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I’m writing a historical again, and immersing myself in the sights and sounds by watching certain movies while I write, or rather listening. The more times I’ve seen the movie, the better, because then I don’t need to look away from my computer screen. When I wrote Thoroughly Mannerly Millicent, I listened to Sense and Sensibility and Emma, none-stop.

This time it’s Becoming Jane and Pride and Prejudice, both the movie and the BBC television version on the 10th Anniversary Limited Collector’s Edition. It’s my mood music, the way I shut out the world while I write. And I love to think about Jane, what her life was like. She wrote 6 wonderful novels in her short life. She was 41 when she died. And she did them by hand with pen and ink. How labor intensive was that?!.

Her brother was interesting too. He married a much older woman (his cousin), one who could afford to give him the luxuries of life. And since Jane and her sister eventually came to live in a cottage on his estate, I’m glad he had the courage to do so…for Jane’s sake. The first time I watched Becoming Jane, I found it upsetting and now I adore it. If it’s true, I admire her all the more.

Jane Austen was brilliant. Her grasp of her characters and what motivated them…uncanny. Her wit was perfect. I recently re-read Pride and Prejudice and found I often had to read a sentence more than once to get the meaning and it was always worth the effort.

We’re getting a huge snow storm today…maybe as much as eight more inches and there is already about three inches on the ground. The world is white, and the fire is warm. Mr. Bingley has just acquired an estate near the Bennett family. Elizabeth will soon meet Mr. Darcy again…and again…and again.

Brit Blaise
www.britblaise.com
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