Laurie Viera Rigler’s new novel, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, is available in stores today! Luckily I had the chance to read it last week and simply loved it, just as I loved her first novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict. So that I don’t overwhelm you with too much reading, I am saving my review for another day. For your enjoyment I present to you a mini-interview with the author, which answered so many questions in my mind. Don’t forget to visit her website, watch her book trailer and leave your name for the giveaway!
Interview with Laurie Viera Rigler
Arleigh: You have found a unique spin on the immensely popular genre of Austen continuations. In fact, your novels are more chick-lit than Austenesque. Do you find you are creating new fans of Jane Austen by introducing them to the classic novels they would not have considered reading otherwise?
Laurie: It was really important for me to write these books in a way that makes them as accessible to readers who have never read Austen as they are to those who are addicted to Austen. Many readers have told me that after reading my work they felt inspired to read Austen for the first time or to re-read her, and that makes me really happy. After all, aren’t we all working towards total Janeite world domination?
Arleigh: Did you have to do a lot of research on words and items that Jane may not have been acquainted with or, as an Austen expert, did the writing come naturally without too much study?
Laurie: I felt really comfortable writing in Jane’s voice and had a lot of fun with it, yet at the same time I did a lot of research to ensure that her language was entirely authentic. I constantly consulted the OED (I’ve got an online subscription), e-texts of Austen’s works (Mollands.net is fabulous for this), and other works of the period to make sure that every word I used in Jane’s speech and in her thoughts was true to her time. It’s astonishing how many commonplace words we use today either did not exist in Austen’s time or did not have quite the same meaning then as they do today.
I also needed to keep in mind a language arc for this character, because the more time she spends in her borrowed life and her borrowed body, the more she begins to access and use twenty-first-century language.
Arleigh: Did you find writing a novel with a time travel element difficult? Was it more challenging to write Courtney in Regency England or Jane in modern day L.A.?
Laurie: I could more naturally put myself in Courtney’s shoes and imagine seeing the past through her Austen-fan eyes than I could imagine being a nineteenth-century woman in today’s world with no frame of reference for cars, DVDs, electricity, or a thousand other things we don’t pause to think about. It was tremendous fun to write both books. In CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT I got to visit Jane Austen’s world vicariously through Courtney. In RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT I got to see my own world anew through the eyes of the awestruck, astonished, and sometimes scandalized gentleman’s daughter from Regency England. I don’t think I will ever look at my world—or Austen’s world—in the same way.
Arleigh: You use reincarnation as a means of explaining Jane and Courtney’s mixed up souls. Are you a believer in reincarnation or is it just an explanation that seemed to fit the story?
Laurie: After hearing from and talking to many readers, I can see that everyone puts his or her own construct on these stories based on what their own personal beliefs are. It’s not my place to impose my personal beliefs on my readers—I’d rather they take from my books whatever is important for them to take away. And, if these books open up a new realm of possibilities for readers in terms of how to think about destiny, and life purpose, and time, and reality, then that’s very exciting!
Arleigh: The ending, while providing closure, also allows room for more to the story. Are there any more novels on Courtney and/or Jane planned?
Laurie: For now, Courtney’s and Jane’s stories feel complete. But I have no idea if that will change in the future. For me, not knowing what’s going to happen next is one of the things I love most about writing.
Visit JaneAustenAddict.com where you can watch the book trailer, get the latest news from the world of Austen and much more!
Giveaway Info
Not only do you have the chance to win a brand new copy of Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, but it will be personally inscribed to you! How great is that? Just leave a comment, and in the meantime you really should check out her book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, on Courtney, who is stuck in Jane’s body in Regency England. This giveaway ends July 11, 2009. Good luck to all!
Hello, my name is Arleigh... welcome to my book review site! Here you will find author guest posts, book news, reviews and various articles on the genre. My favorite author is Jean Plaidy, of whom I have built a 
I absolutely love Laurie’s writing style. She has managed to capture the essence of Jane Austen and infused it with a modern and witty plot. For those of us who love Jane Austen we always wished there was more to read. So right away Laurie not only attracted this type of reader but she also captured us by page 1.
I can’t wait to read Rude Awakenings!
Please add me to this one please. I would love to read Rude Awakenings too! Thank You!
Yet another book I’ve been planning to read since forever
Enter me, enter me !!
I really enjoyed the first one so I’d love to read this! I’m really interested to see how Jane adjusts to Courtney’s world and I think Rude Awakenings will provide just the closure I need from the first one!
Fun interview
I do wanna read this one, sounds nice, and I love Austen so to see a girl in modern times, lol. I cna’t even imagine
I’ve been thinking that I needed to reread some of the original Jane Austens. This book should be the inspiration I’m needing. Thanks for the giveaway.
Please enter me. These books sound great and I would love to read them. And if I could win an inscribed copy of one that would be wonderful. I’ll have to go get a copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict!
thanks
rebecca.bradeen(at)verizon(dot)net
I read the review, it sounds like a great book to read.
Please count me in and many thanks for this giveaway.
I have been waiting for this book. I absolutely loved the Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and can’t wait to own the next one.
I loved her first book, and cannot wait to read this one! Please count me in.
Hi Laurie,
Great interiew! Sounds like a wonderful read.
GOODNESS Arleigh you’ll have me dedicate a whole section of my shelf to Jane Austen Sequels! But still enter me for this one, how could I pass up a Peronally inscribed book? However the outcome, I’ll have to add both of her books to the list.
Thanks for the interview, ’twas fun!
I have seen several great reviews for this! Please enter me.
This is a nice and interesting interview. I’ve been looking forward to her latest novel. I’m joing this Austen craze. Please do count me in.
Great interview! I’ve never read her books but I’ve heard a lot of great things about them and since I love Jane Austen I’d probably love this book. Please enter me!
count me in please!
Is it just me or has been a slew of Jane Austen related books coming out of the woodwork? I recently got a copy of How Jane Austen Ruined My Life and before I can even crack that one open, I find that there’s this book! I am seriously behind on my reading!
I would love to read this book. I love Jane Austen and have been looking forward to reading this book. Please count me in.
I enjoyed the interesting interview. This book would be a pleasure to enjoy. thanks for this chance.
Sounds like a nice read! Please count me in.
Please include me in your giveaway.
Thanks
Carlene
iluvreading(at)Verizon.net
Please include me in your giveaway.
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bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com
Loved the first one more than I ever thought I would! I’d love to be entered in this one please!!!!
I’m looking forward to reading about Jane’s experiences. It’s nice to get the counterpoint that was only alluded to and it’s nice to read about a woman falling forward in time because most of what we read is women falling backward in time. What must it be like to end up in a world where so much is absolutely, totally, and completely foreign?
Viera Rigler’s books sound like the perfect antidote to my Austen addiction. Please count me in for the contest!
celialarsen(at)gmail(dot)com
I greatly enjoyed reading Confessions, and I can’t wait to read the second installment! Thanks
I loved Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and I can’t wait to read the sequel! Please throw my name in the virtual hat for the giveaway.
nnjmom at yahoo dot com
I’m a big Jane Austen fan and I’d love to have a copy!
issa(dot)mojica(at)gmail(dot)com
I’ve never read any of Laurie Viera Rigler’s books & this looks like a good one to start with.
Please count me in – Thanks!
I’ve hesitated reading some of the the multitude of Austen spin-off sequels out there lately, but this sounds like a really good one!! I have been an Austen fan since high school and would love to re-immerse myself in her world with this modern twist of a novel. Just picked up Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and can’t wait to dive into it…count me in please!!
since I loved Confessions please enter me for this one.
jennygirl73(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks Arleigh!
Wow! I liked the first one so I’d love to read this one too! It seems pretty interesting. ^__^
As an addict, I would love to read this!
Seems interesting.
Great interview!
carlos_durao AT hotmail DOT com
Great interview! Looking forward to reading this, as in both the movie Lost in Austen and Ms. Rigler’s first book, we were all left wondering how the 19th century character has fared in the 21st century – so thank you Laurie for writing this!
Please enter me in this drawing sounds like an interesting read.
budletsmom at yahoo dot com
Great interview! I always get a bit frustrated when I read interviews where the author doesn’t answer the question. I get so curious and getting no answer LOL
Please include me in this giveaway.
mari.privatATbluezone.no
Sounds like a great book!
My name is Eduardo Francisco, my mail is educhico AT gmail DOT com.
Good luck to everyone!
I have read ‘Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict’ and loved it as I have never read a really charming and enchanting tale about time-travel to Regency England before. Really looking forward to the parallel story involving Jane Mansfield in 21st century LA.
Woohoo for the Giveaway!
39.5susy AT gmail DOT com
Looks like a great read!
goncalo.mil AT gmail DOT com
I have read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and absolutely loved it. It is so great to see another book from the same author. Thank you for the super interview w/ the author. Very interesting!
This sounds like an excellent book. I will have to put it on my ‘What to read next” list. Thanks for the information. Great interview as well!
Hi I would love to win this book
pls include me in this contest! thanks!
sensitivemuse at gmail dot com
Stil on time, I hope!
catarina.magoito AT gmail DOT com
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