Hi guys!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're playing host to another Rachel's Random Resources tour, as we shine the book spotlight on a title currently making its way through the blogosphere. It's a story filled with ghosts, revenge, and a plot to stop the avenging spirit. Sounds good, right? Well then, keep reading for more about the book, and then read some more as the author shares how frustrating it can be to deal with characters who were never meant to grace the page! Ladies and gents, today's title in the spotlight...
Kindred Spirits: Regal Retribution
by
Jennifer C. Wilson
About the book...
A visit to London’s West End sends an already angry ghost into a fury, vowing revenge on those he believes have wronged him in life (and in death).
Soon, the attacks begin – across the city and beyond – revealing that rarest of beings: haunted ghosts!
When a pattern starts to emerge, a council is established to formulate a plan, but can they work out who is behind the hauntings? As the severity escalates, can the combined force stop the avenging spirit, before the worst happens?
Bringing together the ghostly communities of the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and other places, discover friendships and feuding in the race to retaliation…
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~~~ GUEST POST ~~~
The characters I never meant to write about…
by Author Jennifer Wilson
wanted to write about, somehow niggle their way into my brain, then out onto the page. Very frustrating.
When I was writing Kindred Spirits: Westminster Abbey, I had already decided that my main characters were going to be the ghosts of Mary I and Elizabeth I, with their feud being just too good not to write about. Once they were in the mix, then adding Mary, Queen of Scots seemed obvious, just to push Elizabeth even further over the edge, and then Margaret Beaufort to really finish things off.
Now, not that I don’t love a good bit of historical girl power, but writing it all up, I knew I needed a leading man to balance things out a bit. As an ardent Ricardian, frustratingly, only one man seemed to make logical sense. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, he had familial connections to all of the women already involved, and I had already been toying with the idea of bringing his wife into the story too. Yup, I was going to have to write about Henry VII. That was an annoying epiphany to have whilst sitting quietly in the pub, enjoying my glass of wine and not causing anyone any bother.
Still, once he was there, it did mean I could have a slight bit of revenge on Richard’s behalf, throwing the two men together, and of course, making my leading man come out on top.
They’re together again in Kindred Spirits: Regal Retribution – their third major outing together now, in my ghostly world, having previously been seen together at the start of Kindred Spirits: York, visiting their respective museums built into the city walls.
But back to the ghost I didn’t want to write about in this book.
A few years ago, at one of my book launches, I was asked if there was a ghost I’d never write about for a Kindred Spirits story. I answered immediately, without hesitation, because there was a spirit I didn’t wanted to be involved in my books. But then, at the end of Kindred Spirits: Ephemera, it felt there was something missing at the end of my short story set in Windsor Castle. I couldn’t put my finger on it, until suddenly, I could. The answer was staring me in the face. It was The Ghost I Didn’t Want To Write About.
I’m still not going to say their name, but suffice to say, suspicions come to the surface pretty quickly once you get going in the book. It was good fun, as well, to have them turning up in a book entirely on my terms, and show how things have turned for them over the years, compared to the ghosts they tried to torment as the story progressed. It’s something I’ve always found fascinating, how a person’s story can change over time.
Take Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Cast aside and buried without full due regard in their day, but now, plaques to their memory are two of the most observed spots in the Tower of London. That twisting and turning of public attitudes towards people is definitely something I’ve enjoyed writing about in the Kindred Spirits series, even if it hasn’t always included characters I liked!
What’s even more annoying is when one of the characters you’ve been avoiding for so long turns into one of your favourites… Richard might still always win out overall, but Henry VII has certainly grown on me over the last few years. Last December, when I was in Westminster Abbey, I visited the grave of him and Elizabeth of York, and it was nice to pay respects, properly, rather than simply notice his grave, and grumble at the way he treated Richard’s remains in comparison. Time really does heal all wounds!
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About the author...
Jennifer has been stalking dead monarchs since she was a child. It started with Mary, Queen of Scots, then moved onto Richard III. At least now it results in a story!
She won North Tyneside Libraries' Story Tyne short story competition in 2014 (no dead monarchs, but still not a cheerful read), and has been filling notebooks and hard-drives ever since. Her Kindred Spirits series, following the 'lives' of some very interesting ghostly communities, is published by Darkstroke, and her historical romances by Ocelot Press.
Jennifer is currently exploring some new ideas for historical romance, and hoping to visit Kindred Spirit friends old and new, north of the border...
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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the author for the guest post. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today and be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
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