Cover Reveal for Little Witch

Jill Hughey is about to release her medieval romance novella, Little Witch, the fifth installment in the Evolution Series, and here is the lovely cover by Rae Monet. You can see from the banner below it how nicely the new cover fits in with the three main novels of the series. Little Witch is 49,000 words so it is just skirting along the lower end of a novel's word count. The book features the stableboy introduced in Vain. We get to see Nox as an adult where he is still part of the Lord of Ribeauville's world.

If you want to get started on the Evolution Series, the first two books are available in a bundle on most ebook vendors, which is like getting one FREE!  Evolution Series Bundle on Amazon

The joys of writing the medieval series - by Vijaya Schartz

Find all these at all eBook retailers. There is also a special edition comprising the first three books in one download  for a bargain price

 AMAZON - B&N - ARE - SMASHWORDS - KOBO

ITUNES - SONY -  diesel

Well, after the release of LADY OF LUXEMBOURG, Book 4 of the CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE series, I'm now tackling book 5. It will be titled CHATELAINE OF FOREZ unless this working title doesn't stick. It happens sometimes. You write the book, then you think of a better title.

Chatelaine of FOREZ follows Melusine to this not so well known region of France, from the two branches of the river Loire to the source of the River Rhone. South of Burgundy and north of Provence, a land of green hills and mountains, a land of rivers and lakes, a land rich in iron and gold. So rich in fact, that the Romans used its gold to finance their many conquests.

Ancient legends are attached to this land. Little is known of early medieval times there. All I have to go on is a legend, folk tales, obscure genealogies, and the ruins of many castles built, according to legend, by Melusine the Fae. My hero is the first Count of Forez and Lyon, Arthaud, and his enemy is Archbishop Boniface of Lyon.

The bishops of the time were princes of the Church, nobles of high birth not lucky enough to be the first born, so they did not inherit their fathers' lands. Instead, their rich families purchased for them seats of power in the Church. So most of these bishops weren't even religious. They craved power and riches... and lands. They raised armies, and took advantage of the unstable political climate of feudal society to gain by the sword what they did not inherit by birth order.

I will not tell you much about the story, as it still evolves in my mind as I write. I'll tell you more about it as it takes shape. CHATELAINE OF FOREZ is scheduled for release in December 2013.

I hope you are enjoying reading this series as much as I enjoy writing it. It has been a long time in the making, I have been researching it for many years and still do research as I write it.

There will be more novels in this series. The next one, scheduled for 2014, will feature Melusine's sister Palatina, and her adventure as she goes on to he First Crusade. Then will come the story of Meliora, the guardian of a sacred castle on Mount Ararat during the Crusades, and forever forbidden to love.

HAPPY READING!

Vijaya Schartz

medieval romance with a kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Meet Lily

Today I am interviewing Lily, the heroine of Vain. Her gray eyes are lively, and topped by thin, angled eyebrows. A delicate blue veil covers her hair, though the color of her brows would suggest her locks are dark, perhaps even black.

We are visiting in the cavernous hall of the Lord of Ribeauville’s home. We sit in wooden armchairs with comfortable pads on the seats. A small table between us holds our silver goblets of watered wine. Smoke rises from the central hearth nearby, the low fire warming the chilly spring air.

Lily has been welcoming to me, but tentative, not yet completely comfortable in her role as mistress of such a great house since her marriage to Theophilus last fall, in the year 839. She smiles expectantly as she awaits my questions, revealing tiny dimples in her cheeks.

What do you do to relax?

“This will sound odd. Designing a garment relaxes me. By designing, I mean those first moments when the fabric is spread on the worktable and I have the image of the tunic in my mind but I have yet to place it on the fabric.” She nods, reliving the memory of such a moment. “Perfection is possible then. The pursuit of it diverts me so much that I do not worry about other things.”

I think maybe I can guess, but as a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Lily brushes at the fabric of the cornflower blue tunic that seems simple yet flows around her legs with the perfect drape. “The only thing I ever wanted to be was a tailor, just like my parents.”

Tell me about your family.

“The beginning of my answer is very difficult for me to talk about.” Lily frowns and repositions her arms so that her fingers can caress a needlecase hanging from her simple gold girdle. “My mother died about eighteen months ago. My father abandoned me very soon after her death, leaving me to fend for myself in my parents’ weaving and tailoring shop here in Ribeauville.” Lily smiles faintly. “If not for Theophilus — his friends and your readers would know him as Theo — if not for him, I do not know what would have happened to me, but now he is my husband and the most important part of my family. We have Nox, our orphaned house servant, and my father is trying to get back into my good graces.” She shrugs. “That is my family.”

If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?

Lily looks away to a point near the door to the master chamber. “There is a young noblewoman who thought she would marry Theo. She was very mean to me when I was a lowly tailor, and she tried to…interfere…with Theo and me after he was forced to marry me.” Lily frowns as she looks back at me. “I was sharp with her, without really understanding the trouble she was in. I am not proud of that moment, even though Theo and my friends assure me she was more in the wrong than I.”

Is there a piece of advice that you have received that has really stuck with you? If so, what was it?

Lily smiles. “Marian is an older woman who did her best to advise me in the early days of my marriage. I was miserable. I did not know what to do about my equally unhappy, angry husband. She told me to begin as you mean to continue. It was good advice because she taught me to not accept behavior in myself or Theo that I did not want to persist through the rest of my life.”

Do you have any special routines or rituals?

“Oh, this is embarrassing.” A blush stains Lily’s cheeks and she shakes her head. “To get me to stay in bed when I was little, my father told me to sleep tight against the wall so the monsters could not reach me. Now I find it hard to fall asleep without something solid against my back.” What does your husband think of it? She blushes even more. “He is even better than a wall, so we have both learned to cope.”

Vain, Book Three in the Evolution Series, can be purchased at most online book vendors, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and Kobo.

Author Jill Hughey can be found at her blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter @jillhughey.

LADY OF LUXEMBOURG IS OUT - Vijaya Schartz

Finally, the long awaited Lady of Luxembourg, Book 4 in the Curse of the Lost Isle series, is out in kindle!

Find it today at:

http://amzn.com/B00BO0MYX6

978 AD Melusine the Fae, immortal and cursed Lady of Luxembourg, managed to hide her Pagan nature from mortals for many years. She fiercely protects her handsome Count, Sigefroi, but in their princely bliss, neither of them seems to age, and a few suspicious bishops take notice. Then an ondine wreaks havoc during a battle, luring enemy soldiers into the river.
Betrayed, Sigefroi reflects on his many sins from the depths of a rat infested dungeon. Under torture, will he reveal her deadly secret? And when her beloved turns into a devout Christian, can Melusine salvage her happiness? Can love truly redeem her curse, or will she burn at the stake?

This gritty, edgy, realistic medieval romantic series is not for the faint of heart. If you like realism in your medieval novels, this series is for you. Reviewers gave it five stars and called it “bloody and bloodthirsty in places.” So beware!

The books in the Curse of the Lost Isle series can be read separately, but if you are like me you’ll want to read them in the right order. Here they are:

BOOK 1 – PRINCESS OF BRETAGNE

BOOK 2 – PAGAN QUEEN

BOOK 3 – SEDUCING SIGEFROI

BOOK 4 – LADY OF LUXEMBOURG.

There is also a special edition including the first three books in the Curse of the Lost Isle in one kindle download, for a bargain price.

Find the entire series as well as my other books on my Amazon page, HERE:

Vijaya Schartz

Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/vijayaschartz 

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/vijaya-schartz

 

The Fun Part of Writing - Putting "Pencil to Paper"

I am so happy to be concentrating in earnest on writing book three of the Evolution Series, called Vain.  After spending most of May finalizing a completely unrelated historical romance, Sass Meets Class, and most of June working on promotion for it, getting back to the craft of stringing words together is a welcome thrill.  Every time I get to this point in in the writing process I literally feel a "Whee!!!" kind of excitement because the hours spent putting words in the document (I don't really write with a pencil and paper) are what I love about being an author and what compels me to continue.

I am trying a new, more disciplined approach:  writing the story in chronological order (for the most part).  I did cheat ahead twice but am now committed to taking it from beginning to end because some great threads are starting to sneak out of my brain, and I mean that almost literally since the heroine works with fabric. 

So, who is Vain about?  The hero is Theophilus (Theo), who was introduced in book one as David's best friend. Theo is dedicated to his responsibilities as a nobleman in the Carolingian Empire .  His heroine is Lily, the daughter of the town's weaver and tailor. The class difference between nobility and artisan/merchant will be one of the conflicts between hero and heroine.  Lily thinks she knows how her life will spin out, but starting from the first scene, her plan begins to unravel.

If you read book one, Unbidden, you might remember that Theo once stated he needs a wife who can sew because she will save him a fortune on his clothing.  (Theo is a bit of a clothes-horse.)  I am giving him his seamstress, and using themes of fabrics and their colors and textures in the building romance.

The writing also flows little more easily since this is the third installment in the same series, so I am comfortable with the time period, terminology, and the way I want to manage dialogue.  Now that the plotting and timelines and character names for Vain are all planned, I can let the story flow and for me, that is the really fun, really inspiring part of authorship.  Whee!!

What is your favorite part of writing, or if you are a reader, what touches can an author add to a book that really makes you appreciate their craft?

SEDUCING SIGEFROI - the cover process - by Vijaya Schartz

After PRINCESS OF BRETAGNE and PAGAN QUEEN, comes the third book in the Curse of the Lost Isle series, SEDUCING SIGEFROI.

You wouldn't believe all the work Michelle  and Judith went through, researching the perfect characters for the cover. In this case, Sigefroi of Luxembourg, the hero, is a real character, the founder of a dynasty that became very influential later in history. As such, there are representations of Sigefroi on stained glass windows, and written descriptions of him in history books.

Of course, little is known of this first Sigefroi of 963 AD, since the written records of the period are few. Still, there is a generalogy, and a few land deeds, and then there is the legend.

Sigefroi had red hair and light hazel eyes, which was a common thing for a germanic knight of the period. Finding a red-haired cover model to fit the bill, however is an impossible task.

I've given my opinion on several pictures and sent pictures I found that might work, in order to help, but I realize how difficult it is.

As for the heroine, Melusine the Fae, she is even more difficult to pinpoint. She is an ondine. She is a woman most of the time, but one day each month she becomes a mermaid, a serpent from the waist down. She sometimes dresses in chainmail, rides a white horse, and wields a magic sword. Here is the best representation I could find of her transformation at sunset.

 Oh, and here is a picture of the Bock of Luxembourg, a castle (now in ruins) at the top of a cliff. Can you see the Roman bridge at the very bottom? That's where Sigefroi and Melusine meet for the first time.

I can't wait to see what the very talented Michelle Lee who designs the book covers for Books We Love will come up with. But judging by what she did with the previous covers, I know it will be great.

Vijaya Schartz

Swords, Blasters, Romance with a Kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com/

Find her books on Amazon HERE

More books by Laurel O'Donnell

The Lady and The Falconer:

With her father at war and her step-mother ruling the castle with disinterest, Lady Solace Farindale protects her people the best she can. When a neighboring lord lays siege to the castle, a threat on the lady’s life is discovered. She turns to a man she can’t resist, and puts her trust in a stranger who has captured her heart. Will she discover the secret this man holds before it is too late?

Tormented by guilt and a tragic past, Logan Grey has gained access to the castle disguised as a falconer. With only revenge on his mind, he has no time for the feisty beauty who has caught his eye. In a twist of fate, and a deadly betrayal, Logan must risk his life for the lady who ignited a passion more perilous than war.

Can love reign in a place where only hate ruled?

The Lady and The Falconer buy link

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lady-Falconer-ebook/dp/B004ZSDK9G/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Midnight Shadow

Raised on the adventurous stories of the Midnight Shadow, Lady Bria Delaney longs to wield a sword and fight against tyranny. When the unjust rules of a neighboring lord terrorize her friends, she dons the mask and cloak of her childhood hero to right the wrongs and save them from oppression. After encountering Lord Knowles, she is stunned to find her fierce attraction to the very enemy she has secretly promised to destroy.

Accustomed to victory at tournament, Terran Knowles lives a life of luxury and ease. When he returns home and finds his coin has dwindled, he must turn to an old betrothal and its dowry to keep his coffers full. Adding to his financial woes, a thief known as the Midnight Shadow strikes his land at night, stealing his coin. His intended betrothed is a headstrong, beautiful woman who immediately intrigues him. Torn between the woman he longs to trust and the outlaw he has vowed to hang, Terran vows to find the truth.

Will the Midnight Shadow triumph over oppression? Can the heat of passion overcome the chill of suspicion? Will a legendary hero find love in the arms of her hated enemy?

Midnight Shadow Buy link

http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Shadow-ebook/dp/B0055LL0WQ/ref=pd_sim_kstore_5?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Champion of the Heart

Fox Mercer watches in horror as his father, a noble knight, is stripped of his lands and banished into disgrace. Fox is soon abandoned by his former noble friends, including his best friend Jordan Ruvane. Feeling betrayed, his life takes a darker path. Fox turns to a life of crime, hiding in the decaying ruins of a haunted castle with his gang of thieves.

Lady Jordan Ruvane hides a dark secret from her childhood, a secret that will threaten the lives of everyone she holds dear. As she comes of marrying age, her father announces a tournament in her honor. The winner of the tournament will earn the right to claim Jordan as his bride. A mysterious champion clad in black armor enters the tournament, but he is after much more than just the Lady’s hand in marriage.

What happens next will change the lives of Fox Mercer and Jordan Ruvane forever. Can Fox conquer the secrets of the past and truly become the champion of his lady’s heart?

Champion of the Heart Buy link

http://www.amazon.com/Champion-of-the-Heart-ebook/dp/B005EDIDIY/ref=pd_sim_kstore_4?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Find more about Laurel O'Donnell and her books on her website at:
http://www.laurel-odonnell.com/

Meet Medieval author Laurel O'Donnell

Laurel O’Donnell has won numerous awards for her works, including the Holt Medallion for A Knight of Honor, the Happily Ever After contest for Angel’s Assassin, and the Indiana’s Golden Opportunity contest for Immortal Death. The Angel and The Prince was nominated by the Romance Writers of America for their prestigious Golden Heart award. O’Donnell lives in Illinois with her four cherished children, her beloved husband and her five cats. She finds precious time every day to escape into the medieval world and bring her characters to life in her writing.

The Angel and the Prince 

In this exciting medieval romance, the French lady knight known as the Angel of Death wages a battle of wills and desires against her dreaded enemy — the English warrior known as the Prince of Darkness.

Ryen De Bouriez is a French warrior, dedicated to protecting her country against the hated English. In place of glittering ball gowns, she wears shining armor. Instead of practicing the gentler arts, she wields a sword. Those who whisper her name in fear and awe call her the Angel of Death.

Bryce Princeton is the Prince of Darkness, an English knight sent by his king to find and destroy their most hated adversary — the Angel of Death. Little does he know that his enemy is no man at all, but a beautiful woman who will challenge his heart and honor at every turn.

Forced to choose between love and honor, the Angel and the Prince wage a battle of wills that challenges everything they have ever believed in.

Buy Link
http://www.amazon.com/The-Angel-Prince-ebook/dp/B004LGTR1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337564150&sr=8-1

A Knight of Honor 

Taylor Sullivan is a raven-haired hellion fleeing the tragic flames that destroyed her family. She arms herself with a quick sword and a sharp tongue, hiring herself out as a mercenary, willing to do whatever it takes to survive.

Slane Donovan is a knight of honor, sworn to uphold his oath and his word. He seeks the woman who wears the Sullivan ring, determined to bring her back to Castle Donovan to fulfill a promise made to his brother.

When he finds the fierce young beauty, her sensual innocence inflames his heart, threatening to destroy the very essence of who he is and the vows he has sworn to uphold.

But there are others who seek the Sullivan woman as well, men who pose a far greater threat. Slane must protect his fiery mercenary companion from attacks, but can he protect himself from her undeniable charms?

Buy Link
http://www.amazon.com/A-Knight-of-Honor-ebook/dp/B004U2FKQI/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

More books from Laurel to come in a few days. Stay tuned. In the meantime, find out more about her and her books on her website at:

http://www.laurel-odonnell.com/

Medieval Medicine - Scary Stuff! by Anna Markland

In medieval times doctors and barber-surgeons had plenty of practice treating wounds and broken bones because of the many wars going on at the time.

They knew how to set broken bones in plaster and how to seal wounds using egg whites or old wine to stop them getting infected.

They used alcohol or plants like mandragora to send people to sleep or dull the pain of operations. They could even remove diseased parts of the body, for example the gall-bladder, and deliver babies by Caesarean section.

 

In my latest release, The Winds of the Heavens, the heroine is a Welshwoman named Glain who is a healer with a special skill for setting broken bones. I took a bit of poetic licence here since most of these bonesetters were men.

Glain’s skills are needed when the brother of the twin heroes falls into a gorge and breaks his leg. If you’ve read the book that precedes this one, Dark and Bright, you’ll recall the accident. You’re probably wondering how twins Rhun and Rhydderch solved the problem of both being in love with Glain. They’ve always shared everything, but can they share a woman?

Conquering Passion).

I am not going to let the cat out of the bag! You’ll have to read The Winds of the Heavens to find out how they solve their dilemma!


Glain does in fact use egg whites and a plaster cast to mend her patient’s leg, and she drugs him with mandragora to ease the pain.


Another medical catastrophe strikes in the book. We know it today as meningitis, but then it was simply referred to as a plague or pestilence.


In Dark and Bright, the hero, Rhys, saves his sister’s life after she gives birth to a child. His knowledge comes from ancient Celtic lore passed on to him by his mother, the healer Rhonwen.

Dark and Bright and The Winds of the Heavens are Books Two and Three of the Series Sons of Rhodri. Both are available exclusively on Amazon.

I will gift a digital copy of The Winds of the Heavens to the first commenter to reveal the meaning of the name “Glain”.

Find out more about Anna Markland and her books on her website at:

Passionate About Historical Romance

Today and tomorrow, you can get CONQUERING PASSION for free on Amazon kindle HERE

So hurry, grab it while it's free.