Review: ‘An Almond for a Parrot’, by Wray Delaney

Published by: HQ, HarperCollins

Publication date: 27th July 2017

Format: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9780008182533

Blurb

‘I would like to make myself the heroine of this story – an innocent victim led astray. But alas sir, I would be lying…’

London, 1756: In Newgate prison, Tully Truegood awaits trial. Her fate hanging in the balance, she tells her life-story. It’s a tale that takes her from skivvy in the back streets of London, to conjuror’s assistant, to celebrated courtesan at her stepmother’s Fairy House, the notorious house of ill-repute where decadent excess is a must

Tully was once the talk of the town. Now, with the best seats at Newgate already sold in anticipation of her execution, her only chance of survival is to get her story to the one person who can help her avoid the gallows.

She is Tully Truegood.

Orphan, whore, magician’s apprentice.

Murderer?

I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

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Review: ‘Women at War in the Classical World’, by Paul Chrystal

Women at War in the Classical World

Published by: Pen & Sword Press

Publication Date: 20th March 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9781473856608

Price: £25.00

Format: Hardback

Blurb

Paul Chrystal has written the first full length study of women and warfare in the Graeco Roman world. Although the conduct of war was generally monopolized by men, there were plenty of exceptions with women directly involved in its direction and even as combatants, Artemisia, Olympias, Cleopatra and Agrippina the Elder being famous examples. And both Greeks and Romans encountered women among their ‘barbarian’ enemies, such as Tomyris, Boudicca and Zenobia.
More commonly, of course, women were directly affected by war as non-combatant victims, of rape and enslavement as spoils of war and this makes up an important strand of the author’s discussion. The portrayal of female warriors and goddesses in classical mythology and literature, and the use of war to justify gender roles and hierarchies, are also considered. Overall it is a landmark survey of how war in the Classical world affected and was affected by women.

Available: here

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Exploring different distribution channels

For my novels

I’ve been looking at increasing the distribution channels for the ebook of Hidden Fire; currently it’s only available through Amazon as a Kindle book. I don’t want to limit myself. Long ago I signed up to Smashwords but I’ve never done anything with it, because I was encouraged to use KDP for the ebook. I’ve been reading through the modules for my Writer’s Bureau course that deal with self-publishing and Smashwords came up a few times in relations to distributing books widely.

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HIDDEN FIRE now available to order from my blog

I’ve been fiddling around with CreateSpace and worked out that I have an eStore. Yes, I know, shocking that it’s taken me a month to work this stuff out. That it because I’m not great with technology, and the having to move stuff has been messing with my critical faculties.

So, if you want to buy the book direct, without having to go through Amazon and give the author a little bit of extra cash, order here

I will be adding the link to the book page too, so it’s easy to find later.

Thanks

28th May Writing Prompt

Do you remember that writing prompt experiment I was trying in April? I only managed to get a few prompts written, for various reasons. I tried again this month, and failed miserably, but I have managed to make something decent out of the prompt from 28th May, ‘bloody footprints’.

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Putting down roots; Or, someone give me a mortgage, please.

I have to move out of the house I’ve been in since 11th September 2014; long-time readers may remember the breakdown I had about having to move then? Due to my landlord not paying his bills (allegedly), he has to sell the house, which means I have to move.

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Review: ‘The Path of Paganism’ by John Beckett

Published By: Llewellyn Worldwide

Publication Date: 8th May 2017

Edition: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9780738752051

Price: $19.99 (US)

Blurb

The Path of Paganism provides practical advice and support for living an authentic Pagan life in our mainstream Western culture. Witches, druids, polytheists, and other Pagans will discover an experiential guide to the foundations and practices of these deeply meaningful traditions.

For John Beckett, practicing Paganism means more than adopting a set of books, tools, and holidays. Practicing Paganism means cultivating a way of seeing the world and your place in it. It means challenging the assumptions of mainstream society, keeping those that prove true and helpful while discarding those that show themselves to be false. It means building a solid foundation from which you can explore the nature of the universe, the gods, your self, and your community while learning to strengthen your relationship with all of them.

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Ahh! Copies of my book have arrived!

A box of books turned No automatic alt text available. up this afternoon. My books, ten of them. A lot sooner than I expected. I’ve sold four already, so the rest are for the book launch. I’m considering ordering more, but I haven’t got enough money yet.

It’s rather exciting and i like the feel of the books. I’ll probably be making some changes for the next book, smaller text probably.

In other news, I’m working on the short story that goes with this novel. It might become a novella at the rate I’m going 😀

I’ve been sleeping a lot

Yep, I over did it last week and have basically spent two days asleep. Which is why I’m awake at one in the morning writing a blog post. I’m hoping getting things written down will allow me to get some sleep tonight.

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Review: ‘Earth’, by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen and Linda T. Elkins-Tanton

Publication Date: 9th May 2017

Published by: Bloomsbury Academic

Edition: Paperback

I.S.B.N.: 9781501317910

Price: $14.95

Blurb:

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

In Earth, a planetary scientist and a literary humanist explore what happens when we think of the Earth as an object viewable from space. As a “blue marble,” “a blue pale dot,” or, as Chaucer described it, “this litel spot of erthe,” the solitary orb is a challenge to scale and to human self-importance. Beautiful and self-contained, the Earth turns out to be far less knowable than it at first appears: its vast interior an inferno of incandescent and yet solid rock and a reservoir of water vaster than the ocean, a world within the world. Viewing the Earth from space invites a dive into the abyss of scale: how can humans apprehend the distances, the temperatures, and the time scale on which planets are born, evolve, and die?

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

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