Chrysalis – finding your inner butterfly

Goodness me what a ride this has been. I wrote the first draft of this story back in 2011, it was intended to be the 6th in the Hengist series, called Aurora. But it quickly became clear this was not the same “sweet, clean” adventure stories of the sixteen year-old heroic boys living in a world filled with medieval values (and lack of technology).
Poor Rory suffers every bit as much at the hands of nasty bullies as Archer and his friends, but when girls do it, it’s much less physical, more psychological. And the best kind of grounding for when she meets a real-live psychopath – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Nature’s Tribe series set the groundwork with a series of medieval romances. This one features probably the longest-running will they/won’t they love story since Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd spent four years and 67 episodes finding reasons not to be together in Moonlighting. Or for those way too young to remember late eighties rom-com detective shows, think Harvey Spector and Donna Paulson in Suits (2011-19). I’ve just gone through all eight series for the third time since I first heard about it after watching Meghan marry Harry.
Mmm – there’s a whole other blog post on its own!


Anyway – Chrysalis is available on Amazon at a tempting $1.75/£1.42 for a little while longer Click on the piccie to go straight to your store and snap it up before it goes full price.
Here’s the blurb – with a huge thank you to Julie at Hidden Gems for helping to polish it.

An unrequited teenage crush. A suppressed super-power. 
A world under threat from evil incarnate. 
When Archer rescued Rory from bullies many years ago, she was smitten, but he was lukewarm. She doesn't realise what she'd do to grab his attention until her supposed BFF decides he'd look good on her arm. When Rory's gift, delayed from puberty, has her blacking out in the lighting box for a high school show, only he can help. What was that about being careful what you wish for?

The revelation that her mum and Archer come from a quasi-medieval alternate-world should have knocked Rory for six, but strange dreams clue her that she might have something in common with her idol, Buffy. As if! Archer's attempts to help control her powers bring a bittersweet torture, but with college looming, she must persevere

Archer's mission to scope out the threat from the technology-obsessed world breaching into his own includes protecting Rory. But his orders are clear - inter-world relationships are verboten. It hurt to spurn her pre-teen crush, but grown-up Rory proves irresistible. As her gifts develop, her connection to the monster threatening his world makes her dangerous to be around, and he has to choose between his heart and duty.

The chemistry between them unleashes a devastating energy as the monster escalates his evil plan. They must dig deep to endure unbearable torment, and defy fate to stop him from destroying everything they hold dear.

A blend of magical realism and humour, this medieval-meets-modern romance will delight fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Masquerade series.

Warning: Although mild in terms of sex, profanity and violence, some readers may be upset by the torment in a couple of scenes. Nothing fans of Hunger Games or Divergent can't handle.

This story runs in parallel with the Hengist series, but it is not necessary to read them before enjoying this series, as the stories in Context give a good summary of key events.

Colour of Light series:
#1 Context: Seven short stories of rebellion and redemption - Available May 2020
#2 Chrysalis: Medieval magic meets modern-day mystery - Available June 2020
#3 Captive: Modern-day mystery meets medieval magic - Available August 2020
#4 Catalyst: Modern military thriller meets medieval magic - Available October 2020

Bad Boys and Good Girls

Some of my detractors criticize the way even my villains turn out to have hearts of gold. I hold my hands up - I believe every person has at least one redeeming feature. Even when I spent a decade and a half trying to teach kids who'd rather be anywhere but in a maths class, I found enough goodness to keep me turning up to school every day. And more than enough material to fill a dozen books.

So this "fun bridge between the Hengist and Colour of Light series" gives a brief glimpse into some of the unsung characters - not necessarily heroes except in their own minds. Although they never made it to the mic, they all have a part to play in the bigger picture of the Hengist people’s adventures when two worlds collide.
Please indulge me with the fairytale blurbs, they kinda fit. The stories are way darker than the Hengist YA series with no guarantees of HEA endings, but the satisfaction that justice was done. Mostly.

Context is available for 99c/99p. Here's the blurb:

Seven unlikely protagonists. Seven taxing situations. 
Seven opportunities for rebellion and/or redemption.

Maura's Magical Saviour
A poor-little-rich-girl follows the hippie trail to become a poor-little-poor-girl. All essential preparations for meeting a time-travelling Viking prince.

Lynette's Stonehenge Rite
A spunky misfit meets a rugged soldier at the Dark Side of the Moon in this psychedelic, Alice-in-Wonderland adventure.

Edlyn's Evil Scheme
A villainous bully with no redeeming features plots a violent revenge against a virtuous hero. Bonus - you get to hear Archer's side of the story too.

Jack Jumps Hoops
A cowardly anti-hero learns valuable lessons from a tyrant-with-a-twist. Watch out for the Punkarella ending.

Kia's Hot-dish Revenge
A rebellious Cinderella's accidental revenge on her lazy mother backfires big time.

How Tamas Got his Scar
A happy prince falls under the spell of the most craven of bullies after a life-changing accident.

A Lie, a Witch and a Wardrobe
What is a drama brat to do when her lie results in incarceration and certain death? Why, rant, wail and wring hands, of course. Luckily, Claire's geeky friend is trapped with her, so she can engage science brain and figure out their survival.

And finally, although not exactly vintage, these stories are mostly set in the 80s and 90s, when your average teen didn't own a mobile phone and messaging/streaming/Netflix were mere twinkles in someone's eye.

Colour of Light series:
#1 Context: Seven short stories of rebellion and redemption - Available May 2020
#2 Chrysalis: Medieval magic meets modern-day mystery - Available June 2020
#3 Captive: Modern-day mystery meets medieval magic - Available August 2020
#4 Catalyst: Modern military thriller meets medieval magic - Available October 2020

Hengist Boxsets

The Hengest books are now available in 3 boxsets, each only 99c/99p for a limited time.
Archer's Quest has the two books featuring Archer - a 16-yr-old hottie who sets female hearts a-flutter in 2 worlds.
#1 - Archer, the Warrior, follows his adventures in his own world, where he must fight - against his enemies, his friends and even the girl he loves - in order to prevail.
#2 - Rory, sees Archer travelling to a foreign world filled with marvels such as chocolate, cars and computers, none of which exist in his own, quasi-medieval homeworld. The challenges are very similar as he meets a raft of lads - and even a girl - who want nothing more than to take him down.
Extra - Bad Lads, sees three of the thugs Archer encountered along the way grabbing the mic and telling their own tales.
Uniting the Tribes is available to read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited, and features 3 more heroes: a math geek, a time-travelling techie and a rebel gypsy.
#3 - Reagan, the Magi, has to solve a DaVinci-style mystery to determine the correct position for the next White Horse.
#4 - Slater, the Outil, travels back in time to when Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles were being built, but only he can spot the flaw in the design.
#5 - Geraint, the Renegate, has a huge task. His relationship with the Townie girl, Siany, is essential in defeating the rogue Renegates who would take over the Hengest world.
Extra - Good Guys, gives a few more supporting players a crack at the mic.

These medieval, romantic adventures form the prequel series to the Hengest adventures, and will appeal to fans of Call the Midwife, Poldark and The Good Witch who enjoy elements of magical realism, mystery and humour. Also FREE on KU.
The Nature's Tribe stories are set in 14th Century England, when plagues and witch-hunts meant it was not a great time to be a midwife. Especially one using the magic of herbs and earth energy in her healing. But Gaia has a plan for Senna and her family when the Black Death ravages the country.
#1 - 3 Handfastings and a Burial. Exactly whose handfasting is this? Senna feels like nothing but an inconvenience at her own wedding.
#2 - 12 Days of Yule. A ruthless magister or a reckless mercenary? Not much of a choice as Senna's mourning year ends.
#3 - 8 Sabbats of the Sun. Why does everyone (including Gaia) keep Cal and Lyrelie apart? Even themselves.
#4 - 13 Esbats of the Moon. Does a fallen woman deserve to find love? Eanje has no time for regrets when she falls pregnant and the father could be any of three men.

A series of Boxsets, anyone?

Nature's Tribe Books 1-4 is the first in the Hengist Boxset collection which tells the epic saga of Archer's Medieval-alternate-world.

Each series has a different feel - the first one is sweet, clean, romance with a cozy-mystery feel, perfect for fans of Call the MidWife, Poldark and The Good Witch.

For a short while, you can read nearly 1000 pages for a mere 99c/99p, and the whole bumper bundle (plus a couple of bonus short stories) is FREE on Kindle Unlimited.





The stories are set in 14th Century England, when plagues and witch-hunts meant it was not a great time to be a midwife. Especially one using the magic of herbs and earth energy in her healing. But Gaia has a plan for Senna and her family when the Black Death ravages the country.

#1 – Three Handfastings and a Burial
Exactly whose handfasting is this? Senna feels like nothing but an inconvenience at her own wedding.

#2 - Twelve Days of Yule
A self-important official or an unreliable mercenary? No real choice as Senna’s mourning year ends.

#3 – Eight Sabbats of the Sun
Why does everyone (including Gaia) strive to keep Cal and Lyrelie apart? Even themselves.

#4 – Thirteen Esbats of the Moon
Does a fallen woman deserve to find love? Eanje has no time for regrets when she falls pregnant.

Nature's Tribe

A magical, medieval saga featuring “timeless issues of human nature.” Described as “Intense, mysterious and intriguing” with “Well-formed, endearing characters,” and “Clean, interesting story lines,” all four books are now available on Amazon, and free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Set in the times of religious unrest and persecution of “witches,” it follows feisty midwife Senna and her friends through troubling times, fighting off arrogant, patriarchal attitudes and the ravages of the Black Death. But there is a shocking motive behind everything she and her family have to endure at the hands of a corrupt magister – a plot involving Gaia herself.

Oops - I did it again.

Someday soon, I hope I shall release a book without the self-sabotage which inevitably accompanies it. You'd think after following the release process 29 times, I'd have it sussed. Nope - the 30th time was the worst yet!

Couldn't be further from the truth. Finger trouble, network failure and sheer incompetence, that well-known threesome, combined to make this one the worst muck-up yet!
A wee while ago, I thought I was putting up the edited version of 13 Esbats of the Moon. Instead I managed to upload an old story I'd been sprucing up with the possibility of turning it into the final Hengist book. I'd copied and pasted the title page, from my latest, but not altered the title.
Must Check More Than Title Page!

Despite finishing the editing rounds 2 weeks ahead of schedule, I was still getting (really important!) comments from beta readers 2 days before the deadline. Did I upload it then, like a smart author would have done? No, I did not. Because it sometimes takes 3 days for a new version to upload, and 2 betas were close to finishing, I waited, wanting to get every last teeny-tiny-typo.
BIG MISTAKE.
An hour before the deadline, I spotted the last comment in my inbox - literally a "you" should have been a "your" (one of my very frequent offenders!)
So I added that r, pressed save and went to make a celebratory cup of tea.
On my return, the internet had thrown all of its toys out of the pram, and it stayed down for the remaining 55 minutes, each one of which was a combination of angry frustration, pleading promises and "why me?" tears. How many times in an hour can you reboot routers/laptops, connect to "secured, no internet" portals and fail to notice the big yellow cable which had dropped off? Lots. Tons. Stacks.

The result of this worst hour of my life in living memory? All those kind people who pre-ordered got a racy, (unpolished) military thriller with some decidedly unsavoury scenes instead of the sweet, clean medieval romance/cozy mystery they were expecting.
To add insult to injury, my failure to notice the credit-card expiry meant my copy was not delivered on the stroke of midnight and it was several hours before I figured why. Grrr. At this point steam was figuratively pouring from every available orifice. (Ewww - nasty image!)

Any minute now, the lovely Winston will have finished getting the rush-through re-pub finished and I can start telling peeps about this conclusion to one of the most difficult story arcs I've ever tried to write. So many ambitious threads from a cast of jolly-near GoT proportions (relatively speaking - there are over 13 different women all having a crack at the mic in this one).
Did I pull it off? Only smarties know the answer.

Mad GIF from Soangry GIFs