 The appropriate page in Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge mentions some of the people who helped me take the plunge, but there is one more I wish to publicly acknowledge. After reading In a Perfect World at the Derbyshire Writers Guild, Sybil sent me an email which became a bright spot during a dismal time, as I was then dealing with my only sibling’s terminal illness. Here’s what Sybil wrote: “ … You amused and diverted me, and I wanted to thank you for sharing your wonderful story, ‘In a Perfect World’. What an original piece! It’s teasing and punny, full of clever word play with a generous dollop of (I assume) Regency slang. Once I look up some of those words/phrases, I warn you, I fully intend to filch them in the future. I have no idea how you came up with all of the clever and twisted ideas, but they worked beautifully. On a recent car trip, a seriously boring one, I amused my husband with several of your remarkably groan-worthy puns. He has absolutely no interest in anything Austen, but he enjoyed the jokes. The miles passed by almost unnoticed. I adored your pairings, especially when you allowed the young couples to sneak off to be alone with one another. You set some very romantic scenes. And, if you couldn’t tell, I had no problem with the alternate pairings. In fact, the (spoiler) and (spoiler) ones worked exceedingly well and could, dare I suggest, give you fodder for additional tales. My one big question is what happens to young Robert? He was such an adorable original character. I’d love to read more about him, well, actually, more about any of the characters you’ve honed and polished. Take Lydia, who is usually spotty; in your hands, she becomes spot-tacular! As for Wickham, may I join in committing Wickhamicide? Thanks for all the laughs, groans, moans, sighs, cries, snickers, and giggles. It’s one of the most humorous stories I’ve read in a very long time, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. On a purely selfish note, any chance of another story coming from your inventive mind? I shouldn’t ask, since I think I still have two of yours still to read. I find myself wishing for more time to just enjoy fanfic, for stories like yours are magnetic. I hope that your sister is doing as well as possible under the circumstances and that you are coping with all that’s before you. I wish I could brighten up your world as your story enlivened mine. Thanks again and take good care, Sybil
PS: I wanted to email this to you to ensure that you received it, since I had no way of knowing how often you frequent the Austen.com boards. If you’d like, I’d be happy to also post all or most of it in the Tea Room, to draw the attention of others to your highly entertaining story. Just say the word, and it will magically appear there. Can’t ever do enough advertising of the great stories, and this one is in that category …”
Thanks again, Sybil. Your comments (after making me cry) gave me confidence to submit the manuscript for the story that is now being published as Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge.
So, there you have it, everyone. Sybil is to blame!!!
In a previous blog post (‘Paper Scraps & Hen Scratch’), I mentioned little pieces of paper on which I had jotted notes for work-in-progress stories or ideas for future ones. “Then, when you’re ready, stitch them seamlessly together, embroider upon them, and weave those words into the tapestry of your story.” Right. Easier said than done. Recently I was asked whether I’m disciplined in plotting a story, work with outlines, or just start typing. My flippant answer was about mapping out In a Perfect World only to have the map stolen by its characters. The truth is I went to pieces while writing that story. Before I go any further, I need to tell you I’ve always enjoyed solving puzzles ... jigsaws, crosswords, mazes, logic, etc. You may ask what that particular pastime has to do with writing. According to Wikipedia: “A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution.”
Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge was very similar to a jigsaw puzzle. Numerous hen-scratched paper scraps had to be assembled properly to reveal the complete picture. Some pieces snapped into place quickly and easily. It was futile to force ones that didn’t fit; those were put aside for potential use in another story. Piece by piece, paragraph by paragraph, page by page, the picture began to take shape and make sense. Similar to the satisfaction of snapping into place the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle, typing the words ‘The End‘ came with a feeling of accomplishment.
I now realize other kinds of puzzles might be involved:
MAZES - It amazes people how many puns there are in Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge.
CROSSWORDS - Yes, I had a few cross words when the characters hijacked my story; but there is another similarity. In a crossword puzzle, you fill white squares with words. Writing a story requires filling blank pages with words.
ANAGRAM - There’s an Anna Darcy in my book; and it’s possible one of the grandmothers, later in the story, might be called 'Gram'.
CIPHER - You may sigh for several reasons while reading Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge.
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE - It’s easy to spot the differences between Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge.
RIDDLE - My story is riddled with wordplay.
Quote from Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge:
“... Mama and Papa have never permitted us to have animals in our residence. Hmm, I wonder whether they are concerned about household pets taking over the world. Why the puzzled look, Mr. Darcy? Have you never heard of reigning cats and dogs?”
In a Perfect World (first draft of Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge) was posted at the DWG as a work-in-progress story. The second version, Upun My Word, Mr. Darcy!, later appeared at AHA. Feedback was complimentary and encouraging, such as: - ... my sides hurt, my cheeks hurt, Thank you for such a good laugh! (marg)
- My goodness gracious, I am totally in awe of your talent for word play, puns and alliterations. I am certainly enjoying this. I do love funny fluff! My sides hurt from all my laughing. I also like all your Bennets, especially Robert and Lydia. Darcy is very endearing. (PatM)
- GROAN!!!!!!!!! This may be the punniest story I've ever read (more so even then Robert Asprin's Myth series, which I read as a kid - and that's going some!). I love it! This is absolutely brilliant and quite engaging, not only for its humor and divergence from canon, but also in that I am very curious where you're going with it. Thank you! (RachelP)
- What an amazing piece of writing! I have never read anything like it. I can't imagine how you kept up such a steady stream of puns and humorous situations. Your characters (including the animals) were so engaging. I'm in awe of your talent. Thank you for sharing. (Mary Simonsen)
- I laughed, snorted, smiled, and groaned. What a delightful story! I love the way you have changed all the Bennets esp. Mrs. B. She is a hoot! Thanks for re-posting this, I missed it the first time. Excellent writing! Can't wait for more. (Karen A)
- I still cannot wipe the smile off my face! ... (rascal)
- ... I could not stop laughing throughout this chapter. ... (milhistbuff1)
- Oh my gosh, laughing out loud. This was hilarious ... (honuangel)
You may notice a trend. Readers appeared to be suffering from certain ailments - such as hurting cheeks, painful sides, sustained smiling or laughing. Groaning, moaning, snorting, sighing, and crying were also noted as side-effects from my story. Therefore, it behooves me to forewarn unsuspecting readers of the dangers inherent in partaking of such frivolity. _______________ WARNING: Readers of Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge are strongly cautioned that certain scenes contain material considered
(pun and groan)
Such content may result in side effects including but not limited to the following: - hurting cheeks (facial kind) - painful sides - groaning and moaning - snorting, sighing, and sustained smiling - crying (as in "Oh, for crying out loud!") - laughing out loud _______________ As a firm believer in the adage ‘Laughter is the best medicine’, I’m at a loss to prescribe anything for one’s relief when laughter caused the above-noted symptoms. My advice is to keep reading. No one has ever died from laughing. ... Have they? ... Um ... Excuse me now, please. I, ah, have to go Google something.
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