Saturday, April 29, 2017

Queen of Martyrs Blog Tour

Have you missed any of the great articles, interviews, and excerpts that have been a part of the Queen of Martyrs blog tour? Get caught up right here!

We begin with a spot at The Writing Desk of fellow author Tony Riches, where I address reader expectations of 'Bloody Mary'.

"Why 'Bloody Mary'?" at The Writing Desk

Next, some surprising similarities between the much loved Katherine of Aragon and her daughter at EHFA.

"Mary I: Her Mother's Daughter" at English Historical Fiction Authors

This one includes an excerpt! And a look at the complicated relationship between Mary and her cousin, Lady Jane Grey

"Mary and Jane: Reluctant Rivals" at Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide

Ever wondered about the person behind the books? Suzy Henderson interviewed me for her blog.

"Interview with Author Samantha Wilcoxson" at  Blog of Suzy Henderson

Just for fun! What if Mary had chosen someone else to be her husband?

"Mary and Reginald: What Could Have Been?" at Tudors Dynasty

Another fun stop - I got to 'interview' one of my favorite secondary characters from Queen of Martyrs: Frances Waldegrave.

"An Interview with Frances Waldegrave" at History Imagined

Readers might be surprised by this look at the relationship and similarities of character between Mary and her more favored sister, Elizabeth.

"What Elizabeth Learned from Mary" at Blog of Judith Arnopp

Finally, I was a guest of book blogger Poppy Coburn with a post regarding what Queen of Martyrs is truly about - exposing the real Queen Mary behind the myths and misconceptions.

"Exposing the Real 'Bloody Mary'" at Blog of Poppy Coburn


Now for the BOOK REVIEWS! 


Two blogs have also featured beautiful reviews of Queen of Martyrs:

Troy Rodgers at Knight of Angels
He's the one who convinced me to write it! Talk about pressure!

Sharon Connolly at History- The Interesting Bits
Sharon has her own book coming out soon: Heroines of the Medieval World - I can't wait to get my hands on it and find more wonderful women to write about!

You can also find several brilliant reviews for my Mary at Goodreads, Amazon, & Amazon UK.

Have you written a review? Please link it in the comments below!!

Don't want to miss anything? Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, or Instagram.

One more thing....if you ever want to find articles I have written for other websites/blogs, you can find them here.

Whew! It's been a busy month! Thank you for your support!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Publication Day for Queen Mary!

The day is finally here to welcome Queen Mary to your bookshelves! Queen of Martyrs was written to challenge each reader to consider the story of 'Bloody Mary' a little more deeply. Was she vengeful and bitter? I don't think so. The Mary Tudor I have come to know was merciful and devout, choosing her course of action based on the good of the people of England and what is right in the eyes of God. Of course, not everyone agreed at that turbulent time on what God's wishes were, but salvation was still a matter of state, leaving Mary in a sticky situation that has caused her name to be blackened for almost 500 years.

My heart broke for Mary as I watched her go through loss and longing over and over again. How different would her story be if just one person had shown her the devotion and love that she so desired to share? After the deaths of her mother in 1536 and her former governess in 1541, Mary was left with no one who would ever demonstrate the same kind of unconditional love for her.

She never forgot that she was a princess and her father's legitimate heir. Though she would often be weak physically and  naive politically, Mary demonstrated unprecedented strength when she claimed the throne that men conspired to deny her.

Read her story and see if you are not tempted to feel some sympathy - and maybe even cheer a bit - for a lonely bastardized princess who became queen.

A fun blog tour will be taking place over the next few weeks to celebrate this book release. Stay tuned for guest posts, book reviews, interviews, excerpts and more from Queen of Martyrs: The Story of Mary I. The tour started a few days ago at the blog of historical fiction author Tony Riches. Visit The Writing Desk for some background on the woman I hope fewer people will be calling Bloody Mary.

Read an amazing review from the friend who encouraged me to write about Queen Mary at Knight of Angels.

Next, I am at EHFA with Mary I: Her Mother's Daughter, and Sharon Connolly of History - The Interesting Bits has published a lovely review of Queen of Martyrs.

Curious about the relationship between Mary and Lady Jane Grey? You will enjoy this post at the Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide which includes an excerpt from Queen of Martyrs!

A fun post at Tudors Dynasty looks at Mary's marriage possibilities and how things could have turned out better if she had not chosen a Spanish husband.

Suzy Henderson has interviewed me about my writing process and how a book about Elizabeth of York turned into the Plantagenet Embers Trilogy.

Future stops in the blog tour will include History Imagined, book blogger Poppy Coburn, and the blog of historical fiction author Judith Arnopp. Enjoy!


Queen of Martyrs is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.


NOTE TO THOSE WHO PRE-ORDERED

If you have already received Queen of Martyrs on your Kindle, many thanks to you for pre-ordering!! Unfortunately, you may have received the wrong file. Due to a mix up between myself and Amazon, an ARC was sent out to those who pre-ordered. You should be able to update content though your 'Manage your Content and Devices' page under your Amazon account.

I apologize profusely for this mix up and spent several days attempting to clear it up before today, but that is one of the few disadvantages to being an independent author. To Amazon, I am less than a little fish in a big pond. I am a tiny shrimp in a giant ocean. If you have any trouble downloading the correct version of QoM, please contact me directly and I will ensure that you receive it.

Thanks again for supporting my writing!
~ Samantha

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

The Persistence of the Past

Edoardo Albert is a talented writer of books and articles on diverse topics from Daily Science Fiction to History Today. He has previously been a guest here with a wonderful post on researching, writing and Northumbrian kings, and I am happy to welcome him back. Today, he takes us on a visit to Bamburgh Castle and the Isle of Anglesey, where he found a few physical connections to the long ago kings who feature in his novels.

Welcome, Edoardo!
~ Samantha


Guest Post by Edoardo Albert


Writing, as I do, about 7th-century Britain, you’d think that there would be few tangible remains for anyone interested in the doings of these seminal but all-but-forgotten kings to touch and see and visit. And seeing as how the Anglo-Saxons preferred wood for their buildings rather than stone, you’d be right – in the main. After the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity – a process that I write about in my novels – there an increasing number of relics to see and appreciate, from the luminous beauty of the Lindisfarne Gospels to the churches of Saints Peter and Paul at Monkwearmouth, where the great Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, but there’s precious little from before and during the conversion period.

Which makes what there is, all the more precious.

Bamburgh – Bebbanburh then – was the stronghold and capital of the Idings, the Anglian rulers of Bernicia who, under Æthelfrith, took over the kingdom of Deira (centred on York). For anyone wishing to get close to the events in my books, there is no better place to visit. Bamburgh Castle as it stands today is the result of the renovations carried out in the 19th century by Lord Armstrong, Victorian industrialist and one of the richest men of the time. Personally, I prefer a castle intact, even if done up, rather than one in romantic ruins, so I’m pleased that Lord Armstrong rescued the castle from decay. But despite all the centuries of occupation, there are still traces of its days of glory as the centre of the most powerful kingdom in Britain.

Here’s a photo of me, standing beside
the well, wondering how they did it.
To find the first of these, go down deep into the castle’s depths. There, in the basement, you’ll find the well. Sitting atop a huge great lump of dolerite, an extrusion of the Great Whin Sill, and set beside the sea, there was only one thing Bamburgh lacked to make it the perfect stronghold for a bunch of marauding Anglians on the make: water. Yes, you could store water in butts, but to withstand a siege, the castle needed water. So Æthelfrith dug a well. Through solid rock. Until he reached water. They dug down through 44 metres (144 feet) of rock, making a hole two metres (six feet) wide. How did they do it? We don’t know for certain, as they left no records of the engineering that went into this remarkable feat, but one possibility is that fires may have been set on top of the rock, heating it as much as possible, before cold water doused the fire, and cooled and contracted the rock, making it split. But they must have set a lot of fires to dig down so deep. 

The Bamburgh blade now rests in a display cabinet in the castle,
a rusty reminder of past glory and lost greatness.
Also in Bamburgh Castle, in the small exhibit of finds from the ongoing excavations of the Bamburgh Research Project, there is an unprepossessing slab of corroded metal. It’s not much to look at: the remains of a broken sword retrieved from the earth after centuries buried. But this may be what is left of the most remarkable sword ever made. You see, in making a sword, smiths have to reconcile opposites. A sword must be sharp, to cut through armour and shield, bone and muscle, but it must also be flexible, so that it does not break in battle, leaving its wielder weaponless. Steel is hard and can be sharpened to a razor’s edge, but it is brittle. Iron is flexible but it will not hold an edge and so, in battle, will become little more than a metal club.

To overcome these contradictions, sword smiths of the so-called Dark Ages (they certainly weren’t ignorant so far as the properties of metals were concerned) developed the technique of pattern welding, where cores of iron were heated, wound together and beaten out, removing impurities, while a steel edge was welded to the blade. Up until the early 2000s, no blade had been found with more than four strands of iron welded together. And then the Bamburgh blade was sent for analysis to the Royal Armouries. It had six. Six iron cores, repeatedly heated and beaten and welded together. It would have taken thousands of man hours to create such a blade and only a master sword smith would have been capable of it. Such a sword would surely have been wielded by the greatest of warriors, perhaps the king himself. What is more, the sword was dated to the seventh century. The sword itself was passed down through the generations, sheathed in peace and wielded in war, for four centuries before, finally, it broke, and consigned to the earth in the grounds of Bamburgh Castle. Such a burial place suggests the esteem in which the sword was held.

The gravestone of King Cadfan, embedded in the wall
of a quiet country church in Anglesey.
Outside Bamburgh, the most evocative and moving seventh-century survival I have found is set into the wall of a quiet country church on the Isle of Anglesey. Anglesey, separated from the north west of Wales by the Menai Strait, was the bread basket of the kingdom of Gwynedd, one of the realms where the Britons maintained their life and their faith despite the incursions of the Anglo-Saxon invaders. The kings of Gwynedd had their seat at a settlement called Aberffraw. Visit the village today and it’s a quiet, peaceful place. A mile east of Aberffraw is the even quieter hamlet of Llangadwaladr and the church of St Cadwaladr. And embedded in the wall of the church is the gravestone of King Cadfan of Gwynedd, the father of King Cadwallon, the ‘furious stag’ of Welsh hope, who fought and almost brought down the Anglo-Saxon kings of Northumbria. Cadwallon himself, killed by Oswald in battle, has no gravestone but this mute stone gives testament to the learning of the ancient kingdom, for it is written in Latin: CATAMANUS REX SAPIENTISIMUS OPINATISIMUS OMNIUM REGUM (‘King Catamanus, the wisest, most illustrious of all kings’). Catamanus is the Latin form of Cadfan.

In the quiet of rural Wales, standing in the church dedicated to King Cadfan’s grandson, it seems almost possible to pierce the veil of centuries and see back to the grieving people and family who had this stone cut in memory of their king and father.

Connect with Edoardo

Connect with Edoardo on his website, where you can find more about his articles, podcast, and short stories. His books include the Northumbrian Thrones trilogy, featuring 7th century kings Edwin, Oswald, and Oswiu. He has also published several nonfiction books, including London: A Spiritual History, In Search of Alfred the Great, and Northumbria: The Lost Kingdom

Find these and more by Edoardo Albert on Amazon.

You can also connect with Edoardo on Twitter



Saturday, April 1, 2017

From the Scriptorium: April 2017

April 2017 Edition

The biggest news this month is the upcoming release of Queen of Martyrs! I cannot wait to hear what you all think of Queen Mary's story. If you are looking forward to reading it on Kindle, you can pre-order it now. On April 12, it will be available in paperback as well.

Why April 12? Because it is my birthday! One of the advantages of being an independent writer is setting my own deadlines, so I decided that a book release was the best way to spend my day, certainly better than dwelling over creeping numbers and fine lines!


Also to celebrate the advent of Queen Mary, I have a great blog tour planned. We will be visiting The Writing Desk, Knight of Angels, EHFA, Lady Jane Grey, Suzy Henderson, Judith Arnopp, History, the Interesting Bits, and History Imagined. See my In the News page to stay up to date on guest posts so that you don't miss a single book review, excerpt, interview, or historic article!


Featured Reviews

Queen of Martyrs on Goodreads - I can't wait to read your review!

Faithful Traitor on Goodreads

Plantagenet Princess, Tudor Queen at The Review


See your review featured! Leave a link in the comments below.



Events

I was privileged to participate in the Michigan Library Association's Spring Institute at a special Evening with an Author, organized to support local literacy efforts. Thank you to everyone who joined me in Frankenmuth, Michigan for great book talks and, of course, plenty of German food and Christmas cheer at any time of year.



In the News

I have started writing for the magazine All About History! If you already subscribe, you know that this publication is packed with interesting articles on all eras of history as well as fun features such as book reviews and alternative histories. Look forward to my own version of alternative history coming up soon in which Queen Mary chooses Reginald Pole as her husband instead of Prince Philip of Spain!

Did You Miss It?

Who would dare to stand up to Henry VIII? A teenage girl. Get warmed up for the rest of Mary's story by reading about her courageous stand against her father. (The scene described in this post actually takes place during Mary's younger years in Faithful Traitor.)

Mary Takes a Stand

Judith Arnopp's guest post last month quickly became one of the most viewed articles on this blog. Apparently, many of you are interested in the Lady Margaret Beaufort and Judith's inspiration for writing about her.

Why Margaret Beaufort?

Another guest, Trisha Hughes, stopped by to celebrate the release of her new novel, Vikings to Virgin - The Hazards of Being King. This is one I look forward to reading!

The Hazards of Being King

Taking an article for the archives, we revisited the fate of the York princesses who suddenly found themselves subjects of a new dynasty.

York Sisters in a Tudor World

Have you visited all the wonderful places on my Historic Places Blog Series?


You can follow me on Twitter, Goodreads, or Facebook to ensure that you never miss a thing!

I'm also now on Instagram @Samantha_Wilcoxson.