Welcome to the Dark Ages and the Land of King Arthur: Guest post by Mary Anne Yarde @maryanneyarde

Categories: Author Spotlights · Guest Blog · historical fictionTags: · · · · · · 8 Comments

If I wasn’t writing about the 17th century, I would be exploring the time of King Arthur. I’ve been drawn to the Arthurian legends for as far back as I can remember in all their variations. Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming to the blog an author whose historical fiction novels are inspired by the old Arthurian legends. Mary Anne Yarde is the author of the Du Lac Chronicles series, which is set in the turbulent era after the death of King Arthur. Mary Anne combines my favourite elements in her novels: historical fiction with romance and adventure. Including…

Author Spotlight: Nancy Blanton

Categories: 17th century · Author SpotlightsTags: · · · · · · · · · 2 Comments

A finely crafted work of historical fiction transports the reader to another time. It isn’t just the physical details of daily life and the world around the characters which elevates the work from just being set in the past to practically being in the past. Those are definitely crucial. Dialogue is one of those secret ingredients that needs just the right touch. Not enough authenticity and the work feels too modern and general; too much, and most readers find it a hard slog to follow. Nancy Blanton is a historical fiction author who has just the right touch for crafting…

Historical Fiction Book of the Year

Categories: historical fiction · Traitor's KnotTags: · · · · · · · · · · 8 Comments

2017 saw the fulfilment of my dream to see my debut novel published. I had the pleasure and excitement to see it climb up in the Amazon bestseller charts, and most especially, hear what readers had to say about it. I think that was my biggest excitement this year, knowing that people were reading my novel and losing themselves in the world I had created. Which is why I am entirely thrilled to be awarded the 2017 Coffee Pot Award for Historical Fiction Book of the Year. I share this year’s award with another Endeavour Press author, Johanna Craven, author…

Diamonds Tales

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Following the advent season, Discovering Diamonds is running Diamond Tales from December 3rd through to December 23rd, featuring a new short story or excerpt a day from Indie and traditional published authors. I’m really excited to have been invited to contribute to Diamond Tales. My short story “The Diamonds of Sint-Nicholaas” features James and Elizabeth from Traitor’s Knot in a new chapter in their lives. Discovering Diamonds is a brainchild of Helen Hollick, a site that reviews mostly Indie and small press historical fiction (and all the sub genres). Helen has brought her passion for Indie authors from managing the…

Author Spotlight: Anne Aylor

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Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing a few of the contributors to the Historical Novel Society’s anthology, Distant Echoes. Today, I welcome author Anne Aylor, who contributed two stories to the anthology, “The Man With No Hands” and “The House of Wild Beasts”. The latter won the HNS Short Story Award in 2014, and it’s this story that I’ve asked her to discuss as it made an impression on me. “The House of Wild Beasts” takes place during the Spanish Civil War. An American reporter, Martha, visits the Madrid zoo, La Casa de Fieras, to write a newspaper article about the…