The Power of Jane Austen
Sometimes I wish I had a time machine. If I had one, I would right the wrongs of history and one of those trips would be to a small cottage in Chawton.
After I park my DeLorean (yes, I would build a time machine out of one, gotta travel in style), I would race up to the door on my hover skateboard.
I wouldn’t show Jane books or movies or TV shows or anything like that. I wouldn’t even hand her a copy of my book. No, I would just tell her about how at her little desk she had inspired millions upon millions of readers and writers like myself. And for generations she has defined the idea of love and a perfect marriage.
For me, discovering her books was a delightful surprise and without her, I would not be the writer (and reader) I am today. Because I can see that alternative universe of what my life and writing would be like without her and I know it wouldn’t be pretty. There would be a lot less heart, a lot less love. Finding her stories was my density… I mean my destiny. Yes, I am a better author and better man because of her.
Then as I speed away, with tire flames chasing after me into the sky, I like to imagine that Jane would lean against her doorframe and think that the entire experience was heavy. Scott D. Southard is obviously a fan of Back to the Future and Jane Austen. His novel A Jane Austen Daydream was published by Madison Street Publishing in 2013. It is available in print and as an eBook on amazon.com here http://amzn.com/B00CH3HQUU. He can also be found online via his blog “The Musings & Artful Blunders of Scott D. Southard” at sdsouthard.com.
