A GOTHIC ROMANCE.
MISTY MOORS. ANCIENT SECRETS. FORBIDDEN PASSIONS.

Her mother had always been afraid. That’s what Damaris remembered. From the time she was a little girl until the day her mother died, she had seen the fear in her eyes.

But now she understood. Now she was afraid, too.

Young Damaris wanted more than anything to be happy at Thornoak, the ancient manor owned by her aunt and uncle. Adventuring through the wide, open beauty of the Dale in the company of her rambunctious cousins she rediscovered a joy she had thought lost with the death of her parents. And in the deep, storm-tossed eyes of Lauran Ashbrigg she was surprised to find an entirely new emotion.

But even under the warm and inviting sun, Damaris is chilled by the undeniable fact that the family which claims to welcome and love her is hiding truths from her: The truth of the Lady Stone. The truth of the Old Ways. The truth of moon and star and witchcraft.

The truth of her mother’s death.

Kindle Edition – Kindle UK – Nook Edition – Smashwords

I’ve been waiting a long time for this.

It started back in 1983 or 1984. I had two young sons I had just reared out of infancy and it had been a long time since I had written everything. I needed to prove to myself that I could still do it. So when my husband took the children for a vacation to visit their grandmother and aunt in California, I spent my own vacation (from them!) to write Circle of Witches.

I proved my point, and a few years later that gave me the confidence to take the leap in writing The Novice’s Tale and launching my professional career.

Over the past twenty-plus years, however, I have periodically submitted Circle of Witches to agents and publishers — the gatekeepers of the written word in 20th century America. And I received the same response time and time again: “What a wonderful book! But I don’t know how to market it.” Or who to sell it to. Or who might buy it.

Apparently it is not historical enough to be a historical novel; nor romantic enough to be a romance novel; nor lurid enough to be a horror novel. People enjoy reading it, but the industry doesn’t know who they can sell it to. And so you haven’t been allowed to see it.

But the world has changed. The success of independent publishing being driven by the Kindle, Nook, and iPad — which I have experienced first-hand in reissuing my out-of-print Frevisse novels — allows authors like me to bypass the gatekeepers and marketers and deliver the book straight to the readers.

And I am so very excited, at long last, to be able to offer this book to all of you.

So, if Circle of Witches doesn’t fit comfortably into an existing genre, what sort of books is it? A gothic romance in the classic sense of the term: Strange secrets lurking the forgotten recesses of ancient manor houses. Damsels in distress. Dark mystery mixed with starry-eyed romance.

Or, as my son insists on saying, “it’s like Twilight and Jane Austen had a baby”. (He is truly a comfort to me in my declining years…)

Circle of Witches has been released for both the Kindle and the Nook. It can also be read on any iPad, Android, Windows PC, Mac, or Blackberry device using either the free Kindle Reading Apps or the free Nook Apps for those platforms. It will also be available through the iBookstore and Kobo.com shortly, but those outlets take much longer to process new e-books than Amazon or B&N.

– Margaret