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That's right, you heard it from me first! Forget your tons and your silly frilly fripperies, the seventeenth century in general and me in particular can give you REAL men... with long hair, high heels, powder and patches and... NO wait... that's the Restoration.
I am talking about the English Civil War...
Can we even imagine what it must have been like to find yourself at war with your brother, your father, your best friend, the neighbours you have known all your life? Of course there has been civil wars throughout history and the American Civil War is still close in the memory, but that was a war fought more along geographic boundaries: north vs south. The English Civil War divided England on political, religious, moral and social divides.
And I love writing about it. Yes, I do... I don't just love writing about it, I have a PASSION for it.
That is why I am beyond excited that my Escape Publishing has picked up my two very first books: BY THE SWORD (which won the 2008 Epic Award for best historical romance) and THE KING'S MAN (Runner up in the 2006 Emerald Award for unpublished manuscripts). These books have been sitting in my "back list" effectively since they were first published by a small US epublisher in 2007. This was after they had done the rounds of mainstream publishers... even to the point of acceptance by one major publisher, only to have it dashed by the marketing department who sneeringly declared that they could never market the English Civil War.
Hooray for the Ebook revolution... and that little ebook publisher. Unfortunately back in 2007 the ebook revolution was still at slings and arrows. No one had ebook readers, distribution was extremely limited and my books slid into oblivion. The rights reverted to me and yay... self publishing had been born... ebook readers were the norm and I was able to self publish these books.
But readers of both books will know that while they are stand alones (although loosely connected), there is something unfinished about them. Stories of two loyal adherants to the King in the dark years of the "Interregnum" while complete in themselves, always needed the Restoration to complete the story arc - the third book.
I have to confess to losing heart and so the third book remained unwritten...
NOW...here is the fabulous news. Not only is Escape Publishing reprinting my first two books but they have also commissioned the third book, tentatively titled EXILES' RETURN which will close the loop on the stories of the Thornton and Lovell families. All three books will come out in 2015 under the banner of the "Guardians" series. Yes that's right... I have a series!
The first two books have been completely revised and brought up to date... I have learned a thing or two about writing in the intervening years and I had great pleasure expunging all those unnecessary adverbs!
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE EXCITING NEWS ABOUT "The Guardians".... and mark these dates in your diary (subject to the publisher of course!)
March 2015: BY THE SWORD
August 2015: THE KING'S MAN
December 2015: EXILES' RETURN
For more information click HERE
And in the meantime if you are curious about why the 17th century will be the new Regency, explore CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART (my January release which is currently available from all good ebook retailers)
AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER BY 30 SEPTEMBER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A $10 AMAZON GIFT VOUCHER
For more information visit my WEBSITE or just the form on the right hand bar of this page.
