As several of our Gentle Readers have expressed Concern over the workings of AustenBlog and the behavior of other visitors of late, we thought it might be a good idea to have an objective third party to mediate. Therefore, please welcome our new ombudsman, DCI Gene Hunt of the Criminal Investigation Department to the AustenBlog staff. (We won’t be reviewing any of his books, though; sorry.) You can call him Guv.

For those distraught and concerned by recent events on the blog, the Guv has a message:

We hope this new appointment improves your AustenBlog reading experience. Trust the Gene Genie.

We’ll be doing a bit of maintenance on AustenBlog tonight around 11 Eastern time, and the blog will be unavailable. Hopefully it won’t take too long!

ETA: We’ve upgraded to the latest version of WordPress. So far so good. Please let us know in comments to this thread if you experience any problems or weirdness.

(Some VERY interesting things going on under the hood, for those of you who use WordPress for your blogging!)

The Editrix has been under the weather for a few days, having caught the contagion that is sweeping le travail de la journée the past couple of weeks. Also the ceiling began leaking at AustenBlog World Headquarters earlier this week, clearly an evil plot by the Wickhams, which apparently has been fixed. Or so they say. Anyway, hope to get back to normal now.

We did a quick update to the latest version of WordPress due to technical issues, though we’ve been meaning to do it for a while anyway!

Live Comment Preview does not seem to be working and we’re not sure why. Will look into it. Please use the comments of this thread to report any weirdness.

ETA: Having some issues with the categories list in the menu, number one being it’s fugly.

Wishing our readers a safe and happy holiday season!

In case you’re wondering how Jane Austen and her family might have celebrated Christmas, Alert Janeite Baja Janeite sent us a link to Regency Christmas traditions. Ms. Place has some more at Jane Austen’s World.

And for those of us who long to spend Christmas in Bath, here’s a post from Ripple Effects with lots of photos of Bath in December.

ETA: And how could we forget? Julie T. sent us a little Janeite holiday cheer…

“Cassandra’s was the colder and calmer disposition; she was always prudent and well judging, but with less outward demonstration of feeling and less sunniness of temper than Jane possessed. It was remarked in her family that ‘Cassandra had the merit of having her temper always under command, but that Jane had the happiness of a temper that never required to be commanded.’ When ‘Sense and Sensibility’ came out, some persons, who knew the family slightly, surmised that the two elder Miss Dashwoods were intended by the author for her sister and herself; but this could not be the case. Cassandra’s character might indeed represent the ‘sense’ of Elinor, but Jane’s had little in common with the ‘sensibility’ of Marianne. The young woman who, before the age of twenty, could so clearly discern the failings of Marianne Dashwood, could hardly have been subject to them herself.”

- From A Memoir of Jane Austen by J.E. Austen-Leigh

We are a little late with this today, but we hope wherever you are, you lifted a cup or glass ‘to Jane’ today! Happy Birthday, Jane, and may your light continue to shine for another 232 years, and more!

For those of you who saw the “site suspended” notice, apparently there was an issue with e-mail. The hosting company has reinstated the site but suspended e-mail until we get it straightened out. If you need to send us e-mail today, send it to austen blog (without the space) at gmail dot com.

Alert Janeite Kimberly let us know that actor and director Anton Rodgers, husband of Janeite favorite Elizabeth Garvie (and co-star of her traveling Jane Austen show) has died at the age of 74. AustenBlog extends our condolences to Ms. Garvie and her family.

Congratulations to Karen C., who has won a copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler, courtesy of Dutton.

In answer to our quiz question, Karen wrote, “I would love to visit Jane Austen’s time, but I am not sure I want to live there permanently.” We think she speaks for many of us!

Still lots of goodies in the AustenBlog swag box, and we brought some home from Vancouver, too, so stay tuned. Look for another giveaway tomorrow.

Congratulations to Niamh, the winner of a copy of Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil Brinton, courtesy of Sourcebooks. Thanks to all who entered, and if you didn’t win, we still have some swag in store in the coming weeks.

As a matter of interest, the best-loved villain of this very unscientific sample of Janeites was Wickham by one vote over the dashing but dastardly Willoughby. One respondent asked if we meant the villain best liked as a character or most loathed, which is a good question. We think whatever draws you to a character makes him or her your favorite, so either one worked for us! Other popular villains (for whatever value of popularity applies) were Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Henry Crawford, Caroline Bingley, General Tilney, Lady Susan, John Thorpe, Frank Churchill, Lucy Steele, Weasel Boy Elliot, Fanny Dashwood, and of course Mrs. Norris.

Congratulations to Amy R., who won the drawing for a copy of Letters From Pemberley. We still have a pile of swag to give away, so if you didn’t win, be ready to try again!

AustenBlog.com is completely payola-free. If we endorse something or give it a positive review, it is because we genuinely liked it and thought our Gentle Readers would as well, not because of a quid pro quo arrangement of any kind. We recognize that everyone does not share our taste; as Miss Woodhouse said, one half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.

No one involved with this blog receives a penny for their work on it. Reviewers receive review copies of books, but as some authors can tell you, that does not guarantee a positive review. Many of our book reviews are of books that the reviewer purchased or borrowed.

Thank you for your attention.

Does anyone have a copy of the 1977 edition of Pemberley Shades by D. A. Bonavia-Hunt? If so, please e-mail the Editrix. (No, we don’t want to buy it; we have a question about it.)

Too lazy/exhausted to post. Consider this an open thread. What’s new in the world of Jane Austen fans?

Congratulations to Dianna, the winner of a signed copy of The Jane Austen Handbook! We probably will have another drawing later this summer and then one in January to celebrate The Compleat Jane on PBS.

Don’t forget, if you have a copy of the book and would like a signed bookplate, directions for obtaining one are at the Editrix’s personal site.

Attention crossword puzzlers: the word you are seeking is most likely EMMA.

This has been a public service announcement by AustenBlog.com. We now return you to our regularly scheduled blog.

Congratulations to LauraGrace, who knew that the phrase “a neighbourhood of voluntary spies” is from Jane Austen’s novel Northanger Abbey.

“If I understand you rightly, you had formed a surmise of such horror as I have hardly words to — Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions you have entertained. What have you been judging from? Remember the country and the age in which we live. Remember that we are English, that we are Christians. Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you. — Does our education prepare us for such atrocities? Do our laws connive at them? Could they be perpetrated without being known, in a country like this, where social and literary intercourse is on such a footing, where every man is surrounded by a neighbourhood of voluntary spies, and where roads and newspapers lay everything open? Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you been admitting?”

LauraGrace’s name was drawn to win a copy of The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen, compiled by Dominique Enright. Congratulations to LauraGrace and many thanks to all who entered the contest.

The winner of the drawing for a copy of 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Jane Austen by Patrice Hannon is….Rob Hardy! (Who apparently is not the same Robert Hardy who played General Tilney and Sir John Middleton in various Austen adaptations, though his first posts gave us a bit of a turn.)

Congratulations, Rob!

“I want to tell you that I have got my own darling Child from London.” - Jane talking about receiving her copy of Pride and Prejudice in a letter to Cassandra Austen, 29 January 1813

Because the Editrix is a hopeless geek, behold the Unboxing Photo of “her own darling child,” messengered to le travail du journée late this afternoon. Apologies for the quality of the photo. Our hand was shaking just a bit.

(Obligatory Shameless Self-Promotion: Available for preorder at all online and brick and mortar booksellers! Consult the right menu for all the relevant links.)

Heather L. has agreed to join the staff of AustenBlog. We could not be more delighted, as she is a knowledgeable Janeite, a talented writer, and very funny. Please welcome her!

The Editrix won’t be around much the next few days, as she is trying to get caught up on a few non-blogging writing projects, but the AustenBlog Cub Reporters will be around, and they have all been issued official Cluebats of their own, so keep your noses clean if you know what’s good for ya.