Interview with Regency Romance Author Gianna Thomas

Gianna Thomas is an avid fan of Pride and Prejudice variations, fan fiction, what ifs. She has over 200 of these fascinating takes on Jane Austen's marvelous original work. While Gianna is an accomplished researcher and writer in the health field, this is her first variation as well as her first fiction book, and she plans on writing more in the near future. She loves a sweet, Regency romance, and Darcy and Elizabeth fit the bill quite nicely. Gianna has a wonderful daughter and lives in a small Texas town with her 5 cats.You can learn more about Gianna on her website at www.giannathomaspandp.com and her Amazon Author Central page at https://www.amazon.com/author/giannathomas.

Hello, Gianna. Pride and Prejudice has been done by various movie directors and has been changed a bit here and there. I even saw Bride and Prejudice, which was a new take on the story. It was fun to watch. I would love to hear your twist about this story.

Hi, Linda. Darcy Chooses puts several twists on the original Pride and Prejudice. One of the first twists is that the time of year is different. Bingley comes to Netherfield around the first of May instead of the autumn. This has allowed me to handle events in the book a little differently than Jane Austen did. Spring is my favorite time of the year, and I decided to make it Elizabeth's as well.  Another twist is that Elizabeth encounters Darcy before the Meryton Assembly, but I won't spoil the surprise as to the event that precipitates that meeting. Also, Darcy realizes that Elizabeth heard his rude remark, and he makes amends at the assembly.

Now this does not mean that there is no angst or misunderstandings. When you consider the personalities of our hero and heroine, and Elizabeth's temper, there will be problems. And, of course, family adds their interference as well, which stirs the pot even more.

One difference from other variations is that my book is illustrated with paintings done in the 1800's. Since one picture is worth a thousands words, and I want my readers to really get involved with this book, I felt that these paintings were appropriate. Darcy Chooses is a sweet romance that can be enjoyed by any age group.

I know your inspiration behind this book was Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. But what was your motivation for writing it?

Coupled with my fertile imagination of 'what if I changed this, what would happen next?' helped in working out the plot. Not just one new twist, I have added several that should make my 'what if' interesting, fun to read and to reread in the future as well. Jane Austen's characters plus a few new ones, including remnants of the original P&P plot, helped fuel my plot into what, I hope, will be an enjoyable rewrite of an old favorite. Of course, the ultimate goal is for Darcy and Elizabeth to marry and live happily ever after. Along the way, I hope that readers will laugh, shed some tears at times, and enjoy this wonderful journey.

What kind of research did you have to do for this novel?

You would not believe the hours spent on research. Just reading Regency Era fiction was not enough. I downloaded pictures of paintings; went to many different websites to learn the terminology used in the early 1800's; read the original Pride and Prejudice again to get a feel for the phrasing of conversations; got information on clothing, carriages, horses, dancing, balls and etiquette and read and reread my own writings to make sure, to the best of my ability, that it feels like the Regency Era. I have even checked out the years of origins for many words in order to ensure that I don't use terms unknown to that era. With the prequels for this novel, I had originally used UK and archaic spelling to give them more of a Regency feeI; however, my Regency editor pointed out that it could be confusing and would seem to be misspellings to many of the readers. She also pointed out that they did speak using contractions back then as well, so I chose to rewrite the prequels and write the novel with that in mind.  With these changes, the novel should appeal to the Regency Romance readers as well as fans of the Pride and Prejudice variations.

Wow! It sounds like you did a lot of research. That’s great. Now it’s time to tell us something about the real you that we’ll never forget.

Although, I would not like to have lived around the 1800's, I am an avid reader of tales written in that time period. In spite of the lack of amenities, there is something special about that era. Then again, it just may be the magical quality that Jane Austen wove throughout her novels. If I can just tap into a little of her writing genius, I'll be happy. I'm a very passionate person who loves the P&P's and Darcy and Elizabeth, and I am writing about what I love. That love will show in my writings, and my desire is that my readers see that love as well.

Thank you, Gianna, for this wonderful interview. I hope my readers will check out your books.