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It’s another one of those “Why didn’t I think of this?” moments, and this one goes out to all of our “Masterpiece Classic” fans here at WETA/PBS. Every woman I know loves Jane Austen. Every man I know loves zombies. Seth Grahame-Smith evidently understands this at a deep level, since he has become Jane Austen’s co-author on the stunning new novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Have you ever seen a cover that makes you want to run out and buy the book like this one does? How could you resists the Regency maiden’s visage scraped down to the bone at jawline? This is intrigue that goes way beyond the lucite platform heels and Sharpie eyebrows of celebrity sites; this is the kind of narrative that cannot be created by a single author. 

In other words, it takes a mashup to create the silliest literary juxtaposition ever — and I can’t wait to read it! The author credits? “JANE AUSTEN is the author of Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and other masterpieces of English literature. SETH GRAHAME-SMITH is the author of How to Survive a Horror Movie and The Big Book of Porn. He lives in Los Angeles.” (With Seth’s credits, he might want to take a look at my husband’s latest brainstorm…)

Tell me, would you read a novel that is billed as “The Classic Regency Romance, Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem?” All I can think of is what will come next: War and Peace and Fava Beans with Chianti? The Canterbury Tales Serial-Killer Pilgrims? Wuthering Heights of Psychotic Madness?

Oh, wait; that last one is a tautology. 

Although I’m recommending this as the most romantic book possible for both sexes, it is sadly not available for purchase until May 13, from Quirk Books. Three months to wait! 

But not for everyone: I’m going to wheedle a copy for myself from Quirk today, and I’ll award that copy (lightly pre-owned!) to the commenter who leaves me the most creative literary mashup in these comments. Heck, if I get a lot of creative entries, I’ll find a way to get more copies of this soon-to-be-masterpiece. Because I love you all on this Valentine’s Day weekend.

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I owe apologies to several different authors and publicists, not to mention many readers. This week I was supposed to have posted three interviews with authors of books about Jane Austen, and I’ve been trying – I really have! I’m having technical difficulties with a far-too-expensive digital recorder that I bought from A Well-Known Store that is — get this! — a completely new and supposedly up-to-the-minute device that is not compatible with Windows Vista.

I found this crucial fact out the week after we got a new Vista-ready computer (my laptop is already loaded with Vista).

Rest assured my elves are on the case and we’ll get these interviews off of the fiendish recorder and they will be posted in their entirety. My sincere apologies to everyone who has been waiting for them; thank you for your patience!

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Welcome to our second Jane Austen discussion — this time, with Goucher College professor Carol Pippen, who is also the newsletter editor for the Jane Austen Society of North America.

We had a big crowd of readers who listened to me interview Carol about Pride and Prejudice, its BBC adaptation (recently run on PBS’s The Complete Jane Austen), and Jane Austen in general. I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with a number of Colin Firth jokes if you listen, but you’ll also get a wealth of information from Dr. Pippen about Jane Austen, her world, and her works.

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And now for something completely different…last week I had the honor of conducting an interview with Michael Dirda again, this time in front of a live audience of WETA members and donors. Dirda and I were asked to have a discussion about the BBC movie “Miss Austen Regrets” starring Olivia Williams and Greta Scaachi, that had aired on Sunday, February 3, as part of the PBS Masterpiece presentation of The Complete Jane Austen.

Both of us were a little apprehensive about the experience. After all, Janeites are notoriously well-informed about their favorite author and eager to dispel any mistakes made about her, too. Would we be up to the task?

I hope you’ll be able to see from this video that we at least acquitted ourselves with aplomb. More important, we both had a terrific time chatting about Austen, classics, the 18th century, adaptations, and women’s roles. We also got wonderful questions from the audience of approximately 80 Austen fans who were attentive and flattering (maybe it was the effect of the absolutely delicious tea and treats from DC’s Teaism that made them so nice…).

One of the most interesting things about our discussion was dismantling what in the film we thought was too modern. For example, both Dirda and I agreed that the scene with Jane Austen and her niece Fanny drinking wine and giggling in the shrubbery while gazing inside at the men with their cigars and port was something Carrie and Samantha from “Sex and the City” might do — but not well-bred 18th century ladies (and trust me, that’s not because those ladies wouldn’t want to, but only because they wouldn’t think of it).

I’ll be hosting two more of these Jane Austen-centric conversations, and I can’t wait. Although I have read all of Austen and am enjoying these productions, I’m certainly not an Austen expert, so I’m learning a lot in this process. Conversation about books…tea and scones…fellow readers…I love my work!

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In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a major television event going on right now for biblioholics everywhere: The Complete Jane Austen on Masterpiece from PBS.

Every Sunday night at nine p.m. (it started on January 13 and will continue through April 6), there will be a Jane Austen adaptation on your small screens. Some of them are new (Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility.) and some are already favorites (Emma, starring Kate Beckinsale and the Emmy Award-winning Pride and Prejudice). There’s even a brand-new biopic, Miss Austen Regrets, based on the author’s letters and diaries.

You should also check out the PBS.org site for this event, because it’s got some fun extras. My favorite? The “Men of Austen” gallery, where you can vote for your favorite hero.

C’mon, guess who my favorite is. Hint: it’s NOT Mr. Darcy…

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