Special Guest Interview with Nancy Bilyeau, Author of The Heiress of Northanger Abbey

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Gloucestershire, 1820: Twenty-two years after the close of Northanger Abbey, Catherine Tilney seems to be living a happily ever after. But her busy life as a clergyman’s wife is shattered by a letter that resurrects her darkest fears. Her daughter Phoebe has fallen under the influence of the unscrupulous Thorpe family—the very figures who once nearly destroyed Catherine’s happiness.

The Heiress of Northanger Abbey, publishing in ebook, paperback, and hardcover on September 1st, Is Nancy Bilyeau’s ninth historical novel. She took the time to answer some questions on her vision for the novel and why Gothic fiction is so important to this story.

Is The Heiress of Northanger Abbey a prequel, a sequel, or a retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey?

My novel is a sequel to Northanger Abbey. The story takes place from May and August in 1820. The main character is Catherine Tilney—she was Catherine Morland in the original novel, and at the end of the novel she married Henry Tilney—and the novel is written in the first person.

What kind of novel is The Heiress of Northanger Abbey—does it have a plot revolving around a young woman in the marriage market like what Jane Austen focused on? Or is it a murder mystery in which one of the characters is a sleuth?

My novel is not a murder mystery, but the plot is a suspenseful one. And the suspense does come from that Jane Austen preoccupation of marriage motives when it comes to heiresses. Whether it’s Georgiana Darcy in Pride and Prejudice or Miss Grey in Sense and Sensibility, women are targeted by fortune hunters. In Northanger Abbey, a crucial plot point is General Tilney’s mistaken belief that Catherine Morland is an heiress—and what happens when he realizes she is not. 

In my novel, Catherine understands these mercenary hidden motives can cause pain in a young woman’s life, and so when she believes her own daughter, Phoeber, is being targeted, she leaps into action to protect her. Henry, Eleanor, and Frederick Tilney return and so do Isabella and John Thorpe. I also created some new characters, principally Phoebe but also the children of Isabella Thorpe and her mysterious neighbor, Lord Pomeroy, in Dartmoor.

Why did you pick the year 1820 for The Heiress of Northanger Abbey?

Most people believe that the “action” of the original novel took place in 1798. I wanted my story to go forward twenty-two years to a juncture in Catherine’s life when she is about to turn forty and Phoebe is seventeen, the same age Catherine was during Northanger Abbey.

Jane Austen famously wrote during the Regency. Is your book still in the Regency period?

If you want to be technical about it, 1820 was the last year of the Regency, because that was the year George III died and his son became king in his own right instead of ruling the country as a regent. But some people think that the “Regency period,” its culture, fashion, literature, and architecture, lasted until Victoria became queen in 1837.

I found that 1820 was a fascinating year in European history. Countries were recovering from the Napoleonic wars, and the political temperature was quite conservative. It was like a form of reaction going on against the French revolution. In France, Louis XVI’s brother had become king, and Napoleon’s allies were being persecuted. 

Germany and Italy were swinging to the right. In England, the Tory Party had a landslide election. Also, George IV has off to a very bad start. There were hunger and poverty, and yet all he cared about was seeing that his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, didn’t become queen. In my novel, the scandal of the royal marriage is a backdrop running through the plot.

Where does your novel take place? Is Northanger Abbey a real place?

Jane Austen invented Northanger Abbey, the family seat of the Tilney family in Gloucestershire. But , just as with Pemberly in Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park, there were real country estates that Jane may have based the places on. She wrote about the physical building of Northanger Abbey in detail, and it was exciting—if a little intimidating—to take that fictional but well rendered place for my novel. 

 2007 British television film adaptation with Felicity Jones and JJ Feild

I took the story to Bath for several important chapters, just as what happens in Northanger Abbey. And the second half of my novel is set in Dartmoor at the fictional home of the husband of Isabella Thorpe. That was one of the most enjoyable things for me—writing the Dartmoor chapters. I tried to make full use of the moors, the mist, the tors, the isolation, and some of the most fascinating local legends. 

What about the Gothic satire part of Northanger Abbey?

Well, that’s why I took the story to Dartmoor! I leaned into the Gothic vibe. Jane Austen was no fan of Gothic fiction, and she created a heroine in Catherine Morland who loved that popular genre and longed to find herself in a Gothic novel like Ann Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho. Repeatedly Jane Austen made fun of Catherine’s imaginings. And yet…and yet…there are aspects of the plot, like Catherine being put out of Northanger Abbey to fend for herself, that have a Gothic drama flavor to them.

In The Heiress of Northanger Abbey, I have a lot of fun with Gothic atmosphere and the Gothic fiction that was popular in 1820, from Anne Radcliffe’s bestsellers to Matthew Lewis’s The Monk to Dr John Polidori’s The Vampyre.

Is this your first Jane Austen adjacent novel and have you written other sequels or retellings of other writers’ novels?

This is my only foray into the Jane Austen adjacent world, a fascinating place! In my other novels, novellas, and short stories, I create my own characters and worlds. This began as an interesting challenge. Kris Waldherr of Muse Publications asked me if I wanted to be one of the group of authors participating in Once Upon a Gothic. For this special limited collection, each author took a Gothic classic and wrote a retelling from a different point of view or a sequel. For example, Paulette Kennedy wrote The Last Bride, a Dracula adjacent story. 

I thought about it for a long time and decided to write about Northanger Abbey. I’ve been a huge admirer of Jane Austen my whole adult life and her Gothic playfulness in that novel is very interesting. It’s also one of her funniest books. And some scholars say there are strong autobiographical elements in the novel’s treatment of Bath and depiction of Catherine Morland’s family background.

The Heiress of Northanger Abbey was published with the others on Kickstarter in 2025, emphasizing the tactile possibilities of the physical books, producing in tête-bêche format. I received the rights back after the Kickstarter funded and commissioned a new cover. I decided to add a whole new chapter and revise some other parts, and I wrote an “Author’s Note.” I’ve made the novel available for the first time on Amazon, Bookshop.org, Apple, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble, and it can be ordered in ebook, paperback, and hardback.

So far the response pre-publication has been so exciting! Real Simple magazine put it on a list of books “perfect for fall” and BlueInk gave it a star and said, “Bilyeau, an American journalist and editor who has made a career of novels of historically accurate fiction, brings emotional depth and character development to this absorbing narrative.”

Will you continue in the 19th century with your next historical novel?

I may return to it because I enjoyed this process so much, but the novel I am writing right now is Champagne at Midnight, set in 1926 New York City. I wrote the historical mysteries Dreamland and The Orchid Hour as tributes to early 20th century NYC and I continue that direction with the new one, which should be published in 2027.

Nancy Bilyeau

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About the Author

Nancy Bilyeau is the author of the Joanna Stafford trilogy: The Crown, The Chalice, and The Tapestry. The series was published in the UK, North America, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Denmark. Orion Publishing is re-issuing The Crown and The Chalice in the UK with new covers for the paperback. In North America, the Joanna Stafford trilogy is available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audio formats here.  Nancy lives with her family in the Hudson Valley in New York. Find out more at Nancy's website, NancyBilyeau.com and find her on Facebook, Twitter @Tudorscribe and Bluesky @nancycb.bsky.social

Special Guest Post By E.L. Ravenheart, Author of The Shadow keeper: Gothic Haunting Tales from Somerset

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

In the deep woods of the Great Lakes, skeletal spirits hunt the arrogant. Shapeshifters guard what remains of the wild. Hunger transforms the soul with a single choice. Across the Atlantic, on mist-shrouded moorland where leylines pulse through peat, a barefoot girl walks for two centuries, keeping a covenant her family refused. At standing stones, trickster ravens teach threshold lessons. In dark pools, witnesses become bridges between worlds.

The Inspiration and Research behind the Shadow Keeper

When I moved to North Somerset, I moved into the Old Quarry Master’s house that sits directly across from the old town quarry in Weston-Super-Mare, I remembered standing in the kitchen on that first night, listening to the house settling around me, and thinking that I had never lived somewhere with quite so much silence – and quite so much history pressing in from every direction. I did not know it yet, but that house, and the grounds beneath it, would become the beating heart of The Shadow Keeper.

Inspiration

My mother passed away not long before I began writing this novel, and in the months afterwards, I found myself remembering the stories she used to tell me when I was young. She always seemed to know I was spiritually inclined, and she shared her stories accordingly. My favourties were always the ones about the Bear Walkers – figures she described in a way similar to a grim reaper, shapeshifting presences that moved between worlds. I held onto those stories long after I stopped believing I have ever used them.

Then I had a dream. It was about spirits and generational curses, about the way trauma and legacy can pass silently from one generation to the next, waiting to be acknowledged. When I woke, I knew I wanted to write about the inheritance – and I knew the Bear Walkers needed to be a part of it. But I did not want to simply retell my mothers stories. I wanted to reimagine them, so I decided to give the Bear Walkers a new purpose in The Shadow Keeper. As figures tied to animals and the natural world, rising to honour her stories while making something entirely my own – something inspired by my heritage, rather than a claim to speak for it.

Research and Somerset Discoveries

Once the idea took root, I need to understand the land itself. I spent months visiting museums, haunted tours and libraries, speaking to residents who were generous enough to share their own memories and family lore. That is how I learned that the underground cavern just outside my kitchen was once said to connect to the tunnels leading into the quarry itself- a detail that unsettled and trilled me in equal measures, and once I could not resist weaving into a collection book.

I walked through Weston Woods at dusk more than once, and there’s a particular smell there- iron and damp earth- that I now associate entirely with the mood of this book. I travelled out to Brean Island and Salt bay where the cliffs drop away so steeply that the whole landscape feels like it is holding its breath. I stood on Cheddar Gorge and look toward Glastonbury Tor in the distance, and later returned to watch the sunrise from that same vantage point, the Tor rising through the mist like something out of memory rather than geography.

I visited St. Johns the Baptist church from Frome, wandered through Norton St Philips, and stood at Burrow Mump, thinking about the layers of history resting quietly beneath the grass. I became fascinated with the yew trees found in so many churchyards, with ley lines, with the Moors and marshes that seem to hold their own kind of memory. I went on haunted-history tours, dug through museum archives, and slowly, the land began to feel less like a backdrop and more like a character in its own right.

Turning Research into Fiction

The greatest challenge wan not gathering the history- it was a learning how to let it breathe within the story rather than simply reciting it. St Catherine House in Bath became the model for the fictional house at the centre of the story The Circle of Witham Grange inside the book The Shadow Keeper, I could picture its rooms shifting into something darker, older, and more and more haunted. 

My fictional villages, too, are shaped by real historical periods and unrest, including the later turmoil that followed the execution of King Charles I, a period whose ripple effects are still across Somerset’s landscape and stories. I want to be honest that I am still checking some of the finer historical details before this goes any further, but the emotional truth of the unrest- the sense of a land marked by upheaval- is very much present in the book.

Perhaps the hardest part of writing this novel was bringing together folklore drawn from my own heritage with the folklore and history of England, respectfully and without flattening either. I never wanted to suggest that the Bear Walkers I have written represent all Anishinaabe or Chippewa storytelling- only that they are inspired by the stories passed down to me, reshaped through my own imagination and grief.

An invitation

The Shadow Keeper began as a way to honour my mother, and became something larger: a story about land, memory, and what refuses to stay buried. I hope readers find themselves walking through Somerset’s woods and marshes right along the characters, feeling the same mixture of unease and wonder I felt while researching every page.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

E.L. Ravenheart

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About the Author

E.L. Ravenheart is a gothic fiction author with roots in the Indigenous Chippewa Nation (USA). Since relocating to the United Kingdom in 2012, Ravenheart has been writing from Weston-Super-Mare, where Somerset haunted landscapes and layered histories intertwine with Indigenous storytelling traditions. Her work blends psychological depth, atmospheric tension, and the supernatural, drawing on cultural inheritance rich in symbolism and reverence for the unseen.  The Shadow Keeper is among her interconnected works exploring liminal spaces where memory, myths, and the past press insistently against the present. Find out more at https://elravenheart.co.uk/ and find the author on Instagram and  Bluesky elravenheart.bsky.social

Book Review: The Orphan from Verona, by Siobhan Daiko

Available from 

Amazon UK and Amazon US

Verona, 1944. When an air raid strikes Elisa's home, she is left with nothing but the clothes on her back, the teddy bear clutched in her arms and her beloved older brother. Traumatised into silence, six-year-old Elisa can no longer speak and relies on Robi to guide her through this war-torn world.

Siobhan Daiko’s The Orphan from Verona balances human drama with an atmospheric sense of a city steeped in history. Set against the lingering shadows of the past, the novel offers an immersive exploration of identity and family secrets.

At the heart of the novel is a cast of compelling, related characters, and their journey through grief and personal awakening. Their relationships are portrayed with sensitivity, capturing the tension between desire and duty.

I particularly liked the details of life in occupied Verona, the counterpoint of past and present storylines and interwoven character arcs. The gradual revelation of secrets keeps readers guessing, as the plot unfolds at an engaging pace, weaving together intimate, character-driven moments with elements of mystery. 

The Orphan from Verona is a well-paced, memorable novel with a sophisticated narrative that explores the complexities of human resilience. Highly recommended.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Siobhan Daiko is a British historical fiction author. A lover of all things Italian, she lives in the Veneto region of northern Italy with her husband, a Havanese dog and a Siberian cat. Siobhan was born of English parents in Hong Kong, attended boarding school in Australia, and then moved to the UK — where she taught modern foreign languages in a Welsh high school. She now spends her time writing page-turners and living the dolce vita sweet life near Venice. Her novels are compelling, poignant, and deeply moving, with strong characters and evocative settings, but always with romance at their heart. You can find more about her books on her website www.siobhandaiko.org and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @siobhandaiko

Book Review: Queen Elizabeth I's Governess: The Real Kat Ashley by Rosemary Griggs

Available for pre-order from

Amazon UK and Amazon US

Some of the most intriguing people in Tudor history are those who stood outside the spotlight. Katherine 'Kat' or Kate Ashley is one of these. Best known as the governess and confidante of Queen Elizabeth I, she played a pivotal role in the future queen's life, yet is overshadowed by more famous figures around her. 

In Queen Elizabeth I's Governess: The Real Kat Ashley, Rosemary Griggs sets out to change that with a thoroughly researched and engaging biography.

I particularly liked the extracts from letters and contemporary accounts, as researching someone like Kat Ashley is a real challenge. Much of her life has to be inferred from the correspondence of others. It takes persistence and an historian's instinct to piece together fragments into a convincing narrative.

The structure of the book reflects those challenges. The first part sets the scene, exploring on the Tudor world and the Ashley family, providing some context for a woman whose early life remains largely undocumented. Part two picks up the pace as Kate enters Princess Elizabeth's household. 

Rosemary Griggs paints a convincing and nuanced portrait of a woman who was more than a governess. Kate Ashley was a teacher, mentor, protector and trusted companion, remaining loyal through some of the most dangerous years of Elizabeth's life. The chapters covering the Thomas Seymour affair are well handled, presenting the available evidence with balance.

The last part of the book shifts gear again as Elizabeth becomes queen. Kate Ashley appears less frequently in the surviving records, but Rosemary Griggs demonstrates how her influence remained significant.

This biography serves as a reminder of how people behind the scenes often shaped events in ways that are easily overlooked. Rosemary Griggs deserves credit for the painstaking research that underpins this book, as well as for producing a narrative that remains accessible throughout.

Queen Elizabeth I's Governess: The Real Kat Ashley is recommended for anyone interested in Tudor history. More importantly, it allows Kate Ashley the recognition she deserves, transforming her from a familiar name in the footnotes into a remarkable woman whose influence on England's greatest queen must not be underestimated.

Tony Riches

I would like to thank the publishers, Pen and Sword History, for providing a review copy of this book.

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About the Author

Author and speaker Rosemary Griggs has been researching Devon's sixteenth-century history for years. She has discovered a cast of fascinating characters and an intriguing network of families whose influence stretched far beyond the West Country. She loves telling the stories of the forgotten women of history — the women beyond the royal court; wives, sisters, daughters and mothers who played their part during those tumultuous Tudor years: the Daughters of Devon. Her novel A Woman of Noble Wit tells the story of Katherine Champernowne, Sir Walter Raleigh’s mother, and features many of the county’s well-loved places. The Dartington Bride, published March 2024, is the extraordinary tale of Lady Gabrielle Roberda Montgomery who travelled from France to Elizabethan England to marry into the prominent and well-connected Champernowne family. Rosemary creates and wears sixteenth-century clothing, a passion which complements her love for bringing the past to life through a unique blend of theatre, history and re-enactment. Her appearances and talks for museums and community groups all over the West Country draw on her extensive research into sixteenth-century Devon, Tudor life and Tudor dress, particularly Elizabethan. Out of costume, Rosemary leads heritage tours of the gardens at Dartington Hall, a fourteenth-century manor house and now a a historic visitor destination, events venue and thriving community of businesses, colleges and more. You can find out more on Rosemary’s website:  https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/ and follow her on Bluesky and Twitter @RAGriggsauthor

Blog Tour Interview with Karen Essex, Author of Renaissance Rivals: A novel of Isabella d’Este & Lucrezia Borgia

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The story of the brutal rivalry between two of history’s most fascinating power women: Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, celebrated in her own lifetime as “The First Lady of the World,” and Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara, daughter of the infamous Pope Alexander VI and one of the most maligned women in history.

I'm pleased to welcome author Karen Essex to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book.

Renaissance Rivals is a novel about Isabella d’Este and Lucrezia Borgia, two of the most formidable women of the Italian Renaissance. Isabella was celebrated as the First Lady of the World in her own time, while Lucrezia was vilified as a poisoner, seductress, and dangerous daughter of a corrupt pope. When Lucrezia married Isabella’s brother, Alfonso d’Este, the two women became sisters-in-law and rivals for influence within one of Europe’s most powerful families.

Their struggle unfolds through art, fashion, jewels, letters, political alliances, marriage, motherhood, and the affections of powerful men. Beneath the rivalry lies a deeper story about two women determined to shape their own lives in a world that expected them to serve dynastic ambitions.

The novel is also a standalone sequel to Leonardo’s Swans, which introduces Isabella as a young woman and explores her relationship—and rivalry—with her sister, Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan.

What is your preferred writing routine?

I do not write like a normal human being. When I feel I have truly found a story, I tend to work obsessively until I have completed at least a first draft.

A young writer once asked whether I wrote on weekends. I told her that when I am deeply immersed in a project, I take the work with me everywhere, including the bathroom. That answer was only partly a joke.

I have often wished I could develop a calmer and more orderly method. After publishing steadily and also writing extensively for film and television, I have come to accept that intense periods of concentration are part of my process. Sustaining a long career requires discipline. Obsession occasionally proves useful too.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Write something undeniable and make sure it offers something beyond your own experience. Personal material can be powerful, though it still needs shape, insight, conflict, and relevance for the reader.

Be honest about what you are writing and whom you hope to reach. Studying the conventions of your genre is not selling out. It is part of learning the craft, even when you are writing literary fiction.

Revise rigorously. Seek opinions from trusted readers who understand what you are trying to accomplish. Give the work the time it needs. There is no advantage in rushing toward publication before a manuscript is polished and ready to withstand professional scrutiny.

The publishing world receives an enormous amount of material. A strong first impression matters. It is rare for a rejected manuscript to receive a second chance after a rewrite. It can happen, but do not count on it. 

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

Writers have to be willing to use every reasonable avenue available to them. That may include speaking engagements, interviews, podcasts, newsletters, social media, book clubs, festivals, direct outreach, partnerships, and personal appearances.

Millions of books are competing for attention. Publishing a book and hoping readers simply discover it is rarely enough.

Authors should decide what success means to them and then act accordingly. A writer who wants a wide audience must be prepared to participate actively in building that audience. Promotion can feel uncomfortable, especially for those of us who would rather be writing, though I have learned to regard it as presenting work I believe in and allowing readers to decide whether it is for them.

Finally, invest in yourself. If you do not take your own work seriously, others are unlikely to do so. When you commit time, effort, and resources to your growth, people are far more inclined to support you.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research.

I began the project firmly on Team Isabella. I had researched and written about her for Leonardo’s Swans, admired her brilliance, and remained fascinated by her long after finishing that novel.

What surprised me was the depth of compassion I developed for Lucrezia Borgia. The woman behind the legend endured an extraordinary series of political marriages, family betrayals, public humiliations, and personal losses. She was repeatedly used as an instrument of her father’s and brother’s ambitions, yet she survived and eventually established herself as a respected duchess, administrator, patron, and mother.

The more I learned, the less interested I became in choosing a simple heroine and villain. Both women were intelligent, ambitious, vulnerable, and capable of hurting one another. That complexity became far more compelling than the legends surrounding them.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing?

The scenes involving difficult childbirth and the loss of children were the hardest for me to write. Women of that era faced pregnancy and childbirth with a level of danger that is difficult for modern readers to imagine. A dynastic marriage placed enormous pressure on a woman to produce heirs, yet every pregnancy carried the possibility of death for both mother and child.

As a mother, I found those scenes emotionally devastating. Writing them required me to remain close to the historical reality without exploiting the suffering. They tore me to shreds, which may be why they carry so much emotional weight in the novel.

What are you planning to write next?

My next major project is The Silk Rebellion, a six-book epic dystopian romantasy series set in an alternate world where Kleopatra and Marcus Antonius won at Actium and created an empire that survived for two thousand years.

In that world, fashion is power, beauty is law, and a vast information network called The Loom controls public life. The series follows Elissa Valeria, a celebrated designer to the empress, who gradually discovers that the magnificent society she helps sustain is built upon control, surveillance, and fear.

The first book, The Empress’s Cape, begins with Elissa at the height of her influence. She has millions of followers, dresses the most powerful woman in the empire, and believes she understands the system she serves. Then the system turns upon the people she loves. The series combines political intrigue, romance, rebellion, fashion, family conflict, and the question that drives much of my work: how does a woman claim power in a world determined to define her role? It debuts January 10, 2027, and I am eager to get it into readers’ hands. 

Karen Essex

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About the Author

Karen Essex is the bestselling author of RUN, DARLING, KLEOPATRA, PHARAOH, LEONARDO'S SWANS, STEALING ATHENA, DRACULA IN LOVE, AND BETTIE PAGE: LIFE OF A PINUP LEGEND. All feature iconic women—powerful women that seduced the world and ruled it. She is also an active screenwriter and speaker, and an award-winning journalist. She divides her time between Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Europe. Her novels are published in twenty-nine languages. Find pout more at Karen's website: www.karenessex.com and find her on Facebook and Twitter / X: @KarenEssex

Exploring the Life of Sir Francis Drake - Tudor Corsair

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Amazon CA and Amazon AU

1564: Devon sailor Francis Drake sets out on a journey of adventure. He learns of routes used to transport Spanish silver and gold, and risks his life in an audacious plan to steal a fortune.

I’d been planning an Elizabethan series for some time, as my aim was to tell the stories of the Tudors from Owen Tudor’s first meeting with Queen Catherine of Valois through to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. I decided to show the fascinating world of the Elizabethan court through the eyes of the queen’s favourite courtiers, starting with Francis Drake. I soon discovered much I thought I knew about Drake was wrong, and have enjoyed tracking down primary sources to uncover his true story. Here are some of the less well know facts of his life:

“Winter’s Bark” – An Early Scurvy Cure

When Drake’s fleet entered the Pacific in 1578, scurvy threatened his crew. Amazingly, they found a cure far from home. While overwintering in Patagonia, Drake’s sailing master William Winter noticed local people eating the bark of an evergreen tree (later named Drimys winteri, “Winter’s bark”). Winter traded for some bark and distributed it as a drink to the men. 

Remarkably, almost no one fell ill, and deaths from scurvy were negligible during the entire three-year circumnavigation. This discovery predated James Lind’s famed lemon juice cure by 160 years. Drake’s voyage provided one of the first well-documented European accounts of a working antidote, often overlooked in popular accounts of his voyages.

Loot from the São Filipe Fouhding the East India Company

In the 1587 raid on Cádiz, Drake captured a Portuguese carrack named São Filipe. Besides gold and silks, this ship carried documents detailing the lucrative Asian spice trade. These seized papers, describing Portuguese routes and trade in the East Indies, proved invaluable to English interests. 

The First Fleet of the East India Company departing from Woolwich in 1601.

(Wikimedia Commons

Years after Drake’s raid, these documents would be used as the basis for the founding of the East India Company. Intelligence won by his 'privateering' helped launch England’s empire in India and beyond. This connection between Drake’s spoil and the East India Company is rarely mentioned but appears in both English and Spanish sources.

Chinese Pilots: Navigators of the Pacific

During the same 1578–80 circumnavigation, Drake’s men entered the Pacific and plundered coastal Mexico (New Spain). In March 1579, one of his smaller boats captured a Spanish vessel. That prize proved extraordinary, as the English found nautical charts and two Chinese pilots on board who knew the Pacific waters. These charts and men offered Drake hard intelligence on Spanish trade with Asia.

Drake Crowned King of New Albion

On 17 June 1579, Drake made landfall on the Pacific coast of present-day Northern California. He called the territory “Nova Albion” (“New Britain”) and laid claim to it for England. What few know is the astonishing moment of formal submission: according to Drake’s own chaplain Francis Fletcher, a large assembly of local Coast Miwok people brought gifts and regalia to Drake. 

They placed a white feathered crown on his head and a sceptre in his hand as if he were being proclaimed king. Drake then anchored an engraved plate in the soil, and took possession “for Her Majesty the Queen” (in Latin) of this new land.

Francis Drake was a self-made man, who took great risks to make his fortune. He was looked down on by the nobility as a commoner, even after he was knighted, yet his story is one of the great adventures of Tudor history.

Tony Riches 

Special Guest post by Anna Belfrage, Author of Like Chaff in the Wind (The Graham Saga Book Two)

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Matthew Graham committed the mistake of his life when he cut off his brother’s nose. In revenge, Luke Graham has Matthew abducted and transported to the Colony of Virginia, there to be sold as indentured labour – a death sentence more or less.

Indentured servants – the backbone of the colonies 

The first few English attempts to set up a successful colony in the New World failed dismally. In general, people who went to the colonies in search of a better life ended up dead, and for some odd reason this made it difficult to recruit new colonists. 

Without people to work the land and expand the English dominion, the Colony of Virginia was pretty much doomed, so I suspect the directors of the Virginia Company perked up substantially when someone came up with the bright idea to use indentured servants to populate their land.

 

The practise of indenture had been around for centuries. In essence it was a contract whereby one person voluntarily entered the service of another person for a stipulated period of time. In general, any payments for the service were paid out in arrears, which meant an indentured servant who absconded could not claim on his back pay. 

1738 indentured servitude contract between Henry Mayer a

nd Abraham Hestant.The contract bound Mayer to work 

for three years in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to repay 

Hestant for his passage from Rotterdam.

The system set up in Virginia was somewhat different. Someone had to assume the cost of transporting the servant across the sea, and so rules were set in place whereby landowners in the colony could bring over servants at their own expense and receive up to 50 acres in compensation for their efforts. 

The indentured servant was compelled by contract to work off his debt for transportation and would at the end of his period of service receive some further compensation – plus some land. The problem with this little set up was that the need for indentured labour exceeded the demand – most people were reluctant to cross the sea to an unknown wilderness from which they might never return. 

If people didn’t queue up for the fantastic opportunity of expanding their horizons at no cost but their hard toil, maybe some light coercion would help, and what better way to achieve this than by snatching people off the street and have them set their cross to a document they didn’t understand? Quite a number of people were carried overseas against their will, and once on the other side there was very little they could do but submit to the inevitable and work off their years. 

Whether forced or voluntary, the life of an indentured servant was no walk in the park. For a woman, there was the constant risk of being raped – these were societies with a chronic shortage of women – and should she become pregnant her term of service would be extended. The men ended up in the fields, disposable beasts of burden that were often worked until they dropped. 

A disobedient (or “wilful”) servant was punished – in some cases so severely as to permanently maim the servant.  Trying to run away was a serious offence that could lead to beating so brutal the person in question died, and on top of this the reluctant immigrants had to cope with food shortages and unknown ailments. On average, four out of ten indentured servants died in Virginia during the seventeenth century. No wonder the colony had problems recruiting them! 

In the second instalment of The Graham Saga, Like Chaff in the Wind, my protagonist Matthew Graham is one of the unfortunates who is snatched and sold as an indentured servant to Virginia. The experience, unsurprisingly, leaves him scarred for life. 

Below is an excerpt, giving some insight into Matthew’s experiences in Virginia. Not exactly light reading, but I hope it will make you interested in more!

Five unbearable days, and on the afternoon of the sixth day he was so tired that he accidentally upended the sled, tipping the load of tobacco plants into the dirt. Jones flew at him. 

    “Fool! Look at what you’ve done!” 

    Matthew got to his feet, an effort involving far too many protesting muscles. His shoulders were permanently on fire, the harness had left broad, bleeding sores on his skin, and no matter how he tried to use his worn shirt as padding, the sores deepened and widened, a constant, flaming pain. 

    “I’ll just load them back.” He bent to pick up an armful. His arms were clumsy with weariness, and it took far too long to reload the sled, with Jones an irate, vociferous spectator. Matthew leaned forward into the straps, bunching his thighs. Dear Lord! He couldn’t budge the load, the leather cutting even deeper into his lacerated skin. He tried again, and still the sled wouldn’t move. Matthew looked back across his shoulder to find Jones sitting on the sled. 

    “Go on,” Jones sneered, “get a move on.” 

    “You’re too heavy,” Matthew said, “you can walk.” 

    Jones raised a brow. “Of course I can. But now I want you to pull.” 

    Matthew felt his pulse begin to thud. Wafting curtains of red clouded his vision. 

    “I’m a man, aye? I’ll work as you tell me to, but you can move of your own accord, fat though you may be. I won’t be your yoked beast, I’m a man.” There was absolute silence around him, his companions staring at him with a mixture of admiration and exasperation. 

    Jones stood up and moved towards him. “That’s where you’re wrong, Graham. You’re no man, not here, not now. You’re a slave, a beast to be worked until you’re no use.” He looked at Matthew expectantly, his hand tightening on the handle of his crop. 

    Matthew knew he should back down, grovel and mumble, but inside of him the fire grew, red hot rage at the man in front of him, at his traitorous brother, and the injustice of it all. 

    “I told you. I’ve never done anything wrong. I’m a free man.”

    Jones laughed. “Free? Then why are you still here? Why aren’t you on a ship back home?” 

    “You know why! I have no money.” 

    “And we own you, until you can pay yourself free, we own you.” 

    “Nay, no one owns me. I’m a free man.” 

    “And I tell you you’re but a slave,” Jones hissed. 

    Matthew punched him straight into the face, having the distinct pleasure of hearing the cartilage in Jones’ nose crack. That was really the last thing he observed clearly, then it was all hands and feet, and the sting of the leather crop. He heard Jones call men to him and Matthew had the shirt torn from his back, he was thrown face down onto the ground and then there was the snap of leather that came down time and time again on his bared skin. One of his arms was twisted up behind his back, and in his ear he heard Jones’ heavy breathing. 

    “So, what are you?” 

    “A free man,” Matthew gasped. The pressure on his arm was tearing at his tendons. 

    “What are you?” 

    Bend! Alex shrieked in his head, for God’s sake Matthew, bend. But he didn’t want to, he had to salvage some pride, and the pain in his shoulder increased to the point where he knew it would soon be dislocated. 

    “What are you?” Jones hissed again, throwing his considerable weight against Matthew’s trapped arm. Matthew groaned. Please! Alex cried, please, Matthew, for me. Don’t let him maim you for life, my love, please! In his fuddled state Matthew wasn’t sure if she was here for real, or if it was a hallucination, but the despair in her voice rang through his head. 

    “I’m a slave,” Matthew mumbled, closing his eyes so that he might still see Alex, not the red earth an inch from his nose. 

    “What? I didn’t hear you.” 

    “I’m a slave,” Matthew mumbled again. 

Anna Belfrage

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About the Author

Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England.  Her Castilian Heart is the third in her “Castilian” series, a stand-alone sequel to her September 2020 release, His Castilian Hawk. Set against the complications of Edward I’s invasion of Wales, His Castilian Hawk is a story of loyalty, integrity—and love. In the second instalment, The Castilian Pomegranate, we travel with the protagonists to the complex political world of medieval Spain. This latest release finds our protagonists back in England—not necessarily any safer than the wilds of Spain! Anna has also authored The Whirlpools of Time in which she returns to the world of time travel. Join Duncan and the somewhat reluctant time-traveller Erin on their adventures through the Scottish Highlands just as the first Jacobite rebellion is about to explode!  All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards. Find out more about Anna, her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website, www.annabelfrage.com and find her on Facebook, Twitter @abelfrageauthor and Bluesky @abelfrageauthor.bsky.social

Book Launch Guest Post by Alistair Tosh, Author of The Sons of Carthage: Hannibal ignites a war to humble Rome... (The Lion and the Eagle Roman Thrillers Book 1)

Available for pre-order from

Amazon UK and Amazon US

Two empires rise, but only one can survive…

Hasdrubal Barca: The Forgotten General

In 219 BC, Hannibal Barca, the renowned Carthaginian general, attacked Seguntum, a city allied with Rome on the eastern coast of Iberia, just north of modern-day Valencia. The siege triggered the Second Punic War, one of the greatest conflicts of the ancient world.

Hannibal's story has become legendary. His campaigns are still studied in military academies across the world, from his epic march across the Pyrenees and the mighty Alpine passes to his stunning victories over the Roman legions at Ticinus, Trebia, Lake Trasimene and, perhaps greatest of all, Cannae. There, Rome suffered one of the worst defeats in its history, with around 50,000 soldiers lying dead on the battlefield from an army of approximately 80,000.

Yet while Hannibal was devastating the Roman Republic in Italy, another theatre of the war was proving just as crucial. Iberia—modern-day Spain and Portugal—was Carthage's most valuable possession. It was rich in silver and gold, fertile agricultural land, and provided a vital source of recruits for its armies.

For most of the twelve years that the war raged across the peninsula, its defence rested in the hands of Hannibal's younger brother, Hasdrubal. The central figure in my new series, The Lion and the Eagle, Hasdrubal was a capable commander in his own right. Not only did he have to contend with the Roman legions, but he also faced near-constant rebellions from the many fierce Iberian tribes. 

At one point, despite the threat of the legions, he was recalled to North Africa by the Carthaginian Senate to suppress the revolt of the Numidian king Syphax, before returning to Iberia a year later. There he, once more, faced the Roman Consuls, Publius and Gnaeus Scipio, defeating them in separate engagements and restoring Carthaginian control.

Although he has never enjoyed the reputation of his elder brother as a battlefield genius, Hasdrubal was a resourceful and resilient general. Even in defeat, and there were several setbacks during his long command, he repeatedly managed to extricate himself and preserve the core of his army, allowing Carthage to continue the struggle.

His final campaign in Iberia culminated at Baecula, Santo Tomé in the Guadalquivir valley of modern-day Andalusia. There he faced the young Publius Cornelius Scipio, the future Scipio Africanus, who would later defeat Hannibal at Zama.

Recognising the quality of the Roman army opposing him, Hasdrubal established a strong defensive position on high ground overlooking the valley, where there was only one practical avenue of attack. When Scipio launched a surprise assault that overwhelmed his forward positions, Hasdrubal conducted a disciplined fighting withdrawal, escaping with the majority of his army intact.

The following year, he led that same army across the Alps into Italy, recruiting warriors from the Gallic tribes along the way in a bold attempt to reinforce Hannibal and alter the course of the war.

Overshadowed by his famous brother, Hasdrubal Barca remains one of history's forgotten generals. Through The Lion and the Eagle series, I hope to bring this remarkable commander, and his extraordinary campaigns, to a wider audience.

Alistair Tosh

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About the author

Best selling author of historical adventures, Alistair Tosh was born in Dumfriesshire, a place filled with ancient place names such as Torthorwald and Caerlaverock. But it was his visits, as a boy, to nearby Burnswark Iron Age hillfort and its Roman siegeworks that first fired his interest in ancient history. On leaving school he began a 35 year communications career, firstly with the Royal Navy, that included covert riverine and seaborne operations during the height of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, before moving into the corporate telecommunications world. Military life is unique, and Alistair aims to reflect an authentic view of that experience and its language in his stories. Follow Alistair on Facebook and Twitter/X @alistair_tosh

Blog Tour: The Fern Flower, by Kathleen Shoop

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Russia 1908-1917: Born into privilege as the daughter of the Tsar’s favored vodka maker, Mila appears to have everything: wealth, status, and a household devoted to her happiness. But behind the gilded doors of her family estate, she is trapped by the cruelty of a stepmother whose greatest wish is to give birth to her own child.

Each summer on Ivan Kupala Eve, Russia turns its gaze to river bends and forest floors in search of the legendary Fern Flower—a mythical bloom said to grant fortune, power, and the deepest desires of the heart. Only one person had ever found it.

Until Mila.

Years later, in the fading grandeur of Petrograd, Mila and her friends slip into the fabled Stray Dog Café, once the sanctuary of Russia’s most daring artists and dreamers. Inspired by its ghosts, murals, and memories, Mila's group resurrects the work she'd first imagined as a child. The Fern Flower is a breathtaking ballet drawn from folklore, magic, and the secrets of Mila’s past.

But in the fiercely competitive ranks of the Imperial Ballet School, talent is never enough. Though Mila wrote the ballet and her gifted musician friend composed its score, rivals question whether Mila is worthy of claiming the coveted lead role.

As World War I intensifies and revolution ignites, the Russia Mila knows begins to collapse. Family secrets surface, loyalties are tested, and the people she loves begin to disappear. When her parents flee and her young brother’s life hangs in the balance, Mila is faced with an impossible choice: remain with the found family who helped her chase her dreams or risk everything to save the person who needs her most.

With Russian folklore, imperial grandeur, and the fierce beauty of ballet, The Fern Flower is a sweeping tale of ambition, friendship, sacrifice, and the magic that survives even when the world is falling apart.

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About the Author

Bestselling author, Kathleen Shoop, PhD’s novels have won awards in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), Eric Hoffer Book Awards, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Readers’ Favorite, and more. Kathleen has more than 20 years of experience in the classroom and has been featured in USA Today and the Writer’s Guide. She co-coordinates Mindful Writers Retreats and co-coordinated the 2023 Pennwriters Conference.  She frequently teaches and is a regular presenter at conferences for writers. Find out more at Kathleen's website: http://kshoop.com and find her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter / X @kathieshoop and Bluesky @kathleenshoop.bsky.social

Special Guest Post by Steven Veerapen, Author of Overlord: The Life and Reign of Henry VIII

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The true story behind the infamous life of Henry VIII,  one of history’s best-known characters and England’s most famous monarch. He is simultaneously the virtuous Renaissance prince gone wrong, the psychopathic, paranoid tyrant and the much-married glutton.

Oh, Henry. Has there ever been an English king – or a British king – so recognisable, so equally reviled and written-about, that he is, as the great Tudor historian Sir Geoffrey Elton once claimed, recognisable by his silhouette alone? The answer is ‘no.’ 

Portrait of King Henry VIII, painted by Joos van Cleve around 1535.

Even those unfamiliar with the history of reformation, or parliament, or constitutional law can recognise Henry as, at least, the bloody tyrant who had six wives. Whether one’s image of him is as the buffoonish Charles Laughton, the tyrannical Keith Michell, the leering Sid James, the youthful Jonathan Rhys Meyers, or the volatile Damian Lewis, the point is this: everyone certainly has an image of him.

This was one of the more daunting things I faced when deciding to write about Henry VIII, as was the knowledge that I was hardly the first to consider a book on him – indeed, it was the work of historians such as Alison Weir, Lucy Wooding, Eric Ives, Suzannah Lipscomb, Tracy Borman, Robert Hutchinson, Jasper Ridley, and Antonia Fraser who helped kindle my fascination with Henry and his reign.

What, I wondered, was there left to say?

To my surprise, there was quite a lot. For one thing, the totemic biography of Henry himself – the political biography nonpareil, which focuses on the man and his policies rather than on his court culture, bloody marital history, or association with significant statesmen (which are all interesting in their own right) – remains J. J. Scarisbrick’s 1968 biography. 

In this book, which remains standard reading on the sovereign, the author creates an image which has coloured every subsequent study: a Henry VIII who dreamed, however chimerically, of conquering France in England’s name, and who had no coherent or consistent British policy (Scarisbrick not only indicates this but states it outright). To my surprise, as a long-time student of Scottish history who frequently encountered the king well away from the continent, this simply was not the Henry I’d met in the various and surprisingly voluminous Scottish sources. Still less was it the figure I then found lingering in the pages of various Irish and Welsh documents.

Could there be another Henry VIII?

This question propelled the writing of “Overlord” and made it a joy. Here was a new version of the king I thought I knew – and backed up by a variety of sources untouched in any existing biography. This made working on the book not a workmanlike experience but – to rely on a hoary cliché – a genuine journey of discovery. 

Readers, I hope, will feel the same way as they meet a familiar figure – swathed in his furs and surmounted by his bejewelled, feathered cap – in new surroundings and with all-new motives. “Overlord”, I hope, presents the would-be Emperor Henry VIII: a magnificent, awe-inspiring, frequently ghastly leader who saw himself bestriding the British Isles as a legally-justified, universally-respected colossus. 

I can’t promise readers will like him any more than they do already (which is generally not at all), but I do hope they’ll be as spellbound by him – and his arrogance, bravado, and sheer self-belief – as I was.

Steven Veerapen

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About the Author

Steven Veerapen is a writer of fiction and nonfiction and a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde who specialises in sixteenth-century literature. His first novel was The Queen’s Consort, which focused on Mary Queen of Scots’ infamous husband, Lord Darnley. Steven’s other books include the Simon Danforth trilogy, the Queen’s Spies trilogy, and three non-fiction works: Blood Feud, Elizabeth and Essex, and Slander and Sedition in Elizabethan Law, Speech, and Writing. Find out more at https://www.stevenveerapen.com/ and you can follow Steven on Instagram @steven.veerapen.3 and on Goodreads, Twitter @stevenveerapen and Bluesky @stevenveerapen.bsky.social