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Showing posts from October, 2022

#HistFicThursdays - Gothic Horror - The Lady Who Dances in the Ashes

One of the problems – or, perhaps, the best things – about Gothic Horror is that it does tend to be sad. Usually, there are at least one or two characters who don’t deserve whatever is happening to them, or who have done something which is being punished in a way which does not in any way fit the crime. M.R. James’s writing is perhaps a constant reiteration of the old proverb, “curiosity killed the cat”, but curiosity in itself isn’t a bad thing; while Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula finds himself in the initial dangerous situation through no fault of his own. Perhaps the saddest story in this anthology is The Lady Who Dances in the Ashes , which was first published by Sley House in Tales of Sley House 2022 . Here is the story of a man who is facing professional and financial ruin as a result of suggesting that mental health patients can be treated in the community rather than institutionalised. He is one of the most sympathetic narrators you will find in the book, but he bad...

#HistFicThursdays - Horrible Histories 10 - Crassus: Minted

  This week, I've been delving back into Ancient Rome, so this song was October's logical choice for a Horrible Histories blog. I'm so excited about the release of Alternate Endings , a collection of eight short stories from different historical writers. Each one (as the title suggests!) picked an event to change in history. Mine was the sparing of Vercingetorix's life. So Julius Caesar has been at the forefront of my mind! But Crassus was already dead by the time my story was set. In fact, his death triggered the collapse of that First Triumvirate. Unlike the later triumvirates, theirs was established solely to further their own ends individually. As the centuries turned, a certain hierarchy was established within each set of three, the geography reflecting this, but Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey were all as close to equal as they could be. Despite the appearance in the video, however, they all equally disliked one another. There was a circle of mistrust amongst them and...

#HistFicThursdays - The Godmother's Secret - Elizabeth St.John - Guest Post

 It's #HistFicThursdays, and I'm so thrilled to be sharing a guest post from Elizabeth St.John ,   as part of her  Coffee Pot Book Club  tour. Read on to find out about Elizabeth's love of the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower, and how she weaves this into her story. But first, let's meet the book.. Blurb What if you knew what happened to the Princes in the Tower. Would you tell? Or would you forever keep the secret? November, 1470: Westminster Abbey. Lady Elysabeth Scrope faces a perilous royal duty when ordered into sanctuary with Elizabeth Woodville–witness the birth of Edward IV’s Yorkist son. Margaret Beaufort, Elysabeth’s sister, is desperately seeking a pardon for her exiled son Henry Tudor. Strategically, she coerces Lancastrian Elysabeth to be appointed godmother to Prince Edward, embedding her in the heart of the Plantagenets and uniting them in a destiny of impossible choices and heartbreaking conflict. Bound by blood and torn by honour, w...

#HistFicThursdays - When History and Fiction Dance - Guest Post - Tempest Wright

Happy #HistFicThursdays! Today, I'm thrilled to be sharing a guest post from Tempest Wright 's work in progress:  The McKarthy Journals: Brothers In Secrets ! Read on to share in the guest post - and what an incredible title for a post it is! - but first, let's meet the book... Brendan - one half of the McKarthy pair... Blurb In 1822, there is no way for one to dissolve an arranged marriage or aspire to higher fates…unless one is fortunate enough to possess an acquaintance with the McKarthy brothers. While veiling themselves in a shroud of propriety, the brothers wield their position within high society to defy social norms for the liberation of many – at the expense of a few. The sudden appearance of a notorious London criminal in their quiet corner of Kent, not only threatens everything achieved through the Mckarthys’ indiscretions, but conjures up a dark history the brothers are desperate to keep buried. Juggling to maintain their façade and contain this impending threat...

#HistFicThursdays - Brushstrokes from the Past - Heidi Eljarbo - Guest Post

  It's #HistFicThursdays, and I'm so excited to be sharing a guest post from  Heidi Eljarbo ,   as part of her  Coffee Pot Book Club  tour. Find out all about Heidi's connection with art and her thoughts on the most important piece of art in history. But first, let's meet the book.. Blurb A Historical Art Mystery WWII and the mid-seventeenth century are entwined in this fourth dual timeline novel about Nazi art theft, bravery, friendship, and romance. April 1945. Art historian Soli Hansen and her friend Heddy arrive at an excavation site only to find Soli’s old archeology professor deeply engrossed in an extraordinary find in a marsh. The remains of a man have lain undisturbed for three centuries, but there’s more to this discovery… As Soli tries to understand who the baroque man was and discovers what he carried in a sealed wooden tube, problems arise. A leak reveals the finds to the notorious Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Walter, and soon, both Nazi elite and...