THE LAST PLANTAGENET?
The fireplace hadn't
looked like a time-portal.
All Kate had wanted
was a fun, relaxing day out, watching the knights jousting at Nottingham
Castle. What she ended up with was something quite different.
Transported in a
heartbeat from 2011 to 1485, how will Kate handle life at the Ricardian court?
Even more importantly, how will she cope when she catches the eye of the king
himself?
Find out in this
'giddily romantic' romp, set just prior to the Battle of Bosworth.
A couple of years ago, before Kindred Spirits: Tower of
London had come into being, I saw an article about a Mills & Boon imprint,
Historical Undone, which accepted stories of 10-12,000 words, and were open to
elements of the supernatural and paranormal. It sounded interesting, and
achievable at that length, so I started brainstorming ideas. After a while, the
idea of time-travel came to the fore, the notion of a girl slipping back in
time to the court of Richard III, and a possible romance to follow.
So I began working on it, but I knew fairly soon in that it
was going to be a Mills & Boon project. I’ve read plenty of their
historical novels, and knowing what they would likely expect, and where my
story was going, it was clear the two weren’t going to align. What to do then?
Keep going, not knowing where it could end up, or put it to one side and work
on another project, one which felt more solid? I opted for the latter, and put
the whole thing aside, moving onto other things, and all but forgetting about
it.
You know what it’s like, though – just because you say you’ll forget about something,
doesn’t mean that you actually will
forget about it. The idea kept nagging away at me, but whenever I sat and
looked at it, I couldn’t get the story quite right. I managed the initial timeslip
moment, and plenty of scenes set in 1485, but when it came to the logistics of
the time-travel, and how things might come to an end, I just wasn’t getting
anywhere. Back in the drawer then!
Then came the funeral - the re-burial of the king whose remains had recently been discovered under a car park in Leicester.
Sitting in the service of Compline, in Leicester Cathedral,
I found myself drifting into my imagination, and later that evening, the final
scenes for the story finally slotted into place, and, bit-by-bit, I got more
excited about the tale. So I started working on the story again, on-and-off,
during 2015, and it gradually came together. At the same time, though, I had also
been working on Kindred Spirits: Tower of London, and was thrilled to bits that
Crooked Cat Books had decided to take it on, due to publish in October of the
same year. Clearly, that was where my focus had to lie: with the book that was
definitely going somewhere, rather than the one which wasn’t even finished.
Fast-forward to January 2017, and once again, that drawer
started to rattle at me.
This time though, I decided I wanted to finish it, and when
I got into it, yes, it wasn’t a Mills & Boon, but it could still be
something, and this time it was a story I was enjoying telling. I really
focused on those sections which had caused me problems before, not just giving
up this time. Feedback from writing friends really helped, and within a few
months, I had my final manuscript, ready to go.
Richard III was my romantic hero, and the ebook was released
on 2nd October 2017. In the year since, it’s been an enjoyable
learning curve, and now I’m excited to be bringing The Last Plantagenet? under
the umbrella of Ocelot Press - a co-operation of like-minded authors, publishing
independently, but working to support each other in our writing and
publications. It’s an exciting time, and a lovely group to be part of. I hope
you visit the page, and enjoy browsing the other books we have in store for
you!
The Last Plantagenet? is available as an ebook, or on Kindle
Unlimited, here.
About Jennifer
Jennifer is a marine biologist by training, who developed an
equal passion for history whilst stalking Mary, Queen of Scots of childhood
holidays (she has since moved on to Richard III). She completed her BSc and MSc
at the University of Hull, and has worked as a marine environmental consultant
since graduating.
Enrolling on an adult education workshop on her return to
the north-east reignited Jennifer’s pastime of creative writing, and she has
been filling notebooks ever since. In 2014, Jennifer won the Story Tyne short
story competition, and also continues to work on developing her poetic voice,
reading at a number of events, and with several pieces available online. Her
Kindred Spirits novels are published by Crooked Cat Books and available via Amazon, along
with her self-published timeslip novella, The
Last Plantagenet? She can be found online at her blog, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
