Am female, 50ish and having a ball writing about my favorite book (and movie, 2005 version-seen too many times to count) Pride and Prejudice. It's true what they said all those years ago in English class--"write what you know". No finer advice than this. It all goes so much smoother when you actually like the characters, or at least, understand what motivates them.

A native New Yorker transplanted in the South, I like to study people-which is really easy to do in my profession--I work in the service industry and meet alot of "characters".

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed any of my pieces, I can't tell you how encouraging and inspiring those words you sent over the airwaves have been! They made me want to write better and to write more. And thanks be to God from Whom all talent comes...

Thought I would give a little background story for my eight entries.

Lizzy's Declaration and His Hand were both "written" in my head after seeing the movie. I finally put them to paper after I found the fanfiction.net site and knew there were other people like me who weren't content to take movies and books at face value, but wanted to add our two cents.

A Matter Between Friends-the idea for this story came to me very suddenly on Oct.22, 2007 and I wrote the summary of the story that evening while I was at work. The very next morning, the teenage daughter of a very good friend of mine was killed in a car accident. Whereas originally I was going to have Mr. Bingley's main feeling be anger, this very real event in my life changed the course of the story as well. If you read it with my overall emotional state in mind, you'll notice the sad undertones. The very first couple of chapters are melancholy, bittersweet; and Mr. Bingley is more hurt, sad and disappointed than angry. Finishing the story with it's happy ending was a catharsis for me as well. Looking back now, I really feel that the change in Mr. Bingley's mood was the right one, his character would be apt to be disappointed in Mr. Darcy's actions, because he is a person who sees only the good in people, and if someone he loved (a trusted friend) hurt him, he'd be sad. I think of all my stories, this one is my favorite, it practically wrote itself (or so it felt at the time).

Happiness, found was inspired by two scenes of the movie as I watched it recently. The scene of the first proposal at Hunsford, and the second at Longbourn both make me to understand the passion and the tenderness of this couple. You just know that when they finally got to be alone, it would be sweet. I tried to convey it in a way that was intimate, yet not explicit, and I feel, from the reviews, that I succeeded.

Not of her choosing-I have read many stories with the idea of a forced marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy, and I never found one that explained it to my satisfaction. I thought if it did happen, it would have to be something she couldn't get out of easily; but it also would not be her fault. And there's that scene in the movie where he looks like he is going to kiss her; I thought why not? Of course, the thinking is that all she needs, is to get to know him away from Caroline; and Elizabeth's own ill conceived notions, and she will fall in love with him. I enjoyed writing this, but it was harder than A Matter Between Friends; it didn't always "write itself," the way that one had. Even though I was pretty regular with my postings (usually at 6 a.m. before leaving for work), I struggled a couple of times with some chapters. Thankfully I have a job that requires a lot of traveling--it was on those drives when I would let my imagination run wild and in doing so, would figure out how to get past whatever struggle I was having.

His Homecoming is an alternate ending for Not of her choosing or can stand alone on it's own. This was the scene as I wanted to write it for the original story, but couldn't make it work the way I wanted to. A couple of weeks after finishing the other story, I was taking a walk one day, and the scene unfolded itself in my imagination. The line where Darcy tells Elizabeth, "Say it Lizzy, please!" was the catalyst for all the words around it. Once I had that line, I was able to write the scenes before he uttered it; and the scenes afterwards. He had been waiting so long to hear her say she loved him, and he could bear it no longer! If you could only "hear" how he says that line in my head! Pure and utter fluff--but so emotionally satisfying. : )

An Act of Desperation was conceived after I had a three year hiatus from writing. Several tragedies befell me including losing my husband to a terminal illness. I wasn't sure for a long time that I wanted to write anymore. But little by little the desire returned and after reading several good P & P stories on here; I knew that I wanted to try my hand at it, again. Originally I was just going to have Lady Catherine pass away and have the Darcy's (E & F) come for her funeral, even though they had been banished from Rosings after their marriage. That scenario, however, would not cooperate and I could not write it. But then some crazy idea formed in my head (lol) to make it a whodunit and with the exception of a chapter or two, the story wrote itself. Also of note for this story is that the lead detective is based very loosely on Det. Goren from Law and Order, Criminal Intent--one of my favorite tv characters.

Laughter in the Rain is a one-shot based very loosely on the song of the same name...I always wanted to do a positive scene for them involving rain (Mr. Darcy looked adorable all wet in the 2005 movie during the disastrous proposal); the whole concept of "what's a little rain," when you are young and in love? I had no intention of writing again so soon after the who-dunit; but the little story flowed so I went with it.

All in all, I like to write what I like to read. And I try to never send anything out without spellchecking it first or making sure it makes sense grammatically. I am not always successful in that vein, I will go back and read my stories and see all the mistakes, but so far have been content to leave them as they are, warts and all, because there seems to be a few people who like what I've written.