Virtual Book Tour: Picasso's Lovers by

 Good morning, everyone! Please welcome author Jeannie Mackin to Full Moon Dreaming. She is here to tell us about her new release, Picasso's Lovers.  Jeannie will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter during the tour. The more you comment, the greater your chances of winning. To find the other stops on her tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

 

PICASSO'S LOVERS

Jeanne Mackin

 

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GENRE:  Historical Fiction

 

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BLURB:

 

You know Pablo Picasso.  Now meet the women behind the masterpieces. The women of Picasso's life are glamorous and elusive, existing in the shadow of his fame - until, in the 1950's, aspiring journalist Alana Olsen determines to bring one into the light and discovers a past complicated by secrets and intrigue.

 

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EXCERPT:

 

Gazes from Pablo Picasso are like brushstrokes.  Some are long, lingering, full of texture and pigment. Some are short, shallow, even accidental.  His gaze on me now falls somewhere between the two.

 

Once, his gaze would have found enough for an entire painting. He would have seen flesh, and the bone and muscle under the flesh, the question or certainty of the eyes. He would have seen past, present, and future and painted them in a way that made time irrelevant.

 

Yes, that was how he pained me. Everything and at once, all the angles and geometry of the body, and he made of me something eternal and always beautiful.  That is what an artists can do for a woman.  When most men looked at me, all I saw in their faces was desire, the urge to possess. When Pablo looked at me, his face filled with wonder waiting to be translated to lines and brushstrokes.

 

Spring. The second year of the Great War. I wasn’t twenty yet, and had returned from cold, starving Moscow, where a loaf of bread coast as much as a silk dress…Back to Paris for me!

 

When Pablo first saw me, I was sitting on the rim of the Wallace Fountain in Place Emile, face turned up to the sun like a basking cat, enjoying the fine day and wondering what adventure I might  find…It was early summer. I had stolen a bunch of cherries at Les Halles and a roll, but my stomach rattled.

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Jeanne Mackin is the author of several historical novels, including The Last Collection, which has been translated into five languages, and The Beautiful American, which won a CNY award for fiction.  She has taught in the MFA Creative Writing program at Goddard College and won journalism awards, and is currently at work on her next novel.

 

Website: http://www.jeannemackin.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeanneMackinAuthor

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JeanneMackin1

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/JeanneMackinAuthor

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Picassos-Lovers-Jeanne-Mackin-ebook/dp/B0C3C2J4FH/ref=sr_1_1

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Book Review: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

 

The Personal Librarian      

Author: Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Publisher: Berkley

American release date: June 29, 2021

Format/Genre/Length: Hardback/Historical Fiction/352 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Sometimes who you know can make all the difference, as Belle da Costa Greene discovers when her friendship with Junius Morgan at  Princeton University leads to her applying for and winning the post of personal librarian to Junius’ father, the famous JP Morgan himself! Morgan is building his personal library and requires the skill and knowledge of a good librarian to assist him in his endeavors. Belle more than fills that bill, and is excited to take an opportunity few women in the early 1900s were ever afforded.

However, unknown to her new employer, or anyone else outside of her family, Belle has a secret, one she must keep in order to maintain her increasingly important position with the millionaire, who has become not only dependent on her talents but fond of her as well. Belle does not appear to be so, but she is black, her real name being Belle Marion Greener. She and her entire family are light-skinned. The family had originally lived in Washington DC near her mother’s family, the Fleets. But Belle’s mother wanted more for her children, a better life than they would have as black people, knowing that they would be able to pass as white. When she wrote their race as white on the census, that was the last straw for Belle’s father, who had been the first black man to graduate from his university and who was a major advocate of civil rights. The family, minus the father, moved to New York, and Belle and her siblings worked hard in order to keep them afloat. This opportunity which had presented itself was a godsend, but there was a price to be paid.

The Personal Librarian was co-written by two women, and it is a treasure trove of a book about the first African American woman to hold a position of such great power and authority at a time when women had few freedoms. But she had to suppress who she was and keep the secret. The research that must have been undertaken for the writing of this book is mindboggling. The authors weave a beautiful tale about a strong woman who lived life on her own terms, loved where she wanted, and was a great influence in shaping JP Morgan’s library but sacrificed her identity to do so.  The writing simply flows, elegant and graceful, much like Belle.

History lovers will enjoy this story, but I think others will too, and Belle’s story deserves to be read by everyone.

Virtual Book Tour: The Crossing by Ashby Jones

 Good morning everyone! Please welcome author Ashby Jones to Full Moon Dreaming! He is here to talk to us about his new release, The Crossing. Ashby will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter during the tour. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. To find the other stops on his tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

 

The Crossing

by Ashby Jones

 

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GENRE: Historical fiction

 

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BLURB:

 

The Crossing is a powerful and haunting love story of surprising discovery set in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen during Prohibition. Its mission seeks to reconcile love and guilt, grief and promise. Set apart from other stories, it combines history, fact, surrealism, and reality into an ever-recycling boost of the human spirit.

 

Irish-born Johnny Flynn, a former British soldier, is banished from his homeland and sent to America on a ship so riddled with disease that he realizes the voyage was meant to murder him. When he survives the trip, the captain forces him to walk the plank into the Hudson River. Miraculously, Johnny is rescued by a rumrunning Irish gang, the Swamp Angels, and given a job running whisky in Hell’s Kitchen just as Prohibition makes liquor a hugely profitable, dangerous business.

 

Fighting for his life and livelihood amid the denizens of the Manhattan piers, Johnny is plagued by the memory of his lost lover, Nora, whose father, the famed Irish revolutionary, James Connolly, met his death through a firing squad that included a reluctant gunman named Johnny Flynn. Nora’s last words to him, when she learned of his betrayal and left him, “I love you, Johnny Flynn”, echo in his heart, leaving him pulsing with guilt, yearning, and the hope that she might yet forgive him.

 

Johnny drinks hard. One night, drunk on the floor of Hailey’s speakeasy, he encounters a seeming apparition on stage, the ghostly Esme, an Irish singer who suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of the British Black and Tans. Johnny is dazzled by her. She is not only a singer but a healer, teaching poor and afflicted children to sing and gather hope at an old theater called The Woebegone. From Esme Johnny learns how to overcome the desire for revenge, only to discover that she, too, clings to her own dark dream of retribution.

 

Hell’s Kitchen, Johnny discovers, is thronged with people whose damaged hearts ache for revenge, repentance and love. As he grapples with taking responsibility to help others resolve this overwhelming dilemma, he learns that Nora is coming to New York to advocate for Irish independence. As he confronts her and soon thereafter receives a piercing love letter from Esme, the story comes to a turbulent climax.

 

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EXCERPT:

 

 

“My God, let’s get this sack off you,” one said. “Two stones inside? They threw you off, did they?

 

“Thank you,” Johnny rasped, barely able to move and unwilling to answer. “God, thank you.”

 

A man with a scared face leaned closer. “You sound Irish. Well then, God may have had something to do with saving you, mate.” The man pointed to Liberty. “After all, how could something that large have made it across the Pond without His help?”         

 

“Where … where are …” Johnny couldn’t finish.

 

“We’re headed to Hell’s Kitchen,” the voice answered. “They call it Satan’s playground, though some say God’s been seen there having a drink or two. We’re the Swamp Angels, rum-runners, who keep Him supplied.”

 

Johnny could not feel his lips move as he attempted to smile. He looked up at the sky, bound for America at last. The boat inherited the flow of the water and so too did he.

 

He struggled to remove a small cross from his pocket. It was made of the finger bones of the baby twins whose skeletons he’d pried from their mother’s ossified grasp. As if memories were flowing through the bones, they were warm to the touch. Before following Bile’s order to throw the skeletons away, when he was searched before boarding the ship, he’d slipped the tiny bones into his shirt pocket and later knotted them with a bootlace. The tiny fingers clasped each other in the shape of a cross. He’d sworn to keep it with him always, as a reminder that forgiveness for killing another, regardless of the side one was on, stood forever apart from the seeker. And for those who had served on a firing squad, though justifications could be had, not even with love as powerful as he and Nora had shared, could forgiveness be found.

 

“My name’s Seth, mate, and the young insect by me we call Locust. What’s yours?”

 

“Johnny,” he whispered.

 

“And your last name?”

 

“Johnny,” he replied and closed his eyes. If he had no full name, maybe he would not be pursued in this new world. Maybe he could find a new beginning, a purpose which could not be taken from him, neither by his guilt nor his longing for Nora.

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Ashby Jones has been writing historical novels for 50 years. With degrees in Literature and Clinical Psychology; Creative Writing at UCLA under the guidance of Leonardo Bercovici. Jones previously published: The Angel’s Lamp in 2017 which was well received and reviewed by the Irish Times. Jones’s passion is writing literary fiction that attempts to understand mankind’s never-ending battles with irony, tragedy, blatant contradiction, and the anomalies of love. Such is the focus of 'The Crossing', a stand-alone sequel to 'The Angel’s Lamp', his first novel. He studied under such notables as William Hoffman, a best-selling author, and years later at U.C.L.A. under Leonardo Bercovici, a highly regarded screenwriter.

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashby_jones

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Ashby-Jones/e/B01N2YR769/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14394032.Ashby_Jones

 

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592110894/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

 

 

 

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Book Review: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

 

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Author: Kim Michele Richardson

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

American release date: May 7, 2019

Format/Genre/Length: Hardback/Historical Fiction/320 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

In the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s WPA program created jobs for people so they could work and have money during a difficult time in American history, namely the Great Depression. Instead of just handing money out, they allowed people to work for it, adding to their self-worth as wage earners. One part of that program was the Pack Horse librarians of rural Kentucky. Mostly women, they rode horses/mules/donkeys, traveled on foot or sometimes by boat, through the mountains and across rivers and creeks,  to bring books to people in remote areas of the state.

Cussy Mary is a Pack Librarian, and very happy to be one. She lives with her father Elijah, who is a miner, and she loves the patrons on her route. These are poor people who are barely surviving, much less able to buy books, so the librarians are lights in their lives. Cussy is well loved by her patrons as well, and doesn’t mind reading to those who cannot read themselves. She worries about them, especially the children, who are sick and starving. But there is little she can do, as she and her father are barely subsisting themselves.

There are those who look down on Cussy and her father, because they are different from them. They are, in fact, blue-skinned people, and as such are considered to be colored abnormal because of the tint of their skin. The local doctor finds Cussy’s condition very interesting and wants to take her somewhere so people can study her. She’s reluctant, until circumstances cause her to reconsider her stance since doing so will benefit the people she cares about. All she wants is to be treated like other people, and to enjoy life a little, especially her precious books and patrons. But some people can’t see past the blue shade of her skin to the beautiful soul beneath. Not until she meets a most unusual man.

I fell in love with this book quickly. I have a soft spot for books and librarians, as my daughter is one, and I could see some of her in the spunky yet soft-spoken Cussy. I knew nothing about the Pack Horse Librarians, or about blue-skinned people, and was very interested in learning about them.

I love the way the author writes. You feel like you’re there, experiencing what Cussy goes through – her pain, her joy, her sorrows. And you can’t help but love Cussy yourself. This is a very colorful novel about being who you are and not judging people simply by the color of their skin, something many people in the US still have problems with. The historical information at the end of the book is just icing on the cake.

I liked this book so much, I bought copies for my daughters and my daughters-in-law, and one for myself, since I read a library copy originally. I know I will read this book over, more than once. This book is about life, about love, overcoming hardships, and making the most of what you have, as well as sharing that with the people around you. I hope you all love this book as much as I did.

Virtual Book Tour: Beneath Black Clouds and White by Virginia Crow

Good morning! Please welcome author Virginia Crow to Full Moon Dreaming! She is here to talk about her new release, Beneath Black Clouds & White. Virginia will be awarding a paperback copy of Beneath Black Clouds & White (international giveaway) to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning! To find the other stops on Virginia's tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

Beneath Black Clouds and White

by Virginia Crow

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GENRE: Historical Fiction

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NOTE: The book will be on sale for $0.99.

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BLURB:

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.

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EXCERPT:

“Henry, you saved so many lives, but some men are beyond curing.”

“No, it was not that.” He turned to face his uncle once more. “He was court martialled and shot.”

“Good lord, Henry,” he said quickly. “Whatever for?”

“Insubordination.”

“And you defended him?” His uncle scowled up at him and shook his head. “Do you want the revolution here in England? King George may struggle with himself but that is no reason to guillotine him.”

“I defended him because he was wronged,” Fotherby replied, as calmly as he could. “He was not able to consider his actions.”

“You cannot do it, Henry.”

“Do what?”

“Bring that into Wanderford Hall.”

“What do you mean?” Fotherby whispered, staring at the man before him.

“I tolerated your engagement to a woman of no birth and no money. I accepted her and her father into this house. But you cannot take the daughter of such a man and make her the mistress of Wanderford Hall.”

“It is not your house to tell me what I can and cannot do. I say that Miss Simmons shall be a fine mistress of Wanderford Hall. How can you judge a woman on the actions of her father? I should not care to think that I were judged on your actions simply because I am your nephew.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Virginia grew up in Orkney, using the breath-taking scenery to fuel her imagination and the writing fire within her. Her favourite genres to write are fantasy and historical fiction, sometimes mixing the two together such as her soon-to-be-serialised books "Caledon". She enjoys swashbuckling stories such as the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and is still waiting for a screen adaption that lives up to the film!

When she's not writing, Virginia is a music teacher in Caithness. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of music, especially as a tool of inspiration. She also helps out with the John o' Groats Book Festival which has just celebrated its 2nd year. Hopefully they'll be plenty more to come!

Book Trailer (Beneath Black Clouds and White)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHjXJK_PaQ0

Website

www.stompermcewan.com

(Publisher) www.crowvus.com

Twitter

@DaysDyingGlory

Amazon Book Link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QFYFB6V/

Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/StomperMcEwan

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Hi! Would you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hello! My name’s Virginia Crow, and I’m pleased, excited and grateful to be invited to share a bit about my books and my writing with you.  Or, as they say where my family’s from: I’m reet chuffed!  I’m below half the age of my life expectancy, so whatever anyone says,  think I’m still young!  Writing historical fiction was not at all what I thought I’d be doing when I grew up.  For years I wanted to be a paleontologist – before the Jurassic Park film came out! – and any story I wrote when I was growing up was either high fantasy or ghost stories.  So, seven years ago, when I started writing (what was to be) my first published book, it was a surprise to find it was in the historical fiction genre.

Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?

Thank you for your support.  I value each and every one of you, and just hope you enjoy the books’ journeys as much in the reading as I did in the writing.

What do you do when you are not writing?
I’m a self-employed music teacher, so music is a big thing for me.  I’m usually either making or listening to it.  Otherwise, I try to turn my hand to as many different crafts as possible.  Every summer I enter the “Industrial Section” of the County Show.  Traditionally this tent was an opportunity for farmers’ wives to show the skills and crafts they exercised while their husbands worked the land.  Nowadays anyone can enter.  I’ve got a special love of knitting and visual art, and always try to enter these crafts even if I don’t enter any of the others.  [I’m not a farmer’s wife, by the way!]

Do you write an outline before starting a book or just write?

I do write an outline, but it is a very vague one.  I used to write books completely out of synch, but then I realised that I was never going back to fill in the missing chapters.  And if I didn’t want to write them, why on earth would a reader want to read them?  A complete change of style ensued and I started writing chronologically, and then I realised that I was incorporating dozens of subplots which just *happened*.  My books then took on a believable aspect, because life is not about one storyline or event, it’s about a whole host of them.

Can you tell us, in your own words not the book description, a little about your book?
Beneath Black Clouds and White is a book on several levels.  Sure, it’s got a complex and intricate storyline – which I’m pretty proud of! – but it’s also readable on so many levels.  You know when you’re given a book at school and told to find what the author was saying without saying it?  And you make something up just to get the number of marks you need to pass?  Well, this one has no need to make things up.  There are obvious overtones of social discontent, and the book deals with the world at one of the occasions when there’s been a massive change of opinion and global forces.  Nowadays we can look back with hindsight and say, with 100% surety, that these changes were for the better.  But at the time it was frightening for people to try and achieve these ideals, and people had to be daring and brave if they wanted to join the abolitionist movement.  I think the book puts humanity at the heart of this debate and looks at the fear and frailty of both sides.

Where can we purchase this book?

Everywhere! There is a PoD system set up for paperbacks, so all you have to do is ask your local bookstore and they can have it printed for you.

It’s also available via the publisher’s website www.crowvus.com

If you’re after the eBook, you can find it at Crowvus, Kobo, Amazon and Smashwords

What is the hardest part of writing in your opinion?
Having the time!  Because of the nature of my job, I work in the afternoons and evenings which means my main writing time is in the morning.  The only problem is, for me writing is an immersive art, and waking up into the “real world” to do my job, can be quite difficult.  There are some books, or parts of books, I knew I would have to write at a different time.

On one occasion, I can remember walking Orlando (our dog) into town after a morning of writing.  A man came up, wanting to say hello to Orlando (who, notoriously, hates men) and I warned the gentleman not to go near Orlando.  I didn’t think anything of it until my sister started laughing at me.  Apparently, instead of using normal, modern words, I’d addressed him as someone in the Georgian period.  So, at that point I decided not to write if I knew I was going to be going out into the world afterwards!

Is there a genre that you love to read, and would like to write, but just cannot?
Children’s literature.  I recently became an auntie, and it has inspired me to rethink over all the books I loved and which inspired me as a child.  I’ve had a go at writing for children, but somehow it doesn’t seem to be quite right.  I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, it’s just not right!  But, I’ve been practicing, and this year I managed to put together an entry for the Kelpie Prize (for children’s literature) which I’m quite pleased with.  Who knows, if they like it too, I might have cracked it after all!

Favorite kind of chocolate?
Definitely Alpine chocolate! Swiss or Italian.

Cats or dogs?

Dogs – I’m the proud owner of a Sprocker Spaniel called Orlando, and I’m under no illusions: he runs my life far more than I run his!

Do you read more than you write?
No. I’m a spectacularly picky reader – I think I annoy people with just how picky I am!  But when I find a good book I do find it difficult to

a)     stop reading

b)    stop thinking about it the whole time

I tend to feel totally bereft when I finish a good book, and I have t allow myself a mourning period before I’m ready to embark on my next literary adventure!

Hardback/Paperback or eReader?
Paperback

Why do you like hardcover/paperback more?
I don’t possess an eReader!  I don’t have a mobile – or at least not one which has been charged in the last three years – and only put the TV to good use during the Football (Soccer) World Cup and the Olympics.  I’m not exactly a technophobe because I love my laptop and lose several hours each week to Twitter.  But I love the sense of age and endurance with a book.  The oldest book in the house dates back to 1664.  It’s seen two world wars, the French Revolution, American Independence, three Jacobite uprisings, and the Great Fire of London.  Holding so much history in one (comparatively) tiny book is incredible.  I just love being a part of it.

Favorite color?

Yellow, it’s chirpy and cheerful!

How many paperback/hardcover books do you own?

When my parents got married they said they would never throw away a book – although they have, on occasions, given books to secondhand stalls and charity shops.  Having grown up with that attitude, 33 years worth of books have accumulated.  I have no idea how many books I have, but it’s probably closer to thousands than hundreds!

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Wednesday Briefs: Butterflies in His Stomach

Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.

Today I'm doing something a little different, taking a week off from my usual flash. My muse demanded something different, so what could I do but obey? This story has been in the back of my mind for some time now. It's about Aaron Burr, whom I adore, and it takes place the night of July 10, 1804 - in other words, the night before his duel with Alexander Hamilton at Weehawken. I wanted to peek into his mind and heart and see how he felt on the eve of such a momentous occasion. I hope you like it! Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale!  Enjoy!

Butterflies in His Stomach

“You’ve given him every opportunity to make amends, Aaron.”

“I know, Will, I know.” 

“He is the one who is determined to go through with this. It’s not as though he hasn’t retracted such statements before.”

“But this time, he refuses. And this time he has gone too far.” Aaron Burr rose from his desk and in a few graceful strides approached the mahogany sideboard where he kept his liquor. Reaching for a cut glass decanter, he poured the amber liquid into two glasses. Taking one for himself, he handed the second to his young friend and fellow lawyer, William P. Van Ness. At twenty-six, Van Ness was some twenty-odd years Burr’s junior, but the two had a close bond, despite the age difference.

Burr took a seat beside Van Ness on the Aubusson settee which had only recently arrived from France. Done in the once popular Louis XV style, it had been smuggled to England during the early chaotic days of the French Revolution. From there it had been acquired on Burr’s behalf by an acquaintance acting on his behalf, and had been shipped from there to his beautiful home of Richmond Hill. Having lost his wife Theodosia to cancer some ten years before, and his only daughter, also Theodosia to marriage in 1801, Burr lived alone, except for his servants.

Burr took a long drink. To an outside observer, he might seem cool and collected, especially in light of what the next day would bring, but inside he was seething with emotions which he refused to display, even before such a close friend. The die had been cast, irreparably so, and tomorrow he and Hamilton would meet at dawn, across the river in Weehawken, a notorious dueling place. Although dueling was quite illegal, the authorities tended to turn a blind eye to such things, especially as most of them resulted in little more than opportunities for the parties involved to vent themselves before returning, somewhat ameliorated, to the bosom of their respective families. Burr, who was not very familiar with such affairs, had only been involved in one other, unlike Hamilton. He was not sure what the morrow would bring.

“All he had to do was retract what was referenced in that damnable letter,” Van Ness continued. “Explain himself, and explain what was said. But he refused, so this is on his head.”

“Indeed,” Burr replied. A silence fell between them. When the ornate clock in the hallway struck ten, Van Ness reluctantly took his leave. He’d suggested he should stay until morning, but Burr declined the generous offer, citing the dawn meeting and the need for both to rest. Once his friend had left, however, sleep eluded him.

Pouring another drink, he took a seat at his desk and pulled out his watch. Inside was the sole picture he retained of his late wife, who had not wished to sit for her portrait, especially once her illness took over, and Burr had not insisted. “Perhaps I shall join you tomorrow,” he said softly. “Oh Theodosia, I wish you were with me now. You always saw things as they were, unclouded with emotion or pretense. Maybe you could explain Alexander’s actions, for I surely cannot.”

Sighing, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He had once considered Hamilton a friend. Just when that had changed, Burr wasn’t sure, but over time their relationship had eroded. There were those who said Hamilton was jealous of Burr’s pedigree, of his family tree, his early entrance into the College of New Jersey. Hamilton was a self-made man. Overcoming being born in bastardy in the West Indies, he’d come to America at the young age of nineteen. Rejected by Burr’s alma mater, he’d gone on to attend King’s College. Both men had fought in the Revolution. Hamilton had gone on to become George Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury, his chief adviser. He’d married a wealthy young woman, become a successful lawyer, and had his own beautiful home.

So why was he so intent on ruining Aaron Burr?

Removing a piece of his personalized stationary from a drawer, Burr began to pen a letter to his daughter.

My dear Theodosia,

I seek for words with which to address this moment but I am uncustomarily at a loss. Normally I am more eloquent than this, but there is so much to say, and perhaps not much time to say it in.”

Burr paused, frowning at the paper. Normally, he could talk to his daughter about anything and everything. They had a very open and frank relationship, the father-daughter bond between them very strong. But tonight he was all too aware that perhaps these would be the last words he’d ever get to write to her, and the very thought brought butterflies to his stomach.

And what about Matty? Although he’d never openly acknowledged him as his son, Burr’s affection for Martin Van Buren ran deep. The decision to remain in the background of his son’s life had been done solely out of consideration for Matty’s political future. Burr was convinced that the son would succeed where the father had failed, by becoming the President of the United States.

He set the quill to paper once more.

Please, my dearest girl, do not lose touch with your brother, and be the able advisor to him that you have ever been to me. Don’t forget, also, to let Gampy know how much his grandfather loved him.

Setting the quill aside once more, he frowned, then crumpled up the unfinished missive. Rising swiftly, he strode across the room to the fireplace and tossed it into the flames before returning to the sofa and lying down to keep a wakeful vigil.

He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but he would remain optimistic for as long as he could. As the clock tolled midnight, he settled down to wait for Fate to arrive.

Now go see what the other Briefers are up to!

Cia Nordwell

J Alan Veerkamp

Johayan

Michael Mandrake

Virtual Book Tour: Into the Void

Please welcome author Emma Stein, here to tell us about her new release, Into the Void. Emma will be awarding 8 postcards with illustrations from her work in progress"Unspeakables" to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. To find the other stops on her tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

Into the Void

by Emma Stein

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GENRE:  Historical Fiction

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BLURB:

The country of Anglina is teeming with social upheaval, and its officials have found an unlikely national hero in a philosopher and social activist named Horace. The Anglinian government has appointed the effeminate, irreverent, and stubborn scholar to undertake a journey around the world to learn the secret of other countries’ success. Unfortunately for Horace, most of the societies he visits turn out to be drastically different from what he expected, and he repeatedly sends scathing but witty reports about his travels and the people he encounters. At the end of his journey, Horace encounters a series of communes whose inhabitants welcome him into their ranks and open his eyes to more a liberal and egalitarian way of life.

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EXCERPT:

Dear Addie,

The tradesmen who have been kind enough to take me on as a bit of useless cargo on their voyage to Boasille are docking at their first port of call tomorrow. From what I have heard, there are some rather willing prostitutes in the city of LaHague who will do anything for a bottle of our good Anglinian gin. That would explain the contents of our cargo hold to some extent, I suppose. “Give’m a swig and they’ll return the favour fives times over...or under or sideways!” is how my cultivated shipmates put it.

If they offered postal services as well, I would have no qualms pocketing a little bottle of gin from the hold and slipping it into a painted woman’s bag, but I believe the poor dears are much better at transmitting syphilis than messages. But if LaHague is as large as my illustrious companions have suggested, I assume there will be a postal service somewhere along the docks.

I am a bit reluctant to stray too far on my own, you see. I imagine the great unwashed on this ship have enjoyed pulling my leg this whole time, telling me horror stories about little “flippity-floppity fops” like myself who vanished as soon as they set foot outside the dock and shipyard area. “First their fineries evaporated into the air, then the powder in their hair. They looked like men then in the face, then disappeared without a trace…”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Always lagging behind current technological developments, Emma wrote all of her fledgling books and essays in a crabbed script until the demands of university life convinced her that it might be worthwhile to invest in a word processing program. That same university life caused a long hiatus in her creative writing activity but provided much of the kindling for her current literary endeavors. Until March of 2014, when she started working as a translator for a large software company, most of her publications were therefore academic in nature.

Emma has lived abroad since 2008, and her experiences in France, Canada, Germany, and Russia influence her work considerably. This influence is particularly powerful in Into the Void, which parodies different facets and institutions of these countries and explores the difficulty of retaining one’s own identity while trying to assimilate into another culture. Theories from Cultural Studies and Sociology form another cornerstone of Emma’s work, and she enlivens what many people would consider dry texts with interpretations that are full of wit and unexpected spins on the order of things. Her penchant for pinpointing the foibles and follies of both herself and her fellows is a fine source for her satires, be they written or illustrated.

Emma was born near Chicago in 1986 and has lived in Germany since 2011. She recently opened a translation company in Kiel, where she continues to surprise the natives with the historically inspired clothing that she designs and wears.

AUTHOR WEBSITE(S)(list URLS):

https://www.facebook.com/emmasteinbooks/

www.emmasteinbooks.com

Twitter: @EmmaSteinBooks

Zazzle (illustrations):  http://www.zazzle.com/emmasteindesign+gifts

Buy links:

https://www.amazon.com/Into-Void-Emma-Stein-ebook/dp/B010GEJNIE

Into the Void will be $0.99  during the tour.

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  a Rafflecopter giveaway