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.
Her Darkest Hour Suzy Henderson Publication date: May 8th 2025 Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical
In the shadow of war, a young woman must choose: deny her magic or wield it to stop a traitor before Britain falls.
England, 1939. A young witch. A nation at war. A spy hiding in plain sight.
As war looms over Britain, Eliza MacLean wants nothing more than an ordinary life. Raised on the Isle of Mull, she’s spent years denying her gifts—just as her mother insisted. But her grandmother taught her differently, whispering ancient knowledge of herbs, charms, and spells.
When her grandmother dies, Eliza seeks refuge in Cambridge with her cousin and the women of the WVS. But beneath its spires and blacked-out streets, Cambridge hides more than just scholars and soldiers. A secret network of witches is working to protect Britain from an enemy who knows magic is real—and seeks to weaponise it.
Drawn into the fight, Eliza is thrust into a world of espionage, deception, and occult warfare. Her rare abilities catch the attention of MI5 agent Alex Fletcher, who needs her help to unmask a deadly spy before it’s too late.
As she learns to harness her power, Eliza finds herself torn between duty and love, risking everything for Jim, a fighter pilot whose fate seems written in the stars. But war is ruthless, and magic has a price.
With the spy closing in and the war reaching new heights of peril, Eliza’s only hope of saving those she loves is to embrace the very magic she’s spent a lifetime hiding—no matter the cost.
But some powers were never meant to be used.
Perfect for fans of A Discovery of Witches and The Rose Code, Her Darkest Hour blends historical fiction with supernatural intrigue in a gripping tale of war, witchcraft, and sacrifice.
The Witches Who Went to War: The Real History Behind Her Darkest Hour
When I started writing Her Darkest Hour, I wasn’t just inspired by the idea of witches in wartime—I was captivated by the real, historical belief that magic could be used to defend Britain.
In researching the book, I discovered a lineage of magical resistance stretching back centuries. In 1588, when the Spanish Armada threatened England, tales emerged of magical circles cast to summon storms. During the Napoleonic Wars, rural communities quietly turned to cunning folk—herbalists, charmers, and wise women—to protect them from invasion.
But perhaps most fascinating of all is the rumour that during WWII, a group of witches gathered in the New Forest to perform a ritual known as the Cone of Power. Their aim? To stop Hitler from setting foot on British soil. It sounds like folklore—but it’s part of Britain’s strange, often forgotten magical undercurrent. The war wasn’t just fought on beaches and battlefields. It was fought, too, in glades and gardens, by those who believed the spiritual realm had a part to play.
That hidden history became the beating heart of Her Darkest Hour. Eliza Maclean, a young Scottish witch, is drawn from her quiet life on the Isle of Mull into a war she never expected to fight. Recruited by MI5, she finds herself hunting a German spy in Cambridge—but with magic, not guns.
I wanted to honour both the women who stepped into wartime roles and the lesser-known stories of those who used ancient knowledge to protect what they loved. Eliza’s magic is not flashy or cinematic—it’s rooted in emotion, empathy, and intuition. And that, perhaps, is what made it so powerful.
In the end, this book is a tribute to the quiet guardians of our past—those who lit candles, traced symbols, whispered prayers to old gods, and believed, fiercely, in their country’s protection.
What if those rituals worked?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy discovering Eliza’s journey in Her Darkest Hour.
Suzy Henderson
Author of Her Darkest Hour
#HerDarkestHour #HistoricalFantasy #WartimeWitches
Author Bio:
Suzy Henderson is the author of The Beauty Shop, Madame Fiocca, and SPITFIRE, novels which are set during the turbulent times of World War Two. She also writes romance and recently released a novella, Christmas in the Highlands, a best seller on Amazon UK.
Her debut novel, The Beauty Shop, was awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion. It is based on the true story of pioneering plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe, and the Guinea Pig Club – an exclusive club for RAF pilots and airmen who required plastic surgery as a result of their war injuries and were under the care of this enigmatic New Zealander.
Madame Fiocca is also based on a true story. This gripping adventure follows the tempestuous life of SOE heroine, Nancy Wake before and during the Second World War.
Suzy lives with her family on the edge of the Lake District, where she can be found rambling around lakes, country lanes or roaming the fells. Armed with a pen, a love of reading and a growing obsession with military and aviation history, she is often lost in the 1940s, writing historical fiction.
To receive all Suzy’s latest book news, do join her reading group here & claim a free story: https://www.suzyhenderson.com
The soldiers did the fighting; the generals, the Infighting
In the waning months of the American Civil War, a delusional Confederate
commander makes a desperate attempt to change the course of the
South’s dwindling hopes by invading middle Tennessee. The tragic
result of Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood’s misplaced hubris devastates his
Army of Tennessee and alters the lives of the citizens of Franklin,
Tennessee.
In a historical novel reminiscent of The Killer Angels, Too Much the Lion follows a handful of Confederate generals, infantrymen and local residents
through the five days leading up to the horrific Battle of Franklin on
November 30, 1864. The lives of soldiers ranging from Major General Patrick
Cleburne to Brigadier General Hiram Granbury and from Sergeant Major Sumner
Cunningham to Corporal Sam Watkins will be forever changed by Hood’s
decisions and mistakes.
Franklin civilians like apprehensive and loving mother Mary Alice McPhail
and teen Hardin Figuers, desperate to serve the Confederacy but too young to
enlist, are ensnared in the events that will bring death and devastation to
their very doorsteps. Devout Confederate Chaplain Charles T. Quintard must
reconcile his religious beliefs with his support of slavery. Slaves like the
elder Wiley Howard and the inquisitive young Henry B. Free are trapped on
the fault line between what has been and what could be.
Too Much the Lion offers an unvarnished account of the dying days of the
Confederacy in a powerful and moving narrative of honor and betrayal,
bravery and cowardice, death and survival. Told with poignancy and honesty
by an accomplished novelist, Too Much the Lion achieves for the Battle of
Franklin what The Killer Angels did for the Battle of Gettysburg, providing
a classic fictional account of one of the Civil War’s pivotal
encounters.
Foreword
Too Much the Lion is the story of the Battle of Franklin and the five days
leading up to the disastrous conflict as lived by select generals,
infantrymen, and civilians in the waning weeks of the Confederacy. In a war
filled with tragic encounters, this was one of the most heartrending, yet
least remembered battles of the Civil War, largely because it occurred in
the Western Theater, far removed from the aura of Robert E. Lee and the Army
of Northern Virginia.
The Confederate Army of Tennessee produced no Robert E. Lee, but instead fought under a succession of mediocre commanders whose
battlefield triumphs were limited to a single decisive but bloody victory at
Chickamauga. The army’s commanders had little else to show for the
sacrifice of Rebel men and boys. Though the overall leadership lacked the
tactical flair of a Lee or a Stonewall Jackson, the Army of Tennessee
possessed some superb generals such as cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest and
division commander Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, who both appear in this
account, though the focus is on the lesser-known Cleburne and his
division.
With more than 8,500 combined casualties, the Battle of Franklin does not make the top twenty list of Civil War battles with the most
losses. Even so, Union and Confederate forces endured five of the most
ferocious hours of combat during the War Between the States. Besides the
hubris of Army of Tennessee commander John Bell Hood, the events of the
preceding night at Spring Hill contributed to the next day’s ill-fated
attack—dubbed “the Pickett’s Charge of the
West”—at Franklin.
In one of the greatest blunders of the Civil War, the Union army slipped past the Army of Tennessee during the night at Spring Hill,
Tennessee, and escaped the trap Lieutenant General Hood had set but failed
to execute. Charges and countercharges about who was at fault echoed through
the years, and historians remain conflicted about who forfeited one of the
South’s last opportunities for a victory over Union forces. The
interpretations of the events at Spring Hill in Too Much the Lion are
entirely those of the author after considerable research and
head-scratching.
In addition to the many generals mentioned in this historical novel, two Confederate infantrymen who left accounts for posterity provide
perspective from the viewpoint of the foot soldier. While novels about war
rightfully focus on soldiers, battle takes its toll on civilians as well, so
two Franklin families—the Carters and the Figuers—provide
perceptions beyond those of the troops. Two slaves serving Confederate
officers as manservants—one elderly and one in his teens—also
enter the narrative.
Except for two characters, all the names listed are those taken from historical accounts. The name of a Franklin doctor was fictionalized,
and the last name of the slave named “Henry” was added since the
historical account only listed his first name. Otherwise, the names are
actual, including the lists of casualties and the causes of their deaths.
The interpretation of each character is that of the author, based on his
research.
Too Much the Lion is told entirely from the Confederate viewpoint, both soldier and civilian. It is important to remember that by
late 1864, both Southern combatants and noncombatants had endured three
years of death and deprivation. Both citizens and warriors alike were tired
of war, its hardships, and the uncertainty it created for their
futures.
For those unfamiliar with the organization of a Confederate army, the Army of Tennessee operated under Lieutenant General John Bell Hood in
overall command of three infantry corps and a cavalry corps under the
direction of Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest. This account focuses on
the corps under the command of Major General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham of
Tennessee. His three division commanders included Major General Patrick
Ronayne Cleburne of Arkansas and Major General John C. Brown of Tennessee,
who are pivotal in this account. Major General William B. Bate of Tennessee
also served as a division commander under Cheatham, but he played a lesser
role in the events as depicted in Too Much the Lion.
Three brigades under the commands of brigadier generals Hiram B. Granbury of Texas, Daniel C. Govan of Arkansas, and Mark P. Lowery of
Mississippi reported to Cleburne, their division commander. Between seven
and ten regiments designated by number and state served under these three
brigadier generals.
Two of the four brigades in Brown’s division appear in this account. Commanders of those brigades were brigadier generals States Rights
Gist of South Carolina and Otho F. Strahl of Ohio. While other generals and
combatants show up in this account, their roles are nominal in this telling
of the story of the Battle of Franklin.
In compiling this narrative, the author has attempted to stay within the historical framework of the events leading up to and culminating in the
Battle of Franklin and its aftermath. Occasionally, time elements may have
been compressed or slightly altered for the sake of the overlapping
narratives from the different viewpoints.
If nothing else, perhaps Too Much the Lion will drive readers to the historical accounts of the Battle of Franklin to make their own
assessments and draw their own conclusions of the tragic encounter in the
waning months of the Civil War. If Too Much the Lion accomplishes anything,
perhaps it will give Patrick Ronayne Cleburne his due as one of the noble
generals of the Civil War, much like The Killer Angels elevated Joshua
Lawrence Chamberlain into the public consciousness.
Too Much the Lion is a novel of war, and war is the failure of man to live up to the “better angels of our nature” as President
Abraham Lincoln first used the term in his 1861 inaugural address before the
start of the conflict that killed more Americans than any other in our
nation’s history.
By its very nature, however, any novel of war is also an anti-war novel, for it shows the dire consequences on individuals of political and
military deceit and hubris. Perhaps Too Much the Lion offers lessons for
today if we are honest and humble enough to accept them.
About the Author
Preston Lewis is the award-winning author of more than 50 western,
historical, juvenile, and nonfiction works. In 2021 he was inducted
into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary achievements.
Western Writers of America (WWA) has honored Lewis with two Spur Awards,
one for best article and the second for best western novel. He has
received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards (six gold, two silver and two
bronze) for written western humor, short stories, short nonfiction, and
traditional Western novel.
Lewis is a past president of WWA and the West Texas Historical Association,
which named him a fellow in 2016. He holds a bachelor’s degree
from Baylor University and a master’s degree from Ohio State
University, both in journalism. Additionally, he has a second
master’s degree in history from Angelo State University. He
lives in San Angelo, Texas, with wife Harriet Kocher Lewis.
Book Title: The Finding Author: Jane Hunt Publication Date: January 7th, 2025 Publisher: Historium Press Pages: 85 Genre: Historical Fiction
This poignant novella is a tale of forbidden love, resilience, and the human cost of war.
In the quiet fields of Wiltshire during World War II, Eveline, a sheltered young woman, stumbles upon a life-altering discovery: a German Luftwaffe pilot, Fritz, has crash-landed near her home. Against the backdrop of war and suspicion, her family takes the injured man in, nursing him back to health. Beneath his reserved demeanor and burned body, Eveline senses a mystery—and something stirs an unfamiliar longing within her.
As Eveline’s infatuation deepens, she faces a storm of challenges: her overbearing mother’s rigid rules, a zealous preacher’s warnings, and the scrutiny of the town’s gossips. Despite Fritz’s attempts to keep her at arm’s length Eveline’s heart defies reason, falling for the man branded as her enemy.
But Fritz harbors secrets that could shatter Eveline’s fragile world. When the truths of war and the weight of loyalty collide, Eveline must confront the reality of loving someone forbidden.
Will their bond endure the hostility of a nation at war? Or will the scars of betrayal and loss prove impossible to heal?
Born in Reading UK, Jane grew up with a love of reading. She remembers taking Enid Blyton books to bed and reading them under the covers when she should have been asleep! Her love of the written word extended into the classroom where the teachers commented on her vivid imagination and length of stories—probably accompanied with a few sights when they realized the amount of time the reading would take!
On leaving school Jane spent a brief spell at college before finding employment as a Dental Nurse where she spent many happy years meeting lots of wonderful people and mixing lots of fillings. After meeting her husband, she later went on to have three children and found work as a Teaching Assistant.
Alongside a busy life, she completed a comprehensive writing course, which saw her having non-fiction work published in newspapers and magazines. But the desire to do something ‘creative’ burned ever brightly. Having recently undertaken a lot of research into her family tree, a desire to find out what life was really like for her ancestors took hold, and she developed a fascination with World War II. Heeding the advice of her late parents to ‘put pen to paper’, she decided to get a story that had been buzzing in her head for quit some time written.
The result of her endeavour was a very ‘raw’ manuscript: The Finding. With some professional help—thank you, Dee, the story evolved into a book—something she still can’t quite believe!
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.
In the summer of 1914, 16-year-old Evan Sinclair leaves home to join the
Great War for Civilization. Little does he know that, despite the war raging
in Europe, the true source of conflict will emerge in Ottoman Palestine,
since it’s from Jerusalem where the German Kaiser dreams to rule as Holy
Roman Emperor. Filled with such historical figures as Gertrude Bell, T.E.
Lawrence, Winston Churchill, Faisal bin Hussein, Chaim Weizmann, and Achad
Ha’am, “Wages of Empire” follows Evan through the killing
fields of the Western Front where he will help turn the tide of a war that
is just beginning, and become part of a story still being written.
Readers who enjoy Wages of Empire should know that the story continues with
the sequel, Crossroads of Empire, the second book in this series.
About the Author
Michael J. Cooper emigrated to Israel in 1966 and lived in Jerusalem during
the last year the city was divided between Israel and Jordan. He graduated
from Tel Aviv University Medical School, and after a forty-year career as a
pediatric cardiologist in Northern California, he continues to do volunteer
missions serving Palestinian children who lack access to care.
His historical fiction novels include Foxes in the Vineyard, set in 1948
Jerusalem, which won the 2011 Indie Publishing Contest grand prize and The
Rabbi’s Knight, set in the Holy Land in 1290. Wages of Empire won the
2022 CIBA Rossetti Award for YA fiction along with first-place honors for
the 2022 CIBA Hemingway award for wartime historical fiction.
He lives in Northern California with his wife and a spoiled-rotten cat.
Three adult children occasionally drop by.
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.
Hated as a foreigner, despised as a woman, she became First Lady of Athens.
Aspasia falls passionately in love with Pericles, the leading statesman of Fifth Century Athens. Artists, writers and thinkers flock to her salon. She hides her past as a sex-worker, trafficked to the city, and becomes Pericles’ lover.
Her writings attract the attention of Socrates, and she becomes the only woman to join his circle. She is known throughout the city for her beauty and wit and strives to become recognised as an intellectual alongside men.
Pericles’ enemies attack him through Aspasia and charge her with blasphemy. As a foreigner she faces execution, but her impassioned address to the jury shames the city and saves her. Pericles is spellbound, they marry, and she becomes First Lady of Athens.
Sparta besieges the city; plague breaks out and Pericles is once again in danger.
THE IMMIGRANT QUEEN tells the true story of how Aspasia rose to become the First Lady of Athens and triumphed against all the odds.
Often writers started out as readers. Was there a particular book that inspired you to be an author?
So many! I read voraciously as a child. “The Secret Garden” holds a special place, it is so warm – and Silas Marner. If only I could write like that!
Do you tend to read the same genre you write?
No, I read in all directions – novels I pick up in the book shop and the library, Booker recommendations, items from blog posts, my partner’s reading group. It has to engage me in the first ten pages, but really I read for enjoyment.
Do you have a favorite time period to write about? If so, why?
Again no. It’s really trying to visualize what it was like for people, human like me, but in a different world with different beliefs and rules. I am fascinated by Athens and am currently writing another story set there.
Writers sometimes have furry, feathered, or scaled helpers. Do you have a writing companion?
My companion is the East Kent countryside, so beautiful at this time of year. I do love the colours of Autumn. Whenever something isn’t going right, I just take a walk.
How long have you been writing, and how long did it take before your first book was published?
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, all sorts of things. Sometimes I wake up with a story in my head and need to put it down before I lose it. Sometimes I can see characters and I know their feelings from their body language, but I can’t hear what they are saying to each other.
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?
No, when I have an idea I write relentlessly. Then I have to spend hours rewriting and rewriting the next day.
Did anyone give you writing advice when you were first getting started? Do you think it helped?
Yes definitely, and a lot of it was good advice. If only I’d taken it I would have moved a lot faster. But you only really learn through your experiences I find.
What is the scariest thing you face as a writer? How do you handle it?
Blank paper – and suddenly there is nothing in your head. You just have to face it down, write about anything, the view from the window, an incident on the bus yesterday, your children and after a while it will come.
About the Author
Peter Taylor-Gooby is an academic who believes that you can only truly understand the issues that matter through your feelings, your imagination and your compassion. That’s why he writes novels as well as research monographs. He worked in India as a teacher, in a Newcastle social security office and as an antique dealer.
Now he’s professor of social policy at the University of Kent, a Fellow of the British Academy, loves playing with his grandchildren and writes novels in what time is spare.
