Historical Novel Society Member News

Grove/Atlantic UK has purchased all publishing rights for the UK/Commonwealth for TONY HAYS' The Killing Way and The Divine Sacrifice, including hardcover, paperback, and audio. www.tonyhays.com

ARTHUR PINDLE's Bayou St. John, set in antebellum New Orleans and containing little-known historical information about the city, such as the entrepreneurial slave phenomenon, was published by Strategic Publishing Group in June. http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/BayouStJohn.html

A Royal Likeness, CHRISTINE TRENT's sequel to The Queen's Dollmaker, will be released in January 2010 by Kensington Books.
As heiress to the famous Laurent Fashion Dolls business, Marguerite Ashby’s future seems secure. But France still seethes with violence in the wake of the Revolution. And when Marguerite’s husband is killed during a riot, the young widow travels to Edinburgh and becomes apprentice to her old friend, Marie Tussaud, who has established a wax exhibition. When Prime Minister William Pitt commissions a wax figure of Admiral Nelson, Marguerite becomes immersed in a dangerous adventure—and earns the admiration of two very different men. And as Britain battles to overthrow Napoleon, Marguerite will find her loyalties under fire from all sides. www.christinetrent.com

DARRELL KASTIN's The Undiscovered Island has won the silver prize in the IPPY Book Awards (The Independent Publisher's Prize). http://www.darrellkastin.com

Join C.C. (CHRIS) HUMPHREYS (Jack Absolute, The French Executioner, Vlad, The Fetch) for a weekend of writing the action-adventure novel. This nuts-and-bolts workshop will be held at Kitsilano, Vancouver, on August 7th and 8th 2010 (10 am - 5 pm). See Chris's site for more details and to sign up.

DIANE SCOTT LEWIS's The False Light, recently released by Eternal Press, has just won the CTRR Award from Coffee Time Romance. Fleeing the French Revolution, Bettina Jonquiere struggles to survive in a remote Cornish village, discover the secret behind her father's death, while attracted to a man who may have murdered his wife. www.dianescottlewis.com

KATHLEEN GULER has won the Colorado Book Award in historical fiction for her novel, A Land Beyond Ravens. Guler accepted the award in Aspen on 25 June 2010. Reviews have hailed the book as “one of the most historically realistic Arthurian novels ever written, a thoroughly mature work...” The book tells the story of a spy and master of disguise in fifth century Britain who, while being squeezed between the politics of two powerful kings, accidentally sparks off what becomes the quest for the holy grail.
The prestigious Colorado Book Award is sponsored by Colorado Humanities’ Center for the Book, established as the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The book is available by order from any bookstore or online venue.

ELIZABETH ASHWORTH's historical novel The de Lacy Inheritance has been published in June by Myrmidon Books. For more details: http://www.elizabethashworth.com/

Spring 2010 News:

THOMAS BERRY's first historical fiction novel, Lewis and Clark: Murder on the Natchez Trace, is now available for purchase from Booklocker.com at the following address: http://booklocker.com/books/4742.html.

MARK ECKARD is launching a weekly serialized novel, The Nevsky Wall, on June 18. The link is: http://www.thenevskywall.com. The story takes place in Leningrad during the first year of the blockade.

NAN HAWTHORNE, HNS member and author of An Involuntary King: A Tale of Anglo Saxon England, has had a song for which she wrote the melody and lyrics recorded by Celtic musician Druidsong. The song, Ballad of Rory McGuinness, grew out of the stories that eventually became the novel. Hawthorne actually wrote the song when she was fifteen, some decades ago, and rewrote the lyrics to reflect the updated story line. You can listen to the song as performed by Druidsong at http://druidsong.bandcamp.com, where you can also download a copy for one dollar. Learn more about An Involuntary King at http://www.nanhawthorne.com .

ANNE-MARIE VUKELIC was recently interviewed by the Express & Star about Far Above Rubies, her new novel about the life of Catherine Dickens.

KAREN HARPER's Mistress Shakespeare has been selected as one of five adult fiction books for the Choose To Read Ohio program, 2010 - 2011, sponsored by the State Library of Ohio. Special readers guides, pertinent links and other enhancement material will be available during the summer of 2010 at http://oh.webjunction.org/ohctrointro

SUZY WITTEN's novel The Afflicted Girls: A Novel of Salem has won the 2010 IPPY Silver Medal for Historical Fiction (Historical/Military Fiction category of Independent Publisher Book Awards).

JOHN H. MANHOLD's recently published paperback, Lobo: The Strange Life of William Jameson, received the top award in Military Fiction in the 2010 INDIE Excellence Book Awards Competition.

KARLEEN KOEN writes: My agent, Jean Naggar, sold my fourth novel to Heather Lazare of Crown Publishing. The novel is called Before Versailles and is about four months in the life of a young Louis XIV. He lost his long-time mentor, discovered he wasn't the most powerful man in France, and fell head over heels in love. All true. And I threw in a boy in an iron mask. www.karleenkoen.net

MITCHELL JAMES KAPLAN's By Fire, By Water has been selected for Philadelphia's "One Book, One Jewish Community" program this year. In addition, Kaplan's novel will be featured at the "First Author, First Book" program at the American Library Association conference in Washington, DC, on Monday, June 28th, from 10am-noon. www.mitchelljameskaplan.com

MARY F. BURNS writes: My debut historical novel, J-The Woman Who Wrote the Bible, is being published in July 2010 by O-Books (John Hunt Publisher), a UK/US publishing house. I will be launching my book tour in Chicago (my home town) in August, and continuing in the San Francisco Bay Area (where I live) after that. www.maryfburns.com

EILEEN CHARBONNEAU will be conducting a novel-writing seminar at the Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook, New York, on Saturday, July 10th. See Eileen's website for more details.

KELLY O'CONNOR MCNEES's debut novel, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, was released in April from Amy Einhorn Books / Putnam. Set in Walpole, New Hampshire in 1855, the novel imagines a summer that would change the course of Louisa’s writing career—and inspire the story of love and heartbreak between Jo and Teddy “Laurie” Laurence of Little Women. http://kellyoconnormcnees.com/

Leaden Skies, the latest in ANN PARKER's Silver Rush historical mystery series, has been named a finalist for the 2010 Colorado Book Award in the Genre (Mystery/Thriller and Science Fiction/Fantasy) category. Winners will be announced during the Aspen Summer Words Literary Festival in June. The series has already received a number of awards. The first book, Silver Lies, won the 2004 Willa Literary Award for Historical Fiction and the Colorado Gold Award, while the second, Iron Ties, walked away with the gold as winner of the 2006 Colorado Book Award in the Popular Fiction category. For more information about the series, see Ann's website at http://www.annparker.net

RUTH DOWNIE's Ruso and the Root of All Evils, third in her series of mysteries featuring Roman Army medic and reluctant sleuth, Gaius Petreius Ruso, will appear in April from Penguin UK. The US edition, released last autumn, is entitled Persona Non Grata. www.rsdownie.co.uk

LISA MARIE WILKINSON's second historical romance, Stolen Promise, was released in March by Medallion Press. www.lisamariewilkinson.com

Winter 2010 News:

KATHY LYNN EMERSON's A Who's Who of Tudor Women is now available as an e-book original exclusively from the new e-book store at http://www.awriterswork.com where, together with other multi-published authors, she is also offering, direct from writer to reader, e-book editions of two other e-book originals and of some of her backlist novels. Although the Who's Who still exists in html files at her Kate Emerson Historicals website, this text-only e-book offers the convenience of having all 622 entries (the number as of the end of February 2010) and the list of titles used in Tudor times in one, easy-to-search electronic file. A Who's Who of Tudor Women completely replaces the very out-of-date and inaccurate Wives and Daughters: The Women of Sixteenth-Century England (1984), which is no longer in print.

MARY SHARRATT's Daughters of the Witching Hill was featured on the front page of the Lancashire Telegraph and also received glowing reviews in Kirkus and Library Journal:

The Pendle witches’ story, retold as a passionate saga of female friendship.
--Kirkus Reviews

A fascinating tale. The story unfolds without melodrama and is therefore all the more powerful. Recommended for fans of Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.
--Library Journal

LISA JENSEN's new novel Runaways: A Novel of Jonkanoo, which continues the adventures of Tory Lightfoot and Jack Danzador beyond the events of her earlier historical novel The Witch from the Sea, has been serialized online. New chapters are posted every Wednesday as long as there's interest, so be sure to follow along!

First published in the 1990s, the premier internet issue of www.TheMedievalChronicle.com was launched in September 2009. The Medieval Chronicle newsletter's mission is two-fold: enrich the reader's knowledge of the medieval, Tudor & Elizabethan periods and aid authors (aspiring and published) in their own writing and research. The aim—first and foremost—is to entertain as well as inform. These are not book reviews but captivating articles that show you what the world was like for the author's characters. In each issue you'll find the latest book releases, recurring columns on And The Saints Go Marching… and Keeper Of The Realm and so much more. Please visit the website to find all that the newsletter has to offer.

LINDA LLOYD ABEL is the founder and publisher. She is co-published in mystery and self-published in non-fiction with books on medieval history. Being able to connect with fellow readers and authors who—when medievals and publishing are discussed—don't have their eyes glazing over is indeed a wonderful place to be.

SALLY ZIGMOND's debut historical novel Hope Against Hope will be published on 4 April by Myrmidon Books. A compelling historical romance opening in 1837 at the very beginning of the Victorian era and set in Leeds, Harrogate and Paris, it tells of the trials and triumphs of two young sisters set against the transition from Regency licence to Victorian respectability and industrial change.

Autumn 2009 News:

MARY SHARRATT's Daughters of the Witching Hill received a starred review in the December 14 issue of Publishers Weekly. Read the review here!

The paperback edition of Barbara Kyle's THE QUEEN'S LADY was released this week and is in bookstores everywhere. It makes a great stocking stuffer! THE QUEEN’S LADY is Book #1 in her “Thornleigh” series of Tudor-era novels. You’ll find it in Chapters and Indigo stores throughout Canada, and the major chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble throughout the U.S. Or order online from amazon.ca or amazon.com. Read Barbara's recent interview for the Markham Village Writers. Register for Barbara's 5-day “Writer’s Boot Camp” in January at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. For info click here.

MARY SHARRATT's upcoming Daughters of the Witching Hill (Houghton Harcourt. Apr. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-547-06967-8. $24) was profiled by Barbara Hoffert in Library Journal's Prepub Exploded, part 1 for May 2010.

GILLIAN BAGWELL'S debut novel The Darling Strumpet, the story of Nell Gwynn's rise from the streets of London to become one of London's most beloved actresses and long-time mistress of King Charles II, recently sold to Kate Seaver at Berkley, for publication in January 2011, in a two-book deal, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (NA). She chronicles her research trip for her second novel at http://theroyalmiracle.blogspot.com and maintains a blog about Nell Gwynn at http://nellgwynn.blogspot.com.

The Afflicted Girls: A Novel of Salem by author-researcher SUZY WITTEN presents a startling new theory of the Salem Village witch-hunts, which is certain to put this 300-year-old unsettled mystery to rest . . . by expertly guiding readers through The Historical Record to revelation. Part parable, part star-crossed romance, and part supernatural venture, this is an intuitive human history—and inhuman—spun with a modern twist. A controversial debut by a new Historical storyteller . . . A Walt Disney Studios Fellowship Finalist. Historical Fiction, 456 pages, A Paperback Original from Dreamwand (also available as an eBook) www.theafflictedgirls.com

SANDRA WORTH's The King's Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen won First Place in the Historical Fiction category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards from USA Book News, and Lady of the Roses landed as finalist in two separate categories of the competition: Historical Fiction and Romance. www.sandraworth.com

BRIAN JOHN's first three novels from the Angel Mountain series, namely
On Angel Mountain, House of Angels and Dark Angel, which were
originally published by Greencroft Books and later by Transworld's
Corgi imprint, have now reverted back to Greencroft Books. This means
that all six of the original series, published between 2001 and 2007,
are once more available in the same format and same house style. The
first two titles have already been published in new Greencroft editions.

BRIAN JOHN's Sacrifice is a dark tale set in early nineteenth-
century Wales, in which the ubiquitous heroine of the Angel Mountain
series, Martha Morgan, has to deal with a group of men who belong to a
mysterious secret society and who take bloody revenge on others who
seem powerless to protect themselves. And Martha, a young widow with
five young children to bring up, is at the top of their hit list. The
book is published by Greencroft Books in 1st November 2009.

KATHLEEN GULER's A Land Beyond Ravens, published this September, has been honored as a finalist in The National Best Books 2009 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News, in the Historical Fiction category. For more information, visit her blogs: http://kathleenguler.blogspot.com or http://macsenstreasure.blogspot.com. Available from amazon.com or may be ordered from any bookstore.

Summer 2009 News:

CARLA NAYLAND's Paths of Exile is on the September nominations list for The People's Book Prize. This is a national competition for books by new authors, voted on by members of the public (no geographical restrictions). Voting is open now on The People’s Book Prize website.

BARBARA KYLE's annual Master Class: Your Novel in Workshop, to be held November 21-22, will be an intensive weekend of workshopping your novel in-progress, and the work of your peers, with Barbara and your fellow emerging writers. For details: http://www.barbarakyle.com/Workshops-Courses.page

New member SHAUNA ROBERTS' third book but first novel, Like Mayflies in a Stream, will be published 5th October by Hadley Rille Books. In ancient Mesopotamia, a priestess of Inanna must risk her reputation and her life to save her family—and civilization itself—from destruction at the hands of the tyrant Gilgamesh. The novel is partially based on the "Epic of Gilgamesh." www.shaunaroberts.com

JERI WESTERSON's Veil of Lies has been nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America, the first time a medieval mystery has been so honored by their organization. www.jeriwesterson.com

ANN TURNBULL's new Young Adult novel, Alice in Love and War, will be published by Walker Books on 7th September. Set during the English Civil War, it's the story of Alice Newcombe who falls in love with a soldier and leaves home to join the other women on the baggage train of the king's army. http://www.annturnbull.com/home.htm

BEVERLE GRAVES MYERS announces the September 1 release of her latest Baroque Mystery featuring singer/sleuth Tito Amato. In Her Deadly Mischief, a courtesan's murder takes Tito to the glass kilns of Murano and to Venice's thriving underworld of amorous pursuits. Poisoned Pen Press is the publisher. More details and a book trailer at the author's website: http://www.beverlegravesmyers.com.

CHRISTOPHER POSNER writes: Please note that the new reprint edition of The Green Bronze Mirror by Lynne Ellison - a children's novel concerning a young girl who goes back in time to the Roman Empire- is now at the printer and should be available in September. The new edition is to have new illustrations by Philip Smiley.

JIM DUGGINS' debut novel, The Power: A Novel of Voodoo, won Finalist awards in "Multicultural Literature" and "Historical Fiction" in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and a bronze medal in "Regional Fiction" in the Independent Press Book Awards Contest. http://www.jimduggins.com/the-power.html

HEATHER DOMIN recently self-published her first novel, The Soldier of Raetia, on Lulu.com. On the Roman frontier, a legion's general and the soldier sent to learn from him realize why fate has brought them together, just as war and treachery threaten to tear them apart.

HNS member MICHAEL DEAN's novel The Crooked Cross (Quaestor2000) , about German resistance to Hitler in Munich in 1933, has been nominated for The People's Book Prize. See www.peoplesbookprize.com.

New member GENE BOCCIALETTI's second book but first novel Portsmouth, 1905 is now available via its own website (http://portsmouth1905.com/). Set in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, over the summer of 1905, the story is a day-by-day dramatization of treaty negotiations between the Russians and the Japanese to settle a war threatening to bring in all the first rank powers of the time (some later referred to it as “World War Zero”). Adhering to known facts of the conference, Portsmouth adds a creative back-story of the attempt by President Roosevelt to manipulate the warring parties using a new clandestine approach overseen by his Assistant Secretary of State but executed by three locals---a scion of a prominent American family, the madam of a famous disorderly house, and a mysterious actress from a local music hall. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for brokering the treaty (the first American to win any Nobel prize), but American intervention seeds international disasters that shape the 20th century.

BEVERLE GRAVES MYERS and JOANNE DOBSON have co-authored a short story set in New York City during World War II. "A Good Cuppa Joe" revolves around coffee rationing and appears in the October issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

ANN PARKER's critically-acclaimed Silver Rush historical mystery series, set in the silver boomtown of 1880s Leadville, Colorado, has been chosen for Leadville's "One Read, One Community" program this summer. In a press release from Leadville's Lake County Public Library, head librarian Nancy McCain said, "We picked the Silver Rush mystery series because we know everyone who reads Leaden Skies will want to read all the Inez Stannert books. Our history is part of the magic of this place and we can really sense these stories because we live here. Ann Parker blends impeccable research with imagination and rich detail that’s close to home. So let’s read for the fun of it!” The program runs from July 5 - August 15, 2009. For more information about Ann and her series: http://www.annparker.net

TONY HAYS, author of the new Arthurian mystery The Killing Way, will be discussing historical mysteries at Clues Unlimited, Tucson, Arizona on July 26, 2009 at 2:30pm. The program is jointly sponsored by Clues Unlimited and the Department of History at the University of Arizona. www.tonyhays.com

SANDRA WORTH's The King's Daughter, on the life of Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor queen, is a Romantic Times Magazine 2008 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner for Best Historical Biography. www.sandraworth.com

Spring 2009 News:

PRISCILLA ROYAL's sixth Prioress Eleanor/Brother Thomas medieval mystery, Chambers of Death, will be out in August 2009 from Poisoned Pen Press. www.priscillaroyal.com

After a long and tortuous journey, Pope Joan has finally made it to the silver screen. The movie based on the novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross finished filming in January and is due for release this fall. It stars John Goodman as Pope Sergius, sexy Australian actor David Wenham (best known for his role as Faramir in Lord of the Rings) as Gerold, and newcomer Johanna Wokalek as Joan. Donna was on-set during filming and has lots to tell about the experience! To learn it, go to www.popejoan.com, click on "Updates", and provide your email address. You'll receive an email from Donna about once a month with "insider" news and gossip about the film.

Join Donna and her family as they walk the red carpet on the night of the Pope Joan movie premiere! This includes two tickets to the movie premiere,
plus round trip airfare for two from any location in the continental United States or Canada, and one night hotel accommodation for you and your guest to share.

Want to participate? Simply buy the new Three Rivers Press edition of Pope Joan during the months of June or July 2009 and send Donna the original receipt. In August, she will pick randomly from the pile of receipts to select someone and their guest to join her at the U.S. movie premiere in the fall (exact date still to be determined). And... a special bonus for anyone who purchases the new edition of Pope Joan on its release date, Tuesday, June 9th. Learn more here.

CHRISTOPHER M. CEVASCO writes: Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction ceases publication with the May 2009 release of issue #13. The final issue of the award-winning magazine features fiction by Steve Rasnic Tem, T.L. Morganfield, and many others, with historical settings ranging from Ancient Greece to 19th-century Massachusetts and including an alternate Aztec-dominated present. Refunds to U.S. subscribers have shipped with the issue, and the publisher will be contacting overseas subscribers to arrange method of payment. The magazine is closed to submissions, but there are plans for future book anthologies through Paradox Publications; guidelines will be posted at: www.paradoxmag.com. The possibility exists that the magazine could re-launch in an online format in the future.

JERI WESTERSON's Veil of Lies was nominated for a Macavity Award (the Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Award), with awards to be announced at the mystery fan convention called Bouchercon in October. www.jeriwesterson.com

SANDRA WORTH's Lady of the Roses, the story of John Neville, Lord Montagu and his beloved Isobel (who have been likened by reviewers and readers to the fictional lovers, Romeo and Juliet) has won another Reviewers Choice Award - this time for Best Book of the Year by the reviewers at Romance Reviews Today. www.sandraworth.com

MARY F. BURNS's agent, Krista Goering, has negotiated a contract for her first historical novel, J-The Woman Who Wrote the Bible, with publisher John Hunt's O-Books, a British publishing house, publication tentatively early 2010. "J" (after the "Jahwist" author of the Old Testament) is the story of King David's eldest daughter Janaia, who is secretly initiated into the art and magic of writing. Along the way, she discovers through heartbreak and sacrifice that this “knowledge of good and evil” brings with it both frightening power and jubilant freedom from the rules of men and God. http://www.maryfburns.com/

In 2008 KATHY STEFFEN was a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin award for her novel First, There is a River in the category of Best Historical: Fiction. This year her follow up novel, Jasper Mountain, is also a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin awards in the category of Best Historical: Fiction.

JULIE K. ROSE's The Pilgrim Glass was named one of 100 semifinalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition. Nearly 10,000 manuscripts were entered; three finalists will be announced on May 15, to be voted on by readers and Amazon customers between May 15-22, 2009. The excerpt can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/dngobj.

The Crooked Cross, by MICHAEL DEAN, a novel set in Munich in 1933 about Hitler, the early German resistance to Hitler, and Expressionist Art is being published by Quaestor2000 on May 29th 2009. http://michaeldean.web247.net

A Land Beyond Ravens, the fourth book in KATHLEEN GULER's Macsen's Treasure Series set in 5th century Britain, will be released in hardcover by Bardsong Press this September. "An intriguing and suspenseful novel of Wales in the time of Arthur and Merlin" --Sharon Kay Penman. For more information see Kathleen's blogs: http://kathleenguler.blogspot.com and http://macsenstreasure.blogspot.com

FRANCES BURKE's fifth adventure romance, Scarlet Wind, is being published by Hale in June, 2009. This French Revolutionary tale follows the efforts of 'Doctor' Juliette Roussel to save children imprisoned in the notorious Conciergerie, awaiting execution. Unwillingly supported by surgeon Armand Dumouriez, a committed revolutionary torn by conflicting loyalties, she is inevitably betrayed and must face the guillotine. Her one hope of escape is so hideously dangerous that death would be preferable to failure.

GERALYN DUNBAR-GILES’s debut novel Ruins, Book One, Corpses in Armor, the first book of her historical trilogy Ruins has just been released. Set in 1942 North Africa, this intricate story of suspense and intrigue and the human condition in the throes of war, revolves around the dilemma of Joanna Lee, a brutalized SS prisoner, and the unexpected response to her horrific situation by an Afrika Korps officer, Hauptmann Dieter Reineke. ISBN 978-1849238953. The novel is available in the US and worldwide via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and many others. For additional information, including a summary of the novel, please visit the author’s website www.geralyndunbar-giles.com

ANNE EASTER SMITH will be appearing at the Guilderland Public Library, 2228 Western Ave, Guilderland, NY, for a reading and Q&A session. The event will be held on Sunday, April 19th, at 2pm in the library's Helderberg Room. For more information: 518-456-2400, or www.guilpl.org.

JANET AYLMER's Julia and the Master of Morancourt, a historical romance set in England in the early 19th century and the first of three novels about the Maitland sisters, will appear in April from HarperCollins US. See the catalog page for more details. www.janetaylmer.com

DAVID YOUNG's Of Plots & Passions: A Thousand Years of Devious Deeds
was published in February 2009 by Librario Publishing Ltd. UK (ISBN 1-904440-27-4), price 9.99 GBP, 284 pp. This book is about various conspiracies, mainly against the British monarchy, such as Elizabeth I, James I and Charles II which took place between Anglo-Saxon times and the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820. Each of the 17 chapters covers one or several conspiracies which are described and discussed by a retired history professor and his teenage granddaughter and friends. To bring these plots to life, the book also uses flashbacks and "on the spot" conversations by the plotters as they plan their devious deeds! More details via Amazon UK.

PAMELA STRANGE will be signing books on April 18th 2009 at 10 a.m. at Buy the Book, 64 High Street, Stamford. Lincs. Everyone welcome. She will be selling Daddy's Little Spy - Isabella Rose's amazing survival against witchcraft during WW2, partially based on a true life story (ISBN 9781844264728). An associated video is available here. www.pamelastrange.com

Congratulations to ANN WEISGARBER, whose novel The Personal History of Rachel DuPree was longlisted for the UK's Orange Prize for Fiction. For more information, see www.orangeprize.co.uk.

BEN BEAZLEY has recently published his debut novel Crooked Mile set in the Midlands town of Kelsford. When a unit of the ‘Irish Republican Brotherhood’ under the leadership of Connor Devlin choose to steal the payroll of the Shires Canal Company on a rainy December night in 1887 they set in motion a series of events which no one at the time could have foreseen. Investigating the robbery and the murders which follow in its wake takes Tom Norton, Head of the Kelsford Detective Department and the woman with whom he becomes inextricably linked, the seductive Ruth Samuels into a dangerous web of intrigue and deceit. Within a short space of time Norton and Ruth find themselves deeply involved in the workings of a Jewish underground organisation, the ‘Pipeline’, bringing refugees such as the psychopathic Eugene Leschenko from Tsarist Russia, along with the illicit gun-running activities of the Fenians. www.beazleyweb.co.uk

Winter 2009 News:

Bitter Tide, debut novel in an Ellis Island mystery series, written under the pen name ANN STAMOS, will be released in April. Joseph Hannegan, Ellis Island Superintendent, is immersed in an investigation of a Boarding Division scandal when young Irish immigrant Maggie Flynn arrives in America and shoots her fiancé on the dock. When Maggie refuses to explain herself, Hannegan brings in women’s matron Rachel Bonner to assist in the investigation, which is further complicated by the disappearance of the victim’s body. Bitter Tide carries the reader through the halls of the immigration station into the tenements of New York’s lower east side and even into the stately mansions of Lexington Ave.

J. M. HOCHSTETLER's Wind of the Spirit, Book 3 in the American Patriot series, was released in March from Sheaf House. Elizabeth Howard’s assignment to gain crucial intelligence for General Washington leads her into the very maw of war at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, where disaster threatens to end the American rebellion. Yet her heart is fixed on Jonathan Carleton, whose whereabouts remain unknown more than a year after he disappeared into the wilderness. Carleton, now the Shawnee war chief White Eagle, is caught in a bitter war of his own. As unseen forces gather to destroy him, he leads the fight against white settlers encroaching on Shawnee lands—while battling the longing for Elizabeth that will not give him peace. Can her love bridge the miles that separate them—and the savage bonds that threaten to tear him forever from her arms? http://www.jmhochstetler.com

BILL GREER’S novel of New Amsterdam has just been published. The Mevrouw Who Saved Manhattan paints a real and humorous portrait of Dutch life on the Hudson through the eyes of a teenage bride who comes among the first families in 1626. Over the next forty years, Mevrouw Jackie Lambert struggles to raise her family and tangles with the rabble that fills the tiny settlement at the tip of Manhattan. The book comes out as New York is celebrating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson sailing into New York Bay and opening the Dutch era. It is available at Amazon, with opening chapters downloadable at www.BillsBrownstone.com.

IRIS LLOYD's The Girl with the Golden Ankle is part III in the Bron series. The first two novels (Bron, Daughter of Prophecy and Flames of Prophecy) tell the story of Bron, brought up during the Roman occupation in a pagan settlement on top of the Berkshire downs. She is forced to flee from her burning village and in part III, takes ship for Ostia, following her young Roman officer lover and his returning legion. A traumatic voyage and landfall leads her to seek anonymity in the dirty back streets of Rome. Self published through Pen Press. Available from all the usual channels. http://irislloyd.co.uk/

JONATHAN CARRIEL's second Thomas Dordrecht mystery, Great Mischief, set in the province of New York in 1759, finds his young hero confronting the age-old evil of human slavery, and the havoc it can wreak on the most pacific of communities, such as his bucolic home town in Kings County. That agricultural hamlet, already roiled by effects of the French and Indian War, suddenly becomes panicked by the possibility of slave insurrection--all occasioned by the murder of a swinish man confined overnight to the town stocks. If Dordrecht can't determine the true killer in time, the great mischief already rampant may become a holocaust. www.jonathancarriel.com

JOHN WRIGHT has just published his debut novel The Healer about the disconnect between the East and the West, now and in medieval times. Riennes de Montford, a Norman, and Haralde Longshield, Welsh, are kidnapped by Vikings as children and sold into Eastern slavery. For 500 years, Indus, Chinese, Persian and Islamic scholars produced the best scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, philosophers and physicians. Riennes returns to the Dark Age West a trained physician with his brother, an expert trader, to William The Conqueror's 1067 Britannia. Their gifts of Eastern knowledge and enlightenment are rejected by Bishop Odo, Regent of England in King William's absence, and they are almost thrown in prison as heretics. Monk Godfroi, a court-assigned spy, witnesses how the brothers use their knowledge to avoid danger and death from assassins, rebel Saxon brigands and ambitious Norman lords as they all journey to a fiefdom in Wales. www.wrighthistorybooks.com

ELIZABETH ASHWORTH's The de Lacy Inheritance will be published by Myrmidon Books (UK) on 4th August. Synopsis: When it becomes clear that Robert de Lacy will die without an heir there is more than one person who believes that a vast tract of land across Lancashire and Yorkshire should pass to them. Robert's cousin, Albreda Lisours is determined that the inheritance must stay in the family, but a local priest, the Dean of Wallei, believes it has been promised to him. The dispute is eventually resolved by the intervention of a leper, and Roger's younger sister Johanna finds that the solution provides the answer to her own difficulties. As well as telling the story of the inheritance the book explores some of the medieval concepts of the relationships between love, religion and disease. www.elizabethashworth.com

DAVID J. LANGUM, SR., of The Langum Charitable Trust writes: The winner of the 2008 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction is Kathleen Kent for The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel. Honorable Mention goes to Elisabeth Payne Rosen for Hallam's War and Director's Mention goes to Jack Fuller for Abbeville. Details are under "news" on website www.langumtrust.org.

ANN NIBBS' new novel The Elusive Empress has just been published and centres on the life of the beautiful, but ultimately tragic, Elisabeth of Austria who was married to Emperor Franz Josef. Often compared to Princess Diana, the story of her life from happy child to lonely Empress is told here through the eyes of those who knew her best. Available from online stores, Waterstones and other booksellers. www.annnibbs.com

SANDRA WORTH's Lady of the Roses has won the CataNetwork Reviewers' Choice Award for 2008 as one of the best books reviewed on Single Titles last year. It tells thestory of Yorkist John Lord Montagu who fell in love with Isobel, the beautiful ward of John’s enemy, the Lancastrian queen Marguerite d’Anjou. While this brings Sandra's total number of awards to thirteen, it is her first for Lady of the Roses. www.sandraworth.com

BEVERLE GRAVES MYERS' singer-sleuth from her Baroque Mystery series is featured in a short story in the April issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. In "A Cutting Wind," Tito Amato battles flood waters and greedy patrons to rescue a talented young boy who doesn't want to become a castrato singer. http://www.beverlegravesmyers.com

SUE ALLAN writes: My new novel Tudor Rose - the semi-fictional auto biography of Lady Rose Hickman is published in March by Domtom publishing. This is the remarkable true-life story of a courageous woman who lived through the reigns of two Tudor kings and nine Tudor Queens. The natural prequel to my best-selling 'Mayflower Maid'. http://www.mayflowermaid.com/

JOYCE MOORE writes: My unpublished historical novel, Lilies and Lies, won an award in Mainstream Fiction category at the Florida Writers Conference.
On another note, Jeanne of Clairmonde, a medieval romance, is set to be released in June. www.joycemoorebooks.com

WAHEED RABBANI's new historical fiction novel, Dr. Margaret's Sea Chest, has been published and is available on most on-line bookstores. This novel narrates the intriguing story of a North American lady doctor who gets caught up first in the Crimean and subsequently in the Indian Mutiny wars. For more details: http://home.cogeco.ca/~wrabbani

Autumn 2008 News:

UK-based Quaestor2000 (run by HNS member ROGER BENNETT) has recently acquired CARLA NAYLAND's Anglo-Saxon novel Paths of Exile for publication in January 2009.

SANDRA WORTH has won First Place in the Mainstream Fiction (Published) category of the 2008 Florida Writers Awards for The Rose of York: Fall from Grace. www.sandraworth.com

FAIRLEE WINFIELD's novel "BUFFALOed" has received the first prize for an unpublished manuscript in the Arizona Author's Association 2008 Literary contest. The book has since been published by BookSurge. Set in 1904 Montana, it tell the story of a Norwegian immigrant girl working for renowned Cowboy Artist, Charlie Russell, and reveals a gritty story of the west and a possible controversy surrounding the famous Montana State House mural. www.fairleewinfield.com

FENELLA-JANE MILLER's The Ghosts of Neddingfield Hall will be published by Robert Hale in December. Synopsis: When Miss Culley and her entire staff vanished without trace from Neddingfield Hall, Hester Frobisher was certain she could solve the mystery on her own and find her great-aunt. However, her cousin, the Earl of Waverly, thought differently, so she was obliged to accept his help. With Ralph, a formidable veteran of the Peninsular Wars at her side, she was convinced they would make an invincible team. However, sinister forces are working to lure the two, and those around them, towards their deaths. No-one at Neddingfield is safe. Is it ghosts, or something far more dangerous that seeks to destroy them? Will Hester's quick wits and Ralph's courage be enough to save them all? http://www.fenellajanemiller.co.uk/

JOHN MANHOLD's novel EL Tigre has just received a Finalist Award from USA Book News in their National Best Books 2008 Awards for "Fiction & Literature, Western Category." http://www.johnhmanhold.com

Summer 2008 News:

HNS member wins prestigious writer’s grant: The Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, established by Julie Braun Vogelstein to honor the memory of her brother Ludwig, has awarded HNS member, SHERRIE SEIBERT GOFF, their literary grant for fiction. The foundation is chartered to help individuals in the arts and humanities. Award winners must have a track record of commitment to their art and demonstrate that the grant will make a substantial difference in the completion of their creative work. Goff’s third novel, The Warrior’s Dance, will be released this fall. Visit the author’s web site www.sherriegoff.com for book particulars and reviews.

Leather-bound editions of SUE ALLAN's Mayflower Maid trilogy are to be presented to American President George W. Bush by representatives of Bassetlaw District Council, Lincolnshire, on their visit to Washington, DC.

JOHN CONRADIS writes: The second volume of the Old Line Chronicles, A Vagabond Army, A Novel of Maryland in the American Revolution, is now available from HeritageBooks.com and Amazon.com.

Award-nominated short-fiction author M.K. HOBSON has sold 2 historical fantasy novels, The Native Star and The Desired Poison, to Juliet Ulman at Bantam Spectra via Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown LTD. The books take readers on a romantic steam-powered adventure through a magical America circa 1876.

Leatherwood Press will be releasing JOYCE DIPASTENA's first medieval novel, Loyalty's Web (previously self-published and reviewed by Historical Novels
Review Online in 2007) in late August/early September. http://www.joyce-dipastena.com

JANE BORODALE's debut The Book of Fires, about 18th-century fireworks set in Sussex and London, was sold by Pat Kavanagh at United Agents to Clare Smith at HarperCollins UK in a two-book deal for publication in May 2009, and in a pre-empt to Pamela Dorman for her new imprint at Viking US, via Zoe Pagnamenta.

UK-based Quaestor2000 (run by HNS member ROGER BENNETT) is open for historical novel manuscript submissions. Having hitherto specialised in prepress services (mainly non-fiction indexing) for large publishers, Quaestor2000 is now branching out into publishing on its own account. Further details can be found in the online author guidelines.

MALCOLM ARCHIBALD writes: After the success of Pryde's Rock (Severn House, 2007) the second book in the Matthew Pryde series, Pryde and the Infernal Device will be published in November 2008. This time Matthew Pryde is joined by his sweetheart, Kate Denton, as he investigates reports that Napoleon Bonaparte is trying to dig a tunel under the Channel to invade Great Britain. But what is the nature of the infernal device that Matthew also discovers and how does it threaten Britain's security? www.malcolmarchibald.com

Peter Wicked, the third book in BROOS CAMPBELL's Matty Graves series of American sea adventure novels, will be released in hardback by McBooks Press in September 2008. http://www.brooscampbell.com

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