Skip to main content

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Mansfield Park (BBC 1986)

Captain’s Log, Supplemental

Blog book giveaway:
To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there.
Valley of Betrayal by Tricia Goyer
It Happens Every Spring by Gary Chapman and Catherine Palmer

Jane Austen miniseries

I love Jane Austen. She’s my favorite classic writer, and I even bought audiobooks of her novels and listen to them again and again.

I also love Amazon.com and visit my Gold Box every day (not that I buy that often). One day I had a deal for the entire set of DVDs of miniseries produced by BBC of Jane Austen’s novels.

No, I didn’t buy the set—but it made me curious, and so I put the miniseries on my Netflix queue. The miniseries are all rather old.

I just finished Mansfield Park. I’m quite divided on it.

Costumes: score 4. They were mostly really rather nice, appropriate to the character’s background and income, and not too flamboyant, although there were several places the women’s headgear was just way over the top.

Acting: score 4. I liked the actors quite a bit. I think they each played their parts very well, although there were a few moments in the later episodes where the actress who played Fanny seemed a bit out of character.

Camera/filming: score 2. I didn’t give it a 1 because there were a few scenes near the end of the miniseries that were rather well shot. On a whole, it was awful. The very first scene shows the camera panning in, and the shot jostles around like it’s being done on a home camcorder. Other scenes where the characters are walking or in a carriage are horrendous. I got terribly sick watching it. It gets better in later episodes, but the poor quality astounded me. How does BBC get away with such poor camera direction? This was appalling.

Musical score: score 3. Low budget, but well-performed with a minimum of instruments.

Script: score 4. To be honest, I wavered between a 3 and a 4 because the ending is even less romantic than the way it ends in Jane Austen’s novel. However, the whole has very good dialogue—mostly taken from the novel, but structured well in the scenes. The acting direction is also rather nice.

That gives an average score of 3.4 out of 5.

I heard from other reviewers that others of the miniseries are better done, so I’m still persevering in watching them all.

I think I must really be a Jane Austen nut to do this. I don’t know why I love her novels so much! My favorite is Persuasion, so I’m hoping that miniseries is better done.

I read in reviews that none of these compare to the 1995 BBC/A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. LOVE that miniseries. I have the DVDs and play them way too often.

(On a side note, I enjoyed watching this version of Mansfield Park while knitting, partly because I could look at my knitting so I didn’t get motion sickness when the camera started jostling in certain scenes. Right now, I’m working on socks for Heather. I made them crew-length so hopefully she can wear it with her cowboy boots if she wants to.)

Comments

Rel said…
Camy - if you are such a Jane Austen fan, have you ever tried Elizabeth Gaskell? The BBC's miniseries of her book North & South is fantastic. It is different to P & P as it is set in a northern working class town but is equally fabulous. Let me know if you check it out!
Ruth said…
The Pride and Prejudice that is in that BBC boxed set is truly horrendous IMO. I just couldn't STAND it. Probably why I never bothered renting any of the others...perhaps I should...?

Completely agree with the above comment...Elizabeth Gaskell is WONDERFUL. The North & South miniseries is fantastic, it truly rivals the BBC/A&E Pride and Prejudice as my favorite. Also worth checking out is Gaskell's Wives & Daughters miniseries.
Geekwif said…
I've never watched any of the BBC productions of Jane Austen novels. I've heard too many horrible reviews of them.

Mansfield Park was the only Jane Austen novel that really disappointed me, so I probably wouldn't watch the movie anyway. I've considered reading it again to see if it improves on a second read, but there are just so many other works out there that I would rather commit my time to. I feel like I'm betraying Miss Austen to say it, but maybe I can redeem myself by coming back to P&P over and over again. :)
Carolynn said…
Well I'm jealous! My favorite version of Pride & Prejudice is the A&E version too. Wish I had it dvd:)
Have you ever read the Austen Series of books by Debra White Smith?
She takes all Jane Austen's books and writes them in a modern setting....they're awesome! (in my opinion):)
Pfingston said…
I love Jane Austen too. I've seen this mini-series and the truth is . . . it's just plain hard to put into a movie what you already have played so well in your head! Another reason I was dissapointed with "One Night with the King" . . . cause it didn't line up with what was in my mind's eye.
Anywho . . . still love the story, still love the little escape that those BBC's do provide.
Pfingston said…
Oh and just a heads up, Persuasion wasn't done much better. But I'm with you with Pride and Predjuduce . . . . own the DVD's myself.

Popular Posts

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th

Camille's Writing Progress

Join my newsletter to get regular updates in your inbox!

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Captivating, chapter 3

Captain’s Log, Stardate 06.30.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is CONSIDER LILY by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. My Thursday book giveaway is LOVE ONLINE by Kristin Billerbeck and Nancy Toback . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for CONSIDER LILY and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Haunted by a Question: Sorry, this is really long again. As before, some things I liked and some questions. Eve—What Happened? The authors say: “[Eve] brought strength to the world, but not a striving, sharp-edged strength. She was inviting, alluring, captivating.” I don’t know if I buy that. I don’t know if I really see how being inviting, alluring, or captivating is a strength. I understand how restfulness (restful inner beauty?) can be a strength, or solidity like a rock. To me, that’s strength. But being alluring? Captivating? Then they talk about “Why do so few wom

Keriah's Narrow Crescent Scarf

In my series Lady Wynwood’s Spies, my character Keriah is more emotional than her friend Phoebe, and so when writing about her in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 6: Martyr , naturally I described her scarf as having more lively colors than the greens and blues that Phoebe favors. I didn’t really have a particular yarn colorway in mind when I wrote the scene, but when looking through my stash to knit her scarf, I found the Carnival colorway in Knit Picks Chroma Twist Fingering, and it was absolutely perfect for her. Chroma Twist Fingering is discontinued, but you could knit this in Chroma Fingering or any other color-transitional yarn. In the Regency era, a tri-color 3-ply yarn like Chroma Twist Fingering would probably not have been sold in shops, but it also may not have been completely unheard of. It is made by simply dying the wool rather than the finished yarn, and then the dyed wool would be split into 3 parts and each part spun into a single ply, before all three plies

Knitted Bible cover

Captain’s Log, Stardate 04.24.2007 Yup, I’m at it again. My new Bible needs a cover, and one of my youth group kids suggested I knit one. This was a great idea because I wanted a cover that was pink and fuzzy. Isn’t it awesome? I used 7 types of eyelash yarn for the stripes. I knitted the cover with one strand of eyelash yarn held together with one strand of worsted weight acrylic yarn, and I did a simple garter stitch. I made a mistake and the cover ended up too long, so I had to fold the edges over. I also made the inside sections with two strands of worsted weight yarn, but I should have used just one strand because it’s a bit bulky. However, on a whole, I’m pretty pleased with it. What do you guys think?

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Free ebooks - Clean Romance

Sign up for these authors’ newsletters and get free books! Click on the graphic to check out all the free books. You might find a new favorite author! Cupid's Library Escape