Monday, July 7, 2008

The Ruling Passion

It is really encouraging to hear from readers who want to read more of my personal take on Darcy & Elizabeth's story. We hope to have my third continuation, The Ruling Passion, out next year. Sometimes, however, the publishing business moves with all the grace and speed of a pregnant elephant. I'll certainly keep you abreast of any movement towards a publication date.

Note to Rebecca Francois: I thank you for your kind corrections. They should have been caught by my editors. (They probably should have been caught by me as well, but when one has the opportunity to blame others for something, it is a comfort to do so.) If my story ventures into France (it doesn't at this time, but truth is once I get started there's no telling where it'll go), I'll certainly know who to ask for any particulars.

Fandango is now in the hands of my publisher. Perhaps some readers might enjoy that in the interim. As soon as I know anything about publication dates, I'll post them.

It is a pleasure to hear from you all.

Linda Berdoll

30 comments:

C J Corbin said...

Happy Birthday Linda!

I just finished both books...and I was so disappointed when the second book ended...I WANTED MORE...it was like saying goodbye to dear friends!

I was excited to read that you will be coming out with a third book...yippee!

Hurry with the new book!

Unknown said...

Hi Linda,

I think it is truly fantastic that you have written a third continuation. I am such a fan and cannot wait to read it. I have been hoping since I finished reading your second book last year that you would be writing a third. This is the best news I have heard all day.

Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Linda! I adore your books
I am a Jane Austen addict two
and I can't get enough of your story.
I know its late, but my birthday was the 9th as well. So happy belated birthday! And i cannot wait until your third book comes out.

loulou said...

Linda thank you so much and happy (very late) birthday!
The Ruling Passion.
I CANT WAIT!!!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you!

Lou said...

Good Morning !

Excuse me for my bad english.
I come from Belgium and i'm looking for a translation of Linda's books.
Is it in your projects ?

Thank you for your answer.

Lou

Amanda said...

Better late than never so "Happy Belated Birthday!"

I have been such a big fan of P&P for such a long time. I have five copies of the book and they are all worn down from reading so much. I have read many sequels and yours are by far the best I have ever read. I read both books in just under a week! I couldn't put them down.

I am so glad that you finally have a website. I looked for so long, after I first read them last year. I cannot wait for the next one to come out.

I just want to say thanks to you for all of us who long to know more and for making us feel as though we were right there as everything was happening. Also from a family of all girls who have read and reread over and over. You kind of brought us together with your books.

Many, Many thanks!

redhead0616 said...

Hi Linda,

I have spent my summer reading every Pride and Prejudice continuation that I can get my hands on. I just finished reading your two books and I have to say that they are by far the best continuations! I really appreciate the detail you put into the story line and how much you develop your characters. It really makes the novel so much fun to read. Out of all the novels I read so far, I really believe yours comes the closest to showing what Elizabeth's and Mr. Darcy's life together would have been like. I'm really looking forward to your next book! Please keep writing I can't get enough of the Darcy's!

redhead0616 said...

Hi Linda,

I have spent my summer reading every Pride and Prejudice continuation that I can get my hands on. I just finished reading your two books and I have to say that they are by far the best continuations! I really appreciate the detail you put into the story line and how much you develop your characters. It really makes the novel so much fun to read. Out of all the novels I read so far, I really believe yours comes the closest to showing what Elizabeth's and Mr. Darcy's life together would have been like. I'm really looking forward to your next book! Please keep writing I can't get enough of the Darcy's!

cheps said...

I'm so happy to read you're working on a third book.
I finished reading the second book with a feeling it wasn't really over so imagine my happiness when I stumbled right into your blog.
After reading Pride & Prejudice for my IGCSEs and falling completely for the BBC's tv version, I've tried to find any sequel to satisfy my curiosity (really, Austen should have carried on lol) and after some failed readings I finally came across yours. You have turned a sequel into a novel worth reading!
Can't wait for next year to come!

mallard said...

I have just finished the first 2 books. Your accuracy leads something to be desired.
1. Sie Robert Morland should not be addressed as Sir Morland BUT Sir Robert; likewise Sir William Lucas as Sir William.
2. Anne de Bourgh cannot be addressed as Lady Anne - she would need to be the daughter of an earl at the very least.
3. There are no wild turtles in Derbyshire or in the UK.
4. John Christie could not have beenbdrafted - he would have been a volunteer. The Draft did not come for another 100 years.
5. There was no Nursing Corps in 1815 - in fact nothing until the Crimean War 40 years later.
6. Post chaises were private hire vehicles - Whickham had the choice of the Mail (fast) or the Stage (slow).
7. The honeymoon trip is a sheer impossibility. Hertfordshire is North of London, so there would have been little point in going south to London and then back north to Derbyshire. Also, could not be done by coach - 14 miles an hour the fastest speed on the Turnpike roads, 5 mph on country roads.

Linda85086 said...

If Mallard choses to be hypercritical, s/he should chose to read other authors, or not nit-pick so vociferously. I imagine most Linda Berdoll devotees (did I spell devotee correctly Mallard?) not to be of the so very critical bent, and simply choose to adore the beauty of the story, as written.

Linda85086 said...

Mrs. Berdoll, you were asked at one point who you would have liked to play Darcy and Elizabeth if a movie were to be made. You mentioned Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. This surprises me only in that I saw the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice before I was aware of the BBC version (I now possess both). After seeing the 2005 movie about 25 times, I started to wish for a continuation of Jane Austen's book in any form. I imagined though only as far as seeing Matthew MacFadyen and Keira Knightly as Elizabeth left Mr. Bennet to race out to the yard to the pacing Darcy. Darcy sees Mr. Bennet's answer in her eyes as she races to him. He braces as she flings herself into his arms. We watch as Darcy whirls them around in circles. He lets her very gently to the ground and gives her a kiss that we the enchanted voyeurs can feel down to the tip of our toes.

I now wish that I had seen the BBC version first as your book is much more faithful to it. In fact I was only vaguely aware of and purchased the BBC version only after reading your Darcy & Elizabeth, as Jennifer Ehle's physique more accurately fits your Elizabeth's. Though I do love both movies.

KathyB said...

I'm SOOOOO excited to hear about "The Ruling Passion"! I've read and re-read your first two books continuing the story of Darcy and Elizabeth. Needless to say -- I laughed, I cried, I fell in love with characters all over again.

I was especially delighted when I was able to find an unabridged version of the first book on CD. I was then able to import them to my iPod and listen to the story wherever I may be.

Will the second book ever be issued on CD?

kelly said...

I'm so pleased to hear that the third installment in this wonderful and engaging series will be coming soon. I simply cannot wait to find out what happens next!

Thank you so much for gifting us with your mind, imagination and great literary skill.

Kind regards,
Kelly

sarahsookyung said...

Hi Linda,

I have to admit, I was nervous about delving into your first novel after reading some of the more critical reviews. Curiosity overcame me, however, and I finally picked it up. I found that I could not put it down, and finished both your novels within 3 days!

I've fallen in love with many of your characters, and stayed in love with the ones you brought over from Austen's story. Somehow, you developed even Austen's most outrageous characters, into ones I actually sympathized with at times. You weave in the working class characters into the lives of idle landed gentry folks with finesse. I'm very happy that you've generally stuck to the witty, optimistic and "sparkly" tone of Austen's writing, and that you haven't given up on the "happily ever after" ending that pushed P&P to the spot of my favorite novel of all time.

As soon as I finished the second book, deeply saddened that I had reached the end, I googled you to see if you were planning on writing a third. God bless you! And I hope you never stop writing them!

If you're looking for more character fodder, I was wondering if you would ever go into the lives of the Gardiner children or Kitty Bennet, and maybe even give Charlotte a happy ending, the poor woman.

Whatever you write, I will no doubt fall in love with. Thank you! You're books are truly a gift.

Unknown said...

Ms. Berdoll, I am looking forward to "The Ruling Passion" with great eagerness! You have written the two best P and P continuations ever. I have read several others or should I say tried to read them, but always ended up comparing yours with the others. There is no comparison.

feather said...

when will "The Ruling Passion" be released?

BethCooper said...

Dear Linda,
I am so very happy to hear that you have a third continuation of Pride and Prejudice. I have read a few versions and yours were the only ones in my opinion that kept the characters true to the characters that Jane Austin created. A couple of the books that I read changed their personalities in such a way that I found myself saying Mr Darcy would never say or do something like this! With your books I felt like I was reading what Jane Austin would have written had she 1) lived in a time when it was acceptable for a young unmarried woman to write about what might have happened behind the doors of the Darcy's bed chamber and 2) She'd had the experience to truly know what might transpire between a man and a woman.
I am myself a writer although I've not completed anything yet or tried to have anything published. I live vicariously through authors like yourself that have made it and dream of the day when I too will have my books published and read by others. My favorite genre is historical fiction. My favorite authors are yourself, Phillipa Gregory, Anya Seton, Diana Gabaldon and Sara Donati just to name a few. If you have any advice for an aspiring writer I would be honored to correspond with you as you are one of the authors that I am attempting to model myself after. I welcome any insights you are willing to share.
Please keep writing!

Unknown said...

THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY AFTER READING YOUR BOOKS.....YES, YES, YES!!!!!!! ....PLEASE MAKE ALL OF YOUR BOOKS INTO MOVIES!!!! I AM SURPRISED IT HAS NOT BEEN DONE YET!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE BOTH BOOKS! i WILL NEVER FORGET WHEN YOUR SECOND BOOK CAME OUT..I HAD TO DRIVE ALL OVER HAWAII JUST TO GET THE COPY, SINCE THEY WERE SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE. IT WAS WELL WORTH IT! I FOUND LAST COPY AT BORDERS CLOSE TO ALA MOANA! PLEASE, OH PLEASE MAKE A TRILOGY OF MOVIES! GUARANTEED TO BE NUMBER ALL THE WAY!!! WE LOVE YOU LINDA!!! ALOHA AND MAHALOS!!! LOOKING FORWARD TO "THE RULING PASSION"!!!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

ON MY PREVIOUS COMMENT, I MEANT TO SAY, THAT IF YOU WERE TO MAKE MOVIES FROM THE TRILOGY...IT WOULD DEFINTELY BE NUMBER #1 MOVIE OF THE YEAR, EVERY YEAR. JUST PRAYING YOUR THIRD BOOK COMES OUT ASAP! I AM TOO IMPATIENT!!! AND TOO EXCITED AT THE SAME TIME!! THANK-YOU AGAIN LINDA FOR YOUR P&P BOOKS! NO OTHER CAN COMPARE TO IT!
ALOHA AND MAHALOS!

Betty said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Betty said...

Linda,
I recently read both your books and FELL IN LOVE with them. They were such a wonderful rendering of how the story of Elizabeth and Darcy's life would have continued. Your ability to successfully build on such beloved characters and evolve their stories is to be commended. I am so thrilled to see that your are writing a 3rd installment and am looking forward to reading more. I must happily admit that you have really ruined any intention of me attempting to read any other P&P sequel. Yours as become "the" sequel in my eyes and no other could possibly compare. Thank you!

Unknown said...

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU BETTY! I FEEL EXACTLY THE SAME!! HURRY, HURRY, WITH THE NEW THIRD BOOK, PLEASE!

Kathy said...

A friend loaned me your books and I absolutely loved them. Waiting impatiently for "The Ruling Passion."

Keep them coming!!!

J.J. said...

who is the publisher of the ruling passion? we need to flood the email box of this publisher to get this book out quickly. all your fans will demand this book if you share with us who we need to contact to get the published work.

Believer said...

Hi Linda,
Imagine my excitement when my eyes caught sight of the words "Darcy & Elizabeth" when searching for my second copy of Jane Austen's PRIDE & PREJUDICE at Barnes & Noble. Your books were just to the right of hers on the same shelf. It felt like Christmas!
Like many of your previous bloggers' comments I yearned for more at the end of P&P. I just had to know what happened after Darcy and Elizabeth wed. You didn't let me down! I believe I am now your newest fan.

I finished your second book just a few weeks ago while on vacation. I was lounging next to the pool under an umbrella glued to the book, giddy with little outbursts of laughter. Much to my amazement a fellow reader sitting next to me was actually reading P&P. She was nearly finished P&P and I told her she had to get your books. Two days later...she was reading Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife. Then it was the two of us giggling every half hour or so sharing our passion for the detailed, picturesque love affair you so beautifully gifted to us.

All I can say is...thank goodness your last name is BERDOLL!

**Would love to see your books come to life on the big screen with the same actors from the movie version of P&P.**

savageisha67 said...

Any update to a release of "The Ruling Passion"? I can't wait, as I loved your first two sequels so much!! As I first read, then re-read the books, I could hear the characters from the BBC P&P voicing the lines in my head. Thank you for continuing the story.

dbaxter said...

Linda,
PLEASE post an update as the when The Ruling Passion will be released. I don't see any new updated posts from you for the last 2 years. PLEASE tell us!!!!

jhines said...

Linda, you are a national treasure. I just completed your 2 Darcy books and was blown away. I want more, much more. They were terrific!! Can't wait to read Ruling Passion!! Hurry hurry hurry!! Darcy is a DOLL!!