The amazon.co.uk link is here, and this post will be updated when amazon.com gets it’s act together.
Stay safe, stay inside.
The Duke is Dead is now available for pre-order!
Get it here!
The Duke is Dead Extract: the Dunham Chronicler
The Duke of Dead has chapter headings, taken from various historical documents within the world. One document that turns up a few times is The Dunham Chronicles, written by a series of earnest monks in the province of Dunham, and containing their view on a) the doings of the country and b) the very exciting things happening in Dunham.
Here are a few:
343: In this year Gilbert Bevis and the esquires of the North brought a petition before King Aumeri, that in ten years he had held no Parliament at Ambion in his kingdom of Northaldria, but solely in Coldres and other towns in his kingdom of Mercendy. And King Aumeri spurned the petition and said that his two kingdoms should agree like man and wife in a bed. And Matthew Simeon a lewd fellow was put in the stocks at Foswich for asking, if King Aumeri should get more kingdoms, how many might then lie together in a bed.
347: In this year the men of Cavember rose, and fought amongst themselves as to who should be King, there having been no one King among them since Deyo ás Ithel was slain in combat by the men of Queen Bethilie in 282. And they could find no peace amongst themselves. And the Lord of Bleith sent to King Aumeri, and asked him to stand above them, and with his kingsblood bring peace.
397: And in this year Queen Sidonia bore a child unmarried, and all the lords protested her great sin. And some spoke of the Queen’s cousin, the Duchess Julia, and said that there was an irregularity in her birth, and that there were papers kept privily which proved her to be the true King. And the Bishop of Tritown preached the Easter sermon, and said that God had ordained to the cripple his crutch, and to the blind man his patches, and the tyner his trouble, and that if she had been born a prince, she was proved not fit to be King. And one man called out to him, but if she be a virtuous woman, should she not then be Queen? And the Bishop made no answer. And the Duchess Julia consented to be searched by midwives.
405: In this year the Earl of Dunham wed the Lady Ada, baseborn daughter to King Constantine of Laelanse. And for three weeks before her wedding she came unto the Abbey, and gave fine gifts, including a relic of the Blessed Apostle Salome. And it was placed upon the high altar, and did great works
(The image in this post was photographed by en:User:Geogre, original author, monastic scribes in Peterborough – English Wikipedia, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=852691)
Bank Holiday Weekend
I have been doing what Bank Holidays are designed for: having brunch, visiting garden centres, and watching reruns of Task Master. Also, having naps.
The Duke is Dead: Updates
Somewhat embarrassingly, my last post on here, nearly two years ago, was also about The Duke is Dead. I confidently predicted it would come in 2018, which it…didn’t. I can now say that it is in final edits, and will be out on the 22nd August 2019. You can find it here on Goodreads. I hope that The Exiles will be out on the 28th November, but I am resigned to the fact that if I commit to that date, it definitely won’t be. I am incredibly excited to be sharing The Duke is Dead, and introducing people to the Dykosm.
I am also pretty damn excited that Ankaret has another book out in 2019: Anna Chronistic and the Scarab of Destiny. I got to the end while eating a baked potato and did not take my eyes off my screen once, which is actually more impressive than it sounds, because I was at a National Trust property, and their baked potatoes come with side salads that require stabbing.
I leave you with the image of Lanhydrock House (said National Trust property), intended by the gentleman who ordered it rebuilt as ‘a modest family home’. As Ankaret said as we looked up at it, just imagine what would have happened if he’d asked the architect to push the boat out.
Kingsblood
I have an announcement to make! One that I have been sitting on (very badly) for nearly a year!
Kingsblood, a new fantasy series from Ankaret Wells and Irene Headley.
The bitter years of the Cousins War are over… for now.
The grandsons of Kharis Sidonia are dukes and kings, and the last kinsmen of the deposed King Gilbert the Bloodless are hunted exiles… for now.
Winter holds armies at a standstill, and in Briège, the suitors of the new Duchess of Bergomance protest that they are at her feet… for now.
Before the thaw breaks, Ambrosia of Bergomance must choose a husband, and place her people in the hands of another, greater, power, By her side are two men – her uncle Thomas of Wharram, loyal to his family above all else, and Nicolas ás Ithel, who has spent most of his life as a hostage.
Thomas and Nicolas become lovers and allies…
For now.
The Kingsblood series contains love, magic, adventure, and a pygmy hippo called Odo. The first full-length novel, The Duke is Dead, comes in early 2018, and my prequel novella, The Exiles, will be out in December of this year. Stay tuned for extracts closer to the time! (Also, family trees, coats of arms, and a writing playlist containing more Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga than is strictly healthy).
Extract below the cut, and there’s also an extract over on Ankaret’s blog!
What I’m Reading Wednesday: The Kate Kane: Paranormal Investigator series, by Alexis Hall
The Kate Kane series belongs to that sadly underpopulated genre: lesbian paranormal detective romance. Set in London.
Our heroine is a supernatural private investigator, a thirty three year old faery princess and a teen romance survivor.
With a dead partner, a vampire stalker and an ex-girlfriend who might be a super villain, her life, like her breakfast, is on the rocks.
From book one, you can expect a ill-conceived riot of fedoras, hot vampires, sewers, swarms of intelligent rats, werewolf It Girls, puddings, boylesque performers, murders, tentacle monsters, sex demons, nightclubs, biker wizards, blues bars, magic swords and ninja zombie nuns. Oh, and karaoke.
The first time I heard about the Kate Kane books, I heard the words ‘lesbian paranormal investigator’, and found my fingers trending inexorably towards Amazon’s ‘Buy Now’ button.
Five Things on a Friday
- Two wonderful people have worked out the legal position if you have fallen victim to sex pollen in modern US law, and in 13th century canon law. Thank you, o benefactors.
- Ten historical Hungarian castles for you to admire!
- Of course one of the oldest handwritten documents discovered in Britain discusses beer deliveries.
- Down Goes Brown is on the Graun. For those of you who aren’t entirely certain what this Stanley Cup thing is…
- And, if you are wondering how to keep your pearls happy, The Court Jeweller is here for you. Selflessly, I volunteer to wear pearls around the house. You know, to perk them up.
Five Things For A Friday
- I made chicken chili over the weekend. This is another recipe that hits the sweet spot of being 90% things which you already have, though we tend to bulk by things like chicken when they’re on offer. This was useful when I realised that I had picked up drumsticks instead of skinless and boneless chicken.
- The short, but eventful, life of the 5th Marquess of Anglesey.
- Ella Risbridger on the importance of BBC Food.
- A zoo in Nagasaki has a Guinea Pig Bridge. And some sweet genius has written a song.
Tredegar House, and the Morgans of Tredegar
I am currently visiting my parents in Gloucestershire, and we took the opportunity to visit Tredegar House, near Newport. Tredegar House was the home of the Morgan family, as in the famous Captain Morgan, but I’m not going to discuss him today– or William Morgan, builder of the house, who married two fabulously rich heiresses, one of whom was his cousin. The second, Elizabeth Dayrell, absolutely hated him; she used to call the maids into the bedroom to show them ‘how much he looked like a monkey’, and they had furious rows. Eventually, she attempted to stab him, and was committed. Nor am I going to discuss Lady Rachel Morgan, who nearly bankrupted the family by the simple expedient of refusing to die, or their famous horse, Sir Briggs, which served in the Crimea, and took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade. (So did two of the sons of the house, one of whom was Sir Briggs’ owner, but Sir Briggs outlasted him on the field)
No, instead, this post is about Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, and his sister Gwyneth.
Irene Headley 