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Showing posts from 2015

Happy Christmas 2015!

I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas or Happy Holidays depending on what part of the world you live in - and a very Happy New Year! I've enjoyed a wonderful year and I hope you have too. Wishing you health, wealth and happiness for 2016, along with many hours of happy reading pleasure. My 2016 novel, Jane Austen Lives Again was such fun to write and I hope you enjoyed the first three chapters posted here - Prologue and Chapter One   Chapter Two  and Chapter Three . Published online for the first time is Chapter Four below - I hope you enjoy it. Wherever you are in the world, I wish you joy and send lots of love across the miles! Jane Odiwe December 2016 Chapter Four When Jane woke the next morning she was delighted to see a remarkable change in the weather. Sunlight poured through the long windows leaving golden lozenges in bright bars across the carpet and over her bed. She stretched, arms overhead, feeling quite deliciously happy for a moment as sh

Then Comes Winter- a new collection of short stories, a Book Tour, and a Competition!

Here is news of a brand new book that looks perfect for a stocking filler! Christina Boyd is here to tell us all about the book tour and a chance to enter a fabulous competition to win a very special copy. In the US, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's is travel time as people go back to their hometowns to celebrate holidays with their families. It is only appropriate that  Then Comes Winter , a collection of holiday themed short stories, is embarking on a trip to visit each of its hometowns, those of the talented authors who contributed to its making. Along the way through three countries, the traveling copy of  Then Comes Winter  will be collecting autographs, visiting special places in each region, and collecting souvenirs. The book's final stop is yet undetermined. Its wanderlust will end once a winner is chosen through  this rafflecopter drawing  which will determine which lucky winner whose bookshelf will house the only paperback of the anthology sig

The Jane Austen Literacy Foundation and Mr Darcy!

A year ago I wrote a book called Mr Darcy's Christmas Calendar - a novella written to celebrate my love of Jane Austen and her home at Chawton in Hampshire.  I really loved writing  this book - I've always loved visiting Jane Austen's House in Chawton, as well as Chawton Great House where her brother Edward lived, and wanted to include those fabulous settings in a book inspired by Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. Last year, I had the great privilege of meeting Caroline Knight, a fifth great-niece of Jane Austen who told me of her passionate ideas to launch a charity in Jane Austen's name and which she has now successfully launched as The Jane Austen Literacy Foundation . I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon being shown round Chawton House where Caroline grew up, and it is a day of lovely memories I will always treasure. It was extraordinary to hear about the history of the house through the eyes of someone who'd lived there, and to hear Caroline's own tales o

Jane Austen Lives Again - Cover Reveal!

I'm so thrilled to show you the cover of my new book, Jane Austen Lives Again. I know I've said it before but I've loved writing this book and hope you enjoy it.  Though I've set the book in 1925, there are several scenes that take place in Jane Austen's time as she reflects on her past life. I've really enjoyed trying to imagine how Jane might have adjusted to a different age and thinking about how her first life would have influenced her second. She's been given the chance to live again in a body half her age, but with all the experience of a life already lived. I hope you'll join me in following Jane's adventures to her own very happy ending!   When Jane Austen’s doctor discovers the secret to immortal life in 1817 she thinks her wishes have come true. But when Jane wakes up from the dead, she hasn’t reckoned on her doctor being a descendant of the original Dr Lyford or that it’s taken over a 100 years to perfect the process. Finding he

200 years of Jane Austen's Emma, and Jane Austen Lives Again!

Jane Austen’s life was cut tragically short at the age of 41. If you’re a huge fan of her work, like me, then the six completed novels she finished, whilst perfectly demonstrating her genius, will never be enough. I’m always torn when it comes to deciding which is my favourite, and I love them all for different reasons. Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion vie for the top spot, but I also love Emma. This December will mark 200 years of its publication, and it was with this book in mind that I started to think about the present novel I’m working on. Emma was written as Jane was beginning to be recognised as a talented writer, and whilst she was still not making much money from her writing she knew her work was being  well  received by critics and the public alike. Emma was her first heroine to be wealthy and privileged; perhaps living not far from her brother Edward’s house at Chawton and seeing first-hand the lives of his daughters, which were in great contrast to her own, gave her

Le Mystère de Willoughby or Willoughby's Return!

I am very excited to announce that Willoughby's Return is being published in French by Milady Romance  on August 28th, and this morning some preview copies arrived from Sourcebooks. I love the new title and the cover - hope you do too! Dans Raison & Sentiments de Jane Austen, Marianne Dashwood épouse le colonel Brandon et oublie complètement Willoughby. Trois ans plus tard, alors que Marianne souhaite marier sa petite soeur Margaret pourtant éprise de liberté, elle revoit Willoughby. Les souvenirs et l'incertitude ne cessent alors de la hanter. En outre, Willoughby est plus charmant et plus amoureux d'elle que jamais. Le colonel Brandon devant s'absenter pour s'occuper de sa pupille, Willoughby en profite pour reconquérir le coeur de Marianne. Aura-t-elle la force de résister ou la tentation d'un amour passé est-elle plus forte ? La plume pleine d'esprit d'Odiwe n'a rien à envier à celle de la célèbre Jane Austen. Booklist Un pur délice.

Searching for Captain Wentworth

Searching For Captain Wentworth Searching for Captain Wentworth Sophie Elliot has always dreamed of finding her very own Captain Wentworth and as if that wasn't enough, she has ambitions to be a published author. At the beginning of the book, we see our heroine is very far from having her dreams realised - she's just had her heart broken and her latest manuscript has been rejected. Feeling very fed up with the world, she takes herself off to Bath, a t the invitation of an aunt,  and finds herself living next door to the house Jane Austen lived in 200 years ago. The house is haunted it seems, and it's not long before strange things start happening - whispering visions of a young girl, and a diary belonging to her ancestor, Sophia, materialise before her eyes. When Sophie finds an ancient Naval Captain's glove dropped by her mysterious neighbour, Josh, she soon finds it has magical properties. She is sent back into the past where she meets Jane Austen and her b