Well, Ms. Rigler is back with something very cool. If you enjoyed the author’s books as much as I did, please take a look at the trailer above for the new web series inspired by her novels called SEX AND THE AUSTEN GIRL. In the series, the two protagonists from her books face off over the pros and cons of life and love and being woman in Regency England vs. 21st century L.A.
I think that this web series looks like a lot of fun. SEX AND THE AUSTEN GIRL premieres on the broadband network www.Babelgum.com on May 17, 2010. To learn more about the web series check out the author’s blog.
Life has gotten a bit more complicated recently (think sinus infections, birthday parties, hospital stays *, first communion luncheons, girl scout camping trips and preparing for a new house guest from the other side of the globe) so even though I will still be posting on this blog, it will be on a more moderate schedule for a while. I will briefly post at the beginning of next week a little something for TLC Book Tours and then hope to type up a few more book reviews soon.
In the meantime I’ve been busy racking my brain for the possibility of hosting another challenge this summer! Is anybody up for Everything Austen II?
* Just heading into the city next week for some tests for my daughter. Pretty standard stuff since switching her to a new Neurologist. Nothing to be concerned about!
Greetings Sunday Saloners! I hope you’ve all had a good week! I’ve been busy around the house and so when I do have time to sit down with my current read at night I’ve found myself drowsy and unable to stay awake. It’s taken so much longer to get through Jane Eyre than I thought it would, but it isn’t from lack of interest. I am loving the book, but just don’t have enough hours in the day! Hopefully the fact that I recently got the Masterpiece Theater version of Jane Eyre from Netflix will give me the incentive to finish it up this week.
Speaking of Masterpiece Theater, tonight is the premeire of Jane Austen’s Emma. To celebrate PBS is having an Emma Twitter party during the show. They even have the lovely Laurel Ann from Austenprose as one of the Austen experts tweeting during the premiere! Make sure to hop onto Twitter tonight Sunday, January 24th from 9 – 11 p.m. EST to tweet about the first Emma episode. Just use hastag #emma_pbs to be included in the fun. As an added incentive, PBS will be giving away Austen prizes during the Twitter party so make sure to join in!!
In other bookish news, my daughter and I are currently reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) together. Over the holiday break we read the first Harry Potter book and then sat down to watch the movie. She was so enthusiastic that we decided to continue with the series. I remember the first time I read Harry Potter and how I really felt that I was transported to this wonderfully magic world and am so excited to see my seven year old have the same reaction. Harry Potter rocks!
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! We spent New Year’s Eve over at my girlfriend’s house where we all had fun playing Rock Band on Wii (where I quickly found out how uncoordinated I really am when I gave it a go on the drums). Then earlier today I hosted a brunch for twelve adults and nine kids. The new kitchen was the perfect party spot and along with some yummy dishes my friends brought with them (and a couple brunch items of my own) it was a perfect way to start 2010.
I plan to post my best of 2009 list up this week, but in the meantime wanted to quickly announce the winner of the Big Box of Goodies Everything Austen giveaway! So who won this prize?
Can you guys believe the end of 2009 is just around the corner? With the change of year comes the end of the Everything Austen challenge. With over two hundred participants and almost six hundred reviews, I think that Everything Austen was a big success! Including the below giveaway, I’ve been able to giveaway seventeen different books thanks to the generosity of various authors and publishers. Authors such as Marsha Altman, Laurie Viera Rigler and Marilyn Brant were also nice to write guest posts for the challenge and manywonderful, creative and funbloggershostedgreatmini-challenges and giveaways. Thank you all for helping to make Everything Austen a great success!!
Our last giveway before Everything Austen ends is a biggy. One winner will get a box from me filled with all this Austen-ish goodness!
Included in the package will be the books Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster and Lady Vernon and her Daughter by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway. Also included is the five volume Pride & Prejudice comic by Marvel Comics and a sample packet of Novel Teas (you can see my review of Novel Teas here).
There is only one requirement to enter – you must have been a participant in Everything Austen – that’s it! Just leave a comment for a chance to win. The giveaway is open to all Everything Austen participants – including international readers! I will randomly select one person at 12 noon EST on Thursday, December 31st and will announce the winner the following day. Good luck!!
One last thing – many people have asked whether or not I will be hosting Everything Austen II. I am thinking about it, but haven’t made a final decision yet. Keep checking back here once in a while to find out, ok?
Ever since starting the Everything Austen Challenge in July, I’ve been amazed at the amount of sequels, spin-offs and Austenish adaptions of Jane’s work that is available today. Some are well done (I think that Marsha Altman’s The Darcys & the Bingleys is a delightful book) while others are over the top (Pride, Prejudice and Zombies was just too much for my tastes). Now vampires have been thrown into the mix! One of the newest Austen-ish books to be released at the end of this month is called Jane Bites Back: A Novel by Michael Thomas Ford. Jane Bites Back is the story of Jane Fairfax, a vampire living incognito in upstate New York. Jane has been one of the undead for over two hundred years and has settled in a small town to run a local bookstore. No one knows that Jane is a vampire and she would like to keep it that way. Jane’s good friends are Lucy, a sassy bookstore clerk and Walter, a local contractor who has his heart set on Jane. She is also a writer and has been trying to get her book published for centuries, but after one hundred and sixteen rejections she has pretty much given up hope. When a New York editor calls her up to say that they are interested in her manuscript, Jane is delighted. But when she is thrust into the national spotlight (and a man from her long ago past shows up on her doorstep) Jane worries that her true identity will be revealed.
As you can guess, Jane Fairfax is really Jane Austen, living in modern times after being turned into a vampire by the aforementioned mysterious man from her past. Along with Jane (who takes a bite out of her first “meal” at the beginning of the novel) Mr. Ford has included a bit of comic relief in the character of Lucy. I found myself chuckling quite a few times at the exchanges between the two ladies. I also enjoyed the fact that the book pokes fun at itself (like how the author writes about Jane being annoyed over her missed royalties in the various spin-offs of her novel even though Jane Bites Back is a spin-off). Add to the mix a very clever literary plot twist in the last quarter of the book and you have yourself an entertaining read. Overall, Jane Bites Back was a super quick, fun read that would be a nice addition to your Austen bookshelf (what, doesn’t everyone have a shelf dedicated entirely to Jane)?
If this book sounds interesting to you, stay tuned as I will be giving it away, along with a whole bunch of Austen goodies, in my last VERY BIG Everything Austen giveaway coming soon!!
Thank you to Random House for sending me a copy of Jane Bites Back for review.
The Everything Austen Challenge is beginning to wind down, but there is still time for a few more giveaways! Carrie Bebris, author of a series of Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mysteries, has generously offered to giveaway three ARC signed copies of her newest book The Intrigue of Highbury (Or, Emma’s Match), which is due out March 2010. If you’d like to win a copy, just leave a comment her by 12 noon EST on Saturday, December 19th. The three winners will be contacted via e-mail. For an additional chance to win please tweet about this contest (@SWrittenWord has 3 signed ARCs of The Intrigue of Highbury to giveaway http://tinyurl.com/ycadq5f #everythingausten) Please note that Carrie has made this giveaway open to my international readers too!
To learn more about Carrie Bebris and her novels, check out her website. Good luck!
For a chance to win a copy of Willoughby’s Return, leave a comment on this post by Sunday, November 22nd at 12 Noon EST. For a second entry make sure to Tweet about this giveaway ( @SWrittenWord is giving away Willoughby’s Return for #everythingausten! Stop by for a chance to win http://tinyurl.com/ygqk3jn ). This giveaway is open to everyone (international readers too)! I will e-mail the winner on Monday the 23rd. Good luck!!
First let me say congrats to Melissa over at Vintage Joy who is the winner of my three book Harper Collins giveaway! E-mail me Melissa at wordblog(at)optonline(dot)net with your snail mail address and I’ll get those books in the mail!
Did you know that there is another Everything Austen mini-challenge going on right now? Make sure to stop by Bibliofreak, who is hosting a Everything Austen mini-challenge and giveaway where you can win this cool Jane Austen action figure! She will send mini-Jane anywhere in the world, so stop by to find out how you can win.
It’s been another busy week at the house – the renovation is moving right along and we should be starting to install kitchen cabinets in three weeks! This is what the space looks like today:
Our general contractor was busy insulating and putting up sheetrock this week. Over the next couple days they will continue spackling and finish up some loose ends. Next weekend my husband and I are going to start painting (I spent a half hour at Home Depot yesterday picking out the perfect colors). Then (a few days before Thanksgiving) they will be sanding down the wood floors and refinishing them. After letting them dry for a week, our appliances and cabinets will arrive. Now that we are only a few short weeks from having an actual working kitchen I am finally allowing myself to become excited!
With all the renovation stuff going on, I haven’t even had a chance to pick up a book all week (I also have barely visited any other blogs – sorry about that)! I hope to be able to catch up with my blog list and start Shanghai Girls very soon.
Please make sure to stop by again as it will be a busy week here at Stephanie’s Written Word. I will be posting my review of Thanksgiving at the Inn, will host another Everything Austen giveaway and am going to tell you all about a new reading challenge that I am super excited about!
It’s time for another Everything Austen giveaway! This time I have three books from the good people at Harper Collins. One winner will get all three books!
For a chance to win these books, just leave a comment on this post by Sunday, November 15th at 12 Noon EST. For a second entry make sure to Tweet about this giveaway (@SWrittenWord is giving away 3 books! Stop by for a chance to win http://tinyurl.com/y9d45f5). This giveaway is open to everyone (international readers too)! I will e-mail the winner on Monday.
Did you know that there are almost five hundred review links for Everything Austen that you can find on the Mr. Linky here? Thanks again for all who have signed up and have been participating in Everything Austen. The challenge doesn’t end until December 31st, so make sure to stop by often as there will be more giveaways soon!
Thank you so much for stopping by my book blog! I hope that you enjoy looking around and that I inspire you to pick up a good book to read. I love hearing from you, so make sure to leave a comment!
together. Over the holiday break we read the first Harry Potter book and then sat down to watch the movie. She was so enthusiastic that we decided to continue with the series. I remember the first time I read Harry Potter and how I really felt that I was transported to this wonderfully magic world and am so excited to see my seven year old have the same reaction. Harry Potter rocks!
is a delightful book) while others are over the top (Pride, Prejudice and Zombies was just too much for my tastes). Now vampires have been thrown into the mix! One of the newest Austen-ish books to be released at the end of this month is called 
by Michael Thomas Ford. Jane Bites Back is the story of Jane Fairfax, a vampire living incognito in upstate New York. Jane has been one of the undead for over two hundred years and has settled in a small town to run a local bookstore. No one knows that Jane is a vampire and she would like to keep it that way. Jane’s good friends are Lucy, a sassy bookstore clerk and Walter, a local contractor who has his heart set on Jane. She is also a writer and has been trying to get her book published for centuries, but after one hundred and sixteen rejections she has pretty much given up hope. When a New York editor calls her up to say that they are interested in her manuscript, Jane is delighted. But when she is thrust into the national spotlight (and a man from her long ago past shows up on her doorstep) Jane worries that her true identity will be revealed.
and her newest novel 
is that artist who painted it? Ms. Odiwe was nice enough to let me use her beautiful artwork for my challenge button and has sent me a brand-new copy of Willoughby’s Return to giveaway!
by Jill Pitkeathley
by Janet Aylmer
by Simon Van Booy
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