Released on 16th May - apologies for late posting.
FATE: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic
If you had a
crystal ball to predict what lay ahead, would you be tempted to use
it? Or would you leave the future to the turn of Fate?
Tales of Variety. Tales of History,
Mystery and Magic – some comprising just one of these popular fiction genres,
others, a mild mixture of all three. Perhaps you prefer historical
fiction rather than a story about magic or fantasy? Maybe you enjoy exploring
new themes or prefer sticking to the familiar? Historical fiction can often
inform, imparting knowledge of the past, of its events and its people. Stories
of mystery exercise the ‘little grey cells’ as Poirot would say, while fantasy
and magic create new worlds and awed wonder.
Whatever result, this is where
anthologies come into their own, and where short stories are often appreciated
as enjoyable, entertaining, quick or easy reads shown through the eyes of a
variety of extraordinary characters and situations. In this instance: an
Anglo-Saxon woman facing the consequence of conquest, the pursuit of alchemy,
the concern of a mother for her daughter, the shifting of time, the necessity
of hidden identity, souls who will linger as ghosts, a warning from the
supernatural, the necessity for (justifiable?) revenge. All mingled with the
rekindling of romance through a mutual quest, and the preparations for a
Cotswold village celebration. (Along with a good tip if illicitly snaffling
cakes.)
The binding
theme? Destiny... Kismet... FATE!
Purchase Link
Amazon Universal
link: https://mybook.to/FateAnthology
Author Bios
BRAMBLE CREEP BY
ANNIE WHITEHEAD
When the Normans
arrive at a peaceful Anglo-Saxon village, do the women, children and old men
submit... or fight?
ABOUT ANNIE:
Annie Whitehead is a prize-winning writer, historian, and Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society, and has written four award-winning novels set in
‘Anglo-Saxon’ Mercia. She has contributed to fiction and nonfiction anthologies
and written for various magazines. She has twice been a prize winner in the
Mail on Sunday Novel Writing Competition, and won First Prize in the 2012 New
Writer Magazine's Prose and Poetry Competition. She has been a finalist in the
Tom Howard Prize for nonfiction and was shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize
and Trisha Ashley Award 2021. She was the winner of the inaugural Historical
Writers’ Association (HWA)/Dorothy Dunnett Prize 2017 and was subsequently a
judge for that same competition. She has also been a judge for the HNS (Historical
Novel Society) Short Story Competition, and was a 2024 judge for the HWA Crown
Nonfiction Award.
Her nonfiction books are Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom
and Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon. In 2023 she contributed to a new
history of English monarchs, published by Hodder & Stoughton, and in
February 2025 Murder in Anglo-Saxon England was published by Amberley
Books.
Website: https://anniewhiteheadauthor.co.uk/
Amazon Author Page: http://viewauthor.at/Annie-Whitehead
SIX POMEGRANATE SEEDS BY JEAN GILL
A daughter’s dream can be a mother’s nightmare.
ABOUT JEAN
Jean Gill is an award-winning Welsh
writer and photographer living in the south of France with a scruffy dog, a
beehive named 'Endeavour', a Nikon D750 and a man. First published in
1988, her twenty-six books are varied in genre, including novels, memoir,
military history, dog books, poetry, and a cookery book on goat cheese. With
Scottish parents, an English birthplace and French residence, she can usually
support the winning team on most sporting occasions. She taught English for
many years and was the first woman to be a comprehensive school headteacher in
Dyfed, Wales. Life has been hectic as she is also mother or stepmother to five
children.
Website: www.jeangill.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/jeangill
ONE BLACK DOG BY MARIAN L THORPE
A warning of Fate, or simply too much beer and a tale well told?
ABOUT MARIAN
A dual Canadian/British citizen who divides her year between Ontario,
Canada, and Norfolk, UK, Marian published the first of her eight-book Empire’s
Legacy series, historically-inspired speculative fiction, in 2015. The
series is set in a world ‘on the edge of history’: reminiscent of Britain,
Northern Europe, and Rome in the latter centuries of the first millennium, but
a world where society evolved differently after the Eastern Empire left; a
world where one young fisherwoman answers her leader’s call to defend her
country, beginning a journey into uncharted territory.
Website: www.marianlthorpe.com
Amazon Author Page: https://relinks.me/MarianLThorpe
IN THE SHADOW OF GHOSTS BY HELEN
HOLLICK
Does the fate of those who survive linger
forever?
ABOUT HELEN
Known for her captivating storytelling
and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical
adventure series, cosy mysteries – and her short stories – skilfully invite
readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fact and fiction blend together. Helen started writing
as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was initially
published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy
and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of
Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown
in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are
nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes
the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based
around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library
assistant. Her 2025 release is Ghost Encounters, a book about the ghosts
of North Devon.
Helen and her family moved from London
to Devon after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012.
She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden, fending off the geese,
helping with the horses and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would
occasionally help with the housework...
Website: https://helenhollick.net/
Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
A FATEFUL
ENCOUNTER BY ALISON MORTON
When time turns
in the wrong direction, fate will always step in…
ABOUT ALISON
Alison Morton writes award-winning
thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her eleven-book Roma Nova
thriller series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the
ancient Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women
who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but with a sharp line in dialogue
Six years’ military service, a
fascination with ancient Rome and a life of reading crime, historical and
thriller fiction have inspired her writing. On the way, she collected a BA in
modern languages and an MA in history. She lives in Poitou in France, the home
of Mélisende, the heroine of her latest two contemporary thrillers, Double
Identity and Double Pursuit.
Website: https://www.alison-morton.com
Amazon Author Page: https://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon
FOLLOWING FATE BY ELIZABETH ST.JOHN
A Lost Portrait,
a Hidden Conspiracy, and a Second Chance at Love
ABOUT ELIZABETH
Elizabeth St.John’s acclaimed
historical fiction brings to life her ancestors – remarkable women linked to
England’s royalty – offering unique insights into Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart
times. Inspired by family archives and historic sites like Lydiard Park and the
Tower of London, her novels include The Lydiard Chronicles, The Godmother’s
Secret, and The King's Intelligencer, exploring the English Civil
War and the mystery of the Princes in the Tower.
Website: www.elizabethjstjohn.com
Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn
THE BLACK ONYX
BOX BY R. MARSDEN
The Bluffer’s
Guide to Becoming a Famous Alchemist
ABOUT R. MARSDEN
R. Marsden is an author and musician,
passionate about the Middle Ages. He plays the gittern, a beautiful medieval
stringed instrument, ancestor of the guitar; and a thirteenth century recorder,
a replica of one which was excavated from medieval ruins in modern-day Poland.
He also plays the piano, and there’s nothing medieval about that!
Tales of Castle Rory are
Medieval Fantasy Adventures, in which the demesne of Lord Rory of Hambrig is
brought to life. Set in the latter part of the thirteenth century, these
stories have adventure, mystery and magic at their heart. You’ll also find
relationships, romance, friendship and the forging and breaking of ties between
people and nations. Running through the Tales are themes of family, loyalty,
trust and resilience, together with the other sides of those coins:
abandonment, betrayal, loss and disempowerment.
Website: https://talesofcastlerory.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554417124566
Amazon Author Page: https://mybook.to/TalesOfCastleRory
BEWARE THE
CROWS BY ANNA BELFRAGE
Beware the consequences of hatred. Revenge can take many forms…
ABOUT ANNA
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d
have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial
professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance and writing. Anna
has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set
in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally
acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th
century England, and The Castilian Saga, which is set against the
medieval conquest of Wales. She has also published a time travel romance, The
Whirlpools of Time, and its sequel Times of Turmoil, and is now considering just how to wiggle out
of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia, as her
characters are demanding. . .
All of Anna’s books have been awarded
the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s
Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the
proud recipient of various Reader’s Favourite medals as well as having won
various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.
Website: www.annabelfrage.com
Amazon Author Page: http://Author.to/ABG
DAME FORTUNE’S
WHEEL BY J.P. REEDMAN
Fate can be in
the hands of others – or held within your own...
ABOUT J.P. REEDMAN
J.P. Reedman lives in Wiltshire near to Stonehenge. Born in Canada, she
has had a lifelong interest in ancient and medieval history, and is often found
lurking around prehistoric sites, ruined castles and abbeys, and interesting
churches with camera in hand. She became a full-time writer in 2018. Series
include I, Richard Plantagenet, five books chronicling Richard’s life from childhood to Bosworth, and
Medieval Babes, a set of standalone novels about lesser-known medieval queens
and noblewomen.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRichardPlantagenet/
Amazon Author Page: author.to/REEDMANHISTFIC
SAINTS ALIVE BY DEBBIE YOUNG
When children are not quite the saints we’d like them to be!
ABOUT DEBBIE
YOUNG
Debbie Young is the author of three
series of cosy mystery novels set in the Cotswolds. The Sophie Sayers series
starts with Best Murder in Show; the Gemma Lamb series begins with Dastardly
Deeds at St Bride’s; and the Cotswold Curiosity Shop series kicks off with
Death at the Old Curiosity Shop. She sometimes sends characters from one series
to visit those in another. She also writes short fiction, not all of it
crime-related, set in the same world, eg Christmas with Sophie Sayers. Her
novels are published by Boldwood Books in English, by DP Verlag in German, and
by Antonio Vallardi in Italian. She has recently written her first murder
mystery play for performance by her village amateur dramatic group. She is a
frequent speaker at events for writers and readers, a course tutor for Jericho
Writers, and the founder and director of the Hawkesbury Upton Literature
Festival. She lives in a Victorian cottage with her Scottish husband, her
student daughter, and three cats, and she writes in a little hut at the bottom
of her garden.
Website: www.authordebbieyoung.com
Links to buy Debbie’s books:
https://authordebbieyoung.com/books-2/
YouTube book Trailer:
https://youtu.be/M9pSrDX8PTQ?si=sqe7R1JpQoGwUjrb
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