Jessica Rydill's Blog, page 15

Speculative Fiction Showcase: Robin and Jamie: An Original Fairytale by Lorri Mo...

Robin and Jamie: An Original Fairytale by Lorri MoultonRelease date: August 14, 2017 Subgenre: Fairytale
About Robin and Jamie :   
"Action, adventure, magic and romance. An ancient curse has returned to the lands and Robin and Jamie must help a fractured group of heroes reunite. Only by working together to solve an age-old prophecy, can they stop an evil sorceress and Lord of the North." 

"I started writing Robin and Jamie as an experiment. What can we do in a book that would not be possible in a TV show or movie? Never tell the reader if the main characters are men or women." 
Read about it here:
Speculative Fiction Showcase: Robin and Jamie: An Original Fairytale by Lorri Mo...:

Speculative Fiction Showcase: Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for November...

With thanks to Cora Buhlert, her weekly round up of links from around the genre internet:

Speculative Fiction Showcase: Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for November...: It's time again for a special Thanksgiving edition of our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from aro...

Children of the Shaman Goodreads giveaway!

I am giving away three paperback copies of my first novel, Children of the Shaman, in the new edition by Kristell Ink, absolutely free!

The giveaway opens for entries on June 11th (today) and closes on 21st June, when I will notify the winners.

While it would be great if the winners could leave an honest review, there is no obligation attached!


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Goodreads Book Giveaway


Children of the Shaman
by Jessica Rydill

Giveaway ends June 21, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.


Enter Giveaway

Review of Winter Downs by Jan Edwards: part of the Winter Downs Blog Tour

When Bunch Courtney's childhood friend Jonathan Frampton is found shot dead in the woods the authorities and the powers that be, from her own father to the local Justice of the Peace, seem eager to declare his death a suicide.

But her passionate sense of injustice drives Bunch to investigate her old friend's death. She is certain he could not have committed suicide, and clues at the scene drive her to confront the Chief Inspector, Wright,  dispatched to wrap the case up - his rank a fact that in itself suggests something awry. His initial attitude to Bunch is that she is a bothersome amateur.

It is the winter of 1940 and the second world war is under way. Bunch and her  sister Dodo's childhood home, Perringham House, has been requisitioned for the war effort. Bunch is in command of a troop of Land Girls, and Dodo, whose husband recently died in action, is recovering at the home of her detested in-laws, Barty and Olivia Tinsley.

The story builds tension from the start and events are seen through Bunch's eyes, though the reader is soon aware, thanks to some smart footwork by the author, that Bunch herself has a view limited by her upbringing which blinds her to certain facts. She is learning to be an amateur sleuth in the face of conventional sexism, and the increasing awareness that someone, somewhere has something to hide. She also has to overcome her own prejudices, which result from her upbringing.

This is a cosy crime mystery that nonetheless has an edge of darkness, just as Miss Marple found evil in unexpected locations in St Mary Mead. Some of the best passages are those that evoke the wintry Sussex landscape. There is plenty of period detail, but on the whole the novel wears its research lightly. It gives a flavour of the haunting atmosphere of the time, when many men had already been killed in battle, and there was an air of quiet desperation that the traditionally unemotional upper classes struggled to conceal.

It slowly becomes clear that Perringham has been requisitioned for more than regular troops. There are numerous and to Bunch mysterious foreign officers, from suave but dictatorial Colonel Kravitz to the charming Norwegian Lieutenant Seb Johannson, taking over her ancestral home while her parents decamp to Singapore and she is exiled to the Dower House with her formidable grandmother, a former suffragette.

Bunch quickly learns that the thin veneer of civility in the neighbourhood conceals a long list of possible suspects and a landscape and country changing under the pressure of war. As the body count starts to rise, Edwards tantalises the reader with various red-herrings. The motive for the first death is unclear: is it suicide or murder? And what about those that follow?

When the denouement comes, it is as unexpected as it is violent. The peace of the pastoral world where Bunch has grown up is shattered, just as the peace of distant cities is broken by nightly bombing raids. Although the  War is far away, its impact is felt throughout rural society, with crime and opportunism amongst the gentry and the country folk.

I was kept guessing right to the end, and there was a satisfying conclusion which held out the promise of further adventures for the redoubtable Bunch, her delicate but resourceful sister Dodo, and the slightly-mysterious Chief Inspector Wright.

Winter Downs launched on 3rd June and is for sale in paper and e-formats here
Jan Edwards

Jan Edwards is a Sussex-born writer now living in the West Midlands with her husband and obligatory cats. She was a Master Locksmith for 20 years but also tried her hand at bookselling, microfiche photography, livery stable work, motorcycle sales and market gardening. She is a practising Reiki Master. She won a Winchester Slim Volume prize and her short fiction can be found in crime, horror and fantasy anthologies in UK, US and Europe; including The Mammoth Book of Dracula and The Mammoth Book of Moriarty. Jan edits anthologies for The Alchemy Press and Fox Spirit Press, and has written for Dr Who spinoffs with Reel Time Pictures.

For further information please contact Penkhull Press at: https://thepenkhullpress.wordpress.com/

Cover art for The Glass Mountain by Daniele Serra

Cover art by Daniele Serra


As you probably know, Children of the Shaman has recently been published by Kristell Ink Publishing. Yesterday, I received a couple of boxes in the post with my six paperback and single hardback copies.
It is hard to describe how excited I am about these books. I've never had anything published in hardback before, and the quality is amazing. The novel has cover art by Daniele Serra, and internal illustrations by Evelinn Enoksen. The illustrations are wonderful, as is the cover. 
Kristell Ink did a cover "reveal" for The Glass Mountain on Facebook recently, so I thought I would share it here as well. The finished version has lettering on it, obviously. It shows a scene from the book featuring a battle between crows and wolves, where the crows are coming off worst!
If you're interested in the series, you can read more about it on my web-site here. Children of the Shaman is for sale from Amazon in eBook, paperback and hardback editions.
Coming soon here we'll have a review of Jan Edwards' new release, Winter Downs, which is debuting on 3rd June. And I've recently received a free download of my friend Robert Dahlen's novella, The Thorn Harbour Road Ralley, which looks fun.
Meanwhile, I'm reading Sarah Ash's Emperor of the Fireflies, the second book in her Tide Dragons series. (You can read my guest blog, Travelling in Time, on her web-site here: be sure to check out the other women writers she has hosted, including Juliet E. McKenna, Freda Warrington and Sarah Higbee, a fellow Kristell Ink author).

Children of the Shaman Thunderclap

One day to go!

Children of the Shaman goes large

Children of the Shaman is now on sale from Amazon and Amazon UK. More formats and sites to follow!

Published by Kristell Ink Publications, with cover art by Daniele Serra and internal illustrations by Evelinn Enoksen.

Many thanks to everyone at Kristell Ink, who worked hard to bring this to fruition...




First published by Orbit Books in 2001, Children of the Shaman now appears in a revised edition with new cover art and illustrations. As well as e-books, the novel will be available in hardback and paperback format.

About Children of the Shaman:
When their aunt is taken ill, thirteen-year old Annat and her brother are sent from their small coastal town to live with their unknown father. Like Annat, Yuda is a Shaman; a Wanderer with magical powers, able to enter other worlds. As Annat learns more about her powers, the children join their father on a remarkable train journey to the frozen north and find a land of mystery and intrigue, threatened by dark forces and beset by senseless murders that have halted construction of a new tunnel. But Annat’s doll, her only remembrance of her dead mother, may hold a dark secret - and when her brother Malchik is kidnapped, Annat and her father must travel onwards to find him before it is too late.
Amazon | Amazon UK | Kristell Ink Publishing

Children of the Shaman up for pre-order

I've just heard some exciting news from my publisher, Kristell Ink: the new edition of Children of the Shaman will be launched on May 5th, and the kindle edition is available for pre-order from amazon now.

This edition has cover art by the amazing Daniele Serra, and wonderful internal illustrations by artist Evelinn Enoksen.

With many thanks to Sammy H. K. Smith and everyone at Kristell Ink...

Amazon US

PodOmatic - Joshua Pantalleresco interviews Cora Buhlert and me

Thanks to Joshua Pantalleresco whose podcast interview with Cora Buhlert and myself has just gone live!
Just Joshing Episode 91: Cora Buhlert and Jessica Rydillwww.podomatic.comCora and Jessica are the curators of the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a place for indie authors to post their latest science fiction and fantasy. We talk their work on the site, their books, twitter philosophies and more.
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/jp...

Kristell Ink Rafflecopter and giveaway!

My publisher, Kristell Ink, are offering a Rafflecopter giveaway from 13th to 20th April

A Rafflecopter giveaway

Prizes include a £10 Amazon giftcard and an eBook of your choice.

You can also read about it on Kristell Ink's Facebook page here: Kristell Ink

In addition, my fellow author Mr Robert Harkess is offering an exclusive giveaway: the eBook of his acclaimed novel Amunet will be free on Amazon from Friday to Monday inclusive.

hyperurl.co/glxqrx