Guest Post ~ Bringing historic romance to life in a series, by Jayne Castel

Follow the stories of four incredible women - Raedwyn, Freya, Saewara, and Cynewyn - and their search for love and freedom in a world dominated by the warrior and the sword.  The Kingdom of the East Angles is a series of historical romance novels set in 7th Century Anglo-Saxon East Anglia, England.

Available on Amazon US and Amazon UK

Bringing historic romance to life in a series

The beauty of writing an historic romance series – as opposed to straight historical fiction – is that you get to start each new book with fresh characters. I enjoy novels that follow the same protagonists through many books – Bernard Cornwall’s ‘The Last Kingdom’ series is one my favourites – but it just doesn’t work in historical romance.

Romance focuses on the developing love story between the hero and heroine and should end with them facing a happy future together. If you create a sequel involving your two protagonists, then the genre morphs into a historic saga, rather than romance.

Creating an historic romance series

I’ve seen writers create a historical romance series in two ways – either by following the love-stories within a family or by using the same historical setting and picking up a year or two after the first story ends with a fresh romance.

The first option is the one I see most often in historical romance: brothers or sisters in a family who one-by-one become the focus of the story, and live their own adventures.

The second option – and the one I use – needs a strong a historical setting, one that readers can return to with a sense of familiarity. It helps if you can overlap each book with some of the same characters. Sometimes, I like to introduce the hero or heroine for one of my next books as a minor character in a novel, that way when readers pick up the next novel in the series there’s a natural sense of progression.

A journey into Anglo-Saxon England

I focused my series on the reign of three 7th Century East Anglian Kings: Raedwald, Sigeberht and Annan. These novels span eight years, from 624 to 631 A.D – at a time when the East Anglian Kingdom's power was beginning to wane under the threat of Mercia. It’s a highly specific setting, centred around the town of Rendlaesham, which was the seat of the East Anglian king.

My inspiration began with the Sutton Hoo burial – and the great Saxon long ship archaeologists unearthed there. Many believe it was King Raedwald (the king who appears in the first book of my series) who was buried at Sutton Hoo. My mother is from East Anglia and I have spent a bit of time there, so writing about a flat marshy landscape with wide skies and a wild shingle coast was easy.
As I wrote the series,

I noticed a theme running through all three books: that a male dominated world breeds strong women. My heroines: Raedwyn, Freya and Saewara are all searching for love, and freedom, despite the roles and demands placed on them.

They are brave, resourceful and independent, and they all want a man who sees them as an equal. I think many people imagine Anglo-Saxon England as a time of great oppression for women – especially compared with the modern world – but that’s not how I see it. Whether you were born in Ancient Egypt or Victorian England, what women want emotionally  from a man hasn’t changed much over the centuries.

So, in a nutshell, here is what The Kingdom of the East Angles is about:

In Dark Under the Cover of Night, Raedwyn is a king’s daughter who falls in love with the son of her father’s archenemy. In the end, she must choose between love and duty.

In Nightfall till Daybreak, Freya is a king’s slave who struggles to regain her freedom. However, her plans are complicated by her growing attraction to the man who leads the king’s army.

In The Deepening Night, Saewara is forced to marry the king of an opposing kingdom. Torn between loyalty to her people and her growing love for her new husband, she must decide where her allegiance truly lies.

I also wrote a prequel novella to the series: NIGHT SHADOWS, which I’ve included in the series as a free bonus! You can also get a copy of the novella for free, if you sign up to my newsletter on my website. This is a tale of ‘second chance’ love between Cynewyn, an ealdorman’s daughter, and one of her father’s spearmen, who she had spurned ten years earlier.

Jayne Castel

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About the author

Jayne Castel writes Historical Romance set in 7th Century Anglo-Saxon England. Two of her novels Dark Under the Cover of Night, and Nightfall till Daybreak reached the quarter finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards in 2013 and 2014. Jayne writes historical romance adventures about warrior heroes and strong-willed heroines. She weaves powerful love stories into meticulously researched stories about honor, valor, loyalty and vengeance. Find out more at Jayne's website: www.jaynecastel.com, and find her on Facebook and Twitter @JayneCastel

Historical Fiction Book Launch ~ The Queen's Choice, by Anne O'Brien

New on Amazon UK

Who Was Joanna, Queen of England?

It surprises me how some of the Queens of England have remained anonymous, almost invisible.  Who has even heard of Queen Joanna?  Joanna of Navarre, second wife of King Henry IV, who was crowned Queen in Westminster Abbey with all the royal regalia in 1403, is one of these.

In some ways it is easy to understand why.  She was Queen for only ten years.  She had no impact on the actual government of England.  She and Henry had no children together: Henry already had four sons and two daughters with his first wife, Mary de Bohun, so he was not in need of an heir.  Joanna had proved fertile with seven children who grew to adulthood, but their failure to have children together was not a dynastic problem.

Their relationship for the most part has drawn little attention, and certainly not from those who write about English Queens.  Everyone knows something about the wives of Henry VIII.  Most people willingly admit to knowing little or nothing about Joanna.  We do not even have a contemporary portrait or description of her.  All we have is marble effigy on the tomb where her body lies next to Henry's in Canterbury Cathedral.

So why would I choose to write about her, apart from the fact that I have a strong delight in discovering these interesting medieval woman who might just have something to say to us today?

I chose to breathe life back into her because Joanna has some interesting facets to her life - and some tragic ones.

Joanna's tomb (with Henry IV)

Joanna of Navarre was regal from her toes to her fingertips.  Daughter of King Charles II  (the Bad) of Navarre and Joan de Valois who was a daughter of King John II (the Good) of France, Joanna as a Valois princess was related to almost every important family in Europe through either blood or marriage.  She was related to the houses of Burgundy, Berry and Orleans.  The King of France, Charles VI was her first cousin.  Her family connections were second to none. 

On the death of her first husband Duke John V of Brittany, Joanna, as Duchess of Brittany, became Regent in the name of her young son.  Joanna was a woman of considerable presence, reputation and European status.  She was also a woman of intellect, quite capable of ruling a medieval state.  She deserves that we should take a second look at her.

King Henry IV of England, on the other hand, although of Plantagenet birth and royal blood as the only son of John of Gaunt, was a newly made King.  What's more he was a usurper in the eyes of many established rulers of Europe, particularly France, because he had seized the crown from his cousin King Richard II, the rightful, God-Anointed King, whose young Queen was Isabelle de Valois.  Richard died in dubious circumstances while incarcerated in Pontefract Castle.  Thus Henry was a dangerous entity.  Few were willing to support such a precedent for the overthrow of a ruling monarch.  Yet Joanna chose to marry him. 

What was it that motivated her?  What was it that made Joanna, a renowned and highly capable ruler of thirty years of age, with a healthy family of seven children and an enviable reputation, give up everything - power, family, royal approval - to choose to come to England to wed the usurper Henry?  Could it have been love?  Was not Joanna past the age of frivolous emotion?  Her duty surely lay with Brittany and the young Duke, for whom she was Regent.  Their relationship intrigued me.

It was to be no easy marriage for Henry and Joanna, with England torn apart in an ongoing civil war instigated by the powerful Percy family and Owain Glyn Dwr.  Would Henry and Joanna weather the storms of political upheaval and open rebellion?  Many were willing to claim that Richard II was still alive and well in Scotland, waiting to lead an overthrow of the Lancaster monarchy.

Furthermore, as a Breton by association, Joanna could be seen as the enemy in their midst.  With Joanna in England, Brittany under the guiding hand of the Duke of Burgundy was quite prepared to throw its weight behind Owain Glyn Dwr and join France in its ongoing war against England.  Even without the wars, Bretons were detested for their piracy and trading acumen at England's expense.  Joanna would not be the most popular of queens.

And then, surely the icing on the cake for any writer of historical fiction, there was the terrifying accusation of necromancy made against her, that by using witchcraft and and the dark powers, lured on by her father confessor who gave evidence against her, Joanna had plotted the death of King Henry V, the hero of Agincourt.  As a result Joanna spent three years imprisoned in a series of English fortresses.

The consequences for Joanna of the choices she made in her life were far reaching.  They brought her enhanced status and much happiness but also condemned her to a life of great uncertainty.

This, I decided, was a story worth writing.

The Queen's Choice is the story of a Queen of England who has remained in the shadows.  It is a story of betrayal and tragedy, but also one of great love and redemption.  Joanna was a formidable character whose life epitomised the dangers inherent in the role of medieval Queenship.  She can no longer be swept behind the tapestry of history.

Anne O'Brien

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About the Author

Anne O'Brien was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire. After gaining a B.A. Honours degree in History at Manchester University and a Masters in Education at Hull, she lived in the East Riding for many years as a teacher of history. After leaving teaching, Anne decided to turn to novel writing and give voice to the women in history who fascinated her the most, beginning with Virgin Widow, which told the story of Anne Neville, the wife of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Since then, she has told the stories of Eleanor of Aquitaine in Devil's Consort, Alice Perrers, the mistress of Edward III, in The King's Concubine, Katherine de Valois, the child bride of Henry V, in The Forbidden Queen and Katherine Swynford, mistress of John of Gaunt, in The Scandalous Duchess. Her latest novel The King's Sister is the story of Elizabeth of Lancaster, caught up in dramatic and bloody family politics in the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV. Today Anne lives in an eighteenth century cottage in Herefordshire, an area full of inspiration for her work. Visit Anne online at www.anneobrienbooks.com and find her on Facebook and Twitter @anne_obrien.

Historical Fiction Book Launch - Blood and Roses, by Catherine Hokin @cathokin

New on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Blood and Roses tells the story of Margaret of Anjou (1430-82), wife of Henry VI and a key protagonist in the Wars of the Roses. This is a feminist revision of a woman frequently imagined only as the shadowy figure demonised by Shakespeare.

Blood and Roses examines Margaret as a Queen unable to wield the power and authority she is capable of, as a wife trapped in marriage to a man born to be a saint and as a mother whose son meets a terrible fate she has set in motion. It is the story of a woman caught up in the pursuit of power, playing a game ultimately no one can control...

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About the Author

Catherine Hokin is a Glasgow-based author with a degree in History from Manchester University. Blood and Roses is her debut novel  Catherine also writes short stories and was recently a finalist in the Scottish Arts Club 2015 Short Story Competition and blog as Heroine Chic, casting a historical, and often hysterical, eye over women in history, popular culture and life in general. Find out more at her website www.catherinehokin.com  and find her on Facebook and Twitter @cathokin.

Book Launch - Vision of the Griffin's Heart, by L. R. W. Lee

New on Amazon US and Amazon UK

The evil Abbadon, king of Oomladee's northern neighbor Hadession, steps up his attacks on Andy and Mom at home in Lakehills, TX over the next year, unnerving Andy as he overhears speculation that Methuselah may no longer be able to defeat this nemesis. But why? 

Over a year later, Andy arrives back in Oomaldee to discover why zolt have been mysteriously parading through the dungeon and disappearing, for years. And it's not good. 

Tensions run high as more and more citizens are turned into zolt. But there's more going on than meets the eye, for the effectiveness of Abaddon's strikes defeating the military's planned counter measures reveal he's getting inside information. Could there a spy in their midst? 

Despite the chaos, Andy receives a clue for the fifth ingredient needed for the curse-breaking potion, the claw of a griffin. There's one not-so-small problem however--griffins guard the land of Carta's gold and silver mines and don't take kindly to humans. While away in Carta, fears over an imminent attack materialize and Abaddon with his new mage, Fides, enact a campaign of terror no one could have imagined!

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About the Author

L. R. W. Lee is the author of the Andy Smithson juvenile fiction series of epic fantasy books for kids 9 to 99 including teens and young adult, set in medieval times with knight, magic and mythical adventures. She lives in scenic Austin, TX with her husband and her daughter who is a Longhorn at UT Austin. Her teen YA fantasy series includes free young adult books. Blast of the Dragon's Fury, the series starter, is one such Kindle freebie. Lee gives away the first ebook of her teen & young adult books for free in order to let readers sample her work at no risk and so those without a large reading budget can enjoy an epic adventure. LRW enjoys hearing from readers! Find out more at her website http://www.lrwlee.com and find her on Facebook and Twitter @lrwlee.

Historical Fiction Spotlight ~ Seven Will Out: A Renaissance Revel, by JoAnn Spears

Available on Amazon US and Amazon UK

If you thought "Six of One: A Tudor Riff" was the most fun you could have with your nightdress on, wait until you see what "Seven Will Out: A Renaissance Revel" has in store. Get ready for one 'ruff' night! Tudorphile Dolly thought that the night she spent on an astral plane with Henry VIII's six wives, learning their heretofore unknown secrets, was a one-time thing. Not so! 

In "Seven Will Out", Dolly finds herself back in the ether with the women of later Tudor times: Elizabeth I, ‘Bloody’ Mary, Bess of Hardwick, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Anne Hathaway Shakespeare, to name a few. They too have secrets that will turn history on its head, and comic sass that will keep you laughing. You've read all of the traditional, serious and romantic takes on the legendary Tudors. Why not try your Tudors with a new and different twist?

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About the Author

JoAnn Spears couldn't decide whether to major in English or History in college. Life stepped in, and she wound up with a Master's Degree in Nursing instead. A twenty-five year nursing career didn't extinguish that early interest in books and history-especially Tudor history. It did, however, stoke a decidedly gallows sense of humor. Eventually, JoAnn read just about every spin there was on the stories of Henry VIII and the extended Tudor family. Every spin, that is, except the one with the gallows humor. The Tudors certainly qualified for it, but it just wasn't out there. JoAnn decided that with gallows humor to spare, she would do her best to remedy the Tudor comedy gap. A little inspiration from the classic "Wizard of Oz" showed her the way to go, and "Six of One", a new kind of Tudor novel, was born. JoAnn thought “Six of One”, her story about Henry VIII’s six wives, would be an only literary child. Then, two years after its birth, she was caught by surprise with the idea for a sequel. In October, 2015, “Seven Will Out” made its debut and bought the latter-day Tudors into the comedy mix. JoAnn enjoys writing but maintains her nursing license because a) you never stop being a nurse and b) her son thinks she should be sensible and not quit her day job. She also enjoys life in the beautiful mountains of northeast Tennessee, where she gardens, embroiders antique reproduction samplers, and teaches yoga in her Methodist church basement. JoAnn shares her home with three cats and the works of Jane Austen, Barbara Pym, Louisa May Alcott, and of course, Alison Weir. You can find JoAnn on Facebook and Twitter @JoAnnSpearsRN 

Guest Post ~ Writing Speak Of A Wolf, Book One In The Lords Of The Sunset Isles Saga, by Bridget Klusman

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Set in the wilds of western Connacht where the Otherworld stands as near as the next border and the Faerie Folk and the Dead are as likely to walk the land as are living mortals, Speak Of A Wolf brings to life the heroism and suffering, passion and romance, folklore and myth of sixteenth-century Ireland. 

When I was very small, my mother, while undertaking home decorating projects and household chores, would play and sing along to her collection of Clancy Brothers, Irish Rovers and Chieftains LPs. In the car she would sing these same songs while driving. When I was seven, she and my father took a long trip to Ireland. My younger sister and I stayed with my mother’s enthusiastically Irish sister, Mary.

Aunt Mary, too, sang whenever we rode in the car, and she had an even greater repertoire songs than my mother. My aunt had been to Ireland many times, and from her I learned something of my family’s history. She had adopted their staunch republicanism as her own and spoke proudly of my grandfather’s involvement, as a very young man, in the Easter Rebellion and the subsequent Civil War.

Fearing reprisal for his somewhat mysterious activities, my grandfather emigrated to America where he met and married my grandmother. Amazingly they had both come from the same part of Ireland—neighboring tiny villages in Erris, Mayo. Although their families had been known to one another, my grandparents met for the first time three thousand miles from home.

The songs and stories of my kin resonated with me as they had for thousands of years with the people of Ireland and the Irish Diaspora. As with my ancestors, the love of music and storytelling grew strong in my heart. I tackled with relish all creative writing assignments in school, and after college I began my first novel, a work of fantasy. I received a number of encouraging comments from agents to whom I submitted, but this early book did not find a home, being too broad in scope and in need of trimming.

Another project had been simmering in the back of my mind for many years—a family saga set in Erris, Mayo. As a young reader, I had loved The Daughters of England series by Eleanor Hibbert writing as Phillippa Carr, and also the sweeping, generational sagas of James Michner and James Clavell. I wanted to tell the story of Ireland through the eyes of a fictional family from Erris, Mayo. This family would become enmeshed in Ireland’s history, participating in events both great and small. I envisioned a series of novels, each encompassing about fifty years. But I was daunted by the scope of such an endeavor and  prospect of the research required.

I heard about NaNoWriMo from several friends who had decided to participate. The idea of the forced rapid pace of writing appealed to me. I suspected the secret to accomplishing my goal was to initially suppress my inner editor and just get the words on the page. It worked.

During my first draft, I found it useful to divide the story up into more manageable bits. I decided I wanted the finished novel to be 400 to 500 pages long. With that in mind, I settled on 40 chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue and tackled these sections individually, rather than becoming overwhelmed by the story as a whole. Probably the most helpful (for me) thing I did was to visualize the novel’s ending and final scene very early in the writing process.

While developing my characters, I realized Ireland’s story was too complex to be told from just one family’s perspective. I learned the Irish people were often divided into three categories by historians: the ancient Gaelic Irish Clans, the Norman Irish who invaded Ireland during the reign of England’s Henry II and who were subsequently to greater or lesser degree Gaelicized, and the Plantation or Anglo Irish who began to settle in Ireland during Tudor reign and who maintained much closer ties with English government and culture than had their predecessors. To these three groups I added a fourth: the Travelling People. The origins of the Travellers are disputed by historians, but I chose to give them ties to the pre-Gaelic peoples of Ireland’s ancient past.

When I had finished NaNoWriMo, I had the skeleton of a novel and clear map of the historical events I needed to research. While I can’t say the book wrote itself, having such a map gave me a beacon to follow, and two years later I had a completed novel. I learned many lessons along the way, both practical and esoteric. One of the biggest lessons was realizing the publication of my first novel represented not an ending, but a beginning. I now have to learn about promotion and marketing and a great deal more about social media. More importantly, the second instalment of the saga is clamouring for my attention as the next generation of characters demands their own stories be told.

Bridget Klusman

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About the Author

Bridget Klusman was born in Detroit and currently lives in West Michigan. Her upbringing was rich in the Irish culture brought over from Erris, Mayo by her maternal grandparents. Steeped in the stories and songs of her ancestry, Bridget has since studied more about her heritage during trips back to the Old Country. Her novel, Speak of A Wolf, spans the first half of the sixteenth century in Tudor Ireland. It is the initial instalment of her Lords Of The Sunset Isles saga, a romantic historical fiction series based on and inspired by the myth, folklore, and history of the Irish. Bridget counts among the authors who have inspired her Patrick O’ Brian, Jane Austin, J.R.R. Tolkein, and William Shakespeare. When not writing, she enjoys gardening and experimenting in the kitchen with paleo dishes and homemade ciders and meads. Bridget also has a penchant for crime fiction. She has written and hosted several murder mystery dinner parties. The most recent, Murder On The Matterhorn, took place at a ski resort in Switzerland in 1963 and had parts for 28 guests. The menu featured Moscow Mules made with Bridget’s homemade ginger beer.  Follow Bridget on Facebook and Twitter  @ArachneArachne.  

Corruption of Power‏, by G. W. Eccles

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Independent troubleshooter, Alex Leksin, is asked by President Karpev to report on a planned pipeline to take Russian oil through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Karpev’s strategy is to reduce Russia’s reliance on the West by shifting his country’s vast energy resources to the East. Failure would be catastrophic to his presidency. 

Against a backdrop of political corruption, state sponsored terrorism, and increased Taliban insurgency, Leksin’s investigation takes him from Moscow to one of the world's most sinister countries right at the heart of central Asia. 

Initially, his enquiries reveal nothing to cause alarm. Yet, wherever Leksin goes, someone tries to kill him; people who may be able to help him are assassinated; and information turns to misinformation. 

When at last he discovers the truth, he is no longer sure whom he can trust. 

“An up-to-the-minute compelling thriller that combines political sophistication with traditional gore and glory.” - Ray Snoddy, former media editor of The Times and Financial Times and BBC presenter

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About the Author

George Eccles left London in 1994 to move to Russia and Central Asia during the tumultuous period that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union. His work involved extensive travel throughout Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan - often to places with restricted access to foreigners. During his time there, he advised a number of real-life oligarchs how best to take advantage of the opportunities that became available as regulation crumbled and government became increasingly corrupt. Against this background, while his novels are fiction, many of its anecdotes and scenes are inspired by actual events. His first novel, The Oligarch: A Thriller, received considerable critical success, being awarded a Silver Medal both at the Global E-book Awards 2013 and at the Independent Publishers Book Awards 2013, as well as being selected as IPPY Book of the Day. His second novel, Corruption of Power, was published by Peach Publishing on 14 December 2015. George now lives with his wife - and a cat called Lenin and a bulldog called Boris - in a hilltop village not far from Cannes in the South of France. Find out more at George's website http://www.gweccles.com/ and follow him on Twitter @gweccles.