My Dearest Miss Fairfax follows a young woman who is forced to hide her engagement to the man she loves as she navigates the lies the two have created. What was the idea, or spark, that first set off the need to write this story?

MDMF is my third Jane Austen-inspired book. Jane Austen Lied to Me is a modern romantic comedy, and A Woman’s Persuasion is a modern LGBTQ translation (I went through Persuasion chapter by chapter and rewrote it to prove that Persuasion is ABSOLUTELY relevant to modern audiences… when you have the stakes right!). In order to work on marketing my other novels, I was learning about how to join groups – including Reddit. I found subreddits for historical fiction for other books I’ve written, and historical costuming subreddits – and the Jane Austen subreddit. You don’t just jump on there and sell your book – you go take part in conversations. It’s so much fun!

So I got into this involved conversation, that somehow or other turned to Emma. The girl everyone loves to hate. I must be a very cantankerous person, I have a fondness for the characters that everyone loves to hate. Mrs. Bennet. Emma. (And after writing this book, Frank Churchill.) The thread that ended up in me writing this novel started with me writing a defense of Emma. We need to look at her without the modern lens. Women at this time have only ONE opportunity in her life to improve her situation – by marrying well. Is it terrible that Emma is focusing on helping Harriet marry well? Or is it selfless?

It was a very long and interesting conversation! And like a good conversation, it wandered over many interesting points and topics. Somehow, it came to the point that there isn’t much written in Jane Austen Fan Fiction on Jane Fairfax. Someone said there is a book out there, but it’s actually really bad. So now, I’m intrigued. I re-read Emma, watching for the bits of Jane and Frank’s story. I went and bought a used copy of Emma, and took a pink highlighter to it while I re-read it again.

The hints to Frank and Jane’s story are all over Emma!

Now I needed to write this story.

What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?

The biggest guideline that I follow for all my stories is to always stay true to the character. In this particular case, my characters are not mine – they are Jane Austen’s. I cannot violate that guideline! I have to, have to, have to stay true to Austen’s characters. The first thing I did was to take all the hints in Emma that we have about Jane’s romance with Frank, and put them in chronological order. And then start asking questions, and look for the most logical answers whenever there is a gap in the information.

What was your favorite scene in this story?

Probably the proposal. The scariest thing to write.

Scenes that aren’t part of Emma are the most terrifying part – when there is NO information to go on, and I have to rely on the Weymouth Historical Society, and Jane Austen reddit fans and JASNA members. To me, it’s absolutely imperative that the story rings true. It needs to feel like the truth. It needs to be what Jane Austen would have written had she chosen to tell us that part.

What Mrs. Dixon’s first name is, that was concerning. Sophia Dixon nee Campbell gets her first name from one of King George and Queen Charlotte’s children. Why are there so many Janes and Elizabeths in England? Names of queens. How did Frank and Jane meet? That was the second most frightening thing to write. So, “write what you know;” it’s based on a visit to a restaurant in Madison when I’d gone back for a visit. When it came time to write the proposal, I was terrified. It needed to be romantic. It needed to be unique. It needed to ring true with Janeites (even though JA never gives details on proposals in her books). And it needed to be memorable.

To this day, I can’t tell you where it came from. The muses paid me a visit one day, I started writing, and suddenly the scene was done, and I sighed with satisfaction. It felt right.

What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?

Sadly, right now my personal life is going through some chaos, so it is going to be a little while until I get back to the research and writing. But for those who expand beyond reading regency era books, I am working on a third book to finish out the Scions of Pittsburgh books. Wealth and Privilege and Brains and Beauty are set in Pittsburgh between 1875 and 1889. I get to write about bustle dresses instead of bonnets and spencers. The third book will be called Deceptions and Desires.

As for Jane Austen inspired books? I’ve had a few ideas, but nothing that has driven me yet to go buy a used copy of the book and get out my pink highlighter. Historical fiction is my first love, and after My Dearest Miss Fairfax, I don’t think I want to go back to modern interpretations.

I’m working on making Audiobooks of all my novels. But that’s EXPENSIVE. But for a reason. Talented people have to put in a lot of hours recording and editing an audiobook. The only way to avoid that expense is AI – which I can’t condone using instead of an actual talented person… so I have a GoFundMe to raise the money to pay for a narrator! Please check out my GoFundMe HERE.

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