Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Amanda Grange – Author Guest Post & Giveaway

FROM THE AUTHOR…Thanks for asking me to the blog, and by the way, I love the spelling of faery! I’ve always liked reading fantasy of all kinds, I love reading about worlds which are different from our own. Sometimes the worlds are in the past and sometimes they’re in a completely different kind of universe altogether.

I think that’s why I came up with the idea of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre. I wanted to write a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, but I wanted to make it different from everything else. I wanted to give Elizabeth and Darcy a real challenge so their love would be tested as it’s tested in Pride and Prejudice, and the ordinary problems of everyday life just didn’t seem large enough for the book I wanted to write. After all, Elizabeth and Darcy are one of the world’s most famous romantic couples, I wanted to give them an epic story. I thought it would be cool for readers, too, to see Elizabeth and Darcy in an entirely  new setting.

I decided to send them out of England on their honeymoon so that I could create a variety of different backgrounds and experiences for them, and then I thought of the places they might go. The idea of Europe conjured up lots of images of things like castles and mountains – I was reading a lot of Gothic novels at the time, which also set my thoughts running down those directions – and with the idea of castles in the Alps came the idea of vampyres.

I liked the idea straight away, in fact I really loved it. It chimed in with an idea I’d had many years ago whilst watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that Angel and Darcy have a lot in common.. They’re both brooding and compelling, they’re both very attractive to women, and they both stand on the sidelines. When Angel goes to the Bronze he stands in the shadows and watches, and when Darcy goes to the assembly ball, he stands at the side of the room and looks on, instead of joining in.

It seemed to fit very well with Darcy’s temperament in other ways, too. He’s aloof and detached, and I thought, If I give him this terrible secret, then that would explain why he’s so withdrawn and reserved. It would explain why he never lets anyone close, at least in the What If? kind of world I was creating, and it would make it difficult for him to relate to Elizabeth when he starts to fall in love with her, because he knows he has this huge secret hanging over him.

It would also give Elizabeth and Darcy a real problem to overcome. I liked the idea that the problem would come from inside themselves, from their feelings, not just from events.

I knew that I was creating something new with Mr. Darcy, Vampyre and so as well as giving Mr. Darcy a lot of traditional elements, the kind of things found in Dracula such as garlic, I created some new elements as well. The book is part Jane Austen and part vampyre fiction, it straddles both worlds in a new kind of fiction, one full of the brilliance of balls and Regency society, but with darker currents churning just beneath the surface.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Amanda Grange is a bestselling author specializing in creative interpretations of classic novels and historic events, including Jane Austen’s novels and the Titanic shipwreck. Her Jane Austen sequel Mr. Darcy’s Diary is a bestseller in the US and the UK. She lives in England. For more information on Amanda and her books, please visit http://amandagrange.com/. For more information on Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, please visit Amanda’s blog and the Sourcebooks Spotlight Page. Interested in reading an excerpt? Follow us on Twitter




FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…To find out more about the book and what this book faery thought, click here: http://tbfreviews.net/2009/09/07/mr-darcy-vampyre-amanda-grange-review/.

Now on to the giveaway…Thanks to SourceBooks, The Book Faery Reviews is giving away ONE copy of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre to one lucky commenter of this post. Commenter’s must have a US/Canada address and no PO Boxes. Leave us a comment on who your favorite classic hero/heroine is for your first entry.

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This giveaway will run til Friday, November 13th and The Book Faery Reviews will be announcing the winner November 14th.