Kia ora

If you know me, you know I love Lady Susan. I'm thrilled a theatre company in the UK is doing an online adaptation - 41 videos sent to your inbox over 41 days starting 22 September!!! (Details here)

In my last email I mentioned how busy I was so it will come as no surprise that I overdid it....

Being neurodiverse in a neurotypical word is exhausting, I'm still learning my limits and getting better at asking for support. It's something that I work on with my coaching clients; I'm better at noticing it in other people than in myself.

One of the things I pushed myself to complete was an edited draft of Call it Hope which is now with beta readers. It'll be published this year, perhaps as early as October...maybe I should aim for November.

There's been a shakeup in next years Austen events due to unavailability of the book we'd planned to read. But all going to plan the tickets for the group read and book club might come out in two weeks! (The other event tickets will be available in October)

Ngā mihi nui,

Frances Duncan (she/they)

Author, Austenite, Life Coach

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2025 Austen Society Events

27 September: Costuming Austen's Characters Eventbrite or Humanitix $30

18 October: Book Club: Sense and Sensibility $25

19 November: Role playing $20

16 December: Austen’s 250th Birthday! $60

Future Years Austen Society Events

2026: Diversity

• Group read/ book club: TBC
• What if Wentworth Was a Woman. Talk by Amy Blythe, author of Within My Reach a Sapphic retelling of Austen’s Persuasion set in contemporary New Zealand
• Jane Austen and Bodily Diversity. An online talk by Kathleen James-Cavan 
• Beyond the Bookshelves: Diversity in Austen Retellings. A talk by Rachel Pilios

2027: Austen and Other Authors

• Harry Ricketts on Austen and Kipling
• Mark Houlahan on theatre in Mansfield Park with a focus on Lovers' Vows and Henry the Eighth
• Jocelyn Harris on Austen and Richardson
• Group read / book club: Old Friends and New Fancies (the first published Austen fanfiction)

2028: Austen and Medicine - seeking talks on topic

• Dr Emma Dunning on Gout in 19th Century Literature
• Group read / book club: Sandition