Ailsa Abraham's Blog: Ailsa Abraham, page 11

A BED OF BRAMBLES BY SAM RUSSELL

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Genre: Contemporary Romance

Series: Draymere Hall #2

Release Date: 11th March 2017

Hettie and Alexander are back, and this was never going to be a conventional love story. No bed of roses. Proud, passionate and wilful, they are alike in so many ways. That has to be a good thing doesn’t it? Or it could be a disaster…both carry scars, and old wounds have a habit of causing new hurt.

Physical attraction draws them together but hearts and minds can be thorny. One thing is certain, together or apart their lives will move on. Alexander and Hettie’s clashes of spirit will only be part of the story.

Second chances. New beginnings. The opportunity to make things right. Or to make the same mistakes all over again. Unless fate takes the future out of your hands…

Praise for Sam Russell

‘Russell delves into her characters’ minds exposing their innermost thoughts, fears, and desires’

‘The author’s ability to flesh out a character into a believable human being is what sets a great book above the rest’

‘Sam Russell’s beautiful writing draws you right into Draymere alongside Hettie, Alexander the horses and dogs, and keeps you there’

 

EXCERPT

Her sharp green eyes slipped over him as she scanned the arrivals hall. He noticed the dusting of sun-freckles across her cheeks and his heart clenched as he waited. He needed to read her face, to believe she was back for good. Her gaze swept around again, and this time their eyes connected. For a suspended moment it felt as if his heart stopped beating, and the pit of his stomach fell.

Then she grinned at him.

The suitcase swung into her legs at her sudden change of direction. He waved, and she abandoned the case and ran at him. He lifted her off the ground and pressed his eyes shut, not trusting himself to speak. He felt her breath warm on his neck.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

ABOUT SAM RUSSELL

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Sam Russell was born in London, but it was her family’s move to the countryside which ignited her passion for writing and love of the rural life. She worked as a groom and trained as a riding instructor, teaching in the UK and abroad before returning home and marrying a farmer.

Sam ran a livery stables from the farm whilst raising their three children. Her writing, which was a hobby while the children were young, took off when they flew the nest. She was encouraged to write and publish her debut novel, A Bed of Barley Straw. Her latest book, A Bed of Brambles, is the second novel in the Draymere Hall Series.

When she’s not writing, Sam will be out and about on the farm with the animals and the dogs. You can read more of her story on her Rustic Romance blog.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamRussellAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamRussellBooks

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13571859.Sam_Russell

Blog: https://russellromance.com/blog/

Website: https://russellromance.com/about/

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GIVEAWAY

A signed paperback copy of the book (UK only)

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017221/?

Say “Misty” for me!

[image error]Welcome today to a completely new friend and writer, Misty Harvey who has come all the way from the States to visit today. Come in off that flying carpet, Hon, you must have got a bit chilly up there. Hope the Atlantic wasn’t too rough. Did you see any dolphins?

Hello, Ailsa. Thank you for the invitation. The trip over the Atlantic was so beautiful. I got to see many animals that I wouldn’t normally see as I don’t live close to any oceans. So the trip in was amazing. All the pods of dolphins below and I believe I saw a whale or two as well. It was really quite exciting.

Oh I remember that only too well from when I lived aboard my boat. Now I know that you have a book release around about the same date as mine.

I do, the ebook releases on the 16 th and the paperback will be shortly after that. Congratulations on your book release as well! It is such an exciting time for both of us.

Isn’t it? No matter how long I stay in this game, I’ll never get over the feeling of having MY new book in my hands! Grab a drink and something to eat and tell us all about it. What genre (if that is possible, mine tend to straddle two or three at once).

Thank you so much. (grabs a cup of tea and a small tea sandwich) My novels tend to straddle many genres as well. I would have to say this one leans more in the horror or psychological thriller genre than anywhere else.

Is it your first book? What was your first publication? Have some cake, it’s home made but not poisonous.

This isn’t my first novel. My first publication was a vampire thriller five years ago and again a few years ago I released another horror/thriller novel called Soul Reaper. The vampire thriller one is no longer available, but Soul Reaper is.

How did you come up with this idea?

Actually, I originally came up with this story idea after watching horror movies with my sisters. We shut down a particular one, though I can’t remember the name now. It was in a foreign language and it got hard to read the subtitles after a while so we quit watching. I haven’t been able to shake that movie since that point in time as I never did learn what happened. It happened again with a horror book I was reading and never finished as well. It left me unable to shake the movie and book so I got to thinking what could possibly happen when you are left without an ending to such books. That became the basis for Malevolent Mind after that point.

How much of your own life experience is in it?

At first, I didn’t think there was much of my actual life in that novel, but when discussing it over with my editor I was surprised to realize how much of me was actually in there. My nephew and I would write these grand horror stories as young children that we’d use to scare our younger siblings with all the time. We were quite mischievous and always in trouble for it.

Give us all the info you can without spoilers.[image error]

Malevolent Mind is hands down my best novel to date. It is about what happens when you don’t finish a horror novel and the things that can come from such. Here is the blurb for the novel and a snippet. I hope all of you enjoy. Thank you so much for having me by your kitchen for a little chat. It has been lovely to get a chance to talk with you and those that have stopped by.

Blurb:

A story so dark, twisted, and unfinished has a way of driving the sanest to the brink of insanity.

Between the constant state of bullying from Heath and his friends, and the unrest of not knowing what happened to her twin, Raven seeks revenge. Years later, she becomes the nanny for Heath’s young son, Kade. She helps him start a horror story with the plan to bring the horrible creature Kade created into the real world to torment Heath and his friends. It was perfect, until everything began unravelling. When Kade’s creation no longer wishes to do Raven’s bidding, it becomes a fight for life or death. The only way to survive is to figure out how to finish off the creature before she finds her freedom. Will Kade find a way to stop the creation of his malevolent mind? Or will Raven’s revenge consume them all?

Excerpt:

Kade sat there in the middle of the room. He pulled his legs up against his chest, wrapping his arms around them. There was nothing to see now that his head cowered there in the darkness of his own lap. If tonight was the night that he’d die, he wasn’t so sure he’d want to see either of the girls coming for him.

His ears perked up. Behind him came the sound of wet clothes slapping together. He lifted his head, unable to keep it down. It was just his imagination. That was all.

The feel of icy breath slid over the back of his neck. Each tiny hair stood at attention as the stench of decay washed over him. Was it the girl from the river or was it Zilla? Kade flipped onto his knees, the beam of the flashlight straight forward.

There, inches from his face, was Zilla. She stared at him. Her mouth was open at an angle as her tongue flicked out against the air. It was too late to run anywhere.

Death stared him right in the face. Part of him felt relief that it was only her. Of course, that was if the other one wasn’t waiting for him as well. He didn’t dare move the flashlight beam to find out. Zilla had appeared out of nowhere so who knew what would happen once the light wasn’t on her?

Kade watched as her blue-tinged hand reached up for him. She held her hand for him to take. Something told him that doing so would be the end of him. Panic gripped his insides and he knew he had moments to make the first move. If he didn’t react soon, she’d overpower him.

He swung out with the flashlight, catching her on the side of the head. Her body rolled across the floor with a sickening thud. Kade was sure that the magnum flashlight had cracked her skull. It had nearly broken his foot when he’d dropped it one time. He jumped across his bed, darting into the hallway. His gaze moved around the hall as he tried to make out anything.

The sound of her rapidly skittering toward him had him running down the hallway. He stopped at Raven’s door, trying her handle, but the door wouldn’t budge. Instead, the old wood rattled in the frame.

In a flash of lightning, he watched Zilla skitter into the hall on her hands and feet, her body parallel to the floor as she let out a sickening hiss. Half of her head remained dented in from where he’d clocked her with the flashlight. It was a terrifying image to behold. The fact that she continued to chase him regardless turned his stomach.

Kade looked back only briefly before he ran. She was close on his heels. In the distance, he could just make out his father’s door. His bare feet padded against the wood flooring.

Goosebumps raced up his spine as her icy fingers wrapped around his ankle. The weight of his body hit the floor with a loud thud. His head bounced against the hard surface blurring his vision. Tears filled his eyes making it even harder to see. At least now, he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing his death coming.

The cold sensation crept up his leg, over his knee and toward his waist. He could feel the weight of her above him as she crawled up his body. Time slowed so that each second felt like eons. The stench of her undead body burned at his nostrils. Kade gagged on the smell that was so strong he could almost taste it.

He didn’t want to die. Life was too short for him. There was still so much that he wanted to do. Besides, he wasn’t sure who would take care of his father if he wasn’t there any longer. That thought rolled inside of him. He wasn’t going to go out like this, a cowering lump of fear on the floor. If she wanted to kill him, she’d have to fight a lot harder for it.

Kade grabbed her arms, rolling them over as he kicked out with both his legs. Her body smashed into the wall across from them, freeing him to run. He scrambled onto his feet, darting for his father’s room.

The bright light blinded him as he ran for it. That was it. He’d found his end and now he was headed into the light. Just as he’d read in another book. It was his time to cross over.

Finally, as usual a brief Bio and links please

Misty Harvey loves writing spine-tingling horror novels sure to thrill readers. The psychology behind such tales has always been a fascination for her since she was younger. Even to the point that she once contemplated taking up psychology as a profession. Still, her love resides in the art of storytelling. An art she wishes to continue to share with readers for the rest of her days.

After climbing out of her writing cave and searching the house for the sound of the latest creak or pop, Misty can be found doing one of many things. Often times she spends the remained of her day with her amazingly supportive husband and youngest daughter. While she has two older children that are out there spreading their wings around the world, including giving her a few grandchildren.

Her favorite things to do when not writing are crafts, wrestling with her dog, avoiding her cat’s bite or generally making her husband and daughter crazy. Often times she can be found creating vivid tales with her daughter about whatever mundane thing happened in their day and turning it into a crazy story. She is also an avid gamer, crochet goddess (we shall pretend there), domestic queen, and animal tamer (it’s a work in progress).

So we have lots in common, Misty! I’m fine with animals, it’s the ‘domestic’ with me that is unfinished study!

Do come again soon – now hop up on the carpet and say “Home, please” and it will take you there.

Stalker Links:

Website: Mistyharvey.com

Facebook: Author Misty Harvey

Twitter: AuthorMDHarvey

Goodreads: Author Misty Harvey

Nancy is a Diamond!

[image error]Nancy Jardine

Coming in on the magic carpet now is my dear friend and fellow-Scot, Nancy Jardine.

I’m so excited to see her as it’s been a while since she was at the cottage although she was one of the gang who really helped me out at my latest book-launch. 

“OK Nancy, just say “Down, boy!” and the Axminster will descend. Great!”

Hello m’dear. I have a couple of bottles of Malbec and some nibbles.  I only discovered it when I was over in Surrey with my bereaved friend recently. I know you like it too so let’s dig in, you aren’t driving! Now, a wee birdie told me that you won a DIAMOND award. I’m not surprised, of course, because I’ve read all your work and it deserves that. Spill the neaps then, gal – tell us about it.

Hello, Ailsa. I’ll gladly have a wee glass of that Malbec, please, since it’s been a hectic week and it’s Wednesday! Now, as to the Diamonds…

Diamond is the word but it’s a Discovering Diamonds Review which is only awarded when the historical novel fulfils the site’s aim “… to publish honest reviews of good books written by good authors, and ‘award’ eye-catching logos to be used as and where the authors wish in order to draw attention to their work.”

The ‘DISCOVERING DIAMONDS’ site was set up fairly recently by an author called Helen Hollick. Helen used to be the Managing Editor for Indie Reviews for the Historical Novel Society but she decided that she could spend her time better by setting up her own review blog site. Her aim is to be as helpful as she can to Indie authors of historical fiction. She believed that setting up her own site was the way forward to gain exposure for good books published by indie authors and for those who are traditionally published by small independent publishers.

This meant that I could send in #1 of my Celtic Fervour Series The Beltane Choice to the Discovering Diamonds site and hope that they’d accept it. Which to my delight, they did!

There are other review blog sites out there which do not accept historical novels from small independent publishers and will only review those they deem to be self-published. And there are site which are ‘paid for’ review sites, some of which are now frowned upon, I believe, by Amazon etc. In between those two categories there are also sites which charge the author a small ‘handling’ fee which they use to buy authentic copies of the novel for their reviewing team. Some sites in this last category will only read and post reviews for self- published authors of historical fiction.

At Discovering Diamonds, there is a team of hitherto well established reviewers who give their time to the site, totally free of charge to the author which means the Discovering Diamonds site gives out genuine, honest, and not ‘paid-for reviews’. Their objectives when reviewing are being able to recommend the novel is good value for money, and is a good read that would warrant a 3 + rating.

The Discovering Diamonds Review standards are very high so being awarded their eye-catching award is a great honour and I’ve added the award logo to my blog and website.

Fabulous! Now you have quite a few books out there in Reader Land – let’s see the covers.

***

Nancy Jardine’s Celtic Fervour Series of historical romantic adventures is set in first century northern Roman Britain whereas her contemporary romantic mysteries are set in fabulous world-wide cities, Topaz Eyes being a finalist in The People’s Book Prize 2014. The Taexali Game, her Teen time-travel adventure, is set in third century Roman Scotland. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the Scottish Association of Writers and the Federation of Writers Scotland.

You can find her at these places:

Blog: http://nancyjardine.blogspot.co.uk  Website: http://nancyjardineauthor.com/   Facebook: http://on.fb.me/XeQdkG & http://on.fb.me/1Kaeh5G

email: nan_jar@btinternet.com Twitter @nansjar

Amazon Author page http://viewauthor.at/mybooksandnewspagehere

Celtic fervour Series:[image error]

#1 The Beltane Choice http://getbook.at/myamazonplace

#2 After Whorl: Bran Reborn http://getbook.at/pageatamazon

#3 After Whorl: donning Double Cloaks http://getbook.at/hereistheplace

Contemporary Mysteries

Topaz Eyes http://getbook.at/buymehere

Take Me Now http://mybook.to/funcorporatesabotagemystery[image error]

Monogamy Twist http://getbook.at/findithere

Historical Teen Time Travel

The Taexali Game http://getbook.at/findmeonamazon

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The Team!

Here are the team who helped me make my Attention to Death launch such a success. They all published articles on their blogs to publicise my latest book. They are fabulous friends and MY family. Nobody paid them, they volunteered. Of course, I can’t do anything without Nanny Ab!

So let’s have a standing ovation for

In alphabetical order linked to their Facebook accounts.

Sue Barnard

Jane Bwye

Cathie Dunn

Miriam Drori

June Gundlack

Cristina Hodgson

Nancy Jardine

Emma Rose Millar

Columbkill Noonan

Neil Randall

Shani Struthers

Tim Taylor

Maureen Vincent-Northam

Jennifer C Wilson

Angela Wren

Cyber Bullying

I was bullied at school but, until yesterday had never been bullied on the internet. It was a double shocker because A) it was a happy day, the launch of my first new book in 3 years following my near-fatal motorbike accident B) the perp was someone supposedly au fait with the book business.

You would think that everyone involved would realise that a writer with a publisher has a lot of fellow-authors who help each other. It would be natural, therefore, to expect my colleagues from Crooked Cat to be posting all over the place to share my joy. No?

It started when Jane Bwye, possibly the most gentle and inoffensive person I know, posted a share on The Bookshop Café on FB. Their banner reads “Welcome book lover, you are among friends.” which now makes me think with friends like that who needs enemies?

She was given the sort of ticking-off a naughty schoolgirl could expect from a prefect (believe me, I was at a girls’ public school). She was accused of SELF-promotion. excuse me, literary genius, but that would be publicising her OWN work, not that of a friend, wouldn’t it? So I contacted this over-bearing moderator and we had a private discussion on FB message.

If I thought he was rude to Jane Bwye, he was only getting started! Remember that this man does not know me, has had no dealings with me on internet and still feels he can throw accusations like this around…..

Matt Mason    : It’s also very underhand to ask other members to promote for you to get around our rules.

Either this guy is a total moron who knows nothing about the publishing industry and authors helping each other, or he is accusing me of being a CHEAT! I am not. I never cheat, bend rules or “get around” guidelines. My faith ensures that I am scrupulously honest at all times. It is a point of honour with me.

I explained that I also have groups and would never spam or ask others to do so for me. He refused to apologise. I told him he was badly-brought up which is one of the worst insults we French can give – it is a slur on the person AND their family. Cheat, my backside – I can find much more fitting words for this, including “idiot” which he also used in conversation with me.

Well – people have looked at how he spoke to Jane, heard what he called me and left that group. Hope he’s happy.

It’s no way to run a railway…or a book-centred FB group.

 

Criminal Cock-up!

Enormous thanks to my co-hosts Jane Bwye, Nancy Jardine, Sue Bernard and Katy Johnson for holding the fort when my Attention to Death launch party crashed due to a farmer knocking down a telegraph pole.

Such is the fun of life in the wilds of near-Alpine France.

So to make up for it, we are going to have a continuation today on this connection

It couldn’t be more ironical, could it? I give a webinar about “How to do a FB Launch” and my own first book in three years crashes and burns.

On a brighter note, we did make the top 100 in Amazon UK and top 50 in Amazon.fr in its genres.

Well done everyone and come back later for more fizzy, fun and chances to catch up on the comps.

Deepest apologies to all and thanks to everyone who soldiered on and kept the party going in my absence. What a bunch of troopers my Crooked Cat friends are xxxxxx

 

 

Sally’s Café and Bookstore

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My dear friend Sally Cronin is coming in out of the rain today to sit by the fire and tell me about « Sally’s Café and Bookstore » so I’d better make some fresh coffee.

Dig in to those patisseries, Sally, my friend Pierre, the mad baker, gave them to me for nothing when I said I had a famous writer friend visiting.

Ailsa you have a wonderful way of making us feel very special and Lily has the same gift although somehow I feel that might be to do with the fact that I am eating her favourite almond croissant. Excuse me while I take a bit and let Lily have some too..

Tell us about the Café & Bookstore in your blog. What is it ?

Since starting the blog in 2013, I have wanted to promote authors and their books as creatively as possible. I ended up with several series with that in mind. In the middle of last year I realised that I needed something a little more permanent to use as a platform going forward. With the creation of the virtual cafe and bookstore, an author can be promoted and then put on the shelves for as long as they wish to be there.

All authors go through their own promotion called New on the Shelves, where their most recent book is featured plus their previous work, a bio and contact links. They then move onto the shelves.

Not only are they now visible to any visitors to the bookstore, but they can also take advantage of the twice weekly Cafe and Bookstore update to showcase any new books or a great new review.

Recently I introduced another Cafe promotion which is based on book signings. Book Reading at the Cafe focuses on the author more with some set questions and then some personalised ones. The guest also selects an excerpt from their latest book to share with the readers. The difference with this interview format is that it is interactive, giving the readers and opportunity to ask their questions in the comments to be answered by the author over the next couple of days.

How did you come up with the

[image error]Sally’s latest book

idea ?

I would love to have a real cafe and bookstore and I have worked out how to do book readings and face to face interviews with authors from around the world should that happen. Combined with good coffee and tea with sandwiches and cakes available, and computer access to Amazon to buy books would make for an interesting venture. I would also have selected print copies available on the real shelves.

Just a quick break to drink this delicious coffee before it gets cold and where did the rest of my almond croissant go… Lily…and where is Lily?

Oh dear – she’s helped herself. Never mind, here’s a top up on your coffee and ta daaaaah another bag of pastries!

Why are you so wonderfully altruistic to give air-time to other writers ? I know I do but so many bloggers only bang on about their own work.

I wish I could claim to be earning a living with my writing but I am not. But in every other sense of the word this is my job. I have worked since I was 14 doing weekends and holidays along the seafront in Southsea and all my jobs, of which there are quite a few, have been customer facing. I love working with people and just because I am in my office now, sat in front of computer does not mean that I do not still need that personal contact with others. It is a two way thing. By promoting other authors I have found amazing support when I publish by own books. It also provides great content for my blog and over the last three years a very positive and caring community has evolved around it.

I am saddened that there are those authors who feel that they cannot share their blog space with others and only talk about their own work. I think that they are missing out on a great deal by not being an active member of the online community. And over a relatively short period of time readers tend to fall off as they don’t receive any feedback.

We are all in this together and if we can give one author and their work a boost this week, then 9 times out of 10 it is reciprocated down the line.

Houra! Couldn’t agree more!

Who have you adored having in the café ?

To be honest Ailsa everyone who is on the shelves of the bookstore is special and very welcome. Any author who puts themselves through the process of research, making notes, writing thousands of words, editing, formatting, cover design and then taking on the role of marketing, deserves all the support they can get. The price of Ebooks these days does not reflect the amount of work that authors put into their work, so delighted and privileged to have them on the shelves where they might encourage a few more readers to buy their books..

And I am delighted that you have been a member of the Cafe and Bookstore since the beginning and are in fact the first author that visitors to the Cafe meet.

I’m going to be doing my own book reading at the Cafe soon – should I bring anything with me ? I’m sure Pierre would contribute if asked !

I am so looking forward to your book reading on 19th April Ailsa and yes please ask Pierre if he could contribute some of the almond croissants and an assortment of his other pastries, as I am sure that the cafe will be packed for your visit and we will run out of our own. Especially if Lily comes with you!

Thanks so much for inviting me over again to your lovely home.. Please give Pierre my best regards and thanks for the pastries. And look forward to seeing you in a few weeks in the Cafe.

Link to the Cafe and the Promotions.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/sallys-cafe-and-bookstore/

Bio

After working in a number of industries for over 25 years, I decided that I wanted to pursue a completely different career, one that I had always been fascinated with. I began studying Nutrition and the human body twenty years ago and I opened my first diet advisory centre in Ireland in 1998. Over the last 18 years I have practiced in Ireland and the UK as well as written columns, articles and radio programmes on health and nutrition. I published my first book with a Canadian self-publisher in the late 90s and since then have republished that book and released nine others as part of our own self-publishing company. Apart from health I also enjoy writing fiction in the form of novels and short stories.

Links

Amazon author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/sallycroninbooks[image error]

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sallycronin1

https://twitter.com/sgc58

https://www.facebook.com/sally.cronin

https://www.facebook.com/sallygeorginacronin

https://plus.google.com/+SallyCronin/about

FORTUNE’S WHEEL

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BY

CAROLYN HUGHES

Genre: Historical fiction

Release Date: 7th November 2016

Publisher: SilverWood Books Ltd

Plague-widow Alice atte Wode is desperate to find her missing daughter, but her neighbours are rebelling against their masters and their mutiny is hindering the search .

June 1349. In a Hampshire village, the worst plague in England’s history has wiped out half its population, including Alice atte Wode’s husband and eldest son. The plague arrived only days after Alice’s daughter Agnes mysteriously disappeared and it prevented the search for her.

Now the plague is over, the village is trying to return to normal life, but it’s hard, with so much to do and so few left to do it. Conflict is growing between the manor and its tenants, as the workers realise their very scarceness means they’re more valuable than before: they can demand higher wages, take on spare land, have a better life. This is the chance they’ve all been waiting for!

Although she understands their demands, Alice is disheartened that the search for Agnes is once more put on hold. But when one of the rebels is killed, and then the lord’s son is found murdered, it seems the two deaths may be connected, both to each other and to Agnes’s disappearance.

EXTRACT

Alice atte Wode, the Millers’ closest neighbour, was feeding her hens when she heard Joan’s first terrible anguished cries. Dropping her basket of seed, she ran to the Millers’ cottage. She wanted to cry out too at what she found there: Thomas and Joan both on their knees, clasped together, with Peter’s twisted body between them, sobbing as if the dam of their long pent-up emotions had burst. Alice breathed deeply to steady her nerves, for she didn’t know how to offer any solace for the Millers’ loss.

Not this time.

It was common enough for parents to lose children. It didn’t mean you ever got used to their loss, or that you loved them any less than if they’d lived. Few lost five children in as many months. But the Millers had. The prosperous family Alice knew only six months ago, with its noisy brood of six happy, healthy children, had been swiftly and brutally slaughtered by the great mortality.

Every family in Meonbridge had lost someone to the plague’s vile grip – a father, a mother, a child – but no other family had lost five.

The great mortality, sent by God, it was said, to punish the world for its sins, had torn the village apart. It had struck at random, at the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the innocent and the guilty. Some of its victims died coughing up blood, some with suppurating boils under their arms or next to their privy parts, some covered in dark, blackish pustules. A few recovered, but most did not and, after two or three days of fear and suffering, died in agony and despair, often alone and unshriven for the lack of a priest, when their loved ones abandoned them. After five months of terror, half of Meonbridge’s people were dead.

When the foul sickness at last moved on, leaving the villagers to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, Thomas and Joan Miller went to church daily, to pray for their five dead children’s souls, and give thanks to God for sparing Peter. Then the arrival of baby Maud just a few days ago had brought the Millers a bright ray of hope in the long-drawn-out darkness of their despair.

But Peter hadn’t been spared after all.

BUY LINKS

http://amzn.to/2hsaHbj

http://www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk/silverwood-bookshop

ABOUT CAROLYN HUGHES

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Carolyn Hughes was born in London, but has lived most of her life in Hampshire. After a first degree in Classics and English, she started her working life as a computer programmer, in those days a very new profession. It was fun for a few years, but she left to become a school careers officer in Dorset. But it was when she discovered technical authoring that she knew she had found her vocation. She spent the next few decades writing and editing all sorts of material, some fascinating, some dull, for a wide variety of clients, including an international hotel group, medical instrument manufacturers and the Government. She has written creatively for most of her adult life, but it was not until her children grew up and flew the nest, several years ago, that creative writing and, especially, writing historical fiction, took centre stage in her life. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from Portsmouth University and a PhD from the University of Southampton.

Fortune’s Wheel is her first published novel, and a sequel is under way.

Facebook: CarolynHughesAuthor

Twitter: @writingcalliope

Goodreads Author Page: http://bit.ly/2hs2rrX

Blog: https://carolynhughesauthor.com/blog/

Website: https://carolynhughesauthor.com

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GIVEAWAY

Paperback of Fortune’s Wheel (UK only)

Or

Ecopy of the Book (International)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017217/?

Learning about the medieval past

Fortune’s Wheel is set in the middle of the fourteenth century. When I embarked upon writing it, my knowledge of the period was fairly limited. I had a lot to learn!

The novel is set in a Hampshire village in 1349-1350, just after what we call the Black Death had left half of its population dead. My research needed to cover the structure of society in a manorial village; people’s roles, including official posts and trades; how people lived from day to day, what they wore, what they ate and when; marriage and family life, death and inheritance; what people thought, their beliefs and concerns; where they lived, their homes, gardens and farming lands; agricultural practices and the farming year; illness and medicine; the role of priests. I also needed to understand the socio-political and economic history of the time, the plague itself, and something about feudal laws and justice. All these subjects relate to society in general, but the novel’s principal characters are women, so I had a particular need also to understand the position of women in the fourteenth century, and their lives as distinct from the lives of men.

As I write the sequels to Fortune’s Wheel, I have yet more to learn: currently, the way justice was actually handled, in terms of courts; rearing sheep; a little about the work of carpenters. For the next novel, I will need to know about inheritance laws and the life of nuns… For another, completed but as yet unpublished, novel, also set in the fourteenth century, to all the above I can add the famines of the early part of the century, aspects of the Hundred Years War, the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the life of prostitutes, medieval Southampton and London, a little about France and Italy, how people travelled across Europe, and so on…

The research is, obviously, endless, which is just as well because I find it all hugely exhilarating and fascinating. So much so that I am often in danger of spending all day reading history instead of writing fiction. And I have heard many, many writers, especially historical novelists, say the same.

So, where do I find the answers in my eager search for knowledge? Well, history books, obviously, lots of them, old and new. Occasionally, I find somewhat conflicting information – as a result of more recent academic research, for example, or simply a different interpretation – or a haziness about how things were really done. Both mean that I have to make a guess on what was likely and use my imagination to fill in the gaps. Which is, of course, part of the fun of being an historical novelist.

Contemporary literature is useful for a flavour of the mindsets, including, inevitably, Chaucer and Langland, but also Christine de Pisan, Margaret Paston and Margery Kempe, as well as ballads and poems. Other types of contemporary documents, such as the records of manor court proceedings, can give a fascinating insight into very ordinary people’s everyday lives. However, I will confess that I have consulted few primary sources, relying instead on those books that contain translated extracts from them, such as Mark Bailey’s The English Manor. Lazy on my part, you might think, but, with so much to learn, I have taken a pragmatic approach, looking for resources that give me what I need as quickly as possible.

So, if speed is what drives me, what of the Internet? Speed is not, of course, the only criterion. Accuracy is pretty important too! But the Internet is a great starting point. It might be all you need for a tiny detail, but if you need more, articles often refer to the written work of historians and academics, and I tend to trust those more, though not necessarily exclusively, than those without such references. However, what I do find really useful are the various tools that some wonderful people have devised for checking things like calendar dates, sunrise and sunset times, canonical hours and medieval names. Really helpful.

I must not forget contemporary images, valuable for showing what people did and how they looked, although again a degree of caution is required. Of particular value, and a favourite of mine, is the Luttrell Psalter, produced around 1330-35 and kept in the British Library, which gives us a view of how people from different walks of life might have acted, looked and dressed.

And last, but by no means least, for the thrilling and indispensable opportunity they offer for getting a feel of where historical people lived and worked, and appreciating their scale and environment, are historical buildings. Fourteenth century cottages built of wood, wattle and daub and thatch, have mostly not survived, but vernacular buildings have been reconstructed at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, near Chichester. One such is the Hangleton medieval cottage (photograph from the museum’s website), which has always been in my mind as I have written about the homes of the ordinary folk of Meonbridge. Two English Heritage properties that have also proved to be great inspiration, whose interiors are again often in my mind when I am writing about the homes of more affluent Meonbridge folk, are the Medieval Merchant’s House in Southampton, and the wonderful Stokesay Castle in Shropshire.

How glorious and multi-faceted are our historical resources!

I name this book…

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We have a launch! Friday 10th March (13.00 – 20.00 UK time) you are all invited to my party on Facebook to celebrate my first Crime/Romance novel. Here is the link to the launch

As I have already had some unfortunate reactions from people who don’t read the blurb on Amazon  I will warn you now, the main characters are Military Police investigators and they are GAY. If this is likely to offend you, just don’t turn up. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but I think that avoiding the book is a more grown-up attitude than accepting a copy and then leaving a bad review because the reader didn’t REALIZE that there were homosexuals in it.

You have been warned. Otherwise, it is a cracking murder mystery set in a world I know rather well, the military. It’s gory and grisly as you might imagine.

The party is going to be grand with my good friends who will be guest-hosting for me:  Sue Barnard who is in Australia, award-winning Nancy Jardine, Katy Johnson and Jane Bwye.  I have four grand prizes to be won and I’m sure my co-hosts will also be offering comps.

Dress is optional (yes be naked if you like) of if you want to dress up in the military theme, you could win a prize for that too.

BE THERE!

It’s a mystery!

Like crime novels? Well, you may be looking forward to my new launch on Friday but here is a little mystery story for you. I’ll set the scene and you can try to work it out.

Picture a small village in Britain. The sign says  “Yewkay Craïm” It is self-contained, indeed, surrounded by barbed wire and with large notices saying “No admittance without a permit”. On the barbed wire fence is a long list in tiny letters.

Lying in front of the entrance is an old lady with a flight bag carrying an Air France label. She has been stabbed in the back and is dead. In her hand are a pair of glasses and near her a large gift-wrapped box that looks like a present. This has been stamped on and kicked towards the ditch.

If you look in her flight bag you will find the required entry permit and a pile of invitation cards.

What can have happened?   [image error]