Darcy was the perfect choice because he wins Austen’s most beloved and admired character by achieving a near complete reversal in his outlook and behavior that is never disclosed. It takes more than fascination or infatuation to effect such a deep-seated change that would cause a man to succor his worst enemy with no hope of appreciation or reward.
Many female readers love Jane Austen because of her witty, strong female characters. Why do you think your readers respond to Austen’s (and your) male characters so well?
Austen’s females don’t compromise their characters or their sense of what is right in the face of pressure or to attract a man and are admired for it by her male characters. Austen’s heroes actively pursue this kind of woman, women who are worthy of their respect, and they win them at the price of changing and growing. Although there might be some initial resistance or blindness to this necessity, they eventually do it and gladly in a way that affirms both their own self-worth as well as the supreme worth of their object. There’s a hunger among modern women — and it seems to be international — to be seen as such a treasure worth winning at any price.
Jane Austen is often celebrated as one of the original “women’s fiction” writers. Which Austen novel is your favorite, and why?
Pride and Prejudice is my favorite because the characters’ strengths and flaws are so well-matched. The manner of discovery and resolution of those flaws leads the reader to know that Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage will be one of equals not only in wit and intelligence, but in humility, grace, and love. They will do very well!
We hear that you owe your marital happiness to Jane Austen. How did you meet your husband?
I was living in Georgia and halfway through the online writing of the second book in my trilogy, Duty and Desire, I received my first fan letter from a man. I had received many letters of appreciation, but this was the first from someone who communicated appreciation and criticism in a very thoughtful, insightful manner. He lived in Idaho and his fascination with Austen had begun just before the A&E movie came out when one of his daughters strongly suggested he read Pride and Prejudice. He did and then eagerly devoured her remaining books and fell in love with the movie. He then began to search the Internet for more about Austen, discovered my work at The Republic of Pemberley, and wrote of his pleasure in my story. I wrote back thanking him for his male perspective, especially as I was presuming to write from a man’s point of view. His next communication to me was written as Darcy! What a shock to open up an e-mail from my own character commending me on the job I was doing creating his life! We continued to correspond about the story (Michael writing as himself) and then eventually on a personal level for almost four years before we ever met. A year after we met, I moved from Georgia to Idaho and we were married. We share so many things and are extremely happy with each other! Women have asked me where to find a Darcy; I tell them he’s already taken!
What can readers expect to see from you next?
Many readers have begged for more about Darcy and Elizabeth, of course, but they have demanded more about the characters which I have created as well. It is my intent to explore Lord Dyfed Brougham’s mysterious life and his intentions toward Georgiana Darcy in the midst of the changes brought by the end of the Napoleonic Wars and its effect on the entire Darcy family.