 | One horrible misunderstanding. Two heartbroken people. For seven long years, Anne Elliot of Kellynch Station quietly mourned the loss of her first love. Now that she’s finally over Fred for good, her sister offers the perfect escape: Uppercross. move, from one cattle station to another, offers new friends, new responsibilities, and now that she’s out from under her father’s domineering thumb, a whole new world of possibilities. The sky is the limit. Or maybe the sky is the perfect place for helicopter mustering pilot Fred Wentworth to spend his days. It took a while for him to regroup after their breakup, but now he’s back, he’s successful, and he’s put the past so far behind him he doesn’t even think about Anne more than a couple dozen times a day. |
Life is good.
Or it was until he quite literally runs into the one person he hoped to never see again. After that, what’s a bloke to do other than rethink every lie he’d convinced himself was the truth?
Although they both seem willing to admit they were wrong all those years ago, when things take a bad turn, Anne is left to wonder… Is it too late for a reconciliation?
Persuade Me: Austen’s Persuasion meets the rugged Australian bush—plus dingoes.
Or it was until he quite literally runs into the one person he hoped to never see again. After that, what’s a bloke to do other than rethink every lie he’d convinced himself was the truth?
Although they both seem willing to admit they were wrong all those years ago, when things take a bad turn, Anne is left to wonder… Is it too late for a reconciliation?
Persuade Me: Austen’s Persuasion meets the rugged Australian bush—plus dingoes.
Genre: Women’s Christian Fiction/Romance
Release date: April 5, 2022
Release date: April 5, 2022
Click here to get your copy!
Interview with Joanne Markey
#1. What was the inspiration for this book?
When I first heard about CelebrateLit’s mashup competition, my thoughts immediately went to my favorite classic author, Jane Austen. But my idea stopped there. I couldn’t think of anything to mash any of her books with, not being as familiar with other classic works as I am with hers. Then, over the next few days, as I turned the idea over, trying to come up with something unusual enough to be interesting, it occurred to me that I could mash Jane Austen’s Persuasion with the Australian bush, and the rest is history.
#2. How long did it take to finish writing this book?
I took Persuade Me on as a NaNoWriMo project, and got it over the halfway point, but then decided to change the course of the final chapters. I waited a month or two, then picked up where I’d left off, and it took (possibly?) another month to finish up.
#3. What drew you to write in this particular genre?
I don’t know if I heard this somewhere, read it, thought it sounded like a good idea, or all three, but the concept of writing what you know has always been very appealing to me. There’s much less research involved, but at the same time I enjoy being able to relate to what my characters are dealing with. I can only imagine what life was like wandering the prairie with ankle-length skirts hampering my every move. On the other hand, I know from personal experience exactly how it feels to send a quick reply to a text only to realize after it’s been sent that the autocorrect gremlins decided to choose that moment to aid the furthering of your eternal embarrassment.
#4. Do you have favorite character(s) in this book?
Anne and Fred. Anne is… me, but not me at the same time. Almost everything that happens to her in the book is something that I experienced during the years when I worked as station cook (on the property that became Uppercross in Persuade Me). And Fred was such a fun character to write. His sense of humor had me cracking up the whole time I was writing, and even now, after going over the book so many times I should be tired of it, I still find myself smiling almost every time he shows up on the page.
#5. How did you name your characters?
Persuade Me is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and I wanted to make it very recognisable as such, so I used the names that Jane Austen chose. In a couple of instances I changed names slightly—one for personal reasons, another to avoid confusion, another to make the reading easier. As much as possible though, the names are true to what Jane Austen chose in Persuasion.
When I first heard about CelebrateLit’s mashup competition, my thoughts immediately went to my favorite classic author, Jane Austen. But my idea stopped there. I couldn’t think of anything to mash any of her books with, not being as familiar with other classic works as I am with hers. Then, over the next few days, as I turned the idea over, trying to come up with something unusual enough to be interesting, it occurred to me that I could mash Jane Austen’s Persuasion with the Australian bush, and the rest is history.
#2. How long did it take to finish writing this book?
I took Persuade Me on as a NaNoWriMo project, and got it over the halfway point, but then decided to change the course of the final chapters. I waited a month or two, then picked up where I’d left off, and it took (possibly?) another month to finish up.
#3. What drew you to write in this particular genre?
I don’t know if I heard this somewhere, read it, thought it sounded like a good idea, or all three, but the concept of writing what you know has always been very appealing to me. There’s much less research involved, but at the same time I enjoy being able to relate to what my characters are dealing with. I can only imagine what life was like wandering the prairie with ankle-length skirts hampering my every move. On the other hand, I know from personal experience exactly how it feels to send a quick reply to a text only to realize after it’s been sent that the autocorrect gremlins decided to choose that moment to aid the furthering of your eternal embarrassment.
#4. Do you have favorite character(s) in this book?
Anne and Fred. Anne is… me, but not me at the same time. Almost everything that happens to her in the book is something that I experienced during the years when I worked as station cook (on the property that became Uppercross in Persuade Me). And Fred was such a fun character to write. His sense of humor had me cracking up the whole time I was writing, and even now, after going over the book so many times I should be tired of it, I still find myself smiling almost every time he shows up on the page.
#5. How did you name your characters?
Persuade Me is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and I wanted to make it very recognisable as such, so I used the names that Jane Austen chose. In a couple of instances I changed names slightly—one for personal reasons, another to avoid confusion, another to make the reading easier. As much as possible though, the names are true to what Jane Austen chose in Persuasion.
More from Joanne
Can a book be partially autobiographical without actually being an autobiography?
Probably not. Persuade Me comes close though. Not in it’s entirety, but I did draw heavily on my own life when I wrote this book. Many of the situations that occur in the book were things that happened to me back in the late ‘90s when I worked on a cattle station as station cook. I also set the book in places where we lived—stations we lived or worked on. The autobiographical part ends there though.
As a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the family situation in Persuade Me is patterned on the Elliot family, not my own. I was easily able to imagine a family like this living in Australia though. The family pride, boasting of being descended from free settlers, knowing how long the family has been in the country to the exact generation—were all things I ran into as a kid.
Not every Australian knows how many generations of the family have lived over there (or cares to know), but in high school there was this one girl… She knew exactly how long her family had been there, and anyone who couldn’t count as many generations of Australians as she could wasn’t as Australian as her. Other people have quite plainly offered the information that their family descended from free settlers, without a single convict in the lineage. Still others can tell the exact year their first ancestor moved to Australia. All I needed was to package all of those things into one prideful being—Mr. Elliot. He doesn’t play a huge role in the story, but his influence can be felt throughout the pages.
From there it was easy to imagine him as a grazier—a station owner—who’d run into hard times. His daughter, Anne, is the heroine who has a hidden past, a broken relationship she’d rather not remember. The hero of the story can’t exactly be a ship’s captain, but there is one occupation in the bush that does bring in a lot of money—helicopter mustering—and having gotten into that line of work his personal finances have taken a drastic change for the better. I won’t spoil the story, but the rest followed in like manner.
And then came the writing… To craft a uniquely Australian book one has to use Australian terms, phrases, and spellings. And when the author has been living outside the country for 21 years, sometimes it’s hard to remember what words go with what country! We worked it all out in the end though, and if you come across a word that looks like it’s been spelled wrong—it’s the Aussie spelling, which is correct for the setting.
I hope you enjoy this contemporary retelling of Persuasion set in the Australian bush. Happy reading!
Probably not. Persuade Me comes close though. Not in it’s entirety, but I did draw heavily on my own life when I wrote this book. Many of the situations that occur in the book were things that happened to me back in the late ‘90s when I worked on a cattle station as station cook. I also set the book in places where we lived—stations we lived or worked on. The autobiographical part ends there though.
As a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the family situation in Persuade Me is patterned on the Elliot family, not my own. I was easily able to imagine a family like this living in Australia though. The family pride, boasting of being descended from free settlers, knowing how long the family has been in the country to the exact generation—were all things I ran into as a kid.
Not every Australian knows how many generations of the family have lived over there (or cares to know), but in high school there was this one girl… She knew exactly how long her family had been there, and anyone who couldn’t count as many generations of Australians as she could wasn’t as Australian as her. Other people have quite plainly offered the information that their family descended from free settlers, without a single convict in the lineage. Still others can tell the exact year their first ancestor moved to Australia. All I needed was to package all of those things into one prideful being—Mr. Elliot. He doesn’t play a huge role in the story, but his influence can be felt throughout the pages.
From there it was easy to imagine him as a grazier—a station owner—who’d run into hard times. His daughter, Anne, is the heroine who has a hidden past, a broken relationship she’d rather not remember. The hero of the story can’t exactly be a ship’s captain, but there is one occupation in the bush that does bring in a lot of money—helicopter mustering—and having gotten into that line of work his personal finances have taken a drastic change for the better. I won’t spoil the story, but the rest followed in like manner.
And then came the writing… To craft a uniquely Australian book one has to use Australian terms, phrases, and spellings. And when the author has been living outside the country for 21 years, sometimes it’s hard to remember what words go with what country! We worked it all out in the end though, and if you come across a word that looks like it’s been spelled wrong—it’s the Aussie spelling, which is correct for the setting.
I hope you enjoy this contemporary retelling of Persuasion set in the Australian bush. Happy reading!
 Joanne Markey | Originally from Australia, Joanne Markey now lives in Ohio with her husband and seven children. When she’s not reading or writing, you might find her wandering the property with her kids in search of whatever seasonal treasure they’re trying to find. |
It's Time For A Giveaway!
To celebrate her tour, Joanne is giving away the grand prize package of
a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!
a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!
Blog Stops
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Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, May 12
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, May 13 (Author Interview)
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, May 14
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 15
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 16
Britt Reads Fiction, May 17
Texas Book-aholic, May 5
Inklings and notions, May 6
Artistic Nobody, May 7 (Author Interview)
For Him and My Family, May 7
Locks, Hooks and Books, May 8
Daysong Reflections, May 9
Tell Tale Book Reviews, May 10 (Author Interview)
Miriam Jacob, May 10
deb’s Book Review, May 11
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, May 12
Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, May 13 (Author Interview)
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, May 14
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 15
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 16
Britt Reads Fiction, May 17