Nefarious Blog Tour ~ Guest Post & Giveaway!

Hello, friends! I'm so excited to be part of the Nefarious Blog Tour! I have an excellent post for you today! Nicole Clarkston is here with the backstory of how Nefarious came to be.  The first part is from Nicole, and the second part is from J. W. [Jeanne] Garrett, who brought the idea of the story to Nicole's attention. I hope you enjoy it!

A Different Darcy

Nefarious was born (for me) on May 4 of 2018. I had been corresponding with one of the JAFF community’s most enthusiastic members, J.W. (Jeanne) Garrett, and she sent me what she felt was a Prologue for a story. “A Different Darcy” was the concept—someone so battle-scarred and resentful that he was barely recognizable. 

What she sent me was a monologue opener of 2125 words: Darcy standing at the crypt of his former wife Elizabeth and blasting her and her wretched schemes against him for all the destroyed hopes of his life. What fascinated me was that this was not the man we knew, but at the same time, he was. His unreformed pride was still fresh at the surface, but his almost manic insistence on honesty had been so thoroughly disappointed and abused that it was almost as if the core of his being was raw. The man was bleeding.

Quoted below is some of the original text. Other parts made it into the opening pages of the book. These paragraphs did not, as we chose to show these sentiments through Darcy’s actions and words to others as the story developed. However, the bones of the concept are here. 

“I eagerly anticipate the freedom of being away from here for several months. While I am at Netherfield… I have instructed Mrs. Reynolds to scour your chambers in order to remove your stench. I have never considered you the mistress of Pemberley, and I want any evidence of your presence removed. I have also instructed her to fill the room with lavender. I’ve always loved lavender and I well remember that you hated it.”

Darcy couldn’t help but chuckle. “For the first time in my life, I fully intend to enjoy myself. I may even allow myself to laugh and… heaven forbid… to dance. I intend to open myself to new experiences. I want to find love, and this time, I will be careful. I will no longer be tempted or drawn to the first circles. I have discovered it is a house of cards with no substance to support it. You were of my station… of the first circles, rumored to have a glorious dowry, a beauty among beauties, full of wit and imbued with all the accomplishments ladies of the ton needed to grace any parlor or sitting room… lies… one and all. Deceit is my abhorrence. I intend to step down and look at the daughters of the landed gentry. I feel they are closer to the things I love… the land, country living and fresh air.  –J.W.Garrett

The kicker of this whole scheme? The wicked wife who made his life hell was named Elizabeth. As you know, I loved the idea. I told Jeanne that she should write it herself, but she declined, saying, “I was just supposed to write the prologue.”

Sadly, the story had to go on the shelf for several months, not seeing full publication until just over a year later. We dusted the concept off again in January, revisiting all those first brainstorming emails, and the subject line of one of them caught my attention. We had been building Darcy’s back story, piecing out exactly why he was so bitter towards his late wife and her family. We were also talking about another story idea I was developing (more on that to come this winter). Jeanne threw out a single word to sum it all up. Nefarious.

We wrought all kinds of delicious mayhem developing the early layout of the story. Darcy was still his prideful, conceited self when he met this woman who wrecked all his happiness. This woman was unrepentant and despicable. Poor Darcy… we had an obscene amount of fun coming up with new ways to torture him! Much wicked giggling was heard over the email wires, and pretty quickly, Darcy began to leap off the screen for me. 

I started off in the usual way—third person, deep perspective. However, by the time I was halfway through Chapter Two, I knew that was not right for this book. Though it scared me to death, I emailed Jeanne and told her that I thought this book should be written in first person. Darcy’s POV, Darcy’s brain, start to finish. It makes him, and who he has become, a more sympathetic figure, and that was so important. She giggled and agreed. 

Darcy has always reminded me a little of my husband in his immutable demand for honesty and respect. In a balanced individual, these traits are given as freely as they are received, but in a man whose most basic needs have been so utterly and irreversibly destroyed, I believe things would unravel at an alarming rate. His character is still there—the core decency, the repugnance of all things wicked or dishonest—but he is less controlled, less tempered than before. He might even do something he would forever regret.

All I can say is “Thank goodness for Charles Bingley,” because he does exert something of a calming influence over his frazzled buddy. However, Darcy is suffered to go on unchecked in some of his more high-handed behaviours, ultimately driving even the unflappable Charles Bingley to the brink of madness. And the cause of such a fracture? Why, a woman, of course.

One of the shockers in the opening chapters of Nefarious is that Darcy is not reluctantly drawn to Elizabeth Bennet at the Assembly. Instead, he is instantly caught and enraptured by her sister, her complete opposite. Poor, sweet-tempered Jane Bennet is vanilla instead of Rocky Road, and Darcy is in such a state that he thinks Jane’s simple purity might be just what he is looking for. Unfortunately, Charles Bingley is thinking the same thing.

The fun of the first third of the book is watching Darcy’s bumbling efforts to pursue Jane, all while trying to convince himself of how dangerous Elizabeth is for him. However, the more he watches the younger sister in an effort to thwart her, the more he cannot look away. Soon, and without his full understanding or awareness, Elizabeth Bennet has consumed his thoughts.

Well, as any good P&P story should, this one involves a set-down… or three. Actually, I lost count of how many times Darcy’s nearest and dearest have to correct him, but eventually, the old Darcy emerges from his shell, sans pride and humbly aching for forgiveness. And who should be there to do the forgiving but Elizabeth Bennet?

Tackling Elizabeth’s character in this book followed a different strategy from my usual. We never get to see her perspective at all. What we learn of her is all through the eyes of our very unreliable narrator, a man who truly does not understand her at first. Because the focus of this book is on Darcy and his struggles, we see less of Elizabeth Bennet’s “Prejudice,” although it is still there and actively at work. 

In order for her to see Darcy for who he truly is, we needed to highlight Elizabeth’s intelligence and the restraint that a gentlewoman of the day was expected to have. She gives him regular tongue lashings, but all with a smile. Though she might have gone to her bedroom and screamed into her pillow later, she kept her dignity intact in public. 

From the beginning, we wanted hints that she finds Darcy fascinating, even if she is unwilling to confess it (and he is undeserving). She enjoys matching wits with him, she watches and pays attention to him, and even touches her hair or changes colors at certain moments. The girl is wise enough to keep her distance when Darcy is such a hateful bully, but she is still intrigued by him. 

I was afraid that she might come off looking like too much of a goody-two-shoes, but she is far from perfect. What she does do perfectly is learn to forgive, and our Darcy is a better man for it. He is drowning, and she casts him a rope. 

I do hope you enjoy our little story. I know that Jeanne and I had fun with it, and it has been tremendously enjoyable to chat on the blog with all the readers who would like to give Darcy what-for. Thank you for stopping by, and a huge thank you to Candy for hosting today!

-NC

Jeanne's Thoughts

I’ve been friends with Nicole since October 7, 2016, when we friended each other in a GoodReads Austenesque discussion group. In cyberspace that is a long time for a friendship. Over the years, I have enjoyed all her Austen variation books. Darcy and Elizabeth are my all-time favorite romance couple. I noticed that Nicole had another writing passion that I wanted to experience; however, it required that I first read Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘North and South.’ I was then able to read Nicole’s other books that focused on the romance between John Thornton and Margaret Hale. Heavy sigh… I am learning to love them too. 

Plot bunnies are strange creatures. They invade your thoughts when you should be doing or thinking about something else. I don’t even remember what I was originally doing or thinking when it hit me like a flash. I immediately saw Darcy standing before a crypt broken, bitter, angry, and spewing forth a vitriolic diatribe at the cold, stone slab. I also knew there was a manipulation/redirection of the reader with the name on the crypt… Elizabeth. That was mean of me, I know, but it was all there, a story that needed to be told. I also felt that I did not have it in me to create it. Never attempt what you know in your heart you cannot complete. 

Over the years, Nicole and I had worked together on other projects. I beta read, did ARC [advance-reader-copy] and regular reviews for her and even helped with a bit of research. I felt I could trust her with this story and asked if she would look at it. The rest they say… yeah, that one. Nicole has been very generous to show the better parts of that prologue. I had several ridiculous ideas that just would not have worked in this story and I am so glad she didn’t choose them. I actually think I was a bit more vicious than the direction she took. Her instincts and decisions have been spot-on. I have been blown away with her wisdom, creativity, word choice, listening to her characters [their wants and desires], that list of names they called each other [hilarious], her love of the genre and simply creating magic. 

Did we have fun? Of course! Was it possible to laugh across cyberspace? Are you kidding? I think I cracked a rib at one point. In spite of there being half a dozen states between us and a two-hour time difference, we managed to brainstorm and debate strategies. We actually threw out more than we kept. Thank goodness for computers and file storage. You would need a ream of paper if you printed all the emails we generated over this story. I have loved every minute of this experience. Nicole is a genius and I wish all the accolades possible for her. She has earned it. 

Blessings to you Nicole and thank you for taking a simple thought and creating this marvelous work. I’ll never forget the day you sent me the mock-up for the cover. When I opened that email and saw that face, I had cold-chills and knew that this was going to be something great. It will always be special to me.

J. W. [Jeanne] Garrett


Wow! I had so many emotions just reading both Nicole's and Jeanne's thoughts! I can't wait to read the whole story! 

Nefarious 
by Nicole Clarkston

Book blurb:

He hates everything about her. 
She despises him even more. 
So why is his heart so determined to belong to her? 

Once trapped by marriage to a woman he loathed, Fitzwilliam Darcy is finally free again. Resentful, bewildered, and angry, he is eager to begin his life over—preferably with a woman who is the exact opposite of his wife. 

He never imagined a short stay in Hertfordshire would bring him face to face with his worst nightmare; a woman similar in face, form, and name. He certainly never expected her to be so impossible to ignore. 

Torn between what he believes he wants and what his heart cannot live without, his dignity begins to unravel. Will his desperation to escape his past drive a wedge into his closest friendship and destroy any hope of a future? 

Will Miss Elizabeth Bennet prove to be as nefarious as his wife? Or, will the last woman in the world be his only chance at happiness?

Buy: Amazon US • Amazon UK • Amazon CA
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FTC Disclaimer: Link to Amazon US. I am an Amazon Associate. Should you purchase a copy through the link provided, I will receive a small commission. Thanks!

About the Author

Nicole Clarkston is a book lover and a happily married mom of three. Originally from Idaho, she now lives in Oregon with her own romantic hero, several horses, and one very fat dog. She has loved crafting alternate stories and sequels since she was a child watching Disney’s Robin Hood, and she is never found sitting quietly without a book of some sort.

Nicole discovered Jane Austen rather by guilt in her early thirties―how does any bookworm really live that long without a little P&P? She has never looked back. A year or so later, during a major house renovation project, she discovered Elizabeth Gaskell and fell completely in love. Her need for more time with these characters led her to simultaneously write Rumours & Recklessness, a P&P inspired novel, and No Such Thing as Luck, a N&S inspired novel. The success she had with her first attempt at writing led her to write four other novels that are her pitiful homage to two authors who have so deeply inspired her.

Nicole contributes to Austenvariations.com, a group of talented authors in the Jane Austen Fiction genre. In addition to her work with the Austen Variations blog, Nicole can be reached through Facebook at http://fb.me/NicoleClarkstonAuthor, Twitter @N_Clarkston, her blog at Goodreads.com, or her personal blog and website, NicoleClarkson.com.

Connect with Nicole Clarkson

Website • Goodreads Author Page • Goodreads Blog • Facebook • Amazon Author Page • Twitter

Nefarious Blog Stops

June 3rd - More Agreeably Engaged; Vignette, Giveaway

June 4th – From Pemberley to Milton; Review, Giveaway

June 7th - Austenesque Reviews; Vignette, Giveaway

June 8th – Babblings of a Bookworm; Vignette, Giveaway

June 11th – So Little Time…; Guest Post, Giveaway

June 13th - Savvy Verse & Wit; Guest Post, Giveaway

June 15th – Diary of an Eccentric; Review, Giveaway 

* * * GIVEAWAY * * *

It's giveaway time! Nicole is having a giveaway at each blog tour stop! Woot! Which means one of my lucky readers will win one of two options. To enter, please leave a comment below! 

Option 1: $10 Amazon Gift Card plus eBook or Audiobook of winner’s choice; International


Option 2: Signed Paperback of winner’s choice; US only

• One person will win either option 1 (International) or Option 2 (US Only)
• To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment below.
• The last day to enter the giveaway is June 18, 2019, 11: 59 PM, Pacific Time.

Good luck!

Many thanks go to both Nicole and Jeanne for the peek into the beginnings of Nefarious! 

So, friends, what did you think of Nicole and Jeanne's thoughts? When I first read them I was like, "No! No! No! Not Elizabeth!" ...  "Oh, ok" (Phew!) ... "Oh, no! Not with Jane!" Haha! So many emotions! 

Please remember to leave a comment, question, or show some love for Nicole or Jeanne! And for more chances to win check out the other blogs on the tour!