Welcome to Festival Season!

This week has been hectic. In the pandemonium of the lockdown - and therefore being unable to work - I'd just about forgotten how demanding times were. When, in August (hopefully), I get back to work, it will be interesting to see how a timetable works again!

While I sit here typing there's not a single cloud in the sky! The heavens are blue, the canopy green, and the landscape amass with all colours. Inspiration is really in the air. It's perhaps little surprise, then, that I've returned to my wonderful set of friend, The Clan of Caledon, as they run through the Scottish landscape. With the lockdown (even as it's easing) despite being outlaws, they are more free than I am. An interesting thought. Currently, they are in their fourth adventure.

This week has been dominated by these characters, beginning on Monday when I joined chair Ann Landmann and fellow author Olga Wojtas in pre-recording our event for the #Cymera2020 festival. You can find out about the event by clicking on this link:

https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/2020-events/2020/6/6/virginia-crow-amp-olga-wojtas

I had such a great time recording the event, I really hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed taking part in it!

I was immensely disappointed when the festival was cancelled due to Covid-19, but the fabulous Cymera committee moved the whole event to a digital platform. Now, as well as being delighted to appear as part of the festival, I'm really excited about being able to watch all the events!

If Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror are your chosen genre(s), you are in for an absolute treat with the events Cymera have lined up! You can find them all here:

https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/2020-events

On Wednesday, I shelved my Caledon friends in favour of the wonderful Doctor Henry Fotherby, in my appearance as part of the second Our Own Write. There are very few characters I have written in whom I can see every aspect of myself. Fotherby is the one who knows me best, and who I can fully understand. Even when I have let him run wild with his own story, I know where he'll go, because it's where I would have gone, too!

I gave a short reading from Beneath Black Clouds and White followed by a sharing of fanart(!) and answering a few questions.

You can watch this by following this link:

https://twitter.com/DaysDyingGlory/status/1266299996468477952?

Authors! Our Own Write is running on the final Wednesday of every month. This is a brilliant event to get involved with. Your audience is global and full of like-minded people. Check out their website and join in the bookish fun:

https://ourownwrite.squarespace.com/

In addition to this, my New Year's resolution is still going strong. This week it was a submission to Wigtown Poetry Prize.

The books mentioned in today's blog can be found here:

Caledon: amazon.co.uk/dp/B083JNL9NK

"Go out and tell all those you meet, Caledon has risen. Caledon will be protected and defended. And to you who would cause her harm, be prepared. A new fight has come."

After the destruction of the Jacobite forces at Culloden, Scotland is divided, vulnerable and leaderless, with survivors from both sides seeking to make sense of the battles they have fought against their fellow Scots. 

James Og flees Drumossie, seeking the protection of his uncle's house in Sutherland. It is here that James learns that the Northern Highlands hold a secret power only he can wield: Caledon. When Ensign John Mackay begins hunting Og's family, James realises he must harness this power to defeat the enemies of Scotland. 

But, as the ageless Caledon awakes, so too does an ancient evil. When it allies with Mackay, the small Clan of Caledon faces enemies at every turn, discovering that even those closest to them may seek to destroy them.

Beneath Black Clouds and White: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QFYFB6V/

Accompanied by his wife to Flanders, Josiah Tenterchilt meets a man who could not be more different from him: an apprentice surgeon named Henry Fotherby. As these two men pursue their own actions, fate and the careful connivance of a mysterious individual will push them together for the rest of their lives.

​

But it is a tumultuous time, and the French revolutionaries are not the only ones who pose a threat. The two gentlemen must find their place in a world where the constraints of social class are inescapable, and ‘slavery or abolition’ are the words on everyone’s lips.

​

Beneath Black Clouds and White is the prequel to Day's Dying Glory.

Keep safe and keep smiling!

Find me here: www.stompermcewan.com
www.twitter.com/DaysDyingGlory - follow me there!

A Virtual Book Fair and A Reincarnation

Without a doubt, my biggest writing event of the week was Our Own Write. This virtual book fair brought together authors from across the globe, and I was delighted to be one of them! I got an opportunity to talk about Caledon, a topic which I am more than happy to talk and talk and talk about! The whole book fair was run via Twitter Live, and most of the authors' talks are still available on the Our Own Write Twitter page.

You can watch my presentation here:
https://twitter.com/DaysDyingGlory/status/1253035356867485697?
I can say with all honesty, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of 2020. I loved taking part, although I was shaking like a leaf!

Reluctant to let go of Caledon, my short story of the week - written for an Historical Fantasy anthology - tells the initial story of Caledon's 6th incarnation. The novel is Caledon's 7th incarnation, so going back 125(ish) years to tell the story was really strange. It was a great challenge, and I'm currently just tightening it up in time for the 30th April deadline.

Thus far, 2020 has still had a submission a week, and I'm feeling very proud of myself for actually sticking to a New Year resolution!

Stay safe, one and all! Remember, all the books are still there. Hunt them out and read them all!
[Ok, maybe not all of them!]

Find me here: www.stompermcewan.com
www.twitter.com/DaysDyingGlory - follow me there!

Summery Sunshine through the Window!

Spring has well and truly sprung!

This week, an entire year has passed me by. I've been revisiting a manuscript I completed last year, entitled The Year We Lived, which - you've guessed it! - spans a whole year. It's set in 1174, and follows a conflict between a Saxon family and a Norman family. It's got a massive twist at the end (more like a contortion) which I'm quite proud of!

It has also been Week Two of my Caledon review tour. Two more great reviews!

The first, from The Avid Reader, gave the book four stars and had this to say of it:

Caledon is filled with fighting, betrayals, magic, truths, lies, suspense, action, heart ache and twists and turns that keep the pages turning.

The second came from Hurn Publications, who gave the book five stars (wahey!), and concluded by saying:

Get ready for quite the journey. You’re going to love this read!

[Star ratings are not from blog sites, but can be found on the Caledon Good Reads page]

I'm off now to enjoy the sunshine - thank goodness for gardens in these crazy times!

Keep smiling and stay safe.

Find me here: www.stompermcewan.com
www.twitter.com/DaysDyingGlory - follow me there!

Hello Again - 2020 Writing Challenges

Someone pointed out to me that a blog was a good way of sharing ideas and thoughts on writing. Since there are very few activities I love as much as writing, I decided to give it a go, and share some of my 2020 antics with you, one writer to another, this author to her readers.

2020 is a new decade and so I've set myself a new writing challenge or two. My New Year resolution was to enter one writing competition/award each week and, so far, I've managed to stick to it. I'm 12 entries in, and scribbling eagerly at number 13!

Although that resolution has constantly pressing deadlines, by far the harder goal I've set myself is to write a book in each major genre.  Until now, all my books have had an historical backdrop, but this year will see the release of my first contemporary novel, a thriller with the working title Among These Dark Satanic Mills. This has been a while in the making but, when my publishing team suggested it was good enough to put "out there", I decided I wanted to know if I could write in other genres.

At the moment I'm writing a horror novel, trying to balance the right amount of cliche with a fresh plot and my own style of telling the story. I'm not sure horror is the genre I'm best cut out for, but we'll see how the end product looks!

In a way, I have NaNoWriMo to thank for this new challenge. Stories I have stored up in my head for months and years formed the basis for my first November writing month last year. Going back to these plot lines, scrawled in the tiny notebook I keep by my pillow, has given me a new drive to get them written. So far, it's still at the enjoyable stage!

Find me here: www.stompermcewan.com
www.twitter.com/DaysDyingGlory - follow me there!

As the Dust Settles... The Next Stage

The evening is closing in and the dust is settling on the momentous events of the Day’s Dying Glory book launches. Last night, in Orkney, we hosted the final event and from now on it will be word of mouth, reviews, and the astoundingly eye-catching front cover which will sell my book. But what a range of events they have been!

The book to look for!

From Barton-upon-Humber, with its lavish opening - the Duckegg performances; the stunning cake – through the inspirational Library of Innerpeffray – where the sense of history through and beyond the setting of the novel was perfect – to the fun launch in Orkney – creating some of the book’s characters as the readers perceived them - each one will have a special place in my heart. But to all of you who attended any of the events: thank you! And to all of you who have encouraged and supported the book: thank you! I’ve had such positive comments from people I would never have known had it not been for this book and I am really enjoying encountering my readers.

If you’ve read the book, please review it on Amazon, Goodreads or both. I am so proud of the comments I’ve received so far, I’d love to share them with the world! Here are a couple of snippets from some of the reviews:

“It is a very good read, with a very unpredictable and gripping story line.”

“I could really identify with each of the main characters and the development of each was very well thought out. I would definitely recommend the book…”

“It is a really gripping plot as well. Part of me was expecting a run-of-the-mill romance novel but the unexpected twists and turns got my heart thumping in suspense and the book can get quite dark and gritty after a seemingly peaceful beginning.”

“To say this book is a romance is probably underselling it a little bit. In many ways, it is an adventure story: just the kind of adventures that the average person can accidentally find themselves in!”

“Loved the building of the characters and the descriptions of places and people put images in my mind of how it must have been like back then…”

They can’t all be wrong!

#ShareTheAdventure

And here are a couple of pictures from the different launches. Thanks for reading!

Duckegg Performance - Barton Book Launch

Colonel Sir James Shorefield -
Orkney Book Launch

Setting up for the Orkney Book Launch

My book and I were right at home!
- Innerpeffray Library Book Launch

The Book Launch Cake by Linda Lawcock
- Barton Book Launch

One of the Tartan At Heart
Day's Dying Glory Range

Mr Dermot - Orkney Book Launch

Arabella Tenterchilt -
Orkney Book Launch

Couldn't resist a photo-shoot!
- Library of Innerpeffray Book Launch

A Holiday Unlike Any Other

There’s a scene towards the end of The Return of the King when the hobbits have returned to The Shire and everyone is in the tavern, oblivious to the fact that anything life-changing has happened.  Leaving aside the fact that this was not at all like the book, it is the silence and expressions of these four characters which mirror my own.

Dunalastair Estate of Outlander fame
and our destination for Easter

Usually, after a two-week holiday, I grumble a little bit about where the time has gone and bemoan the fact that I’ve wasted it.  I never really did outgrow that.  This time, though, I don’t know how I’ve fitted it all in.  I’ve clocked up over 2000 miles on the road, visited one of my stomping grounds, and discovered riches and ruins of Highland Perthshire.  But it’s not that which left me in a confused limbo between worlds.  I became a published author.

My new book with hundreds of its ancestors

at Innerpeffray Library

After travelling back home to the far north of Scotland, I wandered around my local Tesco with a feeling and expression akin to those four hobbits.  No one in the shop knew – or cared – about the whirlwind adventure I’d been on.  But certainly, I feel I’ve accomplished a great thing.

It’s frightening putting yourself out there.  After all, your soul must leach onto the page a little bit to create a story which is worth sharing.  I’ve been performing since my age was in single figures, sometimes even for local or international dignitaries, but I’d never been as scared as I was standing in front of people and reading my own text to them.  I really felt I was baring my soul, and not just to the people who were at the book launch events, but to the whole world.

Thankfully, at my first event, the Duckegg Theatre Company were there to enact some of the scenes.  And what an amazing job they made of it!  [Full videos are on the Facebook page]

The second event had a much more intimate setting in the beautiful hidden gem of Innerpeffray Library, an historical venue, perfect for the book launch.

An author in her natural habitat: A library!

You can read the blog about the two launches here.

Why have I told you all this?  Well, to say thank you, really.  This thing which passed so many people by in silence and obscurity has meant a great deal to me.  So, to you who have discovered this blog; have read the book; have attended and even performed at the launch events: Thank you.  It may not seem like a big thing, but it’s the world to me.

Taken from your words written in the guestbook.

The book is here in paperback and here in ebook format.  And here’s a section to whet your appetite:

CHAPTER FOUR

Sunday 7th September 1806

Summer in Petrovia Lodge lacked the exciting comings and goings of London, but it was far from dull. The company of the three sisters had improved immensely and they now spent every moment laughing over things that occurred and celebrating the long summer days. The gypsies had moved on now leaving, as usual, gifts for the family in exchange for the permission to reside on their land. The usual gifts of wooden pegs and finely carved figures of animals were left by the river, but in addition Madame Kerina paid a visit up to the house. It was the eve of their departure and she walked up the lawn, calling out in a strange language and in a loud voice so that the five inhabitants of the lodge rushed out to see what it was. She walked up to Arabella and tied a soft red ribbon about her neck.

‘I have seen a child on the lawns of Petrovia Lodge. Do not wear the black of mourning for long, my dear. I hear wedding bells ringing, with laughter but a taste of sorrow.’

‘Wedding bells?’ Arabella whispered, hardly daring to believe the witch who stood before her, yet desperate to do so.

Madame Kerina did not speak again but hobbled away back to the settlement of caravans. Each of the women looked down at the ribbon around Arabella’s neck and, as one, her sisters began congratulating her as though it never occurred to them that the divination may have been incorrect.

September made its appearance in its usual golden way while summer clawed at the earth, doing everything it could to maintain its hold. The fruits of the trees by the river shone as they grew and, where edible, the girls walked down each day to collect them.

‘Nothing tastes so good as a freshly picked apple,’ Catherine announced as she bit into one.

‘We are meant to be taking them back up to the lodge, Cat,’ Imogen replied. ‘We’re already behind with this, and we stand no chance of getting to the top of the trees as Hamish used to.’

‘I can get to the top,’ Catherine replied fearlessly, gripping the apple she was eating firmly in her teeth and commencing the climbing of the tree.

‘You know you should not compare Cat to any man, she has to beat them.’ Arabella looked up as Catherine called down.

‘A messenger! I think we have a letter!’