CAN WE ASK A FAVOUR?

Julia and I are excited and delighted that so many readers have downloaded the free ebook of The Boy with Two Heads, and I am looking forward to gaining more readers on Sunday, when four e-books will be free to download from midnight to midnight PST (8.00 am on Sunday to 8.00 am on Monday here in the UK)

Can we ask you to do something in return for your free books? Please let us have some feedback. A comment/review on Amazon or Goodreads would be very welcome- and please be honest!

TIE A KNOT TO REMIND YOURSELF!

FREE DOWNLOAD

The Boy with Two Heads is free to download on Amazon until Sunday!  They are going fast, but they are only limited by time, so get it while it's hot!


Look out for more Trifolium Books promotions in the next few weeks:

FREE DOWNLOAD THIS WEEKEND- HURRY

THE BOY WITH TWO HEADS is free to download this weekend, starting at about 8.00 pm Friday, 3rd August in UK (12.00am Pacific Time)

Author Julia Newsome will be at the London 2012 Olympics this weekend- see if you can catch her wearing her distinctive t-shirt.

A PATH TO AUSTRALIA

I woke up this morning to another great book review, this time for Paths of Exile: it's on Smashwords here, but I print an extract below:

The author very cleverly paints a crisp, clear glimpse of an opaque period of Britain’s history. This is where historical fiction - the active, conjecturing mind of an author who is familiar with all the available facts of a certain period - does what no amount of history lessons can ever achieve: it brings an era to life.

This tale of loyalty, treachery, murder, revenge, escape and pursuit, in 7th century post-Roman, pre-Norman Britain (sometimes known as the early ‘Dark Ages’) also has just a smidgen of romance thrown in for good measure. The story is woven around some authentic historical characters (filled out to full living colour), including the main protagonist, along with some vivid entities from the author’s fertile imagination. With great attention to detail (the author is certainly au fait with this period); this is a beautifully crafted story.

T D McKinnon

I feel very proud to be associated with authors of such quality, and although our small family business cannot publish more than a handful of titles a year, these two recent reviews have convinced me that I am right to stick with historical novels of the very highest quality.

T D McKinnon is an Australian writer: his website is here Cheers TD- how about taking a look at other Trifolium Books titles? The Boy with Two Heads will be available on Kindle very soon, and for those of you who live a little nearer to Trifolium Books' heartland, Julia Newsome will be signing copies in Wigton, Penrith and Carlisle on 20th and 21st June- when the Olympic torch comes through those towns. Details of times and venues later.

"THE BOY" IS #21 IN THE OLYMPICS LIST!

Wow- I checked out Amazon just now and found these figures, for The Boy with Two Heads. It is number 21 in the top hundred best-selling books about the Olympic Games! (and 65 in the Greek top hundred!) Well done Julia!

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  • #21 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Other Sports > Sporting Events > Olympic Games 
   
  • #65 in Books > History > Ancient History & Civilisation > Greece
   
  • Now how about some of you who have bought it writing a review!

HEADS AND TALES - AN UPDATE

Kathleen enjoying a cuddle with my daughter's little dog

Themis with his ipad!

A small portion of Kathleen's MSs

Whilst as far as this blog is concerned, I may have seemed to do nothing for the last few weeks, I have been beavering away, and had no time to spare to write posts.

VISITING KATHLEEN, FINDING TREASURE

Kathleen is now living in sheltered accommodation and her house- (which she once called "Hell Hall", so no regrets there) - is sold, and I have come into a wonderful collection of manuscripts, books, lecture notes, photos, and notebooks.

Kathleen herself doesn't want any of these possessions any more, but I was interested to see that her own copy of Moon in Leo was in her room, sitting by her bed, and very well thumbed. Kathleen and her cousin, who manages her affairs, are very happy for me to take charge of these papers and become, in effect, Kathleen's literary executor.

The estate agent who sold the house very kindly kept the stuff- a full carload- in his office until my daughter was able to pick them up. it took twelve trips to her flat from her car to get them home, where they filled her spare room. They then filled our car, and are now filling my office! And it will take us many months to sort and catalogue the thousands of pages we have got.

Partially sorted papers and books in my office

It is very exciting though: I have already found a beautifully written story about Guinevere called The Once and Future Queen, which I will probably publish as an eBook. It has an unusual feminist angle, and is not at all the normal romantic stuff. Look out  for it! There may also be a fifth novel- we have found several chapters and copious notes, maps and even photos of the settings- all Cumbrian. Meanwhile, work continues on Bride of the Spear and the other books in the Kingdoms of the North Trilogy.

ROYALTY FREE FICTION

I love Deborah Swift's blog- Royalty Free Fiction, with its many posts by different writers. Deborah says, 'History is full of ordinary people with extraordinary stories', and she invites authors to tell the story behind the story. She asked me to tell the story of Moon in Leo, and I was delighted, but found it very difficult to write, as I had to tell Kathleen's own harrowing story. It was painfully difficult to distance myself enough to do it! I will post a notice here when the Moon in Leo story is published, but meanwhile please visit this intriguing blog. You will not be disappointed, but you may be a little poorer, as you will want to read all the books featured! I did.

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

The main activity that has dominated my life recently however, has been all-consuming. I have been working closely with author Julia Newsome to bring out her novel The Boy with Two Heads- her first full length novel for young adults. We had originally hoped to get it onto bookshelves before Christmas, but as Julia and I are obsessive perfectionists, it has taken longer than expected. You will soon be able to pre-order it on Amazon however, in plenty of time for the Olympics. More on this soon...

And this blog is due an overhaul too! I will fit it all in somehow, but the Christmas cards might be a bit late!