Laura Gesme asked Lara S. Ormiston:

I was so impressed with the way you wrote Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy. The love of the story is, after all, why we read fan fiction and I hate to pick up a story and find that my beloved characters have been remodeled to fit within the confines of a story. The reverence and care with which you treated my beloved couple was inspiring to me. My question is, did you have to 'get into character' to write Unequal Affections?

Lara S. Ormiston Hello, Laura. Thanks for the question!

I thinking writing Jane Austen fan fiction requires a lot of "getting in character," each time you write a different one. All of her characters are distinct in their personalities and it was one of my ambitions to make them sound as much as possible like themselves when I wrote them. Really, the best way to do it was to usually go back and reread speeches by that particular character in the book to try to catch the right "tone." I did this for more minor characters like Lydia, and it was important to remember with the main two what some of their conversations were like in the original. Darcy, for instance, uses a lot of long, complex sentences. When I wrote him, I focused on trying to make him appear very intelligent and very sure of himself, as this how he comes across to me in the book. Lizzy is always a challenge, because everything she says is so clever, and I was always looking for ways to make her sound more interesting, more witty, and with that kind of playfulness that Austen gives her. It was rather tiring at times, I admit! I'm so glad that my efforts have met with approval. While I could never attempt to actually write like Jane Austen did, I did want her characters to sound like the same people.

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