BRAZEN Blog Tours!

Seven weeks 'til BRAZEN publication, and I'm crafting all kinds of reveals and teasers and exclusive content for two different blog tour events.

Kathy Coe at A Glass of Wine is conducting the Tudor Thursdays (formerly Tudor Tuesdays) tour, a six-week stretch preceding the publication date.  Each post includes a taste of information about my favorite historical sites in England, as well as a (mostly) related teaser excerpt from BRAZEN.  Keep a lookout!

Jaime Arnold at Rock Star Book Tours is hosting a two-week BRAZEN blog tour right around the publication date, which will include reviews, interviews and exclusive guest posts.  More information about participating bloggers will be updated shortly!

Two Weeks 'Til TARNISH (plus trailer!)

And things are starting to get exciting around here.  My author copies arrived last week:

Yes, I cried.

The Tudor Tuesdays blog tour is half over and has been so much fun! So far, I've shared excerpts and inspirations about Jane Boleyn, Henry Percy, George Boleyn, Henry VIII and today at Belle of the Literati, I talk about historical hindsight.  And we're giving away signed copies of TARNISH!

My blog tour will kick off next week, run by the fabulous Jaime Arnold at Rockstar Book Tours.  She's put together an amazing array of bloggers, who have asked tough questions and convinced me to write about some fascinating subjects.  Please drop by some of the posts!

Finally, today the trailer for TARNISH goes live on YouTube (eeep!).  Tell me what you think!

Tudor Tuesdays!

It's time again for Tudor Tuesdays--a blog series leading up to the publication of my book, hosted by Kathy Coe at A Glass of Wine.  Every Tuesday for the next six weeks, various bloggers will be posting excerpts from TARNISH and a little insight into how and why I wrote the scene.  We kick off today with a giveaway of the paperback of GILT, published today (!!) and will finish on June 18, with a giveaway of TARNISH.

Below is the full schedule:


May 7th - Emilie @ Emilie's Book World **Paperback of Gilt kick off**
May 14th - Katie @ BlookGirl
May 21st - Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf
May 28th - Kathy @ A Glass of Wine
June 4th - Kelly @ Belle of the Literati
June 11th - Jessica @ Read My Breath Away

Thank you, Kathy, for your superior organizational skills and unflagging enthusiasm, and thanks to all the fabulous bloggers who are making this possible!

Why I Love Britain and the British - Part 3

History.

You knew it was coming, didn't you?  I love English history.  The Saxons and the Romans.  William the Conquerer and Harold. (side note, my first love of English history came from French class, learning about the Bayeux Tapestry (la tapisserie de Bayeux).  Old Harold with the arrow through his eye at the battle of Hastings.  Great stuff.)  The Anarchy of Matilda (or Maud) and Stephen.  King John. Richard II. 

Recently, I've been out touring centuries of English history.  My writing at the moment is all about the Tudors, but I love to get out and explore the rest of the history, too.  I visited a Roman villa, its mosaic floor almost entirely intact in some rooms.  I wandered the air museum at Tangmere and learned about the Battle of Britain.  In the same day.

I went for a two-hour walk through fields and along a canal and ended up at an ancient, crumbling octagonal tower in the middle of almost nowhere.  Odiham Castle, from which King John rode in a snit to set his stamp to the Magna Carta.

But the best part of my journey this trip was to visit Bosworth battlefield.  This is where Richard III lost his crown - the last English king to die in battle - and Henry Tudor picked it up.  The beginning of the Tudor dynasty.  And the end of one of the most maligned figures in history.  The history here is palpable.  The striations on the canon shot discovered in the field.  The belt buckles and clips found after centuries.  And a white boar badge, silver and gilded, worn by one of Richard's loyal followers and lost to the earth that August day in 1485.  I'm not ashamed to say that tears came to my eyes seeing that little piece of ancient metal. 

I love being able to visualize the history.  To strain to hear the sounds of canon fire or smell the smoke in a close castle room.  To look out a window and sweep away the tarmacked streets and cars and see only the rolling hills beyond.  This is why I love to write history, because I can indulge my imagination.

Please join me tomorrow on another little historical trip -- Nicole About Town is kicking off the Tudor Tuesdays blog tour with a post about Catherine of Aragon and an excerpt from GILT.  Please drop by!

Tudor Tuesdays!

I'm thrilled to announce a blog tour for GILT, created and managed by the lovely Kathy Coe at A Glass of Wine.  Every Tuesday, beginning April 10, a different blog will feature one of Henry's queens, with a little teaser from GILT thrown in for good measure.  There will be prizes (including finished copies) and I will finish up the tour on May 22 with a post about Henry himself.

To learn more - dates, names and locations - please jump to A Glass of Wine!