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Kara Louise Shares Her Writing Space

Kara Louise’s Darcy’s Voyage is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice under different circumstances — a journey to America.  Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet under unusual conditions, on Pemberley’s Promise, a ship sailing to America.  Darcy is on a voyage to collect his sister and bring her home, while Elizabeth is on her way to visit her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner.  Do sparks fly on the open sea?  What happens when they get back to England?

Kara Louise has offered to share her writing space with my readers, and Sourcebooks has offered 2 copies to my readers in the U.S. and Canada.  Stay tuned for details about the giveaway.

Without further ado, please welcome Kara Louise.

Thanks for inviting me to chat with you and your readers today. I hope you find it enjoyable to read about my writing space and my writing routine. This is a fun topic for me.

I have three writing places where I tend to do most of my writing. The first is my computer room, the second is a hanging chair out on our patio, and the third, since I have a laptop, is just about anywhere. I will tell you about the first two.

I do most of my writing in my computer room. It looks out over the front of our property at a lot of grass, trees, a pond, and if my husband has opened the gate to the pasture, often has our 3 horses grazing about.

I have a corner computer desk with a PC on one side and a MAC on the other. My husband recently became a MAC fan, and has tried to get me to convert. While I do enjoy using it, there are just some programs I will not give up on the PC! It’s also nice having 2 computers in case something goes wrong with one.

Our computer room is just an ordinary room, but there is something very special in it. I have sent along a picture of my bookcase that lines one wall. On the top of it there are some very special mementos. I’ll explain what some of those are.

On the left, you’ll see a pair of ship bookends. These are holding 6 hardcover books of each of the novels I self-published. The ship bookends represent, Pemberley’s Promise, which is the name of the ship in Darcy’s Voyage, released just this week by Sourecebooks. Darcy’s Voyage is a variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, where Elizabeth and Darcy meet on a ship bound for America. The events that take place on the ship then directly influence their meeting again in Hertfordshire, beginning when Elizabeth walks to Netherfield to visit her ailing sister.

Now, back to the bookcase. In front of the bookends on the right, you’ll see the small action figure of Jane Austen with quill in hand, her writing desk, and a small book entitled, Pride and Prejudice. To the right of that is a doll I bought that I call my Elizabeth Bennet doll. I thought she looked just like what I would imagine Elizabeth Bennet to look like. Next to her are other items that are all representative of something in each of my books. If I need any inspiration to write, I just look up there. If nothing else, I get a big smile on my face. By the way, I have since added my copy of Darcy’s Voyage to the other books.

Now, shall we go outside to my very favorite place to write? Our back porch goes along almost the full length of the house. We have a table with chairs, chaise lounges, a porch swing, but my favorite place to write is my hanging hammock swing. I have included a picture of it, as well.

Unfortunately, I can only sit out there when the weather is nice. In Kansas we have pretty cold winters, and in spring we can have severe thunderstorms. In summer the days can get quite hot (as they did this summer!), and fall, well, I love the fall! It is my favorite season, and you can find me in this chair as often as I can. The other seasons do have nice days, occasionally, and when the day is pleasant, I’ll grab my laptop, a bottle of water, my IPod, maybe the phone, and settle into the chair and write, and possibly doze off to sleep. Nothing can surpass that!

As for my writing routine, what really works best for me is when I am alone and have a good block of time. It’s those times I can be found in the computer room or swaying in my hammock chair outside typing away. Sometimes I like to put on music. I have a very broad love of music from my parents’ era like Gershwin, Sinatra, and instrumentals by Mantovani. I love music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, musical numbers, and a variety of contemporary artists.

But most of all, I find it easy to write when I have a good plot in my head and feel it will be interesting and enjoyed by others. Then my fingers will fly at the keyboard in an attempt to bring it to life. That’s when I can truly get the writing accomplished!

Thanks Kara for sharing your writing space with us.

About the Author:

Ever since Kara Louise discovered and fell in love with the writings of Jane Austen she has spent her time answering the “what happened next” and the “what ifs” in Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s story. She has written 6 novels based on Pride and Prejudice. She lives with her husband in Wichita, Kansas. For more information, please visit her website, Jane Austen’s Land of Ahhhs.

Giveaway details:

2 copies for US/Canada readers.

1.  Leave a comment about what you would have in your dream writing space.

2.  Blog, Tweet, Facebook, etc. the giveaway and leave a link for a second entry.

Deadline Sept. 26, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST

Comments

  1. I blogged here, http://bit.ly/bm2LwN

    Thanks,
    bodicerippernovels at gmail dot com

  2. Thanks for the giveaway. I’d love to read this. As for my dream writing space, it would be pretty basic. It would have to have a double window, beautiful desk will all the necessary things on it and in it and several closed bookcases for storage.

    Thanks,
    bodicerippernovels at gmail dot com

  3. Heather Henderson says

    Greetings from Overland Park, KS. I may need to make the three hour trip to Wichita to grab that hammock chair from the crafts fair. My ideal writing space. A place free from distractions and near a computer should I have writers block and need a release.
    hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT com

  4. Molly@BookReviewsbyMolly says
  5. Molly@BookReviewsbyMolly says

    My ideal writing space would have a computer, a coffee machine, books and of course, wall to ceiling and wall to wall bookshelves for my hundreds and hundreds of books =)

    Love your blog (I am a new follower!)

    Mollydedwards AT yahoo DOT com

  6. My dream writing space would have floor to ceiling bookshelves, plenty of inspirational art on the walls and a large picture window with a view of fields, trees and wildlife.

  7. Marlene Breakfield says

    Tweeted, http://twitter.com/mbreakfield/status/24758711953
    marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

  8. Marlene Breakfield says

    A nice porch with a comfy chair, when the weather is nice and good foodand drink to keep me going.

  9. I would have an antique desk and actual quills. Oh man, that’d be so awesome! Ooh, and a vintage typewriter!!

    [email protected]

  10. In my dream writing space is an antique desk, a comfy office chair, my laptop, a fancy pen and smooth paper. Also, a coffee maker because there is no writing without significant caffeine.

  11. I would love to have a nice big comfy recliner with a huge fluffy blanket, a super fast laptop and a table next to me stack high with snacks and drinks. Yeah that is my dream writing space.

  12. In my ideal writing space I would have a brand new Mac 😉 Thanks for the opportunity!

  13. If possible, I’d have someone else there to do the writing for me.

  14. No need to enter me, I just posted this on win a book!

    http://winabook.westofmars.com/2010/09/10/darcys-voyage-by-kara-louise/

  15. very nice hammock swing! I want one 🙂
    The book sounds good too, P&P is a favorite.

  16. I love the hammock chair and want one of my own. I also have a Jane Austen action figure, which I love. 😉

    No need to enter me, as I’ll be starting this book today on my afternoon commute. Can’t wait!

    • Judith M. Settles @ Hammock Chair Stand Comparison says

      Great lens! I am very inspired by this. My dream writing space would have floor to ceiling bookshelves, plenty of inspirational art on the walls and a large picture window with a view of fields, trees and wildlife.

  17. what a fabulous chair…i’m not a writer, but if i were…i would love a comfy place to sit.

  18. Thanks for the opportunity to share today. This is a favorite topic of mine! I love the chair, and I often fall asleep in it. 🙂 So you noticed the cat! Misty (pictured) is one of 6 that we own, and is probably the sweetest. There was actually another one on the other side of me, but she can’t be seen in this picture. I had seen the hammock chair at a big arts and craft fair that happens every year near here. Two years ago I went back expressly to buy it, hoping they would still have them. And they did! I was so glad!

  19. Beth Hoffman says

    Thanks for sharing your writing world with us, Kara. And please give that big kitty a squeeze from me!

  20. The chair looks great, but I doubt I’d get much work done if I sat in it!

  21. Linda Brower says

    I am a reader, not a writer – except for keeping a daily journal and a reading journal. Any spot on a lovely porch like that would be ideal for reading and writing. Thanks for the giveaway.

  22. I am drooling over that hammock chair! And the porch too. 🙂 Either one of those things would be a great place to write. Both of them together must be heaven. Thanks for sharing, Kara.

Trackbacks

  1. West Of Mars — Win A Book! » Blog Archive » Darcy’s Voyage by Kara Louise says:

    […] stop by HERE and enter today.  The author shares about her writing space, which is probably much nicer than mine.  […]