Deborah Macgillivray's Blog, page 23

An interview posted at Cheryl Holloway's blog

http://www.cherylholloway.net/blog/20...

An interview posted at Cheryl Holloway's bloog

http://www.cherylholloway.net/blog/20...

Author's Guild Warning about Open Library. ORG

MESSAGE FROM AUTHORS GUIDE -- WARNING TO AUTHOR!!!

Two weeks ago I discovered my novels on this site, and despite their mission statement, they NEVER answered my DMCA notices to take them down.  They have 12-31 different file copies PER BOOK, and it allowed people to download them for FREE Worldwide.

They were also selling my books at $5.99 each with the notation "Copyright Abandoned"  Which is NOT the case.  So please check you books and make sure they are not there.

Thankfully MUSO.com an anti-piracy site was able to get my files taken down.  So please go check and see if your titles are not on this massive site.

At the bottom in RED is DMCA notice you can create and send to them demanding they take down your files. Dear Members,
Sorry for the influx of emails, but there is a lot going on right now!

I am writing today about a troubling development, and we are asking for your help. Internet Archive has sought donations of hard-copy books from libraries and individuals for a number of years now. While they recently made much of their project to scan and make available books in their last 20 years of copyright , they have been remarkably quiet about a project that could bring enormous harm to the publishing industry and authors. They have recently posted a massive quantity of scanned books (including works still in copyright that are not in the last 20 years of their protected term) on their Open Library website: www.openlibrary.org . While they have been doing this for some time, there appears to be a sudden influx of in-copyright books made available, as well as the ability to download. Anyone can log-in, presumably from anywhere in the world, search for and click on a book to “check it out” for a period of two weeks.

So far, that mimics regular library lending in that only one person can check out a book at a time. Once checked out, the full text of the books can be easily downloaded; the site even provides download buttons to make it easy. That means anyone in the world can check out and download your book(s), as long as they do it one person at a time. We did some spot checking and asked council members to check for their books. Each author who checked found that one or more of their in-copyright books were available in the Open Library for download.

IA describes Open Library as follows:
"The Internet Archive’s Open Libraries project will bring four million books online, through purchase or digitization, while honoring the rights of creators and expanding their online reach. Working with U.S. libraries and organizations serving people with print disabilities, Open Libraries can build the online equivalent of a great, modern public library, providing millions of free digital books to billions of people.”

But, contrary to their statement that they are “honoring the rights of creators,” they are not respecting those creators’ copyrights. They do not limit Open Library to people with print disabilities and there is nothing legal about providing full text copies of copyrighted material for download on a public website without permission.

So, we are asking you to check and see if scanned copies of your books are available on Open Library without permission. If they are, please let us know by filling out this form. 

We also ask that you contact your publisher if you want your book taken down from Open Library.You may also send a takedown notice directly to Internet Archive. The address to email to request a takedown is: info@archive.org

Here is a form notice that you may use:

Dear Internet Archive,

I am the author of the book(s) noted below. It has come to my attention that, without permission from either me or my publisher [insert name], you have scanned and are making my book(s) available for “loan” and also for download on your publicly available website, openlibrary.com; anyone in the world can create a login, check the book out and then download it in its entirety, which is a clear infringement of my copyright. Please remove my book(s) from the Open Library website and any other website owned or controlled by you.

My book(s) is/are entitled: [list all books on the site without permission]

They are located at the following URL’s on your site: [provide URL for each book]

My contact information is: [insert address, telephone number, and email address].

I attest under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that Internet Archive’s Open Library’s use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and further that the information in this notification is accurate, and that I am the copyright owner. Electronic signature: [type name]

Three Days of One Knight Stands - Sunday edition

Debo rah Macgillivray - A Marriage Made In Hell

    Essence of the game is deception...

When her half-sister refuses to marry the powerful earl of Hellborne, Greyson de Verre, Lesslyn de Sancerre sees the chance to have a life, a home and a husband of her own, so she agrees to take her sister's place.  Her sister, in turn, is off to elope with the man she has fallen in love with.  Everything appears fated in this pact the two women seal.  What seemed like a logical solution at the time soon becomes a battle to keep ahead of the lies.  Lesslyn quickly learns plots and schemes are easily concocted, but realities arising from the falsehoods are a different matter altogether.  Especially, when she is quickly falling in love with Greyson de Verre...her husband to be.  Commanded to wed by royal decree...

When Edward Plantagenet demands you must marry, you have little options...or do you?  King Edward has commanded that the earl of Hellborne must marry the heiress of Sancerre.  After all a bargain is a bargain—even if the earl views the coming marriage with disdain.  Only, the enigmatic lord of Hellborne needs must wed on Yuletide. . .so wed he shall...no matter what.     Even if it is a Marriage Made in Hell. . .





Lindsay Townsend - Sir Constantine and the Changeling                                                                            He had hurt and betrayed her in the worst way possible. Could Kari and Constantine save their marriage? In a medieval world that believed in God, saints, spirits and the fey, there were also darker forces to be feared. Malicious fairies could steal human babies away or substitue their own children—changelings. Kari and Constantine have been apart for two years, he on crusade in the Holy Land, she left behind in his lands to raise their unborn child alone. When her husband returns with his Templar brother Hadrian in tow, the separation she and Constantine have endured, plus Hadrian’s evil influence, leads to terrible accusations between them. Her husband thinks now that her beloved baby son Valentine might be a changeling. In the face of such a charge, and remembering an older tragedy, Kari feels she has no choice but to flee Constantine’s homeland and retreat to her own country of the high waterlands.   Constantine follows her. Realising what he has done, he begs his wife to return with him, but can Kari trust him again? And will he ever accept Valentine as his true son? At the time of Yule, many things are possible, and as Kari and Constantine strive to rebuild their relationship, the snows, an old hut and the Yule Goat will all play vital parts.

 

Cynthia Breeding – Twelfth Knight
Isobel De Lacy’s guardian, Baron Roger De Lacy, is set to join King Richard in Outremer directly after the winter Solstice.  Before he leaves he wants to make sure his niece is married. His groom of choice is Sir Guy of Gisborne, henchman to the Sheriff of Nottingham, and notorious for being heavy-fisted.            Isobel would rather sacrifice herself to the Great Horned God before that happened.            While gathering holly in the woods, she stumbles across an injured knight and takes him back to the castle to be looked after.  He turns out to be Sir William of Barnsdale, nephew to the Earl of Huntingdon. Isobel hatches a plan. The powerful earl can keep her safe from Gisborne and, when Sir William chivalrously agrees to help her escape, she decides perhaps the auld gods have sent her a Yuletide gift.            But as they ride through Sherwood Forest, she finds that “gift” to be much more than she had anticipated.


Angela Raines - Gunvar’s Gift
Annalisa lost everything to her uncle and is now hiding in a convent. When she finds Jack, hurt and possibly dying, she senses a strength to him. She, with the help of the abbess, nurses Jack back to health.             Annalisa believes Jack is just the man to help her get it back what her uncle stole. The one problem, Jack is ‘out of time’. Their journey, with the help of Mother Albrade, the abbess and her visions, is one of discovery and bravery for both. Their successes just might change Christmas.
 



Keena Kincaid - Five Yules
 The New One: Waleran de Marche promised not to marry her, but it was a vow he couldn’t keep. Cateline de Armiens possesses the land and coin he needs to distance himself from his father and the coming war in England.

Cate is tired of broken promises and betrayal. When Wal vows to keep her safe and secure, she ignores his promise and welcomes his departure on royal errands. In his absence, she creates a home without him, and finds his return each Yule an annoyance, not a joyful homecoming.


But when the king’s enemy takes her hostage, she will learn just how far her husband will go to keep his word to protect her—but will he reach her in time to save her life and their marriage or will this be their last Yule?



Patti Sherry-Crews - The Protector
 What can Juliana Basset, the daughter of an English merchant, have done to put her in the sights of the most powerful men in the country? It’s not what’s she’s done but what she knows. She harbors a secret that could topple the monarchy. A knight, Sir William, is sent to take her into protection until things settle down.
Stowing her away in a convent until things settle down seems like a good idea. Except Juliana stumbles upon yet another secret while there. Things are not adding up at the convent—literally. When she can't help but dig around, the place of sanctuary could be the death of her. Trying to keep the lovely lady out of harm's way turns out to be more of a challenge than Sir William anticipated.


 


Beverly Wells - The Gift
            Sir Geoffrey Eton, captain of Sir Royce’s regiment is a hardened, gruff warrior. All his life he served England, protected others, and trained men. Tavern wenches satisfied his occasional needs. There simply was no necessity for a wife. Orphan, Heather Douglas grew up in an abbey in Scotland, loving life.
When she joins her best friend at the Scotland castle granted to Royce, she brings her smiles and laughter. She also brings her flawed leg, her stubbornness and determination. Will her bright smile and charm be the weapons to finally take down the mighty warrior Geoffrey’s resistance?       
 

  Dawn Thompson – A Wish Under a Yuletide Moon
It was under the cold Yuletide moon when Garlon Trivelyan, Knight of the Realm, heard the sirens keen—just before the ship hit Land’s End shoals.  As the galley broke apart, he felt something keeping him afloat in the icy waters, nudging him toward shore.  He suddenly found himself on the beach, his arm deeply wounded.  His blood black under the silver moonlight. 

 Garlon knew he was dying so he made a wish to live, never remotely believing that final request could be answered.  Too late he recalled the warning: be careful for what you wish.

Annalee, the goddess of the wishing well, heard the mortal’s plea—and answered it.  Now Garlon Trevilyan was trapped in the land of the Fae on the night of Yule, where magic could save a dying man’s life.  But at what price?

Answer today's question to win a beautiful Tradesize print copy of One Winter Knight


Sunday’s Question:

If you had to go back in time to the era of Knights and Ladies, and could only take three things from your modern world to make life easier, what would that be?
 Sunday – Win a copy of One Yuletide Knight

and

One Grand Prize Winner of all three books




Happy Holidays!!!

Three Days of One Knight Stands - Saturday

Lindsay Townsend – Sir Thomas and the Snow Troll
  T wo lost souls, striving through long winter nights and days, find each other—but can they begin to truly live?

Sir Thomas no longer knows who he is, or even who his natural father is. Adrift, Thomas sets out on a winter journey to discover more, finding adventure and passion on the way that he ever expected. Fiery Ruth, a young woman who has escaped a terrible servitude to live alone in the northern forest, is proud of her independence from all others...but can Thomas protect her from the dreaded and terrible Snow Troll?


                                                                           Deborah Macgillivray — ARROW TO THE HEART (a Dragons of Challon ™ novella)
In the season of Yuletide, when the Holly and Oak Kings battle, the magic of love can be an arrow to the heart.
Fletcher St. Giles had always felt alone.  But being a bastard rarely troubled his mind…until Lady Geljon Seacrest came to the mighty fortress of Coinnleir Wood.  Though Geljon was betrothed to another, she vexed him at every turn, following him like a shadow.  With little to offer a woman of her station, Fletcher kept his distance.  Only, denied love became an arrow to the heart.  In the season of Yuletide, all things are possible…and even wishes of the heart can be granted.




Patti Sherry-Crews —  To Play With Cats
Will he give up his dreams to follow his heart?
Caterina Glanville is sent to live in the household of the earl in order to make a match. Life at the castle is not easy—and is complicated by the arrival of a handsome knight just before Christmas. Sir Hugh De Lacy is determined to make his own fortune. Rebuffed by a lady who can give him both wealth and title, he gets her attention by courting Cat. But Cat is a match that speaks to his heart. Will he choose wealth over love?  And when Cat finds she's been used, can she forgive Hugh?



Cynthia Breeding – Capture Her Heart
She had no idea her captor would capture her heart.
When Kaitlin Coltan is abducted, she assumes Adair MacDouglas is after a ransom.  Instead, her captor tells her he is after something far more important—revenge.  Kaitlin’s brother has taken Adair’s sister’s virginity—and returning Kate to her family ruined is the only just reward he can think of. But Adair is increasingly attracted to her and less willing to seek revenge, after all. Now, he must explain that to Kaitlin’s father and brother when they catch up to him—with a sword at his throat.


  Linda Carroll-Bradd  – A Promise Kept
Will opposing political beliefs and family loyalty keep the lovers apart?
Thordia Ulfsdottir can’t wait for her brother to request payment for the sword he crafted—the money is needed for food. She demands an audience with the earl, but is thwarted by a knight. Rory MacGuignard flirts, thinking she’s come to provide entertainment. Realizing his mistake, Rory arranges a temporary job for this poor, but proud, woman. 
Time spent in his company softens Thordia’s heart, but political upheaval and family loyalty rip them apart. Can Thordia find a way back to Rory’s side?


  Beverly Wells  — The Chalice 

Might the quest for the Chalice finally bring these two lonely, longing hearts together?
A brave, valiant knight he be, yet a foolish, vain man when faced with true love. She had loved him from afar, but could she now injure him to aid her mother? Might the quest for the chalice finally bring these two lonely, longing hearts together?

   Cheryl Pierson – My Forever Love
She only wants to marry her forever love…is that too much to ask?
Her mother’s plans for an arranged marriage send Noelle Breasal running into the woods to fend for herself at a nearby cabin. When a wounded soldier shows up in a snowstorm, she has no choice but to care for him—even when she realizes he may be the man she’s avoiding. Logan O’Malley swears to defend her from an evil rival for her hand, Dalon McTierney, when he finds them at the cottage
 An unavoidable fight to the death may see Noelle losing her forever love before she has a chance to claim him!



Keena Kincaid – Beyond All Else
His honor is the only reason she is alive, but his misplaced chivalry could get them both killed.
War. Murder. Alais of Roundtree hides amidst the chaos of civil war, stealing her daily bread and barely keeping ahead of pursuers. Grym, Earl of Warfield, finds the captured female thief an amusing break from the hunt for his brother’s murderer—until he realizes she has information he needs. Honor dictates his actions, but his interest in the thief takes a turn just as his brother’s killer targets him. 
Will he listen to Alais’s warnings or will he hold to honor and lose everything?


Answer today's question to win a beautiful Tradesize print copy of One Winter Knight



Saturday’s Question:   Would you like to go back into Medieval Times?
Why yes or no?   Be sure to come back on Sunday 

Sunday – Win a copy of One Yuletide Knight

and

One Grand Prize Winner of all three books

Three Days of One Knight Stands - Friday edition

Deborah Macgillivray    — The Selkie’s Daughter  (a Dragons of Challon novella)  Sir Rhys de Valyer, on his way to Scotland to join his liege, Julian Challon, becomes lost in a blinding snowstorm. But this is only the start of his troubles. In a brutal ambush, he and his men are attacked and left for dead. Rhys only escapes the horrible fate due to his trusted steed, who manages to drag him away from the battle. Fearing death’s approach, he never expects a beautiful snow angel to come to his rescue.
After being cast out by her family for being the bastard child of a Selkie, Annys Bràigheach has made her life in the sanctuary of Rowenwood Forest, far away from the world. In spite of her acceptance of the solitary life, her heart still yearns for more. To her surprise, after making a Yuletide wish, she discovers a handsome knight, clinging desperately to his horse, half-frozen with two arrows piercing his body. Her healing skills may save him, but can she reach his heart? Magic can happen at Yuletide if only you can believe….

                                                                            Keena Kincaid — An Unexpected Gift  When Meryk the Outlaw finds a badly beaten woman beside the road, he almost rides on. With a price on his head and a winter storm raging, even a short delay could cost him everything. But when he discovers she’s ready to give birth, he takes the risk and vows to protect her.
Ada of Bew doesn’t want the outlaw’s help—much less his protection—but she has no choice. Unable to run any farther and ready to give birth, she must place her faith in this stranger…or die at the hands of the men who want to kill her unborn son.
In the struggle against the cold and would-be kings, Meryk and Ada discover love is the most unexpected gift of all, but will they survive long enough to claim it?




Livia J. Washburn — Keepsake  Sir Hugh Tarrant returns home from war with a limp from an enemy's sword and a hole in his heart from the death of his beloved. Lady Margaret Dillon is filled with anger at the man she believes deserted her sister. On a stormy Christmas Eve night filled with danger, fate throws them together and makes unexpected allies of them. Will passion ignite as a result...or will they survive to find out?




Angela Raines — Lost Knight Annalisa has lost everything to her uncle. Taking sanctuary in a convent for safety, she yearns to go back and reclaim her rightful place. When she discovers a seriously wounded man, she realizes that he might be the one who can help her.
Jack wakes up in a convent, wounded and fearing for his own sanity. The last thing he remembers is a firefight in the Middle East, and the pain of being shot. Waking up centuries in the past is not what he expects—but Jack has his own code of honor, and when Annalisa asks for his help, there’s no way he can turn her down.
With the help of Mother Albrade, a nun who has powerful visions and knowledge of the future, Jack and Annalisa begin a journey of discovery and bravery that just might change both their lives—or end them.



Tanya Hanson — Canticle To save her family’s fortunes, Lady Alisoun must wed an elderly earl the day after Christmas. But in the chapel on Christmas Eve, her heart collides with that of an elegant, mysterious stranger. Is he…one of King John’s spies?
Raised in a monastery, Lord Kitt has no experience with love, but finds his heart lost to a lovely lady. Yet he cannot succumb, for the day after Christmas, he must marry a woman he has never met.



Lindsay Townsend — Sir Baldwin and the Christmas Ghosts Ambitious and arrogant, the young knight Sir Baldwin returns to his family’s lands and estate at Brigthorpe to face disaster. The pestilence has struck, destroying his parents and all his family save for a young half-brother, Martin, whom Baldwin does not wish to acknowledge because Martin is the bastard child of a serf. Baldwin needs to learn kindness and how to be a lord–and quickly.
Into this hopeless situation comes Sofia, a young woman who can see glimpses of spirits, of the restless dead. These revenants are very restless around Sir Baldwin.
Somehow, Baldwin and Sofia must work together, to make a true Christmas for the survivors of Brigthorpe and the Christmas ghosts.  Can they do so in time—or will the gulf of class and custom make any love between them impossible?

Answer today's question to win a beautiful Tradesize print copy of One Christmas Knight



Friday’s Question:   What do you enjoy about Medieval Romances?

Be sure to come back Saturday and Sunday 

Saturday -- Win a Copy of One Winter Knight
Sunday -- Win a copy of One Yuletide Knight
and

One Grand Prize Winner of all three books

It's Pearl Harbor Day

(image USS Shaw Exploding in Pearl Harbor - source: Wikipedia Commons)
There are moments that tend to define a decade or a lifetime.  That single instant when everything stood still and then changed forever, something so momentous occurs to where you can never go back to an innocence of the time before.  In my childhood the 1960s was defined by the death of a young president that held so much promise.  Oh, there were other similar tragedies to follow –– the death of his brother, the assassination of Martin Luther King, but my childhood naive beliefs in life was shattered with Kennedy’s death.  I could never go back.  
911 affected the nation.  The Challenger explosion saw everyone glued to the television in hope, later in grief.  To my mother’s generation that defining moment was Pearl Harbor.  It was odd.  She was a small child when it happened and she didn’t know anyone that was at Pearl Harbor, but the day stayed in her mind, and in some way defined her consciousness.  Every year she would awaken me with the words “It’s December 7th ––Pearl Harbor Day.”  She never spoke of how it changed her, rarely mentioned it other than to say she heard the news on the radio.  Only, she never forgot how the whole nation held its breath and cried, and then how the sorrow and shock turned to anger.
My mum is no longer around to awaken me with that familiar phrase.  She died on December 2, 1987, and was much much too young.  When the anniversary of her death came around this year I was sad, but I chose to remember the good times with her.  Oddly, this day hurts me a bit more, for it was so much a part of her.  Thus, this day I will share a moment of silence in respect for the many who died on this day, and for my mother who never forgot.

Three Days of One Knight Stands contest

Three Days of One Knight Stands contest at https://prairierosepublications.blogspot.com  and http://nattering.deborahmacgillivray.com   #OneKnightStandsEach day I will be giving out print copies of each book.  So Watch for it - Coming Soon!

postcards are coming

Front and back for One Snowy Knight coming 2018


insert for One Yuletide Knight front and back of postcards

This Bleak November....

I read a book back in 1970 called Bleak November.  Marketed as a murder suspense, it was a Gothic Horror. Well, what it was actually Amityville Horror, though that wouldn't come along for another seven years.  It rather surprised me that the author didn't raise an issue over lifting his story!

Still, the title stuck with me. . .Bleak November.  Rather fitting name for the month. The leaves have lost their glorious colors. Still weeks until the Christmas rush hits. Not winter and neither autumn in a sense.  Some days are warm, but most are cool, hinting at the dreary winter months ahead.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated on this day fifty-four years ago.  And to this very day we haven’t learnt the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  The day the music died.  Camelot ended.  And the country awoke to a new reality, and in many ways not a better one.  Jack Kennedy was the man for the hour.  Like him or not, he had been there when the country desperately needed him.  Had it not been for him standing toe-to-toe with the Russians and not blinking we would have had WWIII.  The Russians backed down.  They withdrew the missiles from Cuba, and went back to the cold war uneasy peace. . .but a peace nonetheless. 

What a contrast to the president we have now, who meets with Russians on the sly.  And how do we know?  The Russians tell us, they provide pictures.  The Russians were and will always be the enemy.  This is not a Democrat view.  Ronald Reagan didn’t like them.  The first thing he did upon becoming president was prevent the Russians from trooping through US Washington garage.  A small thing.  They used it as a short cut to save them walking a couple blocks a day to the Russian embassy.  Reagan laughed and said walking was good for the health, and shut the garage to them cutting through.  His small thing made a big point.  He wouldn’t make matters easy for them, because they would never make them easy for us.

I often wonder how different the world would be now if on that bleak November day had Jack Kennedy used the bullet proof bubble that has been created for the car.  He would have been 100 now, most likely to die quietly in his sleep.  Instead he was ripped from his family, ripped from the country, and sent us spiraling us down a log troubled road.

One might remember, the man credited with killing Kennedy, defected to Russia, was permitted to return to US with a Russian wife, and kept in contact with the Russians, even visiting the Russian embassy in Mexico.  As I said, Russia is not our friend, and will never be our friend. . .something the current resident of the White House fails to begin to understand.