The French and Indian Wars with Jean M Roberts

The early history of white settlers in North America was violent and tempestuous. We often think of it as a straight line from Eric the Red to the Founding Fathers but it wasn’t nearly that simple. One of the most violent periods were the French and Indian Wars. Jean Roberts tells the story of her family during that time in Blood in the Valley.

The Jean M Roberts story. Go…

Thank you for this opportunity to tell you and your readers a little something about myself and my book, Blood in the Valley. I am proud to say I am the author of two works of historical fiction, but it was a convoluted road that led me to writing. I’ve always loved history, in fact I wanted to be a history major but was talked into getting a degree in nursing instead. So, for a long time, I was a nurse who loved to read history books. I joined the United States Air Force soon after graduating from college and was stationed in England for many years. I married an Air Force pilot and we spent 20 odd years traveling around the world, and visiting my favorite historical places in Europe. When my husband retired from active duty, we returned to my hometown in Texas. I currently work as a nurse for a non-profit. I have one son, who is serving in the U.S. Army. I’m sorry I have no pets.

About ten years ago I got sucked into genealogy, a highly addictive pastime, and thought I might want to become a professional genealogist. But I realized what fascinated about my ancestors were not names and dates but their stories. Who were they, how did they live, what were their life experiences? I got this crazy notion that I could combine my love of history and genealogy into an actual book. I had no idea how to write a book, but I’d read so many, I felt certain something besides ink must have rubbed off all those pages I’d turned. And so it seems it had.

I’ve been doing some research into my family as well. I know how addictive that can be. What’s Blood in the Valley about?

Blood in the Valley is the story of my ancestor Catherine Wasson Clyde. She was born in New Hampshire in 1737 but moved to the Mohawk Valley of New York in 1753. Her family settled in Schenectady just before the onset of the last of the French and Indian Wars. (Picture Last of the Mohicans.) The book follows Catherine’s life through the American Revolution and resumption of peace in 1783. Catherine’s husband, Colonel Samuel Clyde, participated in some of the most brutal fighting during the war. Together they and their family struggled to survive as their world devolved into a state of chaos and guerrilla warfare.

I think most Americans do not realize how the war affected the lives of ordinary civilians and other noncombatants. The Mohawk Valley was decimated by the war. Raiders swept down from Canada and laid waste to the settlements; killing women, children and the elderly. Many were taken as captives back to Canada, never to be seen again.

Is it safe to assume that your family inspired the book?

The Colonial period of American history is of particular interest to me. My first book is set in the 1650s when the fledgling colonist still saw themselves as Englishmen. By the time of the revolution, the colonists, or at least many of them, had transitioned into Americans with only nominal ties to England. I love the idealism and drive of the period. Daily life remained fairly primitive, at least by our standards, but the thoughts and ideas that spurred on the war were progressive and fearless.

The main character in this book is a woman and the story of the war is told through her eyes. Her husband was gone for months at a time, either fighting or as a state representative in the New York Assembly. The running of the farm fell squarely on her shoulders, and she had nine children to boot. She was an exceptionally strong woman.

What’s your favorite scene in the book?

My favorite scene in the book is an intimate moment between Catherine and her husband as he prepares to go to war. The Canajoharie District militia was scrambling to confront British Lt. Col. Barry St. Leger and his army. If they could not stop him, St. Leger would march straight through New York and cut the colonies in half. Samuel gives Catherine his will and tries to talk to her about what she should do if he does not return or the Americans lose the battle. As the wife of an Air Force fighter pilot, I think I was able to put a little bit of myself into that scene. Anyway, it makes me cry when I read it.

How can folks learn more about you and your work?

By now, you’re all dying to get your hands on a copy of the book and can’t wait for this interview to end. Blood in the Valley is for sale on Amazon in both e-book and paperback format. If you have Kindle Unlimited it’s yours for free. My blog, The Family Connection, has several articles about the book, events that took place during the time period and bios of many of the main characters. It can be found at . You can follow me and my pithy comments on Twitter at @jroberts1324, on Instagram @jeanie1701 where you may be forced to view my brother’s photos of birds. I have an author page on Goodreads as well, it can be found at: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17599776.Jean_M_Roberts.

I hope that some of ya’ll will check out my book(s) give it a read and leave me some kind words in a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Remember good reviews are the life blood of Indie Authors! Thank you again Wayne for letting me ramble on about my book.

De nada. But now I get to put in a shameless plug for mine.

Acre’s Orphans is out in the world! You can order Paperbacks on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters. The e-book is Kindle only Please help me launch it successfully by buying now. And any time you read a book like Blood in the Valley (or one of mine,) please leave an Amazon or Goodreads review. It’s like applause for  the author.

Italians in Australia Between the Wars- GS Johnston

As the last few veterans of the Second World War disappear, along with the civilians who lived through those times, their stories are going with them. That time frame has been reduced to a few tropes we are all familiar with–Nazis, brave Brits hiding in the underground, American farm boys in the bloody South Pacific… all make for great drama. But it was a World War. It impacted people around the globe in ways large and small, and that brings us to an untold story from Australia, and the author GS (Greg, to be clear) Johnston and his novel Sweet Bitter Cane: An Italian-Australian World War II Saga

Let’s start with the easy stuff. What’s the GS Johnston story?

G’day from Australia.  I’m kind of borderline shy/wild which is a great thing for a writer – going in opposite directions at once.  I write because it sparks joy in me, to put it in current parlance.  Whilst writing is hard work, the odd thing is that only the writing makes it better.  At the moment I live in Australia’s capital city, Canberra.  I was born and grew up in Tasmania, surrounded by Tasmanian Devils.  Of all the things I learnt in Tasmania, there are three main things – I call them the three Ws.  The importance of water, wilderness and words. 

What’s “Sweet Bitter Cane” about?

Sweet Bitter Cane is the story of a young woman, Amelia, who in the aftermath of World War One immigrates from Italy to Australia, by marrying by proxy an Italian man she’s never met, Italo.  He’s a sugarcane farmer, in the remote regions of Far North Queensland.  When she arrives in Australia, she finds Italo not to be the man she’d imagined from his photo – he’s older and highly distracted by running his cane farm.  But she finds herself attracted to a young shell-shocked WWI veteran, Fergus, who is Irish-Australian.  As the story of these three people plays out, fascism’s rhetoric rises amongst the Italian population.  The unions of the British-Australian farmers, envious of the Italian’s success, had blocked the Italian workers from working.  When Italy entered WWII, the Italians in Australia were indiscriminately classified as Enemy Aliens.  The men were immediately interned into concentration camps.  But it was soon apparent that what was driving the internments was not fascism, per se, but old grudges.

My high school was built on land confiscated from Japanese Canadians who were interned, so this happened all over, with different targets in each country. What is it about this story that appealed to you?

I like to find untold stories and the fact that this untold story involved a woman was a bonus.  As I started the research, it was evident that the stories of migrant women who had worked on the sugarcane fields had not really been written.  The story had a very long gestation.  I first read of the internment of Italians in 1989.  Over the years I’ve heard small bits about this, but it wasn’t until a few years back that my neighbour told me the story of her parents who had been cane farmers and were both interned.  She had a folder of documents which really gave me a heads up with the research.  And also having access to her memories made the writing a lot easier. 

Tease us a bit. What’s your favorite scene in the book?

There are many, but one of my favourites is inspired by a fortunate piece of research.  I was tracing the journey my character Amelia would have taken on the ship from Naples to Brisbane.  In a fortunate break, I found a film an Italian man had made in 1925 of the same route to Australia.  So whilst it was a couple of years later than mine, it was the same journey – fantastic to see so much of the past.  But when they were leaving the Bay of Naples, there was a shot from the boat looking back at the land.  Vesuvius had this long dark plume of smoke trailing high into the sky.  It seemed such a perfect image for Amelia to have as her last glimpse of Italy in 1920 – Was Italy snuffed out by WWI, the smoke the only residual of its fire, or was Italy about to ignite again and explode?

Where can we learn more about you and your work?

My website is www.GSJohnston.com

Facebook GS Johnston Author

Twitter @GS_Johnston

Instagram

Not to barge in on Greg’s interview, but Acre’s Orphans officially launched January 28th! You can order Paperbacks on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters. The e-book is Kindle only Please help me launch it successfully by buying now. And any time you read a book  like Sweet Bitter Cane (or one of mine,) please leave an Amazon or Goodreads review. It’s like applause for  the author.

A Real-Life British Adventurer During the Napoleonic Wars – Tom Williams

As someone who writes business books (and damn fine ones like The Long-Distance Leader, for example) I understand the need to escape by writing historical adventure. Enter Tom Williams, who after a long career of being respectable now writes a series of adventures set during the Napoleonic War. The “Burke, His Majesty’s Confidential Agent series” is the result.

So, Tom, what’s your deal?

I’m an old, old man, living in London yet still somehow able to drag myself out of the house to street-skate and dance tango. I write stories set in the wars against France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which you’d think I could remember, but I can’t quite. I have to read up the details in books.

I’ve written about the mid-19th century too. One story, set in London in 1859, describes an area that my grandfather patrolled as a policeman only a few decades later. (I told you I was old.)
All of my stories are set in different countries, which has given me the opportunity to travel to Borneo, Egypt, Belgium, Argentina and Spain and call it work. I have set one story in India, but I have yet to get there. One day, I hope.

The series looks like a lot of fun. It starts with “Burke in the Land of Silver,” so what’s the story?

Burke in the Land of Silver is the first of the stories I’ve written about James Burke, a spy in the time of Napoleon. He was a real person and the first story is quite closely based on truth. It’s set around the British invasion of Buenos Aires in 1806. I love Buenos Aires, so I was really happy to set a story there.

I’d written a book set in Borneo in the 1850s (The White Rajah) and publishers had told me that it was “too difficult” as a first novel so I was looking for something more mainstream. I kept bothering friends to suggest interesting historical figures and an Alaskan woman I’d met dancing in Argentina (as you do) suggested that I look at Europeans who had been involved with the wars of independence and the opening up of South America to European colonisation. I came across references to James Burke and the more I found out about him, the more I thought he was an ideal hero. Dashing, clever, brave, apparently irresistible to women (he had affairs with a queen and a princess amongst others) and someone who seems to have had a very successful career as a spy, he was almost impossible not to write about.

SOLD! I’m a sucker for real-life people with exciting lives. It’s like when I discovered Byron de Prorok and it became The Count of the Sahara. What’s your favorite scene of derring-do?

There’s an episode where Burke crosses the Andes. He left it rather late in the year and nearly died in the snow up there. I’ve read a lot about it but I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like, so I went to the Andes rather too early in the year when there was still snow around and took a horse up to something over 3000 metres. I have never been so cold, but it was a staggering experience and I hope I caught some of it in the book. The Andes really are beautiful.

Where can folks learn more about the Burke stories, the White Rajah and more?

Tom’s blogs appear regularly on his website, http://tomwilliamsauthor.co.uk where you can also find details of all his books. You can follow him on Twitter as @TomCW99 or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTomWilliams).

Not to barge in on Tom’s interview, but Acre’s Orphans is out now. You can order Paperbacks on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters. The e-book is Kindle only Please help me launch it successfully by buying now. And any time you read a book  like The Burke serie (or one of mine,) please leave an Amazon or Goodreads review. It’s like applause for  the author.

A Unique Look at Apartheid- Susan Wuthrich

Few periods in history or topics for discussion make people as uncomfortable as Apartheid in South Africa. A new story from English/South African/Swiss/Kinda Canadian author Susan Wuthrich tackles it head on.

Full disclosure, my family was almost part of post-colonial African history. My father got it in his head to homestead in a very apartheid-like Rhodesia in the mid-sixties, (a combination of itchy feet and a need to improve his luck) just before all hell broke loose. We were refused our visas at the last minute (probably by someone who saw the writing on the wall and saved us from ourselves) and we stayed in Canada. Needless to say, I was intrigued by Susan’s story.

So, what’s your deal?

     I began life in Toronto, Canada. My mother had married a Canadian and left England as a war bride in 1947.  When the marriage failed, we returned to the UK where my mother remarried.

     Fast forward to1966. I was 18 when my then boyfriend and I decided to emigrate. We could have gone anywhere, Canada, Australia or NZ, but we were broke and decided on South Africa as it was the cheapest fare. I lived there raising a family for the next 25 years.

     Many people have asked, how I could have stayed in that country during such tumultuous times. The answer is simple; although Apartheid is an ugly concept, and I’m not making excuses, it was in fact just another era and racial discrimination was rife throughout the world, (and I think still is to a certain extent), the USA included.      These days I am retired and live in a quaint Swiss village with my second husband.

What’s the novel about?

Initially, Portrait of Stella is set in England and tells the story of Stella’s daughter, Jemima, who finds out everything she thought she knew about herself was a lie. She is denied a passport on the grounds her birth certificate is false and there are no records of her existence. Through clues pertaining to the past, Jemima traces her late mother’s footsteps across the globe in search of her real identity.

What is it about that time period that intrigued you?

After much research, and through my mother I gained first-hand knowledge of life in the armed services in WW2. My own experiences of life during the Apartheid regime in South Africa,1960’s-1990’s gave me the impetus to write the story. I have combined the two eras to bring an unusual family/saga mystery to fruition. Although my book is a work of fiction, I have endeavoured to show what life was like for white non-racists living in South Africa during those years.

What’s your favorite (or favourite) scene in the book?

There are a few twists in the tale, but my favourite is when Jemima, who had always believed she was an only child, comes face to face with a sibling she had no idea existed. There is also a scandalous mystery surrounding her father.

Of course there was. How can we learn more about your work?

Portrait of Stella is on Amazon: amzn.to/2IPL82H

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35853641-portrait-of-stella

Twitter: Susan Wüthrich @Sue_Wue

Facebook: Susan Wuthrich Author

From India to the Blitz- Jane Gill

There is kind of a cottage industry around tales of England during the Second World War. By now we know what to expect–plucky heroines awaiting their men while ducking under furniture as Nazi bombs fall. But Jane Gill has a different kind of tale–of an Anglo-Indian woman who arrives in England just in time for the war to start. “Dance with Fireflies,” is the result.

Jane, tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in the UK to an Anglo-Indian mother and a linguist father who specialised in Russian. Every weekend of my childhood, between Easter to September was spent camping. My siblings and I were left to our own devices to dam streams, collect wood for bonfires and climb trees. The long summer holidays were spent roaming around Europe in our tank-like 1960’s Wolesley, tent in the trunk, ready to pitch up. In my early adult life I became a graphic designer. It was the days of typeset print and spray mount. I loved the world of design and became an Art Director in an Advertising agency. Art Directors were teamed up with copywriters; they did the words, I did the pictures. Never in a million years did I expect to become a writer, I had always been so visual!

So, what’s Dances with Fireflies about?

My debut novel, Dance with Fireflies is based on my Anglo-Indian grandmother. In those days (1930-40’s) letter writing was prevalent. She kept thousands of letters, chits and diaries in a large wooden trunk (which is allegedly cursed…but that’s a whole new story). It’s remarkable that over a span of many decades and continents the ephemera has survived. I took this rich resource and read every letter, every scrap of paper. Some of it was neatly typed but mostly handwritten. It took me two years. Having mapped out the outline of all the nitty gritty information I had gleaned, I sat down and finally put pen to paper. The book starts with her six-week voyage from Bombay to England in 1939. Phyllis had sacrificed her life of privilege in the British Raj in India to live with her new husband’s family in England. She was not the English rose they had hoped for their British Army son and they found it hard to tolerate this high-spirited, solar topee wearing ‘foreigner’.

WW2 adds to Phyllis’s struggle for harmony in a land far from home. She misses the vibrant life of Benares and longs for spice in the bland food and music in her daily life now filled with chores set by her in-laws. As nightly air raids plunge their Devon home into darkness, Phyllis battles to keep her marriage from being sabotaged and her young daughter taken by her manipulative sister-in-law.

Obviously the family connection resonated. What else about that period really intrigued you?

Being born in the sixties, WW2 was only one generation away from me. My father would tell me how they would hide under the stairs when the bombs fell on Nottingham, his parents were terrified but as a boy he found it exciting. My mother would tell me more exotic stories of her days in a boarding school in the Himalayas and living in Karachi at the time of partition (1947). It seemed like the most interesting period to write about…there was so much going on and so much to tell.

With something so personal this is a tough one, but what’s your favorite (or favourite) scene?

One of my favourite scenes in the book is when Phyllis arrives in England and is invited into her mother-in-laws house. It is a small red-brick terrace in Colchester. There is wallpaper on the walls and antimacassars on the chair arms. Phyllis sits in silence on the horsehair sofa and looks about in wonder. The house felt pokey and dark in comparison to the colonial bungalow she had been used to. The pretty English wallpaper would have been devoured by the ants in India. She looked around for a mora (stool) to put her feet on (she needed to raise her feet off the floor in case scorpions, spiders or snakes were lurking). Her new mother-in-law couldn’t fathom out why Phyllis was sitting with her feet hovering in midair! Everything was so new to Phyllis it was a great chapter to write.

What’s next, and where can we learn more about your work?

I have recently completed the sequel to Dance with Fireflies and hope to publish it soon. It is set in India at the time of partition. The dual narrative twists and turns from Bombay to Karachi. The suspense builds as the protagonist is destined to meet a crucial character in the story. I can’t  give too much away!

You can find me on Facebook:

Twitter: @Janegillauthor

My Blog: www.janespentopaper.wordpress.com

Here’s how to find my book on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dance-Fireflies-Jane-Gill/dp/1507880375

And don’t forget to support my work. Acre’s Bastard and Acre’s Orphans available as a 2-book set on Amazon Kindle or one at a time in paperback.

Europe After the Fall of Rome with Cynthia Ripley Miller

The time between the glory of the Roman Empire and about the year 1000 is often referred to as “The Dark Ages.” Historians can pick nits all they want about specific dates, but the fact remains there are about 500 or so years with big gaping holes in the historical record and we are just now learning about much of what took place then. There seems to be a boom in people filling in the gap with exciting adventure stories. One of those is the Chicago-based writer Cynthia Ripley Miller.

Cynthia, what’s your story?

I’m a history geek, ironically adventurous, and I have a weakness for the underdog (literally, I support Paralyzed American Veterans and Puppies Behind Bars, an organization that aims to rehabilitate prisoners by giving them puppies to train as service dogs for disabled veterans).

As a child, I daydreamed a lot. A devoted teacher taught me to read and then there was no stopping me. I‘ve devoured works across most genres, including religion, philosophy, psychology and self-improvement. I’ve traveled, worked and lived in different countries, and my adventurous predisposition includes a sprint across the Parthenon with a security guard on my heels, a stay with a Jamaican family in the Negril tropical jungle, and backpacking across Europe to Istanbul.

I live outside of Chicago in the US with my family, along with a sweet German Shepherd and a cute, but bossy, cat.

What’s your “Long-Hair Saga,” series about?

I’m currently writing a series called The Long-Hair Saga. A portion of my novel includes the Germanic people called the Franks. Their nobles were referred to as Long-Hairs and later they would begin the Merovingian Dynasty in France. There are two completed books.

The first is called On the Edge of Sunrise. This novel takes place in late ancient Rome AD 450, about 26 years before the actual collapse of the empire in the west.

My heroine is a young widow called Arria. She longs for a purpose and a challenge and is well versed in politics and diplomacy as any man. She’s called, by the Tuscan people, La Precipienda, ‘She who perceives.’ Arria has a reputation for having solved several local mysteries.

When Emperor Valentinian, determined to gain allies to help stop the Huns, bearing down on the empire, sends Arria to the Assembly of Warriors in Gaul, she must try to persuade the Franks to stand with Rome against Attila. On her way, she is abducted by barbarian raiders, but is saved by the Frank blue-eyed warrior, Garic.

Arria is alarmed by her instant and passionate attraction to Garic and is torn between duty and desire. Her arranged betrothal to the ambitious tribune, Drusus, her secret enlistment by Valentinian as a courier to Attila the Hun, and a mysterious riddle—threaten their love and propel them into adventure, intrigue, and Attila’s camp. Arria and Garic are rebels in a falling empire. They must find the strength to defy tradition and possess the love prophesied as their destiny.

Book 2 is called The Quest for the Crown of Thorns

Three years after the Roman victory over Attila the Hun at Catalaunum, (AD 454) Arria Felix and Garic the Frank are married and enjoying life on Garic’s farm in northern Gaul (France). Their happy life is interrupted when a cryptic message arrives from Arria’s father, the esteemed Senator Felix, calling them to Rome. At Arria’s insistence, but against Garic’s better judgment, they leave at once.

On their arrival at Villa Solis, they are confronted with a brutal murder and a dangerous mission. The fate of a profound and sacred object—Christ’s Crown of Thorns—rests in their hands. They must carry the holy relic to the safety of Constantinople, away from a corrupt emperor and old enemies determined to steal it for their own gain. But a greater force arises against them—a secret cult who will commit any atrocity to capture the Crown. All the while, the gruesome murder and the conspiracy behind it haunt Arria’s thoughts.  

Arria and Garic’s marital bonds are tested but forged as they partner together to fulfill one of history’s most challenging missions, The Quest for the Crown of Thorns.

I’m working on book 3, which will take Arria and Garic to ancient Jerusalem and another suspenseful adventure filled with mystery, murder and a most unusual mission.

Why that time period? What intrigued you about it?

My Italian roots (I’m a first generation Italian-American) and my time spent in Italy and teaching history propelled me toward ancient Rome. However, what really caught my interest was late ancient Rome, right before the fall of the western empire. This is a period when medieval influences are dawning in styles of dress, weapons, religion, and customs. It’s a twilight era, a time of upheaval, conflicts and a historical period ripe for story-telling.

As a novelist, my roots lean toward historical romance/ mystery & suspense. I really enjoyed the novel Outlander. It spurred me to write an adventure romance that included several genres—Romance, history, political intrigue, suspense and mystery.

I like the idea of strong characters and a heroine and hero supported by colorful characters that have smaller stories that help to create sub-plots. I love movies and books that bring me into secondary stories that enrich the overall arching theme and major plot. When a reader tells me they liked a particular supporting character, I feel good. I cannot write two main characters with one or two in the background. My muses won’t let me.

The dang muses are like that. What’s your favorite scene so far?

My favorite scene in the book is when my heroine, Arria, goes to the battlefield at Catalaunum (also known as Châlons and considered in the top10 bloodiest battles in history) looking for the hero, Garic—not sure if he’s alive or dead. This is the climax of the novel and when a major twist in the plot line happens and characters collide.

Where can we learn more?

My books are available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Kobo and more.

Readers can connect with me on:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cynthiaripleymiller/  

Twitter: @CRipleyMiller  

My Website: http://cynthiaripleymiller.com 

Not to barge in on Cynthia’s interview, but Acre’s Orphans officially launched January 28th! You can order Paperbacks on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters. The e-book is Kindle only Please help me launch it successfully by buying now. And any time you read a book  like The Long-Hair Saga (or one of mine,) please leave an Amazon or Goodreads review. It’s like applause for  the author.

History and Fantasy for Kids with Barbara Gaskell Denvil

Stories were my gateway drug to travel, history and most of what I became curious about as an adult. Whether it was Classics Illustrated comics (yes, I was that nerdy) or Tom Swift books (yes, I’m that old) I always appreciated real history or science in with my fantastic stories. So when people ask me what their kids should be reading, I quote my mother and say, “I don’t care if it’s the back of the shampoo bottle as long as they read.”

That said, there’s a warm place in my heart for people who write histfic aimed at kids. Mix that with good fantasy and the little buggers will read. Our future depends on readers so… welcome Barbara Gaskell Denvil and her Bannister’s Muster kidlit series. Today we’re talking about the first book in the bunch, “Snap”.

Okay, Barbara, what’s your story?

I was born in England about 250 years ago, but spent most of my life on the move. I’ve adored living all over the place with many years in  England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Australia – and a number of other years on a boat sailing the Mediterranean in all that wonderful sunshine. How is that for inspiration? Actually I started writing when I was about six years old, it just seemed the natural thing to do, but after some years of working for magazines and publishers, I got married and had three daughters. It’s since the girls have grown up that I decided to start writing full length novels and have started with historical mysteries – medieval history fascinates me and I’ve researched it for years. I also adore writing fantasy, and my writing list combines both. Most of those are exclusive to Amazon – and I have loved writing every single one. Editor’s note, I suspect some exaggeration here but never talk about a lady’s age.

What’s Snap about?

This is the first book in a new children’s series I’ve just recently finished. I loved the idea of mixing my own favourite genres, that’s history and fantasy, with the endless appeal of mystery. So BANNISTER’S MUSTER is the name of the series, and Book 1 is called SNAP. Nathan is whisked away from his very normal life and is thrown back into Medieval London. He makes friends there of a small band of beggars and orphans who steal in order to eat and sleep rough.  Just as he is getting used to such a life, the whole gang is tossed into a new world called Lashtang – and this really is fantasy. Nathan and his little sister Poppy plus all his friends have a series of amazing adventures combining modern London, medieval London, and the world of Lashtang. The history is absolutely accurate and I think it’s a great way for kids to learn history from fiction. There are six books in this series, and the last one has just been published. They are available on Audible as well.

Why that story? What intrigued you about it?

I often dream about medieval London, and sometimes wake up thinking that’s where I live. It really fascinates me. I was very young when I first saw the film of Shakespeare’s Richard III, and I was intrigued to know whether this monster from the past was ever really that bad – or not. Now  taking a 12 year old boy and his sister and friends of various ages time traveling through to a completely strange world of imagination has been such a pleasure for me to write. It should appeal to those of about 8 years old to 14 years old – though many adults love the whole series too. Nathan is a typical boy, and that’s how I want him to be. I love wondering what it would be like to move from modern life to medieval life and then on to a dangerous life in a fantasy world, and back to the trials of the past. Pretty scary, I imagine – but terribly exciting. And that’s exactly what the book presents.

Sounds like Nathan and Lucca would get along well. What’s your        favorite scene in the book?

Perhaps right at the beginning when Nathan is all curled up in his comfy modern bed, and out of the mist comes a huge hot air balloon with a strange looking man peering over. He’s a wizard, and he tells Nathan to wake up – we’re off for an adventure. Nathan thinks he’s dreaming, but no, it’s all real as he soon finds out. He climbs from his bed into the balloon’s basket, and then it tips and he falls. It’s a long way to fall but he arrives on his feet – back in the 15th Century. And that’s where it all starts. But he certainly hasn’t seen the last of the wizard. The amazement and confusion are extremely realistic. I can just imagine how I’d feel in the same situation. I wish !! To be honest, this scene was largely inspired by my own wish to go on a hot air balloon ride one day. In fact, a friend of mine recently went to a hot air balloon festival and she told me that it was an absolutely wonderful experience. Perhaps I might have to get her to join me? We do both love traveling after all! Watch this space!

Brewster the wizard is not a nice character, but he’s not all bad either. He suddenly wants to help, but then suddenly wants to spoil everything. It takes Nathan a long time to understand Brewster.

Where can people learn more about you and your books?

All my books are available on Amazon, and this series of children’s books are also available on Audible. How’s that for a goodnight story? Just fall asleep listening to the greatest adventure you can imagine.

BANNISTER’S MUSTER – BOOK 1 – SNAP has won many awards, such as B.R.A.G., Award, CHILL WITH A BOOK Award, DISCOVERING DIAMONDS AWARD, READER’S FAVOURITE AWARD., etc.. Also found on Goodreads and other well known sites.

Here are some other links:

Website: – https://bannistersmuster.com/

Facebook for the author – https://www.facebook.com/B.GaskellDenvil

https://www.facebook.com/Bannisters-Muster-1458577257506291/ – Facebook page for this book

Not to barge in on Barbara‘s interview, but Acre’s Orphans officially launched January 28th! You can order Paperbacks on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters. The e-book is Kindle only Please help me launch it successfully by buying now. And any time you read a book like Snap (or one of mine,) please leave an Amazon or Goodreads review. It’s like applause for the author.

Award-Winning People are Talking About Acre’s Orphans

Acre’s Orphans has been less than a week, so it’s too early to tell if anyone is actually going to buy it. But they ARE reading it. I know, because I’ve received some very kind words about it from people who win awards and stuff. Many of these are from terrific writers who have read, and enjoyed, Lucca’s adventures. These are writers who I am proud will even talk to me, let alone enjoy my work. (I would write an entire blog post about Impostor Syndrome, but I’m probably not up to it.) That’s a joke. Kinda.

My writing friend Jeffrey Walker, author of the Sweet Wine of Youth series about the First World War, recently showcased me on his blog. (Read the interview here). His last book, Truly are the Free, just won an Indie Brag award for historical fiction as well as a short-list for the Goethe Award


Acre’s Orphans is another rollicking and gritty medieval romp for Wayne Turmel’s utterly incorrigible—yet grudgingly adorable—orphan-hero, Lucca Le Pou. A delightful read for any historical fiction devotee, Turmel manages to render up the decaying Kingdom of Jerusalem accessible, violent, and naughty enough to hook any YA reader, too. Who knew Hospitaller knights and leprous nuns could be so cool?

Apparently someone else is a fan of leprous nuns, because Bradley Harper, author of the Edgar-award winning A Knife In the Fog told me his favorite part was the battle with the bandits where (avoiding big spoilers) poor Sister Marie-Pilar saves the day. You never know what people are going to take from your work, but I kinda dug that scene as well. Brad’s first novel has been short-listed for a a freakin’ Edgar award as Best First Novel. Here’s his review:

“Acre’s Orphans is an enjoyable excursion back to the battle for the Holy Land, contested by none other than the fierce but honorable Salah-Din. Ten-year-old Lucca the Louse has his hands full avoiding Saracen soldiers, merciless bandits, and a spy loyal to neither side but hoping to profit from both. The tale is faithful to history and the diverse culture of the region which exists up to the current day. The characters are well-drawn and the stakes are high when the boy is entrusted with an important message from the captured city of Acre, intended for the remnants of the Christian nobility along the northern coast, four days travel away.  Accompanied by a giant Knight Hospitaller, a young Druze girl on the cusp of womanhood, and a leprous nun, Lucca must get his ragged party safely to Tyre, where an uncertain reception awaits them all.”

Another award-winner is Barbara Barnett. She’s an insanely smart person whose novel The Apothecary’s Curse was short-listed for the 2017 Stoker award. She was the first to tell me in documented form what she thought…

“A splendid adventure laced with new perils at every turn for the young hero at the heart of Turmel’s latest excellent foray into the heart of the Crusades.”

We don’t write for awards. We sure don’t write for the money, but we do write to be read. To have my words enjoyed by people all over the world, including those whose talent I respect is more than a little fun. Just thought I’d share.

If you haven’t ordered your copy of Acre’s Orphans, or haven’t read the first of Lucca’s adventures, they are available on Kindle or in Paperback wherever you get your fix.

And please, leave a review. It’s like applause for the author.

It’s Here. Acre’s Orphans is Out in the World

Even in a city as dirty, crowded, and generally stinky as Acre the smell of smoke stands out from the other odors. There are two kinds of smoke smells. The good kind promises a warm charcoal fire on a cold, rainy day—or a hot meal pretty much any time.

Today, it was the bad kind, and far more exciting…

Acre’s Orphans is the continuing tale of Lucca Le Pou, an orphan boy on the streets of Acre-the wickedest city in the world. He may have survived the Battle of Hattin, but now his beloved city is about to fall to Salah-adin and the Saracens.

What’s left of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is fractured and fighting among itself. When he uncovers a plot to divide the remaining Crusaders, he must get news to the Tyre–the last remaining Crusader stronghold. Can he make it before it’s too late for everyone he loves?

If you’re one of the many readers from around the world who enjoyed Acre’s Bastard, this is the next journey. If you haven’t read the first book yet, this one stands alone and only adds to Lucca’s growing legend.


“The characters are intriguing, the plot is tight, and there is fresh adventure around every turn. Well worth the read”

Windy City Reviews

You can order Acre’s Orphans on Kindle or the paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Chapters.ca

New Zealand Pioneers and Smart Sheepdogs- Amanda Giorgis

Every country in the world has stories to tell about its founding or settling. Yet if you read historical fiction, it would appear the Americans and Brits have the market cornered. Maybe it’s the Canadian in me, but I love stories set in places I’ve never been, and aren’t the same old tropes rehashed (I’m looking at you, Civil War and Regency.) That leads us to Amanda Giorgis and her tale of New Zealand’s pioneering past, The Wideawake Hat.

Okay Amanda, let’s get to it. What’s your deal?

None of my family were surprised when I told them I had written a book, although the surprise was that it has taken me 62 years to do it! I grew up in a small village in Somerset, UK with imaginative parents who passed on their love of books and reading, and the rare ability to see through other people’s eyes and put myself in other’s shoes. I started life in teaching but fell by accident into computing at a time when the industry was dominated by men and ‘computing’ was not even a school subject.For most of my career I stayed around the world of education, making computer systems work for real people in colleges and universities in England. We, that is my husband Terry and I, made the long trip to New Zealand for a wedding in 1997 and fell in love with the country, but it took us another 9 years to form a decent plan to emigrate. We both wish we had done so 20 years earlier, when we were young enough to fully embrace the carefree outdoor lifestyle of this beautiful country.
It suits me fine that there’s little need to wear ‘posh’ clothes here. Nor do you feel like you are competing with your neighbours for the latest new thing. People take you as you are here. I like that. And it is hard not to be inspired by the scenery. One gets quite blasé about the mountains on your doorstep and the wide panoramas which we take for granted as we drive to the shops.
When I am not writing I am usually to be found in the garden battling the elements to force plants to grow in our wild environment, or walking our three rescue huntaway dogs, or in a church tower ringing bells. Bellringing is a passion I share with Terry. We met that way, when I was just a schoolgirl, and, over the years, we have made many friends and woven our lives around ringing church bells.

What’s the story behind The Wideawake Hat?

The Wideawake Hat is the first book in a series about the early settlers to New Zealand’s South Island. It tells the true story of James Mackenzie, a local folk hero after whom the Mackenzie Basin is named, and his clever sheep dog, Friday. Although the facts of James’ arrest for sheep rustling, and subsequent pardon, are irrefutable, what became of him is not certain. The book wraps a fictional scenario around the truth of the story. It begins in 1849 with the arrival in Port Chalmers of newly-weds, George and Sophia McKay. They journey inland to find a new home and, along with settlers from all parts of the Empire, form a new and thriving community.
The saga will continue weaving fact and fiction with the development of the Mackenzie Basin over the second half of the 19th century, and maybe beyond?

Why this story? What was it that was so interesting to you?

The 1850s in the South Island of New Zealand saw the start of European settlement. Before that only Maori had lived there, and they were relative newcomers to the land where strange and unique creatures like the kiwi had evolved undisturbed by human contact. I often wonder how these folk would have felt making a journey from which there was no likely return to a place they knew almost nothing about. Perhaps it would be like us taking on a voyage to the far reaches of the universe. 
Life was tough for the early explorers, many of whom had grown up with strict Victorian sensibilities. Genteel womenfolk who discarded their corsets and full skirts to work on the rough land in harsh weather. Young women who spent much of their adult life pregnant, and became accustomed to the loss of loved ones in the harsh conditions. The men – mainly the second sons of farmers, unlikely to inherit – forced to build shelter for their wives and children and to find food and carve a livelihood, unaware of the extremities of the climate and the vagaries of the indigenous flora and fauna.
I am fascinated by these pioneer souls and wonder if I would ever have had the courage to take the journey myself. I hope I would have done so. I would like to be like Sophia, my heroine.
The idea for the book didn’t come from Sophia though. It came from the tales that surround the mysterious James Mackenzie. He was arrested and imprisoned for sheep rustling and later pardoned because it was ruled that the use of his dog to prove his guilt was unlawful. That much is fact, but there are many stories about him which cannot be substantiated. The one which became the germ of my book is the story that tells of the three sets of footprints found in the wet ground when he was arrested. I asked the question, “Who could have made those other footprints?” And the answer is – my story!

Tough question- what’s your favorite scene?

I could choose so many scenes – maybe the one where James saves Sophia from the unwanted attentions of Thomas Baylis. Or the one where that same rogue, Thomas, meets his demise. Or maybe the trial scene where James begs to be able to hold his beloved dog one last time – that’s a real tear jerker.
In the end I have chosen the pivotal point of the story, where George is caught in a sudden storm. He tries to cross the swollen river on horseback to get home to Sophia. Roy, his dog, hitching a ride across the saddle. It is the part of the book I read aloud to people, but I have to stop at a certain point to avoid spoilers! It shows George’s naivety in building a flimsy bridge which cannot survive the storm and his lack of knowledge of the sudden changes in weather in this part of the world. Despite this, he does his best to get home to his beloved wife. I also like the loyalty of Roy, his dog, and his absolute faith in his master to do the right thing to save them all. It is the passage where most readers tell me they get hooked on the story, and one where a box of tissues may be required!

Where can folks go to learn more?

‘The Wideawake Hat’, published in October 2018, is available on Amazon as an e-book or paperback, and on Kobo as an e-book. The paperback version can also be purchased in New Zealand from my website.
Book 2 of the Applecross Saga, ‘Shepherd’s Delight’, will be available in mid-2019 from the same outlets.
My website is www.amandagiorgis.com
On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Amanda-Giorgis-2139172903077531/
On Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18484155.Amanda_Giorgis


Not to barge in on Amanda’s interview, but Acre’s Orphans officially launches January 28th! You can order Paperbacks on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters. The e-book is Kindle only Please help me launch it successfully by buying now. And any time you read a book  like The Wideawake Hat (or one of mine,) please leave an Amazon or Goodreads review. It’s like applause for  the author.