Monday, June 18, 2012

THE REBEL'S PLEDGE ~ AN INSPIRATIONAL COLONIAL ROMANCE

Hello All!
I am happy to announce the release of my inspirational historical romance The Rebel's Pledge in a new and refreshing revised version. The Rebel's Pledge is available now on Kindle for 2.99. Soon it will be out in paperback. If you would like to share this post on your blog, I would appreciate it so much.

This week I am giving away one free Kindle copy. All you have to do is post a comment why you would like to read this book. I'll announce the winner later.  Now here is what the story is all about...

 He was a rebel to King James, hunted down, captured, and enslaved in Colonial Maryland. Haunted by war and wrestling with a troubled past, Matthew Hale pledges to protect the daughter of his former owner and bring her from England to her father's plantation along the Chesapeake, an undertaking that challenges the depth of his courage, and the strength of his faith.

Lara Carey will only wed for love, having kept the story of her parents' unwavering devotion for each other in her heart. When she learns her guardian has promised her in marriage to a rich English lord in order to save the ancestral home, her hopes unravel, until she meets the heroic stranger that rescued her from the hands of a highwayman.


Amazon Kindle: 
http://tinyurl.com/73dzd8g

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First Day Out Comments from Readers.

'Its 2am and I'm halfway done. My goodness. What a page turner and great character depth.'

'It seems some authors forget the little details that make history come alive, but not Rita!! No, she’s a historical expert and brings in the yummy stuff. And thankfully, the characters aren’t 2012 shoved back to 1600’s, thank God!! Instead they are 1600’s people set in 1600’s, not 2012.'

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  If The Rebel's Pledge were made into a movie, here are the actors that I would choose.

The heroic Matthew Hale ~ Richard Armitage
The story's lovely heroine, Lara Carey Hale ~ Natalie Portman









The infamous Lord Barrington Grey ~ Rufus Sewell








Lara's exiled father, Edmund Carey ~ Michael Gamdom









Lara's kindly uncle, Lord Phillip Wade ~ Tom Wilkinson
 











Friend and advocate, Sir John Fitzhugh ~ James Norrington

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Announcement!

By request from many of my readers, I will be reissuing my first three novels that have been out of print for seven years. 

The Rebel's Pledge, a 17th century romance, is almost through the editing phase and we should have it on Kindle sometime in July. Thorns In Eden and The Everlasting Mountains (Revolutionary War companion novels set during the Indian Wars) will follow as a 2 in 1 novel. 

The Rebel's Pledge 
He was a rebel to King James, hunted down, captured, and enslaved in Colonial Maryland. Haunted by war and wrestling with a troubled past, Matthew Hale pledges to protect the daughter of his former owner and bring her from England to her father’s plantation along the Chesapeake, an undertaking that challenges the depth of his courage, and the strength of his faith.

Lara Carey will only wed for love, having kept the story of her parents’ unwavering devotion for each other in her heart. When she learns her guardian has promised her in marriage to a rich English lord in order to save the ancestral home, her hopes unravel, until she meets the heroic stranger that rescued her from the hands of a highwayman.

(The cover is not finalized. My son Paul is designing it. The banner with the title will change in color and font. But we are making headway. For anyone going with Kindle, they do have templates, but having your own design sets your book apart from the many that have used the same design.)

Thorns In Eden

Left orphaned is Rebecah, a young woman who has known little more than the solitude of an isolated manor. Longing for independence, Rebecah’s dreams of happiness seem unattainable, until the day she meets the courageous patriot and they fall in love. Soon she becomes trapped in the schemes of her uncle to slander her beloved John Nash when he is accused of causing her father’s death. Rebecah sacrifices all that she has to follow him from England to a wilderness that will put her faith to the test, amid one of the most infamous Indian wars in Colonial history.

The Everlasting Mountains
 
In the spring of 1775, Rebecah, her servant Maddie, and friend Theresa Boyd, are forced to journey to Shawnee County along the Youghiogheny River. Together with the women, she escapes and begins the long trek home, through an unknown and hostile wilderness. In those harrowing days she faces the elements, starvation, wild animals, the birth of her daughter, and unpredictable nature. The agony of the journey forces Rebecah to go the final miles pursued by her capture.

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Theresa Blake a master seamstress and dress designer in England has graciously given me the go ahead to use her Charles II gown for The Rebel's Pledge book cover. It is this beautiful orange gown I have posted. Theresa tells says in natural light the gown has a pink hue, in indoor light orange. Please visit her website. She has designed some of the most unique and beautiful bridle gowns I've ever seen.

Embarking on my own with these books is a little scary. I'm not technical. But my husband and son are better at it and will be helping with the upload. A lot of authors I know are doing the same ---- reissuing their backlists. If you have considered it for yourself, go to Amazon's CreateSpace page and read about it. The royalties are amazing. You just have to learn all you can about marketing.

Meanwhile, the Daughters of the Potomac Series published by Abingdon Press will be available to readers on their respective release dates in ebook and paperback. 
Book 1, Before the Scarlet Dawn was released in February.
Book 2, Beside Two Rivers will be released October 1.
Book 3, Beyond the Valley will be released in February 2013.


Thanks to all my readers who have kept me pressing on.



Friday, June 8, 2012

Free on Kindle

Hi All,

Yes, that's right. Abingdon Press is offering my newest release, 'Before the Scarlet Dawn' book 1 in the Daughters of the Potomac Series for free on Kindle this week.

http://www.amazon.com/Before-Scarlet-Dawn-Daughters-ebook/dp/B0071OOAVI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1339095175&sr=1-1

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

A Penchant for Reading

The Reading Scene in Northanger Abby.
A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart. What could be a more innocent or harmless a past-time for a young girl than reading?


Friday, June 1, 2012

Quotes on Reading & Writing - Mark Twain

I have always admired the wit and wisdom of Mark Twain. He's one of those American authors I would have loved to have spent a sunny afternoon with, sitting on his porch listening to his prospective on a plethora of subjects. Here are some of Twain's quotes on reading and writing. 

“Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.”
 
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” 

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” 

“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” 

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” 

“Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.” 

“My books are water; those of the great geniuses is wine. Everybody drinks water.” 

Do you have a favorite quote from a beloved author? Please share.