New on Amazon UK and Amazon US It is late summer and London is all a-bustle for St Bartholomew’s Fayre, with merchants arriving from faraway lands. When an old friend returns with fabulous items for sale, it can only mean one thing: trouble. As thievery, revenge and murder stalk the fayre, Sebastian Foxley – artist and sometime-sleuth – has mysteries to solve. In uncovering the answers, he becomes enmeshed in a web of lies and falsehoods. Today I'm pleased to welcome author Toni Mount to The Writing Desk: Tell us about your latest book The Colour of Lies is the seventh Sebastian Foxley medieval murder mystery. Seb is an artist-cum-scribe whose eye for detail that others miss make him fifteen...

The life of an indie author can be a lonely one. Not just in a physical sense, but that applies to me living in the Philippines. You write, research, edit, rewrite, send it out to beta readers then a final edit. It’s now ready to hit the publish button but then the hiatus … will […] The post Will they? Read it? Like it? Review it? appeared first on Stephen Bentley . Original link

Fellow author Amy Neftzger recently wrote a column for a writer’s group that I belong to called BookDaily in which she provided some good advice for novice writers. Amy is an author of fiction for both adults and children and you can find out more about her and her work at her website: http://www.amyneftzger.com. I thought I would share her prescient thoughts with you so I am turning my blog over to her for today. Amy Neftzger Starting Out As a Writer: 5 Things You Should Know By Amy Neftzger Becoming an author is a long road to walk, and most people have no idea how long it takes to become successful or what they need to do when traveling this road. There are a lot of different ways to get ...

I’m reblogging this 2017 post on historical underpinnings; Claire’s corset from In The Eye of The Beholder is referenced. Enjoy! Sharon E. Cathcart As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, I primarily write historical fiction.  This means researching not only social mores, foods, and events, but also fashion.  When you are looking at the various women’s silhouettes that were en vogue throughout history, you have to also look at the underpinnings that created them. Fashion Institute of Technology I’m not going to lie; women essentially wore two full sets of clothing throughout most of history.  The underthings were almost as heavy as the outer garments.  Corsetry and petticoats were made to fit...

Author, Anca Vlasopolos Today I’m not posting about my own books or commenting on the ins-and-outs of indie publishing. I’m interviewing the fascinating former Michigan author, Anca Vlasopolos. Welcome to “Painting With Light,” Anca. Thank you. Glad to be here! You have a fascinating but somewhat frightening background. Can you tell us a little bit […] Original link Original author: Ron Herron

Claire continued to make polite conversation for a few minutes and then excused herself from the box. I could vaguely hear her speaking to the box attendant, reverting to her native French. “J’ai besoin de cracher,” she said to the woman … I need to vomit. She then remembered herself. “I am unwell. Could you send an usher to find a doctor for me?” While all of this was going on, I sought to extricate myself from the less-than-desirable company of Madame de Chagny and the Harrington family. When I finally found a break in the conversation that would allow me to exit, I too sought the attendant. “Sir,” she said, “the lady looked awfully pale and was ill. I found a doctor, sir, Doctor Treves. H...

There are laws made by human beings. Those laws are often ignored and broken. Then there are laws of predictable constants, laws of physics, and laws of nature. These are essentially immutable. But there are also laws created by some unknown and mysterious power that are also seemingly inviolate. As much as we may try they cannot be ignored or broken. They seem to control us no matter what we do, AND they are NOT taught in physics class. The other day I received an email in which several of those incontrovertible laws were listed, along with the consequences they incorporate. So I thought I would share them with you. Read them, reflect and see how many you have already been subjected to. 1 ....

It’s a question worth posing: is there some kind of advertising hysteria among #indieauthors? Hysteria: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess. There are Facebook groups, how-to books, and ‘gurus’ scrambling to grab your money to ‘tell’ you the secrets to advertising your books on Amazon, Facebook, BookBub, and to a lesser extent, […] The post AMS Advertising Hysteria Among #IndieAuthors? appeared first on Stephen Bentley . Original link

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US I'm pleased to welcome Kelcey Wilson-Lee to The Writing Desk: Tell us about your latest book Daughters of Chivalry tells the forgotten life stories of the five daughters of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile - Eleanora, Joanna, Margaret, Mary, and Elizabeth. These women travelled extensively and independently from early ages, managed large estates and commanded castle garrisons, undertook diplomatic and trade missions, and promoted England's cultural and military might throughout Europe. They were utterly unlike the powerless princesses familiar from fairy tales, and their lives help to shatter many of the myths that continue to surround understandings of th...

It was my honour and privilege to recently be awarded the gold medal of Ambassador De Literature by the founder of Motivational Strips, Shiju H. Pallithazheth. I must also thank Brenda Mohammed for nominating me. Brenda is a co-author of Death Among Us and runs her own Facebook group How to Write For Success which […] The post Ambassador De Literature: Motivational Strips appeared first on Stephen Bentley . Original link

steinchen on Pixabay Part of establishing your brand as an author is broadening your internet footprint.  This helps to ensure that if someone is looking for you, perhaps because they're considering buying your book on Amazon, you're easy to find.  I have a fairly common name, but if someone does a Google search using the terms "Ashley Peterson mental health", I want the majority of the hits that come up to be related to me, since my book  is about mental health.  A website/blog is one good way to establish a presence, but to really take charge of your personal brand, you need to get around a bit.  This is especially true if the words in your blog name are fairly generic, as is the case with...

ENTER TO WIN 30+ FAST-PACED THRILLERS! PLUS A BRAND NEW EREADER! FREE READS FOR ALL! $500 VALUE! Okay readers, it’s competition time. All you have to do is enter to win 30+ fast-paced thrillers. It’s a BookSweeps sweepstake and you can enter to have a chance of winning a new e-Reader in addition to having […] The post ENTER TO WIN 30+ FAST-PACED THRILLERS! PLUS A BRAND NEW EREADER! appeared first on Stephen Bentley . Original link

Check out this great article on ways we can contribute to awareness during Earth Day — even through the fashions we choose. via Protect Our Species – Earth Day 2019 – LISMORE PAPER Original link

I seated myself at the table and waited for Erik to reappear. When he did, he was in flawless evening attire: a tailcoat of Bath superfine, a black cravat, waistcoat of sapphire blue that was similar to the tone of my gown, beautifully fitted trousers, highly polished shoes and white kid gloves. I could not help my intake of breath at the mysterious, handsome creature before me, his porcelain mask somehow seeming both normal and natural. — Excerpt from In The Eye of The Beholder Fabric is rather difficult to describe in writing. Luckily, a delightful site called Between a Gentleman and His Tailor laid out a basic description of Bath superfine for us. While the focus of the site is on Georgia...

We’re at number four in our countdown of the 10 most uplifting songs . Today’s tune is Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.”   Original link

I have been writing, in one form or another, for most of my life. I learned the techniques and skills of writing by toiling for almost 30 years in the relentless and stressful world of journalism. I was in some pretty good company. Ernest Hemingway began his writing career as a journalist. So did Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, Graham Greene, Charles Dickens, Evelyn Waugh, Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, Jack London, Annie Proulx, Stephen Crane, John Steinbeck, James Agee, Lillian Ross, and Mark Twain. For 13 years I taught writing and reporting at the University of Illinois after leaving the world of professional journalism. During that time, I managed to condense my thought...

I woke the next morning to find another ribbon-wrapped rose on the night stand next to my bed. I inhaled its fragrance and wondered whether the Opera Ghost might have stood in my chamber and sung to me. The idea gave me an unexpected frisson of pleasure, particularly as I remembered the enchanting green-gold eyes that gazed upon me in the fifth cellar. Surely not. I was not given to such flights of fancy; I shook my head to clear the night’s cobwebs away.  — Excerpt from In The Eye of The Beholder Erik sends roses to Claire regularly before she finds out who has given her the gifts. They are always red, with the stem wrapped in silk ribbon to cover the thorns. Why red roses? Well, in the era...

Photo courtesy Universal Hub Robert McCloskey’s classic story, Make Way for Ducklings, is immortalized in bronze statues in the Public Garden on Boston Common. Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack are all decked out and dressed in their fancy bonnets, ready for Easter. This classic children’s book […] I mention this happy little book in Bayou Fire (Jimmie Arceneaux is reading it). I love this tale. via Happy Easter from Boston’s Make Way for Ducklings — A Teacher’s Reflections Original link

Meet the suspects authors, I mean 🙂 Below you will find and meet the authors of Death Among Us. First, may I remind you of the book details. When it was launched for pre-release, I made an announcement in this post. Second, it’s on pre-order for only 99 cents or 99 pence. This is the […] The post Meet The Authors of Death Among Us: An Anthology of Murder Mystery appeared first on Stephen Bentley . Original link

About a third of In The Eye of The Beholder takes place in London in the 1890s. While she is not officially mentioned in the text, Queen Victoria was the reigning monarch during this time. Victoria came to the throne upon her father’s death in 1837; the three uncles who would have been ahead of her in the line of succession had already passed away and there were no other possible heirs. She was 18 years old. Three years after ascending the throne, Queen Victoria’s coronation portrait, via the Royal Archives Victoria married a German cousin, Prince Albert. They had nine children. Prince Albert was never crowned king, but remained Prince Consort. He was actively involved in education reform, a...