On Anne Elliot's 25th birthday, her family declared her to be a spinster, but instead of being downcast by this change in status, she finds it to be quite liberating. As a result of her new-found freedom, Anne becomes a long-distance runner, and this activity greatly increases her confidence. It is this new Anne who Captain Frederick Wentworth meets when he sees the love of his life after eight years of separation. The Captain admires the changes in Anne, and he finds that he is falling in love with her all over again. However, there is a complication. The heir to Kellynch, the Elliot estate, William Elliot, has also come back into the picture after an estrangement with Anne's father, Sir Walter Elliot, and he has set his sights on Anne. Now living in Bath, Anne senses that something is not right, and with the help of a street urchin named Swoosh, she sets out to discover what William Elliot is really like.
From the time I read Pride & Prejudice in high school a long time ago, I have been tinkering with the plot line. What if Elizabeth and Darcy were based on real people? What was Georgiana really like? What if Anne De Bourgh actually had a personality? In 2007, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel, and the result is "Pemberley Remembered," which I self-published. I was very fortunate in that Sourcebooks Publishing, which specializes in Austen sequels, liked my book and bought the publishing rights to it. It will be out in December with a new cover and title, "Searching for Pemberley." This new book contains all of the original characters from "Pemberley Remembered," but it also continues the story of Maggie Joyce.
Having grown up in North Jersey (Elmwood Park), I had a lot of Italian friends, and they were a lot more interesting than my Irish relations. I loved their food, their enthusiasm, their culture, etc. So I recently wrote a story about love in the Italian-American community entitled "The Second Date," which is now available on Amazon.
I graduated from Elmwood Park High School in northern New Jersey. After marrying my wonderful husband, Paul, we moved to Texas and raised two beautiful daughters. After retiring from a career as a legal secretary in Dallas, I had a second career as a special education assistant in the Howard County, Maryland and Peoria, Arizona School Districts. I enjoyed both careers, but I'm really enjoying being an author more than anything I have ever done.
