Book Nerd: March 2014

Jennifer is a Registered Nurse, and she holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Administration. She has 15 years of experience working in the Emergency Room and the Intensive Care Unit of a major trauma center. While she is equally adept at all facets of patient care, Emergency room nursing is her passion, and is the inspiration for this story and A Shot in the Dark. Currently, she resides in Southern California with her husband and their three amazing boys. A Shot in the Dark was her debut novel with Into the Light following as the sequel.

Website: www.jenniferburrows.net

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jenniferburrowsbooks

Twitter: @jenburrows234

BUY LINKS

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Into-Light-Dark-jennifer-Burrows-ebook/dp/B00I3S7UVI/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1395709819&sr=8-10&keywords=into+the+light

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Anne of Cleves: Henry’s Luckiest Wife and Catherine Howard: Henry’s Fifth Failure

“Anne of Cleves: Henry’s Luckiest Wife”

and

“Catherine Howard: Henry’s Fifth Failure”

by D. Lawrence-Young

GENRE: Historical Fiction

ANNE OF CLEVES (SYNOPSIS):

It is winter 1539. King Henry VIII is galloping through the night to Rochester to meet a young woman. Just arrived in England from Germany, Anne of Cleves is destined to become his fourth wife. He has never met her before. He has only seen her portrait – the portrait of a sweet, demure and innocent young woman. The impatient and lovesick king must see her before their marriage. But this rushed and unplanned rendezvous will shock them and the country both. It will also lead to some completely unexpected and fatal results.

In D. Lawrence-Young’s well-researched novel, we learn of the strong passions and the deadly politics when the romantic plans of a frustrated Tudor king go badly wrong.

"...a lady of commendable regard, courteous, gentle, a good housekeeper and very bountiful to her servants…[and never been] "any quarrels, tale-bearings or mischievous intrigues in her court, and she was tenderly loved by all her domestics." Raphael Holinshed, Chronicler. (c.1529 – 1580) Chronicles of England, Scotland & Ireland (1587)

She did "embrace virtue and gentleness wherein consists very nobility." Thomas Elyot, diplomat & scholar (c.1490-1546) and Thomas Becon, Protestant reformer (c.1511-1567) The Defence of Good Women

"Everybody has nothing but good to say about the Duchess." Baron Kaspar von Breumer, 1559. Agent for Ferdinand, Holy Roman Emperor 1558-1564.

“ANNE OF CLEVES” BUY LINKS

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CATHERINE HOWARD (SYNOPSIS):

This historical novel has it all: sex and romance, violence and war, infidelity and intrigue.

Catherine Howard, the Duke of Norfolk’s niece, is raised in the very free atmosphere of her grandmother’s palace. Here she becomes aware of her own sexuality and the exciting effect she has on the men at court around her. She is also an unknowing part of her uncle’s devious plan to obtain more influence with the king – he pushes her onto the newly-divorced and lovesick King Henry VIII who is looking for a fifth wife.

Meanwhile, John Butcher has become a guard in the dreaded Tower of London. He guards the king, witnesses the executions of Anne Boleyn and Thomas More and takes part in the fighting in Ireland. However, when he returns to London, his meeting with Catherine Howard, the king’s fifth queen, produces unexpected and dramatic results.

In D. Lawrence-Young’s second Tudor novel we learn how Catherine Howard’s passionate nature mixed with the murky, deadly politics of the Tudor court and a furious king produce a classic story of passionate love, disappointment and revenge on a royal scale.

Author's note: I have always been fascinated how fate can bring people together. Their meeting may be planned or at random but it can result in changing their lives in an unexpected way. I find this even more fascinating when this happens to two people who come from quite different backgrounds. The results of such meetings may be positive: a man and a woman from different cities, even from different countries, who decide to get married, or teachers who inspire their weaker students to succeed.

In contrast, some of these meetings may result in tragedy, such as a mother who is killed by a bank-robber simply because she is in the wrong place at the wrong time or when a drunken driver maims or kills a child walking home from school. Examples of such random meetings, both positive and negative, are endless. Catherine Howard – Henry’s Fifth Failure is a novel, which features this ‘random meeting’ motif.

It is not the first novel about Henry VIII’s fifth wife and I’m sure it won’t be the last. The story of how she rose and fell so dramatically will always entice writers to tell and retell it. However, I have not written this novel merely to tell Catherine Howard’s story. I have written it to illustrate this ‘random meeting’ motif and to show the cruel and violent situation that formed the background of her bright life and brutal death. I hope I have succeeded and will be pleased to receive your comments.

“CATHERINE HOWARD” BUY LINKS

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AUTHOR BIO:

D. Lawrence-Young takes the often pompous and frequently silly “Shakespeare Authorship Controversy” and turns it into a fast-paced page-turning detective story. All the nooks and crannies of rival candidates and claims are traversed in interesting locations and often funny encounters. The SAC has got under the Shakespeare-loving and teaching David Young’s skin and he has turned this irritant into a pleasure to read and from which there is much to learn.

D.Lawrence-Young (aka David L. Young) is an English, Drama and History teacher and lecturer who has specialized in English and military history and Shakespeare studies for many years. To date he has had published Communicating in English, an English Language textbook, as well as eleven historical novels: "Gunpowder, Treason & Plot", "Of Plots & Passions", "Tolpuddle" and "Of Guns & Mules," "Sail Away from Botany Bay," "Arrows Over Agincourt," "Of Guns, Revenge & Hope," "Marlowe: Soul'd to the Devil," "Will Shakespeare: Where Was He?" "The Man Who Would be Shakespeare - The Enigmatic Life of William Henry-Ireland," and "Will the Real William Shakespeare Please Step Forward?"

He is also a published (USA) and exhibited (UK & Jerusalem) photographer. He plays the clarinet (badly) and is a committee member of the local History Society. He is also the Chairman of the local Shakespeare Society and a regular contributor to "Forum," a magazine for English teachers, and "Skirmish," a military history journal. He has finished writing Anne of Cleves: Henry's Luckiest Wife - a novel about King Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, the wife who outlived all of Henry VIII's five other wives as well as the king himself. This was published by GMTA of North Carolina, USA in July 2013.

David Lawrence-Young is married and has three children, three grandchildren drives a sixteen year old SUV and rides an electric bicycle.

Website • Goodreads

As part of his book tour for Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, I have author D Lawrence-Young here with a guest post about how and why he writes historical novels.

I have always liked learning history, even when I had to suffer three of the world’s most boring history teachers in high school. Fortunately, when I went home and told my parents about what I had studied, my father would ask pointed and cynical questions about the heroes or the events we had concentrated on that day. In that way, I learned that there was more than one way in which I could relate to a specific historical hero or incident.

Another spinoff of this was, that when I became an English teacher, I would pepper grammatical examples I wrote on the board with historical events. In this way I hoped that this potentially dry subject would be more interesting. Using examples such as “If Henry VIII had not fallen in love with Anne Boleyn…” or “If the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler had succeeded…” I hoped made learning the conditional structure more exciting.

From this use of English and history grew my desire to write complete historical novels. This desire was helped in that I feel I don’t have to specialize in dealing with one particular era or country. Therefore I have been able to write about Australia in Sail Away from Botany Bay, about Israel in Six Million Accusers, about AngloSaxon kings in Of Plots & Passions, about Tudor queens in Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard as well writing about the 1605 Gunpowder Plot in Gunpowder, Treason & Plot. In addition, I have also written novels about the two World Wars – Of Guns & Mules and Of Guns, Revenge & Hope. And of course I had to write about Shakespeare and Marlowe. These two Elizabethan playwrights became the subjects of four other historical novels.

When it comes to the actual writing, this and the necessary background research is the best part. In terms of writing this means selecting the most suitable vocabulary and style; not repeating the same words too often and making sure that what I write flows well and is credible and accurate. Even though I am writing fiction, I cannot allow mistakes such as ‘the American Declaration of Independence of June 4th, 1777’ or ‘After the Confederate victory at Gettysburg…’ to creep in. Therefore I work hard to ascertain that if I do include an historical fact, it is completely accurate. This means I have to check my sources very carefully. As an example of this, I once phoned a friend in England who is an expert on trees to ask him about which sort of trees grow in the New Forest, the site where King William II was accidentally (?) shot to death by an arrow.

Finally, it is probably because I was a teacher for many years as well as being a long suffering student, that today I work hard to choose interesting topics for books and then to write about them in the most ‘pageturning’ way I can. I love reading and learning about what happened in the past and I want you to do the same.

GMTA is now working on bringing out my next historical novel: SIX MILLION ACCUSERS. This is a novel about how the Israeli Mossad team tracked down the arch-Nazi Adolf Eichmann in 1960 in Buenos Aires and smuggled him back to Israel to stand trial for his inhumane crimes during the Holocaust. Hopefully, it will be out in the next few months.

In the meanwhile, I have started on my next writing project - a book about the English Civil War and its aftermath. This will be called "Kill Cromwell!"

Guest Post

GUEST POST

How and why I write historical novels

D. Lawrence-Young

I have always liked learning history, even when I had to suffer three of the world’s most boring history teachers in high school. Fortunately, when I went home and told my parents about what I had studied, my father would ask pointed and cynical questions about the heroes or the events we had concentrated on that day. In that way, I learned that there was more than one way in which I could relate to a specific historical hero or incident.

Another spin-off of this was, that when I became an English teacher, I would pepper grammatical examples I wrote on the board with historical events. In this way I hoped that this potentially dry subject would be more interesting. Using examples such as “If Henry VIII had not fallen in love with Anne Boleyn…” or “If the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler had succeeded…” I hoped made learning the conditional structure more exciting.

From this use of English and history grew my desire to write complete historical novels. This desire was helped in that I feel I don’t have to specialize in dealing with one particular era or country. Therefore I have been able to write about Australia in Sail Away from Botany Bay, about Israel in Six Million Accusers, about Anglo-Saxon kings in Of Plots & Passions, about Tudor queens in Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard as well writing about the 1605 Gunpowder Plot in Gunpowder, Treason & Plot. In addition, I have also written novels about the two World Wars - Of Guns & Mules and Of Guns, Revenge & Hope. And of course I had to write about Shakespeare and Marlowe. These two Elizabethan playwrights became the subjects of four other historical novels.

When it comes to the actual writing, this and the necessary background research is the best part. In terms of writing this means selecting the most suitable vocabulary and style; not repeating the same words too often and making sure that what I write flows well and is credible and accurate. Even though I am writing fiction, I cannot allow mistakes such as ‘the American Declaration of Independence of June 4th, 1777’ or ‘After the Confederate victory at Gettysburg…’ to creep in. Therefore I work hard to ascertain that if I do include an historical fact, it is completely accurate. This means I have to check my sources very carefully. As an example of this, I once phoned a friend in England who is an expert on trees to ask him about which sort of trees grow in the New Forest, the site where King William II was accidentally (?) shot to death by an arrow.

Finally, it is probably because I was a teacher for many years as well as being a long-suffering student, that today I work hard to choose interesting topics for books and then to write about them in the most ‘page-turning’ way I can. I love reading and learning about what happened in the past and I want you to do the same.

Goodreads ** Amazon ** Barnes&Noble

About the author:

D. Lawrence-Young takes the often pompous and frequently silly “Shakespeare Authorship Controversy” and turns it into a fast-paced pageturning detective story. All the nooks and crannies of rival candidates and claims are traversed in interesting locations and often funny encounters. The SAC has got under the Shakespeare-loving and teaching David Young’s skin and he has turned this irritant into a pleasure to read and from which there is much to learn.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Fire Inside by Kristen Ashley

Fire Inside

FIRE INSIDE by Kristen Ashley (March 25, 2014; Forever Mass Market; $8.00)

Lanie Heron isn't looking for love-no surprise, considering her last serious relationship nearly got her killed. So when Lanie propositions Hop Kincaid, all she wants is one wild night with the hot-as-hell biker who patrols with the Chaos Motorcycle Club . . .

For Hop, Lanie has always been untouchable. She's too polished and too classy for his taste. But when she gives Hop the once-over with her bedroom eyes and offers him a night in paradise, he can't say no. And he doesn't regret it when he finds that Lanie is the best thing that's ever happened to him-in or out of bed. Now the trick will be to convince her of that.

Excerpt from FIRE INSIDE by Kristen Ashley

Hop came out of the bathroom to see Lanie on her feet on the other side of the bed, panties on, hands twisted behind her back putting her bra on. Again.

He didn’t say a word. He prowled to her, reached out an arm the second he was close, yanked her to him and fell to his back in the bed, taking her down with him.

“Hop—” she started, pushing her weight against his arms, but he slid her off him then wasted no time rolling over her and pinning her to his bed.

“Sleep,” he ordered when he caught her eyes in the weak dawn. “After rest, I’ll get coffee, we’ll juice up, then round four.”

She blinked and breathed, “Four?”

“Got lots more I want to do to you,” he informed her and watched her eyes go soft, sexier, then her teeth came out to graze her lush lower lip, also fucking sexy, and her arms slid around him.

But she asked, “What about Tack and Ty-Ty?”

“I’ll make sure the coast is clear,” he told her.

“But they’ll see my car,” she told him.

“I’ll move it,” he offered.

Her hand slid up his back, around his shoulder, and then to his neck where her thumb moved to stroke him.

Her touch was light but, fuck, it felt good. He’d never had a woman touch him in an unconscious way like that, just a touch, a stroke, giving something that meant nothing at the same time doing it without thinking about it meant everything.

Shit.

Complicated.

“This is just supposed to be one night,” she reminded him quietly, but he saw it in her eyes. She didn’t even try to hide it. She’d bitten off more than she could chew.

He had too and he was nowhere near done eating.

She was cute. She was sweet. She was hot. She was better than he expected and he’d expected her to be pretty fucking good. All that wrapped in a package that gorgeous?

Yeah.

He was nowhere near done eating.

“Change of plans. A night and a morning and, maybe, an afternoon and, possibly, another night,” he amended, and her eyes got softer as her hand slid up to cup his jaw.

“I have to work,” she told him.

“Call off,” he told her.

“I can’t. I own the joint.” She explained something he knew, that she ran her own advertising agency. “And things are a bit crazy.”

Things were always crazy for Lanie. The woman lived crazy. She thrived on it. If there wasn’t crazy, she stirred it up because she couldn’t breathe without it.

“Babe,” he pressed his body into hers, “told you, got more I want to do to you.”

About the author:

Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and has lived in Denver, Colorado, and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.

Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up. And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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