It began with the Internet. And Jane Austen.
Talk about an unlikely combination!
Jane Austen’s Persuasion provided the inspiration as I wrote and posted serialized stories. To keep readers coming back for more, I developed my signature style: intertwined plots, cliffhangers, and laugh-out-loud humor.
The comedy I come by in my job as a teacher—there’s never a dull moment with teens!
Published books:
As Only Mr. Darcy Can: Elizabeth and Darcy and Wickham–oh my! A feel-good Regency romp with our favorite Pride and Prejudice friends
So This Is Love : a joyride of a Regency, featuring Charlotte Lucas and a swashbuckling hero
Darcy By Any Other Name : a lighthearted Pride and Prejudice body-swap romance
Mercy’s Embrace : A Persuasion-based Regency romance in three parts
A Very Austen Christmas, A Very Austen Valentine , and A Very Austen Romance, with my writing friends Robin Helm, Wendi Sotis, Barbara Cornthwaite, and special guests
Sir Walter Elliot’s laughably awful advice (eBook): Marrying Well for Fun & Profit
In case you’re wondering, my fiction is for everyone, even teens.
Around the Web
- Find me on Facebook and Goodreads and MeWe
- Follow me on Amazon and BookBub
- Subscribe to my Newsletter
- Email: Laura(at)LauraHile.com
Works-in-Progress:
Coming to Beyond Austen (spring, 2021): “Mama Knows Best,” my novella for our new Christmas anthology, A Very Austen Noel
I also have an Elizabeth-Darcy romantic romp in the works for 2021: Too Marked to be Mistaken
Book Samples:
Is my writing any good? Why not decide for yourself?
The first five chapters of Darcy By Any Other Name are here for you to enjoy.
Here at home
I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband. And I love cats, but right now I’m too busy to have one. Which is kind of sad.
Laura Hile 
This is great. Thanks for following me.
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Dear Ms. Hile,
I’m contacting you here, rather than at Beyond Austen, because I think found an error in your novel, SO THIS IS LOVE,
While promotions up through Post Captain were given on merit in the Royal Navy, promotion to Rear Admiral and above was strictly by seniority. If one was at the top of the Captains’ List, and an admiral retired or died, everyone below him in seniority moved up a step, and that captain at the top of the seniority list would automatically be promoted to rear admiral. The only nod given to actual competence was that, if the guy at the top of the list was absolutely hopeless as an officer, he’d be “yellowed.” That is to say assigned to the Yellow Fleet, rather than the Blue, Red, or White, which was as good as saying, “You’re now an admiral, but you’ll never have a command. If you retire, you’ll be able to claim the titles and honors appurtenant to your rank, but if you stay on, you’ll simply be kept at half-pay.”
Then they’d promote the next guy at the top of the list to Rear Admiral of the Blue.
Being promoted on nothing more than seniority is the reason Jane Austen’s brother, Francis, who had no political connections to help him in his career, spent years and years on half-pay, then was suddenly promoted to rear admiral. Simply put, he just hung in there long enough to get to the top of the list. Ultimately, on the basis of seniority, he’d rise to the highest rank in the Navy, Senior Admiral of the Fleet.
Point is, captains, particularly those close to the top of the list, tended to know how EXACTLY how close they were to promotion. So Jack should have no doubt whether he’s going to be bumped to the temporary position of commodore, or to permanent flag rank.
I’m enjoying SO THIS IS LOVE very much, and I was reluctant to make what amounted to pointing out an error publicly. So, after reading this, there’s no need to post it on your site. If you’d like to discuss this further, just send me a private e-mail.
Thanks for your attention.
JIM DOHERTY
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Ms. Hile,
I’m sorry. I thought you’d have a chance to review my prior comment first before allowing it to be posted.
JIM D.
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Jim, THANK YOU for your kind comments !!
So This is Love has LOTS of errors, and this one is a whopper. I so appreciate readers like you who know their stuff.
In my haste to crank out the chapters before school begins, I get clumsy with details. Or I don’t explain thoroughly. Or I come up with story ideas that do not play out well. Maybe this is one of them.
Thing is, eighteen months ago, when severely injured, Jack Blunt sold out of the Navy entirely — with the promise that he would return and reenlist if needed.
It’s a stupid promise, and I did not make a big deal out of it. Who would do something like that? It’s a “loved-I-not-honour-more” thing some guys have.
So what Jack receives are not orders, but what amounts to a bribe. A sweet offer to get him to reinlist, just before what we know as the War of 1812 ramps up. Possibly skipping up a few ranks?
Admiral Thomas Cochrane did the leave-and-then-come-back thing. He was dismissed after being caught up in a stock exchange fraud scandal, then pardoned years later and reinstated as Rear-Admiral of the Blue.
These guys left and came back? So I borrowed that idea.
It’s not the best story premise, and I might rethink the whole thing. 😀
This Labor Day weekend (today), I am having to face a sad truth: I will be unable to finish So This Is Love before school begins. I teach middle school–with all the drama–plus we have all-new history curriculum that I will be writing three daily lectures for, plus a novella for our anthology.
Poor Jack and Charlotte’s final chapter will be probably written over Christmas Break.
I know, right?
A huge disappointment for me. And all my loyal readers.
Then come the overall revisions. Because it is not until a book is finished that I can see what it’s really about. 🙂
Thanks for coming with me on the journey!
And no worries about posting here. I very much appreciate everything you pointed out.
Sincerely,
Laura
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I LOOOOOVE your stories! Just finished You’ve got to kiss the girl…it was SO fun! I binge on your books…thank you for making me laugh and smile!
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Aw, Soohum, thanks. These days, who doesn’t need lighthearted books and laughter? Your comment has made my day!
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