Yours Faithfully, Amanda

September 2, 2014 Dear Jane, Today marks the one year anniversary of  the first time I penned a (public) letter to you! I must confess that if I had not moved to New York City (one year and one day ago), I do not think that I would have begun this delightful venture, so I am very pleased that I did in fact move last September. It is wonderful to be able to read through all of my adventures from this past year and I am quite proud that I have been able to continue my correspondence with you (for we have already established how very lazy of a creature I can be at times).  Coincidentally, Jane, I arrived back in New York City from Springboro, Ohio on the same day that I moved last year (the first of September). Unfortunately, it is just as hot if not more so than it was on this day last year when I wrote to you for the first time. I know that it was in fact just as hot last year because I posted a picture about how it was so horridly humid  out that I could stick a lea...

August 21, 2014 Dear Jane, Although my letters to you may not arrive as often as I would prefer, I do find myself writing to you almost every day inside my head. Do not be alarmed, gentle readers, for strange voices do not plague my mind, but I have found that it is a true comfort to have someone to tell my thoughts to other than just my own (rather empty) mind. For this, I must thank you, Jane, for time and time again you allow me to confide in you! Now then, where to begin? First and foremost, I would be remiss if I did not relay my feelings of utter astonishment that today is already the twenty-first of August in the year of our Lord, two-thousand and fourteen. How did this come to pass, Jane? I am to leave Springboro, Ohio in approximately eleven days and I simply cannot account for where the time has gone this summer. It has been such a lovely (although eventful) summer here and I confess that I find it rather difficult to imagine life in the bustling city of New York ...

July 22, 2014 Dear Jane, I have kept my promise to write to you anew and I imagine that you would be quite proud, for both you and I may acknowledge how unlikely it was that I would follow through with this venture so quickly after my last letter . I write to you today as I sit on a sensible, plastic, picnic table located in the kitchen of the housing facility graciously provided to myself and six additional actors on the grounds of LaComedia Dinner Theatre in the great state of Ohio. Below you will find a photo of the handsome cast of Mary Poppins and our friend Chris from the previous cast in housing. From left to right: Chris, Ashley, Myself, Dan, Layne, Levi, Nico & Meg If I may be candid with you, Jane, you would find my situation this summer quite interesting, and I expect that you would write the wittiest of narratives that would perfectly describe each location and character involved. Seeing as you are not here to assist me, however, I shall attempt ...

July 18, 2014 Dear Jane, I write to you with a heavy heart, as I realize that today is, in fact, the anniversary of your untimely death. It has been one hundred and ninety-seven years since your bright light faded, but rest in peace knowing that you have left behind a legacy that will no doubt last for centuries to come. I chose the above quotation (from Pride & Prejudice , of course), as it perfectly describes my relationship both with you (as my favourite author) and your novels. I can scarcely remember the moment that I became enthralled by the worlds you created so brilliantly within your novels, but I am so very glad that I did. In fact, I have found that it is most certainly, a truth universally acknowledged that life is a little brighter with Miss Jane Austen by one's side.  As you may remember, Jane, I am currently residing in the great state of Ohio for these summer months, performing in a production of "Mary Poppins" at LaComedia Dinner Theatre. You ...

May 23, 2014 Dear Jane, How truly right you are in the above sentiment, for a large income seems to be one of the ONLY recipes for happiness at this time! Must making a living be so incredibly difficult, Jane? Why won't a kind, elderly gentleman or lady bestow an endowment upon me with the hopes that,  because of their admirable generosity,  I will become the most remarkable artist I can be? I confess that I struggled between using the above quotation and one other for my headline, so I shall share it, as it is equally relevant to this conversation.  " I am sorry to tell you that I am getting very extravagant, and spending all my money, and, what is worse for  you , I have been spending yours too."  ~ Letter to Cassandra (1811-04-18) [ Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition ] It is a true comfort to know that I am not the only one who enjoys being "extravagant" now and again. (And by extravagant I mean grocery shopping.... But also buying rings fro...

April 27, 2014 Dear Jane, I cannot believe that it is the twenty-seventh of April and that it has been over two months since I last penned a letter to you.   I am of the mind to sign the end of my letters, “Yours Unfaithfully, Amanda,” for no faithful pen pal would allow two long months to pass before writing to such a dear friend! I realize that I cannot make amends for my poor behavior, but in truth, I have thought of writing a thousand times! Whether it be daily obligations or that dreaded foe, laziness, something has continually gotten in my way, and I offer my sincerest apologies. I hope that in time, you are able to forgive me. Since last I wrote to you I turned the ripe age of twenty-five on the seventh of March in the Year of our Lord, two-thousand and fourteen. (This I cannot believe; I am becoming an old maid with no prospects just like poor, Charlotte Lucas! Oh Mr. Collins...!)  Images from my birthday dinner at the Machine Shed. I visited this re...

February 17, 2014 
Dear Jane, 
As you very well know, this is a quote from one of your letters to Fanny Knight (your niece) on 13 March 1817, and it truly made me laugh aloud (for it is painfully true)! This quote has inspired me to comprise a letter solely dedicated to both your wittiest and most romantic accounts of love throughout your letters and novels, and as Saint Valentine's Day was only three days ago, the subject of love is still quite relevant. Additionally, although I did not receive any fine poems of love from young gentlemen or obtain an invitation to a ball at the pump room in Bath, I can still appreciate an agreeable love quotation (especially one written by you) every now and again! Before I begin, I wanted to tell you that I came across the above-mentioned quotation on the cover of a fantastic book that I purchased about a week ago in a sad, little town called Roanoke, Virginia. It is entitled, The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen , and it may very well...