Good Day and Welcome, my Dear Friends!
Fellow Historians and History-Lovers, Authors and Authoresses, Period Drama Aficionados, Book Lovers of all shapes and sizes, and Random People who are bored right now, allow me to introduce...
Myself.
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| This is me. |
Ahem. Okay, that isn't actually me. But it's as close as you're getting because I have recently become aware of the existence of a frightening thing called Facial Recognition.
Also, Jane Seymour is a lot prettier than me.
So, this page might be slightly boring right now... but I promise, on my honour as an authoress, that it will improve with time. And improve quickly, at that. Feel free to ask any questions you like and I will add them to this page, with answers. No question is too frivolous!
Question: Who are you?
Answer: I'm a teacher. No, a writer. Actually, I write books.
Is an Anne quote not enough for you? No?
Alright then... I am a historian, an authoress, a teacher, and a lover of good books, good movies, and beautiful things. That is to say, good historical books, good historical movies, and beautiful historical things.
I am also a Janeite, a Leauguette, a Dickensian, and the very Annest of Anne fans. In case you are confused, that is to say, a fan of Jane Austen, a fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel, a fan of Charles Dickens, and a fan of Anne.
What? You say what Anne?? *gasps in horror* Why, the only Anne! Anne of Green Gables, of course!
And if you want to get into technicalities, I'm a Scottish-Irish-English-German-Swiss-French-Cherokee American. Emphasis on the Scottish, thank you very much!
Question: Is Juliette Deroulede your real name?
Answer: Actually... no. It is not. And don't bother asking my real name... that is one of the few questions I will not answer. Except to say that my first name is that of an ancient country ad my last name that of a Scottish clan. Have I intrigued you yet? I hope so. Please continue reading.
Oh, and I should add, (as those of you who are Leaguettes have already determined), my pen name is a combination of the two characters Juliette Marny and Paul Deroulede from Baroness Orczy's phenomenal book I Will Repay. If you haven't read it, firstly, shame on you, and secondly, read it now. Free, online. Click Here
Question: What is this blog for?
Answer: Ah, good question! To answer simply, this blog is to post my stories, novels, and fanfiction, to discuss the aforementioned good historical books, good historical movies, and beautiful historical things, and also... just to have fun! Good, old-fashioned fun, that is.
Question: What are your favorite authors?
Answer: Haven't I already said this? I'm pretty sure I've already said this. Read the above, underneath Question number one.
Question: What are your favorite movies?
Answer: Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea 1985; Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3 (Raimi Trilogy). The Story of a Patriot; The Scarlet Pimpernel 1982; Johnny Tremain; A Tale of Two Cities 1989; Chariots of Fire; The Slipper and the Rose; A Christmas Carol 1951; Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ 1959; My Fair Lady; Sense and Sensibility 1995; Emma 1996; Pride and Prejudice 1995; King Richard & the Crusaders; Somewhere in Time; Robin Hood (Disney Cartoon); Follow Me, Boys (Disney) and much more.
To put this simply, I have many, many tastes, hobbies, and such like. It is impossible for me to think of them all off the top of my head. So I leave it to you, Dear Readers. What do you want to know? I put you to the challenge. I want you to pepper me with questions! And also, if you want to discuss any topic whatsoever, pertaining to the categories previously expressed, please feel free! I am extremely open to conversation and fun! Enjoy!!
As the Story Girl said, “I do like a road, because you can always be wondering what is at the end of it.” I’m thoroughly enjoying the journey of seeing where your writing goes next! Every stop along the way is a delightful adventure in and of itself (:
ReplyDeleteLovely quote!! And as Anne said, "“When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does."
DeleteThank you for your comment and your support! Welcome to the blog and hope you have fun here! 😄
By the way, this is Juliette. For some reason, my own blog isn't allowing me to comment with my name 😆
Delete
ReplyDeleteOops, didn’t see your comment until just now....
Definitely! Thank you so much💕 I certainly am! It feels like having tumbled into a beloved storybook with a heroine who thinks just like I do😄
Wow... you totally made my day with that comment 😄 You're definitely a kindred spirit!!
DeleteThinking of ancient countries, and considering curiously the possibility that a certain one’s ruler may have once paid a visit to the wisest man who ever was! An intriguing puzzle indeed.
ReplyDeleteThis is a random muse, not a question, I promise!
Aha! It took me the longest time to figure out what you meant by that comment 😆 I'm a little slow at times. True, that's a possibility, but wrong country. Would be a pretty name though!
DeleteI just stumbled onto your blog, so...hello! *waves awkwardly*
ReplyDeleteI am something of a Janeite and Dickensian myself...though now that I think of it, I've only seen one Dickens movie. Rather shocking. (I've read more than one of his books, though, of course.) I've only read the first Scarlet Pimpernel book, but I'm planning on reading more! And though it's been quite a goodish bit since I've read L.M. Montgomery, back in the day I read (I believe) every novel that she wrote, along with nearly all her short stories. :P
Oh, and I'm curious...I'm assuming the 1996 Emma that you like is the Gwyneth Paltrow one? (Since the Kate Beckinsale Emma was made in 1996 as well! You'd think they could space these things out a little more.) Also, have you seen the 2008 Sense and Sensibility? :)
~ Lizzie Hexam
Hello, Lizzie, and welcome!!! *waves back* I'm Julie... aka Juliette... so glad to "meet" you!! And so terribly sorry for replying so late, I saw your comment right away, but I was on a trip and therefore only had wifi on the bathroom/food stops and since I've gotten back, I've been writing like mad. I'm not usually so abominably horrid at replying to comments 😆 Especially when kindred spirits are so few and far between and therefore not to be taken lightly!!
DeleteSo which Dickens movie have you seen, then?? I keep meaning to watch Bleak House and haven't yet, I hear that it's good!! And I have just now remembered in horror that I never finished watching Our Mutual Friend, which I started a year ago!!! 😳 Besides those, I think I've seen four Dickens movies 🤔 Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, and Cricket on the Hearth. I've read more than that though.
Ooh, you get to experience all the Scarlet Pimpernel stories for the first time, what a treat you are in for!!! The Elusive Pimpernel, that's my favorite. (first one I read, since that was the only one the bookstore had and the library didn't have any!! Horrors... I've read them all by now though.) El Dorado is fantastic too!!
Oh yes, definitely the Gwyneth Paltrow version, I absolutely love it!!! Rather shocked when I found it seems to be the least favorite among all the Emma adaptions. Yeah, all the good Austen adaptions somehow managed to end up between 1995-1996!!
I've seen bits and pieces of the 2008 S&S, from what I've seen, I'm 99% sure I wouldn't like it 🤔 I absolutely ADORE the 1995 S&S, it's my favorite Austen film/story ever!!!
Hope you enjoy the rest of the blog and I look forward to getting to know you better!! There are two other authors on the blog since I started it, Seonaid (Seon) is the owner of the Spider-Man page you see linked at the top. She's not around much. And EmilyNotStarr (Emi) is my "right-hand man", or "girl", I guess I should say. She hasn't posted much on the blog beyond an introduction that is down somewhere in the recent posts, but she's helping me with my book and is indispensable around here. The other kindred spirit you'll see around here fairly often is Ruth, a somewhat new arrival. She doesn't author the blog, but she comments a lot! Hope you get to know them all 😁
Btw, the book I mentioned, that's the reason the blog's been mostly dead lately, lol 😆 You can find it on the tab linked at the top, "The Duty That Lies Before Us"
~Julie
Ooh, what a lovely long reply!
DeleteNo worries at all! Life happens. I hope it was a great trip! Oh, I am flattered to be considered a kindred spirit. :D
I've seen the 1951 A Christmas Carol - we watch it every Christmas Day in my family. I would very much like to see the 2008 Little Dorrit (though I hear there are skippable bits in that), and I'd like to see Our Mutual Friend as well. (Though, heh, from the pictures I've seen, most of the actors don't like anything like how I pictured the characters. How rude of them not to read my mind and know just how all the characters should look.)
Yes, it should be a lot of fun! I haven't even seen the Scarlet Pimpernel movie...I know, I know, shame on me. I'd like to see it at some point. :)
Yes, the GP Emma gets too much hate. I think the perfect Emma adaption would maybe be a mix of the GP Emma and the Kate Beckinsale Emma (which had a rather dreadful Mr. Knightley, but an amazing supporting cast), with the length of the 2009 Emma. :)
Oh dear, you should give the 2008 Sense & Sensibility another try...it's my favorite S&S! Probably my favorite Austen movie, period. (Aside from the first scene, which is quite unnecessary and skippable.) Willoughby is a weak point, but other than that I think it's a lovely adaptation. I enjoy watching the '95 too (and it's fun that it has so many actors I recognize from other places!) but it has not overtaken the 2008's place in my heart. :P
*waves* Hello ladies! Look forward to meeting you all :D
Ooh, how much do you have written on your book so far? I've started multiple story projects, but I've never finished any of my longer ideas. I've written a lot of short stories...but I want a full bookkk :(
Yup 😁 We around here are known for our "rambles"!
DeleteOf course! Anyone who loves the same books as I do must be a kindred spirit. You can know so much about people by the books they read.
Ooh, yeees!! 1951 Christmas Carol is my family's tradition too, every single Christmas day!! And on Christmas Eve, we watch It's A Wonderful Life.
Isn't that just horrid?? I can't stand movies where the characters don't look like they should. That's my main problem with most of the Little Women adaptions.. I mean seriously. How could they possibly get Prof Bhaer wrong sooo many times??? 😡 Of course, he's perfect in the 2017 version... 😍 The problem is they took out his beautiful proposal... 😥
Scarlet Pimpernel is free on YouTube, you absolutely have to check it out sometime!! Now that's one movie that got the characters right, Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy is perfect. 😁
Oh yuck, the 2009 Mr. Knightley 😝😆 Dreadful is right!! Jeremy Northam is exactly what Mr. Knightley should be. But yeah, I definitely wish it was longer!!
Well, maybe I should give it a try, just to say I did, but based on how the actors look, I know I could never love it like I love the 95 version 😏 Now I have to ask, which version of Pride and Prejudice are you for?
Eheh... The book is approx 100,000 words at the moment and I'm very much not done yet... 😳 I plan to publish this winter. But two parts (25 chapters, I think) are available to read on the blog so far. So excited and so nervous about it!! Ooh, so you're a writer too!! We all write on here, another mark of a kindred spirit 😁 What do you write?
Well, I love rambles :D
DeleteQuite true, quite true! They say you can know a lot about someone's character by the company they keep - it's true of the fictional company they keep too!
Oh, how cool! It's a great movie, isn't it? As is It's a Wonderful Life! We often watch that during the Christmas season too. Another movie we discovered this past Christmas was The Man Who Invented Christmas...have you seen that one? Despite its rather silly name (as it's about Charles Dickens, who most demonstrably did not invent Christmas) I thought it was a really good and well-done movie.
Sadly, they usually DON'T look like my mental image...if they do a good job, though, I can forgive their appearance ;)
Oh, we started watching the 2017 Little Women, but I never actually got up to Professor Bhaer! They did Friedrich so wrong in the most recent 2019 Little Women. *shakes head sadly* I did rather like him in the 1994 one (though I know he doesn't look at all how he's described) but I did NOT like how they pushed and rushed his and Jo's romance in New York. It wasn't at all Bhaer-ly to rush into a relationship like that.
Lovely! I should try it out. Goodness, I've heard so many good things about Anthony Andrews' Sir Percy! I can't think of one person who liked the book and saw the movie and thought AA was a bad Sir Percy. :P
Hehe, well, the 2009 Mr. Knightley grew on me, though I still think he (and the 2020 Mr. Knightley) don't have quite enough gravitas. Mark Strong in the Kate Beckinsale Emma is the Mr. Knightley I like the least - he was much too rude and unkind! I agree that Jeremy Northam is the best of the lot. :)
Truth be told, most of the actors in the '08 don't look how I originally pictured the characters either, but I still love it dearly...so perhaps you will too ;) (Oh, and by the way, Andrew Davies (who wrote the screenplay for the '95 Pride & Prejudice) also wrote the screenplay for the '08 S&S :)) (Yes, that was a tactic to try to persuade you to watch it xP)
As for P&P, I probably like the '95 best on the whole, but I don't think it's perfect. It is certainly more faithful to the source material than the '05. However, I also think the '05 gets way more hate than it deserves - it doesn't change the plot or characters any more than some other Austen movies (less than some of them, I think), and yet it seems to be one of the most hated of all. (That last scene, though...is just - bad. :P)
Ooh, wow, that's awesome! Are you planning on making it a standalone book, or turning it into a series? And are you planning on self-publishing, or getting an agent and everything? Goodness yes, it must be quite exciting! I should check out the chapters you have up on the blog.
That's right! Writers unite :D Erm, well, I'm not sure exactly what my genre is...I guess what I write the most is mystery (but not murder mysteries), but with a strong focus on personalities and relationships, the mystery
being secondary to that, and usually some romance thrown in. Kind of like a mix of Jane Austen, L.M. Montgomery, and Nancy Drew. :P
(Well, I needn't have worried about never finishing a full book, since it looks like my response to you turned into one...)