Was Malton Roman Fort also the Romano-British town named as Delgovicia?

Hello again and Happy Friday to you!

Malton Museum

My trip to Malton Museum Roman Festival last weekend was most enjoyable. The site for the festival was Orchard Fields, Malton. Orchard Fields is an undulating sloping site that for many visitors, or dog walkers, is a pleasant green space to spend time in. An archaeologist would probably see the site differently and would likely be able to assess where the ramparts of the Roman Fort of almost 2000 years ago would have been, without recourse to specialist equipment.

First used in the time of General Cerialis' Britannic governorship, Malton was initially a temporary camp of some 22 acres, built to shelter the advancing troops who flooded Brigantia around AD71/73. By AD 79, it's thought that it would have been under the governorship of Gnaeus Iulius Agricola that the first wooden fort of 8.5 acres was constructed and then some decades later the walls were laid in stone, the perimeter shape of the fort changing according to the amount of soldiers; horses and mules it had to give shelter to. Remnants of these walls were excavated in the 1920s by an archaeologist named Philip Corder who clarified that the fort was of a typical 'playing card' shape. Substantial coin evidence of the Caurausian era would point to the fort being used/ occupied for many decades, to at least the late 200s.

I've made many mentions in my Celtic Fervour Series of the military activities of both General Cerialis and General Agricola. And my main characters in the series are, of course, of Brigantian origins so I felt quite at home in Malton waxing lyrical to anyone who stopped by to listen and to buy my novels.

The site was well laid out with exhibitor off-loading available at the 'upper' main gate, after which I had to drive my car round the town streets to park at the bottom end of Orchard Fields which is quite a bumpy slope.

Terry Deary signing books almost all day! 

The 'Author' tent was set next to the 'Talk' tent where various people gave talks, myself included. Alongside me were two very busy tables. One inhabited by Kemps Books, the local bookstore in Malton; and the other was Terry Deary's signing table (Horrible Histories). Acquiring Terry to attend the festival was genius since it drew many families onto the festival site all day long. Three other authors were in our little area- Kate Cunningham (children's books); Nick Brown (military Roman fiction) and Clive Ashman (Roman fiction and non fiction).  

Danny Allsebrook (Caractacus); Fiona Trigg (Cartimandua)
Brigante me; and the other Brigante! 

There were many other stalls and activities to keep everyone happy all day long. Equestrian shows were further down the field in the arena area and Roman Re-enactors gave live demonstrations of various Roman crafts. And I was delighted to again meet my Brigante friends - Fiona Trigg, Danny Allsebrook and one more Brigante - having seen them at the York Eboracum Roman festival in 2022 and 2023. It was equally nice to touch base again with Graham Harris (Romans in York/ re-enactors) and a few of his re-enactor soldiers that I recognised from the Eboracum festivals. 

Kate Cunningham and I having a laugh! 

A very good day was had by all, I believe, if the happy kids were anything to go by. They were clutching multiple Terry Deary books all dutifully signed by said author. 

The day passed really quickly and afterwards I spent a lovely few hours out dining in Malton with Kate Cunningham and her wonderful family. 

It was a long way to drive but well worth it! And I also signed a few copies of my own novels! 

Slainte! 

Atenociticus at the Hancock, Great North Museum, Newcastle!

Hello and a Happy Thursday to you!

I was so delighted around a week ago when I left Aberdeenshire to drive down to Malton, East Yorkshire, to be a participant at the Malton Roman Festival 2024. It was going to be an exciting new venue for me but there was something else I'd planned to do before reaching Malton. 

During the last few years, I'd tried a number of times to fit in a visit to the Hancock, Great North Museum in Newcastle, but was unsuccessful. The Covid lockdown in 2020 was just one reason that an overnight stay in Newcastle was abandoned but since I had intended to drive all the way to the Roman Festival in Malton, stopping for a night in Newcastle was very doable.

I've been to Newcastle before, though not for decades, but time was tight for exploring more of the city centre on this visit. Since the distance to Newcastle from my home is more than 260 miles, it takes a chunk of the day just to arrive there. I'm so delighted that 'Mrs. Google Maps' is very efficient, she got me right to my hotel which was about a 40 minute walk from the museum. I knew that I'd not have time on arrival on the Friday to visit but I spent a wonderful 3 + hours on the Saturday before I headed on south to Malton.

Atenociticus -Benwell Fort

Why was I so keen to visit Hancock Great North museum?

More than a decade ago I saw an image in a research book that caught my attention. It was the image of a native god, thought to have been worshipped around the Benwell Fort (Hadrian's Wall) area and a god which was 'adopted' by some of the Roman soldiers who were stationed along the wall. When I first set eyes on it I was enraptured - it is just so different somehow from the typical Roman or Greek god images. There is also the fact that it is so well executed, unlike some other representations of native gods which are relatively crudely made. 

I knew that the head of Atenociticus was part of the Hancock museum collections of items found along Hadrian's Wall forts and had to see it right there in front of me! It's actually larger than I thought it would be and would love to see an interpretation of what the complete figure may have been like. (some body parts have been found )

The whole collection on show in the Hadrian's Wall exhibition area is absolutely stunning and I especially love the way they have positioned a number of funerary stones together in a display which shows how they might have originally been painted. The concept of the stones being highly coloured is one that I find quite breathtaking. I first read of this some years ago and was enthralled. I adore  looking at some of the 3D imagery videos of places like Ancient Rome in all its coloured glory.

I think that the native Britons who first encountered painted altar stones, or other coloured epigraphy, must have been quite daunted by the sights. To live and worship Celtic gods who generally 'had no face' believing that their gods inhabited the earth, and the trees and the foliage, would have meant natives may have been quite stunned by painted god images.

I'd love to know when the god worship of the Atenociticus figure first began. Was he a god figure that had been revered by the local tribes for centuries, but till the Roman invasions of AD 71 had had 'no face'? Could it have been seeing statues of Roman gods that gave a gifted local stone mason the courage and ingenuity to create his own god image of Atenociticus? And was that image then seen as a powerful inspiration for the units at Benwell fort? And...was the god Atenociticus figure ever painted?

I'm so glad I've seen Atenociticus in person but I'm also delighted to have experienced the whole Hancock Great North Museum, though I did focus almost entirely on the Roman collections.

If you love museums, I definitely recommend a visit to Hancock Great North Museum. An additional bonus is that it's FREE though giving a donation, as I did, is advisable to show appreciation of the availability of seeing the wonderful collection. 

My next post will be about my visit to...Malton.

Till then...happy reading!

Slainte!

Where have I been of late?

Hello!

I've been visiting two very different museums during the last couple of weeks and have also been a participant at a fabulous Roman Festival in Malton, East Yorkshire. More coming very soon on all of these really exciting visits, but first in chronological order:

The Verdant Works Museum, Dundee, Scotland. 

My main character, Margaret Law, in the Silver Sampler Series finds herself in the city of Dundee at the beginning of Book 2. The date is 1856 and I needed to find out more about the mill workings at that time in Dundee. This isn't because Margaret gets herself a job at one of the big 'newish' mill manufactories, but she does find work using her seamstress skills. I wanted to find out more about how seamstresses, or tailors, bought the materials they worked with. Were there any mills at that time in Dundee supplying any types of domestic-use cloth, as in woollen cloth; cotton; or even linen? 

Unfortunately, I didn't really get my answers in the excellently-run Verdant Works Museum but I did find out lots of other useful information.

I already knew that in the mid 1850s, Dundee became one of the most successful global areas in producing jute products. The Dundee mills which had tended towards linen production during the 1820s to 1850s found it lucrative to quickly switch to jute and hessian production during the Crimean War (1853-1856) when supplies of flax for linen dried up, there being a blockade on ships trading flax to Britain from the Baltic States.

Jute was a useful, sturdy cloth for producing multi-use sacks, canvas for awnings on carts, and for tent making among other many uses. The American Civil War (1861-1865) was another reason for the Dundee jute mills to be highly successful since they were a large supplier for the American military.

From the 1820s, shipping in general in Dundee had improved. Shipbuilding was thriving but also the docks had been extended, well designed to accommodate the off and on-loading necessary for a rapid turn-around of goods.

A lovely lady named Lily 

Though back to my Verdant Works Mill Museum visit:

The machinery on view at the Verdant Works is smaller scale than the originals (some scaled down x7) but the working machines make it great to see the different stages of jute production. The mills when fully operational must have been incredibly noisy, unhealthy places to work in. My new friend in the photo, an octogenarian called Lily, was once-upon-a-time a worker at the Verdant Works all her working-life. She volunteers on Sundays and is often the only person who is allowed/ authorised to demonstrate machines working. I had a wonderful solo tour with Lily, the museum not yet busy on the Sunday morning that I visited. Lily gave me a lovely gift of a book about Old Dundee since I told her of my reasons for being there.

Lily also told me that losing hearing was very common in the mills but, over time, the workers had developed their own sign-language to compensate. She demonstrated various amusing signals which would indicate if the 'big boss' was on the way, perhaps expected in two or three minutes time (signals for this) and signals for other practical communications between the workers. The dusty fibres shed in the production of jute cloth were a death-knell to many of the earliest mill workers and the Victorian life-span was shockingly short. 

I was very surprised at how soft and silky the jute strands are before they go through the teasing and winding processes before being spun onto bobbins. 

The Verdant Works Museum at Lochee in Dundee is definitely worth a visit, even if like me you get lost driving along the very short cobbled lanes between the many different mill buildings. Some of the buildings are now home to gyms, small commercial concerns etc. It's wonderful to know that although more than 150 years old the buildings can be repurposed rather than being knocked down. 

To get the answers I want, I'm now delving into various publications, including a new research book named 'Onwards from Osnaburgs' by Christopher A Whatley. (recommended to me by Chris Longmuir an author friend who lives in Angus and who also had a job at a local mill in Montrose)

 

Meanwhile, I need to catch up with some gardening and do more of the second part of Margaret Law's story. 

Slainte! 

p.s. Novice Threads is picking up some fantastic reviews and ratings on various internet sites. Last I looked on Amazon UK it has 49 ratings, 50% of which are 5*, so it's almost at a first milestone. 

Hello! I'm back.

Hello,

I'm so delighted to be able to get into this area of Blogger since I seemed to be locked out from creating new posts for weeks. Right now, however, I have the access to post a new blog with timely information on my next venture, beginning tomorrow, Friday 19th July.

For a change I'm not going to write about my latest published novel - Novice Threads - instead I'm going to be writing about my Roman/Celtic themed novels.  

For a number of years I've had plans to visit the Great North Museum in Jesmond (Newcastle Upon Tyne, England) to see their Ancient Roman collections - lots of which are from fort sites along Hadrian's Wall - but for various reasons, the visits were cancelled.

Since I'll be driving south, some 330 miles, to be an author participant at the Malton Museum Roman Festival (Yorkshire) this coming weekend, I'm extending my trip by one night to include a visit to the Great North Museum. 

My total return drive will be more than 650 miles but I'm really looking forward to it. 

As well as selling my books alongside other authors who write in the Roman era in the Author tent, I'll also be giving a 20 minute talk in the Talk tent. I'm not sure how I can tell any audience about my Roman themed novels in just 20 mins, but I'll do my best! 

I'll be talking about my Celtic Fervour adventure series 

and The Taexali Game, my Time-Travel Historical Adventure set in Caledonia for teens. 

Hopefully updates will follow, so long as I can get access to this 'create' page. 

Happy reading!

Slàinte!

Under a Lightning Sky by Pam Lecky

 Good Morning!

My author friend Pam Lecky has a new release to share here today! If you love murder mysteries and WW2 novels then you'll really enjoy reading Pam's newest novel which will hit the shelves on July 4th!

Here are some details and the all-important link to buy this exciting novel. 

 

UNDER A LIGHTNING SKY

A WW2 Murder Mystery

London is under attack. But within the rubble, a greater danger lurks…

The Luftwaffe has been bombing London continuously since September 1940.

During a bombing raid, Madeline Fairfax is caught in her kitchen whilst cooking for her husband and children. She becomes trapped in the rear of her home, but regains consciousness just in time to see a familiar face, offering hope of rescue. But instead, Madeline is tragically strangled to death.

As a dangerous murderer uses the Blitz to cover their crime, local detective Jamie Barton enlists the help of Madeline’s sister and volunteer firefighter, Penny Fairfax to help. Now, caught in a web of uncertainty and mistrust, a grieving Penny must find the truth and do whatever it takes to protect those she loves most.

Together, will they unravel this case before it's too late…?

Buy Link: https://MyBook.to/UALSky

Publication Date: July 4th 2024

Publisher: Avon Books UK

My congratulations to Pam and best wishes for a great launch! 

Enjoy your reading...

Slàinte!

Last day of the exciting Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour for Novice Threads!

Hello again!

Here are all of the tour stops that Novice Threads (and me) has visited today. There are 2 guest posts to read; 2 excerpts; 2 interviews; 1 spotlight and one fantastic Review! I thank all of the hosts for the time taken to help me to promote Novice Threads. It's definitely appreciated. 

Click the links to visit and please feel free to leave a comment, so that we know you've popped in. 

June 26th

When Angels Fly

Guest Post

https://whenangelsfly.net/

The Book's Delight

Spotlight

https://www.thebookdelight.com/

Oh look, another book!

Review

https://ohlookanotherbook.blogspot.com

Pam Lecky's Official Blog

Excerpt

https://pamlecky.com/blog/

Amy Maroney’s Official Blog

Interview

https://www.amymaroney.com/blog/

Linnea Tanner’s Official Blog

Excerpt
https://www.linneatanner.com/blog/

The Whispering Bookworm

Interview

https://thewhisperingbookworm.blogspot.com/

Left on the Shelf

Guest Post
http://www.leftontheshelfbookblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Enjoy the reads, and if you don't yet have a copy to read the full novel just click the sidebar link and get your Kindle copy at the huge bargain price of 99p/99c (offer only till the end of June so just 4 more days!) 

Slàinte! 

Novice Threads is on the last day of its tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club!

Hello!

Since I'm having a bit of trouble with getting access to this 'create a new post' page on my Blogger Blog just now, I'm seizing the moment to thank my tour organiser for all the hard work it takes to organise a tour that is in excess of 25 different blogs. My thanks to my good friend and tour organiser Cathie Dunn!

I also give thanks to all of the tour hosts who have taken time out of their busy writing (and personal) lives to host Novice Threads by posting excerpts, promotional information, author interviews, guest posts or reviews. I know how much time is involved and do truly appreciate it. 

Check my Facebook page for updates if I can't post on here. 

Slainte!

Oh look, another book!: On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club — Novice Thr...

Hello!

I've been having some trouble signing in to my Blogger  blog since yesterday but lo, and behold! I seem to be able to share this with you right now. 

Today, Wednesday 26th of June, is the last day of my Novice Threads Blog Tour with the Coffee Pot Book Club. The host at 'Oh, look another book! has posted an excellent review.

This is the final sentence below, but there are so many fabulous comments that highlight the host's delight in the read:

"I absolutely loved this book and it is my favourite read so far in 2024!"

I'm so glad she enjoyed meeting Margaret and her fellow characters in the novel. A huge thank you to the host - reviews are always very welcome indeed. Please click the link below to read her review in full. 

Oh look, another book!: On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club — Novice Thr...:  I love this book so much! Scroll down to check out my review of Novice Threads by Nancy Jardine. Thank you to The Coffee Pot Book Club for...

Novice Threads is out visiting again!

Hello!

Yesterday, Wednesday 19th June 2024, was another extremely exciting and busy day for Novice Threads, Book 1 of my new Silver Sampler Series. The Coffee Pot Book Club blog tour, advertising Novice Threads every Wednesday in June, was busy again. I give thanks to the tour organiser and to all of my hosts - You are all stars for opening your blog to me and taking the time in your very busy day to set up the posts. 

We [meaning Novice Threads and me]  visited 6 different blogs and gained another super 5* review from the Book Bandits Blog!

The tour stops for 19th June 2024 were: (in no particular order)

1) Archaeolibrarian You'll find an Excerpt on this blog

https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/blog

2) The Book Bandit's Library You'll find a super 5* Review here

https://yourbooksoryourlife.blogspot.com/

3) Carolyn Hughes’ Official Blog You'll find a Guest Post on this one. The topic I covered was Good Old Fashioned Victorian Morality! 

https://carolynhughesauthor.com/blog/

4) Judith Arnopp’s Official Blog  You'll find an Excerpt here as well. 

http://juditharnoppnovelist.blogspot.com/

 5) A Darn Good Read Yet a different Excerpt here.

https://adarngoodread.blogspot.com/

 6) Ruins & Reading There's another Guest Post on this one covering some of the historical aspects of the Victorian era that I included in the novel. 

https://ruinsandreading.blogspot.com/

Please pop in and say hello - my lovely hosts will appreciate you paying a visit!

Happy Reading...

Slàinte!

A new addition to my Roman bookshelf!

Good Morning!

Today I'm not promoting the Victorian era, since I've just been alerted to the fact that a friend, Alex Gough,  who writes adventures in the Roman era, has a new book out today. 

Caesar's General is Alex's second book about Mark Antony (Caesar's Soldier is Book 1). Here's the blurb to whet your appetite. (errr...It's snared me already) 

Rome will never be the same again…

The empire is at a crisis point. Caesar, Rome’s greatest general and conqueror of Gaul, now faces being stripped of his command and dragged back to Italy for prosecution by his enemies.

His former ally, Pompey, has sided with his opponents in the Senate and frustrates all efforts to find peace.

Caesar does the unthinkable. He crosses the Rubicon and marches his army into Italy to invade Rome, with Mark Antony at his side. The empire is thrown into civil war. Antony will either rise to the heights of power, or be executed as a traitor. The die has been cast.

This is the greatest story of Roman history retold from Mark Antony’s perspective by a rising star of the genre. Perfect for fans of Conn Iggulden and Ben Kane.

BUY HERE  

That's the link for Amazon UK but it may work across all Amazon territories. (If not, use the title to search wherever you are globally) 

Happy Reading! 

Slàinte! 

 

Novice Threads Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour stops today!

Good Morning again! 

My Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour continues today, the second of my every Wednesday in June features. Here's the promised list of blogs I'm expecting to be visiting today, doing different things to promote Novice Threads, Book 1 of my Silver Sampler Series.

(N.B. Some of the features may not appear till later in the day, depending on the global location and schedules of my lovely hosts) 

• You'll find a wonderful REVIEW on   Jennifer C. Wilson  

• You'll find an INTERVIEW at The WritingDesk  where Tony Ritches has asked me some very interesting questions. 

 

• There's a SPOTLIGHT feature expected on  CelticLady’sReviews

And on the following blogs you might find a different EXCERPT from the novel on each blog.  Lots of snippets for you to get to know my character Margaret. 

•  MJ Porter’sOfficial Blog 
•  The Historical Fiction Company 

AND...

• Let Us Talk of Many Things 

I'm off to do a bit more writing now on Book 2 of the series. 

Enjoy visiting my hosts today and please leave a comment to let them know you've popped in.  

Slàinte! 

A Super New 4* Review for Novice Threads

Good Morning!

It's Wednesday again and I don't quite know how that happened since the last week has flown by. I've been spending lots of time at my desk checking for new reviews for Novice Threads, checking how it's been doing on the Amazon Charts mainly in the UK, Australia and Canada - though also on the US site where sales are trickling in, even though that geographical area hasn't been targeted for any special paid promotions. 

I'm delighted this morning to find a super new 4* review from Lily who reviewed Novice Threads via NetGalley and posted on Goodreads. I absolutely love what she's written: it's very complimentary and makes this author very pleased that she's really appreciating my characters and plot. [It makes me wonder what else would have made it a 5* review.]  

Here's what she likes about my characters and their story. 

"In this fun historical fiction novel, readers travel to nineteenth century Scotland where Margaret Law finishes her schooling, much to her joy. Wanting to become a teacher after tutoring her friend Jessie, Margaret must put her dreams on hold because her parents’ business collapses and she must find work in Edinburgh, a big change from her small town life. Working as a tutor in the same household where Jessie is a maid, this new job is exactly what Margaret wants, except the tension in this household, her parents’ growing estrangement, and Jessie’s personal secrets are making things more complicated. As things change and become more complicated when tragedy strikes and questions get answered, Margaret must decide what she wants her future to look like. A charming, realistic, and straightforward protagonist, Margaret and her story are immersive and compelling, and the worldbuilding in this novel is absolutely masterful, bringing Victorian Scotland to life. With a fascinating story and wonderful characters, the setting of this novel brings the social class of Margaret and Jessie to the forefront while also emphasizing the differences between rural and urban Victorian Scotland. With excellent characters, a vibrant setting, and a fascinating plot, this novel is a must-read for historical fiction fans."

My thanks to Lily for taking the time to write such kind observations and...for enjoying my characters. 

I'll be back very soon to give a list of the blogs Novice Threads will be appearing on today, since this is Week 2 of my Coffee Pot Blog Tour. 

Click the link on the sidebar image to get your own copy of Novice Threads (which is still 99p/99c) if you've not read it yet, and see what is exciting the reviewers.

Happy reading!

Slàinte!

Novice Threads is making its presence felt!

Its a Hello Monday!

I've been busy promoting Novice Threads in lots of places across the Social Media network.

It has climbed the charts a little bit on Amazon (dot) com (US) regardless of the fact that I haven't specifically targeted the region. The recently released novel (not quite 4 weeks ago) has now garnered 7 ratings on the Amazon (dot) com site [a small number to be sure compared to some new releases but realistic for me] x5 of them are 5* and 2 are of 4* s. I'm absolutely delighted with that and love that readers are enjoying my characters and their settings. 

One of the social media sites I did try paid promotion with was BookBub where I got an International one-day deal. That meant the novel would be emailed out to BookBub readers in the UK, Australia and Canada regions on the 6th June. I'm on tenterhooks now because Novice Threads has zoomed to #9 in the British and Irish Historical Literature chart, and #11 in the Family Saga Fiction chart in the Amazon Australia charts. I must now remember to check not only how it is faring on UK and US charts, but also Australia and Canada. 

Novice Threads also has 3x5* and 2x4* on Goodreads, 2x5* on BookBub, 3x5* and 3x4* on BookBub and a few 5* reviews on private blogs! 

Reviews are so very welcome and I feel honoured when a reader posts one, whatever site they post on. 

Updates on how the novel is being received will follow in due course. Meanwhile I'm looking forward to Wednesday 12th June when Novice Threads will be featuring on a different range of blogs during the Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour. There will be different excepts, unique author interviews and guest posts specifically written for my host venues! Look out for the details and feel free to pop in and comment. 

Now, with all of my garden commitments and doing promotion on social media for Novice Threads, when am I finding time to get on with Book 2 of the Silver Sampler Series? Tomorrow is another day. 

Enjoy your reading. 

Slàinte!

Novice Threads tour stops today!

Hello! 

It's a lovely morning here, and especially so since Novice Threads is getting out and about, virtually visiting some excellent blogs! 

Here are the blogs where Novice Threads is being hosted today on my every Wednesday in June blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Please pop in and say hi - it'll be appreciated by my host and by me. In addition to 3 spotlight posts today, you'll find an excellent review of the novel, a teaser of an excerpt from Novice Threads, and an exclusive guest post written by me.

(In no particular order the stops are:) 

1) Yarde Reviews & Book Promotion - Spotlight

https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com

 2) Elizabeth St.John's Official Blog - Excerpt

http://www.elizabethjstjohn.com/

3) Deborah Swift's Official Blog - Review

http://www.deborahswift.com/blog/

4) Let Your Words Shine- Spotlight

https://maryannbernal.blogspot.com/   

5) Mary’s Bookcase - Spotlight

https://marysbookcase.blogspot.com/

6)The Coffee Pot Book Club- Guest Post

https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/

My thanks to all of my wonderful hosts for taking the time out of their busy lives to feature Novice Threads today. 

Have a lovely day and hopefully an enjoyable 'reading' one. Here's the link to Novice Threads on Kindle at Amazon where you'll find it at the super bargain price of #99p/ 99c , if you've not yet got a copy! 

Slàinte!

Novice Threads is 99p/99c!

Hello!

Novice Threads, my recent release, is going on a blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club! To celebrate, the Kindle version is now reduced to 99p/99c.

Novice Threads is going to be hosted on lots of different blogs during the next four consecutive Wednesdays, beginning tomorrow 5th June 2024. At each tour spot you'll find combinations of excerpts; a spotlight feature with the blurb and buy details; author interviews; guest posts written by me; and I hope also to find some reviews of the novel. There will be loads of variety, so please follow the schedule and visit the blogs! It would be lovely if you pop in a hello in the comment box on each tour spot, then I'll be able to reply and say hello back!

If you've not yet read Novice Threads then this is a really great time to buy.  (Click HERE to get a copy) 

There are some super reviews coming in for it. I'm delighted that readers are really enjoying my characters and the story of Book 1 of the new The Silver Sampler Series. If you do enjoy the read, then please consider posting a short review, or rating, on Amazon  - it would be so welcome. 

Here's the Tour Schedule. I'm really looking forward to visiting the amazing list of blogs who are hosting Novice Threads! 

See you soon!

Slàinte!