Alert Janeite Joan wrote to alert us to a new book deal from Publisher’s Weekly:

Newbery Honor winner for YA novel Princess Academy Shannon Hale’s AUSTENLAND, about a young New York woman named Jane who can never seem to find the right man — perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy as played by Colin Firth — who goes on a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, to Amanda Katz at Bloomsbury, in a two-book deal, by Nadia Cornier at Firebrand Literary (NA).

We suppose it is better than Yet Another navel-gazing essay on whether Jane Austen wrote ChickLit, though we are not sure whether to be amused or appalled. This could be really fun, but let’s face it, there is SO much scope for sheer eye-sporking suckage here that it really is quite breathtaking.

We’ll cross our fingers and hope for fun, because despite the popular apprehension the Editrix really is a glass-half-full kind of gal, and besides we are fresh out of sporks.

Krysten Appelbaum writes about her “minimester” studying in Jane Austen’s England.

The one object that truly had an impact on me, was Austen’s writing table - seeing it in her house in Chawton, situated in the same place as it was in her day.

It reminded me that her novels did not suddenly appear for me to enjoy, but that her writing was a process, just as anyone’s is. I stood there imagining her sitting at the little table contemplating her characters, working through bouts of writers block, and then pouring out long passages onto paper after sudden inspiration.

Her writing table, as small and insignificant as it might have seemed to any other person, made me realize my connection with her was not only an author to a reader, but a writer to a writer.

We hope they got to go to Steventon. That was the place that resonated with “Janeness” the most in our experience; probably because it is so retired that it seems to be very much like it was in Jane Austen’s day. The yew tree in the churchyard might be rather bigger, however.

The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, WV is sponsoring a contest to win a copy of the P&P3 DVD. The article does not say if the winner must be from the local area, but we assume it will be a Region 1 DVD, so if you cannot play such a DVD, you probably should not enter. Also, most likely other publications will have similar contests.

They make you work for it, too…you have to write an 100-200-word essay on one of five topics. That should not be a problem for any Janeite.