Jane Austen | Ms. Ocampo Writes

For a bit of #FlashbackFriday fun, I want to join in on the “Best Book Related Memories” tag. The rules of the game: list 3 of your favorite memories that relate to books, whether it means reading a book, writing a book, or just has anything to do with books in general.

Thanks to Jenna Moreci for tagging me (and all her other viewers).

My first real “short story.” For the longest time, ever since I had internet access, I wrote fanfiction. Really, really, really bad fanfiction. But then I decided to write what is called a “song fic” to Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” because basically, everyone was doing it and created original characters to fit the story of the song. When I printed out the first version of this short story, I marveled at how many pages I wrote. This “short story,” dear friends, was what inspired me to want to write a novel. It eventually led to the creation of Jack, Lorelei, Kira, Travis, and Evelyn. You will be meeting them in my Tales of the Vocati series. It took me a long time to find the right story for these characters.
How I got into Jane Austen. The way I got into Jane Austen wasn’t through watching Becoming Jane or reading one of her books, although when I was a kid, I saw episodes of Wishbone that adapted a few of her novels. No, it was through a biography: Emily Auerbach’s Searching For Jane Austen. It was in my high school library. It’s not an easy biography to find, but to me, it fascinated me that someone tried to understand a writer based on the works they wrote. It’s a modern way to figure out a person and it doesn’t always apply to every writer, but I liked the idea of Jane being more than just someone who wrote romantic stories. There was some real depth to them. If you’re a fan of Jane Austen, I highly recommend reading this biography.
Sci-fi Meets Classic Literature I don’t usually read sci-fi as a genre. I am tired of dystopias and stories of corrupt governments oppressing everyone. For me, fiction is about escapism and getting to know characters on a personal level. Then I read the Jane E trilogy by Erin McCole Cupp. Die-hard Jane Austen fans like myself will tell you that most of the time, fans of classic literature will either pick Austen or the Bronte Sisters for their favorite 19th Century female writer. That particular disagreement applies to me and my best friend. The ironic thing is that in spite of having Asperger’s Syndrome, I can understand the witty ironies and sarcasm in Jane Austen’s prose whereas my neurotypical best friend can’t. In contrast, my best friend doesn’t consider herself a romantic, but really loves Jane Eyre. I love the character of Jane Eyre, but hate Rochester with every fiber of my being. It took reading this trilogy for my best friend and me to find something we agree on in terms of Jane Eyre. The classic heroine is a lot more active in this version, Rochester is somewhat more sympathetic and likeable, and the themes of integrity ring truer here than in the original version.

Share your favorite book-related memories in the comments.

A long time ago…well, actually, three or so years ago back in my crazy college days, I was getting over a broken heart. Nothing new there, really. As with anyone in a moping state of mind, I needed something to distract me. So I was browsing Youtube when one video blog I followed linked to this video:

For those who don’t know, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern vlog adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice created by Hank Green and Bernie Su. I fell in love with the series as soon as I saw the t-shirt with Austen’s most famous opening line. It became my obsession, my catharsis over my sucky dating life, and was there for me when I had my post-college crisis. If you want to watch the whole series, check out the playlist here.

Something you’ll notice, if you watch the playlist all the way through, is that there is more than one YouTube channel involved in this story. One channel involves Lydia Bennet, the youngest Bennet sister.

Coming to love Lydia Bennet and being emotionally invested in her story arc was the last thing I expected when I got into the series. Lydia Bennet’s character growth is treated very differently in the series than the book, which is a major improvement considering the original had Lydia marrying a man twice her age who didn’t love her and living in the north of England, which in British terms is the equivalent of moving to Alaska or Canada. The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet follows up on Lydia’s life after the havoc that George Wickham wreaked on her and her family. Since the book itself doesn’t come out until September 29th, I am going to keep this review spoiler-free.

I will have to say, though, that this post will have spoilers for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and all the videos in relation to them (Lydia Bennet’s channel, the Pemberley Digital videos, and Maria Lu’s videos), so like I said, if you haven’t seen The Lizzie Bennet Diaries yet, watch the playlist first.

The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet looks into Lydia Bennet’s life after her sister decides to finish her video blog. Lydia is undergoing counseling in between finishing community college and has no idea where life will take her next. For the longest time, Lydia saw herself as the wild, carefree party girl but that lifestyle led her to making a huge mistake that almost cost everything. So this story centers on Lydia figuring out who she is outside of the lifestyle she used to have.

Changing one’s life doesn’t overnight, however. Even as Lydia makes progress in improving herself, she comes close to backsliding into her party girl persona when she hits some obstacles that keep her from pursuing her dream of studying psychology. Even though Lydia has her family, she takes this journey of self-discovery on her own. And all the while, the people she’s closest too start adjusting to their new lives as well. The story is realistic in showing Lydia’s desire to change and her fears that she will never be seen as something other than a semi-famous YouTube sensation or the wild party girl. And even though the incident involving George Wickham’s attempt of distributing a sex tape to the internet is over, everyone in Lydia’s life is still walking on eggshells around her.

The good news is that life takes Lydia in a whole new direction. Her relationships with her cousin, Mary, her sisters, and her parents start to improve once she makes an effort to turn her life around and not let the setbacks she faced get to her. When one door closes in Lydia’s life, another one opens and she takes the courage to walk that new path, even though it’s not as safe or as certain as the life she thought she would have. But at the same time, the new life of Lydia Bennet is a promising one.

So for anyone in the LBD fandom who wanted more of our favorite double-jointed redhead, pre-order this book on Amazon and see where Lydia Bennet goes next. You might find it more surprising than you think. Major kudos to Kate Rorick and Rachel Kiley for keeping the spirit of Lydia Bennet alive. The only thing that would top this is if there was just one more video from Lydia Bennet to promote the book and give the YouTube viewers some much-needed closure. But what are the chances of that happening?