Tag: Historical Fiction

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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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April A to Z!

This post is by Nancy Jardine

April is the Cruellest Month according to the poet T S Elliot, but it doesn’t need to be!

Approaching April is a time that reminds me of an event that I didn’t think I’d be engaging in ever again…since the last time I did an April A to Z Blogging Challenge in 2019!

When I did my first April Blog A to Z Challenge, a decade ago, I officially joined hundreds of other bloggers who had also signed up. The plan back then (2013) was to make each April blog post visible to the other participants, but also to the wider community. The ethos was very much read as many other blog posts as possible and share the URLs widely as much as you could. The idea was to post a blog item each day in April, bar most Sundays, the title of the first one beginning with A, and so on…covering the English alphabet. Many bloggers chose a particular theme to centre the posts around, though other writers posted random articles.

Since those first years, when the April A to Z Challenge was an activity that was an extremely active one in the Indie author world, I’ve challenged myself without signing up to anything formal. This year is yet again a personal challenge, mainly intended to resurrect my blog which has been withering for many, many months.

Most of my April Challenges to date have been Roman themed, a reflection of my Celtic Fervour Series research. However, since my current ‘Writing In Progress’ is set in the Victorian era, my theme is unsurprisingly Victorian Scotland – the location of my current work.

Short items should appear on my blog every single day beginning with an ‘A’ post on Saturday 1st April 2023 and ending with a ‘Z’ post on the 26th April. This should give me time at the end of the month to do a round-up of progress, and/or add any other research themes I’ve been tackling as I write.

If interested, look out for those posts on my BLOG

Enjoy April, and especially if you’re reading the excellent book selections offered by Ocelot Press.  

Best Regards,

Nancy Jardine

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A New Historical Romance Forthcoming from Jennifer C. Wilson

We’re excited to announce a new border reiver historical romance from Jennifer C. Wilson. The Warriors’ Prize will be launched in June and is available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle.

Stirling Castle, 1498
Visiting court for the first time since her father’s death, Lady Avelina Gordon finds herself drawn to the handsome warrior, Sir Lachlan MacNair. But as a woman who has seen too many of her friends lose everything for ‘love’, she keeps her heart guarded.

Castle Berradane, 1502
Lady Avelina is unceremoniously told to expect her new husband within the month. The man in question: Sir Lachlan.

Lachlan arrives in Berradane carrying his own secret, and a determination to control his heart. As attraction builds between the couple, they find themselves under attack and fearful of a traitor in their midst.

Can the teamwork they’ve shown in adversity so far pull them through one final test, and will they find the strength to risk their hearts, as well as their lives?

You can pre-order the Kindle edition now, and it will download automatically onto your e-reader on publication day, 16th June. Nothing to pay until then!

Pre-order The Warriors’ Prize on Amazon

And, if you haven’t already read Jennifer’s earlier border reiver romance, set in 1470s Northumberland, The Raided Heart, you’ll find that on Amazon, too, in Kindle and paperback editions.

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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!