The Shadow of the Tudor Rose

A graduate of Exeter University in the early 1980s, I spent 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, before a change of career led me to writing children's fiction. Currently residing in Abu Dhabi, I live with my husband and our beautiful Tonkinese cat.

The Shadow of Atlantis is the first in a series of time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a rather special cat called Max. I'm now working on the 17th book, The Shadow of the Great Fire. The series also includes several novellas that feature Max the talking Tonkinese cat undertaking solo adventures. As I take my young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, I'm hoping that my love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too. 

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In 1588, a plot to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth the First is about to unfold. At this crucial moment in English history, four visitors from the future arrive in Elizabethan London. 

Twins Joe and Jemima Lancelot, together with their friend Charlie and their talking cat Max, embark upon their next journey into the past as they continue the search for their missing parents who are lost somewhere in the mists of time.

Finding themselves at the heart of a web of conspiracy, can the young time-travellers solve the mystery of the Tudor Rose?

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Snippet:

My young time-travellers discover that it’s not a good idea to try using modern currency to buy something in Tudor England:

‘Fie! What’s this?’ The man stared at the coins that Joe had given him, his eyes narrowing with suspicion as he bit cautiously down on the edge of one of the pennies. His lips curled back instantly. ‘That doth not taste right. What hast thou given me, sirrah?’  He glared at Joe, before turning the coin over in his hands to study the reverse side. ‘And who is this supposed to be?’ He pointed at the face on the back of the penny piece.

Joe’s face looked innocent as he answered. ‘It’s the Queen… um, Queen Elizabeth.’

‘Nay, ’tis not Queen Elizabeth.’ The man’s voice grew louder. ‘She doth not look anything like that. Thou must think my brains are addled, young trickster.’

‘But it is… er, it’s Queen Elizabeth the Second.’

‘Eh? The Second? There is no Queen Elizabeth the Second, turnip. Our Queen Elizabeth is the only one there is.’

 The enraged pie seller grabbed Joe by the scruff of the neck and began to shake him. ‘I’ll call for the watch – they know how to deal with knaves like you. Trying to pass counterfeit coins is a hanging offence, and you’ve stolen five of my best pies too.’

Joe’s face went white, as he tried to twist free from the man’s grasp. ‘That’s not true. It’s not fake, that’s real money, it…’

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Hermana

Becca McCulloch is a wife, mother, professor, and writer but rarely in that order (if in any order at all). At night, she transitions from mild-mannered educator into mild-mannered artist, writing about LDS (Mormon) issues in a modern and complex world. In 2016, she won the Storymakers' First Chapter Contest/General Fiction category. In 2019, her novel, Hermana, was named the General Fiction category winner for the LDS Publishers Media Association.

Becca resides in Utah with her husband, 2 children, Great Dane, two cats, and a pesky, yet friendly raccoon that won't leave the outdoor shed.

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WINNER! 2019 general fiction book of the year from the LDS Publishers Media Association.

Bookish and street-smart Lannie Lewis wants to be more than the child of a broken home who flunked out of music school. Full-time mission service will carry her away from the problems with her dad and immerse her hands in the work of God, or, it would if she’d stop hiding in the bathroom and wishing the island had better bug spray. When a disaster transforms her mission into a world of peril and overwhelming need, she will have to learn to hear the Lord’s voice for herself, even if it means she stands against the crowd. 

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Snippet:

I float through Shulz’s transfer like the in-focus character in a nouveau French film. Figures move past me, obscured in a fog. Loss slows time and shifts experience inward. Other scenes in this film replay in my head. My grandfather’s funeral. The day my dad left. Juries. Saying goodbye to mom in Salt Lake City.
Schulz and I stand beside each other as the training hermanas’ car approaches. We’ve not spoken all morning. Stoic Schulz preferred the view to conversation. A few jokes passed between her and Blank, but nothing for me.
“You’ll be a great training hermana, Schulz.”
“Thanks, Lewis. Try to stay alive.”
That’s the end of Schulz and me. She climbs in the car with Hermana Litchford, who still looks like she should be cavorting on a beach in a Pac Sun ad, and Hermana Stathos, who spares me a small wave and inquiry after my arm.
My new companion will come by bus. She’s been part of a threesome, so her poor comps get to waste a day on this transfer. No one knows when the bus will arrive. We sit and sweat while ancient buses stuffed with Dominicans and livestock rattle and sputter by at uncommonly high speed. The dirt whips into dust devils and makes the heat hotter. My Coca-Cola tastes gritty.
“I volunteer to get us all fresh sodas,” I murmur to the Elders. Everything already feels different without Schulz. Without her, we’re the sad pictures from the 1920s American dust bowl. Faces filled with deep lines and dirt. Nothing exciting at all.
When I get back, Hermana Olsen sits on her luggage opposite the Elders. This is the first I’ve seen her since we left the MTC. She’s changed, too, roughened at the edges. I hold out the 7-Up and Coca-Cola bottles for her to choose. She rejects both. The Elders take their Dr. Peppers. My insides feel like dried-out paint trays, so an extra soda is fine by me.

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Temple Omnibus

REN GARCIA, is a Science Fiction/Fantasy author and Texas native who grew up in western Ohio. He has been writing since before he could write, often scribbling alien lingo on any available wall or floor with assorted crayons.

He attended The Ohio State University and majored in English Literature. Ren has been an avid lover of anything surreal since childhood, he also has a passion for caving, urban archeology and architecture.

His books are published by Loconeal Publishing and include: The League of Elder: Sygillis of Metatron, The Hazards of the Old Ones, The Dead Held Hands, The Machine, and The Temple of the Exploding Head. LoE Book VI: Sands of the Solar Empire was released in July, 2012 and Book VII: “Against the Druries” was released in 2013. His next set of books,  “The Shadow tech Goddess” was released in 2014 with the most recent book, Stenibelle, released in June 2015.

 He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, and their three dogs.

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Starfarers and explorers, the League settled on Kana thousands of years ago. They found it to be a paradise, a perfect, virtually uninhabited planet waiting just for them in the cradle of space.

Lovely Kana … it was too good to be true …

But, all was not as it seemed. Simmering beneath the ground was a demented god who had soaked Kana in blood for untold ages, luring in victims, lying to them, and rejoicing in their suffering as they died at the hands of his dark angels.
And there will be blood again … From his Temple in the ground, the Horned God stirs.
When Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort, a young man troubled by the weight of the world, dares give his heart to a girl from a mysterious ancient household, one that pre-dates the League itself, he comes to know the shadows of the past that hover over her.

He comes to know of the Horned God, and for love he is destined to face him. All roads lead to the Temple of the Exploding Head, a place of evil and death, rooted in the ancient past, but also tied to the distant future. 

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Snippet:

She began having visions when she was five years old. All of her kind had visions, and hers were especially vivid. She could see the future, and she didn’t want to. Many of her family saw their deaths in their visions, at the hands of the demons, and they crumpled up in sadness and waited for it to happen—waited for the end to come. She watched one of her brothers waste away in such a state. She went to her grandmother and pleaded

“Why, why does this have to be?”

And her grandmother calmed her as only she could and said: “Nothing has to be. Nothing is indelibly etched. If you see bad future, or you see a darkness coming, then make it better. Keep your head clear and fight for what you want, as I have done. How do you think I’ve lasted so long?”

Her aunts and uncles didn’t like that sort of talk. What sort of thing was that to tell a child? Filling her head with dreams and impossibilities. Their motto was simpler and much more stark: Live your life while you can and hope for the best, and, when the end comes, let your head swarm and take you to places where there is no pain and sadness, where the demons can’t hurt you.

As if such a place could exist.  –Lady Sammidoran learning the brutality of the world.

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Artesans of Albia Box Set

Cas lives in the lovely county of Hampshire, southern UK, where she was born. On leaving school she trained for two years before qualifying as horse-riding instructor. During this time she also learned to carriage-drive. She spent thirteen years in the British Civil Service before moving to Rome, Italy, where she and her husband, Dave, lived for three years. They enjoy returning whenever they can. Cas supports many animal charities and owns two rescue dogs. She has a large collection of cacti and loves gardening. She is also a folk singer/songwriter and is currently writing and recording nine folk-style songs to accompany each of her fantasy books. You can listen to and download all the songs from her website: www.caspeace.com 

See the video of her performing live at the King’s Envoy book launch here: http://www.caspeace.com/cas-peace/the-wheel-will-turn

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Taran Elijah’s quest for knowledge uncovers a plot that threatens the world...

Desperate to learn how to control his innate Artesan powers, Taran embarks on a foolhardy plan to acquire the teaching he craves. The military backlash his action unleashes forces Albia’s High King to send Major Sullyan as an envoy to the Fifth Realm. But a dark and treacherous power is moving through the realms and all will feel its influence.

Captured and tortured by the power-hungry Lord Rykan, Sullyan is trapped in Andaryon. Aided by the unlikeliest sources, the major formulates a plan to defeat Rykan and end his quest for the throne. But Sullyan’s strength is fading fast and time is running out. The only thing that can save her is Rykan’s mysterious Staff, which lies buried in the ruins of Taran’s cellar.

Sullyan’s lover, Robin Tamsen, sets out to recover the artefact, but the enemy is two steps ahead of him. If Robin fails to secure the Staff, Sullyan’s life, the Artesan craft, and the very existence of their world is under threat.

Review:

"Cas Peace's Artesans of Albia trilogy immediately sweeps you away:  the drama starts with King's Envoy, continues unabated in King's Champion, and climaxes in King's Artesan, yet each volume is complete, satisfying.  The Artesan series  propels you into a world so deftly written that you see, feel, touch, and even smell each twist and turn. These nesting novels are evocative, hauntingly real. Smart. Powerful. Compelling. The trilogy teems with finely drawn characters, heroes and villains and societies worth knowing; with stories so organic and yet iconic you know you've found another home—in Albia. So start reading now. I, for one, can't wait to find out what will happen next.

Janet E Morris: Bestselling Author of The Sacred Band of Stepsons series; the Dream Dancer series; I, the Sun; Outpassage; The Silistra Quartet;and editor of the Bangsian In Hell series. Famed contributor to the shared universe fantasy series, Thieves World.

  
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Snippet:

1- Excerpt from King’s Champion:

Sullyan cantered Drum across the plains for the first mile or so, weaving through the trees, Robin and Marik at her back. Then she slowed the stallion to a brisk walk, allowing the other two to catch up. She made for the high road leading directly to the fortress gates, seeing with satisfaction that they were the only people on the road. Warning Marik and Robin to keep their hands well away from their sword hilts, she rode confidently forward, eyes narrowed against the snow glare.

The Count nudged his horse up on her left side, a gloomy expression on his face. “I expect the sentries and outriders will see us soon.”

She gave a snort. “My dear Count, there have been loaded crossbows aimed at our hearts for the past half hour.”

Marik started and looked wildly about, but there was no one in sight. Sullyan continued in silence, highly visible on the coal-black Drum. Her borrowed longsword reared in its harness over her shoulder.

They were about a mile and a half from the gates when the sentries rode out of cover and confronted them. Sullyan immediately halted in the middle of the road, waiting for the twenty-strong patrol to approach. Marik and Robin flanked her. She studied the Hierarch’s men with professional interest. The purple and gold of his livery was evident on their combat leathers, and their leader bore a Lieutenant’s rank insignia, the equivalent of an Albian Captain. A medium height man in his middle thirties, he halted his men a few paces from Sullyan and rode forward alone. He sat his dark bay stallion easily and his hand never left the hilt of his sword, despite the ready crossbows behind him.

He ignored Robin, swept Marik a contemptuous glance, and then turned his attention to Sullyan. He regarded her for a few moments, his pale brown eyes taking in her gold insignia, her battle honors, and King’s Envoy shooting star. When he addressed her, his tone was barely respectful, the attitude of a confident man unused to dealing with armed women.

“Major.” He gave her a slight nod, the only sign of respect she would get.

“Lieutenant.” She accorded him the same bare courtesy, giving her voice an identical inflexion.

His eyes narrowed as he reassessed her, taking in her relaxed but alert attitude and the casual way she sat the huge black stallion with its light saddle and bitless bridle. His own mount bore the usual heavy cavalry saddle that could keep a dying man upright, and foam was dripping from the iron bit in its mouth.

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Max's Royal Adventure

A graduate of Exeter University in the early 1980s, I spent 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, before a change of career led me to writing children's fiction. Currently residing in Abu Dhabi, I live with my husband and our beautiful Tonkinese cat.

The Shadow of Atlantis is the first in a series of time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a rather special cat called Max. I'm now working on the 17th book, The Shadow of the Great Fire. The series also includes several novellas that feature Max the talking Tonkinese cat undertaking solo adventures. As I take my young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, I'm hoping that my love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too. 

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Book 16 of the Shadows from the Past is a solo adventure for the feline hero of the series, Max the talking Tonkinese cat. The story is set in 1651, during the English Civil War:

The rightful King of England is on the run. With a price on his head and in fear for his life, Charles Stuart is desperate to escape his pursuers, the Parliamentarians who executed his father. A rich reward has been offered for his capture and everyone is on the lookout for the young man. Nowhere is safe. How will he ever manage to flee the country without help?

Never fear – the Guardians of Time have a Special Agent lined up for the job … but he just so happens to be a cat!

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This book is FREE on Amazon today 9 June 2020

Snippet:

As he gazed upwards, a faint memory suddenly flickered into life – something about the ancient power of oak trees and how they offered people protection, His heart began to beat a little faster…

Max gently touched the young man’s cheek. ‘I’ve got it,’ he whispered. ‘I’ve found the perfect hiding place.’

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