This is an Insecure Writer’s Support group post. The purpose of the group is to share, encourage, and express doubts or insecurities without feeling foolish, because believe me, we’ve all been there too. If you’d like to sign up for the hop yourself, click over here. The group is also on Twitter (@The IWSG) and on Instagram #IWSG

The September 2 question is: If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

The awesome co-hosts for the September 2 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Louise – Fundy Blue! Don’t forget to stop by their sites and say thanks, and maybe hit a few more blogs on the way. The goal of this group is to visit and spread the encouragement as much as you can.

And the answer to this month’s question is, I’d chose Jane Austen to be my beta reader. And, okay, full honest disclosure, I’d want to be besties as well. But we could work up to that.

Why? Well there are multiple reasons.

  • Austen was a keen observer of humanity. We would have so much fun people-watching and picking out ridiculous traits to caricature in a story.
  • Her sense of humor is exactly my type. #twinning
  • She was also driven, persistent, and effective, to become a paid author during a period when (let’s face it) purebred horses had more legal rights than females. I could use a little of her inspirational stubbornness in my own life, yes please.
  • She was a good writer (craft-wise) and would have many excellent points for me.
  • I’d be able to return the favor and beta read whatever she was currently working on which is a HUGE bonus. I’d finally get to read the ending she envisioned for Sanditon!
  • Whatever critique she’d deliver would be in the flowy, long Regency style, which I think would be a) so convoluted I might not even understand what she was saying at first anyway and b) so beautifully polite I wouldn’t mind even after I parsed her meaning.

(Austen Heroes are always the best heroes, hands down.)