Spotlight on Nancy Northcott, author of The King’s Champion

 

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The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy

A wizard’s misplaced trust

A king wrongly blamed

A bloodline cursed until they clear the king’s name.

Book 3: The King’s Champion

Caught up in the desperate evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France in the summer of 1940, photojournalist Kate Shaw witnesses death and destruction that trigger disturbing visions. She doesn’t believe in magic and tries to pass them off as survivor guilt or an overactive imagination, but the increasingly intense visions force her to accept that she is not only magically Gifted but a seer.

In Dover, she meets her distant cousin Sebastian Mainwaring, Earl of Hawkstowe and an officer in the British Army. He’s also a seer and is desperate to recruit her rare Gift for the war effort. The fall of France leaves Britain standing alone as the full weight of Nazi military might threatens. Kate’s untrained Gift flares out of control, forcing her to accept Sebastian’s help in conquering it as her ethics compel her to use her ability for the cause that is right.

As this fledgling wizard comes into her own, her visions warn of an impending German invasion, Operation Sealion, which British intelligence confirms. At the same time, desire to help Sebastian, who’s doomed by a family curse arising from a centuries-old murder, leads Kate to a shadowy afterworld between life and death and the trapped, fading souls who are the roots of her family’s story. From the bloody battlefields of France to the salons of London, Kate and Sebastian race against time to free his family’s cursed souls and to stop an invasion that could doom the Allied cause.

The King’s Champion concludes Nancy Northcott’s exciting Boar King’s Honor Trilogy.

 

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 The Herald of Day

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The Steel Rose

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The King’s Champion

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FUN FACTS

My favorite periods of English history are the Dark Ages, Elizabethan, Wars of the Roses, Regency, and Battle of Britain though I also have a soft spot for Restoration.

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My favorite kings are, in chronological order, Alfred the Great, Henry V, Richard III, and Charles II (hence the soft spot mentioned above).

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I took tae kwon do for several years so I could write fight scenes, earning a high blue belt before I stopped.

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The inspiration for the secret (meaning unknown to us regular types of people) societies of the wizards and mages in my two series with magic came from the secret identities of superheroes, particularly the Justice League of America.

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 I love military history, especially naval history because my parents met while serving in the U.S. Navy.

 

 HMS Victory – photo by Nancy Northcott

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Nancy Northcott

Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman.  Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance.

Nancy earned her undergraduate degree in history and particularly enjoyed a summer spent studying Tudor and Stuart England at the University of Oxford. She has given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about that king. In addition, she has taught college courses on science fiction, fantasy, and society.   

The Boar King’s Honor historical fantasy trilogy combines Nancy’s love of history and magic with her interest in Richard III. She also writes traditional romantic suspense, romantic spy adventures, and two other speculative fiction series, the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances and, with Jeanne Adams, the Outcast Station space mystery series.

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Spotlight on Griffin Brady, author of The Hussar’s Duty

 

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Poland’s most valiant winged hussar is called to fight in a campaign ripe for disaster. But he must also protect those he loves from jackals waiting to pounce. How does he choose between duty and devotion when death is on the line?

When Sultan Osman II sends Poland's envoy packing, the Commonwealth must prepare for war against one of the largest armies the Ottomans have ever assembled. Tasked with repelling the invasion is Grand Hetman of the Crown Stanisław Żółkiewski, and he knows who to turn to: Jacek Dąbrowski, the Commonwealth’s most valiant Polish winged hussar.

Jacek has been idle far too long, and the call to arms is a siren’s song he can’t resist. But he has built a life far from the battlefield with his wife, Oliwia, and their children. If he pursues his quest for glory, who will safeguard them?

Oliwia knows her husband is restless. In fact, she’s been sending Jacek on cross-country errands for years in the hopes of quelling his lust for battle. When she realizes her efforts are futile, she resolves herself to letting him go—after hatching a scheme to accompany him.

Honor. Obligation. Devotion. These forces push and pull Jacek in different directions. His country needs him, but so does his family. Where does his duty lie? His choice will cause catastrophic ripples no matter which path he follows … and could very well bring the loss of his loved ones or his life.

Will the cost of defending king and country prove too steep for this warrior?

This is a standalone continuation in The Winged Warrior Series.

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 FUN FACTS

Griffin Brady

I had no idea what or who the Polish-winged hussars were. I had never heard of them, nor had I ever delved into Polish history. One day, as I was researching daggers for a different historical fiction I had in mind, up popped a link to “Badass of the Week.” I couldn’t resist! When I clicked on the link, I landed on a page that lauded these 16th/17th-century shock troops and listed battle after battle where they were victorious despite incredible odds against them. I fell into that world and haven’t climbed out of it yet!

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My current novel features a specific battle that took place in present-day Romania in 1620, and the information on it was rather scant. As I don’t read or write Polish, my ability to delve into the research was even more limited. I reached out to a very helpful blogger who directed me to a 1970s chronicle that depicted the battle in wonderful detail. The entire thing, however, was written in Polish. It was such a rich resource, and it dispelled some of the other research I had gathered. I wanted accuracy for my story, so I rolled up my sleeves and spent weeks typing line after line of a 252-page book into an online translator. I learned that one typo had the potential to change an entire paragraph, and I often found myself laughing out loud at some of the interpretations.

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I was born in Japan, where my father worked for Pan American as a director of sales. When I was three, my family moved to Vietnam, and my parents put me in a French nursery school for a different experience (or, I’ve always suspected, to have a handy translator). I went on to attend an all-girls elementary school, where French—the national language of Vietnam at that time—was the only language spoken. English was spoken at home with my family, but it really became my second language. Once, when my mother woke me up for school, I could only speak in French—in my groggy state, I couldn’t recall my English words! While living in Vietnam, we went through several coup d'états that made life pretty spicy.

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During the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, I was working in San Francisco, about a half hour from where I lived. I had taken the train that day rather than the bus because the World Series was taking place at Candlestick, and I wanted to avoid getting snarled in the highway traffic. My workday was over, and as I stood outside waiting for a bus to take me to the train station, the earthquake struck. Watching asphalt ripple, windows in high rises bow, and chunks of masonry fall from buildings was a surreal experience.

The bus never came, and a total stranger and I walked the many blocks to the train station, stepping over rubble as we went. When we reached the station, I discovered no trains were running. The tracks all had to be inspected. In those days, there were no cell phones, and none of the pay phones worked, so I had no way of finding out if my husband was okay and to let him know I was alive.

A bus that normally takes people back and forth to the casinos in Nevada pulled up. The entrepreneurial driver was heading south, in the direction where I lived, and for $15, one could climb aboard. I emptied my wallet and got on the bus while he still had room. He wasn’t familiar with San Francisco, and getting out of the city on a large bus was an adventure, especially since there were no working traffic lights.

The next adventure came when I got off at my “stop” on a main thoroughfare a few blocks from a quiet side street where I had parked my car. It was pitch black by then, and of course, there was no electricity and, therefore, no lights. As I walked toward the parking lot, a van with two men inside began following me, slowly rolling beside me and matching my gait. Heart in my throat, I hurried my steps. By some miracle, a police cruiser pulled up behind them and flashed its lights. Where that cruiser came from—especially given the pandemonium of that night—I have no idea, but I’m eternally grateful. I scurried to my car, locked the doors, and took off. The entire trek from the train station to home stretched over five hours. When I pulled into our driveway, my husband rushed out of our front door. I had managed to hold a stiff upper lip, but all my bravado evaporated, and I dissolved into tears.

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I moved out at seventeen after graduating from high school and landing my first job in San Francisco. I knew no one and was introduced by one of my new co-workers to a girl who was looking to move into an apartment with a roommate. We agreed to an arrangement, but she lost her job and started bringing home some unsavory characters. I eventually got my own place, and after I moved in, I noticed different people watching my new apartment. I thought I was being paranoid until my sister, who was helping me decorate the place, made a comment. The surveillance finally stopped, and the mystery was solved about six months later when I read in the paper that my ex-roommate had been arrested for armed robbery. Apparently, she had started her new “career” while she and I still roomed together, and detectives were watching to see if I was involved.

 

Griffin Brady

Griffin Brady is an award-winning historical fiction author with a keen interest in the Polish Winged Hussars of the 16th and 17th centuries. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Her debut novel, The Heart of a Hussar, was a finalist for the 2021 Chaucer Early Historical Fiction Award and a 2021 Discovered Diamond.

The proud mother of three grown sons, she lives in Colorado with her husband. She is also an award-winning bestselling romance author who writes under the pen name G.K. Brady.

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Spotlight on I. M. Foster, author of Murder on Oak Street

 

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New York, 1904. After two years as a coroner’s physician for the city of New York, Daniel O'Halleran is more frustrated than ever. What’s the point when the authorities consistently brush aside his findings for the sake of expediency? So when his fiancée leaves him standing at the altar on their wedding day, he takes it as a sign that it's time to move on and eagerly accepts an offer to assist the local coroner in the small Long Island village of Patchogue.

Though the coroner advises him that life on Long Island is far more subdued than that of the city, Daniel hasn’t been there a month when the pretty librarian, Kathleen Brissedon, asks him to look into a two-year-old murder case that took place in the city. Oddly enough, the case she’s referring to was the first one he ever worked on, and the verdict never sat right with him.

Eager for the chance to investigate it anew, Daniel agrees to look into it in his spare time, but when a fresh murder occurs in his own backyard, he can’t shake his gut feeling that the two cases are connected. Can he discover the link before another life is taken, or will murder shake the peaceful South Shore village once again?

 

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FUN FACTS

While doing research for “Murder on Oak Street,” I discovered the following fun facts:

 

After scouring local newspapers of the period for murders, I could only find two or three mentioned on the South Shore of Long Island for the eight-year period from 1900 to 1908. Hopefully, my hero will be able to locate a few more in upcoming books.

This isn’t exactly about the book, but I came across this interesting tidbit. English musician Billy Idol lived in Patchogue after his parents emigrated to the United States in 1958.

The first jail in Patchogue, known as the lockup, was nothing fancy. It was a one-room, brick building with a small, barred window. According to legend, local children loved to taunt the inmates and thus expanded their vocabulary as a result of the occupants’ replies. However, their parents probably weren’t too happy with the words they learned.

The Roe Hotel, where my hero will be staying for a while, was owned by Austin Roe III, the grandson of Culper Spy ring legend Austin Roe I. Two more of his grandsons also resided in Patchogue. John ran the cotton/twine mill, and William was a merchant at the Four Corners (the center of town, where Main St. and Ocean Ave. intersect.)

Cycling was very big in 1904. Clubs known as the Wheelman would ride their bicycles out to Patchogue on a Saturday, spend the night at the Roe Hotel, and then pedal the fifty miles back to New York City on Sunday. Not everyone had the energy to make the trek back, however. For those who were too exhausted, the Long Island Railroad had special cars designed to carry bicycles, so their owners could relax on the way home.

  

 I. M. Foster

I. M. Foster is the pen name author Inez Foster uses to write her South Shore Mystery series, set on Edwardian Long Island. Inez also writes historical romances under the pseudonym Andrea Matthews and has so far published two series in that genre: the Thunder on the Moor series, a time-travel romance set on the 16th century Anglo-Scottish Borders, and the Cross of Ciaran series, which follows the adventures of a fifth century Celt who finds himself in love with a twentieth-century archaeologist.

Inez is a historian and librarian who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogically speaking. She has a BA in History and an MLS in Library Science and enjoys the research almost as much as she does writing the story. In fact, many of her ideas come to her while doing casual research or digging into her family history. Inez is a member of the Long Island Romance Writers, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime.

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Spotlight on Lucretia Grindle, author of The Devil’s Glove

 

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Northern New England, summer, 1688.

Salem started here.

A suspicious death. A rumor of war. Whispers of witchcraft.

Perched on the brink of disaster, Resolve Hammond and her mother, Deliverance, struggle to survive in their isolated coastal village. They're known as healers taught by the local tribes - and suspected of witchcraft by the local villagers.

Their precarious existence becomes even more chaotic when summoned to tend to a poisoned woman. As they uncover a web of dark secrets, rumors of war engulf the village, forcing the Hammonds to choose between loyalty to their native friends or the increasingly terrified settler community.

As Resolve is plagued by strange dreams, she questions everything she thought she knew - about her family, her closest friend, and even herself. If the truth comes to light, the repercussions will be felt far beyond the confines of this small settlement.

Based on meticulous research and inspired by the true story of the fear and suspicion that led to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, THE DEVIL'S GLOVE is a tale of betrayal, loyalty, and the power of secrets. Will Resolve be able to uncover the truth before the town tears itself apart, or will she become the next victim of the village's dark and mysterious past?

Praise for The Devil’s Glove:

“From its opening lines this historical novel from Grindle (Villa Triste) grips with its rare blend of a powerfully evoked past, resonant characters, smart suspense, and prose touched with shivery poetry.”

~ BookLife Reviews Editor’s Pick

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 FUN FACTS

*  When I was about four, some work was being done on my grandfather’s farm. The digger uncovered a weird stone structure, and when I asked Grandpa what it was, he said it was the old cesspool. Cesspool was by far the longest and best word I had ever heard. I was very excited by it and loved it so much that when I was given a kitten, I named her Cesspool Kitty. I used to carry her under my arm and announce her when we entered a room. Now I think she may be my alter ego. I imagine her as a gunslinger in a western, banging through those swinging bar doors, saying, “Nobody move. It’s Cesspool Kitty!”

Or my alter ego may just be Listeria Kittens, which is how Google’s autocorrect likes to sign my name.

* Sticking to the cat theme: My mother was the first woman to solo in a mixed large cat act after she ran away and joined the circus. She became the head showgirl at Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Baily and opened Madison Square Garden carrying a leopard over her shoulders and wearing a spangled bikini.

Personally, I prefer dogs.

* And horses. My best friend Darci and I rode 250 miles packing a five-mule train along the Saskatchewan/Montana border chasing the ghost of my great great uncle who married Sitting Bull’s niece, which was a problem because he had a wife and daughter back in Toronto.

* Speaking of marriage, I asked my husband to marry me when I was four. He’s a little older than I am. My parents always gave a pool party on the fourth of July. He was there with his girlfriend, Rhoda, who was wearing a seersucker plaid bikini (no spangles.)  I had a new bathing suit, strictly one piece. It was navy blue, with red and white stripes and gold stars on the shoulders, and I went up to David, who was, and is, very handsome, and said, “David, do you like my new bathing suit?” And he said, “Yes, Lucretia, it’s very nice.” So, I said, “Then, will you marry me?” And he, being English and polite, said, “Yes, of course, I will.” And thirty-four years later, we were married beside that very same swimming pool. So, look out for four years olds.

* And on the theme of handsome men: Two days before graduating from college, I was walking down the street and was so busy watching the most beautiful man I’d ever seen walking along the opposite sidewalk that I ran into a parking meter and smashed both my front teeth. He was so guilty that I had to go to graduation with no teeth that he asked me out. I got tuna fish in my hair, but we’re still friends.

That’s three more facts. Or maybe four. But I majored in Religion, so what can you expect?

Lucretia Grindle

Lucretia Grindle grew up and went to school and university in England and the United States. After a brief career in journalism, she worked for The United States Equestrian Team organizing ‘kids and ponies,’ and for the Canadian Equestrian Team. For ten years, she produced and owned Three Day Event horses that competed at The World Games, The European Games and the Atlanta Olympics. In 1997, she packed a five-mule train across 250 miles of what is now Grasslands National Park on the Saskatchewan/Montana border tracing the history of her mother’s family who descend from both the Sitting Bull Sioux and the first officers of the Canadian Mounties.

Returning to graduate school as a ‘mature student’, Lucretia completed an MA in Biography and Non-Fiction at The University of East Anglia where her work, FIREFLIES, won the Lorna Sage Prize. Specializing in the 19th century Canadian West, the Plains Tribes, and American Indigenous and Women’s History, she is currently finishing her PhD dissertation at The University of Maine.

Lucretia is the author of the psychological thrillers, THE NIGHTSPINNERS, shortlisted for the Steel Dagger Award, and THE FACES of ANGELS, one of BBC Front Row’s six best books of the year, shortlisted for the Edgar Award. Her historical fiction includes, THE VILLA TRISTE, a novel of the Italian Partisans in World War II, a finalist for the Gold Dagger Award, and THE LOST DAUGHTER, a fictionalized account of the Aldo Moro kidnapping. She has been fortunate enough to be awarded fellowships at The Hedgebrook Foundation, The Hawthornden Foundation, The Hambidge Foundation, The American Academy in Paris, and to be the Writer in Residence at The Wallace Stegner Foundation. A television drama based on her research and journey across Grasslands is currently in development. THE DEVIL’S GLOVE and the concluding books of THE SALEM TRILOGY are drawn from her research at The University of Maine where Lucretia is grateful to have been a fellow at the Canadian American Foundation.

She and her husband, David Lutyens, live in Shropshire.

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Spotlight on David Lawrence author of Blue Billy’s Rogue Lexicon

 

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William Dempsey was a wonder among wonders.

By 18, he had risen from a gang of London street rogues to be the personal plaything of the Marquess of Argyll. Maintained in splendour, celebrated at masquerades – with everything he could wish for.

Now all has come crashing down. He is put out in the rain without patronage, his West End apartment, or a place among the ton.

So on a stormy night, he arrives at a house in Southwark. Marathon Moll’s in the Mint – the bawdyhouse he worked in during his ascent and where he earned the name Blue Billy.

But is Marathon Moll’s a place from which to rise again? For there is one in the crowd, who catches his eye. Who takes his hand and promises something better.

Or does Moll’s signify a return to his roots? For one day, a second and very different young man raps on the door. Takes his hand and asks him to return to his past.

To the cat language of vagabonds. The canting dialect of thieves.

To the schemes, and the dreams, of his youth.

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Fun Facts about Blue Billy’s Rogue Lexicon

by David Lawrence

 

Many of the characters who visit Moll’s bawdyhouse (the centrepiece of the antics in my book) are inspired by actual people mentioned in 18th-century criminal records. Thank goodness for those records! Without them, we would know little or nothing about them today, and so very much would be lost to history. I used a bit of imagination to fill in the blanks when describing such as Dip-Candle Mary (a tallow chandler) and Hardware Nan (presumably a seller of hardware goods), but these were the actual ‘house names’ of men living in London in the 18th century.

 

The lexicon of the title refers to the chapter names in the book. The terms are taken from the street, or cant language spoken by the thieves and vagrants of London in the 17th and 18th centuries. The primary use of the language was to disguise various nefarious and illegal doings. However, some terms, such as ‘hand-me-downs’ have made it into popular usage. Fuller lexicons of the cant language can be found in two fabulously colourful books of the period (you can tell by their titles just how fabulous). These are:

 

The Surprising Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew, King of the Beggars - Containing his Life, a Dictionary of the Cant Language, and many Entertaining Particulars of that Extraordinary Man by Robert Goadby (published 1749)

 

The English Rogue: Described in the Life of Meriton Latroon, A Witty Extravagant

by Richard Head (published 1665)

 

Bampfylde Moore Carew

 Source: Wikimedia Commons

The English Rogue

Source: Wikimedia Commons

1771, the year in which this book is set, was the year Captain Cook, commander of the HMS Endeavour, returned from his first voyage around the world. This was by no means the first time Great Britain ventured around the globe. Because of this, I wanted to draw attention to a lesser-known expedition by having one of Billy’s romantic interests participate in one of these previous voyages – in particular: the 1764 expedition around the world of the HMS Dolphin. No discoveries comparable to those of Captain Cook were made during this expedition, but the account of Commodore Byron in the HMS Dolphin is right there in the historical record, and it is an exciting one.

 

Yes, Commodore Byron was a relation of that Byron. Vice-Admiral (and Commodore) John Byron was poet Lord Byron’s grandfather. I don’t see a family resemblance, though. Perhaps without the wig…?

 

John Byron

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Lord Byron

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Brit author Alexis Hall, fabulous writer of queer romcoms and historical romances, is largely responsible for my taking on this project. He was kind enough to give my first book, Hugh, a favourable review, after which he wrote that he’d like to know more about the street boy/thief/prostitute William Dempsey, who was a supporting character in that book. After some research, I realized William was in fact, Blue Billy, and the book developed from there. I’m indebted to Alexis for caring enough about this character to ask to know more.

 

David Lawrence

David Lawrence is the author of two queer historical novels – ‘Hugh: A Hero without a Novel’ and ‘Blue Billy’s Rogue Lexicon.’ As a writer, he loves taking a deep dive into the politics, social norms, and events of 18th-century England while presenting humorous and unique coming-of-age tales.

A native of the American Southwest, David has spent much of his life in Great Britain, France, and Finland.  He now lives in the American Northwest – Helena, Montana – with his Finnish partner. 

By day he loves hiking under the Big Sky of his beautiful adopted state.

By night, however, he prefers wandering the byways of 18th-century London…

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Spotlight on MJ Porter, author of Pagan Warrior

 

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From bestselling author MJ Porter comes the tale of the mighty pagan king, Penda of Mercia.

Britain. AD632.

Penda, a warrior of immense renown, has much to prove if he is to rule the Mercian kingdom of his dead father and prevent the neighbouring king of Northumbria from claiming it.

Unexpectedly allying with the British kings, Penda races to battle the alliance of the Northumbrian king, unsure if his brother stands with him or against him as they seek battle glory for themselves, and the right to rule gained through bloody conquest.

There will be a victor and a bloody loser, and a king will rise from the ashes of the great and terrible battle of Hædfeld.

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  FUN FACTS

Very relevant to the story which pitches the Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria against that of Mercia, I was born in Mercia but have lived in Northumbria for nearly twenty years. I think I’m still very much a Mercian at heart.

Much to many people's disgust at the time, my children learned to ride their bikes on Lindisfarne, as it’s lovely and flat. Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, is mentioned throughout the Gods and Kings Trilogy as it’s where Bishop Aidan built his monastery.

Ruins of the later Lindisfarne Priory

(Source: Author photo)

In one of the books, there's a scene where the Northumbrians all complain that it’s too hot in Mercia without the usual Northumbrian wind. My children said this to me when we went to Alton Towers in the summer of one year. They missed the cooling wind.

One of the battles in Pagan King, book two of the trilogy, is based somewhere close to where I grew up, although I changed the name a little.

Tamworth Castle, while not Saxon era, Tamworth is believed to have been a Mercia capital at this time, and I grew up quite close to Tamworth.

(Source: author photo)

The first time I wrote a battle scene, I used my children’s play swords, purchased from a castle, to try and determine how my characters might have been able to fight and defend themselves.

 

MJ Porter is the author of many historical novels set predominantly in Seventh to Eleventh-Century England, as well as three twentieth-century mysteries. Being raised in the shadow of a building that was believed to house the bones of long-dead Kings of Mercia, meant that the author's writing destiny was set.

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Matt Coles
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