How I Revisited “1932”

A Tale of the Tenth Anniversary Edition

I know, I know, I just finished the blog tour for Find Wonder in All Things, and here we go, off on another cyber road trip. But this one is special…

My debut novel, the award-winning 1932, was originally released in 2010. It is almost impossible for me to believe it has been that long! About a year ago, I began contemplating the creation of a second edition for 1932: After all, I had learned a lot about writing, publishing, and crafting stories in the last ten years. I loved the tale of 1932 and those characters, and I knew I could keep the parts I loved and do better by Elizabeth and Darcy with some editing. But diving back into a story I wrote ten years ago? Would readers embrace that? Did I have the writing chops to do it?—and the emotional fortitude to revisit my writing past? Most importantly, could I make changes that would really serve the story? Because, in the end, that was the only reason for me to dive back into it.

It seemed like a daunting task. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it or how to even begin. All these thoughts were in my head, circling around like a shark in a tank…

And then I had lunch.

My husband and I took a trip to Nashville last March to watch our alma mater’s men’s basketball team play in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Now, I like basketball just fine, but I need a break from it after a day or two, so I typically take an outing away from the Bridgestone Arena and downtown. A couple of weeks before we arrived, I had contacted Elizabeth Adams (author of On Equal Ground and other books, and a resident of the area at that time), told her I was going to be in town and asked her if she’d like to meet for lunch.

During that meal, which lasted about two hours, we talked about a great many topics: families and friends, real-life jobs and writing—a little bit of everything. When I told her I was thinking about re-launching 1932 and making a few changes, her response was an immediate and emphatic “Do it!”

If you’re a writer, you know that sometimes a person will say something to you—ask a question or make an observation—and it will send you off onto a writing path you hadn’t considered before. That’s what Elizabeth did for me as we dined on salads and drank our coffee. Besides being super supportive and encouraging, she told me something that re-shaped and focused my vision for 1932. She said, and I’m paraphrasing here, that she loved the story, loved the characters, and she always wanted to read more about how they got from their initial awkward togetherness to their happy ever after.

I realized I wanted to give readers those glimpses into 1932′s Elizabeth and Darcy, too. I also realized those missing scenes Elizabeth Adams wanted were already in my head—normal, everyday events on the farm; slow, easy evenings at Pemberley; trips to other towns nearby—but I hadn’t committed them to paper.

However, I knew it wasn’t enough to just “add stuff.” I wanted to write content that filled the narrative and made sense in the context of the story. So after I got home from Nashville, I developed a plan.

I dusted off my copies of Romancing the Beat, by Gwen Hayes, and Save the Cat Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody. I plugged 1932 back into Scrivener, scene by scene, and I analyzed what elements from that story were still untold, given the narrative structures detailed in those two writing resource books. It wasn’t like there was tons of content missing. But there was enough that writing those scenes made 1932—a story of pride and prejudice, and falling in love—richer, fuller, and more complete than it was before.

I made other changes too: I tightened the prose, gave the story a hard edit (thank you, Christina Boyd), re-covered it to blend with my other Southern Austen stories (Find Wonder in All Things and I Could Write a Book), and wrote a set of book group questions.

Re-visiting my debut novel was a daunting task. I had my fair share of self-doubt and frustration during the process. But as I read over the finished product, I have to say I’m proud of this second edition—created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the book that made me an author.

I loved 1932 when it was published in 2010. I love it more now.

And I hope you do too 🙂

*****

So, that’s the story of how I ended up on another blog tour so soon on the heels of Find Wonder in All Things.

I invite you to join me for the 1932: Pride and Prejudice Revisited Tenth Anniversary Celebration (you can follow the hashtag #1932Turns10.) The stops will include some excerpts, some fun guest posts, and some reviews. There’s also a little blog tour prize—you can enter for a chance to win here:

https://kingsumo.com/g/ezayjm/1932-tenth-anniversary-party

One winner, randomly chosen, receives a signed paperback of the book, a Jane Austen mug, some fun Austen-themed notecards from The Quill Ink at Etsy, and a copy of What Would Jane Do? (if US winner) or an ebook copy of the book and 25$ Amazon card (if international winner.)

Release day for the new 1932 is February 17, 2020. It is available for pre-order now and will be available in ebook and print formats.

See you once more on the cyber-trail!