Real Life Heroes: Donald Dubh MacDonald

By Margaret Mallory

Whether Donald Dubh "Black Donald" MacDonald (1490?-1545) was a hero depends on which side you were on. For more than fifty years, he led or inspired rebellions by the branches of the MacDonald clan and their former vassals against the Scottish crown with the aim of resurrecting the Lordship of the Isles.

Lord of the Isles*
The Lords of Isles traced their ancestry to Irish and Norse royalty, and they controlled the Western Isles and parts of the mainland of the Scottish Highlands for more than a hundred and fifty years. The Lord of the Isles was leader of all of the MacDonalds, and his vassals included the MacLeods, Mackenzies, MacNeils, and Macleans. Although the Lordship of the Isles was nominally subject to the Scottish King, the crown's attempts to reign in the Lordship's power were repeatedly met with violence and limited success.

James IV*
Finally, in 1493, the fourth and last Lord of the Isles submitted to James IV, the Lordship was dissolved, and its vast lands forfeited to the Crown.
For the next fifty years, Donald Dubh MacDonald, the grandson and heir of the last Lord of the Isles, and other rebels showed remarkable perseverance and dedication to the goal of resurrecting the Lordship of the Isles.

Rebellion was in Donald Dubh's blood. His father, Angus Òg, fought against the Crown and also challenged his own father for leadership of the Lordship. Angus achieved victories against both before he was assassinated by his Irish harper in 1490. Three years later, his father submitted to the king and spent his last years as a pensioner of the crown.

Donald Dubh was born around the time of his father's death. For years, he was held by his mother’s family, the Campbells, who were supporters of the Crown--and had their own ambitions.

Innis Chonnel on Loch Awe*
While Donald Dubh was in the "care" of his Campbell relatives, his MacDonald kin rebelled on his behalf. In 1501, he escaped from Innis Chonnel Castle, where he was held by his uncle Archibald Campbell, the Earl of Argyll. He was taken to the island of Lewis and kept under the protection of his uncle Torquil MacLeod. Interestingly, Torquil's wife was another sister of the Campbell chieftain.

In 1503, around the time his MacDonald grandfather died in a boarding house in Dundee, Donald Dubh was proclaimed Lord of the Isles and led an insurrection. He had strong support among the MacDonalds and the clans who were their former vassals. Suppression of this rebellion took an all-out effort by the crown, but Donald Dubh was finally captured around 1506.

Donald Dubh was held in Edinburgh Castle for thirty-seven years.

Edinburgh Castle**
During Donald Dubh's long imprisonment, his close kin periodically led rebellions in his name. After the last one, James V sailed around the Western Highlands with twelve ships armed with canon and collected chieftains as prisoners. Although he eventually allowed some chieftains to substitute other hostages to guarantee their good behavior, he kept the worst offenders in Edinburgh Castle.

James V*
All this might have brought an end to the rebellions had James V not died after the Battle of Solway in 1542. A year later, Donald Dubh escaped after being held prisoner for thirty-seven years. The Regent, persuaded it would harm the opposing faction at court, then released the captive Highland chieftains. After a couple of years in prison, the chieftains were in a mood for rebellion.

Donald Dubh was welcomed home with open arms, hailed as the Lord of the Isles, and another rebellion was born. He re-created the Council of the Isles in the old tradition. Fifty years after the Lordship was dissolved, nearly all the clans which had once been under the Lordship were represented on the Council.

Donald Dubh now had a formidable force of 8000 men at his command. He made an alliance with Henry VIII, which made him an even greater threat to the Scottish crown. While sailing to Ireland in 1545, however, Donald Dubh died of a fever. He was buried with great pomp, and the cost charged to Henry VIII.

No other leader could engender the unified support of all the branch clans of the MacDonalds and their former vassals, and this final MacDonald rebellion of the 16th century ended in failure.

Dunscaith, a MacDonald castle on the Isle of Skye**
* Photos courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
** Photos by me or my daughter

Margaret Mallory, named by Booklist as one of "the new stars of historical romance," is the award-winning author of the medieval series, "All the King's Men." Her latest book, KNIGHT OF PASSION, is an RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Award Nominee. Watch for her new series, "Return of the Highlanders," starting with THE GUARDIAN in May 2011.

Real Life Heroes: Ramses

By Jean Adams

The war between the Egyptians and the Hittites for the control of Syria, took place in the spring of the fifth year of Ramses' reign. The battle of Kadesh was the result of Amurru defecting to Egypt. While the Hittites wanted to bring Amurru back into their fold, the Egyptians tried to protect their new vassal.

Ramses' army consisted mostly of Egyptians, with a few Nubian contingents and some mercenaries. Chariots were manned by Egyptian nobles, but records do not mention how many Egyptian soldiers there were. It is thought that an Egyptian division comprised of 5000 foot soldiers. Ramses set out with four divisions of 20,000.

The Hittite army of 37,000 foot soldiers and 3500 chariots was hiding behind the abandoned settlement of Kadesh. Unfortunately, Ramses believed false rumors, which were beaten out of two, very brave, captured Hittites spies. While one division was setting up camp, 2500 Hittite chariots attacked the marching Re division in two waves. Two other Egyptian divisions were still on the far side of the river Orontes.

After a time, Ramses, trapped behind enemy lines, was to face a desperate fight for his life. He summoned up his courage and called upon his god Amun for help, fighting valiantly to save himself.

Ramses leads his army at the Battle of Kadesh
During the battle, Ramses personally led several charges into the Hittite ranks together with his personal guard, some of the chariots from his Amun division and survivors from the routed Re division. Using the superior maneuverability of Egyptian chariots, he deployed and attacked the tired and overextended Hittite chariotry.

The Hittites, meanwhile, who believed their enemies to be routed, had stopped to loot the Egyptian camp and, in so doing, became easy targets for Ramses' counterattack. Ramses' action succeeded in driving the Hittites back towards the Orontes and away from the Egyptian camp. In the ensuing pursuit, the heavier Hittite chariots were easily overtaken and dispatched by the lighter, faster, Egyptian chariots.

Although they had suffered a significant reversal, the Hittites still commanded a large force of reserve chariotry and infantry. As their retreat reached the river, the king ordered another thousand chariots to attack the Egyptians. As the Hittite forces approached the Egyptian camp, a contingent from Amurru arrived, surprising the Hittites. Ramses also had time to regroup his forces.

After six charges, the Hittite forces were almost surrounded, and the survivors faced humiliation by having to swim back across the Orontes. Neither side gained total victory. There is no consensus about the outcome or what took place, with views ranging from an Egyptian victory, a draw, and an Egyptian defeat (with the Egyptian accounts simply propaganda).

Once back in Egypt, Ramses proclaimed that he had won a great victory, but all he had managed to do was to rescue his army. Hero or propogandist, the Battle of Kadesh was a personal triumph for Ramses since, after blundering into a devastating Hittite chariot ambush, he had courageously rallied his scattered troops to fight on the battlefield while escaping death or capture.

The conflicts finally ended fifteen years later, in 1258 BC, by an official peace treaty, in the 21st year of Ramses' reign. It is the first recorded peace treaty. An enlarged replica of the Kadesh agreement hangs on a wall at the headquarters of the United Nations, as the earliest known international peace treaty.

Jean Adams' latest contemporary romance, YESTERDAY'S DREAMS, is due out soon from The Wild Rose Press. It is the first in a two-book series set in the New Zealand seaside town of Patiki Bay. Her trilogy set in ancient Egypt is a work in progress, but her time travel Egyptian romance, ETERNAL HEARTS, is available now in print from Highland Press.

Weekly Announcements - 28 Nov 2010

Yes, I know it's Sunday. Bear with me as we hurdle over technical difficulties!

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Celebrating her new Victorian historical holiday release from Decadent Publishing, A CHRISTMAS PROMISE, Amanda McIntyre will be running a Sugar & Spice/Naughty & Nice contest at Fresh Fiction! Win books, share holiday recipes and traditions from November 22 through December 15.

Widowed Irishman Brady McCormick made a promise to his young wife the day she died--to bring their son to America and begin a new life in the land of opportunity. Living in charity with a distant uncle in New York, barely scraping by, Brady is unsure he will be able to uphold the promise, much less quell the loneliness, until an angel appears at the docks, Saran Reichardt.

Headstrong and tenacious, gentlewoman Saran knows she's unlike most women of society. Dedicated to teaching and helping the impoverished, she has no need of a man to take care of her, but an accidental encounter with a stormy-eyed Irish immigrant and his young son changes her perception of what need really is. Will this holiday give them both the hope and faith they desire or will their own stubbornness keep them apart?

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Follow the Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar for Prizes, including a FREE Kindle 3G!

During the month of December, twenty-two Harlequin Historical Authors, including UH contributors Blythe Gifford and Michelle Styles, have teamed up to create an online Advent Calendar. Starting Tuesday, November 30, you can find the calendar here. Each day, click on the calendar to visit the host author's website, and you can win prizes such as signed books, gift certificates, and holiday goodies. Blythe's day will be December 12; Michelle's is December 20.

You will be asked to complete a task, such as posting a blog comment, searching for a hidden ornament, or answering a question about an excerpt. Please check the author's webpage for your instructions and to see what the daily prize is. You can enter once each day, at each of the twenty-two websites.

On December 23rd, a random drawing from among all 22 authors' entries will determine the grand prize winner of a Kindle 3-G. Please see the official eligibility rules for this giveaway.

Happy Holidays from the Harlequin Historical authors!

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Stay with us through the coming weeks when we'll be featuring the best unusual historical authors! Michelle Beattie, Elizabeth Lane, Alix Rickloff, and our fourth anniversary bash will be coming up. Join us!

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Have a good week! Remember, you don't have to be an Unusual Historicals contributor to submit good news to the weekend announcements. If it has to do with unusual historicals, we'd love to shout it out to the world! Send announcements to Carrie. See you next week...

KRAKOW WALTZ Winner!

We have a winner for Kate Allan's KRAKOW WALTZ guest blog. A free copy goes to:

Teresa Thomas Bohannon!

Contact Carrie to provide your mailing address. The book must be claimed by next Sunday or another winner will be drawn. Please stop back later to let us know what you thought! Congratulations!

Guest Author: Zoe Archer

This week on Unusual Historicals, we're welcoming back one of our fabulous contributors, Zoe Archer, as she celebrates the release of the third and fourth installments of her "Blades of the Rose" series. REBEL is available now, and STRANGER will hit the shelves on December 7. Both take place in an alternative Victorian era where magic thrives.

Here's the cover copy for STRANGER:

He protects the world's magic--with his science. But even the best scientists can fall prey to the right chemistry...

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE

Gemma Murphy has a nose for a story--even if the boys in Chicago's newsrooms would rather focus on her chest. So when she runs into a handsome man of mystery discussing how to save the world from fancy-pants Brit conspirators, she's sensing a scoop. Especially when he mentions there's magic involved. Of course, getting him on the record would be easier if he hadn't caught her eavesdropping...

LIGHTING HIS FUSE

Catullus Graves knows what it's like to be shut out: his ancestors were slaves. And he's a genius inventor with appropriately eccentric habits, so even people who love him find him a little odd. But after meeting a certain red-headed scribbler, he's thinking of other types of science. Inconvenient, given that he needs to focus on preventing the end of the world as we know it. But with Gemma's insatiable curiosity sparking Catullus's inventive impulses, they might set off something explosive anyway....

***

"Set in 1875 England, the final volume in the Blades of the Rose quartet is a thrilling installment in the series as past characters join forces to save the world. There's action, adventure and love... Archer has proven herself to be a grand mistress of the historical paranormal who knows how to blend history and fantasy without one overshadowing the other, a feat worthy of her Blades." ~ RT Book Reviews on STRANGER.

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Who are the Blades of the Rose?

The Blades of the Rose is a secret organization of men and women who travel the globe to find and protect the world's magic from exploitation. And when I say they travel the globe, I mean it. If they had frequent flier miles back in the 1870s, the Blades would have earned a lot of points.

You were here in October to talk about books one and two in the series. Tell us about books three and four.

REBEL is the story of Astrid Bramfield and Nathan Lesperance. Astrid was once a Blade, as was her husband, but whilst on a mission together, he was killed by the Blades' enemy, the Heirs of Albion. Her husband actually died in her arms. Deeply scarred, Astrid severed her ties with the Blades and retreated to the depths of the Canadian Rockies. When fate has her path cross with Native attorney Nathan Lesperance, neither Astrid nor Nathan are prepared for the immediate attraction between them, nor the danger that threatens them from every side.

Canadian Rockies? Sounds like an unusual setting.

Unusual, as well as gorgeous, dangerous and rich with folklore. Perfect for a Blades of the Rose adventure.

What about book four in the series, STRANGER?

STRANGER is the final book in this initial four-book series, and it features my absolute favorite character, Catullus Graves.

Tell us about Catullus.

He's the Blades' scientific genius, the man responsible for inventing all of the diabolical gadgets the Blades take out into the field to help them in their work. The Graves family has been creating amazing devices for the Blades for generations, and Catullus is the latest scion. He's brilliant, has a massive waistcoat collection, and fancies women with freckles. Unfortunately for Catullus, he's far more comfortable inventing devices than talking with women, so when he meets American reporter Gemma Murphy (who has quite a few freckles), he's both attracted and flummoxed. Poor Catullus!

This is the Unusual Historicals blog. STRANGER is set mostly in England. What's so unusual about that?

This isn't the England of ballrooms, drawing rooms and house parties. From the moment Catullus and Gemma land in Liverpool, they are on the run, traveling by train, horse and on foot. These are the country roads and small villages of England, nothing glamorous about it. They also go to Glastonbury, London, and a surprise location I can't disclose without spoilers. Plus, Catullus is a Black Briton--an important component of British life that isn't seen very often in historical romance.

Now that the series is wrapping up, do you have plans for more Blades of the Rose books?

I'd love to write more! It all depends on how well these books do. *stares meaningfully at readers*

What's next for you?

Right now, I'm working on a new paranormal historical series called THE HELLRAISERS. It's about a group of 18th century English rakes who inadvertently release the Devil from his prison and literally raise hell. These guys are radically different from the Blades. The Blades are good guys, through and through. The Hellraisers are very, very bad boys.

I like bad boys.

Get in line.

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Here's the deal, readers. Zoë is seeking locations for her next four Blades novels. Leave a comment suggesting where you'd like to see a "Blades of the Rose" adventure set. One commenter will win REBEL and STRANGER! (US and Canada only, thanks.) I'll draw the winner at random next Sunday. Void where prohibited. Best of luck!

Excerpt Thursday: Zoe Archer

This week on Excerpt Thursday, we're welcoming back one of our fabulous contributors, Zoe Archer, as she celebrates the release of the third and fourth installments of her "Blades of the Rose" series. REBEL is available now, and STRANGER will hit the shelves on December 7. Both take place in an alternative Victorian era where magic thrives. Join us Sunday when Zoe will be here to talk about both books. I bet she'll be giving away free copies too!

Here's the cover copy for STRANGER:

He protects the world's magic--with his science. But even the best scientists can fall prey to the right chemistry...

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE

Gemma Murphy has a nose for a story--even if the boys in Chicago's newsrooms would rather focus on her chest. So when she runs into a handsome man of mystery discussing how to save the world from fancy-pants Brit conspirators, she's sensing a scoop. Especially when he mentions there's magic involved. Of course, getting him on the record would be easier if he hadn't caught her eavesdropping...

LIGHTING HIS FUSE

Catullus Graves knows what it's like to be shut out: his ancestors were slaves. And he's a genius inventor with appropriately eccentric habits, so even people who love him find him a little odd. But after meeting a certain red-headed scribbler, he's thinking of other types of science. Inconvenient, given that he needs to focus on preventing the end of the world as we know it. But with Gemma's insatiable curiosity sparking Catullus's inventive impulses, they might set off something explosive anyway....

***

From STRANGER:

Catullus now stood upon the prow, watching the ship cleave the gray water as they neared Liverpool. Sailing directly to Southampton hadn't been an option, since the next steamship traveling to that town wouldn't depart New York for two weeks. Far too long a wait with so much at stake. So, he and Astrid and Lesperance booked passage to Liverpool, with the intent to hop immediately on a train heading to the Blades' Southampton headquarters.

Wind and sea spray blew across the prow. Not as cold as those Canadian mountains, but he took pleasure in the soft black cashmere Ulster overcoat he wore, with its handsome cape and velvet collar. Too windy for a hat--but he was alone and so there wasn't a breach of propriety.

Or was alone. Catullus sensed, rather than saw, Gemma Murphy as she stepped onto the prow. His heart gave that peculiar jump it always did whenever he became aware of her. It happened the first time he saw her, at the tatty trading post in the Northwest Territory, and it happened now.

"Don't be an ass," he muttered to himself. She had said quite plainly that what she sought was a story. Nothing more.

He tried to make himself focus on the movement of the ship through the water, contemplating its propulsion mechanisms and forming in his mind a better means of water displacement. No use. His thoughts scattered like dropped pins when flaming hair flashed in his peripheral vision.

Bracing his arms on the rail, Catullus decided to be bold. He turned his head and looked directly at her.

She stood not two yards away--closer than she had been since the night in his cabin. That night, they had stood close enough for him to see all the delicious freckles that scattered over her satiny skin, close enough to see those freckles disappear beneath the collar of her prim dress, close enough to wonder if those freckles went all the way down her body.

God, don't think of that.

Like him, she now had her forearms resting upon the rail, her ungloved hands clasped, and her face turned into the wind, little caring, as other women might, about the unladylike color in her cheeks called forth by the wind. She stared out to sea, watching the waves and the sea birds drafting beside the ship, a little smile playing upon her soft pink mouth. Something secret amused her.

Him? He told himself he didn't care if she found him amusing, terrifying or wonderful. The division between them was clear. He was a Blade of the Rose on the most important mission ever undertaken. The fate of the world's magic, and freedom, lay in the balance. Pretty redheaded reporters with dazzling blue eyes and luscious figures were entirely, absolutely irrelevant. Dangerous, even.

But he watched her now, just the same. She wore the same serviceable traveling dress, a plain gray cotton that had seen several years of service. So thoroughly was it worn that the fabric, as it blew against her legs, revealed that Gemma Murphy had on a very light petticoat and was most likely not wearing a bustle.

He found himself struggling for breath.

Keep moving upward, he told his eyes. And they obeyed him, moving up to see that the truly magnificent bosom of Miss Murphy was, at present, marginally hidden by a short blue jacket of threadbare appearance. The elbows were faded. She must move her arms quite a bit to get that kind of wear. An active woman.

What he wouldn't do to get that delectable figure and coloring into some decent clothing! Silk, naturally. Greens would flatter her best, but there were also deep, rich blues, luxuriant golds, or even a chocolate brown. And he knew just the dressmaker, too, a Frenchwoman who kept a shop off Oxford Street. Madame Celine would be beside herself for the chance to dress a Pre-Raphaelite vision such as Miss Murphy. And if he could see Gemma Murphy slipping off one of those exquisite gowns, revealing her slender arms, her corset and chemise...or perhaps underneath the gown, she would wear nothing at all....

Catullus shook himself. What the bloody hell did he think he was doing, mentally dressing and undressing a woman he barely knew? A woman who made no secret of her ambition to expose the world of magic Catullus, his family and the Blades had fought so hard to keep hidden.

But instead of marching back to his cabin, as he planned, he simply remained on the prow, close, but not too close, to Miss Murphy.

He glanced over at her sharply, realizing something. Then swore under his breath.

Gemma Murphy blinked in astonishment when Catullus strode over to her. Clearly, she hadn't anticipated him approaching. He said nothing as he pulled off his plush, warm coat and then draped it over her shoulders. The overcoat was far too big for her, naturally, its hem now grazing the deck.

She also did not speak, but stared up at him. Her slim pale hands held the lapels close. Catullus cursed himself again when he saw that she was shivering slightly.

"Don't you have a decent coat to wear?" he demanded, gruff.

"It got lost somewhere between Winnipeg and New York." Her voice, even out here in the hard wind, resounded low and warm, like American bourbon.

"Then get another."

Again, that little smile. "Lately, I haven't had the funds or time to see a dressmaker."

He had the funds, thanks to the Graves family's profitable side-work providing manufacturers with the latest in production technology. And, even though time was in short supply, Catullus had managed to squeeze in an hour with one of Manhattan's best tailors, where he'd purchased this Ulster and three waistcoats. He usually avoided ready-made garments, but an exception had been made in these unusual circumstances. And Catullus didn't patronize bigots, either, but if the color of his skin had bothered the tailor, the color of Catullus' money won out.

"Then perhaps you oughtn't stand out on the coldest part of the ship," he suggested dryly.

Looking up at him with her bright azure eyes, she said, "But I like the view."

Did she mean the sea or him? Damn it, he never could tell when a woman was saying something flirtatious or innocuous. Catullus didn't have his friend Bennett Day's skill with women--nobody did, except Bennett, and now Bennett was happily married and miles away. So all Catullus could do was blush and clear his throat, wondering how to answer.

Flirting was a skill he never mastered, so he plowed onward. "Why do you keep following me?" he asked.

"That's cocky," she answered. "Maybe you keep following me. This isn't such a large ship."

"I've been followed enough know when it happens." And had just as many bids on his life. Though he doubted Miss Murphy would try and stick a knife into his throat, which happened far too regularly.

Her eyes did gleam, though. "Have you been followed before? How many times? By whom? How did you elude them?"

"No one ever forgets you're a reporter, do they?"

Her laugh was even more low and seductive than her voice. "I never do. Why should anyone else?"

True enough. "As I said before," he pressed, "you will get no more from me, nor from Astrid or Lesperance. There is no story."

Real Life Heroes: Sir Richard Burton

By Karen Mercury

Sir Richard Burton (born 1821) was a man a hundred years ahead of his time. A megalomaniac, brilliant, and brutal, he is mostly known for having the nerve to bring the Kama Sutra and the 1001 Nights to the civilized world. Even as a youth he was fearless and reckless. He once broke his trumpet over the head of his instructor because he wanted to play piano instead. He joined the army in India, where he became known for dressing in Arab garb and going into backwoods districts where no one else would dare tread.

He read prolifically, became an expert in all things Oriental, and by the end of his life spoke at least 20 languages fluently. He traveled to the Holy City of Mecca and was the first white man to write about it, being able to pass for Arab. He was nearly caught, certain death for a white man, when he lifted his robe to pee instead of squatting like an Arab. During some of his many leaves from the Army, he learned falconry and wrote The Book of the Sword, so detailed it is still used by fencers today.

But oddly enough he chose to marry an extremely prudish and upright woman, Isabel Arundel. His translation of the Arabian Nights took him years, and Isabel was extremely mortified about "those activities" of his, his interest in the Kama Sutra. Being a widely traveled ethnologist, most biographers posit that he tried all the techniques he wrote about, and with all of the tribes he visited.

Burton defended himself vociferously. "To those critics who complain of my raw vulgarisms and puerile indecencies, I can reply by quoting what Dr Johnson said to the lady who complained of naughty words in his dictionary: 'You must have been looking for them, Madam!'"

In India, he went undercover for General Napier to a brothel where English soldiers "frequented" young boys. His resulting incredibly detailed report caused a scandal and it was quickly buried--like so much of his "deviant" writing would later be buried by his prudish wife. Naturally everyone assumed Burton participated in the activities to obtain such details, but I guess we'll never know.

In 1854 he joined up with John Hanning Speke to travel to Somalia, backed by the Royal Geographical Society. Burton proposed to discover a large interior lake he'd heard about. Burton accomplished the first leg alone, and would set out on the second leg with Speke and two other lieutenants. Before they could leave they were attacked by Somali warriors. Speke was wounded in eleven spots by spears, one lieutenant was killed, and Burton had a javelin thrust through his jaw. Although Burton was cleared of culpability, it was another black mark on his army record. Soon after in the Crimea, his unit mutinied, another black mark that led to a lifelong frustration with being unable to advance in the army.

His most famous trip left out of Zanzibar to "discover" the source of the Nile. Speke amazingly agreed to accompany him--the two were like oil and water, but worked well together on expeditions. They set out in 1857 and suffered various travails--Speke was blind for several weeks and partially deaf due to an infection, and Burton was unable to walk and had to be carried on a litter which ruined his enormous pride. It was actually Speke alone who found Lake Victoria, and Burton refused to believe it was the source of the Nile, since he had been unable to see it himself.

Speke returned home before Burton and published his own account first, which led to one of the great debates of all time. Speke didn't know any African languages and didn't keep nearly as detailed notes as Burton. Speke had an Imperialist attitude toward Africans and Burton was appalled at the way he randomly killed animals and left the meat sitting there. All of this led to a great rift, and when Speke gave his lecture first at the Royal Geographical Society, breaking their promise to present their findings together, Burton challenged him to a debate. It was all-out war by then, with Burton being the most suspicious character due to his "going native." In 1864 they had a date to debate in front of a society, but the day before, Speke was found dead in a bizarre hunting accident. Many people believe he couldn't handle the stress of going up against Burton who was a superior public speaker.

Burton managed to obtain consul positions at Fernando Po and Brazil, bringing Isabel with him and spending much time traveling. He was sent to Damascus where once again he made many enemies, continuing to translate and write many more books. He died in Trieste in 1890--the cloud of another controversy surrounding him when his friends believed Isabel forced him to convert to Catholicism on his deathbed. She had always tried to protect his image, and one of the first things she did upon his death was burn many of his "pornographic" writings, including a final chapter of The Perfumed Garden on pederasty, leading many to term her "the most hated woman in literature."

Karen Mercury's first three historicals, including STRANGELY WONDERFUL were set in precolonial Africa. Her latest, WORKING THE LODE, due out in January 2011, is an erotic romance set during the California gold rush.

Real Life Heroes: Anne Frank

By Jennifer Linforth

Our request to do a post about heroes came on the heels of me watching a video on YouTube regarding the epidemic of bullying in the United States. Finger to my upper lip, I thought about what makes a hero and one word leapt to mind.

Tolerance.

In the wake of so many teens committing suicide because they are bullied and demeaned by others, one teen stands above the others: Anne Frank... to me the epitome of tolerance.

She was born June 12, 1929 and the world knows her story. Force to go into hiding during the Holocaust, she and her family spent 25 months hiding in a maze of room above her father's office in Amsterdam. The hiding didn't last. Anne and her family were betrayed to the Nazis and forced, like thousands of others to be deported to concentration camps. Nine months later she died at age fifteen.

Her diary has become one of the most widely read books in the world. Her words foster a belief in tolerance and preach the consequences of living in a world filled with racial discrimination, intolerance and disrespect. Anne spoke freely on the power of hope. Can anyone deny that this teen was, like so many teens today, bullied--to the ultimate degree?

A hero need not save lives. Sometimes all it takes to be heroic is a little belief and faith that things can and will get better, and a little patience for others and their life choices. Ann wrote: "Sympathy, love, fortune... we all have these qualities but still tend not to use them."

If only we did. How heroic would that be?

Jennifer Linforth expands the classics by continuing The Phantom of the Opera. MADRIGAL and ABENDLIED are available now. Readers should look for future books based on the classics, in addition to her unique historical romances. "Ms. Linforth's prose is phenomenally beautiful and hauntingly breathtaking." ~ Coffee Time Romance

Real Life Heroes: William Strata Smith

By Michelle Styles

How do we date sedimentary rock and why? How do we know that dinosaur fossils only appear in certain layers of rock? How do geologists explore for gas and oil? Why do geological surveys exist?

The answers lie with one self taught man born in humble circumstances in late 18th century Oxfordshire who made it his life's work to make sense of Britain's fossils, and in doing so completely changed the way rocks and the timeline of geology were perceived. In many ways, his work laid the foundation for Darwin.

William Strata Smith was the first person to recognise that certain groups of fossils appear in only in certain layers of rock or strata. For example Tyrannosaurus rex bones only appear in those layers from what is now called the Jurassic period. He also noticed that sedimentary rock always occurs in the same succession. Know your fossils and your rock, you know where to dig for coal. Strata Smith's scheme of ordering remains in use today. Using his knowledge of the strata, Smith proved adept at being able to drain bogs and convert them to valuable agricultural land as being able to figure out where to dig canals. His first map of the geology of Bath which was produced in 1801 is acknowledged to be the first geological map in the world and has earned Bath the title as the cradle of geology.

Furthermore, his systematic map of England and Wales which appeared in 1815 is the foundation for all other geological survey maps. His map shows the depth of the various strata. It is a map of great beauty as well as of huge scientific interest. Knowing the underlying geology means people can know where to dig for coal, or oil for example or they can work out the depth of the seam and therefore the productivity.

And what is more, unlike other great endeavours such as the Oxford English Dictionary or the Ordinance Survey maps, it was a solitary endeavour. Strata Smith did all the survey, calculations and minute detail work without any assistance.

Unfortunately, when the map of England and Wales was first published, he was not given the recognition he deserved and was made bankrupt. He was even accused of plagiarising the map for a time as various members of the establishment had trouble believing a self-taught man could have produced such things. To clear his debts, Smith sold his precious collection of fossils to the British Museum. They reside in the Palaeontology Department of the Natural History museum and each has a unique number to signify that they were from his collection. It is possible to see these fossils today. As part of the condition of the sale, he had to produce a catalogue of the fossils and it was the first time that coloured tables showing the distribution in the layers was published. His nephew Joseph Phillips, who later became a noted professor of geology at Oxford, helped him with the tables. Phillips' refinement of the table led to the publication in 1841 of the geological table which remains in use today.

Eventually the establishment was forced to recognise his achievements. In 1831 he was the first recipient of the Wollaston Medal from the Royal Geographical Society and in 1832, King William IV awarded him a state pension for his services to the country. Among other things he became a member of the commission who selected the stone for the Houses of Parliament.

Because of his dogged persistence and his dedication, I think Strata Smith deserves to be called a true hero. If you wish to learn more about William Smith, I recommend the 2001 book by Simon Winchester, The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology.

Michelle Styles is passionate about history and passionate romance. An author over 16 books for Harlequin Historical, she writes in a variety of time periods from Roman and Viking through to early Victorian. A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY will be a December 2010 Harlequin Historical release.

A MIDNIGHT CLEAR Winner!

We have a winner for Kristi Astor's A MIDNIGHT CLEAR guest blog. A free copy goes to:

pageturner!

Contact Carrie to provide your mailing address. The book must be claimed by next Sunday or another winner will be drawn. Please stop back later to let us know what you thought! Congratulations!

Guest Author: Kate Allan

This week at Unusual Historicals we're featuring author Kate Allan, who Regency romance, KRAKOW WALTZ is partly set in Poland. It's Regency elegance with an exotic locale!

The Honorable Miss Annabel Wells needs to marry to save her reputation. Yet even in her dire straits she cannot bring herself to accept Mr. Henry Champion, an ordinary English gentleman without property or pedigree, no matter what she feels about him. She marries a Polish count but when her husband is killed in a duel and Henry comes all the way across Europe to her rescue, can there be a second chance for love? Leaving behind the drawing rooms of High Society London where he's feted as a Waterloo hero, Henry Champion finds more danger lurking in the dark streets of the city of Krakow than he bargained for.

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"KRAKOW WALTZ is a tender love story with an engaging hero and heroine and a diversity of secondary characters. It has an intriguing plot with some delightful touches of humor, and Ms Allan's choice of setting in Krakow provides a refreshingly different background for her story." ~ CarolAnn, The Romance Reviews

"An intriguing plot, a wonderful atmosphere and some lovely touches of humour." New York Times bestselling author Nicola Cornick

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Your book, KRAKOW WALTZ, is set mostly in Poland. Why write an historical romance set in Poland?

My family on one side are Polish so I have always had an interest and affinity with Poland and wanted to learn more about Polish culture and history. I was intrigued when I read that following Napoleon's defeat in 1815 the city of Krakow was actually designated as a self-governing free city. As the rest of Poland was under the control of Russia, Prussia and Austria, Krakow became the harbour for a growing national identity movement. This shapes some of the background and attitudes to the Polish characters in the story but at its heart Krakow Waltz is a romance. Regency readers will discover that much of Regency fashion and culture were similar across Europe but the Polish background also provides castles, old medieval streets and buildings, beautiful churches, forests, wolves, wild boar hunts and hunters' breakfasts!

Tell us a bit about the hero and heroine.

Henry Champion is a hero of Waterloo: he's brave, selfless but as an only child he finds himself alone in the world after his parents die and foolishly falls into some of the typical pursuits of a young man about town including gambling loses his fortune. But he has good friends who are willing to help because he's always been a good friend.

Annabel Wells, the heroine, is somewhat of a typical flighty English debutante and spurns Henry because he's not an aristocrat and marries a Polish Count but he is the wrong man for her. Should she pay for that mistake for the rest of her life? I believe in second chances and so Annabel and Henry get their second chance when they meet again nine years later.

KRAKOW WALTZ is your sixth novel. Tell us about you previous novels.

My previous novels are all historical novels set in the Regency period, mostly in England, but I liked to include unusual period details when I can. In FATEFUL DECEPTION, Lucinda, the heroine, travels by canal barge after I discovered that passenger packet services were actually run on canals. In THE SMUGGLER RETURNS, which is set at the very end of the 18th century in Cornwall, the real historical background to smuggling in the period was vital to the story: indeed Jane, the heroine, "invests" the small sum of money she has in smuggling hoping to save her family from ruin.

THE LADY SOLDIER, which was co-written with Michelle Styles, is about to be re-released early in 2011 by Embrace Books. It has the unusual setting of Spain and Portugal and the unusual subject matter of a lady who joins the British Army dressed as a man and manages to get away with it... until she meets the hero.

What's the best bit about writing a novel and what's the worst bit?

The most enjoyable is when you know your characters so well and you're completely involved in the story that the writing becomes as addictive as watching the next episode of your favourite TV drama. The worst bits actually when you have the story developing in your head but you don't have time to write it down! I have a small son whom I've love dearly but finding time for writing has been a bit of a challenge since he's been born!

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Thanks for stopping by today, Kate! Readers, are you interested in Regency-era books with locales other than England? Why or why not? We'd love to hear your opinions. Leave a comment or question for Kate and you'll be entered for a free copy of KRAKOW WALTZ. I'll draw the winner at random next Sunday. Best of luck!

Weekly Announcements - 20 Nov 2010

Michelle Styles has a number of good things going on this week. First, she's holding a Goodreads contest for THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS, that runs through November 30.

Michelle was selected by Harlequin to write a serialized Regency romance, HIS STAND-IN BRIDE, which is connected to her forthcoming December release, A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY. The serial will run through the first week of January. Check it out!

In addition, the UK hardback version of her latest early Victorian romance, BREAKING THE GOVERNESS'S RULES, which is loosely connected to COMPROMISING MISS MILTON, will be available in January.

'How delightful to meet you again, Miss Louisa Sibson.'

Jonathon Lord Chesterholm's eyes bored holes into Louisa Sibson's back. The former fiancée he's thought dead is very much alive...

Louisa has rebuilt her life, after being dishonourably dismissed from her post as governess for allowing Jonathon to seduce her. Now Louisa lives by a rulebook of morals and virtue--the devastating Lord Chesterholm will not ruin her again!

But Jonathon will get to the bottom of Louisa's disappearance--and he'll enjoy breaking a few of her rules along the way...

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Join us Sunday when Kate Allan will be here to chat about KRAKOW WALTZ, a Regency-era romance set in England and Poland. She'll also be giving away a copy to one lucky commenter! Be sure to join us then.

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We'll also draw the winner of Kristi Astor's first Edwardian romance, A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, from her guest appearance on Sunday. You still have time to leave a comment or question for your chance to win.

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Stay with us through the coming weeks when we'll be featuring the best unusual historical authors! Zoe Archer, Michelle Styles, Michelle Beattie and our fourth anniversary bash will be coming up. Join us!

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Have a good weekend! Remember, you don't have to be an Unusual Historicals contributor to submit good news to the weekend announcements. If it has to do with unusual historicals, we'd love to shout it out to the world! Send announcements to Carrie. See you next week...

Excerpt Thursday: Kate Allan

This week on Excerpt Thursday we're featuring author Kate Allan, who Regency romance, KRAKOW WALTZ is partly set in Poland. Join us Sunday when Kate will be here to discuss this mix of traditional Regency elegance and exotic Polish locale. She'll also be giving away a copy. See you then!

The Honorable Miss Annabel Wells needs to marry to save her reputation. Yet even in her dire straits she cannot bring herself to accept Mr. Henry Champion, an ordinary English gentleman without property or pedigree, no matter what she feels about him. She marries a Polish count but when her husband is killed in a duel and Henry comes all the way across Europe to her rescue, can there be a second chance for love? Leaving behind the drawing rooms of High Society London where he's feted as a Waterloo hero, Henry Champion finds more danger lurking in the dark streets of the city of Krakow than he bargained for.

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London, 1807

Henry Edmund Champion found it easy to envelope himself in the idle conversation of a group of young bucks. All he had to do was hold a glass of champagne, sip it elegantly, feign that expression of perpetual ennui that fashion required and make a suitable lively crack now and again as the occasion demanded.

Yet Henry, only son of Mr. and Mrs. James Henry Champion of Sevenoaks, Kent, could not shake off his awareness that he shouldn't be here at all. It was only by the good graces of his old friend from school, Lord Brockleton, that he had secured an invitation to the Farringham's ball.

Henry pushed his shoulders back so his jacket sat squarer, titled his chin slightly upwards and to one side and with an urbane expression swept his gaze over the room. Had it been a mistake to come?

Not when he saw her.

Barely ten feet away from him.

The usual hot stab at the sight of an attractive woman was completely expected. But not the rest: the stilling of every sinew in his body, pulled tight as over wound violin strings; the misting out of every other person in the room so that there was only her. The compulsion to believe that there had ever existed only one woman. That he never before had been so violently and wholly struck with desire.

Fustian! as his late aunt used to delight in saying. He noted attractive women all the time. Less frequently when he'd been on campaign, he admitted, but here in London, why they even dampened down their dresses to save gentleman having to strain their imaginations too far.

Yet his gaze skimmed across her form, noting and calculating each inch and every angle. He followed the flare of her dress over her hips and to the floor, and then up, tracing the line of her décolletage; her neck, her oval face, the sweep of her dark eyelashes and the curve of her smile as she spoke to the dowager Lady Grantley.

And then, as if she knew, she caught his gaze. Her eyes widened, lips parted and brought a moment when ten feet between them disappeared. He might have been standing right next to her, able to reach out and touch her ebony curls. He might have smiled.

With a flick of her head she looked away.

He was still standing there, still holding his glass, still Henry Champion. The only person in the room not among the Upper Ten Thousand of high society.

She'd recognized him. Of course she had.

Or was he clinging onto some kind of effervescent hope that she remembered. That she had considered him more than simply a casual flirtation?

"Brockleton," Henry said. He could not help himself. "Who is that lady over there with the dark hair conversing with Lady Grantley? I believe I have met her before."

Brockleton spluttered. His eyes swivelled and bulged out of their sockets. He managed to swallow his mouthful of champagne. "That's the Honorable Miss Annabel Wells. Champion...." He lowered his voice to an urgent whisper. "Are you in jest?"

Real Life Heroes: 2nd Lt. Audie Murphy

By Lorelie Brown

When I went through Basic Training for the US Army ten years ago, we'd have whole days or afternoons when we watched old black-and-white movies. Some of my fellow recruits bitched that they were boring, but I'd been an old-movie-addict for a long time and had already seen most of them. Despite that, one of them was new to me--as was the information that the lead character really was the man who'd done all the amazing things in the movie.

The movie: To Hell and Back. The actor and hero: Audie Murphy.

So who was Audie Murphy? A good ole boy from Texas, he was one of twelve children, though only ten lived to adulthood. When his father abandoned the family in the mid-1930s, Audie went to work. He also put food on the table by hunting and learned to be an excellent shot simply because if he didn't make his kill, his family didn't eat.

Immediately after Pearl Harbor, Murphy tried to enlist. But whoops--he was only 16 at the time. A year later, his sister helped him fudge his birth certificate so that he could enlist even though he was still only seventeen. He still had to struggle to avoid assignment to a cook and bakers' school, but eventually he got his wish. He became a private in the Infantry. (Although, let's think that one through for a while. Not only did he bust his ass in order to join the military, he fought like hell to be a grunt. Cannon fodder. Got to wonder about a guy like that.)

Murphy kicked around Africa for a while without seeing action. But then...oh boy, then. He was part of the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943. After slamming their way through Italy, the 3rd Division (now with Sergeant Murphy in tow) moved on to Southern France. Not long after they got there, Murphy saw a German machine gun nest kill his best friend, Lattie Tipton. Apparently that set Murphy off, because he single-handedly took out the machine gun nest, then used it to take out several nearby German positions. Not only did the incident net him the Distinguished Service Cross, it would later become the crux of his autobiography, To Hell and Back, which would also later become a movie.

But Staff Sergeant Murphy (from private to staff sergeant in a matter of months of battle--and it didn't stop there) wasn't done picking up awards. After two Silver Stars, he was promoted to First Lieutenant, which also got him promoted from Platoon Sergeant to Platoon Leader. (The attrition rates tangentially related to such wicked fast promotions are very sad if you stop to think about them.) He spent ten weeks recuperating from a sniper's bullet and returned to his unit in France.

On 25 January, 1945, Second Lieutenant Audie Murphy was appointed commander of Company B 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division. Big day, right? But apparently 2LT Murphy didn't think that was a big enough deal for January. The very next day, the Battle of Holtzwihr, France began. Murphy established a position, sending all his men to the rear, but he stayed on. He used the machine gun from a burning tank destroyer to take out huge swaths of the German infantry, including an entire squad that had tried to hide in a ditch. For his actions, Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor, fully rounding out his medal collection. In less than two years, 2LT Murphy had collected every single medal of valor available to US service personnel.

The Army, obviously realizing the marketing gold mine they had in Murphy, immediately moved him to a liaison position, taking him off the front line. After his determination to get to the front line and his wanton disregard for his own safety, I'm sure Murphy was pissed. He eventually returned to the States, but life was tough for a while. Much later on, Murphy came clean about his struggles with what was then called "battle fatigue" and is now known as PTSD. His first wife claimed he once held her at gunpoint and his insomnia and nightmares were rampant. He did go on to create a good life eventually, staying with his second wife until his death and being an actor in more than 44 films.

Lorelie Brown's first book, JAZZ BABY, is currently available from Samhain Publishing and will be released 4 January in paperback. Her second romance, an 1880s-set western, will be published by Carina Press in Summer 2011.

Real Life Heroes: Harriet Tubman

By Lisa Marie Wilkinson

The accolade of hero is appropriate when applied to Harriet Tubman, a woman born into slavery whose activities ranged from abolitionist during the Civil War era to staunch supporter of the women's suffrage movement during the early 1900s.

Born Araminta Ross during a time when neither year nor place of birth was recorded for most slaves, various historical documents place Tubman's birth date somewhere between 1815 and 1825. One of "Minty's" first responsibilities at age 5 or 6 was as a child's nurse. After learning she would be whipped if the baby in her charge cried, she adopted the practice of wrapping herself in extra layers of clothing to minimize the damage inflicted by the beatings she endured.

At age 12, she suffered a serious head injury when a heavy metal weight thrown by an angry overseer at another slave hit Tubman instead as she acted to protect the slave from injury. Historians speculate that Tubman suffered from epilepsy as a result of this injury, citing symptoms of headaches and seizures resulting in sudden sleep. After being brought up by deeply religious parents on Bible stories featuring themes of deliverance from oppression, Tubman believed the visions that accompanied her seizures represented direct communication from God.

She married free black man John Tubman in 1844, changing her name from Araminta to Harriet--her mother's name--around that time. Despite her husband's free status, Harriet's status as a slave dictated that any children born to her would also be slaves.

After reaching the decision, "Liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would have the other," Harriet escaped and fled north with her two brothers on September 17, 1849, but after their owners posted a reward notice for the return of the three escaped slaves, her brothers began to fear the consequences of capture and forced Harriet to return with them.

She soon escaped again and fled to freedom alone, using an allied network of freed blacks, white abolitionists, and other antislavery activists known as the Underground Railroad, to escape into Pennsylvania. Traveling by night and using the North Star for guidance, she watched for signs such as lanterns on hitching posts indicating safe houses as she made her way north to freedom.

After her escape to Philadelphia, she worked as a cook and domestic in order to earn money to return to Maryland to guide her own family north and to help other slaves escape to freedom. As one of the most famous of the Underground Railroad "conductors," Harriet Tubman led numerous missions and it is estimated she rescued more than 300 slaves over a period of eleven years, constantly risking her own safety and freedom to aid others. Sadly, her sister Rachel died before she could be rescued, and Tubman did not have the funds to make the bribes necessary to free Rachel's two children, who remained enslaved.

After the Fugitive State Law was enacted by Congress in 1850 imposing penalties on law enforcement and providing for payment of bounties upon the return of escaped slaves, the risk of capture increased to the point where slaves began heading for the safety of Canada, a country which refused to extradite fugitives. In tribute to her fearless and selfless exploits, Tubman earned the nicknames, "General Tubman" and "The Moses of her People."

Years later, she told an audience: "I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say--I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger." Her impressive record was mostly likely due in part to the fact that she allowed no turning back and she carried a loaded revolver to back up that policy during the trek north. As she told one runaway slave who began to lose courage on the journey north, "You'll be free or die." As she later explained, "a live runaway could do great harm by going back, but a dead one could tell no secrets."

When the Civil War broke out, Tubman saw a Union victory as the perfect means to end slavery. She joined the Union Army, first working as a cook and a nurse, and then later as a scout and a Union spy. Giving up government rations after others grumbled she was receiving special treatment, she began selling pies and root beer to support herself. In June of 1863, she led the Combahee River Raid, freeing more than 700 slaves and becoming the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war.

After her first husband did not join her in freedom, she married a man 22 years her junior in 1869, and they adopted a daughter. During her lifetime, her humanitarian efforts included teaching newly freed blacks how to become self-sufficient, raising funds for schools, and finding housing and clothing for the poor and disabled. Her humanitarian works kept her mired in poverty and she worked various jobs and took in boarders to offset her expenses. Friends and supporters from her abolitionist days raised funds to help support her.

Tubman retired in Auburn, NY after the war, and became active in the women's suffrage movement, working alongside Susan B. Anthony. She spoke out publicly in favor of women's rights, and used her own experience to illustrate that women were equal to men, citing having received such "man honors" as having a ship named for her. Illness eventually forced her to be admitted to the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, a home for elderly African Americans she had helped open years before. She died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913 after telling those assembled, "I go to prepare a place for you." She was buried with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.

Lisa Marie Wilkinson is an IPPY Gold Medal winning author of historical adventure-romance. Her latest novel, STOLEN PROMISE, featuring vibrant Gypsy characters and breath-taking romance, is available now.