Broad Thoughts From A Home: A BREAK FROM HISTORY

A BREAK FROM HISTORY SNEAKS IN A DIFFERENT TYPE OF HISTORY

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming back my lovely friend the fellow Crooked Cat author Nancy Jardine, who has some wonderful new to share.

Welcome again, Nancy! Over to you...

Hello Sue, thank you for the invitation to visit you to share my latest news.

Monogamy Twist, a contemporary romantic mystery, is re-launched today by Crooked Cat Publishing. Monogamy Twist came about, back in late 2010, because I decided to write a contemporary novel as a break from my historical writing which at that time was my historical romantic adventure The Beltane Choice, Book 1 of my Celtic Fervour Series. What transpired as the "break from historical" was a bit of a cheat - it is contemporary, but I couldn’t seem to help myself, I sneaked in a different sort of history in Monogamy Twist.

The idea of writing a contemporary novel was a challenge and initially I wondered what it could be about. They say that inspiration comes from many quarters and in my case, the plot for Monogamy Twist was almost a ‘no brainer’. I’d started the previous summer on my own family researching and was quite hooked on ancestry since it divulges so many interesting things! I was also watching the latest Charles Dickens series on BBC TV and that was enough to make me think of the Dickensian plot of a dilapidated house being bequeathed under mysterious conditions.

Monogamy Twist became my version of a strange bequest where Luke Salieri ‘almost’ inherits a dilapidated mansion in Yorkshire. The ‘almost’ is because he must fulfil the weird and quirky conditions set by Amelia Greywood before he will eventually inherit the property. She’s a woman that he’s never met, nor ever heard of. Not one to back down from a challenge, Luke realises he needs help to fulfil Amelia’s terms. In steps Rhia Ashton. She seems to be an excellent candidate to help Luke unravel the mystery, but he finds Rhia has her own rules that he must abide by. To say any more would spoil the story but this latest edition of Monogamy Twist will be available from the 27^th March 2015, published by Crooked Cat.

I adore the cover for this quirky story that Laurence Patterson of Crooked cat has created for me and hope potential readers of my light-hearted romantic mystery like it, too. I extend a warm welcome to your readers to join my Facebook Launch Party for Monogamy Twist, which is happening on Facebook even as we speak! Quirky goodies can be won. There’ll be music; food; lovely locations in Yorkshire… Why not pop in and say hello!

My other news is that I’m about to launch into self-publishing in April. The Taexali Game, Book 1 of my Rubidium Time Travel Series, has been in the pipeline for a long time. This story initially came about as a result of me wanting to write a time travel novel that I could read to my Primary 7 classes during a project studying Celtic/Roman Britain - a historical topic I loved to teach. For this reason it has been written for the middle grade/ early teen market. Even though I stopped teaching in 2011, I was determined to finish the story and publish it someday and that time is coming soon!

It’s set in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in AD 210. This is during the era when the Roman Emperor Severus marches his legions in a great show of strength against the native Celts on what was the furthest western reaches of the frontier of the Roman Empire. The novel went through many changes over the years but eventually reached its final form earlier this year and has been superbly, privately edited for me by fellow Crooked Cat author - Jeff Gardiner. Because of its local nature, I’m aiming for it to have a local market in both paperback and ebook formats, as well as a global market in ebook format. It’s a novel that will appeal to anyone who likes a great adventure and especially if a reader is interested in learning more about northern Celtic/ Roman Britain.

Like my historical Celtic Fervour Series, accurate details were important to me during the writing. I really love the cover design that graphic designer, Neil Saddler, has created for me. It blends the important element of the novel: the hill range being an iconic Aberdeenshire setting; highlights my three teenage protagonists; and it shows the threat from the Ancient Roman Legions.

It’s a case of look out for The Taexali Game coming in April!

Wow – this sounds amazing, Nancy. Many congratulations, and may you have every success with these two new additions to your catalogue!

It’s been great to pop in, Sue – thank you.

Nancy Jardine lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. She currently shares a home with her husband, daughter, son-in-law, 3 year old granddaughter and 1 year old grandson. It’ll continue to be a busy household till late summer of 2015 when the new build home will be completed for the young ‘uns on what was Nancy’s former back garden. The loss of that part of the garden won’t be missed since there should now be more writing time available this spring and summer! Childminding is intermittent over the day and any writing time is precious. (If interested in how a new house is built these days, follow my blog posts named ‘Gonna build a house’ )

All matters historical are a passion; Ancestry research is a lovely time-suck. Nancy regularly blogs and loves to have guests visit her blog. Facebooking is a habit she’s trying to keep within reasonable bounds! Any time left in a day is for leisure reading and the occasional historical series on TV.

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Author links:

http://nancyjardine.blogspot.co.uk http://nancyjardineauthor.com/ Twitter @nansjar Facebook: http://on.fb.me/XeQdkG

Amazon Author page for books and to view book trailer videos:

http://amzn.to/RJZzZz UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Jardine/e/B005IDBIYG/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Here are the links to buy Monogamy Twist: