Alison Stuart's Blog, page 4

#AuthorsforFireys

While I hasten to assure everyone that apart from smoke days, I am a long way from the fires but I doubt there is anyone who doesn't know someone directly impacted by the awful bushfires.

It has been amazing how the community, both here in Australia and overseas have responded to the crisis and my own writers community has set up an online Twitter auction under the hashtag #AuthorsforFireys. There is some amazing books and more on offer.

When I wrote THE POSTMISTRESS I set it in beautiful Gippsland and, for those who've read it, you will know that a bushfire plays a huge role in the story. Last year a real bushfire directly impacted the real town (Walhalla) on which Maiden's Creek is based. This year's fires are further to the east so fingers crossed Walhalla stays safe.

But if you would like to bid on a signed copy of THE POSTMISTRESS (bids are currently at Aus$100), the link is: https://twitter.com/AlisonStuart14/st...

Auction ends Sat 11 at 11pm Australian time.

THE GUARDIANS OF THE CROWN ARE ON SALE!

My lovely publisher at Escape Publishing has a Christmas gift for my readers in Australia and New Zealand.
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All three Guardians of the Crown books are on sale until the end of December... PERFECT HOLIDAY READING.

Starting at 99c for BY THE SWORD, $1.99 for THE KING'S MAN and $2.99 for EXILE'S RETURN.
Click on the button below for your favourite digital retailer!

BUY For those of you not within this territory - you can still pick up the three books in a box set for quite a discount on the individual purchase prices (Click HERE). 

When Smallpox came to a small town...

The lonely grave of Sarah Hanks - to be found near the Walhalla Cricket Ground ​“You have been made aware that we have been visited by the plague of small-pox,and that the case has resulted in the death of the patient…" So begins an article in the Gippsland Times dated 30 March 1869.

Today smallpox has been eradicated (existing only in a secure vault somewhere in a far off land, never to be released), but in the nineteenth century it was the plague. Highly infectious and in 30% of cases, fatal, it was no respecter of social station. It was spread by contact and despite vaccination being available (thank you Mr. Jenner), in the 1870s not everyone would have been routinely vaccinated as they are now.

The introduction of smallpox into a small closed community such as the township of Walhalla in Gippsland, Victoria, could have had devastating consequences. In researching THE POSTMISTRESS, I came across the following tragic tale, which I incorporated into my own story

In late 1868, smallpox came to Melbourne, resulting in the infection of 42 people and the death of at least 9. In February 1869 A young bride, 21 year old, Sarah Ann Hanks, recently married in Melbourne, returned to Walhalla with her new husband, a miner, Thomas Hanks. She and her husband stayed for a few days in one of the hotels in town but on 14 March, feeling unwell, the town’s resident doctor, Henry Hadden was sent for. Dr. Hadden had some first hand experience of smallpox and when the first tell tale signs (spots around the mouth) appeared, he acted fast. The town authorities were alerted and the hotel where the Hanks were staying was locked down. 

The police located an empty house some way out of town where the patient could be placed in isolation, but her husband refused to co-operate. Instead he spirited Sarah out of the hotel to his own residence, a cottage just north of the township. On the advice of the doctors (Dr. Boone and Dr. Hadden), the town authorities erected an eight foot high palisade around the house, effectively isolating the inhabitants.  In the meantime the doctors set about a radical vaccination programme to ensure everyone in the town was protected from the disease. Only Dr. Hadden was permitted to enter the infected house and despite the best care he could give the woman, she died in agony (her screams could be heard throughout the town) on the 23rd March.

The authorities faced a dilemma. The cemetery was to the south of the town and they could not in all good conscience, permit the carrying of her coffin through the major population centre so Sarah Ann Hanks was interred in a ten foot deep grave on top of the hill above her home. Her lonely grave can still be seen today near to the Walhalla Cricket Ground. 

Her husband and his son had by this time contracted the disease. They were removed to the temporary hospital well out of town and the house and everything in it was burned to the ground. The surviving Hanks family did not succumb to the disease and left town shortly after being cleared. 

From The Leader (Melbourne 3 April 1869):  “A correspondent at Walhalla, writing on the 25th of March, relates some additional particulars connected with the death of Mrs Hanks from smallpox, near that township : — ' Drs.Boone and Hadden say that this case was one of thd worst they ever met with, and Dr. Boone was a medical inspector to a smallpox hospital in America. The building in which Mrs Hanks died, and that adjoining it, were burnt to theground, and Mr Hanks, his child and nurse, have been removed by the police to some empty buildings at the Britannia Ree , three miles from Walhalla, approaching the end of Stringer's Creek.'

Dr. Hadden, the hero of the hour, did not live long to enjoy his moment. On 29 May, returning from Melbourne to Walhalla, he was found dead on the coach between Buneep (Bunyip) and Shady Creek. No cause was established, but it is widely assumed he died of alcohol poisoning. 

In an odd twist of life imitating art, at the time I began writing THE POSTMISTRESS, and the characters of Caleb and Doctor Bowen came to life, I hadn’t read the story of the smallpox scare. I had no idea that Walhalla’s real life doctors during that period were an alcoholic Irishman and a dissolute American… sometime fiction mirrors fact in the oddest ways!

References:  
For a detailed account of the Smallpox scare: A tale of Old Wallhalla - How we fought the smallpox in Wallhala by Henry Thomas Tisdall
Trove (for contemporary newspaper accounts of the smallpox scare) and Henry’s Hadden’s Eventful Life and Unusual Death

THE POSTMISTRESS is out now and available at all good booksellers around Australia and as an ebook at your favourite store. Click HERE to purchase 

Welcome to Maiden's Creek and the world of THE POSTMISTRESS

If you are familiar with my earlier books, you may be wondering why the move from the trouble and strife of the English Civil War to the wilds of the Australian bush.

Growing up my head and heart were firmly in English history and like, I suspect, many Australians, I considered Australian history a bit ho hum… no castles, kings, civil wars. Just dust and dirt and convicts!

However like Australia itself, I have grown up. I have travelled to the remote and lonely corners of this country in the company of my husband who has a passion for the Australian bush. Together we have stood in ruined homesteads and wondered about the life led by the people who settled a country that had no softness to spare for the weak. I have also explored my own family history - convicts, sailors and entrepreneurs.

What tipped my passions was reading a very badly researched historical romance set in my own home town of Melbourne. The story was so inaccurate, it was funny, but what upset me were the comments of reviewers on Amazon thanking the author for introducing them to this hitherto unknown history of Australia.
A great place to dream up a new world... This got me thinking and over a good bottle of red wine, while camping on the Snowy River, my husband and I started to mull over what sort of Australian story I could tell. 

We decided that a small town with a set cast of characters offered the greatest scope for a series of historical stories, but where?

On our way home from that camping trip we stopped, as we often do, in Walhalla - a tiny town deep in the valleys of the Great Dividing Range. A pretty, peaceful place with a permanent population of only twenty people. Following the discovery of gold in Stringers Creek in the 1860s, Walhalla became a gold mining town and at the time of Federation one of its mines was the highest yielding gold mine in Australia (and was honoured with being shown on one of the first stamps of the new Commonwealth). It ticked all the boxes for my fictional town. 

And why a fictional town? Quite simply I didn’t want to be constrained by the geography and history of a real town, but there are strong elements of Walhalla in my fictional Maiden’s Creek that anyone knowing the town may recognise and I have had fun researching some incidents in the early history of the town that fitted uncannily into my own narrative (more on those in future posts). 

So I had my town, the next step was to build the world of Maiden’s Creek. Who were the people who inhabited the town? What did the geography of the town look like?

What I loved about creating this world is the mix of nationalities (English, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish, Americans, Italians, Germans, Russians…) and personalities that were drawn to the gold fields. Shopkeepers, brothel owners, bakers, general stores, undertakers, livery stables and of course the gold miners all coming together against incredible physical odds to scrape a living from the earth. 
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So take yourself back to 1871...when the Sale coach leaves Melbourne and stops at a genuine stop on the old coach road called Shady Creek, the Maiden’s Creek coach driven by Amos Burrell arrives, ready to whisk you over the hills, across the Thompson River and down the steep, treacherous roads that will take you to Maiden’s Creek…  

THE POSTMISTRESS is on sale now in all good booksellers and retailers...  Images of present day Walhalla and surrounds... 

RELEASE DAY and a #SHELFIE CONTEST - THE POSTMISTRESS

There are only two reasons to go to Maiden’s Creek: Gold and a chance to escape your past.

Welcome to Maiden's Creek - a gold mining town in Victoria. The year is 1872 and the township of Maiden's Creek is thriving. Although it is less than ten years since gold was first discovered in the creek, there is now a substantial community clinging to the steep sides of the Maiden's Creek valley. The wealth coming from the gold mines is reflected in the presence of banks, churches, general stores, innumerable pubs, a Chinese market garden and, of course, the ladies of the night. It also boasts a newly constructed post office with telegraph linking the town to the outside world.

It is unfortunate that the only applicant for the role of postmaster turned out to be a woman, but she is capable, competent and well respected. Her name is Adelaide Greaves. As a widow with a ten year old son she has to make her way in the world - just don't ask her too many questions.

Fast forward to 17 June 2019 and Adelaide's story, THE POSTMISTRESS, hits the bookshelves (both actual and digital) today. 

BUY THE POSTMISTRESS #SHELFIE CONTEST Runs from 17 June - 4 July

If you see a copy of THE POSTMISTRESS 'in the wild' take a photo of it  - in store, on your eBook reader, on your book shelf,  - wherever you wish. Then post it on your favourite social media page, whether that be Insta, Twitter, Facebook.
​Tag me and hashtag the post with #thepostmistressbook.

But wait... there's more! You know all those self help seminars you go to that tell you to visualise your goal? Well, seeing my book in an airport bookshop was always my visualisation so there is a bonus mystery prize if you happen to see it in an airport bookshop! 

 I’ll be drawing the contest on 5 July.  I hope you win!

Best Historical TV dramas...

I had a lot of fun putting together this post about MY favourite TV dramas of all time. With The Postmistress coming out in a couple of weeks, I have begun with a selection of Australian historical series that you may not have heard of but were huge at the time.

I am sure I have missed off YOUR favourite... do comment on the blog post (or here)...

https://www.romance.com.au/the-best-h...

Sneak peek read: THE POSTMISTRESS

You can now access a sneak peek of the first few chapters of THE POSTMISTRESS (which will be released on 17 June).

Just click this link: https://www.romance.com.au/read-a-sne...

When Book Pirates Make You Laugh...

There is NOTHING funny about book piracy... and by that I mean the sites that steal your book and offer it up for free download. The reality is that most of them are only phishers looking for the unsuspecting reader (and what sort of reader goes to pirate sites!) to upload credit card or other details. Since I signed up to Blasty.com, I have recorded over 3000 pirate sites with my books on them. I gave up trying to chop the head of this particular hydra after one site offered a REPORT COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT button which I duly clicked and ended up infecting my computer with malware. No, they are not nice at all.
BUT just occasionally you come across something that makes you laugh out loud... and just the other day I stumbled on a pirate site offering up GATHER THE BONES for free download (and no, I am not sharing the link... it went straight to BLASTY).
In uploading the book, the pirate had evidently copied from another pirate site that had uploaded the book description (the blurb) in a foreign language. Our enterprising pirate had then run the foreign language blurb through Google translate and the resultant hot mess is laugh out loud funny... so here for your enjoyment is the blurb for GATHER THE BONES... pirate style... 
ENJOY AND SHARE... 
And if you would like to purchase a legal copy of GATHER THE BONES... Click the button below...  Button Text ORIGINAL BOOK DESCRIPTION PIRATE BLURB England 1923 and the Great War still casts a dark shadow over the lives of ordinary people.
Grieving widow, Helen Morrow and her husband’s cousin, the wounded and reclusive Paul, are haunted not only by the horrors of the trenches but ghosts from another time and another conflict. 
The desperate voice of a young woman reaches out to them from the pages of a coded diary and Paul and Helen are bound together in their search for answers, not only to the old mystery but also the circumstances surrounding the death of Helen’s husband at Passchandaele in 1917. 
As the two stories become entwined, Paul and Helen will not find peace or happiness until the mysteries are solved. ​England 1923 and the Great War still casts a aphotic adumbration over the lives of accustomed people.  Grieving widow, Helen Morrow and her husband’s cousin, the blood-soaked and antisocial Paul, are apparitional not alone by the horrors of the trenches but ghosts from addition time and addition conflict.  The atrocious articulation of a adolescent woman alcove out to them from the pages of a coded account and Paul and Helen are apprenticed calm in their chase for answers, not alone to the old abstruseness but additionally the affairs surrounding the afterlife of Helen’s bedmate at Passchandaele in 1917.  As the two belief become entwined, Paul and Helen will not acquisition accord or beatitude until the mysteries are solved.

Welcome back... and a Cover Reveal for THE POSTMISTRESS

It's been a long time since I last sat down to write a post (a whole year in fact!) ... and for that you can blame two contracts and four books to write! It doesn't leave much time for any other kind of writing.

However it is all coming to the pointy end now and I am delighted to reveal the cover for the first of my Australian Historical Romances... THE POSTMISTRESS. 
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It might surprise you to know the most nerve wracking part of the publishing process is the cover! 
When you publish independently you have full creative control over what goes on the cover of your book (and even then it can be hit or miss!). However when your book is in the hands of a publisher, you have to trust that the design team (affectionately known as the 'cover fairies') are in tune with your vision. 
Having poured a year of my life into writing THE POSTMISTRESS, it was with one eye half closed and my breath held, that I opened the email with the cover concept and I have to say the cover fairies have totally got it right! God bless them. I LOVE this cover... it captures the feel of the Australian bush in summer - that crackling dryness in a McCubbinesque manner and the girl... well, the girl, is Adelaide!
I hope you love the cover... and I hope you love the book...
It is not officially released until 1 July BUT you can preorder it now! Just click the button below and it will take you to a page with all your favourite digital stores AND the ability to preorder the print book too! 
So get clicking and be among the first to have THE POSTMISTRESS drop on to your kindle or into your post box.
That's it from me for the moment. If you want to be the first to know my news then please subscribe to my newsletter. I promise you won't be bombarded - I only send it out when I have news (and you get a free book!)

SO HERE SHE IS...

Preorder NOW! THE POSTMISTRESS (Australian Historical Romance) To forge a new life she must first deal with her past…
1871. Adelaide Greaves and her young son have found sanctuary in the Australian town of Maiden’s Creek, where she works as a postmistress. The rough Victorian goldmining settlement is a hard place for a woman — especially as the other women in town don’t know what to make of her— but through force of will and sheer necessity, Adelaide carves out a role.
But her past is coming to find her, and the embittered and scarred Confederate soldier Caleb Hunt, in town in search of gold and not without a dark past of his own, might be the only one who can help. Can Adelaide trust him? Can she trust anyone?
When death and danger threaten — some from her past, some borne of the Australian bush —she must swallow her pride and turn to Caleb to join her in the fight, a fight she is determined to win…

A Home for Harriet or Aim for Gold...

Cutting a dash on the slopes in 1995 (By the way... the now 'vintage' jacket is for sale... ) I am watching the Winter Olympics, awed by the seemingly effortless ability to balance on thin pieces of steel, hurtle down slopes at great speed, leap and twist in the air and still land on your skates/skis/boards. Every single medal winning athlete interviewed after the event looks at the interviewer with bright eyes and says… ‘This has been my goal… this has been my dream…’

World championships are nothing, winning Olympic fame is what they all strive for.

What we don’t see in their graceful performances, are the years and years and years of practice and broken dreams (and bones) that lie behind these few minutes. Through the pain and heartache they never let go of their goal to compete at the Olympics.

I may have been a complete klutz at sport, but I had a dream too… which began when I was a youngster, perched on a branch in the willow tree in the school quadrangle with my best friend, scribbling stories in our shorthand notebooks. We are going to be published authors we told each other… but, for me, came university, marriage, children, career… while my friend saw her first book published.  I rejoiced for her but writing for me seemed a very distant dream. 

Given my analogy to the Winter Olympics, it is ironic that my writing career, in fact, kicked off with a skiing accident that saw me confined to a lodge at Dinner Plain while the family hit the slopes for the day. With one arm in a sling and snow drifting against the windows I began the story that became BY THE SWORD. For months afterwards, I stole secret time to continue the story, drawn by the characters who had lived with me for so long. Was it really possible that the flame of hope that had burned so strongly in my teenage years could be rekindled? Could I become a published author? (In November last year I wrote a long post about my journey... you can click HERE to read it.)

Like those Olympic athletes I had to learn my craft and like them there have been falls and missteps, disappointments and the writerly equivalent of injuries (interference from career commitments mostly).  After the initial optimism (coming runner up in the Emma Darcy… even getting an agent – not my current one), my hopes began to waver. The agent experience was not a good one and apparently I was writing really good, but unpublishable books. ‘Can’t sell the English Civil War’ was the universal response. It would have been easy to hang up my pen and forget about writing… except I had stories to tell and a dream to fulfil.

Some years ago Mary Jo Putney asked me what I liked to read, when I confessed to crime and mystery she asked the very pertinent question… Why don’t I write it? I thought about it and I realised I did write it… under the guise of a romance both GATHER THE BONES and LORD SOMERTON’S HEIR are historical mysteries. 1992 and the start of a writing career (the rabbit was my 7yo son's... he gave it to me to make me feel better).
Which leads me to Harriet Gordon, who came to life off the pages of an old copy of Singapore’s Straigts Times (there will be much, much more about Harriet in posts to come). I had written her story during the 2011 Nanowrimo as a cosy mystery. I went back and rewrote and rewrote and rewrote. I submitted and was rejected, I pitched at conferences and was ignored or rejected… but I had huge faith in Harriet and so did my wonderful agent, Kevan Lyon, who picked me up after I pitched to her at the HNS Conference in Portland last year - a trip that changed my life (see the November post).

So by way of postscript to my November post, came this week’s news… and it was BIG. In publishing terms, Olympics big. Berkley (Penguin USA) wanted to buy Harriet and here, at long last, was the two book contract with a big US Publisher.

I am not so naive as to think ‘this is it’… I’m on the podium. It doesn’t get any better. Uh, uh…  this is just the beginning. All the old insecurities creep in… How do I meet deadlines and still have a life? What if the editor hates it? What if the public hate it? And so on… but I will get there. Harriet and I will get there together!

At an age when I should be actually retired and dandling my grandchildren on my knee, I am embarking on a whole new career. Doors I never thought I would ever reach have opened to me and the future is exciting but daunting and involves harder work than I have ever done in my life. This is not the end… it is just another beginning and like all new beginnings I have no idea what the future will hold but this is what I have wanted to do since I was a thirteen year old sitting in a willow tree writing ‘The Locket of Grace” (an English Civil War romance of course).

Through all the slips, trips, missteps, misdirections, poor choices, rejections and almost theres of my writing life, I never once lost sight of my goal. The answer was there all along, I just had to write something that someone wanted to publish. Easy. As easy as a triple lutz in figure skating… (and mercifully I didn’t have to rupture my ACL to get there – only dislocate my shoulder!)!

From that day in 1992 I made the fatal mistake of following my husband down a slope at Mt. Hotham that didn’t ‘look too steep’ (his words), it has only taken me twenty five years to become an overnight success.
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So... there you go! Just like those Olympic athletes, hold on to your dream, never stop learning, view each set back as a learning experience, pick yourself up off the ice, pick up the beat of the music, smile to the judges and keep going… You may not be a medal chance at these Olympics but there’s always the next one.
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