Author’s Inspiration #BlogTour #giveaway ~ The Varangian #HistFic

Blog Tour ~ Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour Presents...

 

The Varangian

By

 Bruce MacBain

The third volume of Odd Tangle-Hair’s Saga finds our hero in Golden Miklagard (Constantinople), posing as an ambassador from the Grand Prince of Rus. But his real mission is to assassinate his former master, Harald the Ruthless, who has now risen high in the Emperor’s Varangian Guard. Odd is dazzled by the brilliance of the Byzantine capital and its beating heart–the Great Palace, with the astonishing Throne of Solomon that levitates above the heads of kneeling courtiers.

Here, Odd will meet Constantine Psellus, an ambitious young bureaucrat who mentors him in the ways of the court. He will be drawn into an intrigue that involves the Empress Zoe, who spends her days brewing vats of perfume, and John the Guardian of Orphans, the powerful and sinister eunuch who schemes to advance his family. And Odd will fall in love with Selene, an alchemist’s daughter, who supports herself by gambling in the waterfront taverns.

Finally, after a hard-fought campaign against the Saracens in Sicily and the overthrow of an Emperor, Odd reaches the pinnacle of power and believes he has vanquished his enemy Harald once and for all.

Then disaster overwhelms him.

                                                                

Praise for The Varangian

“Thoroughly effective at explaining the intriguing and highly complex circumstances of the time period, Macbain’s (The Ice Queen, 2015, etc.) book shines in a way that only historical fiction can. Who needs King Jon Snow in Game of Thrones when one can get a glimpse of the historically real and undeniably sinister John the Guardian of Orphans? Even the most terrifying dragon pales in comparison to the sheer horror of a society so comfortable with castration. As the story ventures outside of Constantinople, the reader is treated to a plot that can only be described as epic … a highly entertaining Viking adventure.” – Kirkus Reviews

“This is the third and final of Macbain’s Odd Tangle-Hair novels. All three have been spellbinding in their storytelling, though this one may be the best. Odd’s journey takes us around the Mediterranean and eastern European world, and all the way north back to Iceland. The characters are wonderful, the story intriguing, the combat real but never superfluous, and Odd makes for the perfect protagonist. Highly recommended.” – Historical Novel Society

“Written by a historian with deep understanding of the cultures, peoples, and languages of this world, The Varangian speaks with an authoritative and compelling voice that can equally present naval battles decided by Greek Fire and court intrigue culminating in advancement to lucrative rank or in mutilation and blinding. This is a masterfully written and suspenseful tale that weaves fictional characters into the dramatic story of eleventh-century Byzantium and ambitious women and men, some home grown and some drawn from afar, who aimed to profit from an empire of legendary wealth and splendor.” – Emily Albu, Professor of Medieval and Byzantine Studies, UC, Davis

“The Varangian is the third and final volume of Bruce Macbain’s Odd Tangle-Hair’s Saga, and like the first two entries, it is as compelling and wild a ride as historical fiction offers. Macbain brilliantly weaves in his vast knowledge of 11th century Viking and Byzantine life with a great storyteller’s ability to drive the plot forward, a plot filled with intrigue, violence, betrayal, and lust.” – Barton Kunstler, author of The Hothouse Effect

“Detailed and vivid writing.” -Albert Noyer, author of the Getorius and Arcadia Mysteries

Author’s Inspiration

 

I was trained as a Classicist, my first two novels are set in ancient Rome, I love the Mediterranean, I hate ice and snow and suffer through Boston winters with gritted teeth. How then do I happen to be writing about Viking Age Scandinavia?

It all goes back to Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, that wonderful comic strip written and drawn by Hal Foster from 1937 until the mid-1970’s.

On any Sunday morning of my youth you would have found me lying on the living room rug with the comic section of the New York Journal American spread open before me. It must have been a dozen pages thick, or so it seems to me now. Those of you too young to remember the golden age of comics have no idea what you’re missing. Let me just recite the names. Flash Gordon, Tarzan, The Phantom, Terry and the Pirates, Blondie, Lil’ Abner, Dick Tracy, Joe Palooka, Barney Google, Smokey Stover…and I could go on, but a tear is coming to my eye. What a loss that we don’t have these anymore, or anything to compare with them!

Above them all, though, was Prince Valiant. He had a page boy haircut, smooth cheeks, an ageless face; he lived in Ultima Thule with his blond wife, Queen Aleta, and a whole cast of Vikings and Arthurian knights. He fought barbarians, and occasionally dragons (though these appeared less often as the strip aged). Yes, it was all silly—but the art work! Foster was an amazing draughtsman. No one could render castles or misty vistas or storms at sea or swirling battle scenes the way he could in those big panel illustrations. You could (and I did) spend long minutes studying every small detail of them, drawn into the world he created.

I never met him but my father once did and got from him an autographed drawing, which I reproduce here. I’ve had it for sixty-some years and it now hangs on the wall above my computer monitor. I look at it often as I create my own Vikings, my own Ultima Thule.

Links for Purchase

Amazon

B&N
 

IndieBound

Giveaway

To win a copy of The Varangian by Bruce Macbain, please enter via the Gleam form below. Three copies are up for grabs!

Rules

 Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on April 27th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to residents in the US & Canada only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
 Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

 
enter Giveaway here...Good Luck!
 

About the author

Bruce Macbain holds degrees in Classics and Ancient History and was formerly an Assistant Professor of Classics at Boston University. He decided to stop writing scholarly articles (which almost no one read) and turn his expertise to fiction—a much more congenial medium. His previous novels include two mysteries set in ancient Rome (Roman Games, The Bull Slayer) and the first two novels in the Odd Tangle-Hair series (Odin’s Child, The Ice Queen).

For more information, please visit Bruce MacBain’s website. You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Goodreads.

The Varangian by Bruce MacBain

Publication Date: November 29,2016


Blank Slate Press
eBook & Print; 341 Pages

Series: Odd Tangle-Hair Saga, Book Three


Genre: Historical Fiction

Author’s Inspiration ~ Joan Fallon #HistFic @joan_fallon

It is with the greatest of pleasure that I welcome Historical Fiction author, Joan Fallon, on to the blog. Joan is going totell us about her inspirations behind her fabulous book…

The Shining City

 

This is the story of a city, a city that is now in ruins: Madinat al Zahra.  The year is 947 AD, a time when southern Spain is under the rule of the Moors. The ruler, Caliph al Rahman III is rich, powerful and cultured. His lands are, at long last, at peace and the capital, Córdoba, is considered to be not only the most beautiful city in the civilised world but also the seat of learning and culture.  Against this background we meet the artisan Qasim - he and his family have moved to Madinat al Zahra to make their fortune as potters. Qasim is a good husband and father.  He works hard, says his prayers and keeps out of trouble. But Qasim has a secret; his past is not what it seems. When a stranger arrives asking questions about him, he is worried that his secret will be discovered and everything he has worked for will be destroyed. He has to take action.

Author’s Inspiration

The first book in my historical fiction series, The al-Andalus trilogy, is called ‘The Shining City.’  It is a novel based on the story of a family of Moorish artisans—potters—who lived in the 10th century in southern Spain, only a short distance from where I am living now. Since moving to Spain I had become fascinated with the country’s Moorish heritage and long considered writing a book set at some point during the 700 years of their occupation.  The reason I was inspired to write this particular story was because, back in 2000, I picked up a leaflet about an exhibition of Umayyad art that was to be held in a place called Madinat al-Zahra, just outside the city of Córdoba.  The Umayyads were the rulers of the Muslim world until the 8th century and rulers of Spain after that for almost 250 years. The exhibition was excellent but I was more impressed by the site they had chosen for it: Madinat al-Zahra. This was the ruins of a palace/city built by Abd al-Rahman III just after he proclaimed himself Caliph of al-Andalus—the name that was given to present day Andalusia.  The city was reputed to have been the most wonderful in the western world and covered the entire hillside—25,000 men worked on constructing it.  Abd al-Rahman III himself had 400 rooms in the palace.  It was filled with marble and gold, exquisite engravings and silk hangings, a palace fit for a caliph.  It was said that 800 loaves of bread were used each day just to feed the fish in the fountains and lakes. And what was even more fascinating to me was the length of time that the city was in existence.  Work was started on it in the year 936 AD and only 70 years later it was already abandoned, and falling into decay.  For the next thousand years it was looted, its beautiful buildings broken down and used as building materials—you can find pillars and masonry from the city incorporated in the building of neighbouring cities, including Málaga—until it was as it is today, a ruin. This is the place that inspired my novel. 

  

I have always been interested in social history and so decided to write the story of a Moorish family of artisans who had gone to Madinat al-Zahra to work but before I could start I had to learn something of what life was like, not just in that city but in Moorish Spain in the 10th century.   It was a time known as The Golden Age, a period of peace and stability, with a culture and civilisation far beyond the rest of Europe.  The more I read, the more I became impressed with the achievements of those early Moorish conquerors and was surprised to learn that the women of the time had much more freedom, education and rights than one might imagine. 

The title of the novel comes from the Arab word, Zahra which means brilliant or shining.  Considering the amount of gold and precious metals used in the construction of the palace, it seemed appropriate to call my novel ‘The Shining City.’

But the inspiration didn’t stop there because I soon became aware that not only did the city itself fall into decay but the Umayyad dynasty was destined to end within two generations. Abd-Rahman III’s son and heir was homosexual and it was thought he would never produce an heir. The incredible story of how he was manipulated into producing two sons forms the basis of the second book in the trilogy. It is very true that truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction.

Links for Purchase

Amazon US

Amazon UK

iTunes

Smashwords

About the author 

Born in Scotland, Joan Fallon has always wanted to be a writer. Books are her passion and she grew up reading everything she could get her hands on. Although writing was always a major part of her work, both as a teacher and later, as a management consultant and trainer, it wasn’t until ten years ago that she had the opportunity to devote herself to being a novelist. It was when she moved to Spain that she decided that the time had come to take her writing seriously. She enrolled in an Open University course in Creative Writing - the same university where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Open in the early eighties - and hasn’t stopped writing since. Because her working life, during the 1970s and through to the nineties, was that of a woman struggling for recognition in a man’s world, almost all her books have a strong female protagonist. She writes mainly about women and the challenges they have to face because she understands them best. She also likes to write about the past, but not kings and queens, rather the social fabric of society. To date she has written four historical novels, five contemporary novels and one book of non-fiction. Joan is a member of the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Useful Links

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Author’s Inspiration ~ Vanda Vadas #HistFic @Vanda_Vadas

THE PIRATE LORD

By

 Vanda Vadas

 

Can love for his beautiful, aristocratic captive rescue Miles from his lust for revenge?

A family tragedy steeped in deceit and betrayal saw Lady Eloise Blakely vow never to fall victim to a man's charms, let alone invite him into her bed. Until fate swept her aboard a pirate's ship and into its captain's embrace.

Yet when he reveals a dark secret, her lover becomes her enemy...

Ten years ago, Miles Zachary Fenton was framed for murder. For so long he has fought to clear his name and reclaim his dukedom. Now, when both appear to be just within reach, he is forced to abduct a meddling beauty, one who wreaks havoc with his emotions and complicates his plans.

Author’s  Inspirations

Mary Anne, it’s an absolute honour and a pleasure to be invited back to your blog site. Thank you!

It’s fair to say that I should credit Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson for sparking my interest and long-held fascination with pirates. You see, for my seventh birthday, my friend gifted me a book, A Child’s Garden of Verses. One of the sixty-five poems contained therein is titled, A Pirate’s Story. When I first read the poem my childhood imagination flew off the radar. I still have that treasured gift. 

Fast forward years (and years!) later . . . I received offers from three publishing houses to e-publish my debut book, THE PIRATE LORD. My publisher of choice? Penguin Random House Australia. A few months after the book was published I re-read A Child’s Garden of Verses and noted that (cue music for the Twilight Zone) it had been published by Penguin Books Australia!

So, what were some of the real-life inspirations behind the scenes in THE PIRATE LORD – a story of tragedy, murder, deceit, betrayal, revenge, and the inevitable blossoming of love?

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many memorable places around the globe including Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, England. It was the inspiration behind my opening scene in Chapter One. Imagine if you will, a magnificent house and grounds with dramatic 16^th century French architecture and grand rooms. The heroine, Lady Eloise Blakely, seeks a moment’s solitude outside, away from the celebrations of her birthday ball when she is confronted by a man who . . .

. . . stood at the foot of the terrace steps. Their eyes met. It was not so much his presence that disturbed her, but rather his attire, illuminated well enough by the sconces placed intermittently up the balustrade.

Knee-high boots, breeches and shirt melded into one stark splash of black. Ebony hair, neatly tied in a queue, fell past his collar. A wide, black satin mask concealed the upper portion of his features, leaving only the tip of his nose, mouth and jaw exposed. He glanced surreptitiously to his left, towards the gardens, then back at her, past her shoulder, and re-settled his gaze on her face.

Fans of Winston Graham’s novels (or the TV series) POLDARK, will recall Cornwall’s picturesque coastline. My travels have taken me to the edge of these granite cliffs where I filled my lungs with crisp, blustery air. I could taste and smell the salty brine as I looked out over the Atlantic Ocean and swept my gaze over the shoreline where waves crashed against jagged rocks. I marvelled at the seagulls, much larger than our Aussie breed! This experience, together with the colourful local history, inspired and enriched my scenes set on the Cornwall coast.  THE PIRATE LORD explains to his captive . . .

‘We stand at one of many isolated landing places well known to the smuggling brethren. My crew and I do not concern ourselves with the alcohol that lays weighted to the ocean beds. Nor do we disturb the contraband hidden deep inside these coastal caves.’

As you would expect, a book about pirates most likely includes scenes aboard a ship. When Batavia, a replica of the Dutch East Indiaman, was brought to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to step on board and grasp a glimpse of what it might have been like for those above and below deck on a 17^th century ship. Inspiration struck for a scene where the ship’s cook enlightens Lady Elouise about daily victuals.

‘But,’ he continued, ‘if we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to rations, then you might just find one of these on your plate.’ He casually lifted the spoon from the broth, tapped it on the edge of the pot and pointed it at her feet.

Eloise looked down to see a large rat scurry beneath her skirts. She reacted in the manner of a madwoman, stomping on the floor and screaming as if Cook had taken the cleaver to her neck.

A cacophony of female shrieks and raucous male laughter filled the galley.

Another opportunity presented itself when my husband and I took a cruise around the Caribbean islands. I scribbled countless pages of notes and took photos and videos of the flora and fauna, of old sugar mills and plantation houses. Being there and taking it all in was the perfect way to see and sense my surrounds just as Eloise does . . .

Two large mountains jutted out from the ground at either end of the island. A valley stretched in between. Sand whiter than blanched almonds edged the shores. Her gaze swept the layers of colour, from the lush green vegetation and sun-bleached sands, to the vast blue-green of the ocean. She sniffed the warm air, a fragrant mixture of sweet florals, spice and earthy plant life.

On the island of Dominica, we walked through a lush green tropical rainforest to find a breathtaking hidden jewel with its beautiful waterfall, aptly named Emerald Pool. This was inspiration at its best and I knew I’d found the perfect location for a pivotal, intimate love scene in my book.

Enjoy!

Links to Purchase

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

AMAZON AU

iBOOKS

KOBO

About the author

Before residing in Australia, Vanda’s birthplace and early childhood years were spent in Papua New Guinea. At the age of eleven, a holiday in England sparked an interest in the days of old. Castles, ruins, and discovering Jane Austen novels inspired a life-long interest in all things historical, a passion that later kick-started Vanda’s desire to write historical romance.

Vanda has studied and worked in the field of Education, teaching English Literacy and Numeracy to children and adults. She’s also worked as a recruitment consultant and as a PA.

Vanda and her husband live on the Gold Coast in Queensland where they enjoy walks along world-renowned beaches or a quiet getaway to the lush hills of the Hinterland.

Useful Links

Website: http://www.vandavadas.com/

Facebook: Vanda Vadas Author

Twitter: @Vanda_Vadas