The writings and ramblings of Colette Saucier

(A portion of this has been condensed as Mr. Darcy and the Utmost Force of Passion for Darcyholic Diversions) Much ado has been made over the recent threats that our beloved Pride and Prejudice , as well as other classics, would soon be receiving a “50 Shades of Grey” make-over by Total-E-Bound Publishing as part of their “Clandestine Classics” series. My first reaction was to wonder if they planned to rewrite it in first person present tense with terrible prose, ridiculous metaphors, and nonsensical dialog. (Full disclosure:  I have not read 50 Shades of Grey and doubt I ever shall. I have been unable even to finish the Kindle sample, so I take my opinion from the short portion I did read as well as from the plentiful excerpts available in book reviews.  This seems to be the type of novel one either loves or hates, and I am certain to fall into the latter category.) Hence, my curiosity led me once again to the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon to take a peek at P...

Originally written and posted for Austen Authors. Jane Austen's "writing environment"  When I began researching and writing Pulse and Prejudice , I stopped cooking and cleaning. You see, I have what in the world of the arts is known as a “day job” (as in “Don’t quit your..."). Until I am able to live my dream of being a writer by profession, I work forty to fifty hours a week at said “day job,” the stresses of which often force me to indulge my love of wine and cheese and, on occasion, the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice . (Yes, I will watch all five hours in one sitting.) Once I jumped into the Pulse and Prejudice project, it literally (pun only slightly intended) was another full-time job. With only a finite number of hours in the day – and despite the benefits of chronic insomnia – if I were going to pursue this novel and keep our house out of foreclosure, something had to give: cooking and cleaning. We attempted to hire maid service...

My daughters are adults now – thank heavens. I don’t mean they have turned eighteen; I mean adult -adults. They are of an age that I discourage them from calling me “Mom” in public. My youngest is a school teacher, for crying out loud. I cannot express the relief I feel in no longer having to portray some sort of idealized, Cleaverized version of motherhood, and we can just relate to one another as people. They actually seek out the wisdom of my experience rather than being offended if I offer it, and I even find myself asking their opinion on different topics to learn what is currently hip. (I am now being told that using the word “hip” is not hip.) Occasionally, we even have a bit of role reversal, such as when we went to Universal Orlando and I wanted to buy these magic tricks. My daughters tried to talk me out of it. “You know, you will only play with them a few times and get bored and never touch them again.” I whined until they gave in and let me buy them, but of course they we...

Originally written and posted for Austen Authors. I confess: I was a Fan Fiction snob. When my daughters were teenagers, they wrote stories based on Forever Knight or Buffy or Star Trek (TOS) or anime (whatever that is). Then they would post them on websites where other people had done the same – and they would read each other’s work! One daughter wrote vampire versions of Phantom of the Opera and Gone with the Wind (clearly a genetic anomaly). I found the other in the gameroom staring at the computer screen late at night “just reading some fan fiction.” I didn’t get it! I encouraged them to use their imaginations, to write something “original.” Unless I was on the beach or in a plane, I read literature – Faulkner, Shakespeare, Austen, Twain. Why would they waste their time and energy with these distortions? So how did my conversion come about? Nothing as cathartic as Paul on the road to Damascus. The change came along so gradually, I was in the middle before I knew I had be...

Published Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Good morning, my delightful readers!  I hope your Monday has not sucked the very life out of you because I have a special treat for you today! Joining me for coffee this week is another Austen Author, the lovely and talented Shannon Winslow ! She empathizes with all lovers of Pride and Prejudice . Although "(h)appy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters" (I believe Miss Austen had a modifier dangling there, as I doubt "the day" had maternal feelings!), we readers, on the other hand, were not so eager to see the story end! Shannon has taken pity on us - first with her sequel The Darcys of Pemberley , and now with her newest release Return to Longbourn . I know I can't wait to go back as the Darcys' and Bennets' tale continues , and I'm sure you'll agree. So grab a cup of coffee, get an ample serving of Baked Apple Betty ; and sit back, relax,...