Piers Alexander joins Unusual Historicals this month as its newest contributor. Learn more about Piers and his novel, THE BITTER TRADE, at piersalexander.com. Welcome, Piers!
• Kathryn Kopple will be reading from LITTLE VELÁSQUEZ at Main Point Books, Bryn Mawr, Pa., along with two of her favorite authors, on April 24th at 7 pm. For more information, see the event's homepage.
• Ginger Myrick has released the cover art and blurb for her upcoming release INSATIABLE: A MACABRE HISTORY OF FRANCE, a work of alternate history. INSATIABLE is the story of Marie Antoinette as you've never seen her before! See the cover and get all the details at Ginger's website.
• Piers Alexander's debut novel, THE BITTER TRADE, launched as an ebook with a reading at the (rather raucous) London Book Fair ALLi party. The book won the PEN Factor and will be launched in UK bookshops in June 2014. England, 1688. Ambitious Calumny Spinks is a redheaded, half-French outsider. When his father’s violent past resurfaces, Cal becomes a London coffee racketeer. His ambition and talent for mimicry pull him into a conspiracy against the King himself.THE BITTER TRADE is available for pre-order at Amazon UK.
"Dazzling, playful" - Rebecca Swift
• Kim Rendfeld’s THE ASHES OF HEAVEN'S PILLAR will be published August 28, 2014. For more about her story, in which a medieval mother must grapple with why her gods allowed the destruction of a sacred monument and how she will protect her children after losing everything, see the announcement on her blog, Outtakes of a Historical Novelist. Kim also wrote a guest essay at Reading the Past, where she discussed how historical fiction fills a gap when it comes to showing history through the eyes of medieval pagans and peasants.
• Lisa J. Yarde's SULTANA: A NOVEL OF MOORISH SPAIN (Sultana: Book 1) is free on Kindle April 17 - 19. Get caught up on the series before the fourth book, SULTANA: THE BRIDE PRICE, makes its debut in May. See Lisa's website for more details.
In thirteenth-century Moorish Spain, the realm of Granada is in crisis. The union of Fatima, granddaughter of the Sultan of Granada, with the Sultan’s nephew Faraj has fractured the nation. A bitter civil war escalates and endangers both Fatima and Faraj’s lives. All her life, Fatima has sheltered in lavish palaces where danger has never intruded, until now. A precocious child and the unwitting pawn of her family, she soon learns how her marriage may determine her future and the fate of Granada. Her husband Faraj has his own qualms about their union. At a young age, he witnessed the deaths of his parents and discovered how affluence and power offers little protection against indomitable enemies. Guilt and fears plague him. Determined to carve his own destiny, Faraj struggles to regain his lost inheritance and avenge his murdered family. Throughout the rugged frontiers of southern Spain, the burgeoning Christian kingdoms in the north and the desert states of North Africa, Fatima and Faraj survive ruthless murderers and intrigues. They unite against common enemies bent on destroying the last Moorish dynasty. While Fatima and Faraj establish a powerful bond, the atmosphere of deceit creates opportunities for mistrust and tests their love.
