Category: Historical Fiction

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

2/19/2019

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.

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…

#HistFic #NewRelease: THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOWS - Carol McGrath

8/17/2017

This is a huge thrill for me to welcome my friend, Carol McGrath today.

Acclaimed historical fiction author, Carol has brought the shadowy figure of Elizabeth Cromwell to life in a wonderful new book. Yes, we all know about the Machiavellian figure of Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII, but the life of his wife (who died too young) is less well known and largely left to conjecture. Before her marriage to Cromwell, Elizabeth was a respected business woman in her own right. Let's bring this woman out of the shadows!

As I do with all my guests, I asked Carol to share a snippet of her research into the book...

Thomas Cromwell had his secrets...

The Woman in the Shadows is the story of Thomas Cromwell’s marriage and early career, recounted through the eyes of his wife, Elizabeth. Thomas Cromwell was, of course, Henry VIII’s infamous statesman who achieved finally the King’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. The novel is not really about The King’s Great Matter but rather about a London housewife and cloth merchant. She was a young, attractive wealthy widow when she married Thomas Cromwell in 1514 and as her family were in the Cloth Trade I placed her in that sphere as well. Elizabeth was more interested in interesting courtiers in her finer goods than she was in drawing too close to court. The book is a portrait of a Tudor woman married to a fascinating ambitious man. Anne Boleyn, King Henry and Thomas Wolsey do not have a voice but remain in the background, gossiped about by London merchant wives.

The interesting fun fact that I discovered whilst researching was that Thomas Cromwell possibly was father to a love child, born whilst he was married happily to Elizabeth. Jane Cromwell, the child, is mentioned in his will and Historians, such as Tracy Borman, have worked out that she was probably born in 1520. Jane Cromwell was married in due course to a man who worked for Thomas Cromwell and she grew up on Merseyside, not London. Since Thomas Cromwell is regarded as a family man and never remarried after Elizabeth’s death in 1528, I found this fact curious. I used it in the story and, in the excerpt from The Woman in the Shadows below, he is about to be exposed through Elizabeth’s discovery of a little book in his cloak pocket. Read the novel to find out more and the consequences of this startling discovery.

Austin Friars Garden

Thomas Cromwell (Holbein)

The Woman in the Shadows

Elizabeth Cromwell is an attractive widow of two and twenty. As a female cloth merchant, she trades, despite the cloth guild’s opposition, in silk mixes loved by courtiers. She marries the steely ambitious cloth merchant and lawyer Thomas Cromwell. The couple set up home in a substantial house close to the Tower. As Thomas fills it with gorgeous Flanders tapestries, fabulously carved German chests, cupboards, closets and precious objects, she makes exquisite sample books for their cloth business. Together, they face and overcome the dangerous consequences of a shadowy secret, one which presents obstacles to their future until she discovers that Thomas carries his own secret. Early Tudor London is a ruthless city of merchants, heretics, cut purses, tricksters and fabulous pageantry. Can their marriage survive?

BUY THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOWS

Read an excerpt...

I removed my blue kirtle and bodice from my clothing pole, and searched for a suitable over-gown. At length I saw one, a green flowery over skirt which hung amongst Thomas’s tawny velvet coats, the ones he wore for the Cardinal’s work. As I lifted away the over dress, a small book poking out of a wide pocket that Thomas always had set into the fabric of his velvet coats tumbled out. I scooped it up and placed it on the chest below the window wondering if it contained poems. With teaching the children their letters every day, I had been too busy to read for my own pleasure. I would look at it later.
Bessie arrived, glanced at my choice of gown and appraised it.
‘Very fine, Mistress Elizabeth. You will look a treat in that gown.’
She helped me into it and found me a pair of contrasting sleeves.
‘Hurry, Bessie,’ I said with impatience. ‘We will miss the sword-fighting, and I promised Gregory.’
‘Here, you’re done, Mistress Elizabeth.’ She tied the last ribbon and stood back to inspect me.
In my haste to dress, I left my linen work cap lying on top of the book. I changed my slippers for stouter shoes and set the slippers on the chest beside it.

Meet Carol McGrath

Based in England, Carol McGrath writes Historical Fiction. She studied History at Queens University Belfast, has an MA in Creative Writing from the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University Belfast and an English MPhil from Royal Holloway, University of London. The Handfasted Wife is her debut novel, first in a trilogy titled The Daughters of Hastings. The second and third novels The Swan-Daughter and The Betrothed Sister have followed and are now available on amazon and in bookshops. Carol is an historian specialised in The Medieval Era. Her first love, however, is writing. She is an avid reader and reviewer.

Visit her website www.carolcmcgrath.co.uk

#HistFic: Blind Tribute by Mari Anne Cristie

8/9/2017

It is my great pleasure to welcome Mari Anne Christie to my tea table today.

I have to confess Mari is a 'new to me' author and having just returned from a 6 week jaunt to the USA, and steeping myself in history (as I do), I am particularly interested in the subject of her new book BLIND TRIBUTE, the moral dilemma of the impartial reporter, oddly resonant in today's political situation.

As I do with all my guests I asked Mari to share a particular piece of interesting research with us and if you scroll to the end of this post, Mari is giving away a quill pen (like Harry's) and powdered ink, a swag pack including Harry's Editorials Collection, and a e-copy of the book to one winner.

Who was Harry Wentworth?

Palmer Harrold Wentworth III, “Harry,” fictional protagonist of Blind Tribute, is based on a real journalist who made real history, but whose name has not enjoyed the longevity of his conjoined contribution to journalism and the business world.

Percival Huntington Whaley (Percy to friends, P.H. to readers, and not incidentally the caricature on the cover of Blind Tribute), is the man from whom Harry inherited his profession, his Charleston ancestry, his barrier-island plantation, his beloved (but not enslaved) black nursemaid, and his writing career (to say nothing of his monogram). He is also the man whom I credit with indirectly giving me my love of letters.

Educated at Hobart and Kenyon, P. H. Whaley was a reporter and editor for the Charleston News and Courier beginning in 1909, the first Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Evening Ledger from 1914 to 1918, and Publisher of the Whaley-Eaton Service, an international newsgathering organization based in Washington, D.C., from 1918 to 1957. He died in 1964 at Prospect Hill Plantation on Edisto Island, South Carolina, on land owned by his family since the 1700s.

Analogous to Wentworth and Hoyt Business Service in Blind Tribute—although almost 60 years after Harry’s venture—Whaley-Eaton had offices, at various times, in Washington, London, Paris, and Tokyo. As well as private research on behalf of business clients and multiple periodicals through the years, Whaley-Eaton published bimonthly Whaley-Eaton Pamphlets on matters of interest to businessmen, and the Whaley-Eaton American Letter and Foreign Letter, the first widely circulated investment newsletters in the United States. These weekly publications were precursors to, and friendly competitors with, The Kiplinger Letter, still in circulation and often wrongly cited as the “first business newsletter” in America.

About BLIND TRIBUTE

Every newspaper editor may owe tribute to the devil, but Harry Wentworth’s bill just came due.

As America marches toward the Civil War, Harry Wentworth, gentleman of distinction and journalist of renown, finds his calls for peaceful resolution have fallen on deaf—nay, hostile—ears, so he must finally resolve his own moral quandary. Comment on the war from his influential—and safe—position in Northern Society, or make a news story and a target of himself South of the Mason-Dixon Line, in a city haunted by a life he has long since left behind?
The day-to-day struggle against countervailing forces, his personal and professional tragedies on both sides of the conflict, and the elegant and emotive writings that define him, all serve to illuminate the trials of this newsman’s crusade, irreparably altering his mind, his body, his spirit, and his purpose as an honorable man. Blind Tribute exposes the shifting stones of the moral high ground, as Harry’s family and friendships, North and South, are shattered by his acts of conscience.

BUY BLIND TRIBUTE

Read an excerpt...

Anne’s face contorted, red with rage. Her entire being seemed to swell three sizes. As many weeks as Harry had been considering this evening’s discussion, so had she. She would spring at him any moment with two weeks’ worth—two months’ worth—of argument she’d been amassing. He should have known; she’d been much too accommodating of his opinions thus far.
“Far be it from me to keep you from suicide, Palmer, for I shall be a very merry widow, but you cannot expect me to uproot my children over a minor conflict about which you have a bad feeling. You would have me leave everything I know to assuage your fears for our safety, when you refuse to stay and ensure it yourself?! I have family here, and a home, and two girls to present and marry. There is no chance the fighting will reach Pennsylvania before the insurrection is put down, and I’ll not disrupt everything for you, or for this ridiculous war!”
Instead of backing away, he stepped forward. “I married you because you read the newspaper, Anne, and because you do not usually speak drivel. Can you be so short-sighted? You would refuse to take our children to safety, simply because it is I who suggest it?” He raised his voice for the first time since their argument began. “No, Anne! I will not hear it! I have chosen the safest course for you and the children, and the only course for myself. Stop screeching about something you should have expected. I’ve had enough argument from you for one evening. The decision has been made.”
Her tone lowered from a shriek to a loud yell as she took a step backward. “I never believed you could do such an awful thing to your wife and children! Tearing us away from everything—our whole lives—so you can stand on some ill-defined principle! It’s inhuman!” She stomped her foot again, retaking the ground she had lost, shaking the pictures on the blue silk walls and the curios interspersed among the bookshelves. An Argentinean mask toppled off a shelf, but didn’t break on the Persian carpet.
He saw the tears well up, and hoped sincerely he would ultimately be allowed to soothe her when he won the disagreement, rather than watch her walk away from the fight, lock the door to her rooms, and prepare herself for continued battle until she’d won her point. Unfortunately, Anne’s tears in such a situation could portend anything—except surrender.

Meet Mari Anne Christie

Mari was “raised up” in journalism (mostly raising her glass at the Denver Press Club bar) after the advent of the web press, but before the desktop computer. She has since plied her trade as a writer, editor, and designer across many different fields, and currently works as a technical writer and editor.

Under the name Mari Christie, she has released a book-length epic poem, Saqil pa Q'equ'mal: Light in Darkness: Poetry of the Mayan Underworld, and under pen name Mariana Gabrielle, she has written several Regency romances, including the Sailing Home Series and La Déesse Noire: The Black Goddess. Blind Tribute is her first mainstream historical novel. She expects to release the first book in a new family saga, The Lion’s Club, in 2018.

She holds a BA in Writing, summa cum laude and With Distinction, from the University of Colorado Denver, and is a member of the Speakeasy Scribes, the Historical Novel Society, and the Denver Press Club. She has a long family history in Charleston, South Carolina, and is the great-great niece of a man in the mold of Harry Wentworth.

Author Website & blog: www.MariAnneChristie.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MariChristieAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mchristieauthor

Enter Mari's contest...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#NewRelease: THE IRISH MILLINER by Cynthia G. Neale #Giveaway

6/9/2017

A new and exciting installment in the life of Norah McCabem an Irish milliner working in New York city on the eve of the American Civil War.
This is the third book in the series by Cynthia G. Neale.
To win an eBook of The Irish Milliner by Cynthia G. Neale, please enter via the Gleam form below. Two eBooks are up for grabs!

The Irish Milliner by Cynthia G. Neale

Publication Date: June 2, 2017

Fireship Press

eBook; 276 Pages

Genre: Fiction/Historical/Romance

It is New York City and the Civil War is brewing. Norah McCabe, an Irish immigrant who escaped the Famine as a child, is now a young widow with a daughter. She is a milliner, struggling to survive in tumultuous times. Norah meets Abraham Lincoln, befriends the extraordinary African-American woman Elizabeth Jennings, and assists the Underground Railroad. She falls headlong in love with Edward M. Knox, son of the famous hat-maker Charles Knox, but he is lace curtain Irish and she is shanty Irish. Edward joins the 69th regiment and leaves for battle. Can their love endure through class differences and war? This is a story of survival, intrigue, romance, as well as, exploring the conflict of Irish immigrants thrust into a war that threatened to destroy a nation. It is about an Irish-American woman who could be any immigrant today, any woman today, seeking to create beauty and make sense of her life.

“Suddenly the Civil War seems very relevant and Cynthia Neale does a great job of focusing on the role of the Irish in the conflict. And it's great fun to be in touch with her wonderful character, Norah McCabe, again!” ~Mary Pat Kelly, author of Galway Bay and Of Irish Blood

“This timely novel spans centuries to bring to our attention to a topic as old as yesterday, as expedient as tomorrow?emigration. Neale's work, written with love and insight, reminds us that our neighbor is all mankind.” ~Tim Pat Coogan, Irish broadcaster, journalist, writer and author of 1916 The Easter Rising, Michael Collins and The Famine Plot

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

About the Author

Cynthia G. Neale is a native of the Finger Lakes region of New York and now resides in New Hampshire. She has long possessed a deep interest in the tragedies and triumphs of the Irish during the Great Hunger. This is Ms. Neale’s fourth novel. She also writes plays, short stories, and essays, and holds a B.A. in Writing and Literature from Vermont College. For more information, please visit Cynthia G. Neale's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Friday, June 2 Review at 100 Pages a Day Interview at The Book Junkie Reads Saturday, June 3 Spotlight at What Is That Book About Sunday, June 4 Excerpt at Passages to the Past Monday, June 5 Interview at Books & Benches Tuesday, June 6 Review & Excerpt at Locks, Hooks and Books Excerpt at Let Them Read Books Wednesday, June 7 Review at Back Porchervations Spotlight at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots Thursday, June 8 Review at Rainy Day Reviews Review at Just One More Chapter Friday, June 9 Review at A Fold in the Spine Review at CelticLady's Reviews Interview at Ms. Stuart Requests the Pleasure of Your Company

Giveaway

To win an eBook of The Irish Milliner by Cynthia G. Neale, please enter the Gleam form below. Two eBooks are up for grabs! Rules – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on June 9th. You must be 18 or older to enter. – Giveaway is open internationally. – Only one entry per household. – All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion. – Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Bathing in medieval style- with Anna Belfrage

5/20/2017

Last week I introduced you to Anna Belfrage and her latest book set in the world of Edward II - UNDER THE APPROACHING DARK. (Click HERE to go to the post)

I have invited Anna back this week to talk a little bit more about the research behind her fabulous books, because all historical writers have a wealth of knowledge that may only make it into the story as a passing mention. I enjoyed seeing how Anna used it in her book.

Anna has chosen to share some interesting, and little known facts, about the medieval monarchs' predilection (or not) for the occasional bath...

A Good Medieval Wallow...

It is strange how some myths become so cemented in the popular imagination they take on the character of truths. Mind you, in this day of alternative facts, such things are no longer surprising—they are merely irritating. When it comes to life in medieval times, there is this preconception that people never washed—one purportedly serious site about life in castles even goes so far as to state that “until Victorian times cleanliness was considered ungodly”. Hmm. As I researched my latest book, I encountered multiple indications this is wrong. Very wrong, even.

It has always been my firm opinion that most people—throughout the ages—have preferred being clean to being dirty. In many of the preceding periods, being clean was also an indication of wealth as it required a not inconsiderable amount of servants and firewood to prepare a nice hot bath in medieval times. But even those who could not afford a bath, or to change their clothes regularly, did wash face, hands and privates.

Those who could afford it, went all out on cleanliness. Medieval banquets often started by the guests being offered basins of clean water in which to wash their hands. Medieval ladies and lords changed their linen frequently, and they most definitely bathed. King John is supposed to have taken a bath every two weeks, and clearly his descendants shared his fondness for lounging in hot water while someone scrubbed their backs. How else to explain the fact that Edward II had his bathrooms tiled and then complained the floors were too cold so he ordered bathroom mats to increase his comfort? Or that in 1351 Edward III ordered hot and cold water taps for his recently refurbished bathroom? I’m telling you, those medieval magnates liked a good wallow—and smelling of roses afterwards!

About UNDER THE APPROACHING DARK

Adam de Guirande has cause to believe the turbulent times are behind him: Hugh Despenser is dead and Edward II has been forced to abdicate in favour of his young son. It is time to look forward, to a bright new world in which the young king, guided by his council, heals his kingdom and restores its greatness. But the turmoil is far from over… After years of strife, England in the early months of 1327 is a country in need of stability, and many turn with hope towards the new young king, Edward III. But Edward is too young to rule, so instead it is his mother, Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, who do the actual governing, much to the dislike of barons such as Henry of Lancaster. In the north, the Scots take advantage of the weakened state of the realm and raid with impunity. Closer to court, it is Mortimer’s increasing powers that cause concerns – both among his enemies, but also for men like Adam, who loves Mortimer dearly, but loves the young king just as much. When it is announced that Edward II has died in September of 1327, what has so far been a grumble grows into voluble protests against Mortimer. Yet again, the spectre of rebellion haunts the land, and things are further complicated by the reappearance of one of Adam’s personal enemies. Soon enough, he and his beloved wife Kit are fighting for their survival – even more so when Adam is given a task that puts them both in the gravest of dangers. Under the Approaching Dark is the third in Anna Belfrage’s series, The King’s Greatest Enemy, the story of a man torn apart by his loyalties to his lord, his king, and his wife.

Read an excerpt...

It was well after nightfall before Kit could claim her husband for herself. Once Meg had been properly greeted, once he’d held both Ned and Harry, he’d done the rounds in the household, spent hours with William reviewing the state of his property, and had then presided over dinner, a loud affair in the main hall that had only ended when the afternoon seeped into dusk.
William had insisted they all attend chapel, but when he suggested that Adam and he repair yet again to review the accounts, Kit put her foot down.
“Not tonight.” She held out her hand to Adam. “I have a bath prepared for you.” Besides, she wanted to do a thorough inspection, disconcerted by the new scars on his face.
Stephen added the last of the hot water to the tub just as they entered the solar. Steam rose in wisps, filling the room with the scents of lavender and roses. Kit shooed the page out, closed and barred the door, and turned to look at her husband, already disrobing in front of the hearth. She moved towards him, couldn’t resist the urge to touch him, to splay her fingers wide as she set her hands to his chest, just over his heart. Beneath her palm, she felt his heartbeat, above her fingers was a new scar, pink and hairless.
“What’s this?”
“A lance.” He sounded offhand, undoing his braies.
“A lance?”
Adam sighed. “I was jousting against Lord Roger.” She listened in silence as he told her about the steel-tipped lance and how he was convinced the intention had been to kill Lord Roger.
“Kill him? By your hand?” She slid an arm up to his shoulder, followed the contours of his muscled arm downwards. “And this?” She set her other hand to his face, tracing the scar along his nose, the other below his ear.
“Same incident.” He hooked a finger into her neckline. “Aren’t you joining me?”
“It’s the small tub.”
“We will fit, sweeting.” Deft hands on her laces, and soon enough they were in the tub, she enfolded in his arms and legs. His hands slid up to cup her breasts. “William said it was a difficult birth.”
“It was.” Kit’s stomach tightened in recollection. She craned her head back to look at him. “But it was worth it.” This her third son was an easy child, eating like a horse at regular intervals, in between which he either slept or regarded the world around him with wide-open eyes—grey eyes.
“A beautiful son.” He kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.”

IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO ENTER ANNA'S CONTEST TO WIN A COPY OF UNDER THE APPROACHING DARK... click the button below and scroll to the end of the post!

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ALISON STUART NEWS...

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

THE POSTMISTRESS (Australian Historical Romance)

#HistFic #NewRelease: THE WOMAN IN THE SHADOWS - Carol McGrath

Thomas Cromwell had his secrets...

The Woman in the Shadows

Read an excerpt...

Meet Carol McGrath

#HistFic: Blind Tribute by Mari Anne Cristie

Who was Harry Wentworth?

About BLIND TRIBUTE

Read an excerpt...

Meet Mari Anne Christie

Enter Mari's contest...

#NewRelease: THE IRISH MILLINER by Cynthia G. Neale #Giveaway

The Irish Milliner by Cynthia G. Neale

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

About the Author

Blog Tour Schedule

Giveaway

Bathing in medieval style- with Anna Belfrage

A Good Medieval Wallow...

About UNDER THE APPROACHING DARK

Read an excerpt...

Alison Stuart

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