Severed Knot: #NewRelease Coming Soon

At long last, my second novel, Severed Knot, is ready to hit online shelves on June 7th! You can pre-order the eBook of this romantic historical adventure through online retailers: Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Google Play, Apple Books, and for those in Australia, Angus & Robertson. The paperback will also be available online through all the same retailers. Severed Knot follows Iain Johnstone, a Scottish moss-trooper and officer in Charles Stuart’s Royalist army. Iain first appeared in Traitor’s Knot with his company of moss-troopers when he tried to steal horses from James Hart, a highwayman. Iain Johnstone always had a great deal of cheek (still…

Seventeenth Century Lady: Charles II Scottish Coronation

March 23, 2018August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th century · Guest BlogTags: Charles II · Charles II's Scottish Coronation · English Civil War · King Charles II · Kirk on Moot Hill · Palace of Scone · The Seventeenth Century Lady · Traitor's Knot1 Comment

I’m pleased to be a guest of the Seventeenth Century Lady with an article I wrote about Charles II’s Scottish coronation. This occurred on January 1, 1651 in the Kirk of Scone. It occurred against the backdrop of Cromwell’s invasion of Scotland and has the distinction of being the last coronation to be held in Scotland. To read the article, click on the link: Charles II’s Scottish Coronation. Featured pictures: Charles II Coronation at Westminster: [By John Michael Wright – http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page92.asp, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Kirk of Scone (Moot Hill): I, Calgacus [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Palace of…

Did Ollie really cancel Christmas?

December 20, 2017August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th centuryTags: 17th century · 17th Century history · Did Oliver Cromwell Cancel Christmas · English Civil War · historical perspective · Mary Anne Yarde · Myths · Traitor's KnotLeave a comment

Oliver Cromwell has gone down through history as the Grinch that stole Christmas. Is that a fair assessment? Christmas was abolished during the English Civil War and throughout the Interregnum, but how did it really happen? I am participating in a Christmas blog series hosted by Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots where I discuss what happened. Click here to read my article, The Puritans Who Abolished Christmas.

Author Spotlight: Elizabeth St. John

November 8, 2017August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th century · Author SpotlightsTags: 17th century · By Love Divided · Elizabeth St. John · English Civil War · Historical Novel Society · Lydiard Chronicles · Lydiard Park · The Lady of the Tower2 Comments

I first met Elizabeth St. John after one of the sessions at the 2015 Historical Novel Society Conference in Denver. We were waiting to meet the speaker, the lovely Jenny Quinlan (aka Jenny Q) of Historical Editorial, when we struck up a conversation about what we were writing. You should realize that when you’re at a historical fiction conference, you can skip the genre question and go straight to, ‘What period are you writing in?”. We both answered 17th century England, and this pretty much sealed it for us. Elizabeth is blessed with a closet-full of famous relatives from which she…

The Countess of Carlisle

July 19, 2017August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th centuryTags: 17th century · 17th century social life · Countess of Carlisle · English Civil War · Featured · historical fiction · Milady de Winter · Three Musketeers5 Comments

This article was originally posted on the English Historical Fiction Authors (EHFA) site on May 4th, 2017. For more in-depth articles on British history, visit the EHFA. You won’t be disappointed. One of the most intriguing characters in historical fiction is Milady de Winter of the Three Musketeers. Alexandre Dumas depicted her as a lethal spy whose loyalties were sold to the highest bidder, notably the Cardinal Richelieu. The inspiration for Milady was a socialite and renowned beauty of her day, Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle. Though Lucy was not an agent of Cardinal Richelieu, she held court at a…