Book Launch Blog Tour: The Vow, by Jude Berman

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

In a stunning work of feminist historical fiction for readers who loved Dawn Tripp’s Georgia and Whitney Scharer’s The Age of Light, Jude Berman brings painter Angelica Kauffman to life.

Accused of dressing as a boy to study in the prestigious galleries of eighteenth-century Italy, child prodigy Angelica Kauffman has set high goals for herself. She is determined to become a history painter, a career off-limits to women. To ensure her success, she has vowed never to marry.

When a new patron invites her to London, Angelica befriends famous artists, paints portraits of Queen Charlotte and other royalty, and becomes a founding member of the Royal Academy. While still in London, an alluring but mysterious Swedish count makes her an offer that may be too tempting to resist. Then, upon returning to Italy, she meets Wolfgang von Goethe.

Time and time again, Angelica faces the insurmountable obstacles and great personal sacrifices that come with being an independent woman. The vows she makes, big and small, are repeatedly challenged. Will she break free from the traditional male/female binary and the many oppressive social dictates of her time and learn to “paint with her soul” . . . or is a vow of a different sort necessary if she is to answer the deepest call of her heart?

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About the Author

Jude Berman has a BA in art from Smith College and an EdD in cross-cultural communication from UMass Amherst. After a career in academic research, she built a freelance writing and editing business and ran two small Indie presses. She lives in Berkeley, CA, where she continues to work with authors and write fiction. In her free time, she volunteers for progressive causes, paints with acrylic watercolors, gardens, and meditates.  Visit judeberman.com for more information about Jude’s books.

Author Interview with Susan Gray, Author of Blossoming of Truth

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A tragic accident...a bitter betrayal...a baffling mystery. If the truth is denied...an identity is hidden... a trust is eroded and a shocking betrayal ensues... can love truly blossom?

I'm pleased to welcome author Susan Gray to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book?

My latest book is called Blossoming of Truth and it’s my second novel. The setting is Northeast England in the 1920’s. I endeavour to entwine the genres of romance and mystery. I live in this area, but the place names are fictitious. It is the first book of what I hope to be a trilogy. When an attractive young woman seeks refuge in Tom’s home during a snowstorm, he is struck with a déjà vu feeling - convinced they have met before. As their romantic liaison develops, Tom’s life code is threatened by her persistent, mysterious, denial of their former connection. Then his brother dies in tragic circumstances, and he is arrested for causing the accident. Is it possible for love to blossom when he is betrayed, and the truth is denied?

What is your preferred writing routine?

I try to write every day. I’m an early riser and find I can write for a couple of hours before the distractions of the day begin. I’m retired, so the amount of writing done each day depends on the stage I’m at in a novel. I often take a walk and chat through my ideas, to myself. During warmer days I use a summerhouse in our garden – it becomes my writing retreat. In the winter I snuggle up beside a radiator on the landing, but once my head is ‘in the book’, I’m caught up in the story, wherever I’m sitting!

What advice do you have for new writers?

Link with other writers either, physically or through social media. It’s such an encouragement to hear other writers are experiencing the same problems you are having. Don’t give up – accept discouragement as part of the process – it’s usually only temporary.

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?

Talking about my books – library events, book fairs, book blogs, group talks, book signings and social media – Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter). I love meeting people face to face, telling them about my books.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research?

I set my books in the 1920’s and I was amazed how advanced they were in those days. Testing was being done on televisions; fridges and gramophones were household items and women were entrepreneurial, starting businesses.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing?

The 1920’s court room scene in Blossoming of Truth  was challenging. Most of my knowledge concerning courtrooms was derived from contemporary scenes from TV or films. I was constantly asking myself…would they have done or said that a hundred years ago?

What are you planning to write next?

I have almost finished editing the sequel to Blossoming of Truth  which I hope to publish next Spring. A third book is knocking at the door – I already have ideas for it! This would make it a trilogy, if it happens.

Susan Gray

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About the Author

‘Never too old to follow your dreams’ has become Susan Gray’s mantra since beginning to write novels after celebrating a significant birthday. Susan endeavours to entwine the genres of mystery and romance and sets her novels in the early Twentieth Century. She lives with her husband in northeast England – setting her books in this picturesque area. She has a son and daughter, both married, two granddaughters and a grand dog. When not writing she loves to spend time reading, puzzling, walking and catching up with friends over a coffee. She enjoys travelling and tries to include many of the places she has visited in her books. Her plots are inspired by ‘life’ and how her characters navigate the waters. She loves to ‘people watch’ and creates her characters based on the many strangers she has observed. She has written six novels, and you can find her on Facebook and Twitter @SusanGray275384

Blog Tour Spotlight: The Dragon Tree (Dr DuLac series #2) by Julia Ibbotson

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A haunting medieval time-slip (#2 in the Dr DuLac series, sequel to A Shape on the Air, but can be read as a stand-alone)

Echoes of the past resonate through time and disturb medievalist Dr Viv DuLac as she struggles with misfortune in the present. She and Rev Rory have escaped to the island of Madeira on a secondment from their posts, yet they are not to find peace – until they can solve the mystery of the shard of azulejo and the ancient ammonite. 

Viv’s search brings her into contact with two troubled women: a noblewoman shipwrecked on the island in the 14th century and a rebellious nun at the island convent in the 16th century. As Viv reaches out across the centuries, their lives become intertwined, and she must uncover the secrets of the ominous Dragon Tree in order to locate lost artefacts that can shape the future.

For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay.

“The idea of being able to ‘feel’ what happened in the past is enticing … The sense of the island is really wonderful … Julia brings it to life evocatively.” ~ Joanna Barnden

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About the Author

Dr Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of time. She is the author of historical mysteries with a frisson of romance. Her books are evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. Her current series focuses on early medieval time-slip/dual-time mysteries. Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language / literature / history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher. Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015.  Find out more from Julia's website https://juliaibbotsonauthor.com and find her on Facebook and Twitter @JuliaIbbotson

Spotlight: The Pirate’s Physician, by Amy Maroney

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

When her world shatters, she dares to trust a pirate. Will she survive what comes next?

The Pirate's Physician is the story of Giuliana Rinaldi, a student at Salerno's famed medieval medical school, whose lifelong dream of becoming a physician crumbles when her uncle and mentor dies suddenly.

Faced with an unwanted marriage to a ruthless merchant, Giuliana enlists the help of a Basque pirate and flees home for the dangers of the open sea.

Will she make it to Genoa, where her only remaining relative awaits? Or will this impulsive decision seal her own doom?

A delightful seafaring adventure packed with romance and intrigue, The Pirate's Physician is a companion novella to the award-winning Sea and Stone Chronicles series of historical novels by Amy Maroney: Island of Gold, Sea of Shadows, and The Queen's Scribe

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About the Author

Amy Maroney studied English Literature at Boston University and worked for many years as a writer and editor of nonfiction. She lives in Oregon, U.S.A. with her family. When she’s not diving down research rabbit holes, she enjoys hiking, dancing, traveling, and reading. Amy is the author of The Miramonde Series, an award-winning historical fiction trilogy about a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day scholar on her trail. Her new historical suspense series, Sea and Stone Chronicles, is set in medieval Rhodes and Cyprus. Find out more from Amy's website: https://www.amymaroney.com/ and find her on Facebook and Twitter @wilaroney

Book Launch Spotlight: Republic: Britain's Revolutionary Decade, 1649–1660, by Alice Hunt

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A biography of a daring and an unprecedented decade: the 1650s

Events moved fast in the 1650s. Something cataclysmic happened every year, something that would thrust the newly formed republic, its people, and its eventual ‘Lord Protector’ Oliver Cromwell, in an entirely new direction. 

It was a time of bewildering change and uncertainty, but it was also a time of innovation and opportunity. And, for the men and women who lived through these years, this period was certainly not an ‘interregnum’. The restoration of Charles II in 1660 was not inevitable, nor was it welcomed by everyone.

England’s unique republican experiment ­– imposed on Scotland and Ireland, too – may have been shortlived, but it has had a lasting impact on British monarchy, politics, religion and culture, and on the story the British continue to tell about themselves. 

It is a period that, for a long time, history chose to forget, or recalled as a failure. Here, in thrilling detail, Alice Hunt brings the republic and its extraordinary cast of characters, from politicians to poets and prophets, back to life.

Alice Hunt brilliantly reanimates this most extraordinary decade. It is a gripping tale of political and cultural crisis but also one of joy and hopeful innovation, told with eloquence and passion.'  MALCOLM GASKILL

'A magisterial, compelling and eye-opening biography of Britain's great and extraordinary experiment.'  SUZANNAH LIPSCOMB

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About the Author

Alice Hunt is an Associate Professor of English at Southampton University and the author of The Drama of Coronation (Cambridge University Press, 2008). She is also the co-editor, with Anna Whitelock, of a book about Mary I and Elizabeth I, co-author of the Rough Guide to Royals (2012), and has contributed to several television programmes, including BBC2’s ‘Fit to Rule’. Before becoming a full-time academic in 2006, Alice was a senior editor at Atlantic Books. Alice lives in Winchester with her husband, the writer James McConnachie, and their children. You can find Alice on Twitter @amm_hunt

Blog Tour Book Review: Sisters of the Resistance, Book Two of The Wartime Paris Sisters, by Jina Bacarr

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Paris, 1942: Two sisters in Paris had their lives torn apart. Now they must choose – save themselves, or fight the Nazis to the very end…

Jina Bacarr's Sisters of the Resistance explores the lives of two sisters, Eve and Justine Beaufort, as they navigate the tumultuous landscape of occupied Paris during World War II. This second book in The Wartime Paris Sisters series continues to build upon the strong foundation established in the first.

This is a story of courage, sacrifice, and the indomitable spirit of the human heart. The sisters' involvement in the French Resistance is both thrilling and heart-wrenching, as they risk their lives to aid the Allied cause. The author's vivid descriptions of the city, its people, and the dangers they faced transport readers to a time of great turmoil and uncertainty.

One of the novel's strengths lies in its portrayal of the complexities of human nature. The characters are well-developed and relatable, with authentic motivations and fears. The bond between the sisters is particularly complex, as they support and protect each other in the face of adversity.

Jina Bacarr takes the time to delve into the emotional toll of war on the characters. The novel doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of the time, including the often harrowing brutality of the Nazi occupation and the devastating consequences of resistance. 

In her author's note Jina Bacarr adds that her personal journey and experience of violence against women helped her to wrote about this difficult subject, and how if can affect the victims. 

I recommend Sisters of the Resistance as an authentic historical fiction novel that offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people who made extraordinary sacrifices.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Jina Bacarr is a US-based historical romance author of over 10 previous books. She has been a screenwriter, journalist and news reporter, but now writes full-time and lives in LA. Jina’s novels have been sold in 9 territories.  Find out more at Jina's website https://jinabacarr.wordpress.com/ and follow her on Facebook @jinabacarrauthor and Twitter @jinabacarr

Book Launch: How to Survive in Anglo-Saxon England, by Toni Mount

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

f you are planning to travel back to the England of Anglo-Saxon times and begin a new life without technology, how will you manage? If you were a king, a thegn or even a slave, what rights do you have under the law? Are women treated well by their husbands, and if you become sick, what are your chances of recovery? How might you earn your living, and the biggest worry: what to do about those fearsome Vikings?

All these questions and more are answered in this self-help guide for time-travellers. It explores the difficulties you may encounter and the problems that might occur, especially as you are a newcomer in this very different world. Fear not: keep this little volume by you; it will help you find your place in society, learn the language and make friends.

You will also meet some of the celebrities of the day, from Alfred the Great to the Venerable Bede, and more humble folk such as Tatberht of Lundenwic and Ardith the local baxter. Learn how to make bread and tell a great story; enjoy the mead, and the beauties of Anglo-Saxon art and jewellery. 

And if you do find yourself involved in a Viking attack, at least you will know your assailants are well groomed - and afterwards, both sides know how to have a great time in the mead-hall. So join in, but keep this book handy, just in case.

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About the Author

Toni Mount is the author of several successful non-fiction books including How to Survive in Medieval England and the number one best-seller, Everyday Life in Medieval England. Her speciality is the lives of ordinary people in the Middle Ages and her enthusiastic understanding of the period allows her to create accurate, atmospheric settings and realistic characters for her medieval mysteries. Her main character, Sebastian Foxley is a humble but talented medieval artist and was created as a project as part of her university diploma in creative writing. Toni earned her history BA from The Open University and her Master’s Degree from the University of Kent by completing original research into a unique 15th century medical manuscript. Toni writes regularly for both The Richard III Society and The Tudor Society and is a major contributor to MedievalCourses.com. As well as writing, Toni teaches history to adults, and is a popular speaker to groups and societies. Find out more at Toni's website and find her on Facebook and Twitter @tonihistorian