Monday, October 13, 2008

Holiday Stress

Between moving and the High Holidays, it's been a crazy two weeks. Not a lot of time to work on getting book 2 revised, as the deadline is coming up on that. Hoepfully I'll have time over Sukkot to organize my books so I can start reading the ones I need to look things up. Chag Sameach!

If you're having trouble getting the book in other countries, email me. Amazon international sites seem to under-order a lot and sell out rather quickly (it has to do with the cost of shipping). I'd be happy to help you out.

If you are a book reviewer and would like a free book, email me as well.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Interviews!

Shana Tova! (Happy Jewish New Year!)

I've been interviwed a couple places. It gets increasingly difficult/fun as I come up with new things to say, sometimes to relatively the same questions.

Jane Austen Today Interview
Good Clean Reads Interview
Risky Regencies Interview
Jane Austen in Vermont Interview

Also I thought it was impossibly cool that someone did a radio review of my book.

If you're living in a country without access to my book and want to buy a copy, email me. I'll be offline for a few days due to the holidays, but then I'll be back.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Review from "For Immediate Release" Reviews

http://www.forimmediatereleasereviews.com/


The Darcys & The Bingleys: Pride and Prejudice Continues; A Tale of Two Gentlemen's Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters

Marsha Altman

Sourcebooks $14.95 US

Can Jane Austen be improved on? Does Pride and Prejudice REALLY need to be continued? This charming period piece by debut novelist Marsha Altman proves that yes, you can never have too much Darcy and Elizabeth!


'Tis only three days until the double wedding of the Bennet sisters and best friends Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley, lacking... experience, quizzes his (presumably much more knowledgeable) friend for certain helpful information relating to the honeymoon soon to come. Mr. Darcy, ever helpful, rides in a pouring rain to find a volume to help Bingley out of a certain predicament.


This delightful novel reintroduces us to old friends and acquaintances, and even shows different sides to the irrepressible Caroline Bingley and the fragile Anne de Bourgh. We again meet the charming and devilish Wickham, and my favorite part of the book is the following excerpt from page 93:

"(Wickham said)'Come now, Fitzers, we are finally brothers-' Bingley raised his hand to shield himself from Darcy's rage, but Darcy's voice, after a pause in which undoubtedly numerous emotions were suppressed, was surprisingly light-hearted.'And I suppose as your brother, I must be the mischievious pest. And as the youngest of the three, Bingley must be my partner-in-crime, the immressionable young lad that he is. Right, Mr. Bingley?'

'Um... yes.' Bingley had no idea as to where this was going, but he was hardly going to contradict Darcy.

Darcy began to pace the room, circling Wickham. 'For example, I could be an annoying older brother and for no reason whatsoever, hit you with this walking stick.' And then, suddenly, he took Wickham's walking stick and smacked him on the back of the head, causing Wickham to double over. 'Then, because the youngest brother inevitably follows his senior, Bingley could help me toss you out the window. Bingley?'

Bingley opened his mouth to put up a protest, but Darcy gave him a look that told him resistance would be indefensible. And so, oddly enough, he hellped Darcy heave Wickham out the window. They did not hear the cracking of bones, of even an audible thud, but it was not a long drop from the second story window.

'Will he be all right?'

'Oh yes,' Darcy said as he closed the window. 'The manure pile there surely broke his fall.'"


The rest of the book is by turns serious, hilarious, and sweet. Although the back cover mentions much about a certain book purchased by Mr. Darcy, the book is not overly graphic, rather having just enough sweetness to make the reader fall in love all over again with the Darcys and the Bingleys and their families and friends. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of Pride and Prejudice
.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Second Printing and Stalled Orders

So some of you who preordered your books have gotten them and some of you haven't. There are a couple explanations for this based on Amazon's patterns of shipping, (1) the book isn't technically published until September 1st, so Amazon isn't obligated to ship the book yet, (2) they ship whenever they want because they're Amazon, and (3) they ran out of books. All three are probably true. Amazon.co.uk is definitely out. Amazon.com always claims to have more copies than they do, figuring they'll get their hands on the copies within a reasonable amount of time unless a huge amount of orders come in all of the sudden. So "In Stock" doesn't necessarily mean that, it just means, "We probably have it and if we don't we can get it real quick like."

Barnes and Noble and some other major book stores got their copies last week, and put them on the shelves, which is called a "staggered" placement. Independent bookstores generally don't put things on shelves until the publication date.

The long story short is that the book sold out. More precisely, it was vastly under-ordered and went to a second printing before the actual publication date. So I want to thank everyone who ordered it; hearing that I went to a second printing was the best news I could have possibly gotten on my birthday, and I did get it on my birthday (Aug 28th). I still don't have my Amazon order. I don't have my author copies either, because they were shipped to my agent's office and she's on vacation. So I had to go to Barnes and Noble to buy a copy of my own book - which I have to admit, was kind of cool.

Second printing is different from a second edition. An edition indicates the book has been altered in some form, a printing is simply another run of them turning on the machines and producing more of the same. So, the second printing will be exactly the same book.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Brown Alumni Magazine

I rated a mention in the Brown Alumni Magazine, but not a review. Some pretty big books were up this month. I actually might order one. I got this line in the print magazine and online edition:

ALUMNI FICTION The Darcys and the Bingleys: Pride and Prejudice Continues by Marsha Altmam, (Sourcebooks).

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Call for reviewers!

So if you own a blog that reviews books, or a magazine, or any other form of media that reviews books and would like a copy of The Darcys and the Bingleys for review, you can email me at marshaaltman at yahoo dot come. Sourcebooks will have spare copies of the final book arriving from the printer's in August (the book comes out September 1st), and I can have them sent to you. It's not a lot of lead time for a review, but it's the best I can do, and you get a free book!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Review from netGalley

netGalley keeps track of galleys, which are uncorrected preview copies that are printed up for reviewers a few months before the actual books are printed for publication, because reviewers need "lead time" to read the book before they publish a review. netGalley does reviews, though it doesn't seem to give negative ones, so take this with a grain of salt:

The Darcys & the Bingleys
By: Altman, Marsha
Publisher Name: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Inspired by a tale of first impressions and true romance in Pride and Prejudice, this is debut author Marsha Altman's take on what happens after the proposals. The Darcys & the Bingleys begins with a rare look into the friendship between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley--two men that have been friends for years and have marked milestones in their lives together. A few days before their double wedding, Bingley comes to Darcy for advice on the most pressing of matters: what is expected of him on the wedding night? This funny escapade is just one of the adventures Marsha Altman takes readers on with two best friends about to be married to two devoted sisters. With plot twists and turns, appearances by familiar characters from Pride and Prejudice, Marsha Altman has created a charming continuation of Jane Austen's work.

Holding place

This is the blog for news about my book. You can pre-order it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or about a dozen other secondary sites. It will be published September 1st.

Hopefully the book will turn into a series that is already written except for book 10, which I'm still writing. I'll post reviews and news and you can ask questions if you would concievably want to do that.

I will try not to spam this blog with mundane things that happen to me, as they are not very interesting.