has a new book coming out!

Four book releases this year, right? A short story for The Darcy Monologues antho (I, Darcy), a novella (The Journey Home), a novel (I Could Write a Book), and now another short story for the Dangerous to Know anthology. Whew, way to go, Karen!
Uh-huh…I think I went a little bit crazy this year- lol

How are you holding up through all that? Any great tips you can pass along now about keeping up with such a writing/release schedule?

I didn’t plan it this way. Both The Journey Home and I Could Write a Book were projects I started some years ago and hadn’t finished. I stopped working on them to put together Undeceived and the “Northanger Revisited short story” in the Sun-kissed anthology. Undeceived, a 1980s Cold War spy novel based on Pride and Prejudice, was pretty intense, research-wise. It took a lot of time, and there wasn’t a lot left over for the other half-finished stories, but I never forgot about them. It’s just been in the last year or so that I’ve had the time and energy to revisit those projects. The Journey Home novella was an experiment of sorts. I didn’t expect people to respond to it the way they have. It’s been a wonderful surprise. Thank you, readers!
If I had to give advice on schedule, I’d say keep the end goal in sight, and then think to the end of the week. Don’t get mired down in the tasks to do in between, or you’ll go crazy. Make lists but don’t obsess over them. Use Scrivener. Keep plugging away. In the end, though, remember to do what works for you. The end in sight... now that is a helpful hint. Lists! My favorite thing. No prob, there!

I was just telling the folks that I was all a twitter over your latest release of I Could Write a Book because we discussed it a tad during your last Sofa Chat visit. What made you decided on an Emma retelling? And why the ‘70’s?
Oh man, now I’m wondering what I said last time! Heh, heh, heh, okay you didn't say anything shocking- just messin' with you.
I’ve always loved Emma, both as a novel and as a character. A lot of readers don’t care for her, but I think she’s marvelous. And the whole novel is brilliant: the unreliable point of view, the dialog, the double-speak of characters like Frank Churchill—it’s just genius—the novel that reads like it’s about nothing, until all of a sudden the whole fabric of Emma’s life unravels.

The title of the 1995 Emma adaptation “Clueless” really sums up the whole novel in one word—it’s the story of how Emma gets a clue. What I love about Austen’s Emma is once she sees her mistakes, she faces them, accepts them, and deals with the fallout. I made it my writing mission for others to see in Emma what I saw in her: strength, independence, vulnerability, and empathy. She loves her friends and family; she just wants them to do what she wants. Who can’t relate to that? Okay, I've not always been an Emma fan, but yes, you are selling her well here....

As for the 70s, it was a time of change in the US culture, of shifting social mores, all against the backdrop of political turmoil from the Vietnam War, and from Watergate.
Austen’s Emma takes its story into an English village, and keeps the big, bad happenings of the outside world off stage, for the most part, but you can see how those changes are infiltrating little Highbury—the Coles aren’t respecting the class boundaries, yet Emma has befriended a girl who is “below” her, all while dissing the man who wants to marry poor Harriet because he is “as much above her notice as below it.” (21st Century reader says “Whaaat?”)
Small, Southern towns in the 70s were a lot like Austen’s Highbury, so they were made for this tale—made for it, I tell you! Preach it, sister!

Oh, before we get much further, may I offer you some bread bowl spinach dip or I have some queso cheese and tortilla chips?
I’m a spinach dip and bread bowl fan, especially if it’s warm. Yep, it was bubbling nicely before I turned off the warming pot so easy does it.

Got a favorite dip?
Smoked gouda dip from the Kroger deli, next county over. I can’t resist it! Oh yeah!

So, the 70’s eh? I remember being stuffed into polyester, scratchy knee-high socks, pretending to be one of Charlie’s Angels, and thinking the roller rink playing Queen and BeeGees was where it was at. What are your memories of the 70’s?

I was born in 1965, so I remember quite a lot: Watergate, avocado green and harvest gold appliances, the US bicentennial, Star Wars, Dorothy Hamill haircuts, gas shortages, Jimmy Carter, John Denver, Watergate hearings on TV, etc., etc. I lived in western New York State from 1970 -1977, and then we moved to Kentucky when I was in sixth grade—a horrific experience to move in middle school, let me tell you. So, take the 70s changes, and add in the culture shock of moving from North to South, and my social growth was stunted for a year trying to figure it all out!

Aside from Emma or Mr. Knightley, who ended up being your favorite character to write for the story?

Miss Bates—she is hilarious! And if you read Austen’s Emma closely, you’ll see how Miss Bates lets the cat out of the bag, or turns a plot point. True that! Mr. Woodhouse was another favorite to write, and surprisingly, Frank Churchill. o_0 Frank? Um alright.... In fact, Frank (his name is Weston in my story) was probably my favorite secondary character. I’ll bet he has an interesting back story.

What scene(s) from Jane Austen’s Emma did you know from the beginning just had to be included in your retelling?

The ball, where Knightley asks Emma, “whom are you going to dance with?” So much happens at that ball; there would be no way to leave it out. A close second would be the set-down at Box Hill. The ball, le sigh...

When translating Austen’s story into a modern era, what elements were difficult because of the nearly 200 years of historical change?

By far the most difficult task—as with resetting any of Austen’s novels—was writing the heroine’s life experiences so they would be relevant in a 20th Century adaptation.
Women’s roles in society have changed so much (thank goodness, for the most part), and an author must take a little artistic license in order to show how a “modern woman” might find herself in an analogous position to Emma’s.
Like I did in Find Wonder in All Things, I used Emma’s own personality and family dynamics to guide her into a place of sheltered privilege that, hopefully, mirrors Austen’s Emma.
To be honest, no matter how an author tries to bridge that 200 years, there will be readers who say “That’s not believable now. A woman wouldn’t be restricted like that now.” I’m just not sure I agree.
People always have constraints—well, let’s call them challenges—based on the time and place they were born, how they were raised, and their own personalities. What matters in life is what people do with those challenges. Austen’s heroines always learn something about themselves, see their mistakes, and THEN they get the happy ending. (Except for maybe Fanny, not sure about her. Or Lady Susan- ha) I think that “hero’s journey” is why Austen’s stories endure, and why we can still learn from them. ha ha, yeah that HEA for those gals is up for debate.

Another real difficulty was the Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax scenario. A secret engagement isn’t going to be scandalous in the 1970s, so what would make sense? What would they have to hide? And why would the folks in Highbury care? I had to really wrap my head around that puzzle for a while, but I think I came up with a pretty nifty solution!

Which ones seemed to translate easily for you?
Emma is perhaps the easiest Austen novel to translate to modern-day stories, because Emma herself is so atypical for her time. She’s financially independent, an unmarried woman who runs her own life—we can relate to that quite readily. The gentlemanly charm of Mr. Knightley slips into any time frame. And the bond between Mrs. Weston and Miss Woodhouse translated easily too. *nods*

And, now that you’ve got I Could Write A Book into the wild, what is something fun and relaxing you have planned for the fall?

I’m taking a weekend trip with a girlfriend to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Waters house and go to the spa. I’m going to spend some time on my house (it REALLY needs some work!) And I’m going to catch up on my reading. I haven’t had nearly enough time for reading lately. Swell ideas, there!


Sofa Starters:
Red or Yellow? Yellow (sunny, golden yellow is my favorite color ever!)
Ice-Cream or Frozen Custard? Ice Cream-something with caramel in it
Washing the car or washing windows? Washing the car – lots of opportunities to play with the water hose
Miss Bates or Mrs. Bennet? Miss Bates – hands down
Skiing or hiking? Hiking. Have never been on snow skis, and have never been able to get up on water skis. I’ll just walk, thanks…like Elizabeth Bennet.
Jungle or Desert? Hmm…there are snakes both places. I hate snakes! Desert, I think? No mosquitos?
Regency ball or Sixties Sock Hop? Regency Ball – for the attire, and the fun formality of it.

Well, I should let Karen head on back south where I’m sure she has a lot going on as usual. Thanks so much for stopping by and I do apologize once again for the racket out there. We’ll all love the smoother sidewalks, I’m sure.

Oh say… before you head out, would you take a taste and give your opinion on this chicken and rice dish?
Mmm-spicy! Pass the ice water! And hand me another helping.

When Karen’s not hanging around GoodReads, you can find her at:
Website: www.karenmcox.com
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/karenmcox
Visit with Karen on several of the usual social media haunts such as Facebook, (karenmcox1932), Twitter (@karenmcox1932), Pinterest (karenmc1932), Instagram (karenmcox1932), and Tumblr (karenmcox).

If you would like bits of authorly goodness in your inbox once a month (updates, sales, book recommendations, etc.) go here to get Karen’s News & Muse Letter.

Thanks so much for the chat, Sophia! I always have a great time here! You betcha! Return guests are always a treat. So glad you could come today.

Drop by and visit the other stops on Karen's I Could Write a Book Blog Tour:


Laughing with Lizzie ~ September 6 ~ Launch Post & Giveaway

So little time… ~ September 7 ~ Book Excerpt & Giveaway

Book Lover in Florida ~ September 8 ~ Guest Post & Giveaway

~ Austenesque Reviews ~ September 15 ~ Book Review & Giveaway ~

My Love for Jane Austen ~ September 16 ~ Guest Post & Giveaway

Granny Loves to Read ~ September 17 ~ Book Review & Giveaway

My Jane Austen Book Club ~ September 18 ~ Guest Post & Giveaway

Just Jane 1813 ~ September 19 ~ Video Interview with Karen M Cox & Giveaway

Sophia’s Sofa Chat ~ September 21 ~ An Interview with Karen M Cox on Goodreads

Babblings of a Bookworm ~ September 22 ~ Book Review & Giveaway

Silver Petticoat Review ~ September 23 ~ Guest Post & Giveaway

From Pemberley to Milton ~ September 25 ~ Book Excerpt & Giveaway

Margie’s Must Reads ~ September 27 ~ Book Review & Giveaway

Obsessed with Mr Darcy ~ September 28 ~ Book Review

My Vices and Weaknesses ~ September 30 ~ Book Review & Giveaway

Diary of an Eccentric ~ October 2 ~ Book Review & Giveaway

More Agreeably Engaged ~ October 4 ~ Book Excerpt & Giveaway