Barbara Scott Emmett is one of those rare authors whose prose is so superb that I enjoy every sentence, and at the same time as I want to get to the end to find out what happens, I don't want it to end because the pleasure of reading her writing is just so good. In this book, Dog Leap Stairs, set in the fifties, Emmett writes in first person point of view as Monica. From the begining she is portrayed as a woman with two sides, one a normal woman of the times, the other, someone with a dark secret. At the begining it's not clear exactly what that secret is. Murders, we hear in passing conversation with her friend Jan, are taking place in the area of Dog Leap Stairs, a place known to be frequented by prostitutes. But is this Monica's secret? We discover that Monica does visit that area and get's a thrill from doing so, but that doesn't mean she's a prostitute or a murderer. Or does it? The mystery unravels as the story progresses and we find out about Monica's history, but her dark … [Read more...]
Interview with historical mystery writer Robert L. Gold
Hi Robert, thanks for talking to me. First up, what kind of books do you write? Historical murder mysteries. I’ve written a three-book Colonial City Mystery Series: Dead to Rights set in Savannah, Cut of the Cross set in St. Augustine and Dead and Gone set in New Orleans. The first two books are published, the third is scheduled to be published this spring by Marcinson Press. That's a great genre, and I see from an Amazon review that you're very good at the history aspect because you've taught history for a long time. Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m a retired professor of Latin American history. I’ve written historical articles and books for most of my adult life, with Spanish Florida being the focus of most of my writing. As far as historical writing chops, in St. Augustine, Florida, I wrote a popular newspaper column, Essays from El Dorado, a historical script for sightseeing train guides, and the story of the town’s 450-year history provided to millions of visiting … [Read more...]
Author Interview with Chris Longmuir
This week's author interview is with Chris Longmuir, another Awesome Indies Approved author. Hi Chris, tell me about your latest book Hi Tahlia, thanks for inviting me. My new book, Devil’s Porridge, published in August 2016, is a historical murder mystery, the second book in my Kirsty Campbell Mystery Series. Here’s the blurb: Pioneering policewoman, Kirsty Campbell, teams up with Belgian refugee, Beatrice Jacobs who is on a spying mission for MI5. The feisty pair set out to protect a young munitionette who has witnessed the aftermath of a crime and they become embroiled with saboteurs, Irish revolutionaries, a German spy, and a killer without a conscience, in the midst of a World War 1 munitions factory. I love the cover! Tell us a bit about yourself and why you write I’ve been writing professionally for about 26 years now, and with me it’s like an addiction, an itch I have to scratch. When I’m prevented from writing, which used to happen during my professional … [Read more...]
Interview: Catherine Wilson, author of When Women Were Warriors
Today I'm talking to Catherine Wilson, author of the historical fiction When Women Were Warriors Trilogy. Tell us a bit about yourself, why you write, what makes your books unique, where your ideas come from and so on. I am a 72-year-old white woman whose family has lived in the United States for almost 400 years. You would think we would have had all the benefits of the folks who got here soonest, but the men in my family died off at an incredible rate, leaving widows and orphans to struggle along as best they could. As a consequence, I am descended from a long line of very tough women, while the absence of men in our lives was a given. I grew up with my mother and my grandmother, my mother’s mother. As a war widow, my mother was not considered a ‘single mother’— a bad thing in the 1950s — and when I was teased (we call it bullying now) for not having a father, a loud “He was killed in the war!” would shut them up. Nobody dissed war heroes in those days. I … [Read more...]
Interview with George Berger, Award-wininng Historical Fiction Author
Today I'm chatting with George Burger an award-winning historical fiction author. Tell me about your latest book Titled FOUR NAILS, it’s the mostly true story of the greatest relationships between man and elephants in recorded history. Readers start in ancient India where tragedy strikes a young elephant trainer. Forced into a slave caravan that takes him through perilous lands and into a world at war, Ashoka befriends a special elephant. He and that elephant, Four Nails, together lead Hannibal's army over the Alps and down the back of Rome. Though a time of constant danger and uncertainty, Ashoka finds beauty and kindness while helping others enslaved for the pleasure of ruthless rulers. To survive this remarkable journey, the elephant trainer calls upon his unique ways with the great greys and a strength known only to those with nothing left to lose. Soon after FOUR NAILS was launched, The Huffington Post selected it as one of only four “Pack-Your-Suitcase-Reads” to take … [Read more...]
Brilliant, thrilling & heart-breaking: Corridor of Darkness: A Novel of Nazi Germany
I didn't plan on reading this book, because it's not really my kind of thing, but the author offered it to the Awesome Indies reviewers free in return for an honest review and when I heard that it was pretty good, I thought I'd take a look. Before I knew it, I was almost half way though the book and I didn't stop until the first bit of torture. That reminded me why I don't like to read thrillers. And the brutality and prejudice growing in the German population reminded me why I don't like to read about the rise of Nazi Germany. I decided to stop reading at that point, knowing there would be worse to come, but the next day, I realised that I couldn’t bear not knowing what happens to the characters, so I picked the book up again and read until I'd finished. The fact that I did that is a tribute to the skill of the author. Given my general predjudice against thrillers, it wouldn't have taken much for me to set it aside, but I didn't. The book hooked me and didn't let go. Even at the end … [Read more...]
An elegant & moving historical romance: Salvation by Harriet Steel
Salvation is the moving story of woman, Meg, and a man, Tom, who lived in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first. Meg, married off by her parents to a man she can never love, has a lover, her childhood sweetheart, Tom, but Ralph, an unsavoury character finds out and bribes Tom to leave town. If he doesn't, Ralph will tell Meg's husband, a rich and powerful man, and neither Meg nor Tom's life will be worth living. When Tom's employer is found murdered and Tom gone, the police assume that Tom committed the murder and so begins a tale that takes the reader on a vivid journey through life in 16th century London set against the backdrop of the threat of Spanish invasion. It's a story with many unpredictable turns, and so riveting that I truly couldn't put it down. Meg leaves her husband and, along with her maid, sets out to find Tom. Her journey takes her from a life of luxury to that of a washer woman, and many things in between. Tom ends up in prison and if it weren't … [Read more...]
A lyrical multi-layered metaphysical mystery:Equilibrium by Evie Woolmore
Title: Equilibrium Author: Evie Woolmore Publisher: allonymbooks Genre: Historical fiction /metaphysical fiction Equilibrium is a lyrical multilayered mystery of spiritualism, love, betrayal and learning the distinction between our perception of a situation and the reality of it. It's also about revisiting the past in order to find a sense of peace and balance, not only for oneself, but also for others affected by one's ill-considered actions. There’s a sadness to the book, but also a healthy sense of cleansing and new beginnings. It starts slowly. At first, I wondered what was going on and where it was going, because the author dishes out information in tantalizingly brief snippets, but the elegant writing held me, and I soon became ensnared in the mystery of what happened to a young man who went from England to south Africa during the Boer War and never returned. The method of unravelling his fate falls to a medium who, despite one bit of subterfuge in her 'act', seems to be … [Read more...]
