Friday, November 20, 2020

New Release: The Tobacconist's Wife!

 

 "The Tobacconist's Wife is a very engaging story despite the domestic violence that makes Thea's life such a misery. How she escapes her abusive marriage takes the reader on an emotional journey through heartache and loss..." #HFVBTBlogTours @annemariebrear #books #giveaway

The Tobacconist’s Wife – New Release!

Can Thea escape her misery and break from the conventions of society? Or will the clutches of her abusive husband confine her forever?

#historicalsaga #Victoriansaga #Yorkshire #historicalfiction

Amazon: https://relinks.me/B08G9N75NX

 

Monday, November 16, 2020

The Mysticism of Cornwall - The Cheesewring

 I had never written a historical fantasy before, but time travel has always interested me. My novel, Beyond the Fall, was my first fantasy, sending a woman from the 21st century back to the 18th c. after she explores a neglected graveyard in Cornwall, England.

Cornwall became an obsession of mine. I've set several books there and read about the mysteries attached to this portion of England. My husband I traveled to North Cornwall for the first time to research one of my historical novels. On a misty, foggy day (how appropriate) we walked on the Bodmin Moor. The first sign we encountered was a tiny one that said Cheesewring with an arrow. In those dark ages days before the internet was so readily available, we scratched our heads, wondering what this could be.

Traipsing the mysterious moor over scrubby grass, glared at by disturbed sheep, I saw a strange rock formation in the distance and insisted my husband take my picture with it. Only when we arrived home, and I researched in a book I had, did I find that this granite tor had been the Cheesewring.

 


Located on the southern edge of the Bodmin Moor, the Cheesewring, or in Cornish, Keuswask, is a geological formation on Stowe’s Hill formed by centuries of weathering—harsh winds and rain. The name is derived from the piled slabs that resemble a cheese press.

Thirty-two feet in height, the tor is top-heavy, the fifth and sixth rocks of immense size and thickness. Four lower rocks support them, all perfectly irregular, the towering formation having no lateral support as it clings to the steep hill. It’s said the formation spewed from the earth, and crystallized as tubular granite.

 In local legend, the Cheesewring is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. The giants who dwelled in the Cornish caves were angry when Christianity was first introduced to the British Islands. The Saints had invaded their land, and the largest giant Uther was sent to chase them out. The frail Saint Tue proposed a rock throwing contest. If he won, the giants had to convert to Christianity. If Uther won, the Saints would leave Cornwall.

Uther easily threw a small rock to the top of Stowe’s Hill. Tue prayed for assistance. He picked up a huge slab, and found it miraculously light. They continued throwing, stacking the stones in perfect piles. When the score was twelve each, Uther tossed a thirteenth, but it rolled down the hill. Tue picked up his fallen stone, and as he lifted it an angel appeared to carry the slab to the top of the rock pile. At seeing this, Uther conceded, and most of the giants converted to Christianity.

In a book on Arthurian Legend, it’s said that the slabs turn and twist at certain times of the year. Or when the tor hears a cock crow.


Located adjacent to the Cheesewring Quarry and surrounded by other granite formations, this landmark was threatened with destruction in the late nineteenth century by the proximity of blasting operations, but was saved as a result of local activism.

 Later, to indulge in my time travel fantasy, I wrote Beyond the Fall.

Blurb: In Cornwall, England, Tamara researches her ancestors. Among gravestones she tumbles back to 1789 in the midst of grain riots. Will she fall for the secretive farmer, Colum, or struggle to return to her own time? Highly Recommended ~ History and Women

To purchase Beyond the Fall click HERE

For more on Diane Scott Lewis and her Cornish novels:

http://www.dianescottlewis.org


Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Remembrance Day

  Today is 11th November. 102 years ago WWI ended on this day. The defining era of WWI is a fascination to me. I have researched this turbulent time for years and I'm always learning new things about it. One of my bucket list goals was to visit the battlefields of Belgium. Walking amongst the graves, the old trenches, visiting the water-filled bomb craters, going to museums, and spending time in beautiful Ypres was inspiring. How could you not be moved? My own ancestors fought and died in WWI. I had five great+ uncles all brothers from one family fight. Two died - Arthur and Alfred Ellis. They were the inspiration behind the Jackson brothers in my book The Woman from Beaumont Farm. My Ellis uncles live on in those pages.

The few books I've written set in WWI are homage to all those wonderful Allied men and women who served their countries for our freedom.
We must never forget their sacrifices. They are true heroes.