Tag Archives: A Weekend with Mr Darcy

Coming soon…

  By Victoria | January 30, 2011 - 9:44 am |
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Last week, I was sent a sneak preview of the cover for my new book, The Perfect Hero, and it’s gorgeous!  It’s in the same style as the cover for A Weekend with Mr Darcy and I can’t wait to show it to you here.  Just a few more tweaks at the publishers and I can reveal it to the world!

I’m currently writing the third in the Austen addicts trilogy, Mr Darcy Forever, and have just reached the half-way point which is always an exciting moment.  I have some pretty tight deadlines this year so I won’t be leaving my keyboard for the forseeable future!

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2011 – bring it on!

  By Victoria | January 17, 2011 - 8:18 pm |
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Happy New Year, everyone!

I’m so looking forward to 2011.  It’s a very special year for Jane Austen fans as it’s 200 years since her first publication – Sense and Sensibility – and I’ll be doing my bit to celebrate this.  In June, I’ll be speaking at the Worcester Literary Festival and, in July, I’ll be giving a talk at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton.

I’ll also be kept busy with publications.  The Perfect Hero comes out at the end of April in the UK.  It’s my second novel about Jane Austen addicts and is set in Lyme Regis.  This will also be the first year that I’ll be published in the US with A Weekend with Mr Darcy coming out in July and Dreaming of Mr Darcy (the US title for The Perfect Hero) coming out in October.  Very exciting!

And, on the home front, we should be rescuing our ex-battery chickens soon.  They should be arriving any day now …

Oh, and a house move is on the horizon too.  At long last, we are swapping the London suburbs for a more rural setting: beautiful Wiltshire!

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Three come along at once…

  By Victoria | December 2, 2010 - 9:51 am |
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As some of you know, I’m writing a trilogy about Jane Austen addicts and I’m enjoying it immensely.  It’s also keeping me very busy and – at the moment – I’m actually writing all three books at once! 

The first in the series,  A Weekend with Mr Darcy, came out in the UK in September but I’ve just been sent through the line edits from my US publisher so I’m going through it again for them for publication in late 2011.  The second, which is coming out in the spring in the UK, is now going to be called The Perfect Hero and I’ve just finished all the edits on that.  Meanwhile, I’ve just begun writing the third, Mr Darcy Forever.  I’m about 20,000 words into that and it’s proving great fun although I’m writing it totally out of sequence!

So there you go – three books at once!  Oh, and I’ve just written a synopsis for a totally unrelated project too!

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Launch Night!

  By Victoria | October 15, 2010 - 12:10 pm |
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Last night was launch night for my new romantic comedy, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, and there was a lovely crowd of people to help me celebrate at Waterstones in Uxbridge.  My lovely publishers were there and my editor had me blushing with the speech she gave – thank you, Kate!  Here are some pics from the evening:

So, that’s the first book in the trilogy launched upon an unsuspecting world!  Just two more to go!

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Berry Blog!

  By Victoria | October 10, 2010 - 3:09 pm |
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I’m totally in love with all the berries this year and my poor camera is exhausted as I poke around the hedgerows in search of the perfect berry pic.  Here are a couple of shots taken this week in the Oxfordshire countryside.  I love the blue-hued sloe and that rich profusion of ruby hawthorn berries.

The only trouble is that, as I’m trying to focus my camera, a certain spaniel is pulling me in a different direction, reminding me – not so gently – that we’re meant to be walking!

 

And here’s a friendly face we saw peering over a hedge!

Great news on the writing front this week – A Weekend with Mr Darcy is Number 2 in the Heatseeker’s chart for the second week running!

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Book Launch and Writer Top Tens

  By Victoria | October 8, 2010 - 10:43 am |
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Well, the official launch of my new romantic comedy, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, is fast approaching and – if you’re in the area – then it would be lovely to see you.  It’ll be taking place at Waterstones in Uxbridge on Thursday 14th October 6.30 – 8pm and I’ll be signing books and answering questions!  Do come and say hello if you’re around – there will be wine and nibbles!

I have two wonderful Writer Top Tens this week from Nicola Cornick and Christina Courtenay – both write fabulous historical romances.

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Signing at Chawton

  By Victoria | October 4, 2010 - 10:50 am |
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A trip to Chawton Cottage is always special and yesterday’s visit was extra special because I’d been invited to sign copies of A Weekend with Mr Darcy which is being stocked in the lovely shop there.

The Jane Austen House Museum features in a couple of chapters in my book and I’ve had many happy trips to the village whilst researching my story.  Here I am in the beautiful garden with my book.

After a visit to an art exhibition and a very late lunch with family, we went on to Cobham Heath where Molly had a well-deserved walk.  The light was glorious on the green and golden bracken and we spotted loads of toadstools including the wonderful fly agaric which I always call the Disney Toadstool!  Aren’t they amazing?

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A fun-filled week!

  By Victoria | September 26, 2010 - 11:47 am |
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I have had the most amazing week!  I came back from the Jane Austen Festival in Bath late on Monday and, on Tuesday, went to my first fashion show as part of London Fashion Week.  With Helen from my publishers, I attended Elizabeth Emanuel’s amazing show, Little Black Dress.  Here we are pretending to be a couple of celebrities!

Wednesday night was launch night for my dear friend, Christina Courtenay, who’s book, Trade Winds, is out now.  Here I am with Pia and some other writer pals.

Thursday was my blog day at Austen Authors which was enormous fun.  It was lovely to connect to so many writers and readers who are all as obsessed with Jane Austen as I am!

Friday meant another trip to Bath as my husband had four beautiful paintings in an exhibition – one of which was ‘highly commended’.  I also had reason to celebrate myself on Friday as A Weekend with Mr Darcy was in the Heatseeker’s chart at number 10!

I also got down to my rewrites on Friday for Dreaming of Mr Darcy – the second book in my Austen addicts trilogy which is to be published in the summer.  And then Saturday was a lovely day out on the south coast where we went chicken-shopping (I’m now the proud owner of some very fine galvanised feeders!) and painting and walking (Roy painted whilst Molly and I walked).

Next week looks a little quieter but there’s another book launch to look forward to.  Now, I really must get back to those rewrites …

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The Jane Austen Festival

  By Victoria | September 22, 2010 - 12:39 pm |
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Last weekend, I attended the 10th Jane Austen Festival in Bath.  It was my first festival and I had such a great time.  The promenade on Saturday was the highlight for me – seeing all the beautiful costumes and spotting the Mr Darcys and Catherine Morlands!  The sun glowed on the array of fine fabrics and everyone was smiling.  It was such a great day.

 

There was also a wonderfully romantic moment at the beginning of the promenade.  Outside the Abbey, a man was standing holding a single red rose to surprise his fiancee.  She was going to meet him there but had no idea that he’d be in full Regency attire!  He’s a pic of me and author, Jane Odiwe, with the real-life hero!

I also met my lovely friend, Isa, who’d travelled all the way from Spain for the festival.  Here she is with her ‘I Heart Darcy’ bag!

I went to talk to the wonderful Pride and Prejudice Tours in Sydney Place – the very house that was Sir Walter Elliot’s in the 1995 production of Persuasion.  And I signed lots of copies of my novel, A Weekend with Mr Darcy too – in Waterstones, WH Smith and Toppings.  Thank you to the staff  who made me so welcome.

Other festival highlights included lunch in The Pump Room where I met a very fine gentleman! 

And a trip to the fashion museum with Jane Odiwe who snapped me trying on some eighteenth-century undergarments!

It was a fabulous trip and I now have so many ideas for the third book in my Jane Austen addicts trilogy, Mr Darcy Forever, which is set during the festival.  I can’t wait to write it now but it is currently on hold as I am about to revisit the second book first as the editorial notes have landed and it’s time for some rewriting…

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Publication Day!

  By Victoria | September 16, 2010 - 8:16 am |
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Yay!  It’s publication day and my book, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, is out now.  It’s been available online for a while but you should start seeing it in the shops soon!  And, to celebrate, there’s a new competition where you can win a signed copy of the book together with some very cute Darcy goodies.

I’ll be in London today doing some signings in Oxford Street and then it’s off to Bath tomorrow for the Jane Austen Festival.  I can’t wait!

A Weekend with Mr Darcy in Selfridges

A Weekend with Mr Darcy in Waterstones

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It’s online!

  By Victoria | September 2, 2010 - 9:18 am |
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Well, I’ve just had a wonderful surprise - my new novel,  A Weekend With Mr Darcy, is available to buy at Amazon.co.uka whole two weeks before publication day!

And it’s the same day as Sophie Kinsella’s new book, Mini Shopaholic
 which I’m so looking forward to reading!  The wonderful site, Chicklit Reviews, is celebrating by having a Sophie Kinsella week and I was thrilled to be asked to contribute as I think Sophie writes the very best romantic comedies around.

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Purple praise

  By Victoria | July 24, 2010 - 10:46 am |
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I have to admit to being one of these women who adores pink.  I have pink dresses, pink hats, a pink clock and even a pink laptop!  But I was almost swayed when we visited the lavender fields of Snowshill in the Cotswolds yesterday where they have fifty-three acres of perfect purple fields. 

Snowshill lavender

Purple, purple everywhere

Roy's first painting

And the purple didn’t stop with the lavender for there were thistles, scabious and harebells growing in profusion, dotting the fields and footpaths.

Harebells and thistles

Scabious

The warm air was scented with the lavender and Molly and I followed a footpath with stunning views across Gloucestershire.

Molly admires the view

But the footpath was wildly overgrown and it was a bit of a battle for Molly – not that she was complaining.  One of her favourite things in the world is poking around in long grass!

There's a dog in there somewhere

Stormy sky

And there were two wonderfully purply treats to round the day off – my lovely hubby bought us some violet creams (my favourite!) and I found the most adorable purple felt brooch from a shop in Stow-on-the-Wold.

Felt brooch

And here’s a sneak preview of my cover for my new novel, A Weekend with Mr Darcy.  I absolutely love it and thought I’d add it to my blog here because it does have rather wonderful purple lettering!

A Weekend with Mr Darcy Small

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