About

Elaine Owen first fell in love with Jane Austen as a young teenager. She read Pride & Prejudice for the first time in the summer between eighth and ninth grades, and while other kids were giving book reports on things like The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of The Ticking Clock, she was describing the ways that character faults are explored in Jane Austen’s classic. Although her English teacher was vastly entertained, it is possible that her classmates viewed her as a cross between Mary Bennet and Lady Catherine.

In college she did not pursue writing, electing instead to study education and music, neither of which she uses at all today. Irony is everywhere.

Elaine married, left the field of education, and had two children. She briefly wrote political opinion pieces in a local newspaper and online, but then life changed. In another stroke of irony, Elaine discovered that her oldest child had autism, and so Elaine, who refused to take classes in special education in college, had to become an advocate for her daughter. Writing and other luxuries, such as watching TV, folding laundry, and washing her hair, had to take a back seat for a long time.

Life turned again. Elaine eventually discovered Jane Austen fan fiction books in her local bookstore and spent lots of money she did not have in order to devour them all. When her credit cards were maxed out and store clerks said she really had to leave, she became desperate and discovered fan fiction sites online. Around this time her therapist suggested that she find some kind of creative outlet for herself. Elaine took a deep breath, swallowed nervously, and wrote down the first chapter of what eventually became her first book.

Mr. Darcy’s Persistent Pursuit and Love’s Fool: The Taming of Lydia Bennet were both published in November, 2014. One False Step followed in October of 2015, and Common Ground, based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novel North and South, came out in April of 2016. Duty Demands was released in November of 2016 and followed One False Step to the top of the best seller’s list. Her next novel, An Unexpected Turn of Events, is projected to be released at the end of 2017.

You can contact Elaine at elaineowen@writeme.com. Also follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/elaine.owen.906 and on Twitter: @owenElaineOwen1