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Confessions Press
Here are selected features, interviews, round-ups, guest posts, and "best-of" lists. For reviews, please click on "Confessions" or "Press & Reviews" in the menu bar above.
SisterDivas Magazine
SD: Imagine the movie poster for your latest novel, CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. What's the logline?
LVR: Warning: Living in Regency England can be habit-forming.
SD: Expand on that logline by pitching us CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT in 50 words or less.
LVR: Courtney Stone has often wished to live in Jane Austen's world. When she awakens one morning in the body and life of a woman in 1813 England, however, she wonders: Is this a dream come true, a case of be-careful-what-you-wish-for, or a little of both?
SD: What's the novel's backstory? How did the idea for CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT come to be?
LVR: I was standing in my kitchen one day and saw, in my mind's eye, this modern L.A. girl waking up as another woman in Regency England. I couldn't stop thinking about her, and I started writing it all down. There was more to the story, and eventually I had a novel.
SD: Talk to us about the writing process for CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. Did you organize the work beforehand, or did you simply sit and let the words fly onto the screen?
LVR: I wrote an outline for the book; however, it bears almost no resemblance to the finished product! However, at the time I needed to write that outline; it gave me the sense that there was a structure. Some writers find an outline useful; I find I work best when I can get into the place of "I don't know." I don't know what's going to happen next, I don't know what that next move or next line of dialogue is going to be. And that's exactly where I need to be in order to do my best work.
SD: What have you done as author to promote CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT?
LVR: In addition to touring for my publisher, I've given readings and talks at libraries, colleges, and regional and national meetings of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). I've visited with book groups in person and on the phone. I love talking with readers, whether it's at one of my events or online. I feel tremendously fortunate to be able to chat with a dazzling rainbow of people all over the world, via my janeaustenaddict.com website with its blog and a forum, and through a host of other blogs, online communities, and social networks.
SD: What are three adjectives that would describe CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT?
LVR: Smart, sassy, fun.
SD: What are three adjectives that would describe YOU?
LVR: Passionate, funny, open-hearted.
SD: WORD ASSOCIATION: What comes to mind when you see the following words:
LVR:
JANE AUSTEN: master storyteller
ADDICTIONS: pizza
CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT: escape
WRITING: alchemy
LAURIE VIERA RIGLER: identity
In Three, Two, One:
SD: LAURIE VIERA RIGLER: THE SOUNDTRACK. If there were a soundtrack to your life, what are THREE tracks that would make the CD?
LVR: Beautiful Day by U2, Vertigo by U2 (can you tell I'm a U2 fan?), and Hummingbirds by Venus Hum.
SD: You're going on vacation, and you're only allowed to take TWO books with you -- what are they, and why these two?
LVR: So happy you said two rather than just one! PERSUASION and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, both by Jane Austen, would be my traveling companions. I can read these novels over and over again and always discover something new about the story, the characters, the subtext, and myself. PERSUASION is a story about second chances, and I love the idea of having another chance to make things right, find love, learn forgiveness, gain wisdom. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is about how we think we know everything there is to know about ourselves and about others. But oh how wrong we are. We are always making snap judgments about people and groups, and we really don't have a clue. Realizing that is the beginning of wisdom. Both of these books are not only full of insight into human nature, they're funny and satirical and deliciously romantic.
SD: Who is ONE of your favorite writers, and how does he/she inspire you as a writer? (I'm wondering if it's Jane Austen - lol)
LVR: You guessed right, Shon. :) She's my favorite author, though I also read a great deal of contemporary fiction. In fact, two of my favorite contemporary authors, Zadie Smith and Nick Hornby, remind me of Austen. But Austen is the author I keep re-reading more than any other. She inspires me on many levels. There is the level of engaging storytelling that keeps me turning the pages no matter how many times I've read that story before. There is the level of her keen observation of human nature, how she takes a comic, generous, and unflinching look at human beings. She sees people for what they are, at their best and their worst, and she does it with a great deal of humor and compassion.
SD: CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT: The Movie. Who plays Courtney Stone?
LVR: Too many fine actresses to choose from! A short list would include Kate Winslet, Kate Beckinsale, Drew Barrymore, Anne Hathaway, Hayley Atwell, Christina Applegate, Alicia Silverstone, and Christina Hendricks. I adore Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway on MAD MEN. And can't you just see Jon Hamm as Mr. Edgeworth?
SD: What's currently going on in your WRITING LIFE?
LVR: I'm immersed in editing my latest novel, which is the sequel/parallel story to CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. It's called RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. Basically, in CONFESSIONS my 21st-century protagonist wakes up in the body and life of a woman in Regency England. In RUDE AWAKENINGS, the 19th-century woman awakens as the 21st-century woman in Los Angeles. Talk about culture shock. :) I am also contemplating ideas for my next novel.