Books We Love New Releases

Books We Love has some fantastic new releases for December.  Don't forget, all Books We Love authors are experienced pros with years of experience and when you buy one of their books you know you're getting a quality book -- great for personal reading and gift giving.  The prices couldn't be better at $2.99 for individual books and you'll find these books at your favorite online retailers: Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Nook, All Romance Ebooks, wherever you like to shop, and many of these books are in print - ask for them at your favorite bookstore. 

Books We Love Spotlight - Author Jamie Hill

One of Books We Love's 2014 best selling authors, Jamie Hill is also one of our most prolific and talented authors.

If you haven't read any of Jamie's books, you're in for a rare treat.  They're available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, All Romance Ebooks, Smashwords, and any of your online retailers.  Several of her books, including her new Witness Security series is also available in print from your local bookstores.

Coming Soon

                                       

Secret Service, Spies and Underhanded Dealings by Katherine Pym

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17^th century England was volatile. The Stuarts ruled most of this century. There was civil unrest. One king was beheaded outside the Banquet House in London. Cromwell died on a cold and dreary night. His body was embalmed and dressed as an emperor’s; then whisked away to be buried (due to a noisome stink). His son was considered weak, so King Charles II was returned from exile. After he died (a pretty horrible way to go, by the way, which I should probably tell you about one day) his brother took the crown but as a Roman Catholic, he lost it almost immediately and was pretty much kicked out of England. After almost two centuries of kings and queens in religious battles, by the end of the 17^th century, true-blue Protestantism held sway. The rest is history (as I swipe at my sweaty brow). 

During all these different reigns, there was a lot of Espionage.

King Charles II

King Charles II professed to be Protestant and returned to England with great pomp and ceremony. His new populace greeted him with exuberance along the roads and into London. Everyone who hated him last week, loved him today. 

Our new king was not a stupid man.  He understood people are fickle. He fully expected to be assassinated or beheaded as his father was. While in exile, his life was often imperiled. Men had conspired against him. One example: During the Cromwell years, his spymaster orchestrated a plot where Charles and his brother, James, were to be lured out of exile and back to England. The plot was to kill both brothers the minute they disembarked onto home soil. Thankfully this plot failed but espionage in England had turned really devious. 

Men in power used good spymasters. Cromwell’s was John Thurloe, a brilliant man. He created a network of spies (men & women) who infiltrated the most royal of houses. His net was vast. His spies could be located in every English county, overseas, i.e., in Charles II’s exiled court, in the Americas, and the far Indies. 

John Thurloe

Thurloe compiled lists, sent spies into enemy camps, had men tortured and killed. One such fellow, Samuel Morland, confessed to witnessing a man ‘trepanned to death’ at Thurloe’s word.  (Dictionary.com states the following definition to trepan:  “a tool for cutting shallow holes [in this case the skull] by removing a core.”)  Really really painful and a horrid way to go.   

Commonwealth spies infiltrated homes, churches, and businesses to destroy the royalist enemy, and under Charles II’s, his government did the same.  Their goal was to destroy nonconformists, or “fanaticks”. Plots were a part of political life. 

After the Restoration, Thurloe was dismissed, but not executed for crimes against the monarchy (Charles I and II). He was released in exchange of valuable Commonwealth government documents. 

King Charles II placed Sir Henry Bennet as the Secretary of State and overlord of England’s espionage, who in turn brought in Joseph Williamson, another man born to this work. He took the bull by the horns and enhanced the processes Thurloe had begun. 

Joseph Williamson

Williamson built a brilliant spy network.  He allowed informers who, for money, turned on associates.  He burrowed spies into households, businesses and churches.  He used grocers, doctors and surgeons, anyone who would send him notes against persons who were against the king. He had men overseas watch for any plots. Informants were literally everywhere. 

His tools were numerous.  Williamson loved ciphers and cipher keys.  Known as Mr. Lee in the underworld, he used the Grand Letter Office for ciphered messages to pass back and forth between the undersecretary’s office and spies. He expected his people to keep him informed by ciphered letters at the end of each day, and passed through the post office. 

Williamson obtained ambassador letters, had them opened and searched for underhanded deceit. He developed a system of local informers, letters and money crossing palms.  Under Thurloe, the secret service received £800 per year. Under Bennet, the money doubled. Most of the annual budget was spent on spies to keep them alive. 

As a result, most plots failed. Besides Williamson’s expertise and doggedness, most plotters employed too many people. Everyone around the countryside knew of one plot or another, a family member probably involved. Because of Williamson, these plots dissolved before they were brought to fruition. 

Spies seem to be a part of every decade, every century. Today is no different but electronics have replaced ciphered notes sent to spymasters through the post offices.

Following Your Passion by Diane Bator

When I was a kid, I'd write using my left hand. Each time I'd drop my crayon, my mom would put it back in my right hand. I'd switch to my left after a couple of swipes of color. Using my right hand just felt wrong and I "knew" what was right for me. Holding a pencil in my hand and telling stories became something that made me happy.

Fast forward several years. Writing with my right or left no longer mattered, just that I was writing. Being a writer seemed as natural as breathing. Stories flowed from my brain and through my pencils. Never once did I question whether they were good or bad, all that mattered was that I wrote. Writing made me feel free, happy, and like I had an amazing life full of friends and great adventures. Since I lived outside of a small town, the escape was a welcome distraction from everyday life.

Even when I moved to a larger city and went to college, I still wrote. In fact, I wrote right up until I got married. My husband had issues with me writing. He insisted it took time away from "us", even when he watched sporting events I wasn't interested in or when he'd be away from home. Writing had become an outlet, however, and I refused to give up my passion.

Over the years we had children and I wrote as they grew up, while they napped, while they were in school, and even while I cooked dinner. Eventually I ended up publishing my first book, then wrote many more after that. Then my husband gave me the ultimatum:  I needed to get a better job and quit writing. I was crushed.

Since that day, I've kept writing. In all, I've written six novels and one novella. I have three more to write in the next year to finish one series and start a new one. I'm actually seeing small royalties and have fans from all over, including acquaintances I've met over the years and family from all over the country. I've never given up on my dream of being a published author.

I'm fortunate to have held jobs where I talk to people and have been a part of a writing group for several years now. Wherever I go, I wholeheartedly encourage people to follow their passions and do the things that light them up and make them happy. In short, to live an authentic life rather than pursuing things that make them miserable.

I've had to take a brief break from writing lately to deal with some major life changes. I also have some physical challenges to cope with. Through it all, I remain positive and will keep on writing the way I love to do. In fact, I have decided to dedicate a little more time to my creative side and focus on making my writing even stronger and learn to market my work even better.

To every writer, every where, and all the readers who give us something to strive for thank you and...

Merry Christmas!

Diane Bator

Please feel free to drop by my website Pens, Paints, and Paper  to find out more.

You can also find me on the Books We Love website.

Click on my book covers to find out more!

    

GRATITUDE - MARGARET TANNER

BEING GRATEFUL FOR SMALL THINGS - MARGARET TANNER

 

I am grateful for many things. Good health, happy family and fond childhood memories. The thing that really sicks in my mind when it comes to gratitude is the garden of my childhood home, and the produce grown there. To say it was life-saving would be an understatement.

My parents didn’t have much money when I was young. I didn’t really think that much about it at the time, but as I grew older I suddenly realized that my mother was a genius when it came to running the household on meagre amounts of money. She was also a great cook.

My father returned from the 2^nd World War carrying injuries, the physical ones we knew of but not the psychological ones. He had a heart attack in the early 1950’s when I was very young, and he could no longer work. Things were tough as we had to survive on a small military pension. He should have received a much larger pension but somehow never did.

No matter how bad things got, we were never hungry or dressed in ragged clothes, and we had a roof over our heads. Luckily my parents had paid off our house before Dad got sick.

Dad had a wonderful garden and we were very thankful for the produce he grew there. Tomatoes were his speciality. He loved them and grew heaps of them. I can still remember the tomatoes, we ate them raw, in salads, cooked, fried, steamed. Green tomato pickle, tomato sauce, chutney, tomato relish. You name it, mum cooked it. She used to preserve tomatoes so we could have them all year long. 

Looking back on things now I realize I should be grateful for the humble tomato, it certainly kept our bellies full.  I can’t even recall how many different dishes mum used to make with tomatoes as a base.

Apples were another thing Dad grew well. We had about six different varieties of apple trees growing in the garden. Once again Mum, baked them, stewed them and preserved them. We used to pick them green sometimes and store them in the roof cavity of the house and they would ripen up there. They lasted for months. Potatoes were another one of his specialties. I firmly believe to this day that it was the garden that kept Dad sane. He used to spend hours there.

So, I am grateful for my mother’s cooking expertise and other housekeeping skills and my father’s gardening skills, otherwise life would have been grim.

My early upbringing has stayed with me and I think that is why I mainly write about heroines who are poor and doing it hard. I can’t remember ever having written a rich heroine in any of my stories. As for my heroes, well they are always rich, arrogant and tough men who are redeemed by a gentle heroine who is strong because she has survived the tough times.

In my novel, Falsely Accused, the heroine is exiled to the penal colony of Australia for a crime she did not commit. She has to survive the degradation and desperation of the convict ship, and once she disembarks, her problems increase a hundredfold.

Available in print and e-book format.

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LEXEVES

 Also available in e-book format at Books We Love Store