The Chronicles of Alcinia

Available for the first time as an e-book bundle, the award-winning historical fantasy series The Chronicles of Alcinia weaves a tale of war, history, passion and romance.

The author of The Chronicles of Alcinia, Miriam Newman, will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

The Chronicles of Alcinia

by Miriam Newman

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GENRE: Historical fantasy

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INTERVIEW:

• What or who inspired you to start writing? Definitely my mother, who began reading classical literature to me from a very early age. She was an ardent, self taught student of anthropology and archeology, transmitting to me her fascination with ancient times and cultures. Some of them have inspired books. I like to think she would be pleased.
• How did you come up with ideas for your books? Most of the time they come from a dream, a snatch of imagination or even a few words that insert themselves into my brain like the proverbial brain worm and won’t shut up until I start to write.

What expertise did you bring to your writing? Having worked for eighteen years in psychiatric social services, I like to think I have a special knack for writing characters who are very much on the edge, yet still present their viewpoint as an integral part of the story. They may be whacky, but they always have reasons—some of them good ones.

• What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio? That I’m an avid animal rescuer with numerous foster dogs, cats and horses.
• As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans? To keep writing, researching and traveling. Travel presents some of the best ideas for books! And research is a passion, although when I write fantasy it’s not always strictly necessary.
• If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why? I would surely be Queen Tia of Alcinia from The Chronicles of Alcinia. Temperamentally, she is a great deal like me and she had an interesting life, to put it mildly.
• If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your leading roles? I have often pondered this question, since we always like to envision our books on film, but I draw an absolute blank. My characters are so real and individual to me that I can’t think of them as anyone other than themselves.
• Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?  Not currently, but I did belong to a lovely group called Rome-antics when I published my first book, The King’s Daughter. It was an online group and one night we were asked to submit excerpts. Unknown to me, there was an editor sitting in and she contacted me, asking for the manuscript. And that was the beginning of everything.
• When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step? I wrote the book while in Ireland and returned to the U.S. with the specific goal of publication. There was never any doubt in my mind that I would do so.
• What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing) These two things are linked. The best advice I ever received was to trust my instincts. The worst advice I ever received was to try to alter my writing style to suit the marketplace. It doesn’t work, at least for me.

10. Do you outline your books or just start writing? No outlines, ever! I sit down, put my fingers on the keyboard, and that’s it.
11. Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books? Animal rescue is my other passion in life and some of those dear animals do find their way into my books. After all, if they mean so much to me, why would I want my characters to live without them?
12. Do you have an all time favorite book? The Once and Future King was the fantasy book that really triggered my leap into the unknown. It is such a masterpiece of imagination!
13. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book? Oh, sure. My novella Dark Child is being released now. It’s a brief retelling of the ancient Irish story most often called Deirdre of the Sorrows. Lots of magic and angst—very Irish.
14. Who is your favorite actor and actress? None currently, I really am too busy writing.
15. Can you tell us a little about the black moment in your book? It’s the cliffhanger ending of Book I, The King’s Daughter. Because there is a sequel, it is definitely not the happily ever after ending of a typical romance. I cried buckets. So did my editor.
16. What is your favorite reality show? I don’t watch them.
17. Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to write a series. Very easy, actually. The first book came into my head practically full-blown within days of my husband’s death. I really think it was an emotional outlet, a torrent of emotion that I could not let out any other way, and probably saved my sanity. But as mentioned above, it ended as a cliffhanger and it was essential to go right on to the scond book, so I did. I didn’t write the third book until several years later, when a number of readers had asked what happened to the eldest son of the heroine. He was a very sympathetic character. They were rather worried about him, I suppose.
18. Anything else you might want to add?

BLURB:

Available for the first time as an e-book bundle, the award-winning historical fantasy series The Chronicles of Alcinia weaves a tale of war, history, passion and romance.   In Book I, The King’s Daughter, Tarabenthia of Alcinia should grow to inherit her father’s throne by the rocky cliffs of the sea. When invaders seize her land, what will she sacrifice in the name of love? In Book II, Heart of the Earth, the Northern Prince who has always wanted Tia saves her life. But will the price of his protection be too high? And finally in Book III, Ice Maiden, readers who wondered about the fate of Tia’s oldest son have their answer. Sometimes heart-wrenching, always powerful, this is a tale of heroes and the women who loved them.

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EXCERPT:

I was the King’s daughter once, so many years ago that sometimes now it is hard to remember. Before the tide of time carried away so many things, so many people, it was worth something to be the daughter of a King.

Our little island nation of Alcinia was not rich, except for tin mines honeycombing the south. It wasn’t even hospitable. Summer was a brief affair and fall was only a short time of muted colors on the northernmost coast where my father sat his throne at the ancient Keep of Landsfel. Winter was the killing time and spring was hardly better, with frosts that could last into Fifth- Month. But from the south, where men cut thatch in a pattern like the bones of fish, to the north where rock roses spilled down cliffs to the sea, it was my own.

One thinks such things will never change, yet all things do.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Beginning a prize-winning career in poetry, Miriam carried her love of the written word into seventeen novels to date. Her offerings range from contemporary and historical fantasy to science fiction and historical fiction, always with a romantic flavoring. Her original novel The King’s Daughter—now part of The Chronicles of Alcinia—was written in Ireland, her second home. When in the U.S., she resides on a small horse farm in Pennsylvania with a collection of rescue animals.

Links: https://www.amazon.com/CHRONICLES-ALCINIA-Miriam-Newman-ebook/dp/B073DQSG8N

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chronicles-of-alcinia-miriam-newman/1126646916

www.miriamnewman.com

www.thecelticroseblog.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMiriamNewman

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Miriam Newman will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2388

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Miriam Newman will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.