Author Archives: Michelle Diener

Contest: Last Advance Reading Copy of Banquet of Lies Up For Grabs

I have one advance reading copy of Banquet of Lies left. To go into the draw to win the copy, either sign up for my newsletter by 30 September 2013, or, if you subscribe to my newsletter already, share the details of this contest on twitter (with the hashtag #BanquetofLies so I can track who enters) or share on Facebook (go here to share, so I can track your entry). If you tweet and share on FB, you get two entries. Good luck! This contest is international. Anyone can enter.

WINNER: Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest. Congratulations to Samatha Talarico. Random.org pulled your name out of the virtual hat and you win a copy of Banquet of Lies. I’ll be in touch to get your details.

Kindle Daily Deal: In a Treacherous Court is $1.99 for a short time

I am thrilled that In a Treacherous Court has been picked by Amazon as their Kindle Daily Deal for September 21st. If you’ve wanted to try In a Treacherous Court but haven’t got to it yet, now’s your chance! Happy reading.

Book signing event in Fremantle, Western Australia

For those of you who live within visiting distance of Fremantle in Western Australia, please come along on Saturday, 17 August, and say hello. I’ll be signing at a massive group signing event organized by the Australian Romance Readers Association. All the details of the event, including who else will be there and what I’ll be signing can be found here. My publisher has generously provided 50 advance reading copies of Banquet of Lies, my October 22nd release, to give away to readers at the event. I look forward to seeing those who live in my part of the world and who can make it there!

In Defense of the Queen Release Day

In Defense of the Queen 200 In Defense of the Queen releases today! I’m so happy to have Susanna and Parker’s latest adventure out in the world.

There are a couple of great things happening to celebrate the release.

First up is a book blast with Prism Book Tours. There are some fantastic prizes to be won, including a $50 amazon gift gard, ten ebook copies of In Defense of the Queen and two print sets of all three books in the series. You can go here to enter the contest: In Defense of the Queen Book Blast

The second is that Daughter of the Sky is on special for the next two weeks, down to 99c. For everyone who hasn’t yet read it, now is your chance. You can find copies at all your favorite online bookstores. The sale ends on August 14th:

In Defense of the Queen Cover Reveal

So excited to share the cover of the third Susanna Horenbout & John Parker book, IN DEFENSE OF THE QUEEN. It will be available for purchase from 1 August, 2013. It was really wonderful for me to steep myself in Susanna and Parker’s world again. It’s a place I love going back to!

Here is some info on IN DEFENSE OF THE QUEEN:

An artist never betrays her patron . . . especially one of the world’s most powerful kings.

Susanna Horenbout has learned this lesson from the cradle. But when she receives a letter from her father telling her to do just that, she faces a dilemma. Betray Henry VIII, or carry out the request of her father’s employer, Margaret of Austria, and pass secret information to Henry’s queen, Katherine of Aragon.

Caught between the machinations of her husband and her nephew, the Emperor Charles, Queen Katherine needs all the allies she can get. But what can Susanna really do to help her, and even if she does, will it be enough?

Susanna and her betrothed, Parker——one of Henry’s most trusted courtiers——balance on the knife’s edge of treason as they try to make sense of both international and domestic conspiracies. Sometimes, it’s better the enemy you know . . .

Cover Reveal: Banquet of Lies

So excited to show off the cover for Banquet of Lies, which is due out on October 22, this year.

Here is the blurb:

A SECRET TREATY AND A SECRET LIFE

Giselle Barrington is living a double life, juggling the duties of chef with those of spy-catcher. She must identify her father’s savage killer before the shadowy man finds her and uncovers the explosive political document her father entrusted to her safekeeping.

Posing as a French cook in the home of Lord Aldridge, Giselle is surrounded by unlikely allies and vicious enemies. In the London streets where she once walked freely among polite society, she now hides in plain sight, learning the hard lessons of class distinction and negotiating the delicate balance between servant and master.

Lord Aldridge’s insatiable curiosity about his mysterious new chef blurs the line between civic duty and outright desire. Carefully watching Giselle’s every move, he undertakes a mission to figure out who she really is—and in the process, plunges her straight into the heart of danger when her only hope for survival was to remain invisible.

“Diener enlivens history.” —RT Book Reviews

“An enormous talent!” —Affaire de Coeur

“Diener has set a standard for what good historical fiction ought to be.” —Luxury Reading

Virtual Book Tour for Daughter of the Sky

I’m so excited to announce that my virtual book tour for Daughter of the Sky is now confirmed. Please join me as I visit the reviews sites below, or read what they thought of Daughter of the Sky. I’ll be doing a few interviews and guest posts, and there will be giveaways. I look forward to seeing you in cyberspace!

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, April 8
Review at Reflections of a Book Addict
Review at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Tuesday, April 9
Review at The Reading Reviewer
Review, Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, April 11
Guest Post at The Reading Reviewer
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Friday, April 12
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Guest Post at A Bookish Libraria

Monday, April 15
Review at Bitches with Books

Tuesday, April 16
Review at Turning the Pages
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Thursday, April 18
Review at A Bookish Affair

Friday, April 19
Review & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Release Day for Daughter of the Sky

DAUGHTER OF THE SKY by Michelle Diener
( Published 1 March 2013)

My latest historical novel, DAUGHTER OF THE SKY, released today in eformat. The print version will only be a week behind, two at the most. This book is special to me, because it is set in Zululand at the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, and I grew up in KwaZulu-Natal. It was both daunting and a joy to write about the place I spent my childhood and young adulthood. The formative years of my life.

About Daughter of the Sky:

The Victorian Empire has declared war on the Zulus if they don’t accede to their outrageous demands. The clock is ticking down to the appointed hour. With no idea why the British are marching three massive columns of men and guns towards them, one Zulu general is prepared to take an impossible risk. But the life he’s gambling with isn’t his own . . .

The sole survivor of a shipwreck off the Zululand coast, 15 year-old Elizabeth Jones is taken in by the Zulus, the people of the sky. Six years later, her white skin becomes useful to the Zulu army as they try to work out why the Victorian Empire has pointed their war-machine at the Zulu nation. Elizabeth is suddenly Zululand’s most important spy.

While infiltrating the British camp, Elizabeth’s disguise as a young soldier is uncovered almost immediately by Captain Jack Burdell. However, he believes the tale she spins of searching for a missing brother and shields her from discovery, allowing her to bunk in his tent and giving her a job as his batman. Burdell is war-weary and disillusioned – no longer willing to follow regulations at all costs.

But as Elizabeth and Jack explore their growing attraction to each other, the two armies move towards their inevitable clash. Elizabeth is torn between the guilt of betrayal and her fierce loyalty to her Zulu family, and when Zulu and British meet on the battlefield, both she and Jack find their hearts and their lives caught in the crossfire.

Available for purchase:

(Some ebook stores have not loaded Daughter of the Sky yet, even though it has been submitted to them. I’ll come back and add the links to this post as they come through.)

History Behind The Emperor’s Conspiracy

The plot around which The Emperor’s Conspiracy is set is true. Napoleon did try to cause an economic collapse in England by smuggling out all of its gold. There are several letters by him to his brother and his officials, outlining the plan, and the French port of Gravelines did exist—a small town set up by the French for accepting the smuggled guineas.

For those readers interested in learning more about the economics of Napoleon’s plan you can read Eli F. Heckscher’s The Continental System: An Economic Interpretation, which was published in 1918.

For more details on the actual smuggling, and information on Gravelines, and where and how many smugglers hid the guineas, letters, and newspapers they were smuggling across to France, I found a lot of useful information in The Historical Journal 50, 2 (2007) article “Napoleon and the ‘City of Smugglers,’ 1810–1814” by Gavin Daly.

In this book, I take the reader both to the dangerous back streets and rookeries of London and to the glittering balls of the ton. To learn more about the darker side of Regency London, I highly recommend The Regency Underworld by Donald A. Low. For me, the stark contrast between the stews and the elegant streets of Mayfair is too interesting to pass up, and I enjoyed melding the two worlds together in the character of Charlotte Raven.

History Behind Dangerous Sanctuary

St. Paul’s Cathedral dominates London’s skyline today with its massive dome, but in 1525 it looked very different (see image here). Its spire was one of the highest in Europe.

Because much of the roof was made of wood, the cathedral burned down during the fire of London in 1666, after which plans were drawn up for the cathedral as we know it today.

When I was researching In a Treacherous Court — the first book in my series featuring Susanna Horenbout and John Parker — I learned about the ceremony Henry VIII arranged after the death of Richard de la Pole and the capture of King Francis I of France in battle at Pavia. The story of In a Treacherous Court ends before the ceremony, and the action starts again in Keeper of the King’s Secrets afterward. So choosing the St. Paul’s celebration was perfect for a short story that bridges the two books.

Geoffrey Pole is the sympathetic villain of the story, and I chose him because he seemed to be a man who was very emotional, even unstable. When his brother Reginald verbally attacked Henry VIII for seeking to divorce Katherine of Aragon, and Henry reacted by lashing out at the Pole family, it was Geoffrey who was questioned in the Tower of London, and asked to give information on his family that would help to convict them. During this time, in October and November 1538, Geoffrey seemed to teeter on the verge of mental collapse, and the testimony that was either forced or coerced from him convicted and led to the execution of most of his family. He was the only one released, and seems to have lived the rest of his life a broken man.

When thinking of someone who would be rash enough and hot-headed enough to want to strike out at the King over the celebration of Richard de la Pole’s death, Geoffrey Pole sprang readily to mind.

For those interested in hearing a version of the Te Deum, which is sung by the choir in this story (and was really sung at the Mass Henry attended in St. Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate the death of de la Pole and the capture of Francis I at Pavia) you can click on this link The recording is seven minutes long.