The Authorized Version

 Old Friends from my real life and from my literary life filled my day in Louisville. I began with a quick chat with Tim Bullamore, publisher of the wonderful "Jane Austen's Regency World" Magazine who comes to the JASNA AGM every year to bring delight tonew rreaders.

And then lunch with novelist Syrie James, author of Jane Austen's First Love, among other great reads.

At last night's screening of the BBC documentary "At Home with the Georgians" I was thrilled when presenter Amanda Vickery, who will be speaking to us tomorrow, read from the journal and showed the homes of Dudley Ryder. Ryder, later the Early of Harrowby was the father of Granville Ryder, hero of To Be Worthy, book 3 in my Cambridge Chronicles which I am currently editing for re-publication. Vickery showed scenes from his home Sandon Hall where I researched in their muniment room. 

Today's excellent breakout session Sara Brown spoke on "Village Lifein Jane Austen's World: The View From the Rectory" quoting from Charles Simeon who features in both my Brandley's Search and To Be Worthy historical novels. She also read from Gilbert White whose home I have visited.

And then Dr. Gillian Dow from the Chawton House Library in Chawton, England, spoke about Edward Austen Knight's library at Godmersham--again, a place I visited when writing A Jane Austen Encounter. The Godmersham library even figures in the mystery--as does the Chawton House Library.

And as if all that wasn't enough of a family reunion, leaving the Grand Ballroom I paused to read the timeline chart of Women English Writers produced by Chawton House Libraryl, and again, came upon so many of my favorite writer friends and subjects: Marie de France, a character in my Arthurian grail search Glastonbury; Julian of Norwich, first women to write a book in English and Margery Kemp, first woman to write an autobiography in English--both subjects of my second Monastery Murder A Darkly Hidden Truth.

All of which is just further proof of the facgt that when you have books you always have friends wherever or whenever you go.