Querying as a Jane Austen Adaptation

When it comes to reading Ms. Austen's novels, I'm pretty lazy. I've read Pride and Prejudice several times, but I'm really bad about zoning out and setting it aside for long periods of time. Then I get frustrated and watch one of the movie versions. Oh, Movie Versions. What would we do without thee?

The other day, I was watching Persuasion for the millionth time. The version with THIS guy:

And I couldn't help sympathizing with Anne Elliot, our heroine. Really, any of Austen's heroines. With each unfortunate situation, I kept thinking, THIS IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW. She's practically querying her manuscript! All she wants is an amazing agent that loves her book to marry for love (not that it hurts if he's well connected to the big six off), but with each man she starts to consider as a match, she's disappointed. She goes for a long walk with her family and the possible agent of her career love of her life, and she's the only lady that's not asked for the full manuscript escorted over the tiny bridge. Her cousin William starts to make eyes at her, even though he's obviously shady, but all along she's trying to get the attentions of Captain Wentworth. He's her dream agent come to life. For the majority of our glimpse into Anne's life, the Captain is quite unattainable, despite his own stolen glances and compliments to her writing and voice.

Before you start querying, you hear about the "ups and downs," but I don't think you quite "get" it until you're up to your neck in rejections and close calls. There are a lot of downs, but there can also be some ups that really mend the damage the downs caused. Take the criticism and learn from it. Take the praise and don't let it go to your head. Continue to study your craft and strive to get better daily.

Let those rejections roll off, because just like in the novels, the heroine always ends up with the right guy.

Over and Over and Over

This week, I've taken to putting in movies while getting some things done around the house (another round of Spring cleaning), and I've had a problem. I have a stack of movies I like to watch over and over and over, and I end up staring at them all, unable to pick which one to put in next.

Do you have favorite movies that you could watch over and over again? Here are some of mine:

 

The 2009 BBC version of Emma with Romola Garai and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore!). I love everything about this miniseries. The acting, the story, the Knightley. I recently purchased the soundtrack to write along to, and every time I hear it, I want to pop the DVD in and watch it again!

Favorite quotes: "I suppose you've come to tell me off about the Chinese." -Emma

"Badly done, Emma." -Mr. Knightley

Lost in Austen. What a hilarious swapping of Elizabeth Bennet and modern day Amanda Price. She throws off the whole storyline of Pride and Prejudice, confusing Bingley, Darcy and Wickham. Watch this one with the subtitles--they talk SO fast! Still waiting for the soundtrack to be released!

Favorite quotes: "Are you very angry about my fishy tales?" -Wickham

Amanda: "I can't dance this sort of dance."

Darcy: "Nor I. Together we shall make a shambles. But we shall do it with such authority that everyone will stare at us to learn the step."

--

Amanda: "You're so relentlessly unpleasant! I just can't get at the real you!

Darcy: "Madam! Behold, Fitzwilliam Darcy. I am what I am. If you find yourself unable to get at an alternative version, I must own to being glad. I despise the intrusions of a woman so singularly dedicated to mendacity, disorder and lewdness. They repel me. You repel me. You are an abomination, Madam. Good afternoon to you."

Amanda, after Darcy leaves: If I dream about him tonight, I shall be really angry! ...I'm going to dream about him. Well, I hope in my dream you choke! Hateful man!"

This is my favorite version of Pride and Prejudice, probably because it was the first one I saw, and it kind of started the madness of my love for these types of movies.

Darcy: "Are you rejecting me?"

Elizabeth: "I'm sure that the feelings which, as you've told me, have hindered your regard, will help you in overcoming it."

Darcy: "Might I ask why, with so little endeavor at civility, I am thus repulsed?"

Elizabeth: "And I might as well enquire why, with so evident a design of insulting me, you chose to tell me that you liked me against your better judgment!"

I grew up watching the Back to the Future trilogy, and I never get tired of it. It's SO well done. The twists of the story, the acting, the effects. The whole thing is brilliant. Sadly though, we may be more than four years from hover-boards (the "future" portion takes place in 2015. I'm sure back then it seemed very far away!).

"There's that word again; 'heavy'. Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull?" -Doc

"The justice system works swiftly in the future now that they've abolished all lawyers." -Doc

"Crazy drunk pedestrians!" -Red

I don't know what it is about this movie exactly, but I watch it all year, not just at Christmas time. I've always been a fan of Kate Winslet, but she does fantastic with her character in The Holiday, and I want to be friends! I also have the soundtrack to this one!

"You look like my barbie." -Olivia

"You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend." -Arthur

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. There are so many little moments in this gem that could pass you right by without notice. Jimmy Stewart is a comedic genius. 

"This whole place is really lousy with birds." -Mr. Hobbs

Mr. Turner: "You haven't done much walking, have you, Hobbs?"

Mr. Hobbs: "Only since I was about four years old." 

If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a big fan of the old movies (thanks, Mom, for introducing them to me at an early age). Desk Set is so witty, and I've seen it dozens of time, but I still find new bits to laugh at. In this movie, the ladies in the reference department of a TV network are fearful for their jobs when a computer is brought in to help them work faster. And yes, the computer takes up half the room!

"More power to you! You may be lonely, but more power to you!" -Bunny

"It has usually been my experience, when a car cruises around the block, slowly, it has usually been my experience, that they are mostly just looking for a place to park." -Bunny

One of my favorite Monroe movies ever. HILARIOUS seeing the beautiful Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon try to pass themselves off as women to avoid mobsters.

Joe: "Forget about the whole thing, will ya? Just keep telling yourself you're a boy."

Jerry: "I'm a boy. I'm a boy. I wish I were dead. I'm a boy. Boy, oh boy, am I a boy. Now what am I gonna do about my engagement present?"

Joe: "What engagement present?"

Jerry: "Osgood gave me a bracelet."

Joe: "Hey, these are real diamonds!"

Jerry: "Of course they're real! What do you think, my fiance is a bum?" 

--

Jerry: "Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It's like Jell-O on springs. Must have some sort of built in motor or something. I tell you, it's a whole different sex!"

Joe: "What are you afraid of? No one's asking you to have a baby!"

--

Joe: "But you're not a girl, you're a guy. And why would a guy want to marry a guy?"

Jerry: "Security!"

--

Jerry: "Now you've done it! Now you have done it!"

Joe: "Don't what?"

Jerry: "You tore off one of my chests!"

So there are seriously way more movies I could watch nearly daily, but I'll have to share them another time! 

I'm Getting Lost in Austen

I don't know when it happened exactly. Well, maybe I do. In 2005, an amazing adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was released. Who knows how many times I went to see it in theaters. I bought it the day it came out on DVD, and watched it every night as I fell asleep. Hello Darcy.

I read the book, expecting to join the masses of women in the Austen craze. Didn't fancy it much. I'll just watch the movie, I said.

Then this past August, I started taking piano lessons (again), and by September I bought the songbook from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack by Dario Marianelli, and am learning my third song from it. It's challenging, but I'm in love with it.

Then this past October, I read Austenland by Shannon Hale. Have any of you read it? I've seen quite a few bad reviews for it, but I absolutely FLIPPED over this book. I gobbled it up in just a couple of evenings. I never saw the twists coming! (By the way, Hale is writing a sequel!!)

Then around November, my mom introduced me to one of the most creative and hilarious takes on Pride and Prejudice yet. Lost in Austen. Yes, I've discussed this 3 hour BBC mini-series before, but it needs repeating because it's just THAT GOOD. Rent it, buy it, just WATCH IT, so Kristi and I aren't the only ones emailing each other back and forth, quoting it until all hours of the night. (Pictured is Darcy on the left, and Bingley on the right) -- We first meet Amanda Price in modern day London, reading her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. She loves the language, the manners... it's given her standards that simply cannot be filled in her time. One night, she hears a noise in her bathroom of all places, and finds Elizabeth Bennett!! Amanda walks through the door and into Elizabeth's house, and Netherfield has just been let (at last!). She gets to live through the whole thing, but her presence has caused things to change. People start falling in love with the wrong people, marrying the wrong people... Amanda tries to make things follow the book (even though Elizabeth is still stuck in modern day London), but Darcy believes that everyone has become her instruments and that she is "quite possibly the instrument of Satan." This is not for the Jane Austen purist, because they do expand on a few storylines, but it's just that much more interseting. And HILARIOUS. --

Then I watched Colin Firth as Darcy in the 90's BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, and finally understood the scene in Lost in Austen where Darcy takes a dip in the pond. The whole thing seemed to drag a bit until the last segment, but it was good.

Then I watched Persuasion because a good friend of mine made me. I'm tempted to think she watches it almost daily. It was frustrating through most of it, but I enjoyed it by the end. Not sure if I'm interested in tackling the book, which as I understand, was published by Jane Austen's brother after she died. She probably didn't intend for it to get out (along with Northanger Abby).

Then I happened to catch the new Masterpiece version of Emma on PBS last month, and Oh My Gosh. Forget Darcy, bring on the Knightley! At first, I watched this show cringing, because as you all can see on my sidebar, according to the Jane Austen quiz, I am Emma Woodhouse. It's a scary thing, but I totally am. Not that I've gotten into the matchmaking bit, but I have definitely been known to speak out of turn (Badly done, Kristin! Badly done!), and having earned a degree in Sociology, I have this interest in learning about social classes and blocked opportunities and what not. It's fascinating to me. And this Emma, wheeeeew. "A young farmer, whether on horseback or on foot, is the very last sort of person to raise my curiosity. The yeomanry are precisely the order of people with whom I feel I can have nothing to do....But a farmer can need none of my help, and is therefore in one sense as much above my notice as in every other he is below it." Ouch! Quite the snob!! Hopefully this was not the trait that pegged me as Emma!! (Though I have been guilty of snobbery in the past, and sometimes may come across as such since I sometimes prefer to be alone as opposed to being social. Misconception, I say! - I should strive to be more like Melanie Hamilton Wilkes from Gone With the Wind... no one ever said "Badly done, Melanie! And yet, I identify with Scarlett so much more... eeeks!)

Last Sunday, Masterpiece played its 2007 version of Northanger Abby, which I'm still a bit miffed about. The ending was so abrupt... I find it hard to say if I liked it or not.

Now I'm reading Emma. The Masterpiece tie-in edition with this lovely cover:


So far, I am following it surprisingly well. I don't read literary type fiction, ever, mostly because I can't understand it. It's too... beyond my abilities. I don't usually like to think too hard when I read. Just give me mainstream fiction please, or young adult paranormals!! But I find Emma much easier to digest than Pride and Prejudice. My next Austen plan is to tackle Sense and Sensibility.

Tune in to Masterpiece on PBS, Sunday nights! I think this Sunday is Persuasion!

What about you? Are you addicted to Austen? Are you out of that phase? Are you avoiding the craze? Any Darcy lovers? Mr. Knightley? Mr. Tilney?

Jane Austen Challenge

This challenge is hosted by The Life (and Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object

Rules:

• Anyone can participate.

Levels:

• Newbie 2 books by J. Austen & 2 re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)
  
• Lover 4 books by J. Austen & 4 re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)
• Fanatic 6+ books by J. Austen & 5+ re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)

-Challenge books can overlap with other challenges.
-Any format counts: bound book, e-book (check online for free downloads of J.A’s copyright-free books), audio book, or any other thing you can think of.
-You can change which level you read!
-Challenge runs January 1st 2010—December 31 2010.
_____________________________________________________
My level is Newbie. My plan is to read:

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen
2. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
3. Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters by Ben H. Winters
OR (because reading Sense and Sensibility in ANY form more than once in a year will probably make me tired)
3. Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange
4. Emma by Jane Austen (if my Jane Austen character personality test told me I was Emma, I may as well know what that means!!)