Researching Willoughby’s Return: Exeter and the New London Inn

Anyone who stops by to read my blog will know how much I enjoy researching for the books that I write. Willoughby’s Return is set in Devon, Dorset and London so I spent a lot of time reading about these places as they were in the 1800′s. Marianne is married to Colonel Brandon and they [...]

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William Cowper, The Winter Nosegay, and Willoughby’s Return

It’s snowing again today in Barnet; the sky is as grey as the plump breasts of the woodpigeons that strut about outside in the garden looking for their breakfast. Increasingly, I am reminded of Narnia, and C.S. Lewis’s magical, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and wonder if winter will be here forever. There [...]

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A Valentine Snippet from Willoughby’s Return, a Sense and Sensibility Sequel

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, here is a snippet from Willoughby’s Return. I wanted this book to be as much Margaret’s story as Marianne’s and I thought it high time she started to enjoy herself by attending balls and meeting young men. Colonel Brandon’s sister and family have recently returned to Whitwell and his nephew, Henry [...]

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A Review for Willoughby’s Return from the Jane Austen Centre

Here’s a review for Willoughby’s Return from the Jane Austen Centre online magazine! Set four years after the close of Sense and Sensibility, Willoughby’s Return starts off apace with a surprise visitor (no, not that one…) plans for a ball and mounting tension in the Brandon household. Marianne Brandon wonders if she has lost that [...]

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Snow, Christmas Trees and a Review for Willoughby’s Return

Well, it’s feeling very festive here in England with all the snow we’ve been having! As I look out of my window I can see the world dusted with icing sugar – the sky is a beautiful iridescent pearl, which reminds me of the sort of day it was in Willoughby’s Return when Marianne and [...]

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Review of Willoughby’s Return from Austenesque

Thank you to Meredith Esparza of Austenesque Reviews for her review of Willoughby’s Return! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ***** “Sense and Sensibility” is such a lovely, honest, and entertaining novel; it such a shame that not many authors have attempted to compose a sequel for it. I have greatly enjoyed “Colonel Brandon’s Diary” [...]

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A Review for Willoughby’s Return from Austenprose

Here’s a review from Laurel Ann at Austenprose. I’d like to thank her very much for taking the time to read and review my book! While the Jane Austen sequel industry abounds with numerous books inspired by Pride and Prejudice, regretfully there are very few sequels to Austen’s first published novel Sense and Sensibility. Why? [...]

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Interview with Red Roses for Authors!

I was recently interviewed by Red Roses for Authors blogspot in celebration of the publication of Willoughby’s Return. It’s always an interesting experience being interviewed – I’m always surprised by how much I learn about myself as well as my book! Tell us a little about yourself I’m an English author, an artist, and a [...]

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A Review for Willoughby’s Return from Book Eater

Here’s a review from Odessa at Book Eater. Sequels, prequels, paraliterature; we see it everywhere, especially in regard to Austen. I am often skeptical, but when I saw Jane Odiwe (author of Lydia Bennet’s Story) had a new sequel to Sense and Sensibility I thought I’d give it a read. I’m glad I did. Unlike [...]

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Researching Willoughby’s Return!

One of the things I enjoy about writing my Austen sequels is the research I have to do for each novel. I love to set each major scene giving clues to how places looked at the time, as well as considering sounds and smells! Jane Austen did not devote much of her writing to descriptions [...]

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