Local Author Wednesday: Sharon Lathan, author of The Darcy Saga

Welcome to the first ever Local Author Wednesday! 

Throughout the month of May I will be highlighting a local author once a week here on the blog. This highlight will include information on the author's most recent book/s, a giveaway (in which the authors are being so gracious as to donate), and something cool about at least one of their books to give you a feel of their writing. I'm hoping this feature will bring awareness to new local and international readers. Plus, I like giveaways!!! (To check out this month's guests, click on my original announcement, here.)

This week, I'd like to introduce you to historical romance novelist Sharon Lathan, author of The Darcy Saga (link), including her most recent release, The Passions of Dr. Darcy. If you love Jane Austen (or even if you haven't read her before or seen any of her books-turned-to-movies), The Darcy Saga is a great view into the "what ifs" had Ms. Austen continued on with her stories. 

 

The Passions of Dr. Darcy synopsis:

George Darcy is the second son of a wealthy landowner in Georgian Era England. At 22 he is one of the youngest medical doctorate graduates of Cambridge University and admitted licentiate from the London Royal College of Physicians, and thus considered a brilliant, rising star in England’s field of medicine. Yet Dr. Darcy refuses the easy, comfortable pathway and enlists as a physician with the British East India Company, embarking on a personal quest to broaden his education and practice his craft without the restraints imposed by British society.

The Passions of Dr. Darcy spans thirty-four years in the life of this incredible, eccentric man. Using vivid descriptions of the culture and atmosphere, the story traces his early steps as a new doctor in a strange land on to his eventual return to England and his childhood home decades later. This is a story of India and the people as well as of the diseases and medical care available. Primarily, however, this is the story of one man who strived to change the face of medicine while yearning to fill the void left within his soul upon the death of his identical twin when they were 12. His search for family, enduring love, and lost companionship is a quest not wholly realized until returning to England and Pemberley. There a new generation of family and friends will heal the physician, and to his greatest surprise, the true love of his life awaits.

***

Sounds pretty great, right? And now, for something a little different...  

In Pity Isn't An Option, Jonas, the male main character, writes a few meaningful words on a particular item and ends up giving it to someone. I thought this would be a fun theme to carry on in the Local Author Wednesdays, so I asked Sharon what few words would describe The Passions of Dr. Darcy best, and what item her main character would choose to share those words on. 

In Sharon's own words: 

Dr. George Darcy would etch his memorable words onto the lid of his massive traveling trunk. He would not wish to mar the thick deerskin, so would use a surgical scalpel to scratch onto the strips along the edge.

1.    Alex - the name of his identical twin who died at age twelve

2.    Pemberley - his ancestral estate, home of his heart, and where his family resides

3.    India - his adopted country and home for thirty years

4.  Healer - physician, surgeon, or apothecary... Western medicine or Ayurvedic techniques... for Dr. Darcy the only goal is to heal

5.   Humor - innate in his character, an epiphany while reading Proverbs 17:22 enforced the necessity of cheerfulness and humor to aid healing and live a happier life

6.   Passion - whether for medicine, life, adventure, friends, family, women, or even food and clothing, passion drives George Darcy onward and keeps him young

7.   Children’s laughter - after three years of introspection, George told a dear friend that this was his “favorite sound in all the world”

8.   Marriage - a deeply held desire not to be realized for a very long time

9.   Learn - George’s conviction is to never cease in his quest for more knowledge 

***
Thanks so much for sharing, Sharon! :) And now, for a giveaway!!! Sharon is giving away one free copy of The Passions of Dr. Darcy (ebook or paperback--winner's choice)! Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win (feel free to come back every day to enter)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Sharon

Sharon Lathan is the best-selling author of The Darcy Saga eight volume sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Sharon began writing in 2006 and her first novel, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One was published in 2009. Her eighth novel was released in April 2013, The Passions of Dr. Darcy, an epic tale of an English physician in Georgian Era India.

Sharon is a native Californian currently residing in the sunny San Joaquin Valley with her husband of twenty-eight years. When not hard at work on her faithful MacBookPro laptop or iMac desktop, Sharon is at the hospital where she works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU as she has for twenty-eight years.

Sharon is a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, the Romance Writers of America, the Beau Monde and Hearts Through History chapters of the RWA, and serves on the board of her local chapter, the Yosemite Romance Writers. In 2010 Sharon created Austen Authors with novelist Abigail Reynolds, a group blog for published Jane Austen literary fiction authors.

For more information about Sharon, the Regency Era, and her novels, visit her website/blog at: www.sharonlathan.net or search for her on Facebook and Twitter.

 Buy The Passions of Dr. Darcy on Amazon (link)

Find Sharon on 

Goodreads (link)   Facebook (link)  Twitter (link)