Wait! Summer's Over?

 

How did that happen? 

I confess, I've been inside a lot since March so I barely notice the change of seasons from spring to summer and now getting ready for fall. And, added onto that is that whatever is growing outside bothers my allergies, so, I'm indoors most of the time. 

And, of course, this is no UCR (usual-customary-reasonable) fall either. Staples and other stores selling school supplies should be packed. Beaches should be filled to capacity in that last effort to relax before the real world comes back. I should be on my way to Scotland for a 3-week tour/reseach/writing trip. But no, we're all trying to make our way from an unexpected summer to an unconventional fall. 

 The one thing that usually means summer to me is a visit to a beach - I love sitting on a beach and watching and listening to the waves. But mostly I like people-watching AND reading. I remember when my family rented a place on Long Beach Island and I began packing books first! The best part of that trip (since I had 3 boys at the time) was the long afternoon when my hubby took them back to the house and let me read uninterrupted on the beach for 4 hours! Bliss, sheer bliss! I may yet try to get down there for a couple of hours of beach reading....

Now (literally today!) the temps will shift a tiny bit cooler, forewarning us of the change of seasons coming. Personally, I love the fall - the cooler temps, the crispness in the air, the colors changing around me, the coming holidays. The smells of fireplaces and more baking will fill the air. Ahhhhhh. 

How about you? Are you mourning summer's departure or cheering fall's arrival? Was there a high point to your summer? Or expecting something fabulous this autumn? Let me know by commenting and I'll choose a summer and a fall person to receive a copy of my latest release - An Outlaw's Honor - or my rereleased - A Highlander's Hope. I'll choose on September 5.

 

Terri is working on her next Harlequin Historical romance while waiting for the release of TEMPTED BY HER VIKING ENEMY in November. The final book in the #SonsofSigurd series, it arrives on October 27(print) and November 1(ebook). Visit Terri's website for all the info! 

 

Michelle Styles: Keeping Sane in a time of crisis

Today (15 April) is my day for Tote Bags. Like most people in the world, the UK is currently under lockdown.

Michelle Styles's garden

I have spent more time recently relearning about Auto regressive moving average models than I should have done – these are the things which are powering the various models which governments are using to see when they should be easing quarantines (lockdowns).  Because I was an economics major once upon a time, I had to learn how to use them with econometrics. They are fascinating but really, they are only a representation of reality and predictions don’t always work. People can tell you probabilities but they can’t read the future.  And while they can look at populations as a whole, they can’t look at you as an individual. For example, what is the probability that you meet someone who lived in New York City last year. If you live in or near NYC that probability may be one—definite. If you live in the middle of Wyoming that probability may be very remote indeed or it may be one because your new next door neighbour moved from there last August because they decided to do up a ranch they inherited.

 There are so many factors which go into the calculations. Assumptions have to be made (sometimes they are incorrect). A bit like writing or witchcraft, it is a Dark Art to get a model to actually work. There are always a huge range of outcomes but people tend focus on a narrow band. Ultimately though it is all beyond my paygrade and something I am doing to try to keep sane.

 Always remember that people dedicate their lives to this but garbage in equals garbage out and if you mess up on the initial assumptions, chances are you are not going to find the answer you are looking for.

Other ways of keeping sane include gardening and trying to write. Speaking of writing, the ex-editorial director of Harlequin, Joanne Grant has been doing a series of free motivational talks – every Monday in April. She has done 3 so far and they are helping my productivity. You can listen to them on Facebook.  The one thing I liked was her suggestion of celebrating one positive thing per week (no matter how small) and setting weekly goals. If you are an aspiring author, a seasoned author or simply someone interested in writing and how books are created, you will find her talks interesting.https://www.facebook.com/Joanne-Grant-Editorial-Coach-106250077690215/

In other news:

Harper St George’s 2^nd book in the Sons of Sigurd series Falling for Her Viking Captor  is out now on Harlequin. It is tremendously exciting and you can read the start of her book here. https://aerbook.com/books/Falling_for_Her_Viking_Captive-250684.html?identifier=9781488065675

Until next month and hopefully by then most people will be out of lockdown.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romances for Harlequin Historical in a wide range of time periods, most recently Viking. Her next book Conveniently Wed to the Viking will be published in July 2020 and is the third book in the Sons of Sigurd series. You can read more about Michelle and her books on her website at www.michellestyles.co.uk

Michelle Styles: New Year, Great New Viking Series --The Sons of Sigurd

2020 heralds the start of a Harlequin Historical series – The Sons of Sigurd. This is the first time there has been a Viking continuity. Five authors – Michelle Willingham, Harper St George, Jenni Fletcher, Terri Brisbin and yours truly have penned exciting stories revolving around five brothers and their quest to avenge their father’s murder. The first one Stolen by the Viking debuts in March (this means it goes on sale at Harlequin.com on 1 February. Harper St George’s  Falling for Her Viking Captive comes next and then mine Conveniently Wed to the Viking in July.

The series came about as a result of Jenni Fletcher visiting me when her family were on holiday in Northumberland in 2017. Over tea, cakes and much gossip, she mused that it would be great fun to do a Viking continuity. I promised to see what I could do. I am not sure she expected me to do anything.

When the annual AMBA lunch and toast to the authors rolled around, with knocking knees and a faint tremor in my voice I spoke first to my editor and then to the Historical team. Luckily they were all enthusiastic. In fact we were pushing on an open door. After getting the editors’ backing, Jenni and I were able to get the others involved. Then the hard work began — creating a series which could be sustained over five books and also showcased the individual authors’ talents.

Working in collaboration was something new for me. There is always give and take and the insight into other people’s working habits has been interesting. It is the first time I have dealt with dropbox, or a spreadsheet, for example. And the sheer pleasure of being able to spark ideas off each other was just wonderful. One of the bonuses has been being able to read each other’s work at an early stage and see the ideas start coming to life.

We are very proud of the series. The books can be read individually or as an overarching story. Personally we think, once you have read one, you will want to read them all.

To give you a flavor what is in store: this is the blurb for Michelle Willingham’s Stolen by the Viking

Bought for his vengeance

But claimed for his bed!

Battle-scarred Viking Alarr is a broken warrior who expects to die carrying out his oath of blood vengeance. He saves maiden Breanne î Callahan from slavery only with the intention of getting close enough to kill her foster father. Until their spark of passion ignites a desire to keep her close…and presents Alarr with a gut-wrenching choice—his revenge or his heart?

You can read the start of the story on overdrive.com for free. And then hopefully you can see why we are all so excited by the prospect.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance in a wide range of time periods for Harlequin Historical. Her most recent book A Deal with Her Rebel Viking was published in December 2019. Her next book Conveniently Wed to the Viking will be published in July 2020. You can learn more about Michelle and her books at www.michellestyles.co.uk

Are We There Yet?

Surely, I can't be the only one feeling this way, right? The rush up to the holiday season, then as each one passes the let-down? With Christmas and New Year's being midweek, it's a strange, confusing, time-out-of-time when you really don't know which day of the week it is or what you should be doing! 

Well, 2019 is moving on tonight  and I say good riddance to bad rubbish! Yeah, sadly, it's been another one of those years for me. Yet, even with all the negativity and struggle in my life, there have been wonderful times and people. Thank goodness, right? 

For me, my grandbabies have been an ongoing source of joy and wonder. Watching them grow bigger and smarter and funnier each day. Watching as they take on challenges (pre-school, swimming lessons, gymnastics and more) and relish in succeeding. And the joy they experience from every simple little thing that happens. Our whole family trip to Disney World was filled with that wonder and joy!  

Back in February, I had the opportunity to model for a womens' clothing company and what fun!

I spent the day having hair and makeup done and then modeling clothes along with 4 other 'real women' customers. It was amazing to work with the professionals -- photographers, videographers, clothing specialists, dressers, stage crew and executives -- and fun! They treated me like a queen all day and it was a wonderful new experience I never thought possible.

In late August/early September, I got the chance to spend a week on Lake Michigan with my Irish travel group of friends - aka the Plucking Monkeys. We spent the days and nights talking A LOT, writing, shopping, sunning, watching the storms cross the lake from Wisconsin and bring the lightning with them. Got to see the Milky Way and some meteors in the dark of night and we drank a bit of Irish Coole Swan. It was a rejuvenating week of friendship, kinship and fun. And it led me to.....


After two+ years of deep grief and depression, my writing is back! I was asked to join in two different collaborations and am actually writing stories again. I feared I would never find the words and it terrified me. But the week on the lake, stress-free and with wonderful friends who laugh at anything and everything, opened the door that had been shut!

So, as the year ends, I'm still dealing with sadness and family crisis, but am hopeful that things will get better in the New Year. I'm deep into my Viking story - the closer of a 5-book series from Harlequin Historicals called The Sons of Sigurd. Mine will come out in November 2020. I've got more books to write for Harlequin and a couple of smaller collaborative projects with other authors in the offing. But, the words are back and bubbling up from within.



So, are you looking forward to 2020? Leaving bad things behind as 2019 exits and hoping for good in the new year? I wish you all the best -- I hope that 2020 will be happy and healthy and kind and filled with all the joys you need and want -- and books, lots and lots of books!

Happy New Year! 

(and PS - in 2020, Valentine's Day, 4th of July, Christmas and New Year's are all on weekends!! )

The Little Camellia That Could by Michelle Styles

About 20 years ago, I planted a camellia in the garden. It was in flower then from what I can recall and was a Mothering Sunday present from my three very young children.. I thought it was in a good spot.

I have always liked camellias and so was delighted to have one in a garden where I knew I’d be around for a long time. We had always had camellias in the garden when I was growing up -- there were one of my mother's and grandmother's favourite flowers. They always remind me of California. After getting married, I moved to Northumberland England, near Hadrian's Wall.  I looked forward to blooming again as it was a thoughtful gift.

The camellia out May 2018

 Year after year, I’d wait for it to bloom and it never did.  I added a second camellia (a white one) and planted it next to the camellia whose blossoms I could no longer really recall. 

I blamed the frost, the fact that where we live is probably on the edge of its growth zone. The plants kept getting larger and putting on more leaves but no flowers.

This year, my husband said enough was enough. Even though we had the space, it had not done anything there and it probably would not survive transplanting. So I took some cuttings to see if I could salvage it that way.

Then on Sunday, I went down to see how the rhododendrons were doing and to my amazement, the camellia was actually flowering!  It had taken a long time but it was worth it. The white camellia is also about to bloom.

It may be that it isn’t the best spot for them and I do have the cuttings I started to try again somewhere else, but I finally camellias blooming in my garden.

And this minor miracle showed resilience and persistence on the camellias’ part. Sometimes, it just does take patience. I think it is a metaphor my writing  -- never give up and keep doggedly trying.

In other news:

My editor let me know that they are buying my 27^th historical romance for Harlequin Historical – another Viking set romance and we agreed the idea I should be pursuing for the 28^th one. More details as and when I get them.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance for Harlequin Historical in a wide range of time periods, most recently Viking. Her latest The Warrior's Viking Bride was published in March 2018 and received 4 stars from the RT magazine. You can learn more about Michelle and her books at www.michellestyles.co.uk 

Michelle Styles: Roman gladiators, highlanders and Vikings Oh My!

One of the great things about being part of the Harlequin Historical authors is that I am part  of a sisterhood who are passionate about writing historical romance, and history in general. I have been part of this particular sisterhood since 2005 and sometimes forget that when others join, they might have read my books. Earlier this year, I realised a newish author, Greta Gilbert had written a Harlequin Historical set in Ancient Rome. I wanted to read it so contacted her, expecting to have to explain who I was etc etc. To my surprise and delight she had read some of my books and graciously allowed me to read her latest (it is absolutely cracking). She also agreed to do a short blog for Tote Bags so you all could get to know her better:

When I was asked to tell my call story for Tote Bags, I immediately thought back to my twenties and the release of the movie Gladiator. I was an unpublished fictionista then, and I remember thinking that it was one of the best-written movies I had ever seen. Maximus (played by Russell Crowe) was the honorable (and rather hunky) general-turned-gladiator whose story was both plausible and incredibly poetic. The moment he touched his fingers to the sands, he had my heart.

Rejection letters piled up through my thirties, and by my forties I had mostly given up writing fiction and was working at an education publisher. A coworker told me that Harlequin was accepting unsolicited submissions for its Historical Undone! series, so I summoned my inner Maximus and wrote a gladiator story. When I got the call that my manuscript had been accepted, I could hardly believe my ears. I suppose I felt a bit like Maximus after he survived the Carthaginian horde. I still can hardly believe it.

Michelle Styles, friend and author of some truly epic Roman romances, says interest in ancient Rome is due for a resurgence. I hope she is right. With its greed, brutality, pluralism, inequality, and globalism, ancient Rome seems to me like a parallel universe to our own--and one capable of producing great heroes.

And though Russell Crowe’s beard is now more grey than brown, he will always be the honorable young gladiator who inspired me and stole my heart. (Russell, if you’re reading this, call me! ; )

To whet your appetite for this great book 

Cleopatra’s slave girl…

And an enemy Roman soldier…

Egyptian slave Wen-Nefer is wary of all men. But she can’t help but be captivated by handsome Titus, advisor to Julius Caesar―even though he is commanding, and intolerant of bold women like her. Their affair is as all-consuming as it is forbidden. But is he a man who will go to any lengths to love her despite their boundaries…or a sworn enemy she must never trust?

You can read the first chapter for free.

In Other News:

Make a Date with Harlequin is back. 

This time they have a date with a Highlander doing karoke.
They have also done several print ads with Woman’s World. The March 19 2018 edition features a Viking and my latest book. I didn’t know it was there until Denise Lynn, another Harlequin Historical author, alerted me.

What will be next year ? A Date with a Roman Gladiator?

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romances for Harlequin Historical in a wide range of time periods including Vikings and Romans. Her latest The Warrior’s Viking Bride is out now. You can learn more about  Michelle and her books on www.michellestyles.co.uk

Michelle Styles: Stumbling across gold nuggets

At the weekend, while doing some research for my latest work in progress, I stumbled across something that might help answer one of the great historical mysteries — why did the Vikings attack Lindisfarne in 793 AD , in a bolt from the blue?

No one knows for certain. Many theories exist.

One thing for certain is that the Vikings did have trade with Charlemagne, did know about the lands to the West and indeed there are reports dating from before 793 of North men. . What they were not supposed to have was warships that were capable of travelling across the seas.

So why attack Lindisfarne?

When I wrote Taken by the Viking in 2006, the most plausible theory that I read  was that it was a trading mission gone wrong. There is precedent for thinking this. It is what happened in East Anglia a few years later. The Vikings wanted gold and silver. They either traded for it or they took items which cold be traded.

However, recent books, most notably the Hammer and the Cross by Robert Ferguson (2010) speculated about Charlemagne and his muscular Christianity (basically he was fond of invading pagan kingdoms). He thought that maybe the Vikings were reacting against this and this is why they became so violent after years of successful trading. He doesn’t satisfactorily explain why the Vikings would attack Northumbria to get back at Charlemagne though. He did mention that Charlemagne was not very keen on trading with pagans and it was possible that they had gone in search of new markets as traditional markets were being closed to them..

  Max Adams in his 2013 book King of the North  briefly mentions the Viking problem and speculates that perhaps it is to due with the Northumbrian situation. They had turned more towards God than being warriors. But he didn’t have any explanation as why then. But it got me thinking. What did Northumbria have to do with it? Why target their holy sites?

My research from the immediate post Lindisfarne raid threw up a couple of interesting points. There is a brief mention that King Eardwulf (796 -806) married a daughter of Charlemagne.  Alcuin who hailed from Northumbria was also at Charlemagne’s court.

If Northumbria was in alliance with Charlemagne and the Vikings (whoever they were – most likely from Norway around Oslo aka Viken) had grievance against them because of this, it is entirely possible they attacked Lindisfarne with premeditation to send a message to Charlemagne. If Northumbria was an ally, then it might be a way of attacking them by proxy.  The Anglo Saxon chronicles lists all North men as Danes, but recent advances in looking at teeth and where they came from has shown that the Norwegians tended to raid more in the North and over to Ireland. The Danes were definitely at war with Charlemagne though.

Equally it could be that because of the alliance, following Charlemagne’s lead,  Northumbrians refused to trade with pagans. And the North men reacted – either then and there or with pre-meditation, travelling from one of the many trading towns. Or possibly, even as a warship from Scandinavia.

The next year 794, the North men again attacked Northumbria, this time in Jarrow where St Bede’s monastery was. This raid, however did not go as the North men planned, the Viking leader was killed and thanks to a storm (dubbed St Cuthbert’s storm) the boats were shipwrecked  and the surviving North men killed.  Unfortunately as far as I can determine, no tangible trace of this raid has been found  as it is quite probable that they came from same general area as the 793 lot.

Notwithstanding the threat from the North men, Northumbria then dissolves into one of its many civil wars in 796 where Eardwulf emerges as the winner.  He then has to hold the throne against several rival claimants (and various pagan raids)  before he is banished in 806, but returns in 808 with Charlemagne’s help.  Basically Game of Thrones has nothing on English Dark Age politics. It is enough to make your head spin!

But I love doing research and finding out bits that make history more accessible.

In other news:

UK version

US version.

My latest cover arrived in my inbox last month. I was intrigued to see that they had reversed the covers in the UK and the US!  I am not sure which one I like better...Saved will be going out in NA print retail so I am v. excited about this.

 Only last week I was given the exciting news that my latest –TAMING HIS VIKING WOMAN has sold.  I also signed a new contract and am currently writing the second book in that contract -- the reason for doing research on Northumbria!

Michelle Styles writes war, witty and intimate historical romance of Harlequin Historical in a wide range of time periods, including Viking. Saved by the Viking Warrior will be published on 19 August 2014.  www.michellestyles.co.uk has an excerpt.

Vikings: Life and Legend exhibit by Michelle Styles

As I love the Viking period, I am totally excited about the Viking exhibit which opens at the British Museum next month. I’ve booked my ticket and am really looking forward to seeing all the objects. That was even before my husband brought home the book of the exhibition which combines some of the latest research and thinking on the Vikings  -- Vikings: life and Legend ed. Gareth Williams.

The exhibit is the largest mounted  for the past 30 years and will be shown at the British Museum, the Museum of Berlin and the Danish National Museum. No word on if it will travel to the US. Among other things, it includes Roskilde 6 which is the largest Viking ship yet recovered. The tale of how the fragments were conserved was breath-taking. It took 15 years and included 48 months of vaccum freeze-drying in nine processes and more than 8,000 working hours so that it can be displayed in a way which makes sense. The conserved wood is mounted on a specially engineered steel frame so the sheer scale of the ship can be experienced. It is thought that Roskilde 6 was a royal ship and very brightly coloured when it was new. This ship was discovered when they were excavating for a new Viking Ship museum.

One of the more interesting facts from the book was about how some Vikings (predominantly in the East) not only sported tattoos  but also filed their teeth. The mere thought makes me wince.   There are reasons why the practice died out.

Teeth feature in much of the recent research because advances in isotype analysis allow archaeologists to discover where someone grew up. It is possible to tell  a bit more about what was actually happening and looking over large populations of skulls and skeletons to determine trends in the general population.

One of the big things that has happened is that Russia and the East have opened up. Under the Soviets, the Viking contribution to Russia was suppressed as  it was all supposed to be Slavic. The word Russia comes from Rus which is a word meaning from Scandinavia, primarily Sweden.  It is now clear that the Vikings did play a significant part in the development of Russia and some of the hordes and other objects are displayed in the exhibit for the first time in the West.

The other interesting bit that I learnt was about the current thinking about the Viking religion. Although some of the major gods and goddesses like Thor, Odin and Loki are familiar names, the actual religion is hugely opaque. Scholars are currently divided on whether or not the writing of the Eddas were an attempt to codify (and potentially discredit) the religion or not.  Much of what we know is contradictory.  It is now thought that the Norse religion might have been much looser and more localised. In other words, it is not like any of today’s world religions and was much more based on social behaviour and tradition.

One interesting aspect is the whole concept of  hamr and hugr or the Viking concept of the soul. There was a widespread belief about the ability to shape shift and that the outer human form or hamr was simply a vessel or shell for carrying the essence of hugr. They also believed that everyone had a fylgur or a follower spirit who would appear in dreams to warn of impending danger. They were inherited in families. Some of these aspects of Viking spirituality can still be found in Iceland. The conversion to Christianity was at time very violent and very political.

Anyway, the exhibit looks very exciting. There will be television programmes etc about the exhibition. You can learn more at the website but there will a live presentation of the exhibit  at cinemas across Britain (no idea about elsewhere) with Micheal Wood narrating on 24 April 2014

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance in a wide range of time periods, including Viking. Her next novel Return of the Viking Warrior will be published in May 2014. You can read more about Michelle and her books on www.michellestyles.co.uk

Bringing Light to the Dark Ages

The trouble with writing about the Dark Ages is that the primary evidence can often be fragmentary and hard to find. For example, even today, we are still not completely sure of the names of the kings who followed Halfdan in the Kingdom of Jorvik. Or we know that the second battle of Corbridge happened in 962 between the Vikings and the Scots but we have no idea when the first battle happened or indeed if it happened at all.

However our general knowledge of the Anglo Saxon period is better than it could have been – thanks to one man – Matthew Parker. He worked for Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries and amassed a huge collection of illuminated manuscripts and Anglo-Saxon writing. When someone is called a nosy Parker, it is Matthew Parker they are referring to.  When he died, he left his personal library to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he had been Master. It remains today one of the most important resources for early Medieval manuscripts and rare books.  Among other treasures, it has the Corpus Glossary which is the earliest dictionary in English and dates from around 800 AD. It also has the Anglo Saxon Chronicles.

It used to be that you had to apply to the Parker Library to able to see various books (which they might or might not grant)  but thanks to a cooperation between Stanford University and the Parker Library, various manuscripts are on the web. You can subscribe or you can take the more basic option. For example, you can see the Corpus Glossary  online. For me, it is incredible to think that monks were busy writing this just after the Vikings had invaded Lindesfarne in 793.  The Corpus Glossary was on display when I recently the Parker -- turned to the word Musica or the first time music was written in English. There are Latin and Greek defnitions of the words running next to them.

If you are interested in learning more about the library and its books. They do run a blog.   It is also full of interesting information about various up and coming television programmes which have used the Parker library as a backdrop. They also have interesting information about more unusual pieces in the Corpus Christi collection, including the medieval drinking horn which is still used when students become members of the college —something which shocked the V&A a few years ago when it was sent for cleaning.

Horns used to be used in the giving of lands. It was called cornage.  The Pusey horn which is in the V &A museum was reputedly given to the Pusey family as a thank you for a warning about an impending attack from the Danes is probably the most famous surviving example. You can see a picture of it here.

If you want to see the Parker Library, Visit Cambridge does run tours on a Thursday afternoon but they have to be booked in advance. The tour also includes parts of Corpus Christi College.

But it is thanks to Matthew Parker’s foresight that we have more of a glimpse into the hidden Anglo Saxon world than we would have otherwise. And thanks to the web, it is easier for authors of Viking historical romances to find out about the period... The amount is research which is involved in writing is much more than the factiods which appear on the page. And it can be very frustrating when you want to know more but the information just has been lost.

My next book, Paying the Viking’s Price is released on 1 November 2013 and takes place in Northumbria in 876.  And because of the Parker Library’s collection, my research was made easier.

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance in a wide range of time periods. You can visit her website www.michellestyles.co.uk to learn more about Michelle and her books.