Free eBook!

…and Historan’s Notebook has moved! (a good news/good news situation)

For those of you who wondered what happened to me:

After ten years and eight books, I finally started to get professional about my online presence. I renovated my old website and migrated all my blog content from here to there a year ago. I’ve been very remiss in not posting that announcement here earlier, but I wanted to have my email list/followers sign up on the reno’ed site. THEN I needed to find a good email list management site. THEN I needed to master the new software. THEN I wanted to have a welcome gift for new followers. THEN I needed to write something for that. THEN…you get the picture…all this while I’m still writing my books.

But those are just excuses. Mea culpa.

If you follow this blog—THANK YOU—you should have gotten a recent email from me telling you what happened and offering you a free eBook as a gift—a longish short story titled Angel of the Marshes. It’s a prequel from my Theodosian Women series featuring the origin story of one of my favorite characters from my novel Twilight Empress. I hope you check it out and enjoy it! I will be keeping you updated about blog posts, news, announcements, etc. unless you unsubscribe—which you can do anytime. If you follow this blog and didn’t get an email from me, check your spam or promotions folder. If it’s there, please “whitelist” my email address so you get it in the future. If it’s not there, go to my site and sign up for the free eBook and future blog notices.

If you don’t follow this blog, you should know that I will not be updating it after today. All the content here, plus what I’ve published the last year can be found at my website (at https://faithljustice.com/). Please go there and browse around. If you would like to join my email list, you can sign up for your free eBook there.

If you stay with me, I promise not to clog your email box with constant advertising. I will send the occasional email with special announcements about new blog posts, freebies/giveaway contests, writing news, etc. I’m too busy writing my books to do more than a couple of emails a month, but if you find me annoying, you may unsubscribe at any time. Your privacy is important to me. I will never sell or share your email. I use MailerLite for my email list. You can check out their Privacy Policy.

My last Historian’s Notebook news update:

• I’ll be speaking on a panel about starting and maintaining a local Historical Novel Society chapter at our North America conference on June 22. Oh, I buried the lede—I’m chair of the New York City chapter. For folks in the NYC area who want to check us out, here’s the HNS-NYC website (https://hnsnyc.wixsite.com/hnsnyc)
• If you live in the Washington, DC area you might want to attend the HNS conference Historical Fiction Readers Festival and Book Signing from 1:00 to 5:15 p.m. on June 22 and meet some of your favorite authors. Details are here: https://hns-conference.com/historical-fiction-readers-festival-book-signing/
• I have several new posts on my reno’ed site. The most recent is a book review of The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Riess. Check it out at: https://faithljustice.com/book-review-the-black-count/
• For NetGalley members, my novel Twilight Empress is available to download free in exchange for an honest review for the next couple of months. Here’s the direct URL: https://www.netgalley.com/widget/186635/redeem/a9447bde6d1147e0151462dd15a2a1565d0424af5808b0ca5a2d4ff7184755b8
• I hope to have my newest novel Dawn Empress available this fall. Sign up for email list on my website and watch for the opportunity to get a free copy for an honest review.

Free eBook: Angel of the Marshes

Sign up here.

What’s a poor boy to do?

Angelus, the young grandson of an ailing shepherdess, is the master of the marshes surrounding and protecting the Roman capital city of Ravenna from invaders. But can he navigate the treacherous swamps of Imperial Roman politics? The Emperor Honorius is in a murderous rage. He’s executed his chief advisor General Stilicho and repudiated his wife, Stilicho’s daughter. The ex-empress and Placidia, the emperor’s sister need to get out of town quickly and quietly before they are next on the hit list. Angelus is the boy for the job and he needs the money. But can he save the two Imperial Princesses from sink holes and imperial assassins and get back in time to help his sick grandmother?

Angel of the Marshes is set before the novel Twilight Empress which features Placidia’s story. If you like Angel, check out the novel. Angelus makes another appearance in Twilight Empress to help the Empress Placidia again traverse the swamps—this time to invade Ravenna and kick out a usurper. This is his backstory. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Thank you for your past support.

I hope you join me at my new site.

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I’m on Tour!

Join me for reviews, interesting guest posts, and quirky interviews at the following blogs (and there are giveaways!):

• June 15 – interview at The Hat Party (plus a pic of me in a Tilley hat)
• June 16 – guest post “A Day at the Arena or How I Die a Dozen Deaths” at Hearts on Fire
• June 17 – interview at All I Want and More Books
• June 17 – interview at Love Bytes
• June 18 – interview at Amanda Stone
• June 19 – interview at Bayou Book Junkie
• June 22 – interview at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
• June 23 – interview at Bike Book Reviews
• June 24 – guest post “A Foodie Time Travel to the First Century” at Prism Book Alliance
• June 25 – interview at Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
• June 26 – review and interview at Inked Rainbow Reads (The review is a good one!)

June 26-28 Historical Novel Society convention at Denver. See you there!

• June 29 – guest post “Writing Sword of the Gladiatrix: An Exercise in Frustration and Creative Breakthrough” at The Writing Desk 
• June 30 – spotlight at What Is That Book About
• July 1 – spotlight & giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More
• July 2 – spotlight & giveaway at Unusual Historicals
• July 2 – review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
• July 3 – spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews
• July 5 – interview and giveaway at Unusual Historicals
• July 6 – review at Book Nerd
• July 7 – interview & giveaway at Passages to the Past
• July 8 – guest post & giveaway at Let Them Read Books
• July 8 – spotlight at A Literary Vacation
• July 9 – guest post & giveaway at Unshelfish
• July 9 – review at Book Babe
• July 10 – review at Bookramblings
• July 10 – review & giveaway at Broken Teepee
• July 10 – review at Boom Baby Reviews
• July 10 – review at Genre Queen

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Book Giveaway: Sword of the Gladiatrix

Hot off the presses, I’m announcing a giveaway of my newest book, Sword of the Gladiatrix. The rules are simple: leave a comment below saying you’d like to be entered. No need to put your email address in the comment, it will be attached to your post in admin. If you’d like more than one chance, Tweet, share on Facebook, and/or post on your own blog and let me know in the comments. One additional entry for each share. The giveaway is open through midnight June 12, world wide. If the winner is in the US, you have a choice of print or ebook. If the  winner is outside the US, you have the choice of ebook format. I’ll use Raffle King to randomly pick the winner.

I’m excited about this one. I put out a couple of collections of short stories and a non-fiction book, but this is my first full-length novel since Selene of Alexandria. Good luck everyone! Details on the book below:

Sword of the Gladiatrix

Two women. Two swords. One victor.

An action-packed tale that exposes the brutal underside of Imperial Rome, Sword of the Gladiatrix brings to life unforgettable characters and exotic settings. From the far edges of the Empire, two women come to battle on the hot sands of the arena in Nero’s Rome: Afra, scout and beast master to the Queen of Kush; and Cinnia, warrior-bard and companion to Queen Boudica of the British Iceni. Enslaved, forced to fight for their lives and the Romans’ pleasure; they seek to replace lost friendship, love, and family in each other’s arms. But the Roman arena offers only two futures: the Gate of Life for the victors or the Gate of Death for the losers.

Author:  Faith L. Justice
ISBN:  978-0692386491
Length:  260 pp
Price:  $11.99 (Print-discounts vary) $3.99 (ebook)
Available at:

Amazon.com Worldwide (US, UK, Canada)
BarnesandNoble.com
CreateSpace (print only)
iBooks (ebook only)
Kobo (ebook only)
Smashwords (ebooks–all formats)

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Book Review and Giveaway: “Hand of Fire” by Judith Starkston

I get pitched a lot of books. I usually accept about one a month. I like most of them and write a paragraph or two on GoodReads.com, LibraryThing.com or Amazon.com. A very few get the full blog treatment. Hand of Fire by Judith Starkston is one of those I want to enthusiastically share with my fellow readers. Her novel has all the elements I look for in historical fiction: compelling characters, engaging plot, and fascinating setting.

About the book:

The Trojan War threatens Troy’s allies and the Greek supply raids spread. A young healing priestess, designated as future queen, must defend her city against both divine anger and invading Greeks. She finds strength in visions of a handsome warrior god; will that be enough when the half-immortal Achilles attacks? Hand of Fire, a tale of resilience and hope, blends history and legend in the untold story of Achilles’s famous captive, Briseis.

I have a weakness for stories that shine a light on little known women or give silenced women a voice in the way Anita Diamant spoke for the biblical Dina (Joseph’s only sister) in her wildly popular The Red Tent. Starkston takes a similar approach through the story of Briseis. In the Iliad Briseis has only a handful of lines, yet she is a pivotal character in the narrative arc of the classic poem, sparking a rift between Achilles and Agamemnon that almost brings the Greek war against Troy to ruin. In the poem she expresses her love for Achilles in spite of the fact that he killed her brothers and husband, sacked her city, and reduced her status from princess to slave. A tall order to build a believable scenario where that could happen! Starkston does a beautiful job taking the slender clues about Briseis’ life and times and building believable characters. Briseis matures from an uncertain girl to a woman capable of determining her own destiny in this engaging story.

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“Hypatia: Her Life and Times” Radio Interview

My writing is drawing some attention. This time it’s my non-fiction collection of essays about Hypatia. A couple of months ago I received an intriguing email from a science radio show. Someone there had heard about my book and thought Hypatia would be a good subject for an interview. Ever eager to promote greater knowledge about this neglected woman scholar, I said yes and sent off a copy of my book. They loved it! Last month I had a lovely conversation with the producer and interviewer. This month the interview is up for your listening pleasure at Science for the People as “Hypatia and Women in STEM” (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Enjoy!

I had no idea when I pulled these essays and articles together a year and half ago, Hypatia: Her Life and Times would become so popular. I’ve sold copies around the world and it ranks in the top twenty of books on ancient history sold on iTunes (right after Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire). Hypatia has quite a fan club in cyber space. If you want more information about the book, check out the this page on my web site. Thanks to everyone to who has supported indie publishing by buying and reviewing this book!

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Halloween Fiction: “Samhain”

Reconstruction of the “Lindow Man” bog body. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Samhain–the night of the dead. Yevetha knew from the ice around her heart there was one more ghost to walk the night and haunt her dreams. She clutched a tiny fur blanket to her sunken chest and rocked back and forth, keening. Sixteen summers ago she had ripped a bloody baby from the womb of her dying daughter and had wrapped him in the fur.

Yevetha had searched in the bogs for the rare herbs that would bring on her milk and had endured the pain caused to an aging body as it prepared to nurse the tiny infant. Her love had been rewarded as Bohumil grew into a fine strong young man with his mother’s blue eyes.

At the waning of the last full moon, Bohumil had come of an age to marry. He had packed for the hand of days it would take him to travel to the ocean tribes and set out through the forest to trade for a bride price.  The full moon returned.  Bohumil did not.

Yevetha pulled her worn skin cloak tighter about her shoulders and turned to the fire pit at the back of the hut.  The cramped space reeked of peat smoke and the herbs drying in the thatch ceiling. She pushed at a tangle of coarse gray hair, leaving a smudge of soot across one cheek.

Yevetha had seen forty-six winters. She was weary and there was no one to replace her as healer now that the Sun priests had outlawed the worship of the Great Mother and all Her arts. She spat on the fire. For twenty years the Sun priests had cursed her life. They had converted the village men to their Sun worship and fewer and fewer women met in the secret glade to keep the covenant with the Mother Goddess.

Yevetha pulled a bronze knife from her belt and stretched to cut several herbs from the store in the ceiling. Bitter rue for grief, sweet rosemary for remembrance and rough hemp for dreams. She took a figure made of twigs from a plain reed basket and tied the tear-stained fur around its waist with a twist of straw.

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It’s a Blog Hop!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

As a gift to my readers and the followers of this blog, I’ve joined Passages to the Past and 30+ other blogs in the 1st Annual Historical Holiday Blog Hop. Each blog in the hop has a great giveaway package: historical fiction, history books, gift cards and more. So give yourself a present this year and check out the list here. “Hop” from blog to blog to see who’s giving away what and sign up for some great goodies. There are also Grand Prizes (I’ve donated a paperback and an ebook copy of my own novel Selene of Alexandria.) For my blog giveaway we have three prizes, once-read review copies of:

And the winner is: sara!

The Twelve Rooms of the Nile by Enid Shomer made NPR’s list of the year’s best historical fiction of 2012 (read a guest post by Enid here.) A literary novel about the imagined meeting of Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert when they both traveled the fabled river–before they became famous.

• Title: The Twelve Rooms of the Nile
• Author: Enid Shomer
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2012
• ISBN: 978-1-4516-4298-4
• Format: Hardcover, 449 pages
• Price: $26.00

And the winner is: Meg!

The Seven Wonders by Stephen Saylor (read my review here.) Gordianus the Finder is back in this prequel to Steven Saylor’s popular series of mysteries set in the Roman Republic. Follow his adventures as Gordianus embarks on the First Century BCE equivalent of a “Grand Tour” of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

• Title: The Seven Wonders: A Novel of the Ancient World
• Author: Steven Saylor
• Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2012
• ISBN: 978-0-312-35984-3
• Format: Hardcover, 321 pages
• Price: $25.99

And the winner is: milliebotdesigns!

The Raven’s Seal by Andrei Baltakmens (read a guest post by Andrei here.) A historical mystery with a brooding gaol (jail for us in the US), intriguing characters and a twisty plot. If you like Dickens, you’ll like this one!

• Title: The Raven’s Seal
• Author: Andrei Baltrakmens
• Publisher: Top Five Books, 2012
• ISBN: 978-0-9852787-5-5
• Format: trade paperback ARC (uncorrected proof), 406 pages
• Price: $14.00

Giveaway Details (US addresses only)

Entry is easy: leave a comment on this post saying which book(s) you would like, by midnight Monday, December 17 (email not necessary in the comment, but please give it when asked, so I can get back to you if you win.) If you want a second entry, sign up to follow the blog or indicate you’re already a follower. For additional chances, repost this giveaway on your Facebook, blog, Twitter, website, etc. and post the link in your comment (maximum five chances.) Don’t worry if your post doesn’t appear immediately, because I moderate comments and don’t spend my life at my computer. I’ll randomly select the winners and announce it on Tuesday, December 18.  Also, there will be a mystery prize! Good luck, everyone, and happy holidays!

And the winner of the mystery prize is: Helen! She’ll receive a signed copy of my novel Selene of Alexandria

Thanks to everyone who entered the Blog Hop and congratulations to our winners.

Safe and happy holidays to all!

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Guest Post and Giveaway: Andrei Baltakmens on Early-Modern Crime (and Punishment) in “The Raven’s Seal”

I’m back from New Zealand and–totally by coincidence–I’m hosting a New Zealand author. As readers of this blog know, I’m a Dickens fan. I can’t get enough of his quirky characters, dark settings, twisty plots and–yes!–even his social preaching. One of my favorites, Little Dorritt (reviewed here) features a debtor’s prison which is just as much a character as its human inhabitants. That’s why I was so pleased to score a copy of The Raven’s Seal a historical mystery written in the style of Dickens. The author Andrei Baltakmens is a Dickens scholar and plants an eighteenth-century prison in the heart of his novel. The gaol (jail for us in the US) broods over the prose and lurks in the background infusing the story with its dark presence. From the first paragraph:

The Old Bellstrom Gaol crouched above the fine city of Airenchester like a black spider on a heap of spoils. It presided over The Steps, a ramshackle pile of cramped yards and tenements teeming about rambling stairs, and glared across the River Pentlow towards Battens Hill, where the sombre courts and city halls stood. From Cracksheart Hill, the Bellstrom loomed on every prospect and was glimpsed at the end of every lane.

Many thanks to Andrei for providing a guest post on eighteenth-century crime and punishment and to his publisher Top Five Books for providing a giveaway copy (details at the end of the post.)

Early-Modern Crime (and Punishment) in The Raven’s Seal

by Andrei Baltakmens

My novel, The Raven’s Seal, is a historical mystery set in and around a fictional eighteenth-century prison, the Bellstrom Gaol. The gaol is a commanding presence in the novel, presiding over the equally fictional city of Airenchester. But of course there would be no gaol, and no mystery, without crime and punishment, and though the Bellstrom dominated my imagination for a long time, the history of crime in the early-modern period (roughly 1500 to 1800), particularly under the Black Act, makes for a fascinating background which occasionally peeks through into the mystery.

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Guest Post and Giveaway: Enid Shomer on “The Twelve Rooms of the Nile”

I just finished The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, a novel about the imagined meeting of Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert when they both traveled the fabled river–before they became famous. It’s a lovely literary effort with wonderful insights into two intriguing characters. I’m pleased to host a guest post by the  author Enid Shomer where she tells us how she came to know both these remarkable people and write about them. Ms. Shomer’s short fiction and poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The Paris Review among other publications. This is her first novel. Thanks to her publisher Simon and Schuster for providing two copies of this book for a giveaway (details at the end of the post.) If you want to learn more about Ms. Shomer and her writing, please visit her website. Enjoy!

TWO GENIUSES ON THE NILE

by Enid Shomer

I live in Florida, and was, therefore, surprised to see that Florence Nightingale was running against Thomas Jefferson on my last sample presidential election ballot. While nurses on every continent know that Nightingale invented nursing as a  profession, that before her, nurses were regarded as loose women no better than drunkards, slatterns, or opium addicts, most Americans know little about her. Throughout the old British empire, by contrast,  she is recognized as an iconic heroine, the “Lady with the Lamp.” That epithet derives from the fact that she made rounds at night to tend the wounded soldiers in the hospital at Scutari during the Crimean War, a revolutionary practice at the time.

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Book Review and Giveaway: “The Seven Wonders” by Steven Saylor

Gordianus the Finder is back in this prequel to Steven Saylor’s popular series of mysteries set in the Roman Republic of Cicero and Caesar. Gordianus is eighteen and embarks on the First Century BCE equivalent of a “Grand Tour” with his old tutor and famous poet Antipater of Sidon. As the Italian peninsula simmers with rebellion, the pair head east to visit the Seven Wonders of the World encountering murder, mysteries and political intrigues. Over the course of their year+ journey, Gordianus evolves into “the Finder” series readers have come to know and love.

For the record, I am not a Gordianus fan. I very much enjoyed Saylor’s multi-generational epics Roma and Empire, which I reviewed, but didn’t take to the couple of Finder novels I sampled. Not because they were bad books, but because I’m not that into historical mysteries. Every reader has her quirks. This book has a distinctly different structure from the others. Saylor uses the journey to visit the Seven Wonders as a framework for several short stories (many of which were previously published in mystery and fantasy magazines.) Each Wonder gets a story with a few interludes, such as attending the Olympic Games and visiting the ruins of Corinth, resulting in ten chapters dealing with murder, witchcraft, ghosts and gods. As their journey continues, a larger mystery entangles Gordianus and Antipater with spies and other enemies of Rome.

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