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Thursday 28 November 2019

LOVE LOST IN TIME - Cathie Dunn's exciting new release with Ocelot Press



Today is an exciting day for Ocelot Press.  The historical fiction & romance author Cathie Dunn takes you to the south-west of France, to Carcassonne and its stunning surroundings.

Love Lost in Time, Cathie’s new release, is a dual-timeline mystery set in 2018, and from AD 777, during the expansion of the Franks under Charlemagne into the region of Septimania, the area on the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea and inland. Raids from Saracens were rife north of the Pyrenees, and sites like Carcassonne were fortified to repel those attacks. But as so often, the real danger lay far closer to home!



A tale of love, death and redemption…

AD 2018
Languedoc, south-west France

Madeleine Winters discovers ancient female bones under her kitchen floor. How did the woman end up buried, all alone, in that particular spot in the Cabardès hills?

And why was her back broken?


AD 777
Septimania, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea

Seventeen-year-old Nanthild must marry Count Bellon of Carcassonne, a Visigoth, as part of his peace agreement with Charlemagne. As a wise-woman, she continues to visit those in need of her help during Bellon’s frequent absences. But dangers lurk on her journeys…


Love Lost in Time is currently at 99p / 99c for a few days only, and *free* to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Amazon international buy link: http://mybook.to/LoveLostTime

Cathie Dunn’s Amazon link:  http://author.to/CathieDunn

Wednesday 20 November 2019

THE RAIDED HEART - a guest post by Jennifer C Wilson

My guest today is a very special friend: the fabulous Jennifer C Wilson.

I first met Jen a little over four years ago, when I worked with her as editor of her first novel: Kindred Spirits: Tower of London.  Since then we have worked together on three more Kindred Spirits novels - Royal Mile, Westminster Abbey and York - and most recently on her latest masterpiece: The Raided Heart (released last Friday).  

Read on for a fascinating interview, and news of an exciting giveaway.

Welcome, Jen!




Hi Sue, and thanks so much for hosting me today. You know better than anyone the journey The Raided Heart has gone through, so I thought I would write about one of the biggest stages of the book’s journey: National Novel Writing Month, 2009, especially as we’re midway through the 2019 edition!

For those of you who haven’t heard of this month of madness, NaNoWriMo, as it is shortened to, is the challenge to write 50,000 words over the course of November, in any given year. The emphasis is to write fast, not looking back over what you’ve written, and not allowing that pesky Inner Editor to have any say at all over the words which are hitting the page, with word count all that really matters. 

It was certainly a challenge! That year, the 1st November was a Sunday, and I was out for Halloween the previous night, but remember pausing just after midnight, and sending myself an email with the opening line of The Raided Heart: “The night was always darker when a raid was afoot.” What I love, is that after all the rewrites and edits, although it may no longer be the opening line, that’s still in there! I’ve always had big problems changing opening lines…

But back to NaNoWriMo. It all gets a bit manic, but I really do recommend it, if you have the time to commit to it. The average target is 1,667 words per day, which, depending on whether you write or type, can usually be done in a couple of hours. Using any free time to boost the word count and reduce the average needed for the days remaining is usually a good idea too, to allow for those days when life does, inevitably, get between you and the work-in-progress.

I’ve completed NaNoWriMo in full twice now, and both times, the finished projects became, with a lot of editing and polish, published novels: Kindred Spirits: Tower of London and The Raided Heart. For The Raided Heart, I used the month to full rework an old project I had begun years before, but the 50,000 words were still ‘new’ written during November. And that’s all that really counts; that 50,000 words hit the page throughout the month. It can be 10,000 words each on five shorter projects, a collection of short stories, a first draft of a new project, or the final 50,000 words of a much longer piece that you’ve been working on.

When I was first looking at having an attempt at it, ten years ago, I read the great piece of advice: You can’t edit a blank page. This is utterly true, and having the ability, in fact the instruction, to ignore that little part of you which keeps saying “Stop, you can’t write that,” or “You should really go back and check what you wrote yesterday,” is liberating. You just have to keep writing, pushing the story forward, word by word, page by page, until you hit that magical goal.

So, are you tempted? Granted, it’s a bit late for this year, unless you really are a fast writer, but if you do give it a go next year, or decide to try it any other month of the year, these would be my top tips:

·       Do have a think about what you’re going to write before the month rolls around. There’s nothing more terrifying than a blank page, especially when you have a very specific and ambitious goal in mind. Pre-November planning is absolutely allowed, so consider your settings, characters, and plot in advance, so you can hit the ground running on the 1st.

·       Do tell others that you’re giving it a go, especially anyone who has to share a home with you for the month, and might be expecting you to take part in cooking, cleaning or caring for others in that time! Get some swaps arranged in advance, and try to give yourself as clear a run at things as you can, so your free time is just that, free.

·       Don’t beat yourself up if you cannot hit your daily goal. At the end of the day, this is meant to be fun, and if we’re tormenting ourselves because we cannot face the screen or notebook at the end of a long day at work, then there’s not going to be any joy found in what we write.

Good luck if you give it a go, and don’t forget, everything begins with a first draft, and this is a great way to get that first draft into being!





More about The Raided Heart:
Meg Mathers, the headstrong youngest sibling of a reiving family on the English-Scottish border, is determined to remain at her childhood home, caring for the land and village she's grown up with.  When an accident brings her a broken ankle and six weeks in the resentful company of ambitious and angry young reiver Will Hetherington, attraction starts to build.  Both begin to realise they might have met their match, and the love of their lives - but 15th-century border living is not that simple, as Meg soon finds herself betrothed to the weakling son of a tyrranical neighbour, Alexander Gray.  When tragedy strikes, can Meg and Will find their way back to each other, and can Will finally take his own personal revenge on Gray?


PURCHASE LINKS:

More about Jen:

Jennifer C. Wilson is a marine biologist by training, who developed an equal passion for history and historical fiction whilst stalking Mary, Queen of Scots on childhood holidays (she has since moved on to Richard III). Enrolling on an adult education workshop on her return to the north-east of England for work reignited her pastime of creative writing, and she has been filling notebooks ever since. In 2014, Jennifer won the Story Tyne short story competition, and has been working on a number of projects since, including co-hosting the North Tyneside Writers’ Circle. Her Kindred Spirits novels are published by Crooked Cat Books and her time-slip novella, The Last Plantagenet?, by Ocelot Press. She lives in North Tyneside, and is very proud of her approximately 2-inch sea view.

Social Media Links:  


Giveaway* to win 2 x e-copies of The Last Plantagenet? (open internationally)

* Terms & Conditions:  Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter by clicking on the Rafflecopter link below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.  If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel's Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.  Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners' information.  This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel's Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.


Sincere thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour.


Thursday 7 November 2019

BOOK REVIEW: HOME ALONE HARRY by Jerry Rhodes, Rachael Messiter and Nicky Hill



Harry is a mischievous young dog, adored by his family: Dad and Mum, Maisie (8) and Max (5).  When the family leave him on his own he creates chaos.  Dad demands, "That bad dog must go!"  Alone and sad in bed that evening, Max asks, "Can anyone help?"  How will the Thunkies respond to his call?


The Thunkies® are a group of four cartoon characters (Thoth, Rath, Joth and Dith) designed to make thinking and learning fun and accessible, particularly in the context of dog behaviour.  This book is the first in a planned series offering a new and ingenious approach to solving perceived problems when dealing with dogs.  

The Thunkies® understand how the dog is thinking, and convey his feelings and the reason for his behaviour to the humans in a form they can appreciate.  The text is easy to follow and the illustrations are clear and colourful.  Although this has the appearance of a children's book, the lessons it contains are equally relevant to adults.  


Jerry Rhodes, AUTHOR 

Jerry Rhodes’ life-long research and teaching is the inspiration behind ‘Home Alone Harry’, this first book in a series for children featuring the cartoon characters, Thunkies®. After completing his degree and teacher training at Oxford University, Jerry’s career as a school-master was cut short by polio. He changed course to a management career in industry, discovered his talents for creativity, and formed his world-wide consultancy to collaborate with international organisations. A special project with Philips led to the discovery of ‘Thinking-Intentions’, to which he has now given the playful name, Thunkies®. Jerry writes his books from his weather-beaten old farmhouse in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds.


Rachael Messiter, AUTHOR

Rachael Messiter, a Dog Listener, uses the approach known as Amichien® Bonding pioneered by Jan Fennell. Rachael has her own practice, Talking Paws, based in Staffordshire. Previously she lived with wolves for close on two years in Colorado, USA, to learn how packs work. She has identified a group of issues that dog owners experience that are due to the well-meaning but flawed behaviours of owners, rather than ‘nuisance’ dogs. How to properly avoid and resolve such troublesome issues will be the theme of each book in the series Thunkies® love Dogs.


Nicky Hill, ILLUSTRATOR 

Nicky Hill is an illustrator and storyteller from Winterbourne near Bristol. Her artwork is featured throughout the Thunkies® Love Dogs books, bringing a bright, vibrant style that captures the imagination. A great lover of animals both wild and domestic, Nicky also illustrates and writes her own series of books about ‘The Wotton Pack’; a group of inquisitive pooches who spend their days and nights having many adventures. She currently lives with her own pack of three dogs in Wotton-under-Edge, a small town in Gloucestershire, where she also co-runs the shop called ‘The Collective’.


The Creative Team at work

Social Media Links

Website - https://thunkies.com/
Shop - https://shop.thunkies.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thunkiesteam
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thunkies
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/thunkiesteam 

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour.

Monday 4 November 2019

BOOK REVIEW: CHRISTMAS AT LADYWELL by Nicola Slade





Anyone who has read Nicola Slade’s wonderful award-winning novel The House at Ladywell may be wondering what happened to Freya and Patrick after the story ended.  This charming novella, published today, brings us up to date.  Although intended as a sequel, it includes enough background information from the original story for it to work well as a stand-alone read. 

The writing is clear and concise, the characters are wholly believable, and plot is carefully crafted leading to a warm and satisfying ending.  As an added bonus, the novella includes a fascinating and wholly plausible suggestion for what could have happened to the Princes in the Tower.  Highly recommended – especially for fans of King Richard III.

Read on for more about the book, more about Nicola, and news of an exciting giveaway!


A time for spilling secrets...

Having refurbished her inherited house and upcycled her whole life in the process, Freya - now happily married to Patrick, and with a small child - has to transform her tiny stone barn into a romantic hideaway for a mystery guest who is also looking for change.  With Christmas only a week away, things don't go according to plan...

In the past, old uncertainties are resolved when an elderly woman seeks the truth of a legend on Christmas Eve and confesses to a deception; a Tudor wife listens to a story that must never be repeated and is given a precious relic that must never be displayed; and in the early nineteenth century an old woman tells a younger one the story of the hares at Ladywell.

Past and present are only a whisper apart when Freya learns of an astonishing discovery that will make Ladywell famous. But meanwhile her house is full of unexpected visitors, she has a turkey to cook – and a very special secret of her own that must be told.
   
Purchase Links


Nicola Slade is an award-winning, bestselling author of historical and contemporary mysteries and romantic fiction, all set in and around Winchester and Romsey in Hampshire – which is where she lives. The House at Ladywell – a contemporary romantic novel with historical echoes – won the Chatelaine Grand Prize for Romantic Fiction at the CIBA awards in April 2019.

She is the author of the mid-Victorian Charlotte Richmond mysteries and the contemporary Harriet Quigley mysteries. The Convalescent Corpse, published November 2018, is the first in a new series, The Fyttleton Mysteries, set in 1918.  Keep reading to find out how you can win a free Kindle or PDF copy.

Social Media Links –
Website: www.nicolaslade.com
Twitter: @nicolasladeuk


Giveaway to Win a .mobi or PDF of The Convalescent Corpse by Nicola Slade
* Terms and Conditions – Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter link below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.  If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.  Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winner’s information.  This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.


Sincere thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour.

Saturday 2 November 2019

MEET THE OCELOTS: LORENZO and IAMO

Today marks the halfway point in the Ocelot Blog Hop.  

This interview first appeared in June 2014, under the heading Brothers in Arms.

The Ghostly Father is available to purchase here.  Ailsa's books should be coming to Ocelot Press at some point in the future.  Believe me, they are well worth waiting for.


Whilst recently chatting over a glass or three of wine, I and fellow-author Ailsa Abraham realised that our male lead characters (Lorenzo in The Ghostly Father and Iamo in Alchemy and its sequel Shaman’s Drum) have a great deal in common.  They come from similar backgrounds, they’re both monks, and they’re both somewhat unorthodox in their outlook on life.  So we decided to get the two of them together and ask them a few questions.  



Let's start at the beginning – what made you enter a monastery in the first place?

LORENZO – I had no choice.  I was told by my father that this was what I must do, and he threatened to disown me if I did not obey him.  To say that this was a shock does not even come close to describing how I felt; he was a kind and just man, and for him to behave thus was completely out of character.  I did not find out the real reason for his actions until almost twenty years later.

IAMO – I had felt a sense of vocation from my early years and studied with the Temple while I was at university. It was a natural progression for me to take my vows as soon as I finished my studies.


Did you have a happy childhood? Had it always been your ambition/vocation?

LORENZO – My childhood was privileged.  My father was a Venetian count and we lived in a palazzo.  All our needs were taken care of by our servants.  I had one brother, three years my senior.  Sadly I never knew my mother, who had died at my birth.

It was never my ambition or vocation to enter Holy Orders.  My one desire was to become a physician.

IAMO – Not particularly. Like Lorenzo I was born into an aristocratic family but I found myself unable to take an interest in the things expected of me and I became interested in the Path very early on. I had almost no contact with my parents but adored my Nanny. It was probably through her that I found my vocation.


Were you not bothered about the vows of chastity etc that you had to take? Did you give those a lot of consideration before making your decision?

LORENZO – Having lost the love of my life before I entered the order, the vows of chastity did not cause me any problems.  I knew that I could never replace her.

IAMO – in my Order we were only required to take celibacy vows after a certain time and by then I was so set on my career as a priest that I gave it very little thought. I had never been in love and felt that the pro outweighed the con inestimably.


Once in the order, were you happy?

LORENZO – To my great surprise, yes.  I am sure this is due in no small part to the influence of Fra’ Roberto, the Father Superior who became my own “ghostly father.”  He displayed a level of kindness, sympathy, compassion and good sense which I had never anticipated of a monastic.

IAMO – Probably less so than Lorenzo. I became the assistant to the High Priestess of our Order and my responsibilities were onerous. I failed in my duties several times. Although Scribe has never said so, I think she has hinted that I was itching for adventure.


Did you ever envisage leaving the order?

LORENZO – Never.  Indeed, I did not imagine that it would even be possible.  I had always understood that the vows were for life.

IAMO – As far as my past life was concerned, I had burned my bridges. All contact with my family had been cut and they were furious that I was not going to return to give them the heir they wanted. Not having considered any other way of life, I never imagined anything else.


Did you have much of a life on the outside “in the world” before taking your vows?

LORENZO –- I was eighteen when I first entered the friary as a postulant, but for the year before that I was apprentice to an apothecary.  This is where I learned the skills which prepared me for my later tasks as herbalist and infirmarian.

IAMO – Yes. Like all privileged little boys of my class I went to prep and public school. My studies were then pursued at university because I wanted to study under Professor Oliver, so I had the life of a student with all the attendant excesses. Also, in an effort to marry me off and dissuade me from the monastic life, my mother had shoved various prospective brides at me. Yes, I think it's fair to say I had my share of “real life”.


How did you decide on your monastic name?

LORENZO –- My real name is Sebastiano Lorenzo Matteo Giovanni Battista Da Porto.  I was always known as Sebastiano, but when I came to take my vows I was asked to choose another name because there was already a Fra’ Sebastiano in the friary.  I chose Lorenzo because it is my second given name.

IAMO – I would rather not reveal that as I have been Iamo for so long now and will stay that way. Perhaps if I just say that it is composed of my initials.



When you entered the order, what did you miss most of your earlier life?  How did you cope without it?

LORENZO – It was all so different from what I had previously known that for a long time I was not comparing like with like, so the question did not arise.  Once I had accustomed myself to the new way of life, the biggest difference was being a servant rather than a master.  But that was the way of the Franciscans – their task was to serve.

IAMO – Nothing. Oh yes, the occasional cigarette. Mostly I was very happy in the Temple.


Was there anything you were glad to leave behind when you entered the order?

LORENZO – Unhappiness.  I had just had to bid farewell to the love of my life.  And also (I am ashamed to say this), following my father’s inexplicable change of demeanour, I was glad that I should not have to have any further contact with him.

IAMO – Yes, killing. My father belongs to the “hunting, shooting, fishing” brigade and such things leave me cold. I cannot bear the taking of sentient life for no reason. I'm vegetarian and the only things I kill willingly are demons, but that is a moot point. Are they in fact “living” in the first place? I was glad to get out of a world I didn't fit into.


From what we can gather, neither of you seem to have had much difficulty about bending the rules when it suited you.  Do you feel guilty about that?

LORENZO – I had to (as you describe it) “bend the rules” on one particular occasion – which was to help a desperate person out of a desperate situation.  I have no feelings of guilt about that – but I cannot even begin to imagine how I would feel if the outcome of my actions had been different.

IAMO – I have to agree with my brother monk here. I didn't just bend the rules, I broke them, threw them on the ground and jumped up and down on them. I had to pay for that but no, I do not regret it for a moment because I did it for the finest of motives – love.



Thank you both, gentlemen – this has been a fasinating discussion!

This post is also available on Ailsa's blog here.

Promo post: HUNTER'S FORCE by Val Penny


Hunter’s Force is the third in the series of Edinburgh crime stories by Val Penny.  Read on to find out more about this bestselling thriller, plus news of an exciting giveaway!



Hunter by name - Hunter by nature.

Can DI Hunter Wilson keep Edinburgh safe when he is the hunted?

Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson is woken in the early hours of the morning by a call from his son.  Cameron's flatmate was murdered.  Why would anyone want to kill a young woman recently arrived in the city?

Hunter must call in the new Major Incident Team (MIT) to lead the investigation due to the reorganisation of police services.  Hunter's ability to be involved, however, is put in severe doubt when someone from his past decides to take revenge on him.  He goes missing, and his team have no idea where to look for him.  Who would want to stop Hunter in his tracks?

Meanwhile, Hunter's team must work closely with the MIT, with or without him, to solve the murder in this taut crime thriller.


Purchase Link - mybook.to/huntersforce


Author Bio – Val Penny is an American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she is justly proud and lives with her husband and two cats. She has a Law degree from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, lawyer, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer. However she has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballerina or owning a candy store. Until those dreams come true, she has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories and novels. Her crime novels, Hunter's Chase, Hunter's Revenge and Hunter's Force, are set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and are published by Crooked Cat Books. The fourth book in the series, Hunter's Blood, follows shortly.

Social Media Links – Author contact details
www.authorvalpenny.com
www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739
 www.facebook.com/groups/296295777444303
https://twitter.com/valeriepenny

Author buy links

myBook.to/HuntersChase
myBook.to/HuntersRevenge
mybook.to/huntersforce




Giveaway to win a .mobi or PDF of Hunter’s Force by Val Penny

*Terms and Conditions - Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter link below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries, and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.  If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel's Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternativ winner.  Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winner's information.  This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel's Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
  

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour.