Writing, Knights, and Chasing Dreams ~ Mary Anne Yarde’s 2017 #amwriting #HistFic

Writing, Knights, and Chasing Dreams

2017

Here we are again. Another year is coming to an end, and once again I am looking back.

2017 has been the most extraordinary year.

For me, it has been a year of awards.

I thought, when I had finished writing The Du Lac Devil (Book 2 of The Du Lac Chronicles), that it could be something special, but I wasn't expecting this...

Readers' Favorite Finalist 2017

IAN Book Of The Year Award Finalist 2017

Golden Quill Award Winner 2017

Chill with a Book Readers' Award 2017

BooksGoSocial Readers Choice Award Shortlisted 2017

I have just found out that The Du Lac Devil has also been awarded a Discovered Diamond Award. Very exciting!

Not to be left out. The Du Lac Chronicles has also been awarded a Discovered Diamond Award this year as well.

Research. Research. Research.

I have spent many hours researching the fabulous Dark Ages this year. I decided that I really need to go to Cornwall, for research purposes of course — that is what I told my husband anyway. I had an absolute fabulous time. I love Cornwall.

Tintagel

The Hurlers ~ Bodmin Moor

I published The Du Lac Princess (Book 3 of The Du Lac Chronicles) back in October, and it went straight into number one in its genre and got that coveted orange bestselling badge from Amazon, and it kept it for two days! I was very emotional when I saw that.

I can't express how thankful I am to all my lovely readers who are on this incredible journey with me.  Your support has meant so much over the last few years. You are the best! Thank you!

In other news, this blog has continued to grow, and I am astounded by how many pages read I have each day. Thank you to everyone who supports this blog, and I hope in the coming year, you will continue to enjoy it. I have some wonderful and very talented authors lined up for next year. It is going to be fabulous. Make sure you come back often and check it out.

Back at home, we had the excitement of a new puppy. I am a little bit biased, but I do think he is the best dog in the world.

We named him Aramis, after the Musketeer. We have our very own Muskehound!

Like the Musketeer Aramis, our Aramis is overflowing with love. He loves everybody, apart from the vet. He doesn't like her. He did, but then he got an ear infection, and now he is not so keen. Putting that aside, Aramis is such a happy little fellow who follows me around everywhere. I call him my little shadow. He is actually lying on my feet as I type.

My daughter asked me if we can have an Athos, Porthos, and D'Artagnan as well, but I think one Springer Spaniel is enough... For now!

So what are my plans for next year?

I am currently writing Book 4 of The Du Lac Chronicles, and I am loving where it is going at the moment. Merton du Lac is fighting me for creative control, as he always does! Some things never change. There may be one or two surprises — my lips are sealed and I am not telling. I have yet to give this book a name, but I am sure I will come up with something sooner or later. I am hoping to publish it sometime in the latter half of 2018, it really depends if Merton behaves himself!

All that is left for me to say is I hope you have a wonderful new year and a prosperous and peaceful 2018.

All my love,

Mary Anne

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New Release ~ The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth #BestSeller #history @MattLewisAuthor

The Survival of the Princes in the Tower:

Murder, Mystery and Myth

By Matthew Lewis

The murder of the Princes in the Tower is the most famous cold case in British history. Traditionally considered victims of a ruthless uncle, there are other suspects too often and too easily discounted. There may be no definitive answer, but by delving into the context of their disappearance and the characters of the suspects Matthew Lewis examines the motives and opportunities afresh as well as asking a crucial but often overlooked question: what if there was no murder? What if Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York survived their uncle’s reign and even that of their brother-in-law Henry VII? There are glimpses of their possible survival and compelling evidence to give weight to those glimpses, which is considered alongside the possibility of their deaths to provide a rounded and complete assessment of the most fascinating mystery in history.

Excerpt

The lack of direct action from Margaret’s pretender does not mean that concern in England was not reaching a thinly veiled peak. On 20 July 1493, Henry VII wrote a letter recorded in Ellis’s Original Letters Vol I to Sir Gilbert Talbot and expressly blamed Margaret for instigating the problems he now faced and tried to dismiss her prince as a ‘boy’, but it also ordered Talbot to be ‘ready to come upon a day’s warning for to do us service of war’ against the threatened invasion of ‘certain aliens, captains of strange nations’. It was all very well for Henry to call this pretender a mere ‘boy’, but Richard, Duke of York would have been nineteen years old by this point, an age at which his father was leading armies and devouring enemies, not only at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross but at the cataclysmic Battle of Towton, the largest battle fought on English soil, which Edward IV won to cement his own position on the throne. Henry would have been all too aware of this so his flippant disregard can only have been a blustering front.

Ellis’s Original Letters Vol II offers further illumination of the concern Henry felt, but needed desperately to hide. This document is a set of instructions given to Clarenceux King of Arms for an embassy to Charles VIII in France. The current holder of the office of Clarenceux King of Arms on 10 August 1494, when these papers were signed by Henry VII at Sheen Palace, was Roger Machado, who had been appointed to the role on 24 January that year. Roger Machado was of Portuguese extraction, which may be important to the tale, and had served Edward IV as Leicester Herald and appears, during the early part of 1485, to have undertaken several journeys on behalf of Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, which may have been in relation to Henry Tudor, then in exile and planning his attack, or might equally have related to one or more of Thomas’s half-brothers, the Princes in the Tower, in hiding abroad.

In this instance, Henry VII’s instructions remain in full. The first part of the instructions order Machado to let Charles VIII know that his emissary, Messire George le Grec, had been afflicted by gout on his way to England but that Charles’ messages had been received from an esquire, Thomyn le Fevre, who had travelled in le Grec’s stead. Henry wished Charles to know that he had received the news that an embassy from Charles to Maximilian had returned to Paris with confirmation that the Holy Roman Emperor meant to do all in his power to assist Margaret’s pretender and that Maximilian had travelled to Flanders to help champion that cause. Charles appears to have sent Henry an offer of assistance, despite his own efforts to raise an army to assault Naples. France would lay the fleets of Brittany and Normandy at Henry’s disposal on the sole condition that he met the costs of running them whilst they served him and Charles, in line with his agreement at the Peace of Étaples, had ordered that none of his subjects should join or aid the pretender’s efforts. Henry thanked Charles for this offer, but said that he would not need to avail himself of it because the ‘garçon’ was of so little importance that Henry was not at all concerned by him. This, of course, was not true, as the king’s letter to Gilbert Talbot attests. Henry, though, needed to maintain a calm appearance above the surface as his legs beat furiously below the water, against a strengthening tide.

Links for Purchase

Amazon  Book Depository

Matthew Lewis

Matthew Lewis was born and grew up in the West Midlands. Having obtained a law degree, he currently lives in the beautiful Shropshire countryside with his wife and children. History and writing have always been a passion of Matthew's, with particular interest in the Wars of the Roses period. His first novel, Loyalty, was born of the joining of those passions.

Matthew loves to hear from readers, you can find him…

Matt’s History Blog ~ Hopefully interesting snippets and thoughts

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New Release ~ Love’s Glory #historical #Western #Romance @WileyDorothy

Love’s Glory

(Wilderness Hearts #3)

By Dorothy Wiley

Mesmerizing, LOVE’S GLORY delivers the same richly descriptive settings, breathtaking action, and emotional sincerity that Wiley’s readers have come to expect from her other American Wilderness and Wilderness Hearts novels.

In the fall of 1810, Allison Forbes has just inherited her father’s prosperous Virginia plantation. Her father’s last wish was that she visit her Aunt Catherine Wyllie in Kentucky before she decides if she should keep the plantation. She intends to keep it but honors her promise to her father. Her journey to Kentucky is eventful and not what she expected. The only other passenger on her stage is a middle-aged, gun-toting, gambling, salty preacher with a questionable past named Jason ‘Baldy’ Grant. Despite his unusual demeanor and behavior, Baldy becomes her protector and friend and eases her grief as he escorts her to Kentucky.

After serving in Kentucky’s militia, Little John Wyllie returns to his family’s thriving horse farm and finds himself trying to decide what to do with his future. But his future is put on hold when his family’s lives and land are threatened. Swindler Brandt Stoker and the men of Crab Orchard plan to wage a fierce turf war against the Wyllies. Little John, along with his father and uncles, must defend those he loves and his home from this greedy land grabber and the mob Stoker skillfully incites.

From the moment she arrives, Little John is strongly drawn to Allison. But as he fights to save the family’s land, he faces other problems, one an unsolvable obstacle that seriously complicates their courtship. His feet and heart are firmly planted in Kentucky and Allison, understandably, will not give up her heritage, the plantation her father worked so hard to build. Allison fights her attraction to Little John, knowing nothing can come of it. But Little John, in true Wyllie fashion, refuses to give up on their love.

Wiley’s most inspirational book to date, LOVE’S GLORY delivers a moving and hopeful message about the power of love and redemption.

Links for Purchase

Amazon

FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

Dorothy Wiley

Amazon bestselling novelist Dorothy Wiley is an award-winning, multi-published author of Historical Romance and Western Romance. Wiley’s two series, the highly-acclaimed American Wilderness Series and Wilderness Hearts Series, blend thrilling action-packed adventures with the romance of a moving love story to create exceedingly engaging page-turners enjoyed worldwide by her readers.

Like Wiley’s compelling heroes, who from the onset make it clear they will not fail despite the adversities they face, this author is likewise destined for success. In the last three years, her novels have won numerous awards, notably a RONE Award Nominee, a 2016 Laramie Award Finalist, a Chatelaine Finalist for Romantic Fiction, an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter-finalist, a Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal, a USA Best Book Awards Finalist, and a Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice. Her books continue to earn five-star ratings from readers and high praise from reviewers, including a Crowned Heart from InD’Tale Magazine.

Wiley’s extraordinary historical romances, inspired by history, teem with action and cliff-edge tension. Her books’ timeless messages of family and loyalty are both raw and honest. In all her novels, the author’s complex characters come alive and are joined by a memorable ensemble of friends and family. As she skillfully unravels a compelling tale, Wiley includes rich historical elements to create a vivid colonial world that celebrates the historical heritage of the frontier.

--> Wiley attended college at The University of Texas in Austin, Texas. She graduated with honors, receiving a bachelor of journalism, and grew to dearly love both Texas and a 7th-generation Texan, her husband Larry. Her husband’s courageous ancestors, early pioneers of Kentucky and Texas, provided the inspiration for her novels. After a distinguished career in corporate marketing and public relations, Wiley is living her dream—writing novels that touch the hearts of readers. All of Wiley’s books are available in print and eBooks and most in audiobooks at www.amazon.com/author/dorothywiley.  For further information, please visit her

The Coffee Pot Award for the Historical Fantasy Book of the Year 2017 #historical #fantasy #mustread @Mtmagee1013M

The Coffee Pot Award for the Historical Fantasy Book of the Year 2017

The award goes to...

Child of the Kindred:

 The Rinefield Chronicles Book #2

By M.T.Magee

Enter the realm of Rinefield, where love, danger, adventure and romance awaits you. Their world is changing and a new era has begun. Princess Laurel finds her kingdom of Gwenlais, torn and shattered from a bloody siege. Her people now looking to her, to help them rise above the ruin and misery inflicted upon their once peaceful and sheltered realm. Laurel and her beloved Prince Caleb, must find a way to unite their kingdoms, as never before. The enemy from a distant land makes a bold and savage attempt, to thwart the unity of the two kingdoms of Gwenlais and Heathwin. The odds have never been greater against the realms or the two lovers that hold the kingdoms together. Will their people and their love survive all they have lost? Will new life rise from above the ruins?

Amazon US Amazon UK

Congratulations to the winner.