Remember, remember the fifth of November

I have always loved the fact that I was born on Guy Fawkes Day. Being an American, I've gotten to explain just what Guy Fawkes Day is to most of my friends throughout my life, but that's part of the birthday fun, right?

Lest you've never heard the ditty:
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot.
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

Rather than blog on about Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, The Tempest (which I started two nights ago), Dragonfly in Amber, or Cotillion (which I hope to start today), I shall merely reiterate what I've posted elsewhere about the three milestones I'm marking today:

1) Today I am 50 years old. I am happy, healthy, busy with all sorts of reading/writing/recording literary projects, and am looking forward to at least another fifty on this beautiful planet.

2) Ten years ago, I discovered through the magic of the Internet that I was not alone in the world. There were actually quite a lot of people, worldwide, who not only loved the same kind of books that I did, but shared my taste in movies, history, gardening, cooking, and even humor. It didn’t take me long to find Austen fanfic, and once I started reading those stories, I got the itch to write them as well. I did, and found that I loved writing almost as much as I love reading!

3) I am happy to announce the publication of a selection of my Austen-inspired short stories, all of which premiered on Republic of Pemberley's "Bits of Ivory" board and the DWG, back in the day. Intimations of Austen contains nine stories, some very short and a few that are quite long. It is available from Amazon; it is my pride and joy.

If you don’t feel like purchasing a copy, feel free to stop by my website (www.janegs.com) and read the stories for free, or better yet, check out the Milestones page!