The Stories of Scott D. Southard

April 26, 2013

NovelTravelist.com is sharing “Visiting Austen”
My article “Visiting Austen” is being shared today on the NovelTravelist.com. In the article, I share how a visit to the Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton led to a breakthrough for me in understanding Jane and how I would write her in my novel A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM. You can read the piece here.

The Novel Travelist is a fun site for those that love experiencing the world and the impact it can have on one’s perception and fiction writing.

A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM will be released exclusively through amazon.com on April 30. It will be available in print for $14.95 and $3.99 as an eBook. You can learn more about the book via the A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM page as well as other articles around the book on it. I hope you like the article (and the book too).
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April 24, 2013

My new book A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM is almost here! Only a few days left on the book giveaway!
On April 30, next Tuesday, my new novel A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM will be released!

It will be sold exclusively via amazon.com in both print and eBook. The price for the print version will be $14.99 but the eBook will be only $3.99. (Links will be suplied later.)

Also, there are only a few days left on the book giveaway for the novel on GoodReads.com (a really fun site for readers). Two lucky readers will win a free copy of my new novel! I hope you will consider entering, you can do so here.

To prepare for the release of the book and introduce the work to readers I’m writing a series of articles on this site around the creation and inspiration for this experimental, fun, and surprising novel. So far I have written two. They are “Braving Austen” and “Visiting Austen.” I hope you will check them out.

All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

The countdown is almost over!
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April 22, 2013

Visiting Austen: Introducing My New Novel A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM
A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM is published by Madison Street Publishing and can be purchased in print and as an eBook for only $3.99 via amazon.com here.

I went to England to find Jane Austen.

To be honest, I also went to find Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, George Elliot, John Keats, William Shakespeare (or whoever wrote his plays), J.R.R. Tolkien, and Winnie-the-Pooh.

(Winnie-the-Pooh? Yeah, with some research, I figured out where the real 100-Acre Woods is located and spent a day wandering the fields, visiting Roo’s Sandy Place, sitting at the Enchanted Place, finding the north pole, playing poohstick on the actual poohstick bridge. As a kid who has fond memories growing up with A.A. Milne’s classic books, I was in children literature heaven. It is a magical and natural place, please don’t tell Disney!)

That was me at age 23, Scott the explorer, the new college grad, future “bestselling” author (in my mind), chasing down the legends, my heroes. I’m not sure what lofty goals I had, per se, in making the six-week solo trip to England. I mean, I wasn’t expecting any “haunting” encounters or secret treasures to discover, but it was a voyage I needed to take. I needed to escape the confines of my small West Michigan world, and chase down the locations that made my heroes… well… heroes. (more…)
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April 11, 2013

Braving Austen: Introducing My New Novel A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM
A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM is published by Madison Street Publishing and can be purchased in print and as an eBook for only $3.99. It is available for the Kindle, Nook, andKobo.

Jane Austen was one of my two Mount Everests.

The other Mount Everest in my adventures as a writer was Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Yes, I just said Hamlet.

See, I’ve always been obsessed with that play and even attempted over a summer to memorize every line of it (I discussed part of that experience in this comedy essay) and I always had a unique vision for the play (and how many of its famous soliquies could be reinterpreted on stage or on the screen). I decided to focus on a screenplay, and like a swimmer jumping into cold water, over the course of one week (one), I took my decade’s worth of notes, a torn paperback copy, and did it.

Yes, in my house and on my computer is sitting my screenplay adaptation of Hamlet. It is one of my lifetime dreams to see it made, but if it does is anyone’s guess. Whatever the case, I can look back on that mad week (with its large doses of caffeine, twenty hours of nonstop writing, and my mad acting out performance of it) as the literary equivalent of me standing on that snowy slope with flag in hand watching a new dawn.

Hamlet, yeah I did that.

But Austen? Whoa boy… That is when things get tricky. (more…)
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April 8, 2013

Three weeks until the release of A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM! A Book Giveaway!
In three weeks my latest novel, A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM, will be released by Madison Street Publishing. I can not wait to share this new book with you.

Over the next few weeks I hope to be able to discuss more about the work on this site and share many different things going on around the release from editorials on other sites to reviews to interviews. If I can promise my readers one thing around this moving and humourous novel it is that it is surprising with a few neat (and possibly new) literary tricks. I look forward to hearing what readers think of it!

To anticipate this release my publisher is having a book giveaway for the novel on GoodReads. Two copies will be given to two lucky entries. To enter, simply visit this page here (http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/48730-a-jane-austen-daydream) and click on the “Enter to Win” button.

A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM

All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

Again, you can enter the competition by just visiting this page. The competition runs through April 29.

Let the countdown begin!
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April 2, 2013

My Adventure in Self-Publishing: Back Covers, Conversions and Timeframe
The final cover by Brina Williamson, http://brinawilliamson.com/

An author is always more than an author.

An author creates worlds, gives birth, administers death; in some works many, many times over. They are the judge, the jury, and the attorneys arguing both sides in a case. They are the royalty deciding mercy and the peasants pleading for it. They can be everything for their characters (making all their dreams come true), or more harshly nothing at all. They are the beginning and the end.

But beyond these awesome “god-like” powers, for me, I am also an actor.

An actor?

Well, no not really. I can’t really act at all, but whenever I am in the wonderful position of “locking down” a novel I read the entire work out loud. It’s my secret “hat” I like to wear. Scott the one-man show, and in the performance I “ feel” each character, each line, and each description. For if the voice is right throughout, I know it will feel that way for the reader as well. It is a practice I highly recommend to all writers.

That is where I am right now with the book I am self-publishing, Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare.

Watch out Sir Laurence Olivier! (more…)
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April 1, 2013

A Book Giveaway! A Jane Austen Daydream is on GoodReads.com
I’m happy to announce that Madison Street Publishing has announced a book giveaway for my upcoming new novel A Jane Austen Daydream!

Two lucky winners will win copies of A Jane Austen Daydream!

To enter, simply visit this page here (http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/48730-a-jane-austen-daydream) and click on the “Enter to Win” button.

A Jane Austen Daydream is set for release in print and eBook on April 30. Here is the description of the work:

All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

Again, you can enter the competition by just visiting this page. The competition runs through April 29.

Good luck!
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March 26, 2013

Mark Your Calendars! A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM Will Be Released on April 30!
A Jane Austen Daydream, my latest novel, will be released by Madison Street Publishing on April 30!

I could not be happier (or prouder) of this experimental, romantic, funny, moving, and surprising book. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Here is the description of my upcoming novel:

All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

On a side note, are you a reviewer? Would you be interested in reading the novel for your site or magazine? If so, please contact my publisher at MStPublishing@gmail.com. They will be reviewing requests.

Let the countdown begin!
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February 25, 2013

A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM, Coming this April from Madison Street Publishing
Madison Street Publishing is excited to reveal the cover for A Jane Austen Daydream, by Scott D. Southard. The book will be available in April of this year, the same year that Pride and Prejudice celebrates its 200th birthday.

All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.
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February 21, 2013

An Interview for A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM by The Jane Austen Centre!
I’m incredibly honored to have an interview for A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM (my new novel coming this April from Madison Street Pubilshing) in the Jane Austen Centre online magazine! (You can’t see me right now, but I am doing quite the happy dance.)

In the interview, I share some of my thoughts on Jane, the book’s influences, and how I found Jane. But that’s not all! There is an excerpt from the book included as well as the very first glimpse of the new cover of the book!

You can read the interview (and see the cover) here: http://www.janeausten.co.uk/an-interview-sd-southard-author-a-jane-austen-daydream/

A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM will be available in eBook and print in April.

Stay tuned for more information!
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