Captain Wentworth ... In His Own Words by Shannon Winslow ~ Blog Tour ~ Spotlight & Excerpt!

Hello, my friends! It's been almost a year since I posted! Time flies, doesn't it? I'm back to share Shannon Winslow's newest book, Captain Wentworth ... In His Own Words. This is the fourth book in her In His Own Words series.

Captain Wentworth 

... in his own words

by Shannon Winslow

Publication Date: Sept. 18th, 2025

Pages: 320, Kindle Edition

Book Blurb:  Captain Wentworth has a lot of explaining to do! Why did he fly off in such an unreasonable rage when Anne tried to put their engagement on hold? And why didn’t he come back to try her again as soon as he was more financially secure? So much time wasted! What about his bad behavior when they met again years later – flirting with the Musgrove girls right in front of Anne? Was that really necessary? 

Find the answers in Captain Wentworth in His Own Words. Catch a glimpse of his difficult childhood, and learn how he ended up in the Navy so young. Witness his first meeting with Anne, their falling in love, and tragic parting. Sail along on his daring adventures at sea. Before he meets Anne again, Captain Wentworth has travelled the globe. He’s risen to riches and respect. Yet, he’s still missing the one thing needed to crown all his other success: the woman he’s never stopped loving. 

This is not a variation from but a supplement to the original story of Persuasion, chronicled in Wentworth’s point of view. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the things Jane Austen didn’t tell us about one of her most iconic heroes.

 

Excerpt

Might it have been better had I simply refused to go to the wedding that day? I have asked myself that question a thousand times, for that is where I met Anne Elliot. Had I not gone, our paths would in all probability never have crossed. I would have left Somersetshire and returned to sea with my heart and my confidence still intact, and with my conscience untroubled as well. Despite how things have turned out, however, to wish now that we had never met seems monstrous, as if I contemplated cancelling the finest woman I have ever known out of existence… out of my existence at least. How could I do that when I still love her?

That is the unhappy fact of the matter, which I lately have been forced to concede; I am still in love with Anne Elliot… even after the insult of her rejection, even after the devastating blow to my pride, and even after the more than eight years and a half of our separation following. One would think the flame would have guttered and died long ago with nothing to fuel it any longer. I meant for it to do so; I meant that I should forget Anne entirely. I convinced myself that I had, nearly, and that it would be safe to see her once again.

I was wrong. One look at her at Uppercross, and, against my will, the buried sparks immediately began to smolder again.

And to think it all started with a simple decision to attend a wedding. Once there, the introduction to Anne Elliot could hardly have been avoided. It fell quite literally straight into my hands.

About the Author

Shannon Winslow approaches writing JAFF a little differently, adding onto rather than varying from canon, giving us prequel, sequel, and supplemental views of favorite characters. Shannon, who has authored eleven Austenesque novels so far, lives with her husband in the log home they built in the countryside south of Seattle, where she writes and paints in her studio facing Mt. Rainier. Visit her at her website/blog and follow her on Facebook.

Book Links

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Thank you so much for including me in your blog tour, Shannon! And congratulations on your new book! 

I, for one, am glad Wentworth went to that wedding and met Anne Elliot! What are your thoughts?  Please feel free to leave a comment, and thanks for stopping by!

Persuasion: Behind the Scenes Blog Tour ~ Guest post with Diana Birchall, Excerpt & Giveaway!

Hello, friends! I'm thrilled to have Diana Birchall here with us today on the blog! She is one of the authors of the new Austen Variations anthology, Persuasion: Behind the Scenes. I hope you enjoy her guest post and excerpt! And don't forget to enter the giveaway! Details are at the bottom of the page! 

I’m so excited to be here representing the group of authors from the Austen Variations blog, who have teamed together to produce a rich, stuffed-with-stories, new anthology, entitled Persuasion, Behind the Scenes.  Bound together by our common desire to visit favorite aspects of one of the most beloved Austen novels, Persuasion, we have brought a wide range of talents and imaginations to the task. With contributions from some of the finest writers in the Austenesque field, the result is a scintillating cornucopia of Austen fiction!

As Jane Austen has Charlotte Lucas say to Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, “I am not romantic. I never was.” And although Persuasion may be Jane Austen’s most poignantly romantic novel of all, with its autumnal themes of lost and recovered love, it is not the romance to which I am temperamentally drawn. I’ve always loved Jane Austen for her exquisitely elegant writing style, her priceless genius for characterization, and above all, her unmatched wit, which suffuses everything she writes and sets it sparkling.

In the no fewer than fourteen stories I have contributed to this volume, I have focused on some of the more hilarious and grotesque characters in Persuasion, such as silly and conceited Sir Walter Elliot, his cold and selfish oldest daughter Elizabeth, and his whining hypochondriac of a youngest daughter, Mary Musgrove. I love the novel’s actual heroine, Anne Elliot, but feel as Jane Austen said, that she is “almost too good for me.” Nor is Captain Wentworth, so dashing and delightful, someone to make fun of – much as Elizabeth says about Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, “I really cannot poke fun” at him.  I deeply admire this stellar hero and heroine, but find that there’s more material for satire and laughter with the delightfully drawn “monsters.”

But the beauty of this anthology is that there are twelve authors represented, presenting wonderfully different peeks at Persuasion behind the scenes. There’s plenty of romance, as well as sea adventure, scheming, heartbreak, drama, the road to reconciliation, and more!  It will provide many hours of reading, rollicking and relishing in new worlds inspired by Jane Austen.

***

Here is an excerpt from one of my stories, “Mary Musgrove’s Complaint.”

Anne, who really thought Charles bore very patiently with his wife, disliked anything resembling interference, or being placed in the midst of disputes. Yet she felt decided sympathy for her brother-in-law, and so she resolved to try. A gentle word about her health brought Mary to a fine state of agitation and tirade, giving her an excuse for the most elaborate recitation of complaints her sister had heard yet. “I assure you, my health is very much worse than any body gives me credit for,” she cried. “You who are unmarried can have no conception – no idea. Indeed, I do not know if it is fit for me to discuss such things with a single woman.” 

Anne assured her that there was no unfitness involved. “After all, it is not as if I were a very young girl, Mary, and I am your sister. I think you may tell me any thing you like.” 

“Well! I will tell you this much, then,” Mary paused impressively. “That all the miseries I feel, emanate from the same place.” 

“And where is that?” asked Anne, not without apprehension. 

Mary sat up from the sofa in her urgency. “From my womb!” 

Anne took this calmly. “I daresay that such symptoms are often the case with young married women. Has the doctor been consulted?” 

“Certainly, I had Dr. Black for both confinements, you recall. And with little Walter – well, to be sure he was not little, he was a baby of near nine pounds, and I assure you I felt ripped apart from limb to limb. You cannot possibly imagine how I suffered, and still do suffer.” 

“That is very sad to hear,” said Anne, “but Walter is now two years old. Surely there has been some – healing?” 

Mary shook her head vigorously. “Not a bit of it. Such tears, such miseries, such spasms, as I endured, may never be recovered from, not in a lifetime. You have never endured the unspeakable agony of childbirth, when you lie expecting to die at every instant!” 

“But you have two fine, healthy little boys, and you have always gone on well afterwards.” 

“Yes, but at what cost! Why, between us, I would have you know, every month I virtually exsanguinate.” 

“Why, Mary,” Anne replied mildly, “you know, such courses are what all women must experience; it is women’s lot.” 

“How can you talk of women’s lot? Whatever other women may endure, I am sure that my courses are worse than any one’s!” 

“I am very sorry to hear that, Mary.” 

“We have to pay the laundry-maid double wages, and I never hear the end of it from Charles. He has no sympathy or comprehension of what we women have to go through.” 

Anne did not feel that she was making much headway. 

“I am sure he does feel sympathy,” she assured her sister earnestly. 


“He has a fine way of showing it then. Do you know, Anne, I should not even be speaking of this, but I have started another. It is all Charles’ fault. Deny that, if you can. But oh,” she wrung her hands, “there is no use talking to you. You are not a married woman, and cannot put yourself in my place.”

* * *

About Diana Birchall

Diana Birchall recently retired as a story analyst for Warner Bros Studios, reading novels to see if they would make movies. Reading popular manuscripts went side by side with a lifetime of Jane Austen scholarship, and resulted in her being a pioneer in the field of writing Austenesque fiction. She is the author of Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma and Mrs. Elton in America, both published by Sourcebooks, as well as In Defense of Mrs. Elton, published by JASNA, and hundreds of short stories.  Her plays have been performed in many cities, with “You Are Passionate, Jane,” a two-person play about Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, being featured at Chawton House Library. She grew up in New York City, and now lives in Santa Monica, California with her husband and son, and three cats.

Persuasion: Behind the Scenes


You pierce my soul.  

Before Jane Austen wrote that romantic letter from Captain Frederick Wentworth to Anne Elliot, she crafted a masterful story of heartbreak and longing that still resonates with readers today.  

But what of those scenes that Jane Austen never wrote?  What Persuasion fan doesn't want to listen in on Anne and Wentworth's first courtship, laugh at the follies and foibles of the Elliot family, sail along on Captain Wentworth's harrowing adventures at sea or attend Wentworth and Anne's wedding?  

Twelve authors of Austen-inspired fiction:  Diana Birchall, Marilyn Brant, Jack Caldwell, L.L. Diamond, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Kara Louise, Susan Mason-Milks, Jane Odiwe, C. Allyn Pierson, Mary Lydon Simonsen, and Shannon Winslow collaborated to put this unique collection that fills in "missing" scenes from Austen's classic work, sure to delight any true Persuasion fan.

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 of the book through the link provided, I will receive a small commission. Thanks! 

Tour Schedule

February 13: Austenesque Reviews

February 14: Jane Austen Variations

February 15: Babblings of a Bookworm

February 16: Random Bits of Fascination

February 18: More Agreeably Engaged

February 19: From Pemberley to Milton

February 20: My Jane Austen Book Club

February 22: So Little Time...

February 25: My Vices and Weaknesses

* * * GIVEAWAY * * *

It's giveaway time! The authors of Persuasion: Behind the Scenes are giving away an amazing gift package! To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter below!

Good luck!

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Congratulations to all the authors of Persuasion: Behind the Scenes! 


It was such a pleasure to have Diana here today! I enjoyed listening to Mary's complaints! I was always of the mind that they were imaginary, but Diana might just be on to something here! What say you, friends?