On December 16, 1775 Reverend George Austen and his wife Cassandra welcomed their second daughter. They named her Jane. I am sure they were overjoyed by their daughter’s birth and good health and certainly their hopes were high that she would live a full life, but I seriously doubt they would have imagined that 235 years in the future people all over the world would be celebrating her birth and accomplishments! Yet that is precisely what Jane Austen enthusiasts across the globe are doing.
The list of websites honoring her birthday are numerous and I will list a few. First I naturally have to give the prime focus to Austen Authors! We have several posts up today and tomorrow designed to shine the spotlight on this remarkable novelist whose written words have inspired us. Please come by and join in the fun!

Guess the Baby Photo of several authors for a chance to win a signed copy of A Darcy Christmas!

Take a stab at the Authors’ Secrets, all of which are related to Christmas. The answers are easily found within our posts! While you are there scroll down to read the past posts, join in the discussion on the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, and take the Fortnight Christmas Quiz #1. So much happens at Austen Authors! Tomorrow a new Fortnight Christmas Quiz will post for chances to win more awesome prizes, but it isn’t too late to enter the current quiz.
Websites hosting some sort of celebration, usually with giveaways attached, are plentiful. Here is a short list–

My Jane Austen Book Club (where I snagged this cool image!)

Austenesque Reviews

November’s Autumn

Jane Austen Addict

Many other blogs and websites, including a bunch of the Austen Authors, are celebrating. Make it a day of Jane!

Sourcebooks is getting involved as well. For today ONLY the following Austen-genre novels can be downloaded for FREE in various eBook formats. Look for them at online retailers.

Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken

The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown

The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins

The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview

Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan

Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

Over the weekend most JASNA chapters celebrated Jane’s birthday with a special event. I was fortunate to be involved in two of them. To my extreme honor and delight I was asked to donate a copy of A Darcy Christmas as a raffle prize for the JASNA NY Birthday Meeting. My co-author Carolyn Eberhart was too so 2 lucky winners now have a fabulous holiday book in their hands! Here are a couple photos–

Locally the JASNA region I belong to and am proud to serve on as a board member celebrated Jane’s birthday with a divine luncheon at the gorgeous Radisson in Fresno. Fine food, great company, and fun games! After that we headed over to Fresno’s historic Meux House, a Victorian Era mansion built in 1888 that has been restored and furnished as it would have originally been. I have never toured the museum so it was a fabulous treat for me.