Tag Archives: Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion

Giveaway Winners Announced for Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion

Posted in Austenesque Authors, Austenesque Books by

Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by Janet Mullany (2011)26 of you left comments qualifying you for a chance to win one of three copies of Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by Janet Mullany. The winners drawn at random are:

  • Lori Hedgpeth who left a comment on October 4, 2011
  • Maragret who left a comment on October 4, 2011
  • Sourkraut who left a comment on October 4, 2011

Congratulations ladies! To claim your prize, please contact me with your full name and address by October 26, 2011. Shipment is to US and Canadian addresses only.

Thanks to all who left comments, and to Janet Mullany for her entertaining interview with Jane Austen.

© 2007 – 2011 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose

Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by Janet Mullany – A Review

Posted in Book Reviews, Jane Austen Sequels Book Reviews by

Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by Janet Mullany (2011)Guest Review by Aia A. Hussein

For those who have the seemingly unrelated interest in the Georgian world of Jane Austen and the macabre one of immortal vampires, Janet Mullany’s new novel Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion is a perfect combination of the two.  In fact, as was recounted in Mullany’s previous novel Jane and the Damned, beloved and proper Jane Austen is a vampire.  Or, at least, she has been bitten and is trying her hardest to fight against the metamorphosis as would any proper eighteenth-century female.  In this new Austen-vampire mashup, Jane continues to struggle against what seems an inevitable metamorphosis into one of the Damned while reconciling her feelings for a seemingly indifferent Creator, a former consort, a new love interest, a vulnerable niece, a dear friend who has an odd penchant for being leeched by vampires, and an oblivious family.  You are, indeed, correct in assuming that poor Jane has a lot on her plate.

It is 1810 and the Austen family has new, undead neighbors.  Having just been banished from polite society, the Damned are seeking less conspicuous roles in provincial society where they hope to blend in unnoticed or, at least, without too much notice.  Jane is in the middle of working on what will be her literary masterpiece when she is interrupted by the return of a number of old, undead friends – a formerly indifferent Creator who is seeking to make amends and a seemingly ambivalent former consort – both of whom have found themselves entrenched in a looming civil war between factions of the Damned right in the heart of Jane’s small provincial town.  More upsetting for Jane is the return of her vampire characteristics and feelings for her former consort, Luke.  Even more upsetting, and completely unexpected, is a sudden passionate interest in a steward named Raphael, who is similarly in-between vampire metamorphosis, and which only complicates Jane’s feelings towards Luke.

Her internal love struggle aside, Jane gets caught up in trying to prevent a civil war amongst the Damned especially since the safety of her town and family is in peril despite the high risk of metamorphosis that being near the Damned poses.  She is torn between wanting to save her town and family (especially a vulnerable niece who has caught the eye of a ruthless vampire) or her soul.  Her propriety or her passion.  Luke or Raphael.  And, perhaps most importantly, her writing or transforming into a vampire to save her family from danger since, as was demonstrated in Jane and the Damned, her vampire-self could not write.  Not to mention Jane’s dear friend who continues to have intimate contact with vampires despite Jane’s numerous warnings and who annoyingly persists in borrowing Jane’s precious silk stockings for these liaisons!

Mullany’s novel will interest those who find paranormal romances entertaining.  It is creative and is perfectly timed with the resurgence of fiction about vampires and other paranormal creatures.  I, admittedly, did find myself hoping for more depth and nuance when it came to characters and plot.  Jane’s internal and external struggles resolved themselves a little too easily and I found myself not really feeling invested in any of the characters.  I did, however, find Mullany’s suggestion – made both in the novel and on this blog – that Mary and Henry Crawford from Austen’s Mansfield Park would make perfect members of the Damned extremely interesting as I think that might lead to some very intriguing fictional possibilities.  Nevertheless, Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion is definitely recommended for those who find paranormal romances crossed with Jane Austen fan fiction their cup of tea as Mullany’s enthusiasm for her work is evident throughout the novel, and you will at the very least, be highly entertained by a Jane Austen combating evil vampires in men’s clothing while, elsewhere in the novel, insisting on wearing a spinster’s cap.

3.5 out of 5 Regency Stars

Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by Janet Mullany
William Morrow (2011)
Trade paperback (304) pages
ISBN: 978-0061958311

Aia A. Hussein, a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and American University, pursued Literature degrees in order to have an official excuse to spend all her time reading.  She lives in the DC area and is a devotee of Jane Austen and all things Victorian.

© 2007 – 2011 Aia A. Hussein, Austenprose

Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion Blog Tour with author Janet Mullany, & Giveaway!

Posted in Austenesque Authors, Austenesque Books by

Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by Janet Mullany (2011)Just in time to get you into a Gothic mood this Halloween season, please join us today in welcoming author Janet Mullany on her blog tour in celebration of the release of Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, her second novel featuring Jane Austen as a vampire, published today by William Morrow.

Janet graciously offers us a sampling of her witty writing with a guest interview with the undead Jane Austen.

Austen: I believe you have done it once more, Mrs. Mullany.

Mullany: Yeah. I have. Sorry.

Austen: My sister is furious and my brothers talk of little but lawyers these days.

Mullany: Does Mrs. Austen have no say in the matter?

Austen: I regret my mother wishes only to know if you can spare a cutting of your red clematis and a root or two of lemon balm.

Mullany: Absolutely, although I should warn you that the lemon balm takes over. I very much admired the garden when I visited your house last year although I was disappointed that you were not at home. Please convey my regards to Mrs. Austen and tell her the lavender is doing very well although I am not confident it will survive the winter.

Austen: I am much obliged. I shall tell my mother so.

Mullany: But do you wish to sue me for libel? I really wouldn’t recommend it. My book may help sell more of yours, although I strongly recommend that you publish under your own name. “By A Lady” sounds so prissy. (Nervously) So, um, what did you think of the book?

Austen: It was tolerably well written and had a few moments of genuine wit although I cannot approve of the excessive sensuality; however one may behave between the sheets should not necessarily reflect on that which appears between the pages of a book. In all fairness, though, I have taken the liberty of borrowing a few of your ideas—the idea of the upstart newcomer forcing her neighbors into a music club is something that appeals to me, for instance. I am also considering another novel in which an aging woman meets her former lover.

Mullany: Absolutely. I’m glad you adopted my idea of two or three families in a village as a starting point for a novel. For the new one, you could even borrow my title if you like. I think “Persuasion” would be a wonderful name for a book. How is the current WIP going?

Austen: My brothers persuaded me that Fanny should not be one of the Damned, even though the persons of Mary and Henry Crawford offer delightful prospects. In fact none of the characters, in the most recent draft are vampires, although many maintain the characteristics of greed, selfishness, and excessive sensuality so typical of the Damned.

Mullany: Even Luke?

Austen: Indeed, although I love him against my will and my reason, even against my character.

Mullany: You’re quoting yourself again. A lot of readers of JANE AND THE DAMNED were very upset with us at the end of the book. They thought you and Luke would have a HEA. Shall we let the cat out of the bag?

Austen: Indeed not. Why should they believe us? Some people even now doubt that the French invaded England in 1797—I am grateful, by the way, for the afterword that explained some of that lost history.

Mullany: And where is dear Luke now?

Austen: Why do you wish to know?

Mullany: Oh, no reason. Just that I may be going back to England soon and I wondered if I could … you know, just see if he was OK.

Austen: Absolutely not.

Mullany: I should like to invite you and him to the book launch party for my book, our hostess Ms. Nattress’s collection of stories JANE AUSTEN MADE ME DO IT, and Ms. Bebris’s THE DECEPTION AT LYME at Fort Worth in Texas on October 14.  If we ask the booksellers now, I’m pretty sure they’d have time to get in some of your stock to sign.

Austen: I regret I do not travel often, and I do not believe Texas has been discovered yet. I am not overfond of military men, either, so I have no wish to visit a fort. A naval uniform, however, is another matter.

Mullany: You could order a new gown for it.

Austen: You tempt me greatly, but I fear I must decline.

Mullany: We’ll do our best without you. Thank you, Miss Austen.

Book description:

JANE AUSTEN: BLOOD PERSUASION. It’s 1810 and Jane Austen settles down to some serious writing in the peaceful village of Chawton. But it’s not so peaceful when the Damned introduce themselves as her new neighbors. Jane has to deal with the threat of a vampire civil war, her beloved niece Anna in peril, her best friend borrowing her precious silk stockings for assignations with the Damned, and a former lover determined to hold a grudge for eternity.

Witty, smart, and sharp as a stake, Janet Mullany’s vampiric Jane is my favorite reimagining of Ms. Austen’s proper world. Colleen Gleason, author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles

Author Janet Mullany visiting Chawton Cottage, the home of Jane Austen (2011)Author Janet Mullany (left) visits Chawton Cottage.

Author Bio:

Janet Mullany was born in England but now lives near Washington, DC. She’s worked as an archaeologist, performing arts administrator, waitress, bookseller, and as an editor/proofreader for a small press. Her debut book was Dedication, the only Signet Regency to have two bondage scenes, followed by The Rules of Gentility (HarperCollins 2007), which was acquired by Little Black Dress (UK) for whom she writes more Regency chicklit. Her career as a writer who does terrible things to Jane Austen began in 2010 with the publication of Jane and the Damned (HarperCollins), a book about Jane as a vampire, and a modern retelling of Emma, Little to Hex Her, in the anthology Bespelling Jane Austen headlined by Mary Balogh. Her most recent book is Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, about the vampire invasion of Chawton (William Morrow, 2011). Visit Janet at her website Janet Mullany, on Twitter as @Janet_Mullany, and on Facebook as Janet Mullany.

Chawton Cottage garden (2011)

Garden at Chawton Cottage, Jane Austen House Museum

Giveaway of Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion

Enter a chance to win one of three copies of Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by leaving a comment stating what intrigues you about reading this fun and witty novel, or which of Jane Austen’s characters might make a great vampire meal, and why, by midnight PT, Wednesday, October 19, 2011. Winner announced on Thursday, October 20, 2011. Shipment to US and Canadian addresses only. Good luck!

Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion, by Janet Mullany
William Morrow (2011)
Trade paperback (304) pages
ISBN: 9780061958311

© 2007 – 2011 Janet Mullany, Austenprose