Monica Fairview, Author

I was putting together the ingredients to make pumpkin cream cheese muffins and I wondered about something I didn't think about before which was: The essence of Halloween is dressing up as something you're not, right? It's also associated with pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, right. So Cinderella has to be the perfect Halloween story. A pumpkin that magically transforms into a carriage, and a young woman in rags who impersonates a princess. Strange, really, when you think about it. Was Cinderella meant to be a Halloween story? Apparently not, not when you look at the origins. Anyway, I just thought I'd share a children's Halloween poem I wrote a while ago and pushed to the bottom of my bottomless drawer of scribbles. If you'd like to share, please do, but don't forget to mention my name and link back to this blog : ) Halloween Poem by Monica Fairview Wandering down the ghoulish street looking for a trick or treat past the cobwebs, high and...

Well, it's finally here! Today is launch day, and to celebrate there are a few things going on The Official Launch Party and Grand Giveaway at AustenProse So please come and join us to find out more about what Steampunk Darcy is all about I'm also visiting at Buckeye Girl Reads where I have 10 snippets of information about Steampunk Darcy that you might want to read. For another chance to win an e-book head over to read yesterday's interview and enter the Rafflecopter at My Jane Austen Book Club And you still have a chance of winning a paperback copy of Steampunk Darcy at Goodreads Goodreads Book Giveaway Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview Giveaway ends October 17, 2013. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

Just thought I'd give you the thumbs up for my new Goodreads Giveaway. It starts in five days to coincide with the release of Steampunk Darcy, so don't forget to mark your calendars and spread the news.   Goodreads Book Giveaway Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview Giveaway ends October 17, 2013. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

The competition for a copy of Steampunk Darcy on Goodreads was very fierce. I am therefore planning to have another Giveaway very soon. I'll announce it again here. The winner was Eszter Ketesz from Transylvania, Romania. Congratulations, Eszter!! For those of you who want to know a bit more about Steampunk (and even if you don't), here's a great video depicting different aspects of Steampunk. You might want to skip some of the initial commentary, especially since the video is so long, but it does a good job giving a sense of the various aspects of the genre as well as its international dimensions.  

To celebrate the release I’ll be doing a tour of various blogs as well as having giveaways. Please stop in along the way and join the discussion or enter for a giveaway of STEAMPUNK DARCY !   September 30/09 Goodreads giveaway (2 days) October 03/10 To Read or Not to Read  Interview  14/10 My Jane Austen Book Club  Interview and Giveaway 15/10 STEAMPUNK DARCY LAUNCH AND GIVEAWAY ON AUSTENPROSE! 15/10 Buckeye Girl Reads  Post and Giveaway 16/10 Indie Jane Blog Post  16/10 Coffee Time Romance Revelry and Giveaway   18/10 Jera’s Jamboree Interview  21/10 Austenesque Reviews Post  21/10 Indie Jane Review  22/10 Romantic Novelists Association Post  24/10 Long and Short Reviews Interview 26/10 Austen Authors Post and Giveaway 28/10 Jane Austen Sequels Post and Giveaway 29/10 Colette Saucier 's Blog Post 29/10 Coffee Time Romance Steampunk Spook-tacular Event 9 PM EST / 8 ...

The giveaway is for TWO DAYS only, starting Monday September 30th Goodreads Book Giveaway Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview Giveaway ends October 02, 2013. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

On Wednesday I took the train from Clapham Junction to Winchester to meet Laurel Ann Nattress (editor of Jane Austen Made Me Do It ) and her Jane Austen Tour Group. Luckily, I didn't have to ride in a locomotive like the one below because it would have taken me a lot longer than the one hour forty-five minutes it took for me to get to Winchester where I was supposed to meet them. Though it might have been fun to chug along in the days when this steam-operated train (below) ran from London to Southampton, it would have taken me quite a lot longer!  Built in 1894 and withdrawn 1949 courtesy Ben Brooksbank As I passed through a quintessentially English scene with its gentle hills and its quiet "verdure" (Winchester is at the edge of the South Downs), I was surprised to see far more cows than sheep. The black and white cows reminded me of Switzerland, but only briefly. The small fields enclosed by hedgerows are too distinctive. It occurred to me...