Coastal Magic Featured Author Spotlight & Giveaway - - Jeanne Adams

 

This month, Jeanne Adams is in the Coastal Magic Convention Featured Author Spotlight. Jeanne has been a friend of The Romance Dish since our early days in 2009 and it's a pleasure to welcome her back. Jeanne is an award-winning author of thrilling suspense, wicked Urban Fantasy, paranormal romantic suspense, and dramatic space adventures. Something for everyone! She also recently spent a year in Scotland (more on that in the Q&A). Please give her a warm Romance Dish welcome. 

Hi, Jeanne! Welcome back to The Romance Dish for your Coastal Magic 2024 Featured Author Spotlight!
 
Hi PJ! Thanks for having me! Always love talking with you.
 
You have a new novella (novelette?) coming out on November 28. What can readers expect from Trouble in Althor?
 
I do! Thanks for asking! It’s a short story set in Mercedes Lackey’s world of Valdemar and it’s a bit of a murder mystery. I had so much fun just being invited, much less having a story included. I’ve been a Lackey fan for a long time.
 
Your story is part of Anything with Nothing, the new Valdemar anthology. Please tell us a bit about this world, its history, and what makes writing a story set within it special.
 
Valdemar is an interesting country, a monarchy with a twist – the monarch and the heir, along with a huge contingent of guardians are Heralds. That means they’ve been chosen by white-coated, blue-eyed, intelligent and otherworldy horses called Companions. This particular anthology was interesting because the prompt was to create characters in a situation where they had to get themselves out with little to no help – or little to nothing to work with. (Hence the title, Anything with Nothing) I chose to use the Heralds only peripherally.
 
Writing a story in this world is so fun and such a challenge because Ms. Lackey is thorough and creative and there are already a lot of rules to what you can and can’t do in the world. That was part of the delight though, so I didn’t mind.

Anything With Nothing

This 17th anthology of short stories set in the beloved Valdemar high fantasy universe features tales by debut and established authors and a brand-new story from Mercedes Lackey.

The Heralds of Valdemar are the kingdom's ancient order of protectors. They are drawn from all across the land, from all walks of life, and at all ages—and all are Gifted with abilities beyond those of normal men and women. They are Mindspeakers, FarSeers, Empaths, ForeSeers, Firestarters, FarSpeakers, and more. These inborn talents—combined with training as emissaries, spies, judges, diplomats, scouts, counselors, warriors, and more—make them indispensable to their monarch and realm.

Sought and Chosen by mysterious horse-like Companions, they are bonded for life to these telepathic, enigmatic creatures. The Heralds of Valdemar and their Companions ride circuit throughout the kingdom, protecting the peace and, when necessary, defending their land and monarch.

Join a variety of authors as they ride with Mercedes Lackey to the beloved land of Valdemar and experience the many facets of this storied high fantasy realm.

 
Sounds like a lot of fun. 

You recently spent an extended length of time in Scotland. We’d love to hear about that experience and any highlights of your travels while there. Do you have plans to return?

 
Oh, my goodness, it was SO MUCH FUN!! I loved spending a year in Scotland doing my Master of Arts in Creative Writing with Edinburgh Napier University. I went as part of a dual-degree program with Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania. I’m in the second half of the program now, getting the MFA. It was hard being away from my family but thanks to Zoom, WhatsApp and other connection apps and programs, I talked to them every day!
Studying abroad was amazing. I honestly thought my opportunity for that was long past me, but this program helped me fulfill a dream I’d long given up on. Immersing myself in my “home” culture (I’m Scots/English/Irish) was amazing. Exploring Edinburgh was amazing. The rugby was amazing. It was one wonder after another pretty much for a whole year. (Except that week with Covid – that sucked).
I was able to travel to so many places I’d only read about – Durham, Aberdeen, Glen Coe, Carrbridge in the Highlands, and Shetland. One of the highlights was Shetland. I was there over 4^th of July weekend and I’ve never been so bundled up on July 4 in my life! Ha! Shetland was amazing, the people were fabulous and the puffins were beyond cool.

I absolutely hope to return next year for Cymera, the Science Fiction and Fantasy convention and/or for RARE, the romance author and reader event. Both are held in Edinburgh. Oh, and to go to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo again – that was an amazing experience!!
 
Did your time in Scotland generate any plot bunnies? Any plans to set a future story there?

 
SOOOOO many plot bunnies! There is a story on every street, around every corner, in every stone wall or cannonball-pockmarked alley. There are stories in doorways and chimneys and parks and that’s just in Edinburgh. Ha! The mountains will set you sighing. The beaches and lochs make you long to sight a kelpie or a mer-person. I have a story started in my Slip Traveler series that is set in Scotland…may be a few years in the making with what’s in front of it, but oh, yeah, Scotland will show up!
 
Let’s talk about you a bit. What are your passions (aside from writing, of course)?
 
Well, how long do you have? Ha! I love hanging out with my family, and reading, of course. I adore football and am an avid fan. My eldest son is a baseball player, so I’m definitely a sports mom there too. I used to show dogs, though have pretty much retired from that, I’m still into my doggoes and Labrador Rescue. I love history and film and all sorts of things in those realms. I’m a planner geek too, by the way. Love all the planners and stickers and stuff.
 
What would readers be surprised to learn about you?

Readers are seldom surprised by us crazy authors, but I guess they might be surprised to discover that I’d raised and trained show dogs for so long. Mostly Dalmatians and Irish Water Spaniels.
 
Valentines Day is just around the corner. Do you have any traditions?
 
 
We don’t have many Valentine’s traditions here at Chez Adams. My husband and I agreed when we were dating that we’d rather go out to dinner when it’s not quite so crowded, but we always DO have a Valentine’s Day date, even if it’s a bit after the celebrated holiday. I usually try to make a heart-shaped cake too. (One year I did it with food coloring and coconut flakes – they don’t take red food coloring very well…)
 
If you could time travel anywhere in the future or past, where would you go and who (real or fictional) would you take with you?
 
Oooh, that would be fun! If I could go and just observe (rather than having to live there!) I think I’d have to go to ancient Egypt. I’d love to see the court and the Pharoahs and the pomp and circumstance there. I’d also love to be a watcher along the walls in the court of Elizabeth the First. What an incredible woman!
As to whom to take with me…I’d have to take my friend and sometime co-author Nancy Northcott. (Given that, we’d probably have to go to the court of Richard III). Or my husband, who’s a major history buff as well, but with him along, I’d have to go to the European Theater in WWII, or Corregidor in WWII!
 
What are your goals/hopes for 2024?
 
My goals for 2024 are multiple! I have a number of books that have been languishing in my computer because of how complex my life became over the last few years. With so many family issues on my plate, I didn’t get to finish and publish many of the books in my arsenal. So 2024 should be the Year of Jeanne Publishes Books! Ha! My hopes, of course, are that readers like them – and all my books – and find escape, solace, fun and adventure in between the covers…of a Jeanne Adams book!
 
Thanks for visiting with us today, Jeanne! I’m excited to see you in Daytona Beach next February for Coastal Magic Convention 2024.  
 
Again, Thanks, PJ!  I’m SO looking forward to Daytona in February! See you all there!

Readers, if you could spend the next year anywhere of your choosing where would you choose and why?

Three randomly chosen people who post a comment before 11:00 PM, January 21 will each receive their choice of an e-book copy of Anything With Nothing or Love and Valentines at Caynham Castle. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

 

 

Click for more information about Coastal Magic 2024. Weekend and single-day registrations are still available. It would be wonderful to see some of you there! 

Today's Special - - Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle Guest Post & Giveaway

Halloween is only three days away; perfect timing to welcome today's guests. Last month, Nancy Northcott and Jeanne Adams stopped by to tell us how Caynham Castle came to be and share photos of their real-life inspirations (click here if you missed that post). Today, they, and fellow Caynham Castle authors Morgan Brice and Caren Crane are here to tell us about each of their story contributions to this year's anthology: Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle. I've read the anthology and the stories are brimming with action, mystery, danger, romance, and all kind of delicious spooky goodness. Welcome to The Romance Dish, ladies!

A Spooky Halloween at Caynham Castle 

Jeanne Adams, Morgan Brice, Caren Crane, and Nancy Northcott

 

Hi, everyone! PJ, thanks for having us!

The four of us are part of the Caynham Castle gang (with Seressia Glass, Donna MacMeans, and Anna Sugden), writing romance novellas set in an imaginary castle on the Welsh marches. We all celebrated Christmas last year, and four of us are enjoying Halloween this year with Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle. Here’s a bit from each of us about the inspiration for our Halloween stories and the series they tie into.

From Jeanne:

Hi PJ! Thanks for having us on The Romance Dish! My story in Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle is "Trouble Under the Tower." This story stands alone, but if you--or your readers-- read Christmas at Caynham Castle, you'll recognize some of the returning characters. The secret passages I created and used in Christmas at Caynham Castle were the inspiration for this spooky story. I figured that if they found these spooky passages, the Earl of Caynham and his fiancée, and staff, would be keen to have them authenticated and explored by an archaeologist. Enter Dr. Sebelle Turturro, who's assembled a team of grad students to explore, catalogue and preserve the spooky tunnel and rooms. With the help of an archaeological photographer, Dr. Alden MacDonald, a witch who hails from Haven Harbor, Massachusetts, they'll get it all done in record time...unless there's trouble. And of course, there's LOTS of trouble under the tower! 

This story is an extension of my Haven Harbor Witches series that began with 2016's The Witches Walk. As you know, PJ, this series has several books and six novellas and counting!

Haven Harbor was founded in 1692 when most of the real witches left Salem ahead of the witch trials. Now, in modern day, Haven Harbor is a thriving Massachusetts town with the descendants of those witches making magic, mischief, and finding love.

From Caren:

My story, "Murky Waters," was one inspired by my desire to send my hero out into nature. I made him a landscape architect, which was what the hero of my Christmas novella studied in college. So, I made the hero of "Murky Waters" an old college friend of his and tied the two novellas together. The heroine in "Murky Waters" was a secondary character in the Christmas novella. I love her because she is quite saucy!

The heroine of the Christmas novella was from my fictional town of Cross Springs, North Carolina, which tied the novella to my Cross Springs novels. But the Caynham Castle novellas seem to be developing more independently these days. There may be more ties to Cross Springs in the future, though.

 

From Gail:

As I was thinking about what to do for my story, the Knights Templar came up in another context. That caught my attention, and I started to do some research about their history, associated legends, locations, etc. I came upon a real cave that appeared to have been adapted and used as a Templar secret place, and built out the idea of a missing treasure and a last survivor. It also made sense because Erik’s background is art authentication, so he would be drawn toward historical items and relics, which would get the mystery rolling. 

Erik Mitchell and Ben Nolan star in their own series, Treasure Trail, set in Cape May, NJ. Erik left a high-profile role stopping art fraud after he was shot, and came to Cape May to start over by buying a high-end antique shop that also helps get rid of dangerous magical objects. Ben Nolan was a burned-out Newark cop who came to Cape May to take over his aunt’s vacation real estate company. Ben and Erik connect, and end up dealing with cursed hotels, Mafia ghosts and dangerous old scandals. All of my urban fantasy books as Gail Z. Martin and as Morgan Brice cross over with each other.

 

From Nancy:

My story, "Mr. Never Again," arose out of my enjoyment of reading about people who can’t quite make it work the first time but circle around to each other in the end. When my heroine, Dana Gresham, was a teenager, her mom abandoned the family. She stepped into the mom role. Years later, when she and Blaine Harris dated, her closeness to her siblings bothered him. It ultimately drove them apart. Too late, he came to regret his jealousy. Hoping for another chance, he asked for her to be assigned as his partner on this mission, protecting a weapons designer whose loyalty is in question. Throw in my passion for spies and action-adventure, and I had all the ingredients for this story.

"Mr. Never Again" is part of my Arachnid Files romantic suspense series. Arachnid is a multinational covert intelligence organization created to go around the rules that bind others. The first novella in the series. Danger’s Edge, is available as a standalone. The others are only in anthologies, the two Caynham Castle ones and Who’s Your Daddy, which Caren, Jeanne, and I did together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PJ, thanks again for having us!

We’ll give one commenter a copy of Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle, so tell us about your favorite romance trope or your favorite legend.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

*Must be 18 or older

*Giveaway ends 11:00 PM, October 29, 2020

Today's Special - - Creating the Castle with Nancy Northcott and Jeanne Adams

 

Nancy Northcott, Jeanne Adams and friends are back with another anthology set in magnificent Caynham Castle. While last year's Christmas at Caynham Castle treated readers to Christmas holiday revelry, this year's Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle immerses characters - and readers - into the spookiness of Halloween. Jeanne and Nancy join us today to give us a behind the scenes tour of the making of this ancient castle on England's Welsh border. 

Welcome, Jeanne and Nancy!

Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle

An Anthololgy by Jeanne Adams, Morgan Brice, Caren Crane, and Nancy Northcott

Publisher: Rickety Bookshelf Press

Release Date: September 23, 2020

Come to western England’s Welsh Marches and the wickedly, spookily fun Halloween Ball at Caynham Castle. Let the Earl of Caynham and his fiancée welcome you into Halloween fun.

Lovers from Cape May, New Jersey, take a Halloween holiday at the magnificent Caynham Castle in Secrets and Ciphers. As their love and trust deepens, they also stumble across and solve a 700 year old mystery! Enjoy this M/M Romance with Morgan Brice’s Erik and Ben from Treasure Trail.

Follow an archeologist witch from Idaho as she tangles with a sexy photographer from the witchiest town in America, Jeanne Adams’s Haven Harbor, Massachusetts. In Trouble Under the Tower, they discover a hidden chapel, fend off thieves, and help put a dark entity to rest. Somewhere in all that trouble, love sneaks in!

In Mr. Never Again, spies from Nancy Northcott’s Arachnid Agency come to Caynham Castle to guard a weapons designer and her family. When her son goes missing, her loyalty may be at risk. Hunting for him offers Blaine and Dana a second chance at love if they’re brave enough to take it.

In Caren Crane’s tale, Murky Waters, a landscape architect from Massachusetts finds much more than he expects, both in a floral designer from his friend’s shop, and in the woods south of Caynham Castle. Discovery of an evil waterborne spirit threatens the new love he has found, unless his lover figures out how to set him free.

Four spooky, witchy, spirit-filled stories set against the stunning background of Caynham Castle’s epic Halloween Ball and Bonfire Night!

 

Creating the Castle

by Nancy Northcott & Jeanne Adams

~

 

Thanks for having us, PJ, and hi to everybody! 

We’ve had great fun playing in our imaginary castle with our buddies Caren Crane, Seressia Glass, Donna MacMeans, Gail Z. Martin (a/k/a Morgan Brice), and Anna Sugden. All of us wrote novellas for last year’s Christmas at Caynham Castle. This year, we also have a Halloween anthology, Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle. Only Caren, and Gail, wearing her Morgan Brice hat, Jeanne, and Nancy had room in our schedules for Halloween, so we’re the only ones in this anthology. 

Creating the castle was a fun process too. It involved lots of back-and-forth, tailoring the place to the story needs. As we launch the Halloween anthology, we thought readers might enjoy a look behind the scenes of the castle’s birth. 

Nancy: At the Rust City reader event a couple of years ago, I saw a book on Amazon featuring holiday stories in a common location. I love holiday anthologies and have read many centered around events like balls or fairs or house parties. The common location, though, clicked with me in a way the others hadn’t. I don’t know any romance readers who don’t love castles, including me, so I naturally thought of a castle. 

Since Caren and Donna were also at that conference, I floated the idea by them. They were up for that. I also reached out to other writers whose work I enjoy. We ended up with a great group. Jeanne, being Jeanne, immediately offered to do maps and diagrams. 

Jeanne: It’s the former designer/draftsperson in me, Nancy! (Also because I’m a glutton for punishment.) Like Nancy, I adore castles, and the chance to literally create the design for this castle? That was too much fun to resist. Besides, we needed a common template from which to work. Between the basic outlines of the castle itself, we also needed to create common timelines so we all cohesively had something – the Halloween Ball, Bonfire Night, The Frost and Flame Ball, skating on the moat – happening at the same time. We wanted the reader to be immersed in the world with us. 

Nancy: I went to Ludlow, a castle I love, and took more photos than any sane human could possibly want. While we took Ludlow as our inspiration, we also built Caynham Castle from others we’d visited in person or in photos and tailored it to story needs. 

Below is the round chapel, which we all loved. It’s all that remains of the original chapel, which extended back in a rectangle from this circular part to the curtain wall.

 

 

Jeanne: We did all love Ludlow’s chapel, so that became a feature in Caynham Castle. This unique, freestanding, round chapel features in several stories in the Christmas at Caynham Castle anthology. I had to draw a map of just the chapel because…well there’s a ringing room, with bells. And gargoyles. Shades of Hunchback of Notre Dame, right? Had to draw that.

Nancy: The first two pictures below are the great hall of Ludlow. Note the stones jutting from the walls’ upper edges. Supports like that are common for a hammerbeam ceiling. The third photo is of the hammerbeam ceiling in Westminster Hall, site of medieval coronation banquets. I love the hall and its beautiful roof. Thanks to Hollywood (looking at you, Adventures of Robin Hood), I think we all expect a castle hall to be as big as the one at Westminster, the fourth photo below. In reality, most are much smaller.

 

 

Jeanne: I didn’t draw the ceiling, but drawing the hall has been super fun. Of course, we adapted the Great Hall in the stories to be the Caynham Castle Hotel’s main dining room. It has an amazing, ox-roaster-sized fireplace with dragons and foliate (green man) heads on the mantel and side supports. Adding in the necessary “modern” amenities for a restaurant in a 11^th century castle have been a fun challenge when it comes to the drawings, too!

Nancy: The definitely un-modern structure in photos below is the great hall of Middleham Castle (one with and one without Jeanne and me). The openings in the lefthand wall lead to what was the solar next door. Each had half of that level of the keep. See how much smaller it is than Westminster.

 

Jeanne: Nancy had to explain to the rest of us that a solar was where, in medieval times, the ladies would gather to sew because it had the best lighting. Virtually every castle has one, so Caynham had to have one too. Ha! In Caynham Castle Hotel, it’s an adjunct to the dining room and serves as sort of a lounge. It also houses the gift shop and can be closed off or used as an extension of the hall for special events, as it was in the Frost and Flame Ball for Christmas at Caynham Castle.

Nancy: At Middleham, the kitchen is below the great hall. This photo was taken from the kitchen, looking up at the platform that stands in for the floor of the hall. That placement made sense to us, so we gave Caynham Castle a kitchen below the great hall. We also added a terrace with parking underneath because modern hotel kitchens get deliveries via truck, not horsedrawn wagons.

 

 

Jeanne: That also gave us a chance to create hidden spaces beneath the castle – treasure rooms! – and add a more “modern” solarium to Caynham Castle. Every castle may have had a solar for the long-ago ladies, but not every castle has a Victorian glass-house solarium. I’ve always loved the one at Asheville, NC’s, Biltmore House, America’s Castle. So why not at Caynham too? 

Nancy: As you may’ve guessed, doing the maps meant Jeanne handled incorporating the features people needed for their stories. When you’re putting characters in a common space, it’s very important to have everyone visualize that space the same way in their heads and on paper. The diagrams have been invaluable for that. 

Jeanne: Of course I took great delight in mapping all the fun stuff people came up with into the castle as well. Secret rooms. Display rooms set up with set-piece displays a la Downton Abbey. Statues by the Folly (Yes, there’s a Folly!). And don’t forget the lucky gargoyles allllll over the castle! *Grins.* That said, Donna needed the Folly. Anna needed the Ringing Room. Seressia needed a shop in town. And everyone needed a room at the Castle! 

Nancy: We also created a town, Caynham-on-Ledwyche, to go with our castle. Ludlow is in the part of England bordering Wales, which is known as the Welsh Marches. The area is rich in history and legend, so we decided to site our town and castle there. We adapted features common to towns with long histories, including a mix of architectural styles spanning the centuries from half-timbered, thatched-roof buildings to modern British groceries like Waitrose. Jeanne did the diagram for the town, too. 

Jeanne: Drawing the town truly was a study in collaboration, I must say. We added businesses as we needed them for our stories – a bookstore, pubs, tea rooms, a flower shop, a curiousity shop, an old and quite haunted church and churchyard, a secondary hotel, a brewery, some B&B’s. Each has its own history and some of them come with a touch of magic in them! 

Nancy: Everybody contributed to the businesses, legends, castle features, and characters, and each of us used bits created by others. The overlapping was a lot of fun, but it makes for a very long copyright page! 

Jeanne: Yes, but who could resist that pub? When we created the Boar and Knight pub everyone added a bit. Gail contributed photos of pubs she’d been in. Nancy and I used the concept of the fireplace area from a pub we’d visited in Yorkshire. I don’t remember who contributed the idea of the signboard listing the owners/proprietors down through the centuries, but that’s there too. I wrote in a happy macaw who welcomes people in. 

Nancy: Here’s a photo of the fireplace at the Rose & Crown in Bainbridge, Yorkshire. The inn and its pub date back to the 15^th century.

So that’s a little about the fun behind the scenes of designing Caynham Castle. 

What’s your favorite book, TV show, or movie set in a castle? If you have any questions about the process of creating Caynham Castle or the anthologies, we’d be happy to answer them. 

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, September 26, will receive an e-book copy of Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle.

Today's Special - - Spotlight & Giveaway: Christmas at Caynham Castle

I'm excited to welcome the authors of the upcoming holiday anthology, Christmas at Caynham Castle, to the blog today. Please give them all a warm welcome!

Christmas at Caynham Castle

Hi, everyone!  I’m Nancy Northcott, and my friends and I are excited to share our forthcoming holiday anthology, Christmas at Caynham Castle, with you. I have a weakness for Christmas collections. At busy times, I like having something I can read that’s shorter than a novel, and I love stories set during the holiday season. I wasn’t surprised to discover my co-authors felt the same way. So the seven of us got together and devised various Christmas celebrations at an imaginary castle.

Jeanne Adams and I created Caynham Castle, which is inspired by Ludlow Castle in Shropshire (England).  Unlike Ludlow, which is a well-preserved ruin, Caynham Castle is a hotel, bustling with life and brimming with holiday spirit. Once we had the castle layout and basics, the entire group then added details of the castle and the nearby town, Caynham-on-Ledwyche.

I had a great time reading what everyone came up with for Christmas at Caynham Castle. We hope you’ll enjoy that too!

Here’s a bit about the stories:

Her Heart in His Pocket ~ Donna MacMeans ~ https://www.donnamacmeans.com

About a year ago, I asked my readers what secondary character they’d like to see featured in a Christmas novella and they chose Ben from Redeeming the Rogue.  I love the resulting novella and I hope you do as well. A surprise reunion of a pickpocket turned lady’s maid and a mysterious unexpected footman occurs just in time for the Christmas Frost Ball at Caynham Castle. The past of each could jeopardize the future of the other, and the future of Caynham Castle itself.

A Perfect Grey Christmas ~ Anna Sugden ~ https://www.annasugden.com

Readers often ask me about Ryan Grey, a former NJ Ice Cat who runs Grey’s Steakhouse, and who appears in several of my books. Christmas at Caynham Castle gave me the opportunity to explore Ryan’s story. Since concussion issues forced Ryan to give up hockey, and his dream of winning the Stanley Cup, it seemed important to give him his chance at glory – hence having him compete for the ultimate prize in cooking. Only one woman would do for Ryan’s heroine – Lydia, his former business partner and the woman he once loved, who left him to marry an English lord. Things are about to get hot in the kitchen!

The Ghost of Christmas Past ~Jeanne Adams ~ https://www.jeanneadams.com 

In The Ghost of Christmas Past, Dr. Denby “Bee” Alden, is a bee expert and one of the witches from my Witches of Haven Harbor series. She’s come to Caynham Castle at Christmas to research ancient beekeeping techniques…and to escape. The ex-boyfriend who dumped her is getting married and she wants to be far away when that happens. While there, she meets the Earl of Caynham. A castle ghost helps them both find something to celebrate! I hope you enjoy Bee and Ward’s story!

Christmas Crossroads ~ Caren Crane ~ https://www.carencrane.com

My story is about a young woman from my fictional town of Cross Springs, NC, who was orphaned young and has not found a place to call “home” until she lands in Caynham-on-Ledwyche and meets a local man who is reconnecting with his hometown.

Still ~ Seressia Glass ~ http://seressiaglass.com

Still is set in my Shadowchasers universe. Morgan Lafayette is a Light Witch who got injured while astral traveling. She teams up with fellow traveler Arthur Davies and Shadowchaser Kira Solomon to defeat the creature that hurt her and finds love and a new friend in the process.

Crewel Fate ~ Gail Z. Martin ~https://ascendantkingdoms.com 

Crewel Fate was inspired by the many embroidery samples I’ve seen when touring historic homes. When Teag Logan and his fiancé Anthony Benton travel to England to celebrate their engagement, Teag’s magic and supernatural experience hone in on restless ghosts, an old scandal and century-old secrets that could turn deadly. Can Teag and Anthony solve the mystery and settle the ghosts before the Ball, or will more people join the ranks of the castle ghosts? Crewel Fate is part of my Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series, and falls immediately after the newest novel, Inheritance. 

The Last Favor ~ Nancy Northcott ~ https://www.nancynorthcott.com

The Last Favor, part of my Arachnid Files spy series, was inspired by my experiences and those of friends in dealing with loss at the holidays. Grayson (Gray) Kane, the hero, comes to Caynham Castle to pick up an award for his late father. Dealing with his loss amid the families celebrating the holiday makes him question his solitary life as an covert agent. His partner, Laurel Whitney, joins him to protect Gray from an assassin. As the long-suppressed attraction between them flares anew and a killer closes in, she must decide whether she has the courage to seize what she has always wanted.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Many thanks to all of the authors for visiting with us today and sharing a bit about their contributions to Christmas at Caynham Castle. This anthology is definitely going on my holiday reading list!

Christmas at Caynham Castle will be available November 20 through most ebook vendors. Jeanne Adams and Nancy Northcott return on December 4 to share the process of creating the castle.

Readers, do you have questions for the authors?

What's your favorite story with a castle in it? 

One person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM (EST), October 27, will receive a Kindle copy of Christmas at Caynham Castle (gifted to winner on November 20). 

Today's Special - - Who's Your Daddy by Caren Crane, Jeanne Adams, & Nancy Northcott

DNA, Danger and Daddy Issues…

In 2006, a group of twenty RWA Golden Heart finalists formed a blog group known as The Romance Bandits. They blogged together for a decade, supervised by the arrogant Golden Rooster and supported by gladiators, the Goddess Sangria, hockey players, and a dragon. Although they no longer blog as a group, they always welcome an opportunity to do something together.

Today, Banditas Caren Crane, Jeanne Adams, and Nancy Northcott join us to talk about their new, three-novella anthology, Who’s Your Daddy. The anthology was Caren’s idea, and she coordinated it. She’ll tell us what inspired it and how she put it together.

Caren: Hi, Dishy folks! I’m fascinated by advances in DNA testing and how it has been used to solve decades old murders, as well as help people find family members they never knew about. One night at dinner with author friends, we talked about how fun it would be to write an anthology of novellas around the theme of DNA testing. This is a deep, rich vein for stories!

 

Presenting three tales of secrets revealed and histories uncovered by DNA testing.

A carpenter discovers his father isn’t actually his father. Coming to terms with the truth reaffirms his place in his family, but it also leads him to love with an old friend’s sister and helps him find a path for his life.

A lawyer learns his grandmother had a secret marriage before his father was born. With the help of a talented genealogist, he tracks down his ancestry. Will he find the truth about his grandmother’s secret before whoever’s trying to kill him succeeds?

A burned-out spy goes home for a holiday and re-encounters the woman he never dated but never forgot. As he and she grow closer, she realizes her niece, his ex-girlfriend’s child, bears an uncanny resemblance to him. When the truth comes out, it will alter three lives.

Caren, tell us about your story.

Caren: In my Cross Springs series, I created a very large family for the husband in “Baby Steps,” Tim Burns. Tim is the oldest of six kids and his dad died when they were all very young. For some reason, I had given all the siblings blond or light brown hair and blue or gray eyes except for one. When I started thinking about writing my novella, Eric Burns was begging me to center the story around him and the mystery of where his dark hair and dark eyes came from.

Jeanne, yours is the next story in the anthology. What inspired it?

Jeanne: Hi Everyone! My story is inspired by a couple of things. First is, I’m a genealogist. I’ve been researching my family tree for decades and loved using some of that knowledge to write my story in the anthology, Lost in Time. It was also fun to incorporate the “lost heir” trope too. That allowed me to add a little suspense, and a little drama to a fun, short love story. Derek and Alexis were deliciously interesting characters to write too, so I hope Dish fans fall in love with Who’s Your Daddy.

Nancy, your story rounds out the collection. Where did you get the idea for it? 

Nancy: Hey, everybody! As some of you know, I love action, so of course I had to incorporate that, which led me to create an agent who works for my Arachnid spy group. This agent, Jim “Dix” Dixon, has seen too much ugliness. He’s burned out. When your job is haunting you, where better to go than home? I grew up in a small town, and this story seemed ideal for such a setting. Sending Dix home also let me set up one of my favorite tropes, the “second chance at love” story.

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You can find Caren, Jeanne, and Nancy via their websites and social media.

www.carencrane.com

www.jeanneadams.com

www.nancynorthcott.com

To buy Who’s Your Daddy, click on one of the links below.

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/y27xls3s

All other retailers - https://books2read.com/u/4je68v

Readers, have any of you taken a DNA test?

Were you surprised by the results?

One randomly chosen person who comments before 11:00 PM, July 14, will receive a Kindle copy of Who's Your Daddy.