Pen In Hand

Broadening my horizons, stretching my wings. GRL is the Gay Romance Literature Retreat. According to their website, GRL is “for people who create and celebrate LGBT romance.” My Battle Scars series is historical fiction with a gay romance – it made me smile when I signed up to be a Supporting Author and organizer Teresa E. emailed and asked, “You do know this is for LGBT romance correct?” It was great to laugh with Teresa when she introduced herself at the Supporting Authors book signing. This retreat has been happening for 6 years and I am so thrilled to have finally discovered it.

I’ve been to a number of Star Wars and other SciFi conventions where the joy of sharing your love of a particular fandom with thousands of other people gives you the warm fuzzies inside. While the Internet allows us to gush online in forums, chat rooms, and Facebook, and to…

Today I have the pleasure of sharing my review of Men of the Cross (Battle Scars, #1)
by Charlene Newcomb, a 2014 B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree

“War, political intrigue and passion… heroes… friends and lovers… and the seeds for a new Robin Hood legend await you…”

Chapter 1

Drums. Dear God, not the drums.

Henry de Grey shuddered and blinked against the mid-afternoon sun. Streaks of light shimmered through the trees like blades of a hundred broadswords. Stephan l’Aigle stirred beside the young knight, but then lay still, like Henry, listening. At the water’s edge, the knights’ horses perked their ears. A distant rumble sounded. Not drums, but wheels grating along the old Roman road on the far side of the River Witham.

“One wagon,” Henry muttered and exhaled sharply.

Stephan brushed Henry’s hand. His fingers lingered on an old battle scar. “Thinking of the war?”

“I am fine.” He smiled, dismissing memories of the Holy Land conjured by the play of light and sounds. “Go back to sleep.”

“Your father expects us. You said we’d not far to go.”

“Not far.” All the while he’d been on crusade Henry dreamed of coming home. He left…

Comment on the Giveaway post on English Historical Fiction Authors blog for a chance to win a Kindle or epub version of my upcoming release For King and Country. The giveaway will be open April 18 – 24.

Double your chances by commenting on my earlier announcement!

The story:

England 1193
Civil war threatens as battle-scarred knight Henry de Grey returns from the Crusades. King Richard languishes in captivity, a prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor. Traitors to the crown pit Henry and his friends against dangerous and unknown enemies.

Print proofs have arrived!
There are only a few events in life that are more awesome than seeing your book in print. I could rattle off a number and let you add a dozen of your own. But holding a copy of the book you have spent hours researching, writing, revising, editing, editing, editing, and proofing & more proofing has to be pretty high on the ‘awesome’ list for most writers. (Did I mention editing? And proofing?)

You cannot order your copy yet – these are the print proofs that must go through another round of proofing. I am working on the ebook now – proofing and fixing formatting issues – and 3 readers have received that version as ARCs (advanced review copies).

For King and Country
will be available on May 2 on Amazon

Comment for the Giveaway
To get things rolling, I am  offering a signed paperback copy. Comment here…

Anna Belfrage invited me to visit with her last week (on her blog, that is). We talked “Of sodomists, sex, and sin in the Middle Ages – not as clearcut as you think.” We take a look at the Church’s definitions of sexual sins and talk a bit about how we have handled gay characters in our medieval novels. Anna’s new series takes place during the reign of Edward II who was accused of having intimate relationships with his favourites. I reviewed Book I last week.

In other news…

Men of the Cross was reviewed by the Historical Novel Society:

“Charlene Newcomb has woven a gripping tale, recounting the crusade without ever [being] boring or laden down with pages of political detail. The five main characters are compelling, believable and likeable. Ms Newcomb does not do gore, which is a blessing for someone who does not particularly enjoy…