Winner Updates

The winner of the A GROOVY CHRISTMAS anthology announced on Saturday is:

VIRGINIA!

In addition, the name selected for Day Five of the Anniversary Bash has not stepped forward. Thus I'm drawing a new name for that awesome paranormal historical prize package:

KANCHB!

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!

Redraw: THREE DECADES OF LOVE Winner!

Since no one stepped forward to claim the free copy of Jan Scarbrough and Magdalena Scott's THREE DECADES OF LOVES, I'm drawing a new winner. A free copy goes to:

SILVIE KAYE!

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!

THREE DECADES OF LOVE Winner!

Sorry I'm a little late with this one, but here we go. We have a winner for Jan Scarbrough and Magdalena Scott's THREE DECADES OF LOVE guest blog. A free copy goes to:

ANDREA INFINGER!

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!

Weekly Announcements - 1 Jan 10

Wow! It's 2010! I hope everyone had a safe and fun new year, and that we all have health and happiness in the year to come. On with the announcements!

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Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews gave "Faery Merry Christmas" by Jacquie Rogers 4½ stars, saying, "Princess Kaylee may very well be the most sly and cunning faery that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Throughout this tale I kept glimpsing hints that Kaylee knew more than those around her believed. Kaylee's subtle manipulations prove her worthy of her royal faery bloodline. I sincerely hope to read future stories involving Princess Kaylee. Faeryshire and the faeries within it are as addictive as fine chocolate."

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Blythe Gifford's IN THE MASTER'S BED was selected as a "Blue Ribbon Favorite" for the month of December 2009 by the reviewers at Romance Junkies. Every month, the reviewers at Romance Junkies are invited to nominate the best book they read during the last month for this award. IN THE MASTER'S BED got a 4½ star review and was declared "sweetly seductive, subtly spellbinding."

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Zoe Archer's historical paranormal novella "The Undying Heart," paired in the dualogy HALF PAST DEAD with Bianca D'Arc's "Simon Says," received a great review over at Smexy Books. "'The Undying Heart' is the kind of book I want to twirl through the house with. What? You don't dance with your books? You know how with some books by page ten you start to get that little feeling that you are really going to like it?"

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ABENDLIED, the second of Jennifer Linforth's historical romance novels that continue The Phantom of the Opera, is now available.

Desiring normalcy is difficult enough with a price on his head, but when Erik is falsely accused of killing Philippe de Chagny, brother of his nemesis Raoul, he is launched toward madness.

Anna is an unlikely companion, sharing Erik's heart and the bounty on his head. As the manhunt heats, Erik's mysterious relationship with Philippe spurs the campaign against them and exposes her darkest secret: defending her honor ended in murder.

With the past weeping like an open wound, can love endure or will it take the memories of one unlikely man to heal them all?

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More reviews are in for SCOUNDREL'S KISS, the January release from Carrie Lofty. "SCOUNDREL'S KISS is in my top picks of historical romances this year," wrote The Book Pushers, and Scandalous Women said, "It's been a long time since I was sad to see a historical romance end, but I wasn't quite ready to leave the world of SCOUNDREL'S KISS."

There's still a chance to win a copy for yourself. Just stop by The Book Pushers through Wednesday.

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Michelle Styles' TAKEN BY THE VIKING has been released as A amante do viking in Portuguese, which is a new language for Michelle's work. Congratulations!

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Lindsay Townsend's first Bookstrand title, FLAVIA'S SECRET, is now on retro-release at Siren-Bookstrand. And Lindsay has won a Christmas Award! Linda Sole, who hosts the Red Roses for Authors review site selected BRONZE LIGHTNING for their annual Christmas Award!

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Join us Sunday when Unusual Historicals will welcome Monica Burns. She'll be discussing her latest release, KISMET, set in Morocco! She'll also be giving away a copy. Don't miss it!

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We'll also draw the winner of Jan Scarbrough and Magdalena Scott's THREE LEGENDS OF LOVE. You still have time to leave a comment or question for your chance to win.

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And stay with us through the coming weeks when we'll be featuring the best unusual historical authors! Carrie Lofty, Zoe Archer, Michelle Styles, and Carla Capshaw will be our guests. We hope you'll 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...

Guest Authors: Jan Scarbrough and Magdalena Scott

This week on Unusual Historicals, we're welcoming authors Jan Scarbrough and Magdalena Scott as they celebrate the release of Three Decades of Love, A Legend Christmas Anthology. Here are the blurbs:

"The Christmas Heart" by Janet Eaves
Christmas, 1944: Mary Ellen Chambers has learned to appreciate simple comforts in the midst of war coffee rations, her job at the factory and the upcoming Christmas season in Legend, Tennessee. She's already lost one sweetheart to the war, and the last thing she wants is to get involved with another soldier. Could Captain Austin Watkins be the best Christmas gift she's ever received?

"A Groovy Christmas" by Jan Scarbrough
Christmas, 1968: A year where women are burning bras and men are burning draft cards. Can Kathleen Fields and Grant Winchester, from feuding families like the Hatfield's and the McCoy's, reconcile their differences and find love in Legend, Tennessee?

"Under the Mistletoe" by Magdalena Scott
Christmas, 1975: Dorothy Robbins is working hard to build up her Leaving Legend Fund. Charles McClain escaped the small town life years ago, but is home for the holidays. No way will either of them stay in Legend, Tennessee, and no way will a brief fling turn into something complicated...like love.

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Note: Available as individual novellas: "The Christmas Heart," "A Groovy Christmas," and "Under the Mistletoe."

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Can you tell us more about your 'Ladies of Legend' series?

We came up with the idea of Legend, Tennessee during back-and-forth chatter over e-mail. As critique partners, we already worked together on story ideas. Making up a fantasy community was a natural outcome. These stories come from that original idea. You can learn more about it at our Legend website.

Why did you decide to move away from your original 'Ladies of Legend' books?

We haven't completely. We still write romances with contemporary settings. However, we wrote our first Christmas anthology last year, A LEGENDARY CHRISTMAS. This year we wanted to do something different when our publisher asked for another Christmas book.

Magdalena, why did you pick 1975?

Seems to me, when we were choosing decades, I had the option of the 1950s or 1970s. At least I remember the 1970s! I thought it would be fun pulling recollections from my high school years to create some of the ambiance.

Why choose 1968, Jan?

Like Magdalena, I remembered the year well. It was pivotal for me because I graduated high school and went to college. I was in Washington DC with my band when Martin Luther King was killed. I traveled overseas for the first time and had my first kiss.

How hard was it to write a historical? Jan?

I've written a medieval and this was totally different, because I remembered the year. However, I did research 1968 to refresh my memory. I learned that 1968 was a tough year all around for many people--two national deaths, riots, a presidential election. The year ended with a bit of hope, astronauts flying around the moon and speaking to the American people on Christmas Eve. I tried to put the flavor of the times into my novella.

Magdalena?

Well, since it is 1975, the worst part was afterward, when I realized OMIGOSH, this is set when I was a teenager, and it's an historical! Ouch! But the actual writing wasn't difficult, since I wasn't required to do what I would consider research. Between my memory, friends' memories, and Wikipedia, it came together rather easily.

Historicals are usually considered pre-20th Century, but the Depression and World War III are coming into their own as historical romance topics. Did you worry that 1968 and 1975 are too contemporary, Magdalena?

As I indicated earlier, for my own ego, I'd like to think of 1975 as contemporary, but there are masses of romance readers out there for whom 1975 probably seems like ancient history. They don't remember that we were in a recession then, that gas prices were high, that war veterans were coming home and trying to deal with their own set of problems in the midst of all that. There are a lot of similarities between what people were going through then and now. I think that's one of the things I like best about historicals. No matter the year, people and problems don't change that much.

Do you plan another Christmas anthology next year?

Yes! Right now it looks as if we'll all do follow-up stories to this year's. Our publisher and editors are wonderful, and so very supportive of the Legend series.

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Thanks for stopping by, ladies!

If you'd like to win a copy of THREE DECADES OF LOVE, leave a comment or question for Jan and Magdalena. In particular, we'd like to know what you think of historicals set in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Are these setting historical enough or too contemporary for your tastes? I'll draw a winner at random next Sunday. Void where prohibited. Best of luck, and happy holidays!

Excerpt Thursday: A Christmas Anthology

This week on Excerpt Thursday, we're featuring a slice of Jan Scarbrough's novella, "A Groovy Christmas," which is included in Three Decades of Love, A Legend Christmas Anthology, with authors Magdalena Scott and Janet Eaves. Join us Sunday when these fine ladies will be here to talk about their unusual historical and give away a copy!

"The Christmas Heart" by Janet Eaves
Christmas, 1944: Mary Ellen Chambers has learned to appreciate simple comforts in the midst of war coffee rations, her job at the factory and the upcoming Christmas season in Legend, Tennessee. She's already lost one sweetheart to the war, and the last thing she wants is to get involved with another soldier. Could Captain Austin Watkins be the best Christmas gift she's ever received?

"A Groovy Christmas" by Jan Scarbrough
Christmas, 1968: A year where women are burning bras and men are burning draft cards. Can Kathleen Fields and Grant Winchester, from feuding families like the Hatfield's and the McCoy's, reconcile their differences and find love in Legend, Tennessee?

"Under the Mistletoe" by Magdalena Scott
Christmas, 1975: Dorothy Robbins is working hard to build up her Leaving Legend Fund. Charles McClain escaped the small town life years ago, but is home for the holidays. No way will either of them stay in Legend, Tennessee, and no way will a brief fling turn into something complicated...like love.

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The following is an excerpt from Jan Scarbrough's novella, "A Groovy Christmas."

At 9:30 Walter Cronkite came on TV anchoring live video images from outer space. Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, had entered lunar orbit with its crew of Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders.

"This is amazing," Kate said breathlessly. She sat forward and the strange little cat hopped off her lap.

Pictures of the lunar surface appeared on the screen. Captivated immediately, Grant stared at the grainy, poor quality video while each astronaut talked about his impression of the Moon and what it was like to be in orbit above lifeless gray craters and mountains. One astronaut described it as "a vast, lonely, forbidding expanse of nothing."

Kate's eyes were full of wonderment. "Imagine going to the Moon!"

Grant couldn't find his voice. His throat clogged with a sublime sense of awe. Why was this mission moving him so much? He regarded those fearless men, who had little chance of returning home, with respect. They were doing something important and making a difference.

"We're now approaching the lunar sunrise," said the scratchy voice of William Anders.

A full view of Earth appeared on the TV rising over the gray horizon of the Moon. The orb seemed suspended in an empty blackness, but swirled with the color of life.

"For all the people on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you," Anders continued.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

In a deeper voice, Jim Lovell picked up the Biblical reading:

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

"And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Frank Borman finished reading:

"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

"And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."

Then Borman added, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you--all of you on the good Earth."

"That was from Genesis," Kate murmured, her voice hushed and awed. "We are so blessed."

Grant nodded, still absorbing all that he had seen and heard. The universe was so vast. In the context of space, the Viet Nam war and his family feud with the Fields' seemed petty and senseless. His heart warned with a profound sense of wonder. It was almost as if he needed this broadcast to cheer him up after a year fraught with death and disillusionment.

He glanced at Kate. She wiped a tear from her eye. He reached out and fingered a strand of hair that touched her shoulder. She turned and smiled.

At that moment, his world altered and arranged itself differently like a scattering of puzzle pieces dropping into place. He sensed he belonged here with Kate, and his life suddenly didn't feel so unsettled.

Going to Canada was still his plan. Yet for the first time he wasn't a hundred per cent certain. No matter his objection to the war, he understood Canada was a coward's way out.

"Let me sleep with you tonight," he whispered. It was important for him to be with her--to make love to her again.

She searched his eyes as if deciding. After all, she had admitted her impending engagement. Having sex with him might be off limits now.

"I don't have a Christmas present for you," she said.

Grant took her into his arms and kissed her. "This is gift enough."

My Lord Raven Winner!

We have a winner for Jan Scarbrough's My Lord Raven giveaway: cheryl castings! Contact Jan to give her your 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 of her book! Congratulations!

Weekly Announcements - 17 May 08

Bonnie Vanak received a great Booklist review for The Scorpion and the Seducer, which called her writing "splendidly sensual and delightfully different."

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Jennifer Mueller received a "Top Pick" review from Romance Readers at Heart for "Havana Holiday" and a B Review from Dear Author for "Egyptian Days" and "Egyptian Nights." Jayne of Dear Author writes:

One thing I know is that I'll always get something new and different when I begin one of your stories. I realize I mention the unusual settings you utilize in almost every review but I appreciate it so darn much that it just has to be said.

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Join us Sunday when Michelle Moran will be discussing her gorgeous novel NEFERTITI and giving away a free copy!

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We'll also draw the winner of a copy of Jan Scarbrough's My Lord Raven. Leave a comment for your shot at winning.

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Have a good weekend. If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie. See you next week...

Guest Blogger: Jan Scarbrough

Please join me in welcoming Jan Scarbrough, whose book My Lord Raven is now available through Resplendence Publishing as an ebook. The print version will be available in July. Welcome!

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Bran ap Madog, bastard son of a Welsh prince, has devoted his life to serving the English king. At Edward's behest, he nourishes his reputation for savagery, taking as his badge the raven, a scavenger bird that feeds off rotting spoils. He wants, as his reward for service, the hand of a wealthy wife and the land and power she will bring to his bed.

When her father and twin brother are murdered, Lady Catrin Fitzalan sets out to learn the truth about the awful rumors. Were they killed by the king's own champion, the vicious King's Raven? She will do anything to protect her remaining family, including switching places with her cousin when the king forces the pious girl into marriage with his wicked champion.

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Have you ever had a project that hangs over you for years, begging to be written? My Lord Raven is such a project for me. After writing Tangled Memories, my reincarnation Gothic, in 1994, I knew I could write a medieval romance. Tangled Memories is set in modern times but contains medieval flashbacks.

As a teenager, I had devoured novels by Thomas B. Costain, The Black Rose and The Silver Chalice. I'd read his history books, a four book series on the Plantagenet family. I'd also read and loved Anya Seton's Katherine. In fact, it remains my favorite novel, and I aspire to write as well as Anya Seton some day.

In the 70s, romance was changed by books like The Flame and the Flower and Sweet Savage Love. Of course, I devoured them, but I was young and had small children. Although I dreamed of writing, I was afraid to try. Then in 1988, I almost died. I decided it was now or never, so in 1990, I joined RWA and tried my hand at writing romance.

In 1995 I began initial research for a medieval, getting my feet wet. Anya Seton researched for five years before writing Katherine. The whole idea of historical research boggled my mind. At the library I found a copy of Strongholds and Sanctuaries: The Borderland of England and Wales by Ellis Peters and Roy Morgan. The book fascinated me and I knew I had my setting. Another scholarly book I used was The Lordship of England: Royal Wardships and Marriages in English Society and Politics 1217-1327 by Scott L. Waugh. I found Thomas B. Costain's The Three Edwards through a used bookstore. These are but a few of the many references I consulted.

I was also writing contemporary romance and sold my first book to Kensington in 1998. I wrote about five chapters of The King's Raven, as it was called at the time. It did well in contests, but I never finished it. I continued to write contemporary and the medieval manuscript started gathering dust.

In 2004, I went to a psychic fair, the kind of event where you pay $20 for 10 minutes with a psychic. Of course, I asked about my writing, and the psychic said "finish projects." Completing my medieval was always on my "to do" list. I pulled it out, dusted it off and finished it.

In 2001, Steeple Hill author Renee Ryan and I gave a workshop at RWA in New Orleans about "Perspective, Passion & Persistence: The Three Ps of Success." I'd say persistence is the biggest quality a writer must have, because without it, the book doesn't get written, and if it's not written, it can't be published.

My affiliation with Resplendence Publishing, a new small press that sells digital eBooks and "print on demand," began in 2007. I love working with the publisher and the editors. Rika Singh, an artist from South Africa, has designed a beautiful cover for My Lord Raven. I'm proud I finished the project and thank Resplendence for making my dream come true.

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You can find Jan at her Website, Blog, and Myspace, and you can also watch her book video.

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Would you like to win a copy of My Lord Raven? Leave a comment or ask Jan a question for your chance. Check back next Sunday to see who won. Good luck! And thanks to Jan for stopping by!