Find out how I started out as a published writer and how long my (*blush*) apprenticeship was by checking out this article in the Wiltshire Times. Also, discover how to get a bit of recognition for your own writing.

If you do, all well and good- I’ll tell you about three contests currently going on where you can try your luck. And if you need cheering up, you might like to immerse yourself in my latest Tudor era romance, LORD OF MISTRUST. As this is release day, it’s still only $0.99 or £0.77, but you’ll need to get your copy NOW before the book goes up to its normal price of $2.99.

Here’s the blurb-

Headstrong Chloe dresses as a boy and runs away to her birth mother to escape a horrendous marriage. She’s shocked to discover that her parent owns a bawdy house, and is in no position to help- nor will she reveal the identity of Chloe’s father. When a street accident throws Chloe into the lap of the tempting Robert Mallory, he offers distraction and adventure, but his stubborn refusal to trust her endangers them both.

Hot-headed Robert Mallory is battling to protect his sister, his livelihood, and his honor. He’s a spy who can’t follow the rules and distrusts everyone, particularly the delectable young woman from the bordello. Having endangered her, then rescued her from a nest of traitors, he learns that Chloe is the natural daughter of the one man he can’t afford to upset, Sir Mortimer Fowler. Offering marriage to save Chloe’s reputation is out of the question, as Fowler needs her for bait in a deadly trap.

Robert is faced with an impossible choice. He’s desperate to save Chloe, but if he follows his heart, the security of the entire realm is at risk.

Also only available for TODAY is the contest I’ll be running in the Dragonblade Facebook group where’ll I’ll be giving away books, a gift card and offering an insight into LORD OF MISTRUST through a fun multiple-choice quiz.

Running until July 4th is the Dragonblade $25 Gift Card and paperback giveaway. You can have several chances to win, so it’s well worth a shot!

If you want to check out a wonderful historical blog, why not pop over to the Coffee Pot Book Club? You can find out more about my Tudor era TRYSTS AND TREACHERY SERIES as well as win yourself some signed papaerbacks (for UK winners only).

Need cheering up? Grab these free “HISTORICAL ROMANCES WORTH FALLING FOR”!
35+ romances & a chance to win a $50 gift card!
Get your books HERE.
Enter to win gift card HERE.

So, what personal accessories might a Tudor lady have? When I was a Living History re-enactor at Kentwell Hall’s Tudor re-creations, I had a basket, a bag and a belt for carrying everything I was likely to need for the day. Modern items were concealed beneath a cloth on my basket. My eating and drinking utensils lived in either my basket or my coarse-weave shoulder bag, and smaller items were suspended from my belt.

You may not approve of everything I carried around with me, but I was really trying to get into the Tudor mind-set and truth was, a lot of people were superstitious, particularly in rural communities. Hence the lucky rabbit’s foot. There is also a mole’s “spade” in the photo, worn for its healing properties. I assure you, both animals had died of natural causes before the items were taken. We didn’t like to waste ANYTHING.

You can see in the photo the Tudor “turnshoes” made for me by my wonderful partner, Tim, who taught himself the art of shoemaking and cobbling. He had to do a lot of that at his very first Kentwell because the weather was so wet, everyone’s homemade shoes kept falling apart!

You will also see my coin purse, known as a hanging pocket. Pockets as we know them today weren’t really “in” until later in the Sixteenth century. I suspended both pocket and lucky animal feet from my belt with leather loops.

Also in the photo is a rosary. This is an exact replica of one found on the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s favourite battleship, which sank in the Solent in 1545. By that time, such symbols of the Catholic faith were not commonly found amongst Englishmen. Catholicism returned with Queen Mary in 1553 but became increasingly unwelcome under Elizabeth 1^st, and you would do well to keep any Catholic sympathies well-hidden, or risk inquisition by Sir Francis Walsingham and his spy network.

At risk of going on about being a re-enactor at Kentwell Hall, I have another photo to share with you. As I mentioned before, participants in this Tudor era Living History experience had to look and sound authentic, and their utensils and tools had to be authentic too.

Of course, we all needed to eat, whether there were visitors or schoolchildren present or not. No sandwiches, baked potatoes or tomatoes for the Tudors! They weren’t introduced until the late Sixteenth Century.

Mostly we ate pottage, a kind of bean stew to which you can add whatever you can get your hands on that won’t poison you! Everyone had their own bowl and wooden spoon, or a pewter spoon if you were gentry level or noble. Or just stinking rich. I still have my horn beaker, spoons, and wooden bowl, as well as my eating knife- a modern replica of a genuine Elizabethan knife dug up on an archaeological site in London.

The paintings of Pieter Breughel are a very good reference source for Tudor era clothing, accessories, and eating utensils.

This photo shows my personal eating implements. My latten (pewter) spoon and knife were hung from my belt so they were always to hand. And when I worked in the Tudor kitchen, I had a cutting knife too.

Okay, so TODAY is the day my Tudor romance LORD OF THE FOREST launches. I would love you to take a look at a book which readers are finding a lot of fun (as I intended it to be), featuring a hero I call my “Tudor Tarzan”.

I would also love it if you could spare a little time to pop over to the Dragonblade Readers group today and join me for a quirky quiz. You’ll get a chance to win a $10 Gift Card and some ebooks. Join me here- https://www.facebook.com/groups/274839866984258/ between 4 & 5 pm EST (9-10 pm GMT/UTC). Good luck!

To celebrate the release of Tudor romance LORD OF THE FOREST, I have some signed paperbacks of the first two books in the TRYSTS AND TREACHERY series to give away to lucky UK readers. There are two ways to win. If you don’t already, then please follow me on Bookbub, and let me know what your Bookbub name is so you can be entered into the draw. Here’s the link to Bookbub- https://www.bookbub.com/profile/elizabeth-keysian. If you are already a follower on Bookbub, then please pop over to my Twitter page and like and retweet the pinned tweet. Please remember, this is a contest for UK winners only (due to postage issues) but if you live elsewhere and want a chance to win some ebooks, I’ll be giving away some of these in the Dragonblade Readers Group on 27th/28th October. Here’s the link- https://www.facebook.com/groups/274839866984258/

Separating Fact from Fiction

 By Tonya Ulynn Brown

Some portions of this post have been taken from the Separating Fact from Fiction section at the back of The Queen’s Almoner.

Although Thomas Broune is a fictional character, his and Mary’s story is woven around many of the events that happened in Mary’s life. The ill-fated life of Mary Stuart reveals that she was doomed from the very beginning of her return to Scotland. Mother and fatherless, and without a consort to consult, she was thrown into a role for which she had been ill-prepared. Raised to be the wife of a king, one must question whether she was truly prepared to single-handedly take up the reins of the monarch and rule with the grit required of a sixteenth century sovereign.

Mary was renowned for her kindness and her actions prove that she thought more with her heart than with her head. Ruling during a time of great upheaval of reformation within the church, she is the voiceless victim of many a greedy and ambitious man. I can accept that she may have been a weak ruler, but I refuse to accept that she was the conniving, conspiring harlot that many attribute her to be. From her half-brother Lord James Stewart, to her third and final husband (who shall remain nameless for the sake of not spoiling it for readers) and every man in between (and even those after her arrest in England which I do not mention in my story at all) she came in contact time and time again with smart, strong men that could have been of great assistance to her, had they chosen to do so.

Out of this belief was born the character of Thomas Broune. I was determined to give Mary someone who could guide her and love her through all her missteps in the courts of Scotland. I wanted someone who might shed light on why Mary may have made some of her decisions. I used the events that surrounded her life, then created conversations that might have led up to the actions that she took. Thomas was loyal and sensible and selfless. All the things that Mary needed in an advisor, but never had in reality. However, for the sake of true history, he ultimately could not save her. As much as I contemplated the idea of writing an alternate historical ending for Mary, in the end, I just couldn’t do it. Perhaps it was out of respect for her memory and what she endured. Who knows.

The term almoner is not heard too much in today’s vernacular. Almoners were responsible for the distribution of alms to the poor. They served in a role much like what a pastor would do today. Mary did indeed have an almoner. He was a part of her household and with her while she was under house arrest in England. He was a French Jesuit named De Préau (in some accounts he is called De Préan or even, Le Préau). In reality, De Préau was a Catholic clergyman, not Protestant, as I have made Thomas. And of course, there was never any romantic inclinations between Mary and her true almoner. He served as her confessor and spiritual advisor, guided her in prayers and gave other spiritual advice.

De Préau was mentioned in Mary’s last will and testament. She requested that he be allowed to continue to receive two stipends that he had previously enjoyed. She also asked that the king allow the almoner to continue in his service and be given some small allowance that he might pray for Mary’s soul for the rest of his life.

References for Images:

https://pixabay.com/photos/middle-ages-knight-monarch-man-3947821/

https://pixabay.com/photos/fairy-queen-fairy-queen-fantasy-3420136/

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Barnes and Noble

Sometimes loyalty to the queen comes at a cost.

Thomas Broune is a Reformer and childhood friend of the young queen, Mary Stuart. When Mary embarks on a new life in her estranged homeland of Scotland, Thomas is there to greet her and offer his renewed friendship. But the long-time friends grow closer, and Thomas realizes his innocent friendship has grown into something more. Yet he is a man of the cloth. Mary is the queen of the Scots. Both of them have obligations of an overwhelming magnitude: he to his conscience and she to her throne. 

When he must choose between loyalty to his queen or his quiet life away from her court, he finds that the choice comes at a high price. Driven by a sense of obligation to protect those he loves, and crippled by his inability to do so, Thomas must come to terms with the choices he has made and find a peace that will finally lay his failures to rest.

Here’s where you can buy the book-

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Barnes and Noble

Here’s a little bit more about the author-

Tonya Ulynn Brown was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, USA, but now calls southeastern Ohio home. She spent her younger years right out of college, living in Europe and teaching English as a second language. She attributes her time in Eastern Europe as being one of great personal growth, where her love for history, the classics, and all things European was born. Tonya holds a Master’s degree in Teaching and is now an elementary school teacher where she uses her love of history and reading to try to inspire younger generations to learn, explore and grow. Along with all the historical characters that she entertains in her head, she lives with her husband, two sons and a very naughty Springer Spaniel. Her mother has also joined their home, making for a cozy and complete little family.

Connect with Tonya:

Website • Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • Goodreads.