Leaving
the safety of her nunnery walls behind, Dame Frevisse is drawn into an
unholy web of treachery and deceit. Waylaid on the King's Highway by a
band of outlaws, Frevisse is shocked to discover that their leader is
her long-lost cousin Nicholas. When he pleads with her to help him
obtain a pardon for his crimes, she finds herself trapped between the
harsh edicts of the law and the mercy of her vows.
But
even as she struggles to restore his fortunes, Frevisse
must fight
to save his soul... and his life. Before the outlaw's tale can be told,
the saintly nun will find herself locked in a manor house of murder,
caught between the holy passions of the heart and the sinful greeds of
man.
No
specific timeline on when the short stories will be made available, but
the novels should be released simultaneously on both platforms going
forward. (Although B&N's is apparently having some issues
processing new titles, so although titles will be submitted to both
stores simultaneously, I've been told there's no way to guarantee that
there won't be a delay on their end.)
- Margaret
February 10th, 2011
Since The Outlaw's Tale was made available for the Kindle and Nook
earlier this year, I've received many e-mails asking me when the book
would be made available in print again or where printed copies can be
obtained.
I wish I knew the answer to the former question. I'm afraid that's something that's currently beyond my control.
I'm
afraid I don't have an answer for the second question, either. In fact,
I only have a single copy of the original paperback left myself. While
digging through boxes last month, however, I came across a copy of the
Uncorrected Proof that was sent out for The Outlaw's Tale back in 1993.
Since
so many people want a copy of this book that they can hold in their
hands, I thought this might be appreciated. I've asked my webmaster to
put it up for auction on eBay, and you can find it here.
Just
so you're clear on what you're getting: These Uncorrected Proofs were
distributed to reviewers, and then most of them were destroyed. They
don't have cover art, and the binding is very cheap in general. It's
larger than the actual paperback, however, measuring at 8.5" x 5.25".
(You can see a picture up above.)
I'll be signing this copy before sending it out to the winner. And I'll also personalize it however the winner would like.
The Boy's Tale
is 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.
SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN...
A dark lady rides back into the life
of Dame Frevisse, bearing with her two small boys haunted by the touch
of death and scandal. Nine men lie dead on the road behind them,
victims of the grim fate which relentlessly pursues them. Some seek to
turn them away, but when they request sanctuary Frevisse is bound by
her holy oaths to grant it.
But in welcoming them within the
walls of St. Frideswide, has Dame Frevisse allowed death to stalk the
nunnery's halls? When she begins to untangle the mystery of these
strange guests, the truth she discovers may be enough to doom them all.
Forced to keep secrets better left untold even from the nuns of her own
order, Frevisse is caught in a crucible between faith and duty.
To learn the boy's name is to be drawn into a conspiracy of shame. To hear the boy's tale is to face death.
The Boy’s Tale is
the fifth in Dame Frevisse’s series and came after three books
where the
weather was terrible.I would like to
say right here and now that the weather in those books was Not My
Fault.From chronicles of the time we know
there
were three years of cold, wet, harvest-wrecking weather at the
time those books
were set.I didn’t plan it that way; it
just happened and I was stuck with it because I try to root my
stories as
deeply into accurate history as possible.
But by the time I came
to plot The Boy’s Tale, I was thoroughly tired
of writing about bad weather. Fortunately, we have
no record of exactly when the royal scandal at the center of the book broke open in 1436, and thatleft me
free to set my story whenever I wanted in that year.Hence,
it takes place in warm and splendid
summer weather simply because I was tired of being wet and cold.Such is the “subtlety” underlying some
authorial decisions!
Many, many years ago – long before Dame
Frevisse came into
being – I wrote a (never published) YA novel with a young boy as
the main
character and found how limiting a child’s viewpoint was.I intended to never limit myself that way
again,
but as you can see in The Boy’s Tale
– I did.More than that, I actually had
a good time with it, possibly because by then I had experienced my
two sons
growing through that stage of life.On
the other hand, I did (and occasionally still do) receive grief
from at least
one friend who – as an ardent supporter of Richard III – protests
my
sympathetic treatment of the future father and uncle of the man
who defeated
Richard III.While the book was being
written, my friend kept pleading for me to change history and kill
the
children.Since I couldn’t do that, we
compromised on . . . well, you’ll have to read the book to see
what I did
instead.
