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.
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!
Ocelot author Miriam Drori has started a super series on her blog, in which authors discuss whether (or not) their characters are based on them or on people they know.
Fellow Ocelot Vanessa Couchman appears today, talking about her historical fiction, how she finds and develops her characters and why readers she knows sometimes see her in them
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.
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!
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.
Ocelot Press 