Book Title: Uprising Series: Rebellion (Book 2 of 3) Author: Paul Bernardi Publication Date: 09 April 2025 Publisher: Sharpe Books Pages: 284 Genre: Historical Fiction Any Triggers: Strong, bloody violence. Some foul language (15+).
Summer 1067. Northumbria.
Oslac, thegn of the village of Acum, feels cheated – having been robbed of the chance to kill his enemy by his own kinsman.
Instead, Gundulf, the erstwhile Lord of Hexham and murderer of Acum’s villagers, is now awaiting justice for his crimes in Bebbanburh, Earl Oswulf’s fortress capital far to the north.
But when Oslac narrowly escapes death at the hands of Gundulf’s assassin, he realises he will never be safe while the Dane lives. Summoning his closest companions, Oslac heads north to demand Oswulf put an end to Gundulf’s life – only to find the prisoner has escaped.
Tracking the fugitive into the wild hills and dales of Northumbria – places far beyond the reach of Oswulf’s power – Oslac falls into Gundulf’s trap when the earl’s warband is ambushed with catastrophic consequences.
Elsewhere, unrest in the north of England is growing. Impotent in the face of Norman avaricious brutality, the Saxon nobility can do nothing to prevent their ancestral lands being passed to foreign invaders. It can only be endured for so long, and a reckoning is coming.
Once again, Oslac must put aside his personal vendetta to join with the few remaining great lords of Anglo-Saxon England in what may prove to be the final, climactic stand against their Norman overlords.
The song of swords will echo across the land once more.
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Paul Bernardi studied Anglo-Saxon and Medieval history at the University of Leeds more years ago than he cares to remember. He has been an author of historical fiction since his first novel (a second world war drama) was published in 2017. Since then, he has reverted to his favoured period, publishing six more novels (so far) set in 11th century England, mainly around the time of the Norman Conquest.
Paul Bernardi’s books are published by Sharp Books.
Book Title: Boy With Wings Author: Mark Mustian Publication Date: March 15th, 2025 Publisher: Koehler Books Pages: 322 Genre: Literary Fiction / Historical Fiction
“A brilliant fever dream of a novel, a haunting coming of age story reminiscent of both Franz Kafka and Charles Dickens.”
~ Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Jackal’s Mistress
*Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2025 First Place Winner*
What does it mean to be different?
When Johnny Cruel is born with strange appendages on his back in the 1930s South, the locals think he’s a devil. Determined to protect him, his mother fakes his death, and they flee. Thus begins Johnny’s yearslong struggle to find a place he belongs.
From a turpentine camp of former slaves to a freak show run by a dwarf who calls herself Tiny Tot and on to the Florida capitol building, Johnny finds himself working alongside other outcasts, struggling to answer the question of his existence. Is he a horror, a wonder, or an angel? Should he hide himself to live his life?
Following Johnny’s journey through love, betrayal, heartbreak, and several murders, Boy With Wings is a story of the sacrifices and freedom inherent in making one’s own special way-and of love and the miracles that give our lives meaning.
There’s something magical about words and music—it’s why popular songs burrow into our minds and ears. When I started the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music in Tallahassee, Florida in 2015, it’s what we sought to tap into. Poetry has rhythm. Musical tracts tell a story. It all blends together, often into something profound, sublime or strange.
Like maybe most authors, I listen to music when I write. Usually classical works, sometimes jazz—I find that pop or music with words tends to distract me, and I’m there to write. I go through phases that correspond loosely to the book: for The Gendarme I listened to a lot of dissonant 20th century stuff: Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Weill. I was big into Messiaen. For Boy With Wings, it was more 19th century romantic pieces, Mahler and Brahms but also some jazz: Miles Davis, Mingus, Adderley, Coltrane.
It’s interesting how musical tastes change over time and also don’t, and tastes in literature do the same. I listened as a youth to what’s now called “classic rock,” and still do sometimes, but my interest has broadened as I’ve aged, and I appreciate the complexities now of classical music and jazz. I can listen to folk music pop, country—almost anything, and enjoy it. Being involved with Word of South has exposed me to a whole range of new artists that makes me feel young again.
With literature it’s much the same. I enjoyed sci-fi and fantasy as a youngster and still do. I was forced to read the classics, which I generally disliked, but later in life I went back and read many of them and found new interest there. I read widely now, biographies, non-fiction, literary fiction, even some horror and graphic works. If it’s well-written it’s wonderful, and I try to set aside time each day to read.
This may sound strange, but sometimes I can hear the words on the page as I write them, as they seem to belong to some structure beyond the page. Maybe I’m to be faulted for this—I can’t really say, and I don’t know quite where it comes from. I saw somewhere that the writer Richard Ford reads every word of his novels aloud to his wife before he completes the work. I don’t do that, but to an extent I guess I do, as I listen to them bang around in my head as I read and revise, revise and read. Occasionally I’ll utter a phrase aloud that seems awkward. Reworking it, I hear music, that gift that seems to arrive from beyond time and logic. Mixed with the beauty of language, it seems to create between them something else. Something different, and special, even ethereal. I can look back on it later and think, “Who wrote this crap?” but also think, “Hey, not bad. This isn’t bad at all.”
Author Bio:
Mark Mustian is the author of the novels “The Return” and “The Gendarme,” the latter a finalist for the Dayton International Literary Peace Prize and shortlisted for the Saroyan International Award for Writing. It won the Florida Gold Book Award for Fiction and has been published in ten languages.
The founder of the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music in Tallahassee, Florida, his new novel, “Boy With Wings,” is out in 2025.
Book Title: Tangled in Water Author: Pam Records Publication Date: March 18th, 2025 Publisher: Historium Press Pages: 418 pages Genre: Historical Fiction
1932. Natalia is 16 and a bootlegger’s daughter, playing the mermaid mascot on a rundown paddlewheel used to entertain brewers and distributors.
A sequined costume hides her scarred and misshaped legs, but it can’t cover up the painful memories and suspicions that haunt her. An eccentric healer who treats patients with Old Country tonics, tries to patch wounds, but only adds to the heartache. A fierce storm threatens to destroy everything, including a stash of stolen jewels.
1941. Prohibition is over, but the same henchmen still run the show. Nattie’s new mermaid act is more revealing, with more at risk. When the dry-docked paddlewheel is bought by the US Navy for training exercises, the pressure escalates further.
Can Nattie entice a cocky US Navy officer to help her gain access to the ship for one last chance to confront her past, settle scores, and retrieve the hidden loot? Is there a new course ahead?
The water level was lower than usual. Every time she got out of the tank, she took water with her, leaving less and less. Cigarette butts floated, collecting in a corner. She’d have to type NO DROPPING TRASH IN THE MERMAID’S TANK on the next sign she made for the little silver frame on the post.
The sand in the bottom of her tank hid other tidbits, hardly trash. There were flat blue rocks, round and smooth, perfect for skipping. Then there were shells, mostly snail shells, mostly busted. At the very bottom was a gold bracelet with a charm, a mermaid, of course. It was a gift, the kind that could get a man killed. She couldn’t stand to look at it, couldn’t stand to throw it overboard either.
More jewels had found their way into her tank. Passengers were so careless after a few whiskeys. They never noticed a bump or tug or twist from the clumsy cripple kid in sequins. There was an oval brooch with diamonds, a gold watch fob, red ruby earrings, a dangly necklace, a ring with every color in the world.
She had such a lovely collection. She sighed. If Mr. Whiskers were here, he’d purr.
The calm before the storm.
She stirred the sand with a stick of driftwood, a prop that was quite useful for fishing in the sand and burying and unburying secrets. The bauble soup was a powerful remedy for lousy moods and for red-haired boys who didn’t show up when they promised and a railing that got busted on purpose because a drunkard deckhand talked to her one time too many. The soup sparkled, sun specks skimming the water’s surface.
Looking out over the onboarding passengers on the deck below, she scanned for sparkles. She could always use more. Her fingertips itched. Anticipation was almost as lovely as the prize.
There! A woman in a snappy white dress and hat with plumes all a-flutter had enough glitter around her neck to light up midnight on Mackinac Island. How splendidly cool to the touch they would be. Ice. Crisp. The edges would be hard and sharp. The centers would be molten, too hot to handle until they sizzle-cooled in her tank for a mermaid eon. Ten minutes, at least.
About the Author:
Pam and her husband, Mark, recently uprooted from the Midwest to move to Savannah, Georgia, the perfect place for enjoying the beach, historic architecture and Spanish moss.
She’s recently retired from writing content for software companies and now focuses on writing fiction, camping, and exploring historic cities.
Book Title: White Feathers Series: White Feathers, Book #1 Author: Susan Lanigan Publication Date: 21/3/2025 Publisher: Idée Fixe Press Pages: 398 Genre: Historical Fiction
“Anti-war and anti-patriarchy without ever saying so – a bravura performance of effortless elegance” – Irish Echo in Australia
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROMANTIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD 2015
In 1913, Irish emigrée Eva Downey receives a bequest from an elderly suffragette to attend a finishing school. There she finds friendship and, eventually, love. But when war looms and he refuses to enlist, Eva is under family and social pressure to give the man she loves a white feather of cowardice. The decision she eventually makes will have lasting consequences for her and everyone around her.
Journey with Eva as she battles through a hostile social order and endeavours to resist it at every turn.
Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?
Well, all my books are set in or around WWI to the 1920s. I think it was a time of great change and the instigator of a lot of the conflict we are seeing today. I recently had a flash fiction piece published which was set in Gaza and was a timeslip narrative where the souls of the dead in the Gaza War Cemetery were released from the bodies after a 2024 Israeli bombing raid. There were three battles in Gaza during WWI so it has a history of being attacked, though never to the extent that it is now.
I like that period of change and flux, where the old social norms were beginning to crumble but there were no conventions to take their place. The values held in society then were inflexible, but they crumbled under the reality of the war, with millions of men dead or shell-shocked, unable to “pull themselves together” and women out working in factories and white collar locations. The White Feather movement is an attempt to hark back to that era, but while it worked in 1914, it would probably never do so again.
Writers sometimes have furry, feathered, or scaled helpers. Do you have a writing companion?
I have recently bought myself an emotional support plant, a variety of cactus, which I sometimes bring into the office when working at my day job or on the windowsill when writing. I had the plant and a lit candle the day after Donald Trump got elected and I still found it hard to concentrate!
Do you have a routine you follow when you’re working on a book? A certain time of day when you write, or a snack you keep nearby?
In 2023 I was off work due to cancer treatment (I have made a full recovery since) and I discovered London Writers Salon. Four times a day, they hold Zoom sessions for writers in different time zones where you have 50 minutes to write. The routine really helped me during a time when the normal rhythms of life changed. At the moment I am trying to get books either traditionally published or self-published so my output is slowing down as there is a backlog of books to get out the door!
Did anyone give you writing advice when you were first getting started? Do you think it helped?
I honestly think you learn by doing. That’s how I’ve learned everything I’ve mastered to any degree. I remember reading Elective Affinities by Goethe, which was a German romantic Novelle, a very strict form of the novel. I saw how Goethe organised the plot and introduced new characters, very unsubtly. I also read a lot of Maeve Binchy and was really impressed by how she handles dramatic dialogue and ends scenes and chapters.
What is the scariest thing you face as a writer? How do you handle it?
I’ve already faced it. In 2014, White Feathers got (unfairly, in my view) trashed in a national newspaper.It was my debut novel, and I got stigmatised in the writing community as a result. Authors will murder their granny to avoid getting bad reviews and don’t believe anything you hear to the contrary. And proximity to public bad reviews is pretty much like review covid. People don’t want to be linked to you. As for the reviewer, she eventually launched her own successful career as a novelist.
One thing I’m loving about the second time around is that even though the sales are negligible, the reviews are absolutely beautiful and confirm that releasing this novel now, at a time of great turmoil (like WWI) is heart-work and spiritually important.
I suppose my second great fear arises from my first one. I’ve seen many, many writers who have crashed and burned on their first novel and never got the opportunity to make a second approach to the publishing world, no matter how much and how well they wrote. But I had to come to terms with that possibility, as corrosive resentment is not something I wish to hold in my body after the rigours of chemo and radiotherapy. Over the last year I’ve found a lot of peace and freedom after a turbulent time, and I choose joy. Even here and now.
What do you think is the most important thing to remember when following your dreams?
That if the dream goes sour, you need allies and comforters. My advice is have a good therapist on stand-by and a day job. And endeavour to separate the joy of completing the work from the grief that might come from publishing world failure. I’ve grieved a lot over writing failure. But that part of my life is now over.
Does your family support your writing?
Yes, but I don’t need too much in terms of support. I have the hour in the morning to write during school run, which is very much appreciated. I work full-time in the IT department of a large logistics company and so I do not have any financial anxiety tied to writing.
Author Bio:
Susan Lanigan’s first novel White Feathers, a tale of passion, betrayal and war, was selected as one of the final ten in the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2013, and published in 2014 by Brandon Books. The book won critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the UK Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2015. This edition is a reissue with a new cover and foreword.
Her second novel, Lucia’s War, also concerning WWI as well as race, music and motherhood, was published in June 2020 and has been named as the Coffee Pot Book Club Honourable Mention in the Modern Historical Book of the Year Award.
Susan lives by the sea near Cork, Ireland, with her family.
Book: The Tudor Queens’ Midwife Series: The Tudor Queens’ Midwife, Book 1 Author: Brigitte Barnard Publication Date: January 3rd, 2025 Publisher: independently published Pages: 299 Genre: Historical Fiction / Tudor Fiction
In the glamorous, glittering and dangerous court of king Henry VIII and his queen Katherine of Aragon, the desperate desire for a healthy male heir overshadows all. Plagued by a series of miscarriages the queen is left grappling with the weight of her singular duty to provide a son for the Crown. Amidst this turmoil the queen turns to Sarah Menendez, the most highly skilled midwife in England. Sarah, exiled from her homeland and concealing her true identity must serve the queen and battle her deepest fears. As Sarah strives to save the queen from the perils of childbirth, the specter of her own past threatens to unravel the carefully crafted identity Sarah has created for herself and her young daughter.
In a world where power, politics and religion collide, Sarah finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue and deadly danger. The fate of the queen’s unborn child, the survival of the midwife and her daughter, and the stability of the kingdom hang in the balance. Sarah Menendez must employ all of her skills, cunning and courage to protect those she holds dear as well as the life of the queen and her unborn child.
The Tudor Queens’ Midwife is a gripping tale of secrecy, sacrifice and religious turmoil amongst the most opulent court the world has ever seen.
Do you tend to read the same genre you write? I definitely read the same genre that I write, but not exclusively.
Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why? My favorite time period is the Tudor era, which is why I am also writing about it.
Writers sometimes have furry, feathered, or scaled helpers. Do you have a writing companion? My writing companions are my dogs. They are Cavalier King Charles spaniels and extremely attached to me. They are draped across my lap and I am surrounded on all sides by them! It makes getting up very challenging.
How long have you been writing, and how long did it take before your first book was published? I have been writing only a couple of years. I am very happy to have made many fans and have received a book contract with Pen and Sword Publishing. My first published book was in January 2025.
Do you have a routine you follow when you’re working on a book? A certain time of day when you write, or a snack you keep nearby? I am pretty disciplined about my writing. I write every day, for as long as possible. Some days I might write eight hours and some days maybe only a couple, it depends on what else is happening in my life on any particular day.
If you could pick your top 3 favorite books of all time, what would they be? My favorite books are all by Colette. The first is my favorite and it is called Sido / My Mother’s House. Second choice is actually a trilogy called Claudine.
Author Bio:
Brigitte Barnard is an amateur historian of Renaissance English history and an author of the trilogy The Tudor Queens’ Midwife, of which the first book in the series is available. She is currently writing a non-fiction book about Tudor midwifery for Pen and Sword publishing house.
Brigitte is a former homebirth midwife, and she lives at home with her husband and four children. She also raises Cavalier King Charles spaniels.
The elderly and cantankerous Princess Belskaya suffers a violent reaction while taking a mud bath at the famous Lipetsk Sanatorium. Soon after, she dies.
Dr Roldugin, the medical director of the sanatorium, is at a loss to explain the sudden and shocking death.
He points the finger at Anna Zhdanova, a medical assistant who was supervising the princess’s treatment.
Suspicion also falls on the princess’s nephew Belsky, who appears far from grief-stricken at his aunt’s death.
Meanwhile, investigating magistrate Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky arrives in Lipetsk from St Petersburg, seeking treatment after a nervous breakdown.
Against his better judgement, Virginsky is drawn in to the investigation. But is he getting closer to the truth or walking straight into a deadly trap?
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Guest Post – My writing regime
Coffee is an essential part of my routine. I have a mug which I got in New York with the word “Kawfee!” on the side. I couldn’t find it this morning and now I’m worried that I won’t ever be able to write again.
The view from my desk looks out over the neighbours’ garden. They have a coat hanger on the roof of their shed. I spend a lot of time trying to work out how it got there. Maybe it landed in one of the recent storms? Occasionally one of the local cats climbs up to look at it. They seem as mystified as me.
Sometimes I’m joined by my writing partner, our own cat Moomin. She insists on a certain number of tummy tickles before we get down to work. She also likes to insert random letters into the text by lying on the keyboard. Alternatively, she positions herself between me and the screen, staring me down while purring ridiculously loudly. I can’t work out whether she thinks she’s helping or is being deliberately obstructive.
I aim to write at least 1,000 words a day. I’m more productive in the morning, with a second cup of coffee at 11-ish to keep up my energy levels. I think it was Hemingway who suggested you should break off when things are going well so that you can pick up where you left off the next day. It’s good advice but I generally stop when I’m exhausted and can’t write anymore.
Then I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea for the next scene.
PS – I found the mug – it was in the microwave. I must have got distracted, let my coffee go cold and then forgotten about it!
About the Author
Roger (R.N) Morris is the author of 18 books, including a quartet of historical crime novels set in St Petersburg featuring Porfiry Petrovich, the investigating magistrate from Dostoevsky’s great novel Crime and Punishment. These were followed by the Silas Quinn series set in London in 1914. He has been shortlisted for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Gold Dagger and the CWA Historical Dagger.
A former advertising copywriter, Roger has written the libretto for an opera, modern retellings of Frankenstein and Macbeth for French school children. He’s also a scriptwriter for an award winning audio producer, working on true crime and history podcasts including The Curious History of your Home.
His work has been published in 16 countries.
Married with two grown-up children, Roger lives in Chichester where he keeps an eye out for seagulls.
The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking portrayal of friendship forged in the trenches of the First World War.
‘In this vivid and engaging novel of war and friendship, Barney Campbell shows us once again that he is a natural writer. This is a novel of men at arms of the highest quality.’ ~ Alexander McCall Smith
Edward Salter is a shy, reserved lawyer whose life is transformed by the outbreak of war in 1914. On his way to fight in the Gallipoli campaign, he befriends the charming and quietly courageous Theodore Thorne. Together they face the carnage and slaughter, stripped bare to their souls by the hellscape and only sustained by each other and the moments of quiet they catch together.
Thorne becomes the crutch whom Edward relies on throughout the war. When their precious leave from the frontline coincides, Theo invites Edward to his late parents’ idyllic estate in Northamptonshire. Here Edward meets Thorne’s sister Miranda and becomes entranced by her.
Edward escapes the broiling, fetid charnel-house of Gallipoli to work on the staff of Lord Kitchener, then on to the Western Front and post-war espionage in Constantinople. An odd coolness has descended between Edward and Theo. Can their connection and friendship survive the overwhelming sense of loss at the end of the war when everything around them is corrupted and destroyed?
The Fires of Gallipoli is a heartbreaking, sweeping portrayal of friendship and its fragility at the very limits of humanity.
Edward’s thick jumper proved its mettle and he slept soundly, stirring only around midnight as a snuffling deer broke nearby branches around the edge of the tree. He was awake for a few minutes while memories of nights on the front came to him, staring out into a dark night or peeping fearfully over the parapet when a baleful alabaster shone over the Peninsula in a sniper’s moon. He remembered nights on the line as he and Thorne tried desperately to suppress their chuckles into yelps of breathing. He was sure that he let out a giggle into the night before nothingness then fell over him, dreamless and warm.
He woke with his thighs damp from dew and drew away the groundsheet to see the million droplets on the cow parsley sparkle gold and rainbow colours from the low sun breaching the underside of the tree. A ghostly network of spiders’ webs hung above his head, made fuller by the dew, more ossified. He felt an awful pang, as Thorne stirred beside him, that he wasn’t able to see any of it.
They wormed out from under the tree and creaked limbs back to life, shaking away the residue of sleep and rubbing their sandpaper chins, teeth chattering at the morning’s chill. They got ready to go, the imprint of their bodies in the cow parsley already disappearing as the crushed stalks started to lean up again, and they rejoined the path and carried on.
The route took them over miles of gentle fields and woods, folds in the ground offering one of the most beautiful mornings Edward could remember; folds that, on a battlefield, would become must-take ridges and valleys raked by machine gun fire. Here though was a perfect land, unpoisoned by such snaky heads. The rising sun, still yet to gain its heat, uncovered spring’s half-built hedgerows as nearby woodpeckers saluted their arrival. So infrequent was any sign of habitation, with only a couple of soft yellow stone farmhouses nestling nearly invisibly into their surroundings, that it seemed for a time that they were walking through a zero-humaned world.
About the Author
Barney Campbell, author of The Fires of Gallipoli, was brought up in the Scottish Borders and studied Classics at university. He then joined the British Army where he commanded soldiers on a tour of Helmand Province, Afghanistan at the height of the war there.
That experience inspired him to write his first novel Rain, a novel about the war, which was published by Michael Joseph in 2015. The Times called it ‘the greatest book about the experience of soldiering since Robert Graves’s First World War classic Goodbye To All That’.
Barney has walked the length of the Iron Curtain, from Szczecin in Poland to Trieste in Italy. He currently works and lives in London.
THE USURPER KING by Mercedes Rochelle Book 4 of The Plantagenet Legacy
Blurb:
From Outlaw to Usurper, Henry Bolingbroke fought one rebellion after another.
First, he led his own uprising. Then he captured a forsaken king. Henry had no intention of taking the crown for himself; it was given to him by popular acclaim. Alas, it didn’t take long to realize that that having the kingship was much less rewarding than striving for it. Only three months after his coronation, Henry IV had to face a rebellion led by Richard’s disgruntled favorites. Repressive measures led to more discontent. His own supporters turned against him, demanding more than he could give. The haughty Percies precipitated the Battle of Shrewsbury which nearly cost him the throne—and his life.
To make matters worse, even after Richard II’s funeral, the deposed monarch was rumored to be in Scotland, planning his return. The king just wouldn’t stay down and malcontents wanted him back.
THE ACCURSED KING by Mercedes Rochelle Book 5 of The Plantagenet Legacy
Blurb:
What happens when a king loses his prowess?
The day Henry IV could finally declare he had vanquished his enemies, he threw it all away with an infamous deed. No English king had executed an archbishop before. And divine judgment was quick to follow. Many thought he was struck with leprosy—God’s greatest punishment for sinners. From that point on, Henry’s health was cursed and he fought doggedly on as his body continued to betray him—reducing this once great warrior to an invalid.
Fortunately for England, his heir was ready and eager to take over. But Henry wasn’t willing to relinquish what he had worked so hard to preserve. No one was going to take away his royal prerogative—not even Prince Hal. But Henry didn’t count on Hal’s dauntless nature, which threatened to tear the royal family apart.
All titles in the series are available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Author Interview
Often writers started out as readers. Was there a particular book that inspired you to be an author?
When I was a kid, I was absolutely blown away by “Black Beauty”, and I told my mother I wanted to be a writer. She pooh-poohed me! That set me back. It wasn’t until my college days that I was inspired after reading “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. I think that book also gave me the idea about historical fiction, though it took years to germinate.
Do you tend to read the same genre you write?
Yes, I’m sorry to say. Other genres don’t hold my interest, and I know this is a weakness. There are exceptions, of course, but pretty few and far between. I love Anne Rice! And Nero Wolfe books.
Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?
I love the middle ages, especially European. I owe this fascination to a reenactment group called the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), which I enjoyed for thirty years.
How long have you been writing, and how long did it take before your first book was published? I started writing in the early ‘80s, a few years out of college. I moved to NYC to be near the publishing center of the world, but it didn’t serve me well and I took 20 years off to pursue a career. I didn’t want to be a starving writer my whole life! I did publish that first book in 2014.
Did anyone give you writing advice when you were first getting started? Do you think it helped?
When I was in my mid-20s (back to the previous question), I had a writer boyfriend who persuaded me to write a book with him. I think I did it to shut him up, but got caught up in the project. However, I didn’t like the way he was progressing in the story, so I went off on my own and wrote it my way! And yes, this was the same book I mentioned before.
If you could pick your top 3 favorite books of all time, what would they be?
I adored THE THREE MUSKETEERS, which was another huge inspiration for me. I think my second favorite is THE WHITE COMPANY by Arthur Conan Doyle. He was truly a marvelous historical fiction author. I also love THE FIRST MAN IN ROME by Colleen McCullough, which I picked up by accident at a yard sale. What a find!
Does your family support your writing?
I sell Real Estate when I’m not writing, though my husband does support me between house sales! Because my books are niche market, I never expect to make a living at my writing. Whenever I exhibit personally at a fair, I am constantly reminded that most of the public have no clue about the middle ages. If I’m lucky, they will remember the king under the parking lot, but even so, it’s the wrong Richard (I wrote about Richard II). It’s very sobering. So I call writing my hobby. I’m grateful for my close circle of readers.
Author Bio:
Mercedes Rochelle is an ardent lover of medieval history, and has channeled this interest into fiction writing. She believes that good Historical Fiction, or Faction as it’s coming to be known, is an excellent way to introduce the subject to curious readers.
Her first four books cover eleventh-century Britain and events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Her new project is called “The Plantagenet Legacy” taking us through the reigns of the last true Plantagenet King, Richard II and his successors, Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI. She also writes a blog: HistoricalBritainBlog.com to explore the history behind the story.
Born in St. Louis, MO, she received by BA in Literature at the University of Missouri St.Louis in 1979 then moved to New York in 1982 while in her mid-20s to “see the world”. The search hasn’t ended!
Today she lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.
Annie Schaeffer is no stranger to violence. Born of an outlaw father, she was sold to a traveling show at the age of six, now finally escaping as an adult.
On the run and wounded, she finds an unlikely ally In Nathan Healey – a member of the Needham Boys gang.
As she earns her place among the outlaws, Annie’s survival hinges on her lethal skills and growing bond with Nathan.
Nate’s moral compass shifts with his circumstances, especially when those he loves are involved. Upon meeting Annie, he finds himself drawn to a woman determined to live differently to the expectations others place upon her; to live freely and fairly. The way he has always wanted.
Annie’s quest for independence takes a dark turn as the gang begins to collapse. Betrayal runs deep, and the cost of trust is high.
No Good Deeds is a gripping tale of resilience and retribution in the untamed West, where loyalty is fleeting and justice is won at the barrel of a gun. Annie Schaeffer’s story is one of fierce determination, as she battles her past and the outlaws who seek to control her fate.
E.J. McKennais a freelance writer in the UK with a great interest in American History, and a degree in English and American Literature with Creative Writing from the University of Kent.
At the end of 2023, she co-created a creative writing app for people of all ages to improve their writing skills in a fun, relaxed environment.
Born and raised in the UK, but a lover of traveling, she has a fascination with all social history across different countries and cultures. One of her favourite historical periods is the Victorian era, especially with United States history.
“The juxtaposition between the established countries of Europe, and the new world of America is fascinating to me. So many people trying to survive harsh frontier life, while trying to continue the uptight decorum of Victorian society.”
A huge advocate for feminism and human equity, her writing centres around determined female protagonists in traditionally male roles, tackling the perceptions of women in history. Her strong female protagonists go out of their way to change their society’s expectations for the fairer.
Title: On a Sword’s Edge Author: J R Tomlin Series: The Sword of Scotland Release Date: November 16. 2024
Scotland. 1263. The scent of rain mingles with the smoke of campfires as word spreads: the Norse are coming…
As tempers rise between King Alexander and the Norse King Haakon, at the center of it all is sixteen-year-old William Douglas, a squire in service to Sir John Stewart, Lord High Steward of Scotland.
When Haakon’s fearsome fleet is espied approaching Scotland’s shores, carrying the greatest invasion force the Norse have ever mustered, the dread of battle settles over the land. Summoned to Ayr Castle, William joins the Scottish forces in a desperate defense. Now tasked with serving his newly knighted brother, Hugh, William has little time to dwell on the fear – or thrill – of his first real taste of war.
And once the Norse’s menacing line of ships finally touches shore, Scotland’s fate may rest on more than noble titles and knightly deeds— it’ll take the mettle of every soul on the ground for them to triumph.
Set against the wind-swept coast of medieval Scotland, On a Sword’s Edge takes you right into the center of The Battle of Largs alongside a mere – yet fearless – squire.
William Douglas, called le Hardi, which means ‘the bold’ in French, has always interested me. He is a man who divides opinions. I have seen him accused of being a thug. However, many consider him a hero of Scotland. Nothing is known about his youth. That meant I could make it up to suit myself. As a young man, his father’s home was attacked. He was nearly killed defending it against a large force of attackers, which is where he earned the sobriquet of the Bold.
Besides that, events were interesting in the 1260s and quite different from what people assume about Scotland and England. Because of later centuries of warfare between England and Scotland, many assume that they had always been enemies. That was not the case.
In 1263, King Alexander of Scotland was only twenty-two years old and married to the daughter of England’s King Henry III. The relationship between the two nations and the two monarchs was quite peaceful and friendly. However, you could not say the same about Scotland and Norway.
The Scottish king wanted the Western and Northern Isles which the Norse had conquered during the Viking Age, now over by at least a hundred years. The Norse king was King Haakon the Old, but don’t let the name fool you. He was a formidable man who had unified the Norse in Norway, intimidated his neighbors with shows of force, and conquered Greenland and Iceland to add them to the Norwegian hegemony.
I have written several novels about the wars and enmity between England and Scotland, so something totally different appealed to me. This was a period when Scots routinely purchased estates in England and spent time there. Even major nobles such as the Earl of Argyll were born in and had extensive interests in England.
The events of William’s life gave me the chance to write about how this worked. For example, there was a dispute between the Douglases and the Earl of Argyll over payment for an estate in England which they took to the courts in England. How English courts worked was fun to research and write about.
It also gave a chance to write not just about war, which was still happening in the background, but about daily life for families with ties on both sides of the Tweed. Whether it was the life of a squire or the celebration of Christmas, there was more to the Scottish Middle Ages than warfare, and I enjoyed touching on that. Hopefully, people also enjoy reading about it.
Author Bio:
J. R. Tomlin is the author of more than twenty historical novels, set for the most part in Scotland. Her love of that nation is traced from the stories of King Robert the Bruce and the Good Sir James her grandmother read to her when she was small to hillwalking through the Cairngorms where the granite hills have a gorgeous red glow under the setting sun. Later, her writing was influenced by the work of authors such as Alexander Dumas, Victor Hugo, and of course, Sir Walter Scott.
When JR isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time hiking, playing with her Westie, and killing monsters in computer games. In addition to having lived in Scotland, she has traveled in the US, Europe and the Pacific Rim. She now lives in Oregon in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
