historical fiction – Page 9

I’m delighted to welcome Sandro Martini and his book, Ciao, Amore, Ciao, to the blog #CiaoAmoreCiao #HistoricalFiction #WWII #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Sandor Martini and his book, Ciao, Amore, Ciao, to the blog with a piece written by Sandro Martini.

Sandro Martini Piece

Explaining of my writing routine means starting with what I don’t do. I don’t pre-plan, and I don’t have a structure or chapter guides. I use a weird amalgam of flashcards and stream of consciousness.

I know, weird.

Because I write historical fiction, the whole process begins with researching a topic that intrigues me. Half the time, the research—it can take upwards of five years—never gets written as I realise the story just isn’t there for me … but that’s another story (was that a pun?) for another day.

I’ll explore books, do interviews, and largely ignore the internet (except to get general overviews and timelines and so on) because I find that restrictive. Things like ChatGPT are an interesting addition to an author’s quiver, but it’s learning from sources that are all online and the whole point of search engines is to shrink everything to one ready answer. The truth of a thing—and the complexity of a life lived—is anything but singular, and the nuance that makes for a good novel is only found in scouring tons of primary sources.

I generally finish the research when I get bored of the topic, at which point I’m ready to begin the ugliest task in writing—going through all my notes to create flashcards. For Ciao, Amore, Ciao, the flashcards numbered somewhere in the region of 3,000, all handwritten.

That takes maybe six months or so. After that, the cards get arranged chronologically and/or by personage/event. And those cards then become my “guide”. Then they sit there as I begin to work out the one core essential—who will “tell” the story.

Once I figure out who that character is, it’s time for the fun part. The writing begins at around 3 a.m. every day, when I wake up and head straight for pen and paper. (No machine is involved in the first draft—I use a pen I bought years ago at a market in Zurich, a one-off, heavy, metal thing, and notebooks by, of course, Moleskine.)

I will already know which flashcards will be the “scene” that is getting written that day before I sit down to get it down on paper. Why 3 a.m.? Because in some ways I’m still asleep, and able to just write without a lot of self-awareness. It’s important for me to not be that conscious of the writing process.

The first draft is written this way, using a combination of the highly organised flashcards as prompts and stream of consciousness for the actual writing.

I’m also consistent with length, with first drafts generally coming in at around 70,000 words. The time I take to write a novel, though, differs considerably. For my first novel, Tracks: Racing the Sun, the first draft took about two years. Ciao, Amore, Ciao, written a week after my dad passed, took about three weeks.

Once the first draft is complete—I write the novel as a story, and I say this because I heard the other day that some writers will write intermittent scenes as if they’re shooting a movie and then splice it all together and that thought has not left my mind since!—it’s time for phase two: typing the damn thing out …

Sounds like a waste of time, but it’s a vital part of my method because this is when I “read” the book for the first time, and I start to see what’s working, what isn’t, what needs further exploration, which scenes will probably get cut, and so on. In essence, this is the first and most important edit I’m going to do to the new novel. It’s also a line edit, since I am now physically writing the book for a second time.

Once that’s done—it can take anywhere from a month to three months depending on how strong the handwritten draft is—I begin to edit the novel every morning. I’m a better editor than first-draft writer. That is, there will be paragraphs that will probably not change much from first writing, and there will be entire chapters that will be completely rewritten or even thrown out.

That editing phase can take anywhere between a year (for Ciao, Amore, Ciao) to three years for Tracks.

Once that’s complete (it’s complete when I get bored of it), I have my new novel which will now be left alone to age on my hard drive. After about three months, I will then print it out (in Garamond font) and read it not as a writer but as a reader, paying attention to one thing: the pacing. If I find myself lagging, I will judiciously begin to shorten scenes that are slowing down the tempo. This, for me, is the hardest part of my craft, and something that ruined my writing career as a young man.

Backstory: I was once asked to write a 20,000-word piece for a major publisher to appear in a top 5 young writers in the UK anthology. This was in the mid-’90s. Four of those writers went on to become names in the industry. And then there was me. When asked to cut my piece, I chose to walk away from the contract and didn’t submit anything to any publisher for the next 20 years. So when I say cutting judiciously is difficult, I literally mean I dumped a career because of it. That’s mostly because I see myself as a stylist. I value a beautifully written line far more than a story. That’s the thing I value most in my writing because style brings emotion and emotion is what my novels are all about.

And that’s the process.

Style is primary. Getting out of my own way when doing the first draft is essential. And being brave enough to cut beautiful prose for the sake of pacing is key.

Here’s the Blurb

An enthralling dual-timeline WWII family mystery, based on the heartbreaking true story of the massacre in a small town in Italy in July of 1945, from award-winning, bestselling novelist Sandro Martini.

“A gripping saga that roots excruciating betrayals in a nation’s tragic history.” –Kirkus Reviews

In the winter of 1942, an Italian army of young men vanishes in the icefields of the Eastern Front. In the summer of 1945, a massacre in Schio, northeastern Italy, where families grieve the dead, makes international headlines.

In present-day Veneto, an ordinary man is about to stumble onto a horrifying secret.

Alex Lago is a jaded journalist whose career is fading as fast as his marriage. When he discovers an aged World War II photo in his dying father’s home, and innocently posts it to a Facebook group, he gets an urgent message: Take it down. NOW.

Alex finds himself digging into a past that needs to stay hidden. What he’s about to uncover is a secret that can topple a political dynasty buried under seventy years of rubble. Suddenly entangled in a deadly legacy, he encounters the one person who can offer him redemption, for an unimaginable price.

Told from three alternating points of view, Martini’s World War II tale of intrigue, war, and heartbreak pulls the Iron Curtain back to reveal a country nursing its wounds after horrific defeat, an army of boys forever frozen at the gates of Stalingrad, British spies scheming to reshape Italy’s future, and the stinging unsolved murder of a partisan hero.

Ciao, Amore, Ciao is a gripping story of the most heroic, untold battle of the Second World War, and a brilliantly woven novel that brings the deceits of the past and the reckoning of the present together.

“Balances action, suspense, and emotional depth to deliver a truly immersive, thought-provoking read with an unflinching look at the sins of the past and the lengths to which the powerful will go to keep them buried.” ~ Sublime Book Review

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This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited

Meet the Author

Sandro Martini has worked as a word monkey on three continents. He’s the author of Tracks: Racing the Sun, an award-winning historical novel.

Sandro grew up in Africa to immigrant parents, studied law in Italy, chased literary dreams in London, hustled American dollars in New York City, and is now hiding out in Switzerland, where he moonlights as a Comms guy and tries hard not to speak German.

You can find him either uber-driving his daughter, chasing faster cars on the autobahn, or swimming in Lake Zurich with a cockapoo named Tintin.

His latest historical suspense novel, Ciao, Amore, Ciao, is now available.

Connect with the Author

Follow the Ciao, Amore, Ciao blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club

I’m delighted to welcome Jane Loftus and her book, The Herb Knot, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #medieval #Winchester #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Jane Loftus and her book, The Herb Knot, to the blog with some historical research behind The Herb Knot.

The Herb Knot Historical Research

This story was a dream to research because Winchester Library held the Holy Grail of information, otherwise known as The Survey of Medieval Winchester by Derek Keene.

The detail contained in the study is beyond meticulous and was based on innumerable deeds and rolls held in the British Library and Winchester archives. Not only is every single house documented – both inside the city and also covering the suburbs – but each tenant within each document is recorded, right down to the amount of rent they paid and to whom.

And the maps – oh, the maps! Having established who lives where and what they did, the author reconstructed the streets where they lived too. If you live in Winchester and suddenly see streets you know described and drawn as they would have been in the Middle Ages, it does send a shiver down the spine. I can walk past various shops on the High Street now knowing there used to be an Inn there, or a silversmith there and oh, the chandler was here.

Want to know what made up the bulk of industry in the city? This survey will tell you. Which industries were in decline, that too.

It didn’t even stop there. After gorging on this amazing detail, the final part of the survey is full of biographical information of many of the citizens. This was where the novel really started to take shape. Family trees, wealthy merchants marrying into other wealthy merchant families, their names and dates. Also interesting to see, even at a time when English was overtaking French as the language of the court, how many citizens (usually wealthy ones it has to be said) who still had a ‘le’ or ‘de’ in their names, like Hugh le Cran. His wife did not, and that’s only just struck me now as I write this.

The survey very kindly gave me Serlo, a butcher, and Thurstin, a clerk. I feel like a cheat in many ways for borrowing so many lovely names and professions, but I hope I did them justice.

Speaking of names, I came across many, many women called Petronilla, I’d had no idea how popular it was in 1350. I would have picked on that had it not been the name of the main character in The Miniaturist.

The other part of the research involved actually going into town and paying more attention. How long would it take for Edith to walk from Tanner Street to Knights Meadow? Getting into St John’s church and looking at the frieze over the door – properly looking at it, not just noting that it was there and was remarkable, but really paying attention.

There was also the local museum, of course, with the beautiful little misericorde which I promptly gave to Rafi. The records office also holds many treasures – including a deep dive into deeds and letters concerning Le Cran and his properties, and also money he owed or loaned to people, hence the £200 to the Earl of Arundel which I used as a plot point. The crowning moment came when the records office emailed me a photocopy of the seal of Hugh Le Cran. I remember opening it and literally gasping out loud. It is exactly as described, three rather chunky birds in triangle formation with a tree behind them. Rafi was quite right – they don’t look like cranes, they look like ducks, and thus his confusion over what they might be was born.

After that there were the endless videos about how to use egg white to bind paint, and making ink out of oak gall in your own kitchen, neither of which I tried.

Can’t say I wasn’t tempted, though. Plenty of meringue opportunities with the leftovers.

Here’s the Blurb

The Hundred Years’ War comes to life in this spellbinding tale of love, betrayal and conspiracy …

A quest born on the battlefield will change a young boy’s destiny…

Rafi Dubois is five years old when his mother is murdered after the Battle of Crecy in 1346. Alone and lost, Rafi is given a token by the dying Englishman who tried to save his mother’s life: a half-broken family seal which he urges Rafi to return one day to Winchester.

Years later, when Rafi saves a wealthy merchant’s wife from a brutal robbery, he is rewarded with the chance to travel to England, taking the seal with him.

But when he reaches Winchester, Rafi finds himself in a turbulent world full of long-held allegiances, secrets and treachery. His path is fraught with danger and with powerful enemies working against him, Rafi falls in love with Edith, a market apothecary. But in doing so, Rafi unleashes a deadly chain of events which threatens to overwhelm them both…

The Herb Knot is a sweeping and passionate novel set in one of the most tumultuous times in English history, from a powerful new voice.

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Meet the Author

Jane Loftus gained a degree in 16th Century European and British history from Surrey before taking a postgraduate degree in modern political history. As a lone parent, she worked in Winchester Waterstones before returning to IT once her son was older.

Hugely passionate about the Middle Ages, she drew inspiration for this novel from the medieval layout of Winchester which has been painstakingly documented.

Jane is originally from London but has lived in Winchester for over twenty years. When not writing, she is usually out walking or watching costume dramas on Netflix – the more medieval the better. She also plays far too many rpgs.

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I’m delighted to welcome Carolyn Niethammer and her book, Everything We Thought We Knew, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #1970s #PoliticalProtest #Peace #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Carolyn Niethammer and her book, Everything We Thought We Knew, to the blog.

Here’s the Blurb

In 1970, Christie left behind the comforts of L.A. and joined a New Age commune in rural Arizona. With the Vietnam War raging and the counterculture movement in full swing, she hoped to find a community to create a better society. But building a new culture is no easy task, especially when free love, psychedelics, and a war protest gone horribly wrong are thrown into the mix. Important secrets follow them beyond the commune.

Put on your tie-dyed shirt and come to Bella Vida as the friends try to change the rules of modern society, then face the repercussions of when middle age sets in.

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Meet the Author

In the 1970s Carolyn Niethammer visited communes throughout the West and settled in an Arizona artists’ community for many years. Those years were important to who she became as she learned to gather wild foods and wrote several cookbooks centered on edible plants.

In “Everything We Thought We Knew” she hopes to shed light on an important part of American history where young people were advocating for peace in Vietnam War protests and fled to communes, seeking a lifestyle apart from the commercialism and isolation that had overtaken society.

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On this day in history, the anniversary of the battle of Maserfeld in either 641 or 642. I thought I’d share some photos of Ad Gefrin, Yeavering Bell and Bamburgh castle as well as some book recommendations

On this day in history, the anniversary of the battle of Maserfeld in either 641 or 642. I thought I’d share some photos and book recommendations

It’s the anniversary of the Battle of Maserfeld on August 5th (641 or 642), fought between Penda of Mercia (go Penda) and his allies, and Oswald of Northumbria and his allies, so I thought I’d reshare some photos I took while writing the Gods and Kings trilogy of Bamburgh Castle and Northumberland in general, which was the home of Oswald of Northumbria. Admittedly, the battle of Maserfeld is said to have taken place at Oswestry on the Welsh border with Mercia, but I didn’t go there, although I certainly visited as a child.

‘A.D. 641/642. This year Oswald, king of the Northumbrians, was slain by Penda, king of the Southumbrians, at Mirfield, on the fifth day of August; and his body was buried at Bardney. His holiness and miracles were afterwards displayed on manifold occasions throughout this island; and his hands remain still uncorrupted at Barnburgh. The same year in which Oswald was slain, Oswy his brother succeeded to the government of the Northumbrians, and reigned two less than thirty years.’

(Taken from the online version of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, a ninth century creation so, not very contemporary).

Ad Gefrin, a Northumbrian royal palace, although no longer visible above ground

The original excavation map (I think)
Looking towards Yeavering Bell (there’s a picture above of what the view looks like on a clear day)
The entrance to Ad Gefrin
The history of Ad Gefrin board from the site
The remains of Ad Gefrin, explained to us by archaeologist Roger Miket
More damp Ad Gefrin
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The site of the 2023 excavation
And more
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You can hear the archaeologist, Sarah Semple, talking about the recent excavations at Ad Gefrin in this Society of Antiquaries Lecture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A7eRTvajtA

You can also visit the Ad Gefrin trust website here.

The battle of Maserfeld is the book Pagan King follows in my Gods and Kings Trilogy (the second book in the trilogy). I had a lot of fun writing it, making use of locations I visited as a child to make them come alive, and even setting one of the fictional battles in the lead up to the clash at Maserfeld, close to where I used to live.

If you’re curious about the period, I highly recommend these non-fiction titles. Perhaps start with Max Adams’ The King in the North. It’s also the most modern of the three. The other two were texts I read while at university (so yes, decades ago:))

books2read.com/PaganKing

Check out the Gods and Kings trilogy page on the blog.

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I’m delighted to welcome Jiu Da and his book, The Winding Dirt Road, to the blog #TheWindingDirtRoad #HistoricalChineseFiction #PoliticalFiction #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Jiu Da and his book, The Winding Dirt Road, to the blog with an excerpt.

Excerpt

“Even though chance favored the prepared mind, discovering the plant was hardly a serendipity. In truth, it was a curse in disguise – a precipice gamble for a desperate cure, a lethal quest for a mortal end, poison for poison.”

~ The Mother Of All Antidotes

Here’s the Blurb

Written as an antithesis to all first-hand and second-hand propaganda written by both Chinese and foreign writers for China in the good part of the 20th century in a fictional form, this collection, through different times and lands, gives insights into how human docile nature and characteristics are manipulated and brought about cultural and social corrosion over the century. The outcome thus sees “a monumental loss breathtakingly massive than any period that preceded it.” Subsequently, it foreshadows a system that “would bring out not the best but the worst in people, against people, any people.” (Event Horizon)

The first story is written as an introduction in addition to the prologue. From there, the collection proceeds with interrelated subjects or topics, building up causes and factors. At every turn, it gathers momentum and convenes halfway through the book to form the major components of critical perspectives at a juncture.

Hoarded in the depth of memories of the past decades, this has been a work long overdue.

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Meet the Author

For years, Jiu Da has been intrigued by the question of whether the environment makes us who we are or whether we are the ones that shape our environment. For the good parts of early years, he stubbornly believed that motivation, talent, and effort could change the outcomes. It did not.

It was not until the virus hit while finding himself perching at home that he came to accept that the environment is indeed the hand that shapes human behavior.

It was during this time that he began his first work, drawing from his love in literature, history and a lifetime of seemingly useless yet fascinating knowledge hoarded in the depth of his mind.

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It’s cover reveal time for Shield of Mercia. Return to the world of young Icel. #covereveal #preorder #histfic #EasterEggs

Mercia is triumphant. Her king is safe. But Wessex was never Mercia’s only enemy.

Tamworth, AD836

Following a brutally cold winter, King Wiglaf of Mercia is in the ascendancy. Even Wessex’s Archbishop of Canterbury extraordinarily ventures to Mercia to broker a religious accord. But, can the hard-won peace prevail?

Viking raiders threaten Wessex. These blood-thirsty warriors are fast, skilful and have no reticence about killing those who stand in their way. Their aim isn’t to rule but to overwhelm, slaughter and take ill-gotten wealth.

King Wiglaf is no fool. As the Vikings push to overwhelm Wessex, Mercia’s lands look insecure. King Wiglaf needs the shields of Mercia’s warriors to prevent the overwhelming advancement of their deadliest enemy yet.

To save Mercia, Icel must first prevail over the two men who mean to end his life; King Ecgberht of Wessex and his son, Æthelwulf of Kent and only then the marauding Viking army for whom boundaries have no meaning.

https://amzn.to/4lg5sLP

Did you realise my Saxon stories are filled with Easter Eggs? Let me know if you find one.

Check out the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles series page

Check out the Gods and Kings series page

Sign up to my Boldwood Books newsletter to keep up to date with all things Icel… https://bit.ly/MJPorterNews

Or, you can preorder a signed paperback copy directly from me. Check out my bookstore.

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I’m super excited to share the cover for The Secret Sauce, the third book in The Erdington Mysteries #histfic #historicalmystery

Here’s the blurb

Birmingham, England, November 1944.

Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is summoned to a suspicious death at the BB Sauce factory in Aston on a wet Monday morning in late November 1944.

Greeted by his enthusiastic sergeant, O’Rourke, Sam Mason finds himself plunged into a challenging investigation to discover how Harry Armstrong met his death in a vat containing BB Sauce – a scene that threatens to put him off BB Sauce on his bacon sandwiches for the rest of his life.

Together with Sergeant O’Rourke, Mason follows a trail of seemingly unrelated events until something becomes very clear. The death of Harry Armstrong was certainly murder, and might well be connected to the tragedy unfolding at nearby RAF Fauld. While the uncertainty of war continues, Mason and O’Rourke find themselves seeking answers from the War Office and the Admiralty, as they track down the person who murdered their victim in such an unlikely way.

Join Mason and O’Rourke for the third book in the quirky, historical mystery series, as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.

And here’s the fabulous cover

The Secret Sauce will be released on 28th August in ebook, paperback and hardback. You can preorder the ebook now. Or order a paperback directly from me via my SumUp store. I hope to have the audiobook in a few months.

Check out The Erdington Mysteries series page for more details on The Custard Corpses, The Automobile Assassination and The Secret Sauce.

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I’m delighted to welcome Julian de la Motte and his book, The Will of God, to the blog #TheWillOfGod #HistoricalFiction #Crusades #WilliamTheConqueror #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Julian de la Motte and his book, The Will of God, to the blog with an excerpt.

Excerpt

The courtyard of the Earl Warenne was the usual clutter and muddle of people and diverse objects scattered about. Men and women in the dun and green and grey of homespun cloth blended with the earth colours of the ground, the quagmire, the swamp of churned mud and excrement. They either strode purposefully through it all or else attempted to skirt delicately around the more obvious mounds of rubbish and ordure. The more colourfully attired, house servants and retainers for the most part, avoided the area when they could, preferring other entrances and exits to the Great Hall.

A cart with one wheel off for essential repairs was proving a major obstruction and people cursed as they edged around it and the blaspheming wheelwright and his apprentices with their heavy hammers working on a broken wheel. Across the way, over in the corner of the yard a large pig lay sprawled upon its back, slaughtered out of proper season. For some reason, it had survived the usual November cull. Scrubbed clean of bristles, a butcher was busily at work with his knife and axe, delving expertly for the liver and kidneys.

Despite the cold of the day and the earliness of the season there was a halo of flies circling the butcher and at his feet a coil of grey steaming intestines were attracting the interest of a trio of dogs. Wretched creatures, ribs showing like the staves of ruined boats, they sidled towards the pile of offal and retreated again from the slaughterer.

The butcher’s boy, no more than a child staggered away, burdened with a heavy bucket of blood that slopped over the sides as he moved. There would be blood pudding and sausages made of scraps of inferior meat stuffed within the intestines ready by the afternoon.

Here’s the Blurb

“Deus Lo Vult!”

Gilles is the natural son of the Earl Waltheof, executed by William the Conqueror for supposed treachery. Raised in Normandy by Queen Matilda of England, Gilles is a young servant of Robert, Duke of Normandy, when the first call for a Holy War against the infidel and for the liberation of Jerusalem is raised in Christendom. Along with thousands of others, inspired by a variety of motives, intense piety mixed with a sense of adventure and the prospects of richness, Gilles becomes a key and respected follower of the Duke of Normandy and travels through France and into Italy to the point of embarkation for Constantinople and the land of the Greeks.

In this epic first phase of a long and gruelling journey, Gilles begins to discover a sense of his own strengths and weaknesses, encounters for the first time the full might and strength of the Norman war machine and achieves his much coveted aim of knighthood, as well as a sense of responsibility to the men that he must now lead into battle.

The Will of God is the literal translation of the Latin phrase “Deus Lo Vult”; a ubiquitous war cry and a commonly offered explanation of all the horrors and iniquities unleashed by the First Crusade of 1096 to 1099, when thousands of Europeans made the dangerous and terrifying journey to the Holy Land and the liberation of Jerusalem. It is the first of two books on the subject.

Praise for The Will of God:

“De la Motte has superpowers as a writer of historical fiction; he’s a warhorse of a writer bred to stun and trample the literary senses. You won’t stop turning the pages of The Will of God.”

~ Charles McNair, Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of Land O’Goshen

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Meet the Author

Julian de la Motte is a Londoner. He graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in Medieval History. He was further awarded a Master of Arts qualification in Medieval English Art from the University of York.

He studied and taught in Italy for nearly four years before returning to the U.K. and a career as a teacher, teacher trainer and materials designer before taking up a new role as a Director of Foreign Languages and of English as a Foreign Language.

Married and with two grown up children, He is now extensively involved in review writing and historical research, primarily on medieval history.

”The Will of God” [the first of two books on the subject of the First Crusade] is his third novel.

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I’m delighted to welcome Jann Alexander and her new book, Unspoken, to the blog #Unspoken #HistoricalFiction #DustBowl #WomensFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Jann Alexander and her new book, Unspoken, The Dust Series, to the blog with The History Behind Unspoken.

The History Behind Unspoken

When the Biggest, Baddest, Blackest Dust Storm of Them All Struck the Texas Panhandle on April 14, 1935, It Set the Stage for the Opening of Unspoken (A Dust Novel).

That Sunday, April 14, 1935, would forever be known as Black Sunday. But it began quite differently, as the main character, Ruby Lee Becker, recalls at the outset of Unspoken:

“That Sunday in April 1935 in the Panhandle was an uncommon bright day which didn’t reflect our family’s desperation. What little breeze there was blew gentle, unlike the stinging winds we were accustomed to. The spring air was so clean you could almost inhale it deep without coughing up dirt. The sun was golden and hopeful. Our families who’d been farming this desert during the five long years of the drouth were well acquainted with hope, though it was a currency our town’s shuttered bank no longer accepted.”

The black blizzard on Sunday, April 14, 1935 was the most notable of hundreds over the decade that had already prompted mass migration from the Plains states. It became known as Black Sunday — because it was a rolling mass of tumbling black soil, over 1000 feet high, that blackened the sun, suffocated entire towns, and struck elders and children alike with the “brown plague”— the deadly dust pneumonia.

The spot where Unspoken is set, a mythical town called Hartless in the Texas Panhandle, was then considered the epicenter of the Dust Bowl. The sudden drama of that bright clear day in 1935 inspired my story of scattered family, their lost mother, and the abandoned daughter who’ll stop at nothing to remake family and rebuild home.

We know those years now as The Dust Bowl era, caused by a land rush on overgrazed ranch land sold cheaply to unsuspecting farmers and speculators, abandoned when prices fell in the midst of drought. By 1935, the Southern Plains states had already experienced more than five years of drought and high winds.

The upshot? Over that decade known as the “Dirty Thirties,” over 2.5 million Americans migrated away from the Great Plains states, with more than half a million people left homeless. There were approximately 7,000 deaths from dust pneumonia and suffocation.

In 1935, that one Sunday in April was enough to show the rest of the country what the land made barren had cost its inhabitants. The Dust Bowl states deserved federal intervention. Within two weeks, Congress passed the Soil Conservation Act, which created a permanent agency to guide restoration in the hard-hit Plains states and maintain natural resources everywhere.

The agency familiarly known then to farmers and bankers as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) has become the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today. Its mission is the same: to work with land owners and users in all 50 states — to reduce soil erosion, improve forest and field land, improve farm yields with less-thirsty crops, and develop and protect natural resources.

But back in 1935, in Unspoken, Ruby Lee Becker can’t breathe. The Becker family has clung to its Texas Panhandle farm through years of drought, dying crops, and dust storms. The Black Sunday storm threatens ten-year-old Ruby with deadly dust pneumonia and requires a drastic choice—one her mother, Willa Mae, will forever regret.

“This brown plague was different,” Ruby thinks. “Nobody knew how you could fix air that wasn’t fit to breathe.”

To survive, Ruby’s must leave the only place she’s ever known. Far from home in Waco, and worried her mother’s abandoned her, she’s determined to get back. As she matures, wanting the one thing she cannot have—the family and home left behind—Ruby Lee becomes even more resolute.

Even after twelve years, Willa Mae still clings to memories of her daughter. Unable to reunite with Ruby, she’s broken by their separation and haunted by losses she couldn’t prevent.

Ruby Lee has lost everything—except pure grit. Through rollicking adventures and harrowing setbacks, the tenacious Ruby Lee embarks on her perilous quest for home—and faces her one unspoken fear.

Book Trailer

Here’s the Blurb

A farm devastated. A dream destroyed. A family scattered.

And one Texas girl determined to salvage the wreckage.

Ruby Lee Becker can’t breathe. It’s 1935 in the heart of the Dust Bowl, and the Becker family has clung to its Texas Panhandle farm through six years of drought, dying crops, and dust storms. On Black Sunday, the biggest blackest storm of them all threatens ten-year-old Ruby with deadly dust pneumonia and requires a drastic choice —one her mother, Willa Mae, will forever regret.

To survive, Ruby is forced to leave the only place she’s ever known. Far from home in Waco, and worried her mother has abandoned her, she’s determined to get back.

Even after twelve years, Willa Mae still clings to memories of her daughter. Unable to reunite with Ruby, she’s broken by their separation.

Through rollicking adventures and harrowing setbacks, the tenacious Ruby Lee embarks on her perilous quest for home —and faces her one unspoken fear.

Heart-wrenching and inspiring, the tale of Ruby Lee’s dogged perseverance and Willa Mae’s endless love for her daughter shines a light on women driven apart by disaster who bravely lean on one another, find comfort in remade families, and redefine what home means.

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Meet the Author

Jann Alexander writes characters who face down their fears. Her novels are as close-to-true as fiction can get.

Jann is the author of the historical novel, UNSPOKEN, set in the Texas Panhandle during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression eras, and her first book in The Dust Series.

Jann writes on all things creative in her weekly blog, Pairings. She’s a 20-year resident of central Texas and creator of the Vanishing Austin photography series. As a former art director for ad agencies and magazines in the D.C. area, and a painter, photographer, and art gallery owner, creativity is her practice and passion.

Jann’s lifelong storytelling habit and her more recent zeal for Texas history merged to become the historical Dust Series. When she is not reading, writing, or creating, she bikes, hikes, skis, and kayaks. She lives in central Texas with her own personal Texan (and biggest fan), Karl, and their Texas mutt, Ruby.

Jann always brakes for historical markers.

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Follow the Unspoken blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club

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I’m delighted to welcome Julia Ibbotson and her new book, A Shape on the Air, to the blog #Medieval #HistoricalFiction #AngloSaxon #TimeTravel #TimeSlip #Mystery #Romance #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Julia Ibbotson and her new book, A Shape on the Air, to the blog #Medieval #HistoricalFiction #AngloSaxon #TimeTravel #TimeSlip #Mystery #Romance #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Julia Ibbotson and her new book, A Shape on the Air, Dr DuLac Series, Book 1, to the blog.

Here’s the Blurb

Can echoes of the past threaten the present? They are 1500 years apart, but can they reach out to each other across the centuries? One woman faces a traumatic truth in the present day. The other is forced to marry the man she hates as the ‘dark ages’ unfold.

How can Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, unlock the secrets of the past?

Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into 499 AD and into the body of Lady Vivianne, who is also battling treachery. Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined. And in the end, how can they help each other across the ages without changing the course of history?

For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay.

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Meet the Author

Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of time. She is the author of historical mysteries with a frisson of romance. Her books are evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. Her current series focuses on early medieval time-slip/dual-time mysteries.

Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language / literature / history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher. Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s.

She has published five other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest novel is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual-time mysteries, Daughter of Mercia, where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries.

Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘Julia’s books captured my imagination’, ‘beautiful story-telling’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘brilliant and fascinating’ and ‘I just couldn’t put it down’.