Last excerpt from Maid of the Midlands

I had an agent refuse to represent this book because the
hero wasn't a knight or lord and the heroine a lady. But I found the working
class characters more colorful to write about and much more appealing. I hope
the readers will also. And for those readers who like this book, there is a sequel already written about Matilda's and Jondalar's three children, set in the time of the Gunpowder Plot, and Guy Fawkes is my historical character in that one.

Excerpt:

Unmindful that she wore no
gown, the maid ran headlong down the stairs and flung herself upon the
prostrate guard. Her hands feverishly
examined his muscular chest, seeking the source of his wound, and touched the
leather thong about his neck. And when she saw the medal hanging from it in the
fold of his tunic, she knew at once he loved her still.

“Jondalar,” she wept
profusely, “speak to me. Please do not
die. I would not want to live without
you.”

Willy Douglas shook his head
in bewilderment. Then, seeing the maid
was in a state of undress, he placed his cloak upon her shoulders to spare her
further shame.

Jondalar groaned weakly.

“He lives,” Matilda said
joyously. “We must tend his wounds at
once before all his blood is drained.”

She tore a strip from her
clean white underskirt and sought to staunch the copious flow from his
side. Another shot had grazed his head
and sticky crimson mingled with his copper-colored hair making it impossible to
separate the two.

“My dearest,” she
crooned. “I will take care of you. All will be well.”

“Huh?” the guard opened his
eyes and seeing Matilda so close to his face, blinked as if to verify the
vision.

“Jondalar, please speak to
me,” she entreated once more.

“Me luv,” he whispered, “. .
. save the . . . queen.”

Do you hear what I hear?

In Maid of the Midlands, I've maintained a part of the
dialect of the sixteenth century and used some of the Yorkshire accents that
still exist today. I first wrote the book with heavy dialect but deleted some
of it in my last revision for easier reading. I couldn't bear to modernize the
speech patterns and give up these colorful words and phrases completely.

Leave your comments for a chance to win one of four digital
copies I'll be giving away today.

Blurb:

When Mary, Queen of Scots, is sent to Hafton Castle, Matilda
becomes her waiting-lady. The comely maid loves Jondalar, a stalwart castle
guard who returns her affection but places his greed to succeed above all else.
After Matilda nurses the queen through a fever, she rewards the maid with a
valuable ruby. Jondalar plots with the young lord of the castle to rid the
Crown of the captive queen in return for a promotion in the guard. When Matilda
discovers the plan, she risks her life to warn the queen. As Mary journeys
toward her next destination, Matilda and Jondalar separately travel the English
countryside in pursuit of her. Jondalar had a change of heart and also seeks to
warn the queen but Matilda is unaware of this as they dodge each other enroute.
When Jondalar almost loses the maid he loves, will he realize what really
matters?

Excerpt:

Half-dazed with weariness,
Matilda saw the Longbow Inn appear before her. From the soldiers camped all about, she was certain that the queen was
captive here. With a sigh of great
relief the maid climbed down from the trusty stallion and swayed as she tried
to stand.

“Halt, and state yer
business, lad.” The soldier stood before
her, musket aimed and ready.

“I am here to see the
Scottish queen, sir,” Matilda answered.

“Why think ye that a queen be
here?”

“I know this company. I have come from Hafton Castle, same as
yourself. I am Matilda, waiting-lady for
Queen Mary.”

“Ha!” The soldier laughed loudly. “Ye must think me blind, ye little beggar.”

Matilda stomped her tattered
leather slipper. “You must believe me,
sir. I have a message of importance--”

“Hear ye the lad? A message?” He turned toward another soldier standing beside him and smirked, then
snarled, “Be gone at once.”

Matilda dragged the woolen
cap from off her head and tangled flaxen curls fell about her shoulders. “Behold, sir, I am Matilda from Lord Hafton's
castle. I bring a message of importance
from my lord.” The message did concern
Lord Hafton, she reasoned, though not directly from him.

“Where is this message,
maid?” the soldier questioned warily.

“Why, it was lost as I journeyed these five days,
sir. But I recall it word for word if
you but give me audience with the queen.”

A real-life character in a make-believe book

My husband and I often
traveled with National Holidays. On a weekend in Scotland, we visited
Edinburgh and in Holyrood Palace I saw the
bed where Mary Queen of Scots had slept. It was rather nondescript, unlike
another bed we saw encased in glass because of its fine bedcovering. This
contrast stayed in my mind and made me think of how Queen Mary had been
relegated to unimportance.

The Queen of Scots has an important
role in this book.

I'm celebrating the release
of Maid of the Midlands with four free digital copies given to readers who
leave comments today.

Excerpt:

True to his word, the guard
led Matilda to a bed of such abundance that she gasped with pleasure. For a time, they gathered the mushrooms in
silence. Finally, the maid had filled
her basket to overflowing, and she stood to take her leave.

“I must be about my duties,”
she said reluctantly.

Jondalar stayed her with a
longing look. “Not yet, me
dearest.” He stepped closer and took her
basket and set it on the ground, then caught her in a fierce embrace. “It is this I have been pining for.”

Matilda nestled against his
massive chest and wrapped her arms around him.
He pulled her even closer until she could scarcely breathe.

“I long to lay with ye,
Matilda,” he whispered, “and make ye truly me own. If ye but say the word?”

Matilda felt the earth
spinning around her at his words. Was
not this what she had also longed for?
For one impetuous moment she was tempted to give herself to him here in
the shadows of the cool, dark woods.
Then Lady Hafton's repeated admonitions prevailed and she shook her
head.

“Nay. I cannot...much as I wish.” Her cheeks flamed with the admission, but her
honest nature would not allow her to deceive the man she loved.

“Aye, sweet Matilda. Yer innocence is the part of ye I love the
best. And it would be wrong to besmirch
it.”

He held her away from him and
gazed at her lovingly, and she thought her thundering heart would surely burst
with happiness. The guard had said he
loved her!

“We have no means for
marrying,” Jondalar told her sadly. “But
if ye bind yerself to me in secret, I doubt not the time will soon come that I
can take ye for me wife.”

Matilda's brilliant smile
told Jondalar her answer before she spoke.
And her words were lost in a long kiss that sealed the promise.

Win a digital copy of Maid of the Midlands

In 1999-2000 my husband and I
lived in Kingston-upon-Hull in East Yorkshire. Our second floor flat overlooked
the River Humber which flowed into the North Sea. It was an experience I will
never forget. I immediately learned that I didn't speak English; I spoke
American and Southern American at that! My newest release, Maid of the
Midlands, was an indirect result of that time in my life.

Correlating with the fourth
day of March, I'll be giving away 4
digital copies of Maid of the Midlands today. Please comment and check back for
the winners.

Blurb:

Matilda is honored to be chosen to serve the captive queen
of Scotland when she is brought to Hafton Castle in the Midlands. Her devoted
service soon earns Queen Mary's affection. The lovely maid's innocent heart is
captured by Jondalar, a handsome, stalwart castle guard and they hope to wed.
But when Matilda learns of the guard's
betrayal of the queen she must chose between loyalty and love.

Excerpt:

All evening, Jondalar had
watched Matilda as she wove gracefully in and out among the dancing figures. He
made a valiant effort to curb his jealousy of her eager partners, but his
control was strained almost to breaking point by the one who claimed her now.
Seeing their sudden approach, the guard was caught in a dilemma. He had recognized the young Lord Hafton as
the one half-dragging the helpless Matilda toward the darkness and his first
impulse was to run his sword through the blackguard. But common sense curbed his violent thought,
and he merely put a well-placed foot in the lord's path causing him to fall
headfirst onto the stone floor. A brief
commotion ensued while valets rushed to aid the fallen lord and carry him to
his chamber to be tended.

Matilda looked into the eyes
of the man who had rescued her and smiled gratefully. Her cheeks were infused with a rosy glow as
she gasped quick breaths that caused her bosom to rise and fall seductively in
her low-cut gown. Suddenly overcome by
his desire for the beguiling maid who stood before him, Jondalar pulled her
into the shadows of the courtyard. There
on the cobblestones he swept her into his strong arms and swung her about in
time to the music.

At last he stopped but did
not remove his arms that encircled her.
“I have wanted to do that with ye meself all of this night,” he said
softly. “And this.”

He slowly lifted her dainty
white mask and kissed her thoroughly.
“There,” he said with a satisfied sigh.
“Was that not the best dance of the ball, I ask ye?”

“Yes, oh yes,” she said fervently,
then added reluctantly, “but I fear I must go back now.”

“And meself as well, before
we both are missed,”