Category: historical fiction
I’m delighted to welcome Paul Bernardi and his new book, Uprising, to the blog #Uprising #HistoricalFiction #AngloSaxon #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub
I’m delighted to welcome Paul Bernardi and his new book, Uprising, book 2 of the Rebellion series, to the blog.
Here’s the Blurb
Summer 1067.
Northumbria.
Oslac, thegn of the village of Acum, feels cheated – having been robbed of the chance to kill his enemy by his own kinsman.
Instead, Gundulf, the erstwhile Lord of Hexham and murderer of Acum’s villagers, is now awaiting justice for his crimes in Bebbanburh, Earl Oswulf’s fortress capital far to the north.
But when Oslac narrowly escapes death at the hands of Gundulf’s assassin, he realises he will never be safe while the Dane lives. Summoning his closest companions, Oslac heads north to demand Oswulf put an end to Gundulf’s life – only to find the prisoner has escaped.
Tracking the fugitive into the wild hills and dales of Northumbria – places far beyond the reach of Oswulf’s power – Oslac falls into Gundulf’s trap when the earl’s warband is ambushed with catastrophic consequences.
Elsewhere, unrest in the north of England is growing. Impotent in the face of Norman avaricious brutality, the Saxon nobility can do nothing to prevent their ancestral lands being passed to foreign invaders. It can only be endured for so long, and a reckoning is coming.
Once again, Oslac must put aside his personal vendetta to join with the few remaining great lords of Anglo-Saxon England in what may prove to be the final, climactic stand against their Norman overlords.
The song of swords will echo across the land once more.
Buy Link
This title is available on #KindleUnlimited
Meet the Author
Paul Bernardi studied Anglo-Saxon and Medieval history at the University of Leeds more years ago than he cares to remember. He has been an author of historical fiction since his first novel (a second world war drama) was published in 2017. Since then, he has reverted to his favoured period, publishing six more novels (so far) set in 11th century England, mainly around the time of the Norman Conquest.
Paul Bernardi’s books are published by Sharp Books.
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I’m delighted to share an excerpt from Death and the Poet, a Roman-era historical mystery by Fiona Forsyth HistoricalMystery #RomanHistoricalFiction #AncientRome #Ovid #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub
Here’s an exciting excerpt from Death and the Poet
Ovid gives a recital
July 2, or 6 days before the Nones
The recital took place in the late afternoon at the town’s main square on top of the hill overlooking the harbour. Entertainment in Tomis was infrequent and modest, with maybe a serious theatre performance in the spring in honour of Dionysus, and the occasional touring group performing comedies. There were rumours of a gladiator show, once they were a proper province, but for the moment, poetry was exciting enough to a Greek audience and Ovid was, after all, famous. People drifted into the square carrying chairs, stools and even cushions, unpacked their picnics and handed around pitchers of wine. Fabia was invited to sit in a roped-off area, where three rows of chairs had been laid out for special guests. In the central seat was Apollous, that year’s archon, and the members of the Town Council and their wives all lined up to express themselves thrilled to meet Fabia. Nobody was so indelicate as to mention the fact that Ovid was in Tomis because he had no choice.
Settled with an extra shawl because Flora had been certain that she would feel chilly even on a beautiful summer day, Fabia began to enjoy herself. She looked around the crowd, marking off people as Roman, Greek and Dacian, spotting several men with light coloured hair and beards and wearing leggings – surely they must be from the local tribes mentioned by her husband. It was harder to make any judgement on the female population, for every woman was wrapped up in a long dress, just as she was.
The poet first declaimed a well-known passage from his great poem on mythology, the Metamorphoses. He told the story of the god Apollo’s love of the nymph Daphne:
Just as when a careless dawn traveller has swept his torch too close to the stubble left in the field when the wheat is taken, setting the dry hedges on fire – so the god goes up in the flames of love.
Fabia saw the knowing nods as local landowners remembered threats to their own precious crops, and an audible murmur betrayed the audience’s opinion of firebugs.
Ovid then recited a poem Fabia had not heard before, one with a Tomis setting, but without the criticisms she had grown used to. She was pleased. There had been too many “Woe is me!” moments in Ovid’s poetry recently and he needed to acknowledge to this audience how grateful he was to them.
Ovid finished with a passage from the Fasti, an ambitious work which he planned would cover the major religious festivals of Rome. It was serious and noble and a little boring, though Fabia knew from her mother that Ovid’s work on this poem was considered skilful by those who knew about such things. She was amused to hear a young woman nearby whisper, “I thought he was a famous writer of love poetry?”
“Oh my dear,” thought Fabia, “Ovid will not be reciting any of his love poems here. They got him into enough trouble in Rome. I doubt your father would like you hearing about how a Roman lad goes on the prowl through the arcades of the city or lies wailing at the door of his beloved.”
Here’s the blurb
14 AD.
When Dokimos the vegetable seller is found bludgeoned to death in the Black Sea town of Tomis, it’s the most exciting thing to have happened in the region for years. Now reluctantly settled into life in exile, the disgraced Roman poet Ovid helps his friend Avitius to investigate the crime, with the evidence pointing straight at a cuckolded neighbour.
But Ovid is also on edge, waiting for the most momentous death of all. Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, is nearing his end, and the future of the whole Roman world is uncertain.
Even as far away as Tomis, this political shadow creates tension as the pompous Roman legate Flaccus thinks more of his career than solving a local murder.
Avitius and Ovid become convinced that an injustice has been done in the case of the murdered vegetable seller. But Flaccus continues to turn a deaf ear.
When Ovid’s wife, Fabia, arrives unexpectedly, carrying a cryptic message from the Empress Livia, the poet becomes distracted – and another crime is committed.
Ovid hopes for a return to Rome – only to discover that he is under threat from an enemy much closer to home.
Triggers: murder, references to slavery, domestic abuse, alcohol, cancer
Buy Link
https://books2read.com/u/brx0WY
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Meet the author
Fiona studied Classics at Oxford before teaching it for 25 years. A family move to Qatar gave her the opportunity to write about ancient Rome, and she is now back in the UK, working on her seventh novel.
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I’m delighted to spotlight Metropolis by Colin Garrow, a historical crime novel set in Edinburgh #blogtour #histfic
Here’s the blurb
Edinburgh, 1936. People are disappearing. The police are clueless. Can Finlay MacBeth track down the perpetrator before someone else goes missing?
Haunted by his recent past, Professor Finlay MacBeth returns to his home town to take up a new post at the university. Within hours, his reputation for solving the occasional murder prompts the police to ask for his help. Four men—seemingly unconnected—have vanished into thin air. MacBeth must find whatever it is that links the men before the kidnapper strikes again.
But the police aren’t the only ones interested in MacBeth’s activities, and the amateur sleuth soon discovers that finding the missing men is the least of his problems…
In this thriller series set in Edinburgh, Metropolis is book #1 in the Finlay MacBeth Thriller series.
Purchase Link
Meet the author
Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland. He has worked in a plethora of professions including taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor, and has occasionally masqueraded as a pirate.
He has published more than thirty books, and his short stories have appeared in several literary mags, most recently in Witcraft, and Flash Fiction North. Colin lives in a humble cottage in Northeast Scotland where he writes novels, stories, poems and the occasional song.
He also plays several musical instruments and makes rather nice vegan cakes.
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Check out my reviews for Colin’s other books
I’m reviewing Esperance by Adam Oyebanjo #newrelease #specfic #mystery
Here’s the blurb
The history-bending speculative fiction from Adam Oyebanji, award-winning author of BRAKING DAY.
An impossible death: Detective Ethan Krol has been called to the scene of a baffling murder: a man and his son, who appear to have been drowned in sea-water. But the nearest ocean is a thousand miles away.
An improbable story: Hollie Rogers doesn’t want to ask too many questions of her new friend, Abi Eniola. Abi claims to be an ordinary woman from Nigeria, but her high-tech gadgets and extraordinary physical abilities suggest she’s not telling the whole truth.
An incredible quest: As Ethan’s investigation begins to point towards Abi, Hollie’s fears mount. For Abi is very much not who she seems. And it won’t be long before Ethan and Hollie find themselves playing a part in a story that spans cultures, continents . . . and centuries.
An extraordinary speculative thriller about the scars left by the Atlantic slave-trade, by a master of the genre.
Purchase Link
My Review
Esperance is an enthralling and captivating novel. It is mostly a mystery, and much of it revolves around determining who perpetrated an impossible crime. It is also a story of friendship, family, and a quest for justice.
The story begins quickly, with our impossible crime, introducing us to one of our main characters, Ethan. It is he and Abi, who we meet a little while later, who propel the story onwards, but they both have their own agendas and therefore, the reader is very much left in the dark about some elements. We quickly realise Abi is far from what she seems. We quickly realise Ethan has his own demons, but we’re swept along in the mystery of the entire thing. I adored that Abi spoke with a 1930s flavour. It really gave her character an extraordinary shine.
I loved the historical elements of the story and how they combined with the otherworldly ones. I found the whole story quite extraordinary and incredibly enjoyable, although, of course, tinged with sorrow for the real-life elements it’s built upon.
The ending, when it came, perhaps felt a little rushed. I would have loved to know more about the otherworldly elements.
That said, readers of quirky mysteries interlaced with otherworldly elements, as well as those who love a good tale of retribution, will devour this novel, just as I did.
If it’s not quite a five-star read, it so very nearly is that I feel it would be wrong not to give it. Esperance is available now, and it’s well worth checking out. I have to say, the tag line got me for this one, ‘They cried out for justice. Something heard.’ (Shudder).
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I’m welcoming the Boy with Wings by Mark Mustian to the blog, with a fab post about historical research LiteraryFiction #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub
Historical research for BOY WITH WINGS
Boy With Wings is set mostly in northern Florida, where I’ve lived all my life, and as such I had some familiarity with the historical predicate of the story, but not all of it. I knew almost nothing about sideshows, or “freaks,” which necessitated quite a bit of research on the subjects.
People have asked where the idea to write the book came from, and I tell them that perhaps it was from attending the North Florida Fair as a child and seeing “The World’s Smallest Horse” or the “Wild Man from Borneo.” Somewhere along the way I saw the 1932 Tod Browning movie “Freaks,” and this spawned more interest. When I told my agent I was thinking of writing a novel that delved into this area, he asked if I’d read the novel Geek Love, which I hadn’t, and did. This spawned more research.
There are a number of books cataloguing human oddities that were helpful to bring an understanding of this arena, including Freak Babylon by Jack Hunter and American Sideshow by Marc Hartzman. Eventually I found the book Truevine, by Beth Macy, which sets forth the story of the albino brothers sold into the circus who became known as Eko and Iko, billed as sheep-headed wonders from Mars. I learned a lot from these books, including the fact that for some, including Eko and Iko, their lives became perhaps better than if they’d remained at home.
I also discovered the book Freaks, by Leslie Fiedler, an examination of what attracts us psychologically to human oddities, and the documentary “Sideshow: Alive on the Inside,” by Lynn Dougherty. One of the most insightful finds, though, was a biography of a gentleman named Ward Hall, who for fifty years ran sideshows across the United States. After my book was published, I did several appearances with the current sideshow performer Short E. Dangerously, who paid me one of the highest compliments a historical fiction writer can receive when he told me that I “nailed what it was like to be in a sideshow” and asked me about my research. When I told him about the Ward Hall book, he exclaimed: “I knew it! I was in a Ward Hall show for several years!”
I had a little general knowledge of turpentine camps, as I remember as a child passing rows of pine trees with little tin pans affixed to their trunks. The research in this area involved locating pamphlets and books describing such operations, and a visit to the Florida Forest Capital Museum State Park in Perry, Florida, where displays show how turpentine is extracted from trees and distilled.
Some have asked why I set the novel in the 1930s, and what I research I conducted regarding the Great Depression. I wanted the story to take place at a time things were changing, in some ways for the better and others ways not. By the 1930s, sideshows had seen their heyday and were starting to phase out. The South was still segregated, but cracks were beginning to show in that, too. In the book, I have the show admitting Blacks for the first time in an attempt to garner more revenue. I did quite a bit of research on places, events and language of the time, as I wanted the reader to feel like she or he was there, reading old newspapers, seeing small towns and their quaintness and prejudices, experiencing the people and their foibles that are in some ways not unlike those today. That’s to me what the best historical fiction accomplishes, and I hope I’ve come close to achieving it.
Here’s the blurb
“A brilliant fever dream of a novel, a haunting coming of age story reminiscent of both Franz Kafka and Charles Dickens.”
~ Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Jackal’s Mistress
*Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2025 First Place Winner*
What does it mean to be different?
When Johnny Cruel is born with strange appendages on his back in the 1930s South, the locals think he’s a devil. Determined to protect him, his mother fakes his death, and they flee. Thus begins Johnny’s yearslong struggle to find a place he belongs.
From a turpentine camp of former slaves to a freak show run by a dwarf who calls herself Tiny Tot and on to the Florida capitol building, Johnny finds himself working alongside other outcasts, struggling to answer the question of his existence. Is he a horror, a wonder, or an angel? Should he hide himself to live his life?
Following Johnny’s journey through love, betrayal, heartbreak, and several murders, Boy With Wings is a story of the sacrifices and freedom inherent in making one’s own special way-and of love and the miracles that give our lives meaning.
Buy Link
https://books2read.com/u/mdxEoR
Meet the author
Mark Mustian is the author of the novels “The Return” and “The Gendarme,” the latter a finalist for the Dayton International Literary Peace Prize and shortlisted for the Saroyan International Award for Writing. It won the Florida Gold Book Award for Fiction and has been published in ten languages.
The founder of the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music in Tallahassee, Florida, his new novel, “Boy With Wings,” is out in 2025.
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I’m delighted to welcome Janet Wertman and her new book, Nothing Proved, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #TudorFiction #ElizabethTudor #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub
I’m delighted to welcome Janet Wertman and her new book, Nothing Proved, to the blog with a guest post.
Guest Post
Thank you for having me on your blog to talk about my historical research, though I feel a little guilty given how much more information I have available to me than you do! The Tudor Era really marks the beginning of careful documentation of the historical record – and it’s all carefully indexed. The touch of a button opens the records of the Privy Council, writings of ambassadors, details of state trials. I can examine floorplans of castles and paintings of gardens long gone, I can watch videos of hawking parties and court dances, listen to period music played on antique instruments. But that much bounty can actually be overwhelming, so I focus my research in predictable thematic waves to get the narrative where it needs to be.
As my very first step with a new story, I start with books, or rather, I have always started with books and I am working on a way to do so again. I lost some amazing volumes in the January fires – things like The Social History of Lighting, Lady Hoby’s Diary, Conyers Read’s two-volume biography of William Cecil, and a host of other biographies, all of which told slightly different versions of the history. That’s the toughest part about researching: the inconsistent reports, the unreliable biographers. Of course, that can also be a bit of a hall pass for an author!
Anyway, once I have an idea what my story will be, I start to assemble dates into a detailed timeline, cherry-picking the ones I intend to use or need to keep in mind, and jotting down notes. From that, I outline the actual novel, date-stamped to keep me honest. Then the writing, which sends me down mid-course rabbit holes for scene-level information: the where, the why, the time of day – and an understanding of the relevant political context: that’s where letters come in. Any letter will have something to recommend it, but ambassadors’ letters are usually a goldmine. When I was writing The Boy King, I happened upon one relating how Edward VI plucked a dead falcon as a warning to his Council…yes I used that. Did I know that a similar rumor once surrounded Charles V? Yes, but again, the source gave me a hall pass…
Beyond that comes the truly granular part of the research, taking me back to books and websites and everything in between. The descriptions of Elizabeth’s clothes and dresses were helped along by Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Unlock’d, an amazing resource that assembles inventories of the Wardrobe of the Robes, descriptions of the royal artificers, the different fashion styles and fads, and so much more. Descriptions of small household furnishings were invented with reference to the New Year’s Gift Exchanges 1559-1603, another rabbit hole to mine. Of course, sometimes the warrens are empty. Back in The Path to Somerset, I needed to show Henry closeted at Oatlands after learning about Catherine Howard’s infidelities. I wanted to find the period equivalent of him sitting in his bathrobe eating ice cream from the tub. It was easy enough to find the sumptuary laws that justified a silk night robe with a black jennet lining…but apparently he would have been scooping whale blubber and that would have required too much explanation to use. Instead, I had to simply give him empty wine goblets and a tray of half-eaten food.
I will say, for the early part of Nothing Proved, I run into a bit of your problem (and the problem of any other writer of Saxon England): few sources that mention my main character, and none that really show her interacting with her closest friends…so my initial task was to cross-reference the official records of Elizabeth’s doings with those of the other people in her orbit and come up with the intersections that the story required. I knew that Robert Dudley was keeper of Somerset House while it was in her use, I knew that William Cecil began to work for her just a month after a significant wedding they both would have attended, and so I was able to capture the depth of their respective relationships. In the end, big and small all come together. That is the beauty of research done right.
Here’s the Blurb
Danger lined her path, but destiny led her to glory…
Elizabeth Tudor learned resilience young. Declared illegitimate after the execution of her mother Anne Boleyn, she bore her precarious position with unshakable grace. But upon the death of her father, King Henry VIII, the vulnerable fourteen-year-old must learn to navigate a world of shifting loyalties, power plays, and betrayal.
After narrowly escaping entanglement in Thomas Seymour’s treason, Elizabeth rebuilds her reputation as the perfect Protestant princess – which puts her in mortal danger when her half-sister Mary becomes Queen and imposes Catholicism on a reluctant land. Elizabeth escapes execution, clawing her way from a Tower cell to exoneration. But even a semblance of favor comes with attempts to exclude her from the throne or steal her rights to it through a forced marriage.
Elizabeth must outwit her enemies time and again to prove herself worthy of power. The making of one of history’s most iconic monarchs is a gripping tale of survival, fortune, and triumph.
Buy Link
Meet the Author
By day, Janet Wertman is a freelance grantwriter for impactful nonprofits. By night, she writes critically acclaimed, character-driven historical fiction – indulging a passion for the Tudor era she had harbored since she was eight years old and her parents let her stay up late to watch The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.
Her Seymour Saga trilogy (Jane the Quene, The Path to Somerset, The Boy King) took her deep into one of the era’s central families – and now her follow-up Regina series explores Elizabeth’s journey from bastard to icon.
Janet also runs a blog (www.janetwertman.com) where she posts interesting takes on the Tudors and what it’s like to write about them.
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I’m delighted to spotlight This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence #blogtour #histfic #WW2
Here’s the blurb
Evy Miller thinks a summer with her grandparents in sleepy Dorset will be painfully dull. Her suspicions are confirmed when Juby, a wild-haired, lanky old man, strolls through her grandparents’ doorway. At first, she thinks he’s nothing more than an odd duck who charms her grandmother and annoys her grandfather. The last thing she expects is to become his companion on visits to the small village of Rouklye, whose entire population was evicted during WWII.
She has no idea that the reason for Juby’s visits will become a defining moment in her life and change her understanding of history and her own family forever.
Purchase Link
https://books2read.com/u/bwBNZy
Meet the author
MICHAEL LAWRENCE has written and published a great many books, but he’s done a few other too. For instance, after leaving art school he began training as a graphic designer in a London studio before morphing into a photographer. As a photographer he took pictures for advertising agencies, publishers and newspapers, of pop stars and politicians, of fashion models and underwear, and many other kinds of people and things besides. He also worked in a travelling circus for a little while, and has been an antiques dealer, co-owned two art galleries, and made hundreds of paintings, drawings and experimental digital images. One of his private joys is recording songs (many of which he’s written) under the alias Aldous U.
As a writer he’s won the odd award, had books translated into twenty or so languages (one of which – ‘Young Dracula’ – was the inspiration for five BBC-TV series), has shuffled onto stages at literary festivals, and been interviewed on TV and radio. ‘There’s more,’ he says, ‘but I don’t want to bore you. There’s a lot of me in the Rainey novels, but I’m not saying which bits.’
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I’m spotlighting Troubled Times for Tilly by Kay Seeley #histfic #saga #blogtour #competition
Here’s the blurb
A gripping saga of courage, resilience and fractured dreams, set in Victorian London.
Life on the river has never been easy for Tilly and Sam, but through hard work and determination, they’ve built a home filled with love. Joey, Tilly’s eldest son, has lived between two worlds—cherished as her child but granted privileges, denied to her other children, through his wealthy birth father’s family. It’s a fine balance that has always held… until an incident at a glittering Celebration Ball shatters the fragile harmony.
Tilly fears the consequences, especially when her spirited, headstrong daughter Martha is involved. Martha has ideas of her own. How will she fare when she faces Joey’s entitled friends and their easy lives?
Disaster strikes Sam’s business, shaking the family’s foundation. Tilly’s worst fears come to life when Joey’s affluent relatives start making plans to reclaim him. Tilly is torn between fighting for her son and respecting his dreams.
As old wounds reopen and new temptations arise, Tilly must summon all her strength to keep her family together. But will love and loyalty be enough, or will the promise of wealth and comfort lure her children away forever?
A Powerful follow-up to The Water Gypsy. Perfect for fans of Anna Jacobs and Dilly Court
Purchase Link
Meet the author
Kay Seeley is a talented storyteller and bestselling author. Her short stories have been published in women’s magazines and short-listed in competitions. Her novels had been finalists in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. She lives in London and loves its history. Her stories are well researched and beautifully written with compelling characters where love triumphs over adversity. Kay writes stories that will capture your heart and leave you wanting more. Often heart-wrenching but always satisfyingly uplifting, her books are perfect for fans of Anna Jacobs, Lesley Pearse and Josephine Cox.
Kay is a Member of The Alliance of Indie Authors and The Society of Women Writers and Journalists.
All her novels are available for Kindle, in paperback, audio and in Large Print
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Giveaway to Win 3 x paperback copies of Troubled Times for Tilly by Kay Seeley (Open to UK only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494614/?
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It’s a happy release day to The Monstrous Murders by Elizabeth R Andersen, the third Alewives of Colmar mystery, and I’m reviewing it on the blog #histfic #histficmystery
Here’s the blurb
As winter draws to a close, something suspicious lurks outside the walls of Colmar.
Appel, Gritta, and Efi, the three alewives of Colmar, are enjoying a calm month of brewing and friendship after solving the deeply unsettling riddle of the severed hands. But peace is not destined to last for long. The disappearance of two novice monks in the care of Friar Wikerus spark tales of a supernatural beast on the loose, and when a lowly street sweeper is terrorized one night, fear stalks the town like a monster.
Theories of demons and beasts run wild. Could this foretell another great mortality like the one they only recently survived? Could it be an evil spirit sent to punish the wicked citizens of Colmar? The alewives would rather not involve themselves, but everything changes when a body turns up near their canal. The threat is too close to home to ignore. Once more, Appel, Gritta, and Efi must put their sleuthing skills to good use – while ensuring they don’t also fall prey to the supernatural menace.
Book 3 in the award-winning Alewives of Colmar mystery series, The Monstrous Murders is everything readers have come to expect; witty banter, deep friendship, twisty clues, and frothy brews.
Purchase Link
My Review
It’s so good to be back with Efi, Appel and Gritta. And this time, they’re thrust into a most beguiling mystery, with missing shoes, missing novices, and, as usual, the men of the town are more likely to be sent running for the hills with fear than solve the mystery themselves. It’s a good job Efi, Appel, and Gritta are more curious than terrified, although they’re not without some worldly and otherworldly worries.
I’ve read all three books in The Alewives of Colmar series. They are delightful fun and a real treat for the reader. If you’ve not yet discovered Efi, Appel and Gritta and the charming town of Colmar then what are you waiting for?
Another five-star read for me. Bring on book 4 (no pressure, Elizabeth R Andersen:))
MJ Porter 