A few days ago, Meredith from Austenesque Reviews commented on my review of Laura Hile's Persuasion-inspired story, Mercy's Embrace: So Rough a Course
, a two-parter on Elizabeth Eliot, Anne's snotty older sister. My review is on book 1, which is entitled "So Rough a Course."Meredith said:
I am eager to read this one now that I have finished Susan Kaye's books and you wrote such a great review about it! Is the Patrick McGillvary in this book based off the one in Ms. Kaye's?
I just replied:
Yes--Laura Hile and Susan Kaye co-wrote a fanfic story years ago that included Patrick McGillvary, and when Laura started work on Mercy's Embrace, my understanding is that she asked Susan for permission to use McGillvary in her story as well.
Then I had the bright idea of asking Laura whether she would care to elaborate, and she did:
Admiral Patrick McGillvary is Susan Kaye's creation for her Frederick Wentworth stories, and she has graciously allowed me to use him in my work. He's a bit of a bad boy who has learned wisdom the hard way -- through experience. As Sue and I worked out various storylines for our collaborataive fiction, we noticed that McGillvary had cast an interested eye at the so-proud Elizabeth Elliot. This made us sit back on our heels and take notice. What an idea! Patrick McGillvary's journey into love -- being caught in net of his own making -- became the basis for Mercy's Embrace. Over time it grew into a romp filled with many of Austen's Persuasion characters and is, I hope, an entertaining read.
Rest assured, Laura, your stories are always a romp and always entertaining. I thought Laura's note was worth sharing because it provides a glimpse into the creative process. When Laura and Susan were writing their Persuasion what-if story eons ago, they discovered a new character who had a story all of his own. More often than not, when I sit down to write I have only a vague idea of what I want to say but the act of putting fingertips to keyboard ignites the thought process and soon I am discovering ideas I hadn't known were brewing.
Visit Laura's website for info on her soon-to-be published book 2 of the Elizabeth Eliot story, "So Lively a Chase," as well as her other works.
Thank you so much Jane and Laura for answering my question! I found Patrick to be an exciting and interesting character and I look forward to reading more about him.
ReplyDeleteThis post confirms that I NEED to read Mercy's Embrace. Aghh! there is so many books and so little time! Thank you, Jane, for responding to my comment (I didn't know if you would find it, the original post was written awhile ago).