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The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy, Book 2
Amelia Mainwaring, a magically Gifted seer, is desperate to rescue the souls of her dead father and brother, who are trapped in a shadowy, wraith-filled land between life and death as the latest victims of their family curse. Lifting the curse requires clearing the name of King Richard III, who was wrongly accused of his nephews’ murder because of a mistake made by Amelia’s ancestor.
In London to seek help from a wizard scholar, Julian Winfield, Amelia has disturbing visions that warn of Napoleon Bonaparte’s escape from Elba and renewed war in Europe. A magical artifact fuels growing French support for Bonaparte. Can Amelia and Julian recover the artifact and deprive him of its power in time to avert the coming battles?
Their quest takes them from the crowded ballrooms of the London Season to the bloody field of Waterloo, demanding all of their courage, guile, and magical skill. Can they recover the artifact and stop Bonaparte? Or will all their hopes, along with Amanda’s father and brother, be doomed as a battle-weary Europe is once again engulfed in the flames of war?
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Q&A
When and where do you prefer to write?
Hi, Els, and thank you for having me!
I do best at my desk. I have sunlight coming in the window in front of me during the day and my resources handy.
Do you need peace and quiet when you are writing?
Absolutely. Neighbors who insist on sharing their music with everyone within several blocks are a problem for me. Words coming into my ears interfere with the words forming in my head. When I have to deal with that, I put on orchestral music (because no lyrics) and headphones.
If you had the chance to co-write a book. Whom would it be with?
I actually am collaborating now on a series. Jeanne Adams and I co-write the Outcast Station science fiction mystery adventure series. Both of us enjoy action adventure, space opera, and explosions, so we’re a good fit. We’ve had a lot of fun with the series. [[Insert Welcome to Outcast Station cover, for which I own the usage rights.]]
We’ve released two books so far. Both include one novella written by each of us. In the next year, we’ll each do a solo novel and then we’ll co-write the last novel in this arc. We co-plot everything, but actual co-writing will be a new experience for us both.
Say someone asks if they can use your name in a book. Would you rather be the ‘good one’ or the ‘bad one’?
My first reaction is “Oh, the good one.” But being the bad one could be a lot of fun!
Who would you like/have liked to interview?
I would love to interview Richard III. He could answer all the questions surrounding his reign and possibly many of those about two of the supposed pretenders to Henry VII’s throne, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck.
Where can I find you when you are reading?
In a comfy chair somewhere in the house or out in the back yard. I sometimes sit outside to read before the summer gets humid. The dog, a/k/a The Boss, likes company when she goes out to guard the yard from squirrels, birds, and other evil interlopers.
Where can I find you when you are not writing/reading?
I’m often on neighborhood patrol with The Boss. I’m not a gardener since plants under my care tend to die. I do like the beach and the mountains, though of course opportunities for visiting those have been very limited for a while.
What goes through your mind when you hold your new book in your hands for the first time?
It’s usually something along the lines of “Oh, yeah” and a deep sense of satisfaction. Writing a book and then shepherding it through the stages of publication is a fairly lengthy process. Holding the first copy of the book is a nice wrapup for that.
How do you come up with a title for your book?
The title usually relates to something in the book. One of the characters in The Herald of Day, the first book of the Boar King’s Honor trilogy, says, early on, “I am the herald of day.” There’s a twist on that later in the book, but that line is what inspired the title.
In the second and third books, The Steel Rose and The King’s Champion, the title is a line from one character’s description of another.
How do you pick a cover for your book?
For indie books, I commission a cover so I can have it exactly as I like it. My idea for it is drawn from some element or elements in the story. I tell the cover designer, Lyndsey Lewellen of Llewellen Designs, what I have in mind and then get out of her way. If I give her a concept and don’t try to micromanage, she produces what I asked for except much, much better.
Jeanne and I came up with the concepts for the Outcast Station covers, and Lyndsey, again, gave us much-improved versions of our ideas.
For non-indie books, the publisher has the final say-so. Depending on the publisher, the author may or may not have substantial input. I already had the covers for this trilogy when Falstaff picked it up. They were happy with those covers, so we went with them.
Thanks again for hosting me today!
Thank you, Nancy Northcott and The Coffee Pot Book Club
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About the Author
Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance. She combines the emotion and high stakes, and sometimes the magic, she loves in the books she writes.
She has written freelance articles and taught at the college level. Her most popular course was on science fiction, fantasy, and society. She has also given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about Richard III. Reviewers have described her books as melding fantasy, romance, and suspense. Library Journal gave her debut novel, Renegade, a starred review, calling it “genre fiction at its best.”
In addition to the historical fantasy Boar King’s Honor trilogy, Nancy writes the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances, the Arachnid Files romantic suspense novellas, and the Lethal Webs romantic spy adventures. With Jeanne Adams, she cowrites the Outcast Station science fiction mysteries.
Married since 1987, Nancy and her husband have one son, a bossy dog, and a house full of books.
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Author Links
Website: https://www.NancyNorthcott.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/nancynorthcottauthor
Twitter: https://www.Twitter.com/nancynorthcott
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nancy-northcott
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Northcott/e/B00ITY5KLS
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3468806.Nancy_Northcot
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Book Links
This novel is available to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.
Universal Link: readerlinks.com/l/1794929
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steel-Rose-Kings-Honor-Trilogy-
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645540863
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Steel-Rose-Kings-Honor-Trilogy-
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1645540863
B for Bookreview 