Category Archives: Publishing

#TellaFairyTaleDay

Today is…

#TellAFairyTaleDay!

Never heard of it before? Well, you can read more about it here. The stories can cover everything from Grimm to urban legends.

Scottish legends, myths, and mystery are found in A Shadow in the Past, so what better time to celebrate it?

Even the cover exudes fairytale mystery. Once upon a time…

#TellAFairyTaleDay
cover by Aidana WillowRaven

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

Available from the publisher 4RV Publishing or amazon

And then there’s the sequel … Shadows From Her Past

A cruel twist of fate returns Sarah Shand to her life in the year 2010 where she discovers she is a patient in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and has been for months. Struggling to come to terms with the situation, she insists she belongs in the year 1886 at Weetshill mansion with her husband the Laird, Robert Robertson, and adopted daughter, Jenny. Her family and consultant physician try to convince her she was dreaming or hallucinating but Sarah refuses to believe them.

Robert, who has experienced strange things at the stone circle at Gordonsfield Farm, somehow breaks through the time-space continuum and visits Sarah in his future. He pleads with her to return to the past but his cryptic messages only confuse her.

Medical student, David Robb, himself a descendant of the Robertsons of Weetshill, befriends Sarah. Fascinated with her stories of the past, after her release from the hospital, he takes Sarah to meet his parents, the current owners of the mansion and surrounding land.

This year, the winter solstice and lunar eclipse occur on the same day. Will a trip to the stone circle during this combination of events create the magic Sarah needs to return to 1886 and her family there? Or will she remain in the present and make a life with David?

Available to buy from amazon.

Do you have a favourite fairy tale? I’d love to know what is is. Tell me in the comments.

Today is Book Lovers Day!

Happy Book Lovers Day!

This unique holiday can also be celebrated on the first Saturday in November. So why not celebrate it both days?

book

bookHardcover, paperback, ebook. What’s your preference? Both have their advantages. Ebooks are usually less expensive than a paperback and definitely more so than a hardcover.

One hundred books on an e-reader weigh far less than the same number of physical books and take up a lot less space – better for travel.

For the person who likes mystery and suspense with romance…

book

When a contemporary teen is transported back in time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen year old Sarah Shand finds herself in Victorian Era Aberdeenshire, Scotland and has no idea how she got there. Her last memory is of being at the stone circle on the family farm in the year 2010.

Despite having difficulty coming to terms with her situation, Sarah quickly learns she must keep her true identity a secret. Still, she feels stifled by the Victorians’ confining social practices, including arranged marriages between wealthy and influential families, and confronts them head on then suffers the consequences.

When Sarah realizes she has fallen in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, she faces an agonizing decision. Does she try to find her way back to 2010 or remain in the past with the man she loves?

Buy links for A Shadow in the Past can be found here.

~~~~~~~~~~

For those who prefer short stories…

book

The Consequences Collection is an eclectic compilation of twelve stories ranging from non-fiction through creative non-fiction to pure fiction, in prose and poetry.

The story of a Scottish Home Child is based on fact and told from the child’s point of view; The Mystery Woman of Kinettles is a non-fiction article on the appearance and subsequent disappearance of a woman’s body near the Wellington County House of Industry (Poor House) in 1879 Southwestern Ontario.

Some of these stories are lighter than others, and some might even beg you to leave the lights on.

The Consequences Collection is available for the kindle on all amazon platforms and in epub format at lulu.com

~~~~~~~~~~

A middle grade Christmas novelette…

book

For Tim Frost, Christmas 2011 is a washout. No Santa. No presents. Nothing. His father lost his job when the mill closed and now the family is on the verge of losing their home.

A chance encounter with Nick Kringle, a modern-day Santa Claus teaches Tim that the greatest gift you receive is the gift of giving.

Tim’s Magic Christmas is currently only available in paperback. To find out how to get your copy, contact me via email. Watch for it coming in kindle and epub formats.

~~~~~~~~~~

And a little bit of supernatural with spicy romance set in a wonderfully, spooky haunted house…

secret

Sometimes there’s more to a house than bricks and mortar.

Hillcrest House is one such place. Perched on a cliff in the picturesque town of Angel Falls, there is more to this Victorian mansion than meets the eye. When referring to the house, the locals use the word haunted on a regular basis. Strange visions appear in the windows, especially the second-floor ones over the side porch. Even stranger events take place within its four walls.
Rumour has it, the original owners, Asher and Maggie Hargrave, never left their beloved home. They claim the couple and their family are responsible for driving people away. Over the years, Hillcrest House has changed hands numerous times. No one stays long. Renovations begin then stop and the house is once more abandoned. The latest in this long line of owners is Jessica Maitland.
Will Jessica be the next one to succumb or will she unravel The Secret of Hillcrest House?

Melanie Robertson-King’s latest novel serves up a delightful blend of the supernatural and spicy romance, Lynn L. Clark, author of The Home Child, and Fire Whisperer & Circle of Souls: Two Novellas of the Supernatural, & The Accusers

Intrigue, dark buried secrets, hot romance and a neat twist in the tale make this riveting reading, Sheryl Browne, MA Creative Writing, Choc Lit Author

A fun read that keeps you guessing right up to the surprise ending, Dayna Leigh Cheser, Author of Janelle’s Time, Moria’s Time, Adelle’s Time, & Logan’s Time

 

Once Upon a Time… It’s Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Once upon a time

there was a day specifically dedicated to telling fairy tales. Today is that day…

Tell A Fairy Tale Day!

Never heard of it before? Well, you can read more about it here. The stories can cover everything from Grimm to urban legends.

Scottish legends, myths, and mystery are found in A Shadow in the Past, so what better time to celebrate it?

time

Even the cover exudes fairytale mystery. Once upon a time…

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

 

If you have a favourite fairy tale, leave a comment telling which one it is.

 

 

 

 

It’s Book Lovers Day!

Happy Book Lovers Day!

This unique holiday can also be celebrated on the first Saturday in November. So why not celebrate it both days?

book

bookHardcover, paperback, ebook. What’s your preference? Both have their advantages. Ebooks are usually less expensive than a paperback and definitely more so than a hardcover.

One hundred books on an e-reader weigh far less than the same number of physical books and take up a lot less space – better for travel.

For the person who likes mystery and suspense with romance…

book

When a contemporary teen is transported back in time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen year old Sarah Shand finds herself in Victorian Era Aberdeenshire, Scotland and has no idea how she got there. Her last memory is of being at the stone circle on the family farm in the year 2010.

Despite having difficulty coming to terms with her situation, Sarah quickly learns she must keep her true identity a secret. Still, she feels stifled by the Victorians’ confining social practices, including arranged marriages between wealthy and influential families, and confronts them head on then suffers the consequences.

When Sarah realizes she has fallen in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, she faces an agonizing decision. Does she try to find her way back to 2010 or remain in the past with the man she loves?

Buy links for A Shadow in the Past can be found here.

~~~~~~~~~~

For those who prefer short stories…

book

The Consequences Collection is an eclectic compilation of twelve stories ranging from non-fiction through creative non-fiction to pure fiction, in prose and poetry.

The story of a Scottish Home Child is based on fact and told from the child’s point of view; The Mystery Woman of Kinettles is a non-fiction article on the appearance and subsequent disappearance of a woman’s body near the Wellington County House of Industry (Poor House) in 1879 Southwestern Ontario.

Some of these stories are lighter than others, and some might even beg you to leave the lights on.

The Consequences Collection is available for the kindle on all amazon platforms and in epub format at lulu.com

~~~~~~~~~~

And a middle grade Christmas novelette…

book

For Tim Frost, Christmas 2011 is a washout. No Santa. No presents. Nothing. His father lost his job when the mill closed and now the family is on the verge of losing their home.

A chance encounter with Nick Kringle, a modern-day Santa Claus teaches Tim that the greatest gift you receive is the gift of giving.

Tim’s Magic Christmas is currently only available in paperback. To find out how to get your copy, contact me via email. Watch for it coming in kindle and epub formats.

 

Discovering Delilah by Melissa Foster

Delilah

Discovering Delilah

by

Melissa Foster

 

Delilah

DISCOVERING DELILAH
HARBORSIDE NIGHTS, Book Two

 https://vimeo.com/130652336

HARBORSIDE NIGHTS is a sexy, hot, and evocatively real New Adult Romance series that follows a group of friends who have known one another for years as “summer” friends, and now come together after college to build their lives. They’re tough, edgy, and accepting—most of the time. This series is written in the same loving, raw, and emotional voice readers have come to love by New York Times & USA Today bestselling, award-winning author Melissa Foster.

In DISCOVERING DELILAH…

After the death of her parents on the day of her college graduation, Delilah Armstrong thought she could finally follow her heart and come out to her closest friends, but the guilt of going against her parents’ beliefs haunts her. The feelings she has for her best friend, Ashley, are stronger than anything she’s felt before, but Delilah has never even kissed a girl, and fear stops her at every turn.

Ashley Carver promised herself that she would never again date another girl who wasn’t out, but that was before she met intoxicatingly sweet and sexy Delilah.

When another girl offers to teach Delilah the ropes, it changes Delilah’s whole world and gives her the courage to go after the only girl she really wants. But coming out isn’t as easy as Delilah imagined, and moving past her parents’ death and the feelings of guilt she is left with is even harder. The intense passion between Ashley and Delilah is too strong to deny, but coming together means risking everything.

Discovering Delilah is an edgy, evocative, romantic story of friendship, family, and the courage to love.

Buy links

AMAZON.COM

AMAZON UK

Barnes & Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Google Play

Smashwords

About Melissa Foster

Delilah

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

Visit Melissa on The Women’s NestFostering Success, or World Lit Cafe. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Author Links

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

The prize is the previous book in the series Catching Cassidy
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Delilah

HEALED BY LOVE by Melissa Foster

love

love

HEALED BY LOVE

The Bradens (at Peaceful Harbor)

The Bradens at Peaceful Harbor are the newest addition to the award-winning Braden series and the Love in Bloom family, joining the Snow Sisters, the Bradens, the Remingtons, & Seaside Summers, (Voted BEST BOOK SERIES by Supportive Business Moms, UK).

Fall in love with Nate Braden & Jewel Fisher in Healed by Love.

Nate Braden has loved his best friend’s younger sister Jewel for as long as he can remember, but between their age difference and his respect for Rick, he’s always kept his feelings at bay. Now he’s back in Peaceful Harbor, and Jewel is no longer sixteen years old—but there’s an even bigger obstacle standing in his way. Nate and Rick joined the military together eight years earlier. Nate came home a hero, but Rick didn’t make it out alive.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON.COM

AMAZON UK

Barnes & Noble

iBooks

Kobo

Google Play

Smashwords

ABOUT MELISSA FOSTER

love

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the  World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Authors Links:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

Goodreads

Sign up for Melissa’s newsletter to stay up to date with releases and giveaways

http://www.melissafoster.com/newsletter/

GIVEAWAY

3 ecopies of GAME OF LOVE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

love

Review ~ WALKING IN THE RAIN by Julia Ibbotson

walking

Genre: Contemporary women’s romance fiction

Release Date: 30th March 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3pUErb8cZc

walking

How do you cope when your worst nightmare comes true?

Jess happily marries the love of her life. She wants to feel safe, secure and loved. But gradually it becomes clear that her beloved husband is not the man she thought him to be. She survived civil war and injury in Africa, but can she now survive the biggest trauma of her life?

This is the second novel in the Drumbeats trilogy but can be read as a standalone. However, Drumbeats is so amazing you should just read it too!

Drumbeats

Walking in the Rain

Before I Die

Want to read Drumbeats first? Buy-link on Amazon for the first in the trilogy:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drumbeats-Julia-Ibbotson-ebook/dp/B00LLJVFRG/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404911650&sr=1-3&keywords=julia+ibbotson

And, for a taster, the book trailer video for Drumbeats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OYlEXhHvsc&list=UUP3hKZjeUBuTMoyvZmBXbow

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON.COM

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My review of Walking in the Rain:

With this being the second book in the series, I didn’t get to know Jess as well as I would have liked, but the book can still be read as a standalone.

I like suspense in a book and this one had it along with a few plot twists that I didn’t expect.

The author has a strong voice that draws you in and makes you feel what the characters are experiencing.

I’ll definitely be reading books 1 and 3 in the series.

4-stars!

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About Julia Ibbotson

walking

Julia Ibbotson is an author and academic, and lives in the middle of the English countryside in a renovated Victorian rectory with her husband, an orchard, a kitchen garden and far too many moles. Their four children are now grown up and they have four gorgeous grandchildren. She was a school teacher for many years before becoming a senior university lecturer, researcher and writer. She loves reading, travelling, choral singing, theatre, walking, swimming and gardening, as well as cooking for family and friends. Her books include a memoir/recipe book, The Old Rectory: escape to a country kitchen, and a children’s book (9-14 year olds),S.C.A.R.S, a fantasy story of dragons, knights and a boy who slips through the fabric of the universe into a parallel medieval world threatened by the evil Myrthor, the heart of darkness.

Author page on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Julia-Ibbotson/e/B0095XG11U/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1377188346&sr=1-2-ent

Author facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julia-Ibbotson-author/163085897119236

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/JuliaIbbotson

Author website:

http://www.juliaibbotsonauthor.com

Pinterest page: includes boards with pics and images that inspired each book

http://pinterest.com/juliai1/

Goodreads author page:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6017965.Julia_Ibbotson

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Giveaway
A signed paperback of Walking in the Rain
(Open Internationally)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

walking

A WAY FROM HEART TO HEART by Helena Fairfax

heart

heart

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: 18th November 2014

Publisher: Accent Press

A story of friendship, loss, and the human heart’s enduring capacity for love…

After the death of her husband in Afghanistan, Kate Hemingway’s world collapses around her. Her free time is spent with a charity for teenage girls, helping them mend their broken lives – which is ironic, since her own life is fractured beyond repair.

Reserved, upper-class journalist Paul Farrell is everything Kate and her teenage charges aren’t. But when Paul agrees to help Kate with her charity, he makes a stunning revelation that changes everything, and leaves Kate torn.

Can she risk her son’s happiness as well as her own?

Buy links

Amazon: http://authl.it/B00PQRJ0WQ

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-way-from-heart-to-heart-helena-fairfax/1121193110

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-way-from-heart-to- heart/id965774616

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About Helena Fairfax

heart
Helena Fairfax was born in Uganda and came to England as a child. She’s grown used to the cold now, and these days she lives in an old Victorian mill town in Yorkshire. After many years working in factories and dark, satanic mills, Helena began writing full-time. Her first novel, The Silk Romance, was a contender for the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme Award and a runner-up in the Global Ebook Awards, and her work in progress has been shortlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize 2015. When not writing, she walks the Yorkshire moors every day with her rescue dog, and finds this wild landscape the perfect place to dream up her stories.

Author Links

website www.helenafairfax.com

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

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7082986.Helena_Fairfax

Twitter https://twitter.com/HelenaFairfax

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GIVEAWAY

Signed paperback copy of the book (uk only)

Or

Ecopy of the book (International)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

heart

Photos and such…

This was first posted on Feb 26, 2011.

I posted a photo of my grandfather and his first wife that was taken presumably on their wedding day a few years ago. I’m reposting it along with two more from the family archives.

photos
Grandpa John Robertson with his first wife, Susan Christie

This photo was definitely taken in a studio setting and judging by their clothing and the way her hair is styled, it had to be a special occasion. Hence, the thought of it being a wedding photograph.

Grandpa Robertson was born in 1856 and married for the first time 20 years later. And yes, that is my grandfather, not great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather.

After looking carefully at the photo for a few minutes, close your eyes and imagine it in full colour, an oil painting of huge proportions… 6 ft by 8 ft (or larger still) and it’s hanging on a rich oak panelled wall. Can you visualize it in that setting?

That’s where it is in my novel. This is the Laird and Lady of Weetshill on their wedding day.

In my novel, the old Laird looks much more like this…

photos
Grandpa Robertson as an old man

This photograph of an older Grandpa Robertson was taken some time before his death in 1930. I’m thinking maybe between 1915 (the year my grandmother-his second wife) and 1917 (the year my father and four of his nine siblings were admitted to The Orphan Homes of Scotland). By that time, he’d had a stroke with loss of memory and was unable to keep up the farm.

This is how I envision the hero’s grandfather. White-haired, balding, mustache and beard.

The old Laird in my novel also walks with a cane.

And finally this photograph from the archives…

photos
Peter, Robert and Angus Robertson

This photo was taken on my Uncle Angus’s wedding day in Scotland. My father (Robert) was serving overseas with the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders at the time but was able to get leave to go back to Scotland for the occasion. It would have been the last time my father saw his brothers.

Now there’s no mistaking the men in this photo are related but look closely at the young man in the first photo, the old man in the second one and lastly (mostly Robert) the men in this photo. Perhaps, a natural progression of how my hero will age?

A Shadow in the Past ~ Descendant chart

The Descendants of John William Robertson, Laird of Weetshill

The Robertsons, a somewhat offbeat Victorian family, are the mainstays of my debut novel, A Shadow in the Past.

This first chart covers the main Robertson “characters” in the novel and, yes, it implies there are more. But that section of the family won’t be revealed… just yet. After all, we don’t want any spoilers to creep in and ruin things, now do we?

descendant

If you click on the chart, you’ll get a larger image making it easier to read the who, when, where, and who’s hitched to whom. If you want to know the ‘whys’ you’ll have to buy the book. *hint, hint*

What’s it all about you ask? Well, grab a cuppa sit back and relax, and I’ll tell you – but first, I’ll show off my fabulous cover designed by Aidana WillowRaven.

A Shadow in the Past

When a contemporary teen is transported back through time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

Finding yourself tempted? You can buy A Shadow in the Past from these locations:

4RV Publishing | ChaptersIndigo | Barnes & Noble

and in print or kindle format from

 Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk