Interview With An Author – Regina Jeffers
1) Your own favorite Austen character and why?
Regina: I have lived with and loved Mr. Darcy since I was twelve years of age. It is not likely that I would desert him now. I think the act that solidified my admiration for Darcy was that out of respect for his father, he kept Wickham’s miniature displayed at Pemberley. He does not possess the implacable resentment of which Elizabeth accuses him. He is a man of honor.
2) Your Favorite Austen book?
Regina: Needless to say, Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book – although I have a strong preference for Persuasion, as well.
3) Which actor would you chose to be YOUR Mr Darcy and why?
Regina: Matthew Macfadyen has been my favorite actor long before he played Darcy in 2005. I took a liking to him in Perfect Strangers and in Warriors. Actually, his smile at the end of Wuthering Heights caught my attention before he had leading roles.
4) Who would be your perfect Elizabeth?
Regina: I have said this previously in another blog. It is terrible to say. I easily imagine certain actors taking on the roles of the characters in my books, but I never imagine certain actresses assuming the lead roles. I see them as ordinary women – with foibles and flaws.
5) Your favorite book of all time by any author?
Regina: That is a difficult question to answer. I have “different” favorites at different times in my life. As a young teen, I marveled at the ingenuity found in Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days. In college, I took a liking to Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. My mother and I read Ronald Joseph’s trilogy The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory together. I love it for sentimental reasons. While in college, my son took Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and made me a book with his pictures instead of those from the original illustrator.
When I taught school, I loved teaching Chinese Cinderella (Adeline Yen Mah), The Songcatcher (Sharyn McCrumb), Welcome to Vietnam (Zack Emerson), Heroes (Robert Cormier), The Little Foxes (Lillian Hellman), God’s Favorite (Neil Simon), Dark of the Moon (Howard Richardson) and The Things They Carried (Tim O’Brien). Each had an important message.
6) Your favorite Austen film or TV adaptation?
Regina: I refuse to argue which is the better version of Pride and Prejudice; both have their redeeming qualities. My preference is Persuasion 1995. It comes the closest to what I saw in my head when I first read Austen’s work.
7-8) You are having a dinner party and can invite four Austen characters which would they be? Why have you chosen them?
Regina:
Henry Tilney – Having spent 40 years in the public classrooms of three different states, Tilney’s teacher-ish qualities appeal to me. Catherine is but 17 years of age. I am used to dealing with those of a like age. I could share my insights with him.
Charles Bingley – Mr. Bingley represents the rising middle class. He is from a “respectable family in the north of England. I would choose him for his affability. With Mr. Bingley, conversation would never lapse. Plus, I feel a certain affinity with the man. His family worked hard to rise to a better way of life.
Mr. Knightley – This man most consistently maintains the image of a “gentleman” among Austen’s characters. He converses well and is not averse to doing so with those below him in both social and economic situations. He is sensitive to the needs of others. Possibly, Henry Tilney might learn something from Mr. Knightley on how to handle immature young ladies.
Fitzwilliam Darcy – I would like an evening to match wits with Mr. Darcy – an evening when he was not focusing his energies on Elizabeth Bennet. I would enjoy “capping” one of his caustic remarks with one of my own.
(Oh, my Goodness! It would be four gentlemen and I. How outrageous!!!)
9) Which character would you like to play in a film?
Regina: I am certain that I would fit none of Austen’s characters. I am a lead, follow, or get out of my way type of person, which would send me in the direction of Lady Catherine, but I am too romantic to be like the great lady.
10) Tell us about your next planned book (whether Austen related or not).
Regina: In October 2012, Ulysses Press will release Christmas at Pemberley, which is a festive holiday novel in which personal rivalries are resolved, generosity rediscovered and family bonds renewed. That will be followed by a P&P mystery after the first of the year.
I am self-publishing the next two books in my Realm series. These follow The Scandal of Lady Eleanor and are entitled A Touch of Velvet and A Touch of Cashémere. I hope release them on eBook later next week, along with a novella about Adam Lawrence from The Phantom of Pemberley.
A Big Thank You To Regina.
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