99¢ Sale on 4 Blair Books

 UPDATE:  Friday, August 30, 2024

I am happy to announce that all vendors serviced by Draft2Digital are now included in the Four-book Sale that has been on Amazon for the past week. Warning: if I read the D2D's message correctly, the price change does not apply to foreign countries. (Hopefully, I can figure that out for the next time around.)

Amusing side note:  I had a TERRIBLE time finding my books on D2D. Their "My Books" list is gorgeously laid out, BUT all books are alphabetized in a system that considers "A" and "The" part of the alphabetization. Really weird. I thought I'd never find Rebel Princess!

Below, my "On Sale" Post from 8/24/24:

I tend to keep my head down and write and write and write. How else would I have produced 50+ books since the mid-90s? Which means I don't remember to do things like put books on sale. So, having just finished The Abandoned Daughter, it  seemed a good time to take a moment to offer some bargains. I've chosen the first books in four different series to offer at 99¢ on Amazon, now through the end of September. I guarantee that the first one, The Sometime Bride, is the best bargain you'll find:  140,000+ words for 99¢!

Regency Warrior Series

The Sometime Bride is the first book in The Regency Warrior series. Except for Jack Harding (introduced in Book 2, Tarleton's Wife), there is minimal character cross-over between books, but all involve very strong heros and heroines, although in the case of The Sometime Bride, it takes our young heroine a while to get there.

 

 A very young bride finds herself married to an enigmatic British spy "for her safety." And is plunged into a seven-year, highly personal view of the Peninsular War—ending, after years of blind devotion, in discovering a betrayal of her trust so immense she can only wonder: Is she the sometime bride of a man who never existed? A discarded mistress? Or a beloved wife whose only rival is her husband's expediency in a time of war?

Author's Note: In addition to being a saga of young lovers caught up in a war, The Sometime Bride is the history of the Peninsular War, Britain's fight against Napoleon in Portugal and Spain. The story moves from France's invasion of Portugal and British troops being driven into the sea at La Coruña to the return of British troops under General Sir Arthur Wellesley, the fortified lines at Torres Vedras, and the gradual push of French troops across Spain and back to France. Plus the chaotic times in Paris after Napoleon's surrender and the Emperor's triumph as he gathers up his old troops, only to be stopped in one of the most famous and bloody battles in history—Waterloo. 

Regency Gothic Series

Brides of Falconfell was my first venture into writing a Gothic novel set in the Regency period. I discovered I loved this special sub-genre of Romance, and my readers soon made my Gothics my personal most popular genre. Eleven more would follow. (As I checked my Inventory for this blog, I discovered The Abandoned Daughter was Gothic # 12, not 11, as previously stated.) Each of my Gothic novels is a stand-alone book with no cross-over characters from book to book.

Miss Serena Farnsworth, spinster, is a managing female, the crutch for her extended family, for whom she functions as nurse, companion, and household organizer. In short, she lives a life of service, devoid of romance. Until she is invited to attend an invalid at a gloomy Gothic-style estate in Northumberland, where she encounters two suspicious deaths, personal animosity, a needy child, and even needier father. Add witchcraft, shake (sink) holes, Mid-summer Eve revels, and a variety of odd characters, as well as the certainty someone is trying to killer her, and Serena finds herself surrounded by a miasma of evil. The lord of the manor should be of help, but he, alas, is a prime suspect in the murder of the Brides of Falconfell.

Author's Note: Brides of Falconfell is a tribute to the great era of Gothic novels, written by Victoria Holt, Jane Aiken Hodge, Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, and other talented authors of that time. The books—more "Jane Eyre" and "Rebecca" than "Pride and Prejudice"—have several common elements: they are told in first person, as both heroine and reader must be isolated, unable to know what the other characters are thinking. Frequently, the heroines are married and begin to suspect their husbands of murder. There is often a child, usually the hero's from a previous marriage. A large, gloomy mansion is a must, where murder, madness, and evil abound, with the heroine escaping death by the skin of her teeth. I have put all these conventions in Brides of Falconfell and chosen an isolated location at the very "top" of England as a setting. I hope you will enjoy my personal attempt at "Gothic Revival." Blair Bancroft 

The Matthew Wolfe Series

The three light-hearted novellas in The Matthew Wolfe Series were written in the dark days of the Covid epidemic in an attempt to provide a small distraction from those dire times. Not only do I love Matthew, who is first introduced in The Regency Warrior series, but these books brought back Jack Harding who has appeared in far more books than any of my other characters. Matthew and Jack—"Birds of a feather," as the saying goes.                

 

Matthew Wolfe, born and raised in the squalor of London's inner city, should be a nobody, forever destined to obscurity, or the hangman. But wait . . . he can read and write, is a whiz at math, can speak like a gentleman, even knows more than a bit of French. And when the boy from London ends up on a hops farm in Kent, surrounded by the remnants of the Royal 10th Hussars and a passel of children, what will this fish out of water do? Retired military and their ladies, children, dogs, a regal cat, neighbors in need, and a determined twelve-year-old—all assist Matthew on his journey toward the person he is meant to be. 

The Blue Moon Rising Series

Blair's alter ego writes SciFi Fantasy. This was supposed to be a one-off, but it took four long books for our rebels to take back their small portion of the galaxy. There is also a spin-off book, The Crucible Kingdom, about one of the nasty Emperor's starships that managed to escape from the final battle, their captain becoming a warrior in the battle against a Curse that plagues a planet with Nature's most violent phenomena—earthquakes, volancoes, tsunamis, etc. (There are cross-over characters from the earlier books, including the Rebel Princess's decidedly odd younger brother.)

 The Princess Royal of a pacifist planet, whose people have spent a thousand years developing their powers of the mind, stages a personal rebellion, joining the space academy of a planet that has spent a millennium developing its military might. This odd pairing goes well until her senior year when her new "friends" turn on her. Only the swift action of an honorable huntership captain saves her from rape and possible medical experimentation. As a very special prisoner of war, she spends four years in solitary confinement, where she dreams of her rescuer but has no idea she has inadvertently sparked a rebellion against the military planet's vast Empire.

When the princess-in-disguise is finally freed and tossed into the middle of the Rebellion, she discovers there is a sharp contrast between her fantasy version of the man who rescued her and the flesh and blood starship captain leading the rebellion. She must also cope with his followers who fear her psychic powers, a fey younger brother who speaks only through illusions, royal parents with strict belief in non-violence, and a fiancé who happens to be a sorcerer. It would appear the hope of toppling the Empire is a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel. 

~ * ~

Please don't forget Blair's latest Gothic:  The Abandoned Daughter 

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's website, click here. 

Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*

*with new posts 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)    

 

THE ABANDONED DAUGHTER - a Regency Gothic

 

 

  Enlarged . . .

 

I was thrilled when my cover artist found a picture of the River Avon, complete with Pulteney Bridge and the weir. And managed to add a young lady as beautiful as my heroine and a young lord who looks like he is being given the cold shoulder she turns on him throughout most of the book. Few covers are so totally "right" for the content. (Please note the shadowed sky—a vital hint that this is NOT a Regency Romance* but a Gothic novel, with more than a few bodies strewn here and there.)

*You may recall a previous blog in which I talked about breaking a huge number of "Gothic rules" during the creation of The Abandoned Daughter. I might not have mentioned that this also includes opening paragraphs that are far more classic Regency Romance than creepy Gothic. 

Abandoned, targeted for murder. 

What's a poor girl to do?

Isabelle Bainbridge—abandoned by her gamester father, leery of the young lord who claims he is rescuing her—is more than a little surprised to find herself employed as companion to his grandmother in Bath, who treats her more like a ward than an employee. A near idyllic situation, until Isabelle discovers a young woman's body floating in the Kennet & Avon canal—an alleged suicide—soon followed by a series of murders that shake the tranquility of the beautiful city known as a refuge for the elderly and infirm.

Although Isabelle is determined to despise her rescuer—the viscount who won her home in a game of cards—she is forced to rely on him as she is stalked and it becomes apparent she may be next on the killer's list. There are several surprises, as well as moments of terror, before this Gothic adventure finds its happy ending.

The Abandoned Daughter is available on Amazon and through the many vendors presented by Draft2Digital (formerly Smashwords).                 

For a link to The Abandoned Daughter on Amazon, click here.

For a link to The Abandoned Daughter on D2D, click here.

Grace note:  This is my first experience with Draft2Digital. I can only hope the link works for you. 

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's website, click here. 

Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*

*with new posts 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)    

Gallery - mostly Political

BREAKING NEWS!

The Abandoned Daughter (my Regency Gothic #11)

is now available on Amazon - other vendors soon 

(Details in next blog)     

 

 

 Political comments from someone

who has seen a lot of elections . . .

This week's gallery is totally political. I'm too ancient to go out door-knocking, but my nimble fingers are still able to contribute to the cause . . .

To save Democracy

To save Women's Rights in general, not just the Right to Choose

To protect the rights of those who march to a different drummer

To elect candidates who care about the issues instead of candidates who do nothing but spout negatives and threaten their opponents with retribution.

To elect a vibrant duo of running mates, both in their prime, instead of a ranting, rambling, fork-tongued, aging convicted criminal and a weirdo who has be at the top of the Misogynist list. 

Here are a few of the pics I've gathered this past week, some from Facebook, some contributed by my son and his wife in New England:

Starting with the most subtle . . . (Before peeking at the title, see if you can figure it out. Definitely comes under "Some people are clever!")

 Get it? It took me a while.

 

Photo title:  State of the Right Wing

This one, from my daughter-in-law

I found the pic below particularly astonishing as I'd just mentioned Rosie the Riveter in my Silent Generation posts. Rosie - the symbol of the rise of women to something other than housework and child-bearing.

 

You can enjoy the next pic simply because you think it's cute, or you can wonder if Catman and Catkit are heeding that bright beam in the sky and gearing up to once again save Gotham (read, US of A) from the latest, greatest threat.

OR . . . you can consider it a call to war against people who scorn cat ladies, though I rather like the poster below.

From my son - yes, that's a MAGA cap under her heel.

Please feel free to share this blog.

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's website, click here. 

Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*

*with new posts 

For recent posts, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)    

The Silent Generation, Part 2

This week, the "reveal" of why the experiences of 

The Silent Generation are applicable to the here and now.

  

But first a couple of photos Cassidy posted to Facebook:

 

Posing with the medals won by her Police Explorer troop.

 

 

Below, also from Facebook, a photo that illustrates the concept of how easy it is to be fooled into believing something that isn't true.

Take a really good look. What is so special about this photo is that the light-colored figures are the camels; the black ones, their SHADOWS.

 THE SILENT GENERATION, Part 2

 A few of things I should have mentioned in Part 1:

World War II was total war. (Unlike the later Korean, Vietnam, Gulf wars.) Every man between 18 and 40 was drafted. The only men seen on the streets during the war were:  soldiers in uniform, those declared 4-F (physically unfit), or those so expert in vital jobs that they could not be replaced. (My husband, for example, a skilled machinist at Pratt & Whitney, was exempt. He joined up anyway, spending the war as a Master Sergeant in an Ordnance Battalion.) 

A great many factory jobs—particularly anything related to the war effort—were taken over by women, beginning the great migration from woman confined to home and family to women becoming an important part of the work force. The poster girl for the women of WWII:  Rosie the Riveter (hair hidden beneath a scarf, rivet gun in hand).

And then there was rationing. Imagine not being able to buy what you want at the grocery store unless you have the right coupon. Families were allowed only so much meat, so many eggs, so much butter, etc., each month. Used up your coupons? That was it until the next month. A deprivation experienced by every civilian in the country.  

*********

1945 -

So what was happening with The Silent Generation, the kids born in the years from 1928 to 1945?

Most of us were old enough to exult in the end of the war in Europe, old enough to feel the horror of what ended the war in the Pacific. Sadly, that night we flooded the streets to celebrate, we had no idea of the extent of the damage at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, had not yet felt the guilt that the Nazis were not the only ones to commit genocide.

And yet, a war begun in 1939 and grown to encompass the world was finally over, all of us inoculated with the kind of patriotism, pride, and optimism that being the country instrumental in winning the war inevitably brings.

In the years just after the war, most of us were in high school or college; the youngest born into a world strongly influenced by the years just prior to their birth, even if they could not remember the war. And we were finally discovering the why of how the world went so wrong. In history classes, countless books, movies, and on that flickering black and white oddity called television. 

We learned about the millions who died in Europe; six million Jews in Western Europe; the figures in Russia vary from 20 million to 27 million. (I've seen the mass grave in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) where so many died of starvation when the city was besieged by the Germans.) We learned about the rise of Fascism in Germany in the 1930s. About the little man with the funny mustache who mesmerized people with his ranting speeches at rallies. A man who advocated make-Germany-great-again. Which meant getting rid of all thoughts by anyone who was not "Aryan" (white), to the extent of burning books written by anyone considered "unacceptable." And eventually led, in 1938, to Kristallnacht, a wide-spread attack on Jewish business and synagogues. (Details readily available online.)

Sadly, almost everyone in Europe, the United States as well, could not believe anyone could take this ranting lunatic seriously. (Though this period is before my memory, I've seen countless newsreels since, showing Adolf Hitler on a podium, the audience standing, arms outstretched and shouting, "Zieg Heil!") And whenever it amazes me that no one could see the menace in what was happening, I have only to look around me as the decade following 2015 begins to look more and more like the 1930s in Germany.

Whites only. Everyone else has to go! That was Hitler's the message. Yet the leaders of the most powerful countries in the world stood back, shook their heads, refused to take the ranting little man seriously. Isolationism, that was the ticket. Each country would mind its own business. That silly man with the square mustache, preaching a new Germany, an Aryan-only Germany, could not possibly do what he said he would.

Adolf Hitler seized the German government, and Europe still clung to the idea of appeasement, while the U.S., still suffering from the Great Depression, continued to look on, determined to stay out of it. 

In September 1939, German tanks (a new weapon of warfare) rolled into Poland. The world blinked, but did nothing. The French, confident in the strength of something called "the Maginot Line," failed to quake in their boots. But the Maginot Line was designed to defend against trench warfare, as seen in WWI. In May 1940 German tanks rolled over it as if it didn't exist. The Brits, ever honorable, quickly sent troops to aid their long-time ally, but no one was prepared for the might of the German war machine. The French government capitulated, citing its desire to spare Paris being leveled. Which left the British nowhere to go but the beach at Dunkirk. (Thanks to the recent movie, I don't have to explain one of the greatest rescue efforts of all time.)

And then came the Battle of Britain—Britain alone against the German might; Hitler, in the summer of 1940, planning to invade, and that small island nation fighting back—experiencing enormous casualties as they stood alone against Fascism. An effort that inspired Winston Churchill's words that still ring through the decades:  "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

And still the U.S. sat on its hands and watched. Until a country on the far side of the world, inspired by the unhindered military build-up in 1930s Germany, constructed aircraft carriers (another brand new addition to the annals of warfare) and fighter-bombers to go with them. And caught us flat-footed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The death toll: more than 2400 service personnel and civilians. The only "plus" of that day. Our own aircraft carriers were at sea and not bombed-out wrecks, as were our battleships, cruisers, destroyers, airfields.

At long last, we were in it. Up to our necks. President Roosevelt declared war the next day. [My memories of WWII begin here. My parents, saying as little as possible about our plunge into war, inadvertently leaving me to think that Hawaii was on an island just off East Coast. (We had lived a year on Cape Cod when I was four, so even though we now lived in northeastern Connecticut, I knew how close the coast was.)] 

And after four years of coping with total war, a war ending in victory for our side—a victory that would not have been possible without the enormous contribution of the U S of A—the children of that time became The Silent Generation. We just knew that after all that sacrifice, the world would never again be so foolish.

Which—sigh—is likely how I learned to speak up, say what I think, even if it makes other people angry. Lesson learned.

Why have I rehashed what many people consider ancient history?

Aw, come on! The parallel between the 1930s and the past decade is painfully, terrifyingly apparent. Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" is code for "Make America White Again." The Trump "base" is built on White Supremacy. As it is on Male Supremacy. (i.e., women are good for fun & procreation, and that's all, folks).

Trump may not be a little man with a square mustache, but his goals are the same. Grief to anyone "not one of us." Including grief to every woman who rejects being subservient, every woman who believes she has the right to think for herself, to do what she believes to be right.

Voters of the U S of A, stand up and be counted. Don't look the other way, hoping Fascism will go away. It won't. At least not without your vote for Democracy, for Justice for all—including every race, religion, and gender.

* * * You are invited to share this blog * * *

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's website, click here. 

For recent posts, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)