My bedside table…

February 6, 2014Ann Swinfen, book marketing, e-books, fantasy writing, folktale, Gisborne, Guy of Gisborne, Historical fantasy, historical fiction, Juliet Marillier, Prue Batten, pruebatten, writersNo Comments

Currently beside my bed, I have this little pile of books.

I am about to read Ann Swinfen’s new book, Flood, an exciting revelatory novel set in the seventeenth century Fens. She is releasing it next week and kindly send me an early e-copy. Ann has had a laudatory career as a women’s literary fiction writer with an excellent backlist to her credit. Recently she has taken her backlist and re-published through Shakenoak Press and I can tell you, if Flood is anything like her previous books it will be the most perfect read.

I am part way through Juliet Marillier’s  Flame of Sevenwaters and can’t begin to say how much I have enjoyed being drawn back into Juliet’s inimitable portrayal of Celtic Britain. She writes the most excellent fantasy and I have been a fan of hers since long before my own historical fantasies were published.

Another book I can’t wait to read is Rachael Treasure’s The Farmer’s Wife. Rache runs a farm not far from our own and is one of Australia’s acclaimed rural romance/women’s fiction writers. She has the knack of getting beneath the dust and dried grass of our rural life and telling it like it is.

The book I am turning to when I have a tough day with Mum’s care (she’s recuperating from severe knee and shoulder injuries) is Margaret Rhodes’ wonderfully honest, revealing and loving portrait of her relationship with her aunt, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, entitled The Final Curtsey. It is almost as if one sits in the drawing room with a cup of tea and Margaret, as she converses. It’s natural, colloquial and I love it.

And finally, this is the first and most current page of my Kindle. I’ve just finished David Pilling whose version of Robin Hood is one of the best I have read, very close to Angus Donald’s Outlaw Chronicles in quality. Gisborne 3 (Gisborne: Book of Kings. By me) is there as one of my safety precautions in case of whiteouts on the computer as I work to its completion. Historical Tales is there because it raises money for Cancer Research and is FILLED with great stories. Alexandra Raife is a wonderful women’s fiction author and I am catching up on the two I haven’t read. Powder of Yarrow and The Sequel are (hist.fict) beta reads for a friend who writes brilliantly but is not confident enough to let you all see how good she is. And The Triskele Trail is a must have for any independent or small-press published writer.

And with that little list – I’m off to bed to read. ‘Night, ‘night all.