It’s nearly Halloween, how did that happen?!

News

This year seems to have gone by at breakneck speed and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all! Perhaps it’s because last year seemed to last forever! But as things are moving quickly, it means I have lots to share with you!

Christmas is Coming!

Yes, it’s not Halloween yet, but it’s not Christmas in December that I am talking about! Christmas in Stickleback Hollow is being released on 26th October! And Spring in Stickleback Hollow is not far behind! To say thank you for being loyal readers and give you a bit of a discount, Christmas in Stickleback Hollow is available for pre-order for just $2.99. It will be full price on the day of release, so make sure you have you pre-order secured to get the discount 🙂

She has one shot to pull off the perfect village Christmas party. But bloodstains under the mistletoe hide a sinister surprise…

It is available in paperback, hardback and digital format, and don’t worry KU peoples, it’s in KU too so you won’t miss out on the latest adventures of Lady Sarah, Mr Hunter and Constable Evans. 

You can pre-order now here

From Christmas in Stickleback Hollow:“Come, my friend, you need to unburden yourself,” Wilbraham whispered in the constable’s ear as the gift-giving turned to carolling and dancing. Arwyn looked surprised to see the captain at his shoulder but allowed him to steer him from the ballroom to the library. The servants were clearing the tables of the empty plates and used cutlery, so paid little attention to the two men who slipped through the house. When they were safely encased in the quiet and calm of the library, Wilbraham spoke.
“It takes a serious matter to cloud a day such as today. If you will tell me what troubles you, I will do the same,” the captain said slowly as he poured them both a glass of whisky.
“I received a letter this morning. I suspect I received it yesterday, but I didn’t find it until today,” Arwyn began, his voice shaking.
“And what was in this letter?” Wilbraham asked patiently.
“It was from Mr Hunter. He told me about meeting you on the road north, and the time you spent together. He also said that after you parted ways, he happened upon some information that he believes could lead him to find Grace and Millie. He is unlikely to return for quite some time,” Arwyn replied and drag deeply from the glass of single malt. 
“I see. Are you concerned for his safety or concerned that he may never return home again?” Wilbraham inquired.
“Both. Since the man carrying news of Grace and Millie was murdered, it has become clear that searching for them is too dangerous to be undertaken alone. Alex doesn’t know the danger he is in,” Arwyn shook his head and sighed.
“Of all the men I have met in my life, there is none that I would consider as brave, resourceful, and hard to kill as Mr Hunter. He will not blunder about blindly, nor take foolish risks unless a certain lady is involved. I would not worry about him as much as I would be concerned about her,” Wilbraham shrugged.“You are concerned about Lady Sarah? Why?” Arwyn asked with bemusement. 
“I am concerned about her safety and her heart. For her heart’s sake, I would hurry the return of Mr Hunter. My cousin has become somewhat enamoured with the legend of Lady Sarah and fancies himself in love. He is a good man, but he is not in love. I would not wish a foolish love affair upon either of them. Hunter returning home would be the best and quickest way for all three to find happiness. But there is such stupidity where love is concerned,” Wilbraham laughed to himself.
“And why are you concerned for her safety?” Arwyn asked as he sat on one of the sofas and leaned forward on his knees.   
“Last night, I followed the Russian ambassador as he stepped out into the gardens. He was meeting with a man who will stop at nothing to keep his secrets. Right now, Lady Sarah is a threat to him. Today, there was nothing to fear. There are too many people here that she knows and trusts, she is too well protected. But tomorrow, the house will all but empty and Lady Sarah will be in more danger than I think either of us can conceive at this moment,” Wilbraham took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. 
“What can we do?” Arwyn asked.
“Firstly, I would write back to Mr Hunter at the address in his letter. Tell him of everything that has happened here. Of Oliver, of the murder and the danger to Lady Sarah. Then I would suggest that we both stay here until we can be certain that she is safe,” Wilbraham replied.
A scream and yelling in the hallway interrupted any further conversation and caused the two men to scramble for the door as fast as they could. 
As they stumbled into the hall, they saw the source of the commotion. Two of the maids were in tears, sobbing to each other. Behind them, Cooky and Mrs Egerton had four children by the ears. Lee, Stanley, Charlotte and Charles. 
“We should get back to the party, no telling what we’ll miss,” Wilbraham winked and marched over to his mother to find out what such an unholy alliance of mischief-makers had been doing on such a holy day.

Buy it now!

Speaking of Christmas

You may or may not be aware of the current paper shortage that is sweeping the nations. This is a real thing and it does mean there will be paperback and hardback shortages over Christmas for all authors whether you are signed to Penguin or they print on demand. So here are the recommendations of how to beat the paper shortage this Christmas:

  • Buy early! If you can’t live without your paperback or hardback books, get your orders in early and make sure it is before 7th November if you are ordering direct from any author (7th November is the last ordering date for any books from wholesale suppliers)
  • Go digital where you can. If you can buy digital books and send them as gifts, then absolutely do. This may not be the first choice for many but it does mean they can at least read the book, even if it isn’t in their preferred format.
  • Be prepared! Due to the nature of Covid and the knock on effect it is having worldwide, we don’t know when this paper shortage will end so be prepared to order early for any birthdays or major events you need books for (World Book Day springs to mind),

This is not a drill! So if you want to grab any of your favourite Stickleback Hollow titles in paperback before Christmas, do it sooner rather than later!

Buy your paperbacks now!

If you are not quite in the Christmas spirit yet, you can grab All Hallows’ Eve in Stickleback Hollow, Easter in Stickleback Hollow and the 12 Days of Christmas in Stickleback Hollow to get you ready for the latest holiday volume!

I hope that you enjoy Christmas in Stickleback Hollow and are eagerly awaiting Spring! I would like to finish this email with the biggest thank you to all those who backed my Kickstarter to fund the overhaul of the book covers for the series. Some of the covers are still on their way, but before the New Year, the new look will be finished! So thank you for being so awesome! Until next time!

Did you know?

Books, C.S. Woolley, Mysteries of Stickleback Hollow

20813481_10159107159330024_422380415_oThe journey that Sarah and Lieutenant Forsythe take from India to England is one that travellers in the early 1800s would have had to brave before the Suez Canal was completed and the establishment of direct voyages from England to India.

The two departed from Bombay on the Hugh Lindsay steamer, a boat that sailed between Bombay and Suez. It was a vessel built by the East India Company and weighed 411 tons. She never carried cargo, but mainly carried mail and passengers. She was confined to chugging backwards and forwards on the Red Sea rather than trying to sail the full distance between Bombay and Portsmouth.

There was no direct route between England and India in 1838 so travellers had to journey to Suez and then from Suez to Cairo over 80 miles of desert on camels or sand carts. The port of Cairo was a donkey ride from the city where passengers had to then sail on the Nile to Enfe. From Enfe they would then have to take the Mahmoudieh Canal to the city of Alexandria.

Alexandria was the last city that travellers had to visit before taking a steamer to Portsmouth, and then finally a coach ride or horse would take travellers from Portsmouth to London.

This journey could take months to complete if the weather was bad. Construction on the Suez Canal began in 1859 and was finished in 1869. It was opened on 17th November 1869.

The Suez Canal begins at Port Said, a city that was established for the canal in Egypt and finishes at Port Twefik, now known as the Suez Port. When the canal was completed the journey between England and India was reduced down to only ten to twenty days.

It was originally a single-lane waterway with places at the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake for ships to pass each other.

Seawater flows freely through the canal as it has no locks or gates. In 2014, construction began to expand the canal which was officially opened on 24th February 2016.

You can find out why Lady Sarah and Lieutenant Forsythe were taking this perilous journey from India to England in A Thief in Stickleback Hollow, book 1 in C.S. Woolley‘s Mysteries of Stickleback Hollow.

Not everything is as simple as it first appears in the Mysteries of Stickleback Hollow. Step back in time to Victorian England with these charming books that combine the best of Jane Austen, Agatha Christie and the quintessentially British country manor to bring you historical fiction that will leave your heart racing.

Available in
eBook format from $2.99/£1.99 http://mybook.to/thiefinstickleback
Paperback from £5.99/$8.09 http://bit.ly/2BsWVEi

March Round-Up

News

March has been a month of holidays for most of us in the offices (trying to get our time away in before the Easter holidays) but there have still been a few books that have been released and we’ve got an exciting month to look forward to in April.

What we’ve published

 The Arm Rings of Yngvar Collection

Arm Rings of Yngvar Mock Up

Welcome to Denmark, home of the Vikings When fate knocks at the door, it doesn’t matter how old you are or whether you want to go on an adventure or not. Join Erland Kabelsen, Christian Andersen, Dalla Ingeborgsdotter, Eva Axeldatter, Riki Andersen and Wifrith the Wolf as they set out on a journey that will change their lives and save their people.

This collection contains the first eight books in the Children of Ribe series that form the Arm Rings of Yngvar story arc. The titles including in the collection are FATE, WAR, WIFRITH, DOUBT, SKANE, SHIPWRECKED, FEAR and HOME.

Order your copy of the Arm Rings of Yngvar Collection – all 8 stories from the first story arc in the Children of Ribe series by C.S. Woolley. Only ÂŁ35.99 including free UK delivery in paperback. It is currently unavailable in digital format.

Brothers
brother-front

SOLDIERS ARE THERE TO KILL AND BE KILLED

They see us only as numbers, as less than them, created to be Soldiers made to fight in their war. But we are more than that, we are brothers, we gave ourselves names.

Some of us will live through training, but some of us will die. Soldiers are there to be killed, whether from their tests or because we fail in our mission. Soldiers are there to kill, fighting in a war we didn’t ask for.

But even amongst brothers there are secrets. There is something that they are not telling me. My brothers tell me I’m special, but I just don’t see it. Soldiers are there to kill and be killed, so why am I so important? Brotherhood will be put to the test as we battle to be the best. I am a soldier, I was made to fight their war, I cannot lose.

You can get your copy direct from out Etsy store for ÂŁ13.99 in paperback and ÂŁ2.39 in digital format.

All Hallows’ Eve in Stickleback Hollow

Front

When her parents die from fever, Lady Sarah Montgomery Baird Watson-Wentworth has to leave India, a land she was born and raised in, and travel to England for the first time. Finding it almost impossible to adjust to London society, Sarah flees to the county of Cheshire and the country estate of Grangeback that borders the village of Stickleback Hollow. A place filled with oddballs, eccentrics and more suspicious characters than you can shake a stick at, Sarah feels more at home in the sleepy little village than she ever did in the big city, however, even sleepy little villages have mysteries that must be solved.

It’s All Hallows’ Eve in Stickleback Hollow and the annual ball at Tatton Park is being held. It is Sarah’s first formal engagement since leaving London, and she isn’t looking forward to it – especially when the people she thinks of as friends are not invited. The veil between the spirit and living worlds is at its thinnest, and evil forces seem to be lurking everywhere.

This particular book is dedicated to the staff and owners of the Three Crowns in Wymeswold, Leicestershire, where C.S. Woolley spends a lot of her time writing and filling her social media feed with pictures of their food.

Available in paperback from ÂŁ6.99 and digital format from ÂŁ1.99.

What we’ve updated

We’ve added new pages and details for the new books we have released, as well as the all new bonus section that will have a variety of different resources to it as time goes on – make sure to check back regularly for updates!

We’ve also added our book an author page, if you are a school, library, community group, festival or something of that ilk, you can now find out how to book an appearance by one of our authors by visiting here.

What we’re looking forward to in April

April sees the launch of the Children of Snotingas by C.S. Woolley with the release of WYRD and the library event in Wilmslow, Cheshire, to mark the release – to find out more about the Wilmslow Library event see here.

WilmslowLibraryFlyer

We should also have an exciting announcement about the not-quite-the-release party for We Do Not Kill Children by Penelope Wallace and news about the sequel, The 10th Province of Jaryar.

Besides WYRD we also have When Darkness Falls, book 7 in The Chronicles of Celadmore series to look forward to and the Lily & Rose Saga, book 4 in the Nicolette Mace: the Raven Siren series.

April 2017

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