Historical Fiction Spotlight: The Cold Light of Dawn: The King's Greatest Enemy #4, by Anna Belfrage

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

After Henry of Lancaster’s rebellion has been crushed early in 1329, a restless peace settles over England. However, the young Edward III is no longer content with being his regents’ puppet, no matter that neither Queen Isabella nor Roger Mortimer show any inclination to give up their power. Caught in between is Adam de Guirande, torn between his loyalty to the young king and that to his former lord, Roger Mortimer. 

Edward III is growing up fast. No longer a boy to be manipulated, he resents the power of his mother, Queen Isabella, and Mortimer. His regents show little inclination of handing over their power to him, the rightful king, and Edward suspects they never will unless he forces their hand.

Adam de Guirande is first and foremost Edward’s man, and he too is of the opinion that the young king is capable of ruling on his own. But for Adam siding with his king causes heartache, as he still loves Roger Mortimer, the man who shaped him into who he is. 

Inevitably, Edward and his regents march towards a final confrontation. And there is nothing Adam can do but pray and hope that somehow things will work out. Unfortunately, prayers don’t always help. 

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About the Author

Anna Belfrage combines an exciting day-job as the CEO of a multinational listed group with her writing endeavours. When she isn’t writing a novel, she is probably working on a post or catching up on her reading. Other than work and writing, Anna finds time to bake (awesome carrot-cake) and drink copious amounts of tea, preferably with a chocolaty nibble on the side. And yes, now and then she is known to visit a gym as a consequence. For more information visit Anna's website http://www.annabelfrage.com 

or her Amazon page. You can also visit her blog and follow Anna on Twitter @abelfrageauthor.

Blog Tour ~ An Argument of Blood, by J.A. Ironside and Matthew Willis

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US William, the nineteen-year-old duke of Normandy, is enjoying the full fruits of his station. Life is a succession of hunts, feasts, and revels, with little attention paid to the welfare of his vassals. Tired of the young duke’s dissolute behaviour and ashamed of his illegitimate birth, a group of traitorous barons force their way into his castle. While William survives their assassination attempt, his days of leisure are over. He’ll need help from the king of France to secure his dukedom from the rebels. This fresh look at the life led by William 'The Conqueror' when he was merely a young (and not particularly successful) duke  becomes a real 'game of thrones' as the chapters alternate between events in Normandy and those on the the other side of the English Channel. The star of this book proves not to be William but instead the unlikely ten-year-old Ælfgifa, sister of Harold Godwinson. All the characters in this book have their flaws but  Ælfgifa takes it to a whole new level and steals every scene and is a character who would fit in any George R. R. Martin novel. The writing partnership of Jules Ironside and  Matthew Willis works well, with a fast pace and enough historical accuracy to prevent it becoming fantasy. There is savagery readers should expect of the period but also some insights into what it might have been like to live in such a world. An Argument of Blood also passes the test of making me want to learn more about the real history behind the events of 1066. The first of two novels of the Oath and Crown duology, I can't wait to read the second - highly recommended. Tony Riches # # # About the Authors J.A. Ironside (Jules) grew up in rural Dorset, surrounded by books - which pretty much set he up for life as a complete bibliophile. She loves speculative fiction of all stripes, especially fantasy and science fiction, although when it comes to the written word, she's not choosy and will read almost anything.  She writes across various genres, both adult and YA fiction, and has had several short stories published in magazines and anthologies, as well as recorded for literature podcasts. Books 1 and 2 of her popular Unveiled series are currently available with the 3rd and 4th books due for release Autumn/ Winter 2017.She also co-authored the sweeping epic historical Oath and Crown Duology with Matthew Willis, released June 2017 from Penmore Press. Jules now lives on the edge of the Cotswold way with her boyfriend. Find out more at her website www.jaironside.com and find her on Facebook and Twitter @J_AnneIronside Matthew Willis is an author of historical fiction, SF, fantasy and non-fiction. In June 2017 An Argument of Blood, the first of two historical novels about the Norman Conquest co-written with J.A. Ironside, was published. In 2015 his story Energy was shortlisted for the Bridport short story award. Matthew studied Literature and History of Science at the University of Kent, where he wrote an MA thesis on Joseph Conrad and sailed for the University in national competitions. He subsequently worked as a journalist for Autosport and F1 Racing magazines, before switching to a career with the National Health Service. His first non-fiction book, a history of the Blackburn Skua WW2 naval dive bomber, was published in 2007. He now has four non fiction books published with a fifth, a biography of test pilot Duncan Menzies, due later in 2017. He currently lives in Southampton and writes both fiction and non-fiction for a living. Find out more at his website airandseastories.com and find him on Facebook and Twitter @NavalAirHistory Blog Tour Schedule Monday, January 15 Review at Jaffa Reads Too Tuesday, January 16 Feature at Passages to the Past Wednesday, January 17 Review at Historical Fiction Reviews Friday, January 19 Feature at A Bookaholic Swede Monday, January 22 Review at Broken Teepee Tuesday, January 23 Review at Pursuing Stacie Friday, January 26 Feature at Let Them Read Books Monday, January 29 Review at Locks, Hooks and Books Tuesday, January 30 Feature at What Cathy Read Next Wednesday, January 31 Feature at Just One More Chapter Thursday, February 1 Feature at The Lit Bitch Friday, February 2 Review at Bookramblings Review at Impressions In Ink Monday, February 5 Review at Back Porchervations Tuesday, February 6 Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views Wednesday, February 7 Review at The Writing Desk Review at Donna's Book Blog

Special Guest Post ~ King Judy, by David Clow

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

After countless versions of the King Arthur legend from Malory to the present, it's a labor of love to do something fresh while keeping the essence of the enduring meaning. The details have to change to make the story new, but there are values, characters, and ideas that have to be respected and reaffirmed. Those were the goals for me in King Judy.

We're living in cynical times. Readers today might be reluctant to believe anything that seems too good to be true, so portraying simple decency, let alone romantic traits like chivalry, might require some ironic spin. King Judy starts there, with the idea that anything too pure and truthful can't be real. In this version, Camelot in the modern world has become a seedy little tourist town. 

The values of knighthood are mocked; the remaining knights of the Round Table are sellouts trading on tales of heroism that their customers treat as mere entertainment. Trying to believe that any of it could ever have been real is almost impossible when it's all been reduced to a joke.

Judy Avery is a young American archaeologist. At first, she wants to believe in the legends. Then she has to believe in them, because in this little modern tourist town, the fight for the Kingdom has come back to life, with her in the middle, and with her life on the line. She's the narrator of King Judy, the reluctant hero who inherits King Arthur's crown, his sword, and the King's duty to save Camelot. As Judy herself says... 

It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon, when he was King of all England, and so reigned, that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time.....
   A Round Table in a mythical kingdom. Armored knights, a lost treasure, an enchanted sword. A dragon-the fire-breathing kind.
   You've heard this story? Me too. I loved it when it was a fairy tale. Then it befell in the days long after Uther, when the kingdom of his son Arthur was but small and nearly forgotten, that the throne came to a most unlikely heir: me.
   I'm Judy Avery. I was a young American, a lonely romantic. I was a nerdy archaeologist whose career was over before it started. I believed in my heart there might be some beautiful truth in the King Arthur legends. I wanted answers. When I got them, the truth wasn't beautiful.
   There was no explanation for why I was chosen to find Excalibur, Arthur's legendary blade, or for how five strange old men running a British tourist trap turned out to be the last Knights of the Round Table. But the local sorceress and her army of monsters didn't need an explanation. I was King, so they wanted me dead.
   It wasn't the Age of Chivalry. It wasn't a fairy tale about mythic warriors. It was now, and the story was my own. In this version, a tacky Cornish village was Arthur's Camelot. Dragons were real. So was the sword in my hands. So was love.
   Unbelievable. And if I didn't believe it all, I wouldn't survive the day.

Judy isn't ready to be a King. She finds what she needs. I hope she's a hero for our time.

David Clow

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About the Author

David Clow is a Los Angeles-based playwright, journalist, and author. His award-winning plays, academic work and books are all easy to find online, and King Judy has its own Facebook page.

Book Launch Guest Post ~ The Fed-up Cow, by Peta Lemon

New on Amazon UK and Amazon US

The story behind the Fed-up Cow came to me one summer's day when I was walking my dog.  I looked into a field and saw a cow who looked really bored.  I wondered if she was fed-up with being a cow and if she looked around the fields and envied the sheep, with their fluffy white coats and regular grooming.

The thought that a cow might feel this way amused me and I decided to turn it into a children's story.  I have three young children and prefer reading stories to them that rhyme, so I knew this story would have to rhyme.

So I got pen to paper (or finger to ipad) and the story ended up writing itself  - the words all came to me over a couple of hours and the story just happened.  I spent the next four years finessing it and playing around with the sentences.
  

I then read the story to friends and family and the response was unanimous - I had to get it published.

The book was crying out for a talented illustrator.  I ran a contest on 99designs for an illustrator and Maria Dasic Todoric, a freelance illustrator from Belgrade, Serbia submitted her entry.  I knew I'd struck gold as soon as I saw her entry. 

Maria immediately got the story and my sense of humour and translated my ideas into reality brilliantly.  Her attention to detail is second to none and I've ended up with a book packed full of colourful and funny illustrations that have surpassed my wildest expectations.

The best thing for me was being in control of the creative process throughout - I found the illustrator, approved all the drawings and chose the cover design.  This was a huge advantage over getting a publishing deal where the publisher takes over once the story has been written. 

The book is finished and the result? A book that I truly believe a parent would enjoy reading as much as a child would enjoy listening to.

I now turn to the daunting task of trying to raise awareness of it.  This task that is proving harder than I expected but I've always loved a challenge. And this is a challenge. 

Peta Lemon

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About the Author

Peta Lemon is a newly published author of brightly coloured and funny children’s picture books. Her books are original, quirky, nostalgic and all are written in rhyme. Peta works as a lawyer just outside London and is a mother to three young children. She has always loved reading and writing and since having children has developed a passion for writing children’s stories, which are a welcome break from the sometimes dry world of law. She has launched her first children’s picture book, the Fed-up Cow (which is available on Amazon) and her second book, Timmy on the Toilet, is in the process of being illustrated and will be released later in 2018. Find out more at Peta's website www.quirkypicturepress.com

Extract from Discovering Tudor London: A Journey Back in Time, by Natalie Grueninger

Available on Amazon UK Amazon US

and Amazon AU

This engaging and practical travel guide takes you on a journey through the best of Tudor London, to sites built and associated with this fascinating dynasty, and to the museums and galleries that house tantalising treasures from this rich period of history.

Tudor Treasures of the V&A

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, also known as the V&A, is the world's leading museum of art and design, its vast collection unrivalled in its richness and diversity. It's home to some extraordinary objects from around the world, including furniture, fashion, jewellery, sculptures, textiles, ceramics and paintings. Each year, several million people walk through its doors to see the 60,000 or so items on permanent display, including a remarkable collection of treasures from the Medieval and Renaissance period. 

V & A Museum
(Wikimedia Commons)

With 146 rooms arranged across six levels, I recommend obtaining a map on arrival and locating the Medieval and Renaissance, and Britain (1500-1760) galleries on Level 0, 1 and 2, where you'll find many tantalising Tudor treasures. 

A definite standout, and one of the largest objects in the museum, is the timber façade of a house constructed in 1600 on Bishopsgate Street, for Sir Paul Pindar, a wealthy English merchant and diplomat. Most timber-framed houses in London were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and so this is a rare and wonderful relic. 

Among the many other highlights is a fountain attributed to the Florentine sculptor Benedetto da Rovezzano, which once stood in the great court of Cowdray House in Sussex, largely destroyed by fire in 1793, and a beautiful walnut writing box, made in about 1525, and decorated with the royal arms and badges of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. Nearby, is a portrait of Henry VIII and a portrait bust of his father, Henry VII, made by the Florentine sculptor Pietro Torrigiani between 1509 and 1511. The bust is based on Henry VII's death mask and so is presumably a very good likeness of the first Tudor monarch. 

Keep an eye out for fragments of a terracotta relief that once decorated Suffolk Place in Southwark, the London home of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; a miniature portrait of Anne of Cleves painted by Hans Holbein in 1539 and a miniature whistle pendant, shaped like a pistol, which houses cosmetic tools in the stock, and according to legend, was the first of many gifts given by Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn.

Further on in the gallery is a tapestry that was made in around 1585, which bears the arms of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who is believed to have commissioned it for his London home, Leicester House, and an enormous bed, known as the Great Bed of Ware, that dates back to at least 1596. This is one of the museum's most popular objects on account of its great size. The four-poster bed is over three metres wide and can reputedly accommodate 8 people. It was probably made in the 1590's for an Inn at Ware in Hertfordshire, and quickly became famous. Shakespeare referred to it in his play Twelfth Night, obviously confident that his readers would understand the reference. 

Do not miss Nicholas Hilliard's miniature portraits of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Dudley and Sir Christopher Hatton, as well as a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots aged around seventeen, painted by a follower of Francois Clouet. 

Also associated with the Scottish queen are a number of panels, which Mary is said to have embroidered with Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, better known as Bess of Hardwick, during her imprisonment. 

Finally, look out for the Hunsdon Jewels, which, according to tradition, Elizabeth I gave to her cousin, Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, the son of Elizabeth's maternal aunt, Mary Boleyn, and a set of virginals decorated with the royal coat of arms, and Anne Boleyn's falcon badge. The late Professor Eric Ives believed it was possible that the virginals may have originally belonged to Anne before her daughter, Elizabeth I, acquired them.

To wander through the many galleries and stand just a few inches away from objects that the Tudors would have seen, held and worn, is a stirring experience, and one that greatly strengthens our connection with them. They cease to be just names in history books and instead become very real - very human.

For opening hours and other visitor information go to https://www.vam.ac.uk.

Natalie Grueninger 

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About the Author

Natalie Grueninger is a researcher, writer and educator, living in Australia with her husband and two children. In 2009 she created On the Tudor Trail, a website dedicated to documenting historic sites and buildings associated with Anne Boleyn and sharing information about the life and times of Henry VIII's second wife. Natalie is fascinated by all aspects of life in Tudor England and has spent many years researching the period. Her first non-fiction book, co-authored with Sarah Morris, In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn, was published by Amberley Publishing in the UK in September 2013. Book number two in the series, In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII, was released in the UK in March 2016. In 2017, Natalie collaborated with illustrator Kathryn Holeman to create Colouring History: The Tudors, a unique and beautifully illustrated colouring book for grown-ups that features images and scenes inspired by the ever-fascinating Tudor dynasty. She also completed Discovering Tudor London, which was published in the UK by The History Press in August 2017. Find Natalie on Facebook and on Twitter @OntheTudorTrail

MARY – Tudor Princess (Book One of the Brandon Trilogy)

New on Amazon Kindle UK and Amazon Kindle US

and Paperback Amazon UK and Amazon US

The true story of the Tudor dynasty continues with the daughter of King Henry VII, sister to King Henry VIII. Mary Tudor watches her elder brother become King of England and wonders what the future holds for her. 

Born into great privilege, Mary has beauty and intelligence beyond her years and is the most marriageable princess in Europe. Henry plans to use her marriage to build a powerful alliance against his enemies. Will she dare risk his anger by marrying for love?

Meticulously researched and based on actual events, this 'sequel' follows Mary's story from book three of the Tudor Trilogy and is set during the reign of King Henry VIII.

(Mary the French Queen)

New Book Spotlight ~ Margaret Pole: The Countess in the Tower, by Susan Higginbotham

New from Amberley Publishing

and on Amazon UK and Amazon US

The true story of 'The King's Curse';

the extraordinary life of Margaret

Pole, niece of Richard III, loyal

servant of the Tudors.

Of the many executions ordered by Henry VIII, surely the most horrifying was that of 67-year-old Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, hacked to pieces on the scaffold by a blundering headsman.

From the start, Margaret’s life had been marred by tragedy and violence: her father, George, Duke of Clarence, had been executed at the order of his own brother, Edward IV, and her naive young brother, Edward, Earl of Warwick, had spent most of his life in the Tower before being executed on the orders of Henry VII. 

Yet Margaret, friend to Katherine of Aragon and the beloved governess of her daughter Mary, had seemed destined for a happier fate until religious upheaval and rebellion caused Margaret and her family to fall from grace. 

From Margaret’s birth as the daughter of a royal duke to her beatification centuries after her death, Margaret Pole tells the story of one of the fortress’s most unlikely prisoners.

"At last, a biography of one of the most powerful and fascinating women of the Tudor period: the tragic and dramatic story of Margaret Pole, the last Plantagenet, has too long been overlooked." — Leanda de Lisle, author of Tudors: The Family Story

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About the Author

Susan Higginbotham  runs her own historical fiction/history blog, History Refreshed by Susan Higginbotham, and owns a bulletin board, Historical Fiction Online. She has worked as an editor and an attorney and lives in Apex, North Carolina, with her family. You can find out more about her books at www.susanhigginbotham.com. Find Susan on Faceboook and follow her on Twitter @S_Higginbotham