Guest Post from Natalie Bayley, Author of Bone Rites

I'm pleased to be part of an October blog tour for Bone Rites, Natalie Bayley's historical fiction novel.

My participation is twofold: hosting a guest post today and providing a review closer to publication day.

Bone Rites is described as a dark, literary tale of love, loss and one woman’s obsessive fight for justice and redemption within a ruthless world and will be released on October 31st, 2023.

Natalie has written the following about some of the weird and wonderful facts she has uncovered while researching. Like me, I'm sure you will find it interesting. Thank you, Natalie.

Bribery for Peace During the First World War A Guest Post from Alan Bardos, Author of The Dardanelles Conspiracy

Anzac day vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com

 

 

Today, in Australia and New Zealand, it is Anzac Day, a national day of commemoration and rememberance of those who served and died in all wars.

Foremost, we commemorate the military campaign of World War I, where Australian and New Zealand forces at dawn on April 25, 1915 landed on the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey. This campaign, if it had been successful, would have allowed Allied vessels to pass through the Dardanelles, see the capture of Constantinople (present day Istanbul) and take Turkey out of the war. Instead, it ended in a defeat for the Allies, with horrendous losses on both sides.

Alan Bardos' guest post asks a significant question:

Could the Ottoman Empire have been bribed to make peace, during the First World War?

Guest Post + Giveaway (International) from A. E. Chandler, Author of The Scarlet Forest: A Tale of Robin Hood

Synopsis

You are invited underneath the great greenwood tree to hear how a young man became a hero, and a hero became a legend. When Robin takes a shortcut through Sherwood Forest, the path he chooses leads not to Nottingham’s archery contest, but to a life on the run from the law. Unable now to become a knight, and joined by his childhood friends, Robin Hood leads the most infamous outlaw band ever to evade the king and his sheriff.

Blending true history with new stories, popular inaccuracies, and some almost forgotten medieval legends, The Scarlet Forest: A Tale of Robin Hood brings a new life to the greenwood, which here feels as fresh as it does traditional. With an academic background in medieval English studies, A. E. Chandler captivates with this unique and nuanced reinterpretation

Footprints and Friendships A Guest Post from Gail Ward Olmsted, author of Landscape of a Marriage

“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.” 

Eleanor Roosevelt’s words perfectly articulate how I feel about the importance of friendship. I value my friends and try to be worthy of them. I am fortunate to have a select group of loyal friends, ‘my people’, the family that I have chosen to be an integral part of my life. Their

Guest Post from Elizabeth St. John, Author of By Love Divided: Researching and writing historical fiction from my family’s letters, diaries and papers.

Publication Date: October 2017
Publisher: Falcon Historical
Series: The Lydiard Chronicles, Book 2
Page Length: 381 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

London, 1630. 

Widowed and destitute, Lucy St.John is fighting for survival and makes a terrible choice to secure a future for her children. Worse still, her daughter Luce rejects the royal court and a wealthy arranged marriage, and falls in love with a charismatic soldier. As England tumbles toward bloody civil war, Luce’s beloved brother Allen chooses to fight

Guest Post from Christine Hancock, Author of Bright Helm: The Inspiration Behind the Novel

Publication Date: 15th October 2020
Publisher: Madder Press
Series: The Byrhtnoth Chronicles: Book 4
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Separated by anger and unanswered questions, Byrhtnoth and Saewynn are brought together by a tragic death.

Re-united, they set out on an epic voyage to discover the final truth about his father.

The journey takes them far to the north, to Orkney, swathed in the mists of treachery, and to Dublin’s slave markets where Byrhtnoth faces a fateful decision.

Guest Post: The Inspiration Behind the Novel by Anas Hamshari & Caroline Snodgress, authors of Anke: The Beginning

Publication Date: September 16th 2020
Publisher: Exotic Reads
Page Length: 111 eBook / 170 paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Living in the city of Mechelen, just south of once-prosperous Antwerp, in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War, Anke Verhaegen, an ambitious nineteen-year-old, is determined to make the most of her life.

When her brother Johan suggests crossing the Atlantic to New Netherland, Anke knows this is her destiny. Together, the two set about attempting to secure passage across the sea. Before long, their plans are in motion, and

Guest Post : The Inspiration Behind My Novel by Marie Macpherson, Author of The Last Blast of theTrumpet

Publication Date: 24 August 2020
Publisher: Penmore Press
Print Length: 409 Pages
Series: Book 3 of the Knox Trilogy
Genre: Historical Fiction/Biographical Fiction

Synopsis

Conflict, Chaos and Corruption in Reformation Scotland.

He wants to reform Scotland, but his enemies will stop at nothing to prevent him.

Scotland 1559: Fiery reformer John Knox returns to a Scotland on the brink of civil war. Victorious, he feels confident of his place leading the reform until the charismatic

The Baroness of New York by Anya SilverthorneGuest Post - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US only)

Today I'm the next stop on the tour for Anya Silverthorne's debut novel The Baroness of New York. She has kindly provided a guest post in which she explains why one of the minor characters in the novel was created. I always enjoy this type of revelation and hope you enjoy reading about the "birth" of Sophie as much as I did.

The Baroness of New York by Anya Silverthorne
Publication Date: May 1, 2020
Platen Press
Genre: Historical Romance/Victorian

Synopsis

Baroness Adele von Mueller learns the sweetest love is forbidden....

Man of War by T.J. London Guest Post - Blog Tour - Giveaway (US only)

Today, I have the pleasure of being the first stop on the blog tour for T.J. London's recently released novel, Man of War. The author has kindly provided a guest post in which she shares her research into the two main settings of the novel: a Royal Navy warship and the city of New York. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read Man of War for the blog tour, but after reading about the research that went into it, especially of life on board a Royal Navy man of war, I'm more excited than ever to pick up this book. I hope you enjoy reading the guest post as much as I did.

Publication Date: April 14, 2020
Paperback & eBook; 681 Pages
Series: The Rebels and Redcoats Saga, Book #4
Genre: Historical Fiction

GUEST POST: Disability in the 18th Century: An interview with Lucy May Lennox, author of The Adventures of Tom Finch, Gentleman

Today I'm pleased to bring you news of a recently published novel, The Adventures of Tom Finch, Gentleman, and a guest post in the form of an interview with Lucy May Lennox. I hope you enjoy reading what inspired the author to create her hero as an 18th century blind man as much as I did.

Publication Date: November 12, 2019
Paperback & ebook
Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

London, 1735. Covent Garden offers a world of pleasures and diversions, even for a blind man. Tom Finch, composer of broadsides and assistant conductor in the nearby opera houses, considers himself the luckiest of men, as he has both education and freedom to do as he pleases. Blindness is to him merely an inconvenience, and no impediment to his favored pastimes: playing music and lushing it in a public house in the