SHORT STORY

A man may think his life is only measured by battles fought for the king. Until he meets a woman worth fighting for.
Henry Wilmot. Cavalier. Seasoned soldier. Grieving widower. On the eve of battle he is sent by the king to requisition arms. What he did not expect was that the supplies were a gift from a feisty and attractive widow who was hiding her own Royalist beliefs in plain sight. Even more alarming was that his quest took him into the heart of an enemy Parliamentarian household. Will Henry survive the fight of his life? And will Nan remember him if he does?

Theo Howard, Earl of Suffolk is torn. Betrothed to a child to satisfy his family dynasty, he longs for the freedom to make his own choice. And when he attends a lavish party at his family's newly-restored palace, he is immediately attracted to Lucy, a beautiful young lavender-seller. But in this enchanted world of Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night Dream, all is not as it appears. Theo's headstrong sister Frances is determined to sabotage her own arranged marriage, and aided by the cunning of Frances and her friend Barbara St.John, perhaps Theo can find his own path to happiness and true love.

When I wrote The Lady of the Tower, the story revealed itself in the narrative of my ancestress, Lucy St.John. But, as with all novels, other characters appeared, and their voices grew strong and insistent, demanding their own story be told.

A counterpoint is a melody played in conjunction with another, or an opposing viewpoint in an argument. Our lives are complex, and each one of us carries within us a counterpoint to another’s story. A man may fall in love and declare eternal fidelity. Or, he may be tricked into marrying another. By your sister.

Here is a counterpoint to Lucy St.John, the Lady of the Tower.

Barbara Villiers has always despised her sister Lucy, and when Theo Howard, Earl of Suffolk, fell in love with her, Barbara thought she'd die of jealousy. Instead, she decided to get even by befriending someone even more scandalous than herself, Theo's sister, Frances Howard, Countess of Somerset. Unfortunately, Frances was then imprisoned in the Tower of London, accused of murder, and Barbara had to find a way to turn this to her advantage - and continue her vendetta against Lucy. A sister may be loving, loyal, a dear friend. Or, she may wish to destroy everything you hold dear. This is a counterpoint to my novel about Lucy, The Lady of the Tower. Barbara Villiers Palmer is one of the most famous courtesans in history. Mistress to Charles II and mother of five of his children, Lady Castlemaine's notoriety is legendary. This is the story of her namesake and grandmother, Barbara St.John Villiers. The apple did not fall far from the tree.

London, 1649. Horrified eyewitnesses to King Charles’s bloody execution, Royalists Nan Wilmot and Frances Apsley plot to return the king’s exiled son to England’s throne, while their radical cousin Luce, the wife of king-killer John Hutchinson, rejoices in the new republic’s triumph. Nan exploits her high-ranking position as Countess of Rochester to manipulate England’s great divide, flouting Cromwell and establishing a Royalist spy network; while Frances and her husband Allen join the destitute prince in Paris’s Louvre Palace to support his restoration. As the women work from the shadows to topple Cromwell’s regime, their husbands fight openly for the throne on England’s bloody battlefields.But will the return of the king be a victory, or destroy them all? Separated by loyalty and bound by love, Luce, Nan and Frances hold the fate of England—and their family—in their hands. A true story based on surviving memoirs of Elizabeth St.John's family.

London, 1630. Widowed and destitute, Lucy St.John is fighting for survival and makes a terrible choice to secure a future for her children. Worse still, her daughter Luce rejects the royal court and a wealthy arranged marriage, and falls in love with a charismatic soldier. As England tumbles toward bloody civil war, Luce’s beloved brother Allen chooses to fight for the king as a cavalier. Allen and Luce are swept up in the chaos of war as they defend their opposing causes and protect those they love.

Will war unite or divide them? And will they find love and a home to return to—if they survive the horror of civil war. In the dawn of England’s great rebellion, love is the final battleground.

A true story based on surviving memoirs, court papers, and letters of Elizabeth St.John's family, By Love Divided continues the story of Lucy St.John, the Lady of the Tower. This powerfully emotional novel tells of England's great divide and the heart-wrenching choices one family faces.

London, 1609. When Lucy St.John, a beautiful highborn orphan at the court of King James, is seduced by the Earl of Suffolk, she never imagines the powerful enemy she creates in his beloved sister, the Countess of Rochester. Or that her own sister Barbara would betray her and force Lucy to leave the court in disgrace. Spirited, educated, and skilled in medicine and precious remedies, Lucy fights her way back into society, and through an unexpected love match, becomes mistress of the Tower of London. Living inside the walls of the infamous prison, she defies plague, political intrigues and tragic executions to tend to aristocratic prisoners and criminals alike.
Now married into the immensely powerful Villiers family, Barbara unites with the king’s favorite, the Duke of Buckingham, to raise the fortunes of Lucy and her family to dizzying heights. But with great wealth comes treachery, leaving Lucy to fight for her survival—and her honor—in a world of deceit and debauchery.
Elizabeth St.John’s critically acclaimed debut novel tells the true story of her ancestress Lucy through her family’s surviving diaries, letters, and court papers. Lucy’s personal friendships with historical figures such as Sir Walter Raleigh and the Stuart kings brings a unique perspective to the history of seventeenth century England.

Yöst has finally achieved his dream of becoming a fully-fledged cob, able to take to the skies, master of all he surveys. But the price is high and about to get higher. War is waiting on the horizon … and with it the arrival of Kapitein Death.
Once again Yöst will be faced with a choice. To fly with the carinatae, or stay and fight the enemy to keep those he loves safe.

1944 approaches and Europe is haemorrhaging under the yoke of their oppressors. Of the three children who survived the massacre, only two remain. Yöst has given his own life to rescue Rico, the boy he loved, and Maestro the musician and, in so doing, has bought himself immortality as people tell stories of the angel who gave them hope. Now it is up to Zande and Tatania to face both the majesty and complexity of the carinatae life – or will they renege, as did Albert Meijer, and choose a human life instead?

Best friends Ruth and Maidy live next door to one another. Stunningly beautiful, rich and wilful, Ruth has always insisted she will marry Pieter, Maidy’s eldest brother, only for him to vanish from their lives late one night. Is his disappearance linked to the arrival of the swans, feared as cursed and birds of ill-fortune?
What will happen when they return six years later, on the morning of Maidy’s sixteenthbirthday?

Three years have passed since the tragic events of that summer, when swans first visited the city and Maidy is on the way to New York, where Ruth, now a famous film star, is to be married. Promising Pappy to toss her memories overboard, this proves impossible when a chance encounter with a passenger brings back thoughts of Zande and the realisation that she still loves him.
On her return a casual job offer from Hans, to work in his art shop in Flambeau in France, brings Justine into Maidy’s life. But all too soon Ruth and Zande step out from the wings and reassume their dominance of events. Ruth re-awakens Hans’ boyhood passion for her, placing his relationship with Justine in jeopardy, and Zande?
Once again, both happiness and tragedy will find their way to Maidy’s door but is the ending already written?

Prequel Series to 'The Year the Swans Came'
Born into the carinatae, a race of shape-shifters and magical beings, Yöst believes his life in their island village wondrous – until death comes to call. In the guise of the local priest, who is determined to wipe the carinatae from the face of the earth, only Yöst and two young children, Zande, destined to be the next ruler, and Tatania, survive the massacre.

Aware the priest will not cease his search until they too are dead, Yöst begs sanctuary from Ramon, a gypsy farmer whose family fled the war in Spain and, unaware of their history, Ramon offers a home in return for work.

Unused to labour of any kind, Yöst strikes up a close friendship with Rico, the only son in a house full of girls, who helps him through the first difficult years. As their relationship strengthens and deepens, Yöst begins to think of staying and making his life there as a farmer … forgetting that as carinatae, his own date with destiny is fast approaching.

And so is death ...

Melonhead is a SHORT STORY. Enjoy!

People stop and look twice at Louis Smith. His gangly arms and legs and oversized head bring jeers as often as the sun rises. Lonely in a small town at the turn of the century, Louis finds joy with one particular girl, Hilde. Her parents notice the affection between the two and send her to finishing school. With bad luck doubling up on Louis, can he trust Hilde to return? Will his heart break once and for all? Set in Donora, Pennsylvania in the early 1900's, Louis asks himself the most basic question: Is he lovable? Is he doomed to more than his share of life's unfairness?