Category: Events

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Welcome to New Ocelot, David W Robinson!

We’re excited to announce that David W Robinson is joining Ocelot Press.

Born a Yorkshireman, David lives in Manchester and writes humorous whodunits and occasional psychological crime thrillers.

David’s light-hearted Sanford 3rd Age Club Mysteries and Mrs Capper’s Casebooks series are perennially popular. He also writes psychological crime thrillers under the pen-name Robert Devine.

Find out more about David on his author page, which gives his social media links.

Welcome to Ocelot Press, David!

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The Silver Sampler Series is launching soon!

The first book of a brand new series- The Silver Sampler Series – is coming soon from the pen of Ocelot Press author Nancy Jardine!

Look out for the eBook launch of Novice Threads on May 15th 2024. The novel is currently on Pre-Order at Amazon and can be ordered at the special launch price of £1,99 (equiv.) using this link HERE

[paperback details to follow]

The setting for Nancy’s new Silver Sampler Series is Scotland, during the Victorian period. This is quite a departure from her Celtic Fervour Series set in 1st Century Roman Britain. Researching the Victorian era has been a joy and Nancy has also had the satisfaction of writing in a slightly different style. The Celtic Fervour Series is largely historical adventure fiction, whereas the new Silver Sampler Series is historical saga fiction, with Book 1 also being a coming of age novel.

Meet Margaret Law.

A thirst for education.  Shattered dreams. Fragile relations.

1840s Scotland

Being sent to school is the most exhilarating thing that’s ever happened to young Margaret Law. She sharpens her newly-acquired education on her best friend, Jessie Morison, till Jessie is spirited away to become a scullery maid. But how can Margaret fulfil her visions of becoming a schoolteacher when her parents’ tailoring and drapery business suddenly collapses and she must find a job?

Salvation from domestic drudgery – or never-ending seamstress work – comes via Jessie whose employer seeks a tutor for his daughter. Free time exploring Edinburgh with Jessie is great fun, but increasing tension in the household claws at Margaret’s nerves.

Margaret also worries about her parents’ estrangement, and the mystery of Jessie’s unknown father. When tragedy befalls the household in Edinburgh, Margaret must forge a new pathway for the future – though where will that be?

***

Nancy is absolutely delighted with the cover for Novice Threads and hopes you love it, too!

by Nancy Jardine

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Ocelot Press **Twelfth Night Sale** Now On

And we’re off! The Ocelot Press **Twelfth Night Sale** starts today (6th January) and runs for a few days only.

Around half of our titles are reduced to 99p / 99c on Kindle in most Amazon stores. That’s a whopping 66% off many titles.

So don’t delay – fill those new (or old) e-readers with books for your reading year.

We’ve got titles in a wide variety of genres, so there’s something to suit every taste.

To find our books, simply type Ocelot Press into the Amazon search bar or follow this link to our page in your Amazon store.

Ocelot Press titles on Amazon
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Before Beltane – A Prequel to the Celtic Fervour Series!

Ocelot Press has a new addition to its list of titles. Nancy Jardine’s Celtic Fervour Series, set in Late 1st Century Roman Britain/ Roman Empire, now has a Prequel to the series named Before Beltane.

Before Beltane was written to provide a deeper historical backdrop to the beginning of the series, to describe in more detail what was happening in Brigantia, northern Roman Britain, in AD 71. It also gives a glimpse into the lives of Lorcan of Garrigill and Nara of Tarras – the two main characters of Book 1 The Beltane Choice – prior to them meeting each other in Book 1.
Civil War between Queen Cartimandua and her ex-husband King Venutius caused strife amongst the Brigantes for some years, though by AD 71 it was time for all of the Brigantes to be at peace and to live together in harmony.
Unfortunately, the downfall of Queen Cartimandua (a Client Ruler of Rome) caused an escalation of the threat of Roman legionary invasion. The armies of General Cerialis, the Roman Governor of Britannia, not only invaded Brigantia, but by AD 71 they settled down and built wooden forts.
Before Beltane is a book of two intermingling halves. It presents an incident in Lorcan of Garrigill’s daily life, followed by an incident in Nara of Tarras’ daily life, a process that’s repeated throughout the book.

Two lives. Two stories. One future.

AD 71  Northern Britannia

At the Islet of the Priestesses, acolyte Nara greets each new day eager to heal the people at Tarras Hillfort. Weapon training is a guilty pleasure, but she is devastated when she is unexpectedly denied the final rites of an initiated priestess. A shocking new future beckons for Princess Nara of the Selgovae…

In the aftermath of civil war across Brigantia, Lorcan of Garrigill’s promotion of King Venutius is fraught with danger. Potential invasion by Roman legions from the south makes an unstable situation even worse. When Lorcan meets the Druid Maran, the future foretold for him is as enthralling as it is horrifying…

Before Beltane is now available in paperback format from AMAZON and can be ordered in bookstores.
The AMAZON eBook launch is April 29th 2022 and the eBook is on Pre-Order till then.

Wishing you Happy Reading!

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Rolling towards Bookweek Scotland 15th -21st November 2021!

This post is by Nancy Jardine.

Every year since 2012, when I was first published, I’ve been involved in some sort of activity during the festival time that is named Bookweek Scotland. It is generally held around the third week of November and has official participants all over Scotland. However, there are also many authors who do ‘something’ even if not on the official register or website. Last year was problematic due to Covid restrictions, and in all honesty this year isn’t really all that much better as some events won’t be happening as normal.

That said, back in April in a spirit of hope and optimism, I organised a booking for the Brechin and Angus Book Festival (north-east Scotland) being held from the 19th -21st of November. I’m delighted to say it’s currently still due to take place and fingers crossed that will still be the situation a few weeks from now. I’ll be doing book signings and selling of my novels alongside a number of other local authors and I’ll be giving an informal author talk/presentation on the Saturday afternoon, which I’m eagerly looking forward to. There may also be other impromptu opportunities for discussing my novels during the 3 day event. Many different activities, for adults and for children, have been arranged by the committee who have been beavering away for months to make the event a spectacular one.

Additionally, from today onwards (27th October 2021) my Ocelot Press novels will all be FREE across the Amazon network – BUT it will be different books on different weeks and for different lengths of time. Keep checking my Amazon author page to see which is available!


My FREE programme begins with the virtual reality based time travel adventure The Taexali Game. This novel is suitable for early teens through adult readers and has had many positive reviews for the ingenuity of the time travel mechanism. If you’ve not read it yet, please grab a copy HERE before the 30th Oct. and let me know how you find it. A review on Amazon of just a few sentences would be so welcome.

If you’d prefer a contemporary mystery thriller, you’ll find that Topaz Eyes – an ancestral based plot set in fabulous European locations – is FREE during the week beginning the 1st. Nov.

This will be followed by the contemporary corporate sabotage mystery Take Me Now (romantic comedy) during the week beginning 8th Nov.

Bookweek Scotland is the week 15th -21st Nov. and you’ll find the books in my Celtic Fervour Series will all be FREE on different days, on a rolling 2 day FREE duration for each of them and my FREE bonanza will finish on the 21st Nov. with Monogamy Twist, another contemporary mystery (romcom) that’s also genealogy based.

Confusing? Don’t worry. Just pop into my Amazon page every day and see what’s on offer!
Wishing you very Happy Reading!

p.s. And please remember that reviews are so important to all authors. Thank you!