The Writing Desk

Special Guest Interview with Jude Grayson, Author of Blood and Bronze

2026-04-07T15:43:00.000+01:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The war that destroyed a world began with a single choice.

When Paris of Troy steals Helen from Sparta, he sets in motion a conflict that will pull kings and armies into a war no one can escape. Across Greece, rival rulers unite. Armies gather, oaths are sworn, and old grudges begin to surface. At the center of it stands Achilles, the most feared warrior of his age, and Hector, the prince sworn to defend Troy at any cost.

I'm pleased to welcome author Jude Grayson to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book

Blood and Bronze is a retelling of the Trojan War, but with a focus on grounding the story in something that feels more real and human rather than mythologised. It is easy to think of the Trojan War in terms of larger-than-life heroes and legend, but what interested me more was the reality behind that. The decisions, the loyalties, and the consequences for the people involved.

I wanted to strip it back slightly and focus on the brutality and uncertainty of that kind of conflict, while still keeping the scale and importance of the story. It is a setting most people are familiar with, but I tried to approach it in a way that felt more immediate and believable.

What is your preferred writing routine?

I tend to start with research and spend as much time as I can building a solid understanding of the period I am writing about. Once I have done that, I create a kind of visual framework, usually timelines of key events and who was involved, so I can see how everything fits together.

From there, I map out the structure of the book chapter by chapter. Each chapter has a purpose, which characters are involved, what needs to happen, and how it moves the story forward. By the time I begin writing, I usually have a clear idea of how the whole narrative will unfold.

That said, it is not completely rigid. Things do change as I go, but having that structure helps me keep the story focused and consistent. Once I have set out this structure I move into the writing phase where I aim to set myself 2 hours every weeknight to work through and develop the chapter systematically. The challenge is balancing my writing while working full time but I still really enjoy the writing process so it doesn't feel like work, yet!

What advice do you have for new writers?

The best advice I can give is simply to get started. It sounds obvious, but it is something I had to learn myself. There is a tendency to wait for the right idea or the book you feel is worth publishing, but in reality writing is a skill you develop by doing.

Your early work will probably not be what you eventually publish, and that is completely fine. Those first projects are where you learn how to structure a story, develop characters, and actually finish something. Each one improves your ability. By the time you come to a story that really matters to you, one you want to put out into the world, you are in a much better position to do it properly.

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?

This is still something I am actively working on. The part I naturally enjoy is the writing itself, building the story and the characters, so shifting focus to the marketing side has been a learning curve.

Earlier on I spent a lot of time pursuing the traditional route, researching agents and submitting manuscripts. There were some encouraging signs, but it is a very competitive space and progress can be slow.

More recently I have moved towards self publishing, which has opened up a different approach. It means taking more responsibility for getting the work in front of readers, whether that is through advertising, outreach, or opportunities like this blog. I am still figuring out what works best, but each step builds a better understanding of how to connect the writing with an audience.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research

One of the things that surprised me most during my research was the role of Aeneas. Going in, I expected the story to centre almost entirely around the more well known figures like Achilles and Hector, but the more I read, the more Aeneas stood out.

He is not always treated as a central character in popular retellings, but his importance grows significantly in what comes after the fall of Troy. That was something I had not fully appreciated at the start. As I developed the story, he naturally became a much bigger presence than I had originally planned, and his role has influenced how I am thinking about future books as well.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing?

The hardest scene to write was the duel between Hector and Achilles. It is such a defining moment of the Trojan War that it felt like it had to be handled carefully.

I rewrote it several times. I did not want it to feel like a generic duel, but at the same time I wanted to avoid over dramatising it in a way that takes away from the reality of the moment. Finding that balance took a lot of trial and error.

In the end it was about doing justice to the significance of the encounter while keeping it grounded and believable. It was probably the section I spent the most time refining.

What are you planning to write next?

Alongside Blood and Bronze, I have also self published Lion of Mali, which follows the rise of Sundiata Keita, and Tyrants and Traitors, set during China’s Three Kingdoms period. Both explore similar themes of power, conflict, and the rise of empires in different parts of the world. Looking ahead, I am currently working on a new project centred on Tamerlane, which I see developing into a longer series over time.

In the nearer term, my main focus will be a follow up to Blood and Bronze, exploring the aftermath of the fall of Troy and the journeys of those who survived. There is a lot more story to tell there, and it is something I am keen to continue building on.

Jude Grayson

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About the Author

Jude Grayson is a historical fiction author based in Scotland. His work focuses on war, power, and the rise and fall of empires, with novels set in periods such as the Trojan War, ancient China, and the Mali Empire. He is the author of Blood and Bronze, Tyrants and Traitors, and Lion of Mali.

Book Launch Spotlight: Storm of Mercia (Eagle of Mercia #9), by MJ Porter

2026-04-01T10:44:00.000+01:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Wessex has never been Mercia’s ally, neither has it been

her only enemy.

Wessex, AD836: The Viking raiders' devastation has been halted once more by the shields of Mercia as opposed to Wessex. But their whereabouts are unknown.

King Wiglaf of Mercia is keen to ensure the Viking raiders are swept from his shared border with Wessex but these Viking ships are quick and difficult to track and Icel is once more deployed with Ealdorman Ælfstan warriors to do his King's bidding. However, Icel’s quest is beset with many more obstacles and it's not all about the seax and shield.

Worrying news from home overshadows Icel’s every deadly encounter. Will the storms of war keep him away or has he time to make one more desperate journey back to Tamworth?

With raging seas driving him ever further from Mercia’s shores, and the threat of a new conspiracy against the Mercian kingship will Icel overpower the sands of time, or will he be defeated by his deadliest nemesis yet?

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About the Author

MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, and in Viking Age Denmark. Raised in the shadow of a building that was believed to house the bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia, meant that the author's writing destiny was set. MJ Porter has also written two twentieth-century mysteries. Find out more at https://www.mjporterauthor.com/ and folllow on Twitter @coloursofunison and Bluesky @mjporterauthor.bsky.social

Historical Fiction Spotlight: The Temple of the Muses: A vision realised from one woman’s belief that knowledge belongs to everyone (The Chiswell Street Chronicles, Vol 2) by Jane Davis

2026-03-31T08:40:00.003+01:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

London, 1780. As the city smoulders in the aftermath of the Gordon Riots, booksellers James and Dorcas Lackington refuse to answer despair with charity. Instead, they place their faith in something far more radical: books.

Convinced that reading offers the surest escape from poverty, the Lackingtons launch a daring experiment—pricing books so cheaply that even apprentices and servant girls can afford them. It is a bold challenge to the rigid social order of Georgian England, and one that places them squarely in danger.

Dorcas knows that life alongside James and his unshakable optimism will never be smooth. But she is no mere helpmeet. She is his compass, his conscience, and often the sharper mind. In a modest corner of Moorfields, their bookshop ignites a quiet revolution as ordinary people encounter philosophy, liberty, reason, and love for the first time.

Not everyone welcomes this awakening. The Junto, a powerful circle of men who believe that books breed dangerous ideas in the minds of the poor, move swiftly to crush the Lackingtons’ venture. As threats and intimidation escalate, Dorcas realises that survival will not come from retreat—but from becoming too large to silence.

Her answer is audacious: to build a cathedral to literature, not for kings or scholars, but for every woman and man who has ever been told that knowledge is not theirs to claim—The Temple of the Muses.

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About the Author

Jane Davis lives in a Surrey cottage that was originally the ticket office for a Victorian pleasure garden, known locally as ‘the gingerbread house’. Her home frequently finds its way into her stories – in fact, it met a fiery end in the opening chapter of 'An Unknown Woman'. When she isn’t writing, you may spot Jane disappearing up the side of a mountain with a camera in hand, or haunting Victorian cemeteries searching for the perfect name for her next character. Find out more at Jane's website and find her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter @janedavisauthor and Bluesky @janedavisauthor.bsky.social

Book Launch: Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest, by Sharon Bennett Connolly

2026-03-30T07:20:00.005+01:00

Available from Amazon UK

and pre-order from Amazon US

Daughters of kings were often used to seal treaty alliances and forge peace with England’s enemies. Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters from the Conquest explores the lives of these young women, how they followed the stereotype, and how they sometimes managed to escape it.

Sharon Bennett Connolly looks at the world they lived in, and how their lives and marriages were affected by political necessity and the events of the time. Almost as interesting as the marriages these girls made are the ones that were never realised.

Many English princesses were betrothed, or proposed as brides, three or more times before they were married. Their failed marriage proposals demonstrated their influence and worth on the international royal marriage market, as well as the changing allegiances between countries and the making and breaking of international friendships.

Princesses of the Early Middle Ages also examines how these girls, who were often political pawns, were able to control their own lives and fates. Whilst they were expected to obey their parents in their marriage choices, several princesses were able to exert their own influence on these choices, with some outright refusing the husbands offered to them. Their stories are touching, inspiring and, at times, heartbreaking.

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About the Author

Sharon Bennett Connolly is the best-selling author of historical non-fiction. Her latest book, Scotland’s Medieval Queens, will be published on 30 January 2025. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she also writes the popular history blog, www.historytheinterestingbits.com and co-hosts the podcast A Slice of Medieval with historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Sharon regularly gives talks on Women's History; she is a feature writer for All About History, Tudor Places and Living Medieval magazines and her TV work includes Australian Television's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' You can find out more about Sharon's books on Amazon and follow her on Facebook, Twitter/X and Bluesky

Historical Fiction Spotlight: Escape of the Grand Duchess, by Susan Appleyard

2026-03-27T06:49:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Rich in historical detail and driven by an unforgettable heroine, Escape of the Grand Duchess is a sweeping riches-to-rags tale of survival, love, and the strength it takes to forge a new life in the face of

unimaginable upheaval.

Unlike her ill-fated brother and his family, Olga’s story is one of resilience, sacrifice, and daring escape. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a reckless gambler—who harbours secrets of his own—she finds hope in the arms of a dashing army lieutenant. But before she can claim her own happiness, she must first endure the brutal realities of World War I, where she serves as a nurse on the frontlines.

As the Russian Empire teeters on the brink of collapse, the infamous Siberian mystic Rasputin tightens his grip on the imperial court, setting the stage for revolution. With the Bolsheviks seizing power and the Romanovs marked for death, Olga faces an impossible choice: risk everything to stay or flee into the unknown with her true love and their children.

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About the Author

Susan Appleyard was born in England, which is where she learned to love English history, and now lives in Canada in the summer. In winter she and her husband flee the cold for their second home in Mexico. Susan divides her time between writing and her hobby, oil painting, although writing will always be her first love. She was fortunate in having had two books published traditionally. Since joining the ebook crowd, she has published nine books, some of which have won various awards. Find out more from Susan's website and find her on Facebook and Instagram

Blog Tour Spotlight: The Queen’s Maid: Anne Boleyn in France Series: The Anne Boleyn Chronicles, by Rozsa Gaston

2026-03-26T06:28:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

France, 1514: After an enlightening period of training as a lady’s maid at Margaret of Austria’s court, Anne Boleyn has been sent to France.

She arrives at the Palace of Tournelles, home of ageing King Louis and his new English wife, Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII. As Anne speaks French, her main role is to serve as translator for Queen Mary.

Anne’s sister Mary is also at the French court, and Anne soon learns that not everyone is pleased about the union between the French king and his young queen.

The king’s cousin-in-law, Louise of Savoy, is desperate for Queen Mary not to fall pregnant, so that her son Francis will ascend the throne.

And with Louise and the English queen pulling Anne in two different directions, it will not be possible to appease everyone.

Can Anne successfully navigate the familial politics at the French royal court? Will she make her mark as one of the queen’s maids?

Or could her divided loyalties prove to be her undoing…?

‘Wonderfully detailed and entirely enjoyable. This is a young Anne in whom I absolutely believe, and who does much to explain the woman she’d become.’ – Sarah Gristwood, author of Game of Queens

THE ANNE BOLEYN CHRONICLES SERIES:

Book One: Maid of Honour

Book Two: The Queen’s Maid

Book Three: Queen of Diamonds

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About the Author

Rozsa Gaston is a historical fiction author who writes books on women who reach for what they want out of life. She is the author of Maid of Honour: Anne Boleyn at Margaret of Austria's Court, 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 for Early Historical Fiction, The Queen's Maid: Anne Boleyn in France, Queen of Diamonds: The French Royal Court, Margaret of Austria, 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 for Early Historical Fiction, the four-book Anne of Brittany Series: Anne and Charles; Anne and Louis, 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴 𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞𝗟𝗬 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲; Anne and Louis: Rulers and Lovers; and Anne and Louis Forever Bound, 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 of the 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 for Early Historical Fiction. Other works include Sense of Touch, Marguerite and Gaston, The Least Foolish Woman in France, Paris Adieu, and Budapest Romance. Rozsa Gaston studied European history at Yale and received her master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia. She worked at Institutional Investor, WR Capital, and as a columnist for The Westchester Guardian before becoming a novelist. She is currently working on Book Four of The Anne Boleyn Chronicles, covering Anne Boleyn's time at the 1520 Field of Cloth of Gold. She lives in Bronxville, New York with her family. Find out more at her website:rozsagaston.wordpress.com/ and find her on Facebook and Twitter / X: @RozsaGaston

Special Guest Post by Eleanor Swift Hook : The Turncoat’s Revenge (Lord's Learning Book 3)

2026-03-24T06:22:00.005+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Spring 1628: England is at war with France as the rest of Europe consumes itself in increasingly bitter conflict. n Dunkirk, Philip Lord, disgraced adventurer, has a new ship and through it the chance to gain enough from his privateering to follow his guiding star. But when he must risk everything to rescue a fellow Dunkirker at sea, he and the ever-loyal Jorrit are thrown into mortal danger.

1628: A savage year for England—a year that sees the nation embroiled in three wars.

Just across the sea, Europe devours itself in a conflagration that started a decade before and is to burn ferociously for two more decades until it becomes a byword for brutality, devastation and death. The Thirty Years War. In terms of proportionate population loss, it would be more destructive than the two orld Wars of the Twentieth Century.

England was drawn into this maelstrom courtesy of the English princess Elizabeth, heir to the throne of England, and her husband the Elector Palatine, who have been at the heart of the conflagration since it began. English outrage at Elizabeth losing both her Bohemian crown and her status as Electress Palatine, brought donations of money and volunteer canon fodder. But even with English support and Elizabeth’s uncle, the King of Denmark, throwing the might of his army on the scales, it isn’t going well.

Elizabeth Stuart Queen of Bohemia

But in 1628 England is also at war with Spain.

Why?

State policy?

Or hurt feelings?

The Spanish Court snubbed King Charles and his favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, five years before when they travelled to Madrid in disguise, in a quixotic attempt to woo the Spanish Infanta. A slight Buckingham, at least, has not forgotten, and he is a man to bear grudges.

Whatever the motivation, the Spanish king is kin to the Emperor and the two are united in their desire for a Catholic Habsburg hegemony of all Europe. So yes, statecraft might argue that war against the Emperor made war against Spain a sensible choice, and by and large the English were pleased to support this war.

Spain having been the traditional enemy of England since before the Armada and memories of that Elizabethan success and ancestral pride originally fuelled enthusiasm in the breasts of true-born Englishmen! But such success was not to be repeated in this generation. An attempt to capture Cadiz, in a naval expedition organised by the Duke of Buckingham, failed completely with a third of the fleet being lost.

Francisco de Zurbarán

And the third war?

Well, even though King Charles recently married a French Princess and the French have been active allies in the anti-Habsburg Palatinate cause, England is now at war with France!

Yet only a short time ago they had been bosom pals.

Indeed, they had been such close friends that the English king agreed to provide ships to help the French king put down rebellion by his Protestant Huguenot subjects. This caused outrage amongst the English people and a horrified Parliament had objected to the notion of English forces attacking fellow Protestants. In the end it was the ships alone and not their crews which were provided.

It didn’t help Anglo/French relations that Buckingham was suspected of trying to seduce the Queen of France under the nose of her husband whilst on a diplomatic visit, and had been refused permission to return to the country as a result.

Amity with France collapsed altogether when it became clear the French had made a secret treaty with Spain, seemed to be abandoning the Protestant cause in the Empire—and were building their own navy.

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (by Peter Paul Rubens)

So was it state policy or more of Buckingham's slighted pride that sent his man Walter Montague to France as a secret agent, to encourage and foment a Huguenot rebellion, with the promise of English support? Though how such support could be forthcoming was unclear. There was no money for third war. Least of all one with scant benefit to England’s national interests.

In the end, the promised support for a Protestant uprising in La Rochelle came in the form of an expeditionary force commanded by Buckingham personally in the summer of 1627. The intent was to seize the fortress town of Saint-Martin-de-Ré which controlled the approach to La Rochelle, thus opening a sea route to the beleaguered city.

It was another disaster, a fiasco, foundering as badly as the Cadiz debacle—if not more so. The Isle-de-Ré became ‘the Ill Array’ on English lips. Buckingham, already despised for his monopoly farms and the excessive influence he had over the king, carried the full weight of blame for the extent of its failure in the popular mind, and was hated and derided in equal measure.

Invasion of Re, 1627

So now here we are.

It is 1628 and England is embroiled in three wars.

Buckingham is licking his wounds and raising a new fleet against the French, to redeem his honour and win back the love of the nation. But it’s not going to plan. England has had enough of war and more than enough of Buckingham himself. Monopoly farms, military catastrophe and incompetence are not the only charges set against him. Rumours that he poisoned King James have been taken seriously at the highest levels. Twice now, Parliament has tried to impeach Buckingham, and been prevented from doing so by the king dismissing it. This time, though, Parliament is bringing forward a Petition of Right addressing its grievances, and taking aim at the Royal favourite, which it insists must be agreed by the king if he wants to secure ongoing finance for his three wars. And Parliament holds the purse strings.

England in 1628: A stage set for tragedy, onto which our players must stride.

A young mercenary turned privateer, condemned for treason, but driven by an overriding ambition, and a nobleman’s daughter, in the service of the English heir, the exiled Queen of Bohemia, seeking to protect her mistress and herself from the machinations of an overpowerful enemy. Each must play out their part against the blood drenched backdrop of war, politics, intrigue—and murder…

Eleanor Swift Hook

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About the Author

Eleanor Swift-Hook enjoys the mysteries of history and fell in love with the early Stuart era at university when she re-enacted battles and living history events with the English Civil War Society. Since then, she has had an ongoing fascination with the social, military and political events that unfolded during the Thirty Years' War and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. She lives in County Durham and loves writing stories woven into the historical backdrop of those dramatic times. You can find out more about the background of Lord's Legacy on her website www.eleanorswifthook.com and find her on Twitter @emswifthook

Blog Tour Gues Post; Inspiration Behind The ‘Soldier Spy’ Trilogy, by Rosemary Hayes

2026-03-17T06:43:00.002+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

1812: Britain’s war against Napoleon continues. Will Fraser and Duncan Armstrong have served their country well as spies, exposing traitors and rescuing betrayed royalists. Now they are asked to support military operations in the Peninsular War. The French are using a new code which is proving impossible to decipher. Will and Armstrong must work with Spanish guerrillas to intercept messages between French Commanders and pass them to Wellington’s codebreakers

Much has been written about spying during warfare – particularly during WW2 – and I have always been attracted to stories of those working in the shadows, under-cover agents, brave men and women risking their lives to garner information about enemy activities.

Of course, spying on your enemy is an activity as old as history itself and has become ever more sophisticated in this digital age. But how did spies operate in earlier conflicts? I decided to investigate covert operations during the Napoleonic Wars. And what a rich seam I uncovered about those 19th century spies, who they were and the lengths to which they went to get their information across borders.

The extent of spying, on both sides, during the Napoleonic Wars, was considerable. Not only at a diplomatic level, through overseas embassies and through the Alien Office, in London, and highly placed double agents, but among networks of ordinary people, too, who passed on maps and documents, letters, money and even arms.

Smaller documents or items of intelligence could be sewn into clothing or hidden in hollowed out walking sticks or riding crops. Or even, apparently, in a hatpin (see below)! Larger items were hidden in barrels or at drop off points on the French coast such as oyster sheds. And fishermen sometimes buried items on uninhabited islets for later collection.

Both sides employed complex codes and ciphers to protect their communications. Codebooks and cipher wheels were standard kit. One captured French codebook was worth its weight in gold to the British Intelligence Service.

Until 1811, the French had lagged behind the British in the matter of devising and cracking codes but then the French started using the Great Paris Cipher. This code was so complex that the French were convinced that it could never be broken. Although documents using the code had been captured by Wellington’s forces, it’s unravelling defeated even the most skilled group of decoders and linguists based at his headquarters in Portugal.

And then, at last, a British officer, George Scovell, a gifted linguist, famously cracked it, deciphering a captured letter from Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother. It revealed current and planned French troop movements and this intelligence led to a pivotal breakthrough in the Peninsular War.

Wellington never acknowledged Scovell’s part in this breakthrough - and Joseph Bonaparte never believed the code had been broken.

Sir George Scovell

In Paris, there were underground networks of those spying for the British. Royalists, Bonapartist defectors and even double agents moved in secret, often under the noses of Joseph Fouché’s secret police (more of him later). Many were caught but a few key figures were never unmasked.

Both British and French agents used disguises, posing as merchants, priests, artists or diplomats. Some even used travelling theatre troupes as cover to move behind enemy lines. The more mundane the cover, the more convincing. Fishermen and smugglers took agents and documents to and fro across the Channel. One Jersey fisherman made nearly 200 trips across before he was caught and executed.

Women played an important role in Napoleonic espionage. Rachel Charlotte Biggs was an English writer and spy. Between 1802 and 1816, she repeatedly visited France and Napoleon controlled Europe. She corresponded with British politicians and reported her observations about military strength, industry and agriculture and the political state. Her extraordinary story is told in the novel ‘Georgian Heroine’.

Another was a countess who allegedly passed secrets to the British via coded embroidery patterns. Female spies came in many guises and used imaginative ways in which to move intelligence across borders, including hiding micro letters in hatpins!

Fishermen’s wives and daughters also put themselves in danger by passing on information and giving shelter to royalist spies. But among the many women spies, the one who really caught my attention was Arabella Williams, originally from Liverpool. Her handler was William Wickham. Wickham was a British diplomat who used his position in Bern as a cover to gather information and coordinate royalist organisations against France. Arabella became known as ‘le petit matelot’ – the little sailor – as she had acted as a courier passing papers between France and England for a number of years disguised as a sailor, without being caught. Arabella had her own property in France where she had lived for some years, which she also used as a safe house for other agents.

One of her contacts was Abbé Ratel. Early in the war, Abbé Ratel organised a network of royalists to keep watch around the port of Boulogne and provide early warning of any invasion. Reports were sent to England through fishermen recruited by Ratel – who was reputed to have a very beautiful mistress. Arabella was described as being petite, very pretty, lively and immensely busy. The group she belonged to was extremely successful and despite the gendarmerie’s surveillance they managed to escape detection for many years. Sadly, I can find no portrait of Arabella though we do know that she was an English widow, the daughter of David Mallet, the poet and joint composer of ‘Rule Brittania.’

In France, all those spying for Britain or sympathetic to the royalist cause had to evade the clutches of Napoleon’s Minister of Police, the notorious Joseph Fouché. He was ruthless in his pursuit of British spies or those in France with royalist sympathies, torturing and executing them. He was dubbed ‘the most feared man in France’ and even Napoleon was quoted as saying ‘I fear Fouché more than all the armies of Europe’.

Joseph Fouché

The threat from spies in France and those with royalist sympathies was very real. There were several attempts to assassinate Napoleon, the most famous being in Paris on the evening of December 24th 1800. Almost certainly funded by the British, this very nearly succeeded when a cart exploded just after Napoleon’s carriage had passed, killing bystanders.

Malmaison, Empress Josephine’s country chateau, was the site of others, including the poisoned snuff put into a replica of Napoleon’s snuff box and placed on his desk there.

Although I have changed some of their dates and locations, many of the characters mentioned in my books are based on real people including ‘Le Petit Matelot’, Pipette, the fisherman’s wife, Abbé Ratel (disguised as Father Jacques) the infamous Joseph Fouché, Wellington, General Hill and George Scovell.

The two main protagonists in my ‘Soldier Spy’ trilogy are Captain Will Fraser, a disgraced ex-army officer and his wounded sergeant, Duncan Armstrong.

In ‘Traitor’s Game’ while desperately trying to find Will’s brother, they first become embroiled in the murky world of espionage, with tragic consequences. In the second ‘The King’s Agent’, now officially undercover agents, they are sent to France to rescue

betrayed royalists, and in the final book, ‘Code of Honour’, set in Spain and Portugal, they work with Spanish guerrillas to intercept messages between French Commanders and pass them to Wellington’s code breakers.

And it is in this final story that the mystery surrounding Will’s dismissal from the army is at last uncovered.

In these fast-moving stories, Will and Armstrong play terrifying games of deception and duplicity. But they are also stories of love, loyalty and revenge.

Rosemary Hayes

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About the Author

Rosemary Hayes has written many books for children in a variety of genre, from edgy teenage fiction, historical fiction and middle grade fantasy to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books. Many of her books have won or been shortlisted for awards and several have been translated into different languages. Rosemary has travelled widely but now lives in South Cambridgeshire. She has a background in publishing, having worked for Cambridge University Press before setting up her own company Anglia Young Books which she ran for some years. She has been a reader for a well-known authors’ advisory service, runs creative writing workshops for both children and adults and reviews for historical publications. Rosemary has now turned her hand to writing adult fiction. Her historical novel ‘The King’s Command’ is about the terror and tragedy suffered by a French Huguenot family during the reign of Louis XIV. Traitor’s Game is the first book in the Soldier Spy trilogy, set during the Napoleonic Wars. The King’s Agent is the second and the third, Code of Honour, has recently been published. Find out more at www.rosemaryhayes.co.uk and find Rosemary on Facebook and Twitter / X: @HayesRosemary

Book Launch Spotlight: Achilles's Wife: A Novel of Greek Myth Retelling (Trojan Threads) by Judith Starkston

2026-03-16T16:59:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

In an ancient kingdom, a princess takes inspiration from a visiting young woman to challenge her father's views and reach for leadership—and then discovers her muse is a man.

The goddess mother of Greek mythology's most famous warrior, Achilles, will do anything to prevent her son's fated early death. In a desperate move, she hides Achilles, against his will, on an island—disguised in a girl's body.

Tormented by inner discord, the miscast "girl" befriends Mia, the eldest daughter of the island's king, launching a transformation of Mia's own. Armed with a new vision she believes comes from a girl, Mia contends with family secrets, a controlling father, her destiny to rule, and the wrath of a goddess.

When fate reveals Achilles's identity, a divine mother's fury drives Mia and Achilles into marriage. Mia must navigate her love for a man with a divided heart and a dangerous measure of immortality. Balancing governance and motherhood, Mia will face an unbearable choice.

Unique, fascinating, and restores a long-lost voice to the story the Trojan War." -Margaret George, NYT bestselling author of The Memoirs of Cleopatra

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About the Author

Judith Starkston writes historical fantasy set in the Bronze Age of the Greeks and Hittites. Her five novels bring women to the fore—whether the Trojan War captive Briseis or a remarkable Hittite queen whom history forgot, even though she ruled over one of the greatest empires of the ancient world. Judith has spent too much time reading about and exploring the remains of the ancient world. She has degrees in classics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Cornell. She lives in Davis, California with her husband and a rambunctious garden. Find Judith on Facebook, and Instagram @judith_starkston

Book Launch Guest Post: The Boleyn Curse: An enchanting, historical novel packed with secrets, from Alexandra Walsh

2026-03-15T06:20:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The court of young King Henry VIII seethes with secrets and scandals, but every ambition has its price. Elizabeth Boleyn, loyal wife to Thomas Boleyn and devoted mother to Anne, Mary and George, believes she can navigate the shifting tides of court life. But when she catches the eye of the lascivious king, Elizabeth is drawn into a perilous game and the cost of her defiance will echo through the generations.

Elizabeth Boleyn: The Mother of Anne, Mary and George Boleyn

She was the mother of Anne Boleyn, one of the most famous queen consorts in British history. Her elder daughter, Mary, was Henry VIII’s mistress; her son, George, fell from grace alongside his sister. Wife of Thomas Boleyn, sister of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, daughter of the Earl of Surrey – Elizabeth Boleyn stood at the centre of Tudor power.

And yet, despite her proximity to one of England’s most notorious dynasties, Elizabeth’s story has vanished. So too has commentary on her role as a mother who witnessed one of the most violent spectacles of the Tudor age: the moment her own brother, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, sentenced two of her children to death on behalf of the king.

How would you endure such horror: as a mother, a sister, a human being?

It is cruelty unimaginable and yet Elizabeth Boleyn had no choice but to survive it. This courage in the face of catastrophe lies at the emotional heart of The Boleyn Curse: the strength of a woman forced to bear the unbearable.

Did that strength come from her own mother, the indomitable Elizabeth Tilney? Or was it forged over a lifetime of surviving the turbulent currents of the Tudor court?

Born of formidable women

Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey (later 2nd Duke of Norfolk), and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney.

Tilney herself was remarkable: twice married, widowed in the Wars of the Roses and once a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth Woodville. She understood both the glitter and danger of court life, lessons she would pass down to her daughters.

When Richard III seized the throne, the Howards aligned with him, following him into battle when Henry Tudor challenged him for the crown at Bosworth. There, Elizabeth’s grandfather was killed and her father imprisoned. In response, her mother fled with her children to sanctuary in a Benedictine priory on the Isle of Sheppey.

It is a striking image: a mother guiding her children through political catastrophe, teaching endurance as much as obedience. The lineage of maternal strength would shape Elizabeth profoundly.

Marriage and ambition

Around 1499, Elizabeth married Thomas Boleyn, heir to a prosperous Kentish family with connections to the Irish earldom of Ormond. It was an astute match: old nobility joined to new ambition.

A surviving letter suggests that in the first years of their marriage Elizabeth bore Thomas several children. Two young sons, Thomas and Henry, died in infancy, but Mary, Anne and George survived, becoming the centre of Elizabeth and Thomas’s world.

Aristocratic babies were often nursed by wet nurses, but mothers remained closely involved. It would have been Elizabeth’s duty to supervise the nursery, to choose attendants and to ensure the moral and religious education of her children; the first stage in shaping the next generation for court life and advantageous marriages.

Elizabeth would have drawn on the lessons taught by her own mother as she taught manners, etiquette, languages (especially French), music, embroidery, piety and courtly conduct.
For women like Elizabeth, motherhood was inseparable from legacy. She and Thomas undoubtedly loved their children, but they also recognised opportunity. When the chance arose for Anne to attend the court of Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy in Mechelen, they grasped it. Mary too was sent to France, and George was encouraged into court service.

Elizabeth’s own marriage had been arranged by her father, and it was her responsibility, alongside Thomas, to secure suitable matches for their children. Mary married Sir William Carey, a cousin of the king who held the positions of Gentleman of the Privy Chamber and Esquire of the Body of the King. George made a strong dynastic match with Jane Parker, daughter of Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley. It was through her great-grandmother, Margaret Beauchamp of Blesto, that Jane, like William Carey, could claim a distant kinship to Henry VIII. None of them could have imagined that their middle child would one day wed a king.

Silence and grief

After the executions of her children, Elizabeth withdrew from court, grieving and unwell.

She had outlived Anne and George but the sources do not record her sorrow. There are no letters, no recorded lament – simply silence. A devastating void where her grief should echo through the centuries.

Elizabeth died two years after her children in April 1538 near Baynard’s Castle in London and was buried in the Howard vault at St Mary’s Church, Lambeth, now the Garden Museum.

Before history turned the Boleyn name into scandal, Elizabeth was simply a mother trying to raise children safely in an unsafe world. None of them could have expected their lives, their names and the horror of her children’s death would continue to horrify hundreds of years later.

Alexandra Walsh

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About the Author

Alexandra Walsh is a bestselling author of dual-timeline women’s fiction inspired by the lost voices of history. Her novels span the Tudor, early Stuart, and Victorian eras, exploring secrets, power, and women’s hidden lives across the centuries. Her books include The Marquess House Saga, The Wind Chime, The Music Makers, The Forgotten Palace, The Secrets of Crestwell Hall, The House of Echoes, Daughter of the Stones, The Patron Saint of Married Women and The Boleyn Curse. A former journalist of over twenty-five years, Alexandra now presents The Alexandra Walsh Arts Show on PureWestRadio.com and has worked in television and film as a producer, director and scriptwriter. Alexandra is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is a member of the Society of Authors and the Historical Writers’ Association. Follow her on social media: Instagram/X (@purplemermaid25), Bluesky (@purplemermaid25.bsky.social), and Substack (@purplemermaid25). For updates and more information visit her website: www.alexandrawalsh.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter @purplemermaid25 and Bluesky @purplemermaid25.bsky.social

Book Launch Guest Post: Desiderius Erasmus: The Folly or Far Sightedness of Renaissance Europe's Greatest Mind, by Amy McElroy

2026-03-10T19:02:00.009+00:00

Available from Amazon UK

and pre-order from Amazon US

One cannot discuss the Renaissance without coming across the name of Desiderius Erasmus. He was renowned for scholarship, views on education, religion, and conduct. Erasmus found himself in the midst of the religious debate in Europe during the sixteenth century and regardless of where his path led he would find himself subject to praise and scrutiny.

Desiderius Erasmus has been a source of interest and research for many years and the scholar remains an important influence of religion and education today, but who was he?

There is nothing simple about the life of Desiderius Erasmus. His place and year of birth are just two of the issues that raise questions about his life. He has at least two places who claim the honour of his birth, Gouda and Rotterdam. His birth can be narrowed to 1466-1469, some claim Erasmus manipulated his birth year to either conceal the circumstances of his birth or claim he was too young to make life altering decisions. Even his name can sometimes be a matter of debate.

At the time of his birth it was common for children to take on the name of their father as their surname. Erasmus was the illegitimate son of Gerard Helias and Margareta Roger, therefore one may expect his name to have been Desiderius Gerard, but he was given the sole name of Erasmus, possibly after Saint Erasmus whom his father paid respects to on more than one occasion. Erasmus himself added Desiderius to his name but throughout his life he referred to himself as Erasmus.

Erasmus wrote his Compendium Vitae as an abridgement of his life, which he referred to as ‘An Iliad of Woes’. Erasmus claims his father was one of many sons and therefore was volunteered for the Church; a common practice in families with multiple children. Gerard instead left Rotterdam, and Margareta, and travelled to Rome where he worked as a scribe.

His family informed him Margareta had died which drove him to take his vows and return to Rotterdam only to find their deception, Margareta was very much alive and with a baby, Erasmus. Having taken his vows the couple remained apart.

Erasmus began his schooling at a young age and was not initially the proficient scholar we may have expected but when he moved to a school in Deventer he fell in love with the Latin language. Sadly, when he was still a boy his parents died within a year of each other and he was left at the mercy of his guardians, whom he blamed for mismanaging his inheritance leaving him penniless and with no prospects other than entering a monastery.

Erasmus dreamed of attending university but with no funds left he had no choice and instead entered a monastery at Stein, under the rule of Saint Augustine. Due to periods of il-health as a youth, Erasmus was granted leniency with some rules, including skipping some services and eating meat on fast days. He also made extensive use of the monastery library and influenced others to study.

He eventually took his vows and became a Augustinian Canon Regular but his saving grace came in 1493 when his skill in Latin were noted by Henry Bergen, Bishop of Cambrai. Bergen was chasing his own dream of obtaining a cardinal’s hat and intended to travel to Rome. He needed a Latin secretary and who better than Erasmus.

John III of Glymes and Henry of Bergen kneeling with their patron saints

Erasmus was taken into the bishops service and escaped the cloisters but this was only the beginning of his life outside the monastery.

Bergen’s plan for to travel to Rome never transpired and he was persuaded to allow Erasmus to enrol at Collège de Montaigu, Paris, and to pay for his education. This was what Erasmus had dreamed of but soon after arrival he realised it was not the experience he had imagined. Lectures bored him, conditions appalled him, and the funds promised to him to meet the costs of attendance were not received.

He was soon tutoring young men to make ends meet, specifically English men that had travelled to Paaris to further their education. Amongst those would be some of his most loyal and generous patrons, including William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy. Mountjoy would become his gateway to England and introduce him to those who would become his closest friends and allies.

His first of many trips to England took place in 1499, and on this occasion, he would meet Thomas More and John Colet, both would remain influential throughout their lives.

John Colet, Dean of St Paul’s.

Over the next decades, Erasmus would travel across Europe, staying with friends, discovering manuscripts, and seeking patronage. He would become a friend to kings, princes, popes, and cardinals but he also made enemies.

He produced a huge number of texts including a translation of the New Testament. Many of his works were praised but the New Testament was amongst those that caused controversy and a series of religious debates. The later debates between Erasmus and Martin Luther are well known but Luther was not his only critic,

Erasmus received criticism from many over the years. He was named a coward and insulted for his opinions and writing. He was bullied in attempts to make him choose sides as the Reformation began to spread but he remained a Catholic to his death.

Erasmus was anything but a coward, he stood alone in a storm that engulfed him, refusing to placate either side. Friends supported him but enemies attempted to diminish his efforts. He only wrote what he believed in and once wrote ‘I write what will live forever’, in that he was correct, but he also wrote ‘my books will be read in every country in the world’, a prophecy that he would no doubt be proud came true.

Having spent many months researching Erasmus I find him a fascinating man who was not afraid to write about what he believed in. He held strong opinions about education which brought him into the confines of the humanist circle, but in doing so he also angered many with his views on education and religion.

Erasmus was much more than a scholar, he published extensively, many works are still printed today and some of his quotes have passed through the ages so that today, many are repeated without the knowledge they originated with him.

My aim of writing about Erasmus was to show that although he receives conflicting commentary, both during his life and after, he was steadfast in his beliefs and I hope to have done the greatest scholar of all time justice in my book, Desiderius Erasmus: The Folly or Far Sightedness of Renaissance Europe’s Greatest Mind.

Amy McElroy

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About the Author

Amy McElroy was born in Liverpool and lived there until she moved to the Midlands for university where she studied Criminal Justice followed by Post-Grad Law. Amy is currently a civil servant, working full-time alongside her writing. She also has a blog where she reviews historical fiction and non-fiction. Amy’s first book, Educating the Tudors, was published in January 2023 and focuses on the education of all classes, the subjects they learned and who taught them. Her second book, Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era is out February 2024 and she is currently writing her third book, Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Amy also has a fourth, Desiderius Erasmus, in the pipeline, with a few more ideas up her sleeves for the future. You can find out more about Amy at her blog - https://amymcelroy.blog/ and follow her on Facebook Twitter @AmyMc_Book and Bluesky @amymcelroy.bsky.social

Special Guest Interview with Amy McElroy, Author of Women's Lives in the Tudor Era

2026-03-10T07:30:00.000+00:00

Available from Amazon UK

and Amazon US

Women in the Tudor age are often overshadowed by their male counterparts. Even those of royalty were deemed inferior to males. Whilst women may have been classed as the inferior gender, women played a vital role in Tudor society.

I'm pleased to welcome author Amy McElroy back to The Writing Desk to talk about her book, Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era:

Tell us about your book

When writing Educating the Tudors, I became even more interested in the role women played in Tudor society. I found it fascinating how women were relied on for many aspects of life by the men in their lives but were still largely treated as inferior subjects. I wanted to delve into the ways women spent their days, the different milestones in their lives and how they contributed to society.

The end result is Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era. I have tried to follow the life stages from birth through to death, focusing on stages which changed their lives. These stages include adolescence, marriage, motherhood and widowhood amongst others and each meant a change to a woman’s status as well as the expectations placed on her. I did not want to focus solely on the well-known Tudor women, though they are of course included, but wanted to compare the experiences of classes to provide a view of everyday life.

What is your preferred writing routine?

I still work full-time so my writing routine usually consists of evenings and weekends. I usually try to do all my research first so I can start writing once that is done, but I usually end up down a rabbit hole or two even after I think I have finished researching! If I don’t have much time, I may do something different such as updating my bibliography, searching for images, or adding to my index to save me a job at the end.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Choose a subject you are genuinely interested in so it does not really feel like ‘work’. I would also say find your own rhythm, it is very easy to hear authors writing thousands of words a day and panicking but we are all individual. All progress is progress, so even if you choose to write 100 words a day, that’s ok too. All that matters is that you enjoy it.

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?

I have found social media to be great, especially Twitter, which I can thank you for introducing me to! There is such a wonderful history and book community on there and now developing on threads, it is brilliant! I also had the wonderful opportunity to appear on an episode of the Talking Tudors Podcast with the lovely Natalie Grueninger, that was completely unexpected and an amazing experience as I am a regular listener myself and quite often buy books from listening to episodes.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research

I would not necessarily say it was unexpected but it still surprises me that married women were not allowed to write a Last Will and Testament without the permission of their husband. A large portion of society didn’t need a will as they didn’t have much to leave but seems bizarre that a woman could not dispose of her own property how she wished to without consent. Also, I find it interesting that many women who did leave a will sought to ensure their female relatives were provided for, rather than leaving their goods to their male heir. Women often bequeathed their female relative’s money, clothing and even livestock.

Amy McElroy

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About the Author

Amy McElroy was born in Liverpool and lived there until she moved to the Midlands for university where she studied Criminal Justice followed by Post-Grad Law. Amy is currently a civil servant, working full-time alongside her writing. She also has a blog where she reviews historical fiction and non-fiction. Amy’s first book, Educating the Tudors, was published in January 2023 and focuses on the education of all classes, the subjects they learned and who taught them. Her second book, Women’s Lives in the Tudor Era is out February 2024 and she is currently writing her third book, Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Amy also has a fourth, Desiderius Erasmus, in the pipeline, with a few more ideas up her sleeves for the future.
Amy enjoys seeing her family back in Liverpool, especially her little furry assistant in the form of cavapoo Cooper, and visiting her dad in Spain, especially in the summer. You can find out more about Amy at her blog - https://amymcelroy.blog/ and follow her on Facebook, Twitter @AmyMc_Books and Bluesky undefine

Book Review: The Turncoat’s Revenge (Lord's Learning Book 3) by Eleanor Swift Hook

2026-03-08T06:55:00.000+00:00

Available for pre-order

from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The Turncoat’s Revenge continues the ‘Lord's Learning’ prequel to Eleanor Swift Hook’s ‘Lord’s Legacy’ series. exploring the consequences of divided loyalty. From several points of view we examine what it means to navigate duty and desire when the stakes are high and the path forward is anything but clear.

Although this is a work of historical fiction, I was impressed by the skill with which real historical figures and events are seamlessly woven into the tapestry of the story. As well as grounding the narrative with immersive period detail, these reak events provide the characters with a compelling context.

Having read the ‘Lord’s Legacy’ series, I also enjoyed the layers of back story which continue to be revealed. At times brutal and even shocking action reminds readers of the challenges of the era, and make this boo a real ‘page turner.’ Highly recommended.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Book Launch Guest Post by Nicola Harris, Author of Infidel: The Daughters of Aragon (Six Tudor Queens)

2026-03-07T12:54:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A princess. A survivor. A daughter of Aragon. Born in the glittering courts of Castile and Aragon and forged in the shadow of war, Catalina de Aragón grows up surrounded by queens, rebels, and ghosts. She is her mother’s last daughter, the final jewel of a dynasty built on conquest and faith, and the one child Isabella of Castile cannot bear to lose. But destiny has already claimed Catalina.

The Research and Inspiration Behind Infidel: The Daughters of Aragon By Nicola Harris

My research for Infidel began long before I ever thought of writing a novel about Catherine of Aragón. It began on a beach in Tenerife, years before tourism transformed the island. To a child, it felt like another world. The light, the heat, the colours, the food, the rhythm of life.

I was fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time with a Spanish family who welcomed me into their home and their culture year after year. They taught me fragments of their language and, more importantly, the stories that shaped their history. Through them, I first encountered the world of Muslim Spain and the Catholic warrior monarchs who fought to reclaim it. It was impossible not to be fascinated.

Catalina’s mother, Isabella of Castile, stood out immediately. She was disciplined, relentless, and utterly convinced of her divine purpose. She was also a mother raising her children in a kingdom defined by conflict.

Isabella I of Castile (1451-1504), queen of Castile and León.

That tension between power and vulnerability became the foundation of my interest in Catalina’s early life. Before she was a queen, she was a child shaped by siege warfare, political ambition, and the expectations of a dynasty that demanded strength from its daughters.

Portrait by Juan de Flandes thought to be of 11-year-old Catherine.

As I began to research more deeply, I found myself drawn to the wider world that touched Catalina’s childhood. I have always been captivated by the fall of Constantinople and the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II’s audacious plan to take the city.

On a trip to Turkey a few years ago, I spoke with a Turkish waiter about his view of the sultan. His pride and respect for Mehmed stayed with me. It reminded me that history is never simple. Every figure we study has another side, another story, another set of loyalties and beliefs.

That conversation helped me approach the period with a wider lens, aware that the Christian and Muslim worlds were not simply enemies but complex civilisations with their own brilliance and contradictions.

Juana of Castile, Catalina’s older sister, became a vital part of the novel for this reason. She is often reduced to the label Juana the Mad, but she was far more than that. In Infidel, Juana allows me to explore the moral questions surrounding the Muslim wars and the Inquisition.

She is outspoken, intelligent, and unwilling to accept cruelty as the natural cost of faith. Through her, I could give voice to the discomfort a modern reader might feel when confronted with the punishments and persecutions of the age. Without revealing too much, Juana’s own journey takes her far from home, and the emotional cost of that distance shapes her view of the world.

Her brother Juan was married to Margaret of Austria, who is frequently remembered for educating Anne Boleyn. What is less often acknowledged is that long before Anne ever entered Margaret’s household, Catalina was already connected to Margaret by family.

In Infidel, those family connections matter. It reminds us that Catalina did not exist only in relation to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She belonged to a wider European network of women whose lives, loyalties, and alliances shaped the courts that Anne would later enter.

There is a great deal of sadness in this story, because there was a great deal of sadness in Catalina’s early life. She lost people she loved. She witnessed the brutality of war. She learned to read cyphers and how to read hearts. She watched her parents arguing over her father’s love affairs. She learned to stand firm even when everything around her was shifting.

Her childhood was not soft or sheltered. It was an ordeal. She came face to face with native Americans who were snatched from their land and brought to the palace. I wanted to understand what forged her, what hardened her, and what gave her the strength she carried into England. Her resilience did not appear by magic. It was earned.

Infidel grew from all these threads: my early love of Spain, my fascination with the fall of Constantinople, my respect for the complexity of the period, my interest in the overlooked connections between women like Catalina and Margaret of Austria, and my desire to show Catalina not as a symbol but as a girl shaped by fire.

She was fierce, vulnerable, determined, and unforgettable long before she became a Tudor queen. I wanted to bring that girl to life. I wanted to show the sisters who stood beside her, the world that formed her, and the dynasty that demanded so much from its daughters.

Nicola Harris

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About the Author

Nicola Harris has been a lifelong enthusiast of Tudor history, with a particular fondness for castles, queens, and the emotional undercurrents of court life. Before illness changed her path, she worked with children as a Nursery Nurse. Nicola was an Aid worker in Romania for the BBC's Blue Peter Appeal in the early 1990s, Writing became a lifeline when she became seriously ill and was diagnosed with a genetic disability. Although she will never “get better,” Nicola has completed three novels with a fourth in the pipeline. She lives in England with her husband and has two adult children—none of whom share her historical obsession, but who have endured countless castle visits with admirable patience (and the occasional ice cream bribe). Find out more at Nicola's website: https://nicolaharrisauthor.com and find her on Twitter @harris_nic59544

Book Review: Dynasties: The Noble Families of England by Patrick Coleman

2026-03-07T12:29:00.002+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

With origins in the powerful earldoms of the Saxon period, the aristocracy is woven into the fabric of England. Going from Tudor and Stuart courtiers to Georgian and Victorian magnates, the noble families more recently suffered a decline before their rise from the ashes as guardians of heritage

Patrick Coleman focuses on the stories and myths behind the families who shaped English history from the medieval period to modern times, so the book is more like a collection of historical narratives than a reference guide.

The author admits in his introduction that his selection of families and stories is subjective, but I found the chapters on some of the less well-known families interesting. The book also examines how the fortunes of these ‘Dynasties’ related to events in British history.

There is also some discussion of how their estates still shape popular ideas of British aristocracy, from Longleat Safari Park to TV dramas like Downton Abbey.

Dynasties: The Noble Families of England is an informative introduction to the world of the English aristocracy for anyone interested in the powerful families who helped shape the country’s past.

Tony Riches

I would like to thank the publishers, Amberley, for providing a review copy.

Book Launch Guest Post by Rachel Elwiss Joyce, Author of Lady of Lincoln: A Novel of Nicola de la Haye, the Medieval Heroine History Tried to Forget (The Nicola de la Haye Series Book 1)

2026-03-06T17:29:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A true story. A forgotten heroine. In a time when women were told to stay silent, could she become the saviour her people need? 12th-century England. Nicola de la Haye wants to do her duty. But though she’s taught a female cannot lead alone, the young noblewoman bristles at the marriage her father has arranged to secure her inheritance. And when an unexpected death leaves her unguided, the impetuous girl shuns the king’s blessing and weds a handsome-but-landless knight.

Lady of Lincoln and Today’s Anniversary of the Start of the Great Rebellion 1173-4

The Night Everything Changed

5 March 1173. King Henry II's birthday celebration at Chinon Castle blazed with torchlight and wine. The great hall rang with laughter as father and son—the old king and Henry the Young King—made their public reconciliation. Courtiers toasted. Musicians played. Their earlier rupture seemed healed.

But precisely 853 years ago to this day, in the dark hours before dawn on 6 March 1173, while the royal household slept off their drunkenness, the young king slipped through the castle gates and rode hard with his companions for Paris.

Henry II

By morning, England's future had split open. Within weeks, the kingdom would descend into the brutal civil war we now call the Great Rebellion of 1173–74—a conflict that would cost countless lives and tear families apart.

What the Chroniclers Didn't Tell You

The medieval chroniclers followed kings and magnates across battlefields and courts. They recorded troop movements, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres. What they rarely recorded were the consequences for everyone else—the people whose lives were upended by decisions made in royal councils, whose lands became battlegrounds, whose futures hung on which army prevailed.

They especially ignored the women.

But women didn't cease to exist during civil wars. They didn't stop managing estates, protecting dependents, or making impossible choices when their world fractured around them. They just didn't make it into the chronicles—unless they did something truly extraordinary.

An Inheritance Already Under Siege

By 1173, Nicola de la Haye wasn't waiting to inherit. She already held her family's barony and the hereditary constableship of Lincoln Castle—one of the most strategically vital royal fortresses in England. These weren't future expectations. They were working realities: estates to manage, villagers depending on her protection, a castle forming part of the king's defensive network.

She was young, she was married, and she understood her world's rules. But the inheritance was hers. Not her husband's. Hers.

The problem? Her husband assumed the title of Baron and Constable in her name. And when civil war erupted, he chose the Young King's cause, being one of those very companions of the Young King who had ridden into the French King’s arms.

Suddenly Nicola faced a nightmare: her husband in rebellion, her inheritance threatened, her people exposed to violence. Should she remain loyal to the man she'd married, or to the birthrights and responsibilities that were hers alone?

Caught Between Loyalty and Survival

The medieval world didn't offer women many choices. But Nicola de la Haye wasn't like most women. She couldn't abandon her villagers to slaughter or starvation. She couldn't let the old king's agents strip away her family's legacy. And she certainly couldn't let her husband's choices destroy everything she'd been born to protect.

This was the woman who would later hold Lincoln Castle against a French invasion—the woman William Marshal himself would call "so brave a lady" that it would be dishonourable not to ride to her aid. Even in her youth, trapped between a rebelling husband and a suspicious king, Nicola found her path.

Lady of Lincoln tells that story—the story the chroniclers missed. The early years of a young woman who would become known as "the woman who saved England," tested by a brutal civil war she never chose, forced to make decisions that would define her life.

Remembering the Edges of Rebellion

On this anniversary of the day Henry the Young King slipped away from his father's court under cover of darkness, it's worth remembering something the chroniclers rarely acknowledged: civil wars aren't only fought by those men at the top who start them.

Henry the Young King

They're also lived by those who must hold estates together while the ground shifts beneath them. By those who must keep people fed, justice functioning, defences maintained—even as armies march and loyalties fracture.

And so often, they were lived by women like Nicola de la Haye: women who held everything together while the men who claimed authority tore it apart.

Lady of Lincoln explores the early life of Nicola (also known as Nicholaa) de la Haye against the backdrop of the Great Rebellion—a devastating conflict born of Henry II's bitter struggles with his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons. It's a story of inheritance and identity, of impossible choices and iron will, and of a young woman learning to command in a world that wanted her silent.

Rachel Elwiss Joyce

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About the Author

After a rewarding career in the sciences, Rachel returned to her first love—history and the art of storytelling. Fascinated by the women history neglected, or tried to forget, she creates meticulously researched, emotionally resonant fiction that brings her characters’ stories vividly to life. Her fascination with the past began early. At six years old, she was already inventing tales about medieval women in castles, inspired by her treasured Ladybird books and other picture-rich stories that transported her to another time. By the time she discovered Katherine by Anya Seton as a teenager, she knew the joy and escape that only great historical fiction can bring. Rachel’s two grown-up children still tease her (fondly) about childhoods spent being “dragged” around castles, archaeological sites, and historical re-enactments. For Rachel, history and imagination have always gone hand in hand.There was, however, a long gap between the stories of her childhood and her decision to write her own novel. The spark came when she discovered the remarkable true story of Nicola de la Haye—the first female sheriff of England, who defended Lincoln Castle against a French invasion and became known as “the woman who saved England.” Rachel knew she had found her heroine, and a story she was destined to tell. Rachel lives in the UK, where she continues to explore the lives of women who shaped history but were left out of its pages. Lady of Lincoln is her debut novel, the first book in her Nicola de la Haye Series, with sequels to follow. Find out more at www.rachelelwissjoyce.com and find Rachel on Facebook and

X/ Twitter: @RachelElwJoyce

Book Review: Missing... Rose Malone, by Linda Huber

2026-03-05T13:24:00.004+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Josiane Kent is worried. Her friend Rose has posted zero photos on social media all week, despite being on holiday in Edinburgh, the most photogenic city ever. Not only that, she isn’t answering her phone. Something isn’t right. Josiane, along with Rose’s on-off boyfriend Matt and Val, Rose’s boss, starts investigating.

Linda Huber’s new thriller Missing… Rose Malone is a psychological suspense mystery with emotional depth – and a steadily tightening sense of unease.

The story is full of clues to keep readers guessing, and explores how a single traumatic event ripples through interconnected lives and relationships.

Strong characters and authentic realism strengthen the impact, as readers become invested in the outcome of the mystery and the personal arcs within the narrative.

Missing… Rose Malone is an engaging and well-constructed thriller that will appeal to readers who appreciate character-driven mysteries with strong psychological elements. Does it end with a surprising twist? You will have to read it to find out.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Linda Huber grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, but went to work in Switzerland for a year aged twenty-two, and has lived there ever since. Her day jobs have included working as a physiotherapist in hospitals and schools for handicapped children, and teaching English in a medieval castle. Linda’s writing career began in the nineties, when she had over fifty feel-good short stories published in women’s magazines. Her newest project is a series of feel-good novels set in her home area on the banks of Lake Constance in N.E. Switzerland. She really appreciates having the views admired by her characters right on her own doorstep! Find out more at Linda's website https://lindahuber.net/ and find her on Facebook, Twitter @LindaHuber19 and Bluesky @lindahuberauthor.bsky.social

Book Review: The Austen Girls: The Story of Jane & Cassandra Austen, the Closest of Sisters, by Helen Amy

2026-03-04T10:17:00.002+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Jane and Cassandra Austen were the closest of sisters from early childhood. Cassandra was the most important person in Jane’s life; Jane looked up to and adored her older sister, who was devoted to her in return. As well as sharing the same education, interests, friends and Christian faith, the inseparable sisters supported each other through various emotional crises and family troubles. Most importantly, Cassandra, who was privy to Jane’s imaginary world, supported and encouraged her in her writing.

If you thought you knew all there is to know about Jane and Cassandra Austen, Helen Amy’s new book, The Austen Girls, is guaranteed to have a few surprises.

This is a story of a lifelong bond, exploring the intimate connection between the sisters. Cassandra is not a supporting character in Jane’s life, but her confidante, her critic, her keeper of secrets, and often her emotional compass.

Helen Amy challenges readers to reconsider the “great author alone at her desk” myth, replacing it with a more granular and human portrait of two sisters navigating family obligations, financial insecurity, and the societal constraints of Regency England.

It is easy to forget girls of their time would usually have had the most basic education, with academic learning thought ‘unwomanly’, and only the most affluent being sent to boarding schools.
Jane and Cassandra were an exception in being ‘allowed’ to join their brother’s sessions with tutors. They also attended their father’s lessons and encouraged to read literature and history books, as well as learning basic French.

I particularly liked the many excerpts of Jane’s letters, which offer a real sense of her voice and personality. We only have Cassandra’s portrait of Jane and a ‘silhouette’ of `Cassandra, which makes the descriptions of them in the book quite intriguing. For example, Jane is said to be, “tall and slight, well balanced, as proved by her quick, firm step.”

For readers familiar with Jane Austen’s novels, The Austen Girls offers fresh perspective—not by reinterpreting her works, but by enriching our understanding of their emotional world. The Austen Girls is a tribute not just to Jane Austen’s genius, but to the sustaining power of family and the invisible threads that nourish great art.

Tony Riches

I would like to thank the publishers, Amberley, for providing a review copy.

# # #

About the Author

After leaving university with a BA in English Literature and history Helen worked for a number of years in the Court Service before becoming a full time mother of three. Her interest in the life and works of Jane Austen developed from the research she did for her MA dissertation which was about the lives of women in late Georgian England. You can find Helen on Facebook

Special Guest Interview With Cathie Dunn, Author of Love Lost In Time: A gripping dual-timeline mystery

2026-03-04T09:49:00.001+00:00

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

AD 2018: Languedoc, southern 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...

Thank you very much, Tony, for hosting me today. I’m delighted to share a glimpse at my work.

I write historical mystery and romance. My novels span several genres: historical fiction, adventures, murder mystery and romantic fiction. I love including historic events, something I always enjoy as a reader. It makes me read up about places and events I didn’t know about, and it’s something I’d like to convey to my own readers: the excitement of discovering something new.

After many years in Scotland, I’m now fortunate to live in Carcassonne, in the Occitanie region in southern France. I’ve always enjoyed living near or in historic places, as it makes research so much easier. Exploring castles and ruins is one of my passions, and I love the sense of time those ancient walls give you. You can imagine people and animals milling about, but also attacks and fights. Both sides of the coin.

Carcassonne

Readers have mentioned that my stories take them to these places, that they get a real sense of the setting. This makes me so happy. And visiting historic sites isn’t exactly a chore, is it?

Now to your questions:

What is your preferred writing routine?

I don’t have one! I probably should have a routine, but I’m not very disciplined. I write mostly in the afternoons, either downstairs in our conservatory overlooking the front garden, or upstairs in the office, from where I can see the walls of the old cité of Carcassonne! Once I start, I find it hard to stop, though.

Before I start a new project, I research the overall timeline, to include some pointers. Then I search for events to add as I go.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Keep writing! Oh, and build up your brand. Yes, an author is a brand, so we need to make sure readers know about us and our writing. And learn as you go. As authors, we never stop learning.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research

The idea to Love Lost in Time came to me during a visit at neighbours in a village where we first lived after our arrival in France from Edinburgh four years ago.

It was late in the evening. The village’s annual fireworks on 14^th July had just ended. We joined our neighbours for a nightcap (which took three hours, but that’s a different story…). As I was chatting about my love of history, Marie came in with a bundle. She unwrapped what turned out to be a cranium and a couple of other bones, likely from an arm and fingers! They were over 1000 years old! My neighbours had them checked.

You can imagine how intrigued I was. They had found the bones under their kitchen floor during renovations.

There had been a Visigoth graveyard nearby, now beneath allotments, but a little further on, not where our houses stood. So how did those bones end up outside the old graveyard? The plot for Love Lost in Time was born.

What are you planning to write next?

I’m working on a murder mystery series called the Loup de Foix Mysteries set in the Languedoc area, although the first instalment begins in Rome during the Lateran Council of 1215. My main character is Loup de Foix. He was the illegitimate son of Count Raymond-Roger of Foix, a well-known orator and supporter of the Cathars.

I’m also working on the long-overdue sequel to Dark Deceit, and I’m plotting a novel set in Paris during the infamous Affair of the Poisons.

Cathie Dunn

# # #

About the Author

Cathie Dunn has been writing for over twenty years. She studied Creative Writing, with a focus on novel writing, which she now teaches in the south of France. She loves researching for her novels, delving into history books, and visiting castles and historic sites. Cathie's stories have garnered readers' awards and praise from reviewers and readers for their authentic description of the past. is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Alliance of Independent Authors. After many years in Scotland, Cathie now lives in south-west France with her husband, two cats and a rescue dog. Discover more at Cathie's website http://www.cathiedunn.com and Blog https://cathiedunn.blogspot.com and find her on Facebook, Twitter: @cathiedunn and Bluesky @cathiedunn.bsky.social

Blog Tour: Both Sides of the Pond, My Family’s War, by Barbara Kent Lawrence

2026-03-04T06:57:00.004+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

In January of 1939 when Barbara Greene, a beautiful young British actress, met Joe Kennedy, Jr., son of the American Ambassador, she could not have expected that their relationship would lead to her emigrating to the United States and learning to pilot a plane.

Neither could her brother, Kent, have foreseen his bitter retreat from Dunkirk when he left England in January 1940 to fight in France, or his subsequent service on the frontlines in Cornwall, North Africa, Sicily, and Burma.

In this intensively researched war story of the author’s family, we also hear the stories of other ordinary people who survived extraordinary circumstances. Richly illustrated with photographs and documents, “Both Sides of the Pond, My Family’s War: 1933 – 1946” is a captivating book.

Praise for Both Sides of the Pond:

"Author Barbara Kent Lawrence weaves a rich tapestry of the lives of her British mother and uncle from 1933 to 1946, before, during, and just after World War II. War stories are very personal. This is such a story, and it offers insight into how two young people navigated difficult years that altered the trajectories of the lives they thought they would live. It is a worthy read, written beautifully. Don’t miss it." ~ Patricia Walkow, Military Writers Society of America

# # #

About the Author

Dr. Lawrence is the author of many articles and nine books, including an award-winning dissertation about the influence of culture on aspirations in Maine. A former professor, she has taught courses in anthropology and sociology, research, and writing non-fiction and memoir. Lawrence grew up in New York City and Washington D.C., then earned a BA in anthropology from Bennington College, an MA in sociology from New York University, and an Ed.D. in Administration, Policy and Planning from Boston University. When not working she loves to garden, knit, and go for walks, pastimes she learned from her British mother. She lives in Maine and is working on the third novel in her Islands series. Find out more at https://barbaralawrence.com/ and find Barbara on Facebook and Instagram.

Blog Tour Excerpt: West of Santillane by Brook Allen

2026-03-03T07:08:00.002+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Desperate to escape a mundane future as a Virginia planter’s wife, Julia Hancock seizes her chance for adventure when she wins the heart of American hero William Clark. Though her husband is the famed explorer, Julia embarks on her own thrilling and perilous

journey of self-discovery.

Excerpt:

Our journey began by flatboat, crossing the Mississippi from St. Louis to docks near Cahokia. From there, we’d head toward Louisville, where we’d enjoy sweet respite with Jonathan, Sarah, and family.

Built for carrying people and freight, flatboats offered reliable transport down the Ohio in spring and summer and back and forth on the Mississippi and downriver from St. Louis to New Orleans. Still, I always eyed them with a certain trepidation, making sure I was safe in the central part of the boat since they had no guardrails.

Halfway across the river, a cold crosswind blew up, so Chloe and I stayed inside the wagon, wrapped up tight together in a blanket while the men readied the mules and horses for debarking. Once off the boats, they’d be hitched to the wagons again.

As we approached Illinois, people gathered on the port side, their weight causing the craft to scour the river bottom along shoals near the docks. Chloe and I laughed, feeling the slight bumps accompanied by a scraping sound emanating from the shallow bottom.

Suddenly, a male voice from the top of the small shelter bellowed, “Slave overboard!”

Next came Scott’s voice, shouting to Chloe, “Mama, you got Rachel?”

Chloe’s mouth dropped as she tossed aside our blanket and leaped from the buckboard. “No!” she cried, her voice wavering. “I figured she was with you . . .”

I jumped down from the wagon too. Even more passengers had gathered portside, eager to get off, with yet more folk queued up on the Illinois dock, standing at the edge of the waterfront, some of them pointing down into the water.

Dread gripped me.

The same crewman who had first sounded the alarm shouted again, “Who’s missing a slave girl?”

Scott and Chloe were fighting their way through the crowd, not making much headway. Most of the flatboat passengers saw that they were slaves and pushed them back, ignoring their distress.

Chloe shrieked, out of her mind with terror, “Where is she? Rachel, where you at?”

To my horror, I saw Will near the edge of the boat, lifting his arm in the midst of all the people, calling, “She’s mine, sir.” Gradually, the crowd parted, allowing him through.

Scott and Chloe were still caught up behind crowds of passengers, who were only now surging forward toward the gangplank. Bless Chloe, she was panicked, screaming and keening. “Master Clark, is it Rachel? Please, Lord Jesus, don’t let it be Rachel!” She glanced back, searching for me, eyes brimming with tears. “Our girl don’t swim none, Missus Julia…”

Little Lewis was alone in the wagon, but he’d been asleep, so I sprang forward to comfort my friend. A fear I’d never known gripped my heart with steely fingers, making my breath shallow: a mother’s distress at the thought of losing a child, especially in such a chilling and unforeseen manner. My heart beat in rhythm with Chloe’s—both of us mothers and facing a terror for which no parent was ever prepared.

Scott was finally at the edge of the flatboat with Will, and the sound that emanated from his throat was something from a nightmare. A moan, long and loud, pierced like that of a banshee over the confusion, carrying over people talking, stepping off the boat, greeting loved ones, calling for their bags, going about their business…

How was it that life was carrying on in such normalcy when a little child was lost?

As tall as he was, I saw Will’s red head bobbing through the crowd toward us. Oh God—he was carrying her—Rachel! Drenched and dripping from her watery fate, she was limp as the cotton rag doll I remember Harriet losing as a child, left outside during a summer storm and hanging over the wrought-iron rail on our back stairwell, soaked and drooping.

She was also still as stone, blood dripping from her head, staining Will’s cotton shirt. I willed her to lift her head and say something—anything. Still holding Chloe, I shielded her as long as I could, but when she finally saw her daughter, her scream clawed its way up my spine. She ran to Will, and I stood helpless, my emotion spilling its way down my face.

Chloe snatched Rachel from Will, lowering her to the deck and holding the girl’s bloody head in her hands, swaying from side to side.

Will crossed over to where I stood. “She must have gotten too near the edge. My best guess is that she lost her balance when we hit ground back there.”

“She couldn’t swim,” I murmured. “Will—is she—”

My answer came when arms encircled me, and it wasn’t the one I wanted. “I need to know. Did she drown?”

His arms gripped me tighter as he spoke softly in my ear. “The boat was docking and crushed her head when she was flailing about. Let’s pray she went quickly.”

Oh, Sweet Lord…

“Nooo—” Chloe was on her knees, rocking Rachel’s lifeless form in her arms, her protest a guttural screech at the top of her lungs. Scott stood sobbing behind her, wiping both eyes with his worn, patched shirtsleeves and shaking his head in disbelief.

At the sound of their grief, other travelers crossing the gangplank to Illinois stared back at our group, heading on their way and leaving us in our shock.

Will released me, turning and walking slowly toward the wagon.

“Where are you going?” I cried, balling my fists. My tone turned accusatory and bitter. “How can you just leave us to hitch the mules when this has just happened?”

He stopped in his tracks and turned about to face me, patiently and quietly answering, “Julia, I’m going to the wagon to find something to wrap her in.”

Brook Allen

# # #

About the Author

Brook Allen has a passion for history. Her newest project, West of Santillane, spotlights history from a little closer to home in Botetourt County, Virginia. It’s the story of Julia Hancock, who married famed explorer, William Clark. Each character of this thrilling, adventurous period was researched throughout southwest Virginia and into Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota. It launched in March of 2024. Brook belongs to the Historical Novel Society and attends conferences as often as possible to study craft and meet fellow authors. In 2019, her novel Antonius: Son of Rome won a silver medal in the international Reader’s Favorite Book Reviewers Book Awards, then won First Place in the prestigious Chaucer Division in the Chanticleer International Book Awards, 2020. West of Santillane garnered international attention in Summer 2025 by becoming a Silver Medalist in the Independent Publishing Book Awards for best Mid-Atlantic Fiction. Also, it was a finalist for the Virginia Romance Writers Holt Medallion. Most recently, Brook appeared in Season 8 of Blueridge PBS’s WRITE AROUND THE CORNER. Though she graduated from Asbury University with a B.A. in Music Education, Brook has always loved writing. She completed a Masters program at Hollins University with an emphasis in Ancient Roman studies, which helped prepare her for authoring her award-winning Antonius Trilogy. Brook recently retired from public education and her personal interests include travel, cycling, hiking in the woods, reading, and spending downtime with her husband and big, black dog, Jak. She lives in the heart of southwest Virginia in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. Find out more at https://www.brookallenauthor.com/ and find Brook on Twitter @1BrookAllen, Facebook and Bluesky @brookallenauthor.bsky.social

Book Launch Spotlight: Lady of Lincoln: A Novel of Nicola de la Haye, the Medieval Heroine History Tried to Forget, by Rachel Elwiss Joyce

2026-02-27T18:40:00.000+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Harshly fined by Henry II for her unsanctioned union, Nicola struggles to salvage her estates while dealing with devastating betrayals from her husband… and his choice to join rebels in a brewing civil war. Yet after averting a tragedy and gaining the castle garrison’s respect, she still must face the might of powerful men determined to crush her under their will.

Can she survive love, threats, and violent ambition to prove she’s worthy of authority?

In this carefully researched and vividly human series debut, Rachel Elwiss Joyce showcases the complex themes of honour, responsibility, and freedom in the story of a remarkable heroine who men tried to erase from history. And as readers dive into a world defined by violence and turmoil, they’ll be stunned by this courageous young woman’s journey toward greatness.

Lady of Lincoln is the gritty first book in the Nicola de la Haye Series historical fiction saga. If you like richly textured female heroes, courtly drama, and fast-paced intrigue, then you’ll adore Rachel Elwiss Joyce’s gripping true-life tale.

“A towering, epic saga… one of the greats in this genre.” — Readers’ Favorite

“Profoundly moving… Nicola de la Haye shines with determination and emotional depth.”— The Coffee Pot Book Club

“An extraordinary book that shows a woman successfully overcoming the constraints of her time… with wits, will, and an unbreakable spirit.” — The Historical Fiction Company

# # #

About the Author

X/ Twitter: @RachelElwJoyce

Special Guest Post by Wendy J Dunn, Author of Shades of Yellow: Why Write to Trends?

2026-02-27T07:18:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK, Amazon US

and Amazon AU

During her battle with illness, Lucy Ellis found solace in writing a novel about the mysterious death of Amy Robsart, the first wife of Robert Dudley, the man who came close to marrying Elizabeth I.

When my husband sometimes says to me, ‘Why don’t you write something that sells?’, my lips purse tight together, and they stay pursed. Tight. I need to take a long moment before I speak to my non-writing life-partner. It is bad enough that the gatekeepers publish books according to current marketing trends, disregarding so many works of genuine quality, let alone my dear husband believes this is what I should do too.

And I refuse to see not writing to trends as some kind of failure. I have written long enough now to know failure, for me, goes hand in hand with writing without passion to drive me. I know, because I have tried to write to market trends. It just does not work for me, not when writing and completing a novel means a commitment of years. And this is the thing. If I wrote according to current trends, by the time I finished that novel, it would probably prove a pointless exercise because, years later,

I would expect ‘current trends to be completely different. I am also doubtful about whether the finished novel would end up being a work I would be proud to see published. Is this because I see writing as an art form, or am I too idealistic for my own good because I believe it is vital to write from my heart and soul for my work to have heart and soul?

Then I think, why shouldn’t I write from my heart and soul? For me, writing is a calling. It’s what keeps me sane, and I know that is simply because I write about what is important to me. Giving voice to those in the past whose voices were so often erased simply on account of their gender is one reason why I write. It is also what inspires me – what opens the door to my imagination and drives my research.

In my writing practice, research either reassures or shows me I need to find out something before I can go any further. Nowadays, the need to know guides my Tudor research and prevents losing too much time investigating a fascinating detour. Nevertheless, these research detours present opportunities for accidental discoveries. Omissions and erasures also present powerful story opportunities.

So many historical fiction writers I know speak of serendipity that comes out of research – those eureka moments that finally open our eyes to what we are really writing about. Research (and writing) is an adventure. Not only are we going into the unknown, but we are also discovering the unexpected, which enriches us as writers, and therefore our writing. Beyond that, I know the unexpected will often end up being the beating heart of the story I am writing.

All this has made writing my life adventure. Writing is the tool that has shaped me – helping me grow and live a life of true fulfilment. Writing has not added a lot of money to my bank account, but it has made me rich in ways that matter. I have learnt so much through writing. I have deepened my understanding of myself, of life. I have learnt so much about the real people I so often give voice to in my storytelling. Their histories are not dead to me – but throbbing with the pulse of life.

Creating itself throbs with life – something I wanted to show in my most recent novel, Shades of Yellow. A reader described my novel as a love letter to writing and, while it has other important layers, that is true. My character Lucy mirrors my passion as a writer. She echoes my beliefs as a writer. Like when Eric, the fictional agent of Lucy’s grandfather, suggests to Lucy to craft Elizabeth I as a witch.

She clicked her pen in thought. The silent house seemed to amplify the sound. Not wanting to disturb anyone, she put down the pen and recalled what Eric had said, You could make Elizabeth Tudor a witch.’ He laughed. ‘That would really stir the pot with the historical fiction purists. But it would also help sell the book.’

Not liking the suggestion at all, she considered a diplomatic answer. ‘I suspect there are already novels that tackle Elizabeth, the witch angle – especially since Henry VIII accused her mother of using witchcraft to snare him into her power.’ ‘It’s worth thinking about.’ He lifted his eyebrows as if in challenge.

Lucy picked up her pen and returned to her journal.
I don’t want to make Elizabeth a witch, even if it sells books. I don’t want to write a novel that goes against my beliefs or casts an undeserved shadow on the once living. Elizabeth wasn’t a witch. Neither was her mother. (1)

Years ago, I heard Sophie Masson, a respected and well-published Australian author, say at a HNSA conference that to be a writer is to be a lifelong learner. I thought then and think now, that this is so true, just as true Kundera’s words: ‘the writing of a novel takes up a whole era in a writer’s life, and when the labour is done he is no longer the person he was at the start’.

Writing a novel does indeed change me and take an era of my life. My fastest time to complete a novel was the two years it took for me to write The Light in the Labyrinth. If I am to commit to a project, it must mean something to me. Otherwise, why am I sacrificing my time and energy to create this work?
Tillie Olsen wrote in her book Silences decades ago, ‘The world never asked you to write. My long ago and still instinctive response: What’s wrong with the world then, that it doesn’t ask - and make it possible – for people to raise and contribute the best that is in them’

One way I contribute what is best in me is by writing. But to write dictated by what is trending, why should I?

Wendy J Dunn

1: W.J. Dunn, 2025, Shades of Yellow.
2: Kundera, M. 2006, The Curtain: An Essay in Seven parts, HarperCollins Publishers, p. 61.
3: Olsen, T. 1978, Silences. New York, Delacorte Press/ Seymour Lawrence, p. 172..

# # #

About the Author
Wendy J. Dunn is an award-winning Australian writer fascinated by Tudor history – so much so she was not surprised to discover a family connection to the Tudors, not long after the publication of her first Anne Boleyn novel, which narrated the Anne Boleyn story through the eyes of Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder. Her family tree reveals the intriguing fact that one of her ancestral families – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally. Find out more at www.wendyjdunn.com and find Wendy on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky @wendyjdunn.bsky.social

Blog Tour: Circus Bim Bom: A Cold War Adventure by Cliff Lovette

2026-02-26T06:14:00.004+00:00

Available for pre-order

from Amazon UK and Amazon US

1990. The Soviet Empire is unraveling. A circus has just arrived in America. When the first privately owned Soviet circus arrived in America in 1990, as the Soviet Empire unraveled, its elite performers hoped to build cultural bridges through spectacular shows. Instead, this prestigious troupe faced a perilous journey through Cold War America.

Circus director Yuri had to navigate treacherous waters where American mobsters, Soviet agents, and political forces circled like predators. As high-stakes conspiracies threatened to tear the circus family apart, they confronted an impossible choice: the authoritarian chains of home or the uncertain promise of freedom.

Young aerialist Anton dreamed of becoming a clown against his family's wishes, while forbidden romances blossomed between Soviet performers and Americans who saw past the ideological divide.

Can human connection transcend ideology? Can storytelling bridge the divides that separate us?

As the Ringmaster reminds us, "The best Soviet stories are like vodka—they burn with suffering, intoxicate with conflict, keep you stewing in reflection, and leave you yearning for your heart's desire."

Based on true events the author learned in 1991, when the circus's American road manager became a client at his Atlanta entertainment law firm.

# # #

About the Author

Cliff Lovette is a father, storyteller, and dog lover living in Sandy Springs, Georgia, with London curled at his feet. Circus Bim Bom: A Cold War Adventure is the first book in his debut duology, followed by Circus Bim Bom: The Great Escape. Find out more at https://bimbombookclub.com/

Historical Fiction Spotlight: Catherine: A Retelling of Wuthering Heights, by Essie Fox

2026-02-25T06:12:00.001+00:00

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

With a nature as wild as the moors she loves to roam, Catherine Earnshaw grows up alongside Heathcliff, a foundling her father rescued from the streets of Liverpool. Their fierce, untamed bond deepens as they grow – until Mr Earnshaw's death leaves Hindley, Catherine's brutal brother, in control and Heathcliff reduced to servitude.

Desperate to protect him, Catherine turns to Edgar Linton, the handsome heir to Thrushcross Grange. She believes his wealth might free Heathcliff from cruelty – but her choice is fatally misunderstood, and their lives spiral into a storm of passion, jealousy and revenge.

Now, eighteen years later, Catherine rises from her grave to tell her story – and seek redemption.

Essie Fox's Catherine reimagines Wuthering Heights with beauty and intensity – a haunting, atmospheric retelling that brings new life to a timeless classic and lays bare the dark heart of an immortal love.

`A dazzling feminist retelling of the greatest tragic love affair in fiction … gothic, defiant and heartbreakingly human´ Louisa Treger

`Passionate, vivid, utterly mesmerising … satisfyingly familiar and yet sparking with wild gothic originality´ Kate Griffin

# # #

About the Author

Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, then the book publishers George Allen & Unwin – before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design. Always an avid reader, Essie now spends her time writing historical gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Her latest novel, The Fascination is based in Victorian country fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres, and an Oxford Street museum full of morbid curiosities. Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London. Find out more from Essie's website https://essiefox.com/ and find her on Facebook, Twitter @essiefox and Bluesky @essiefox.bsky.social