SAMANTHA CHANDLER, DEDICATED UNDENIABLY TO YOU - GIVEAWAY WINNER

The Book

Fate does love good choreography, so while reading Dedicated Undeniably To You listen to the waltz metaphorically danced by the concepts of love and marriage. Is marriage really the duty of each man or is it an emotional and soulful dedication that undeniably belongs to one special lady? 

Fate has plans for Lord Christopher Jared, the future Duke of Darenth. Although he proclaims that the notions of love and marriage are truly lost on him, the time is drawing near when his resolve will be put to the test. He will soon learn that the contractual obligation to marry as established by his father will not be what changes his life.  What will alter his world will be the force of his own heart that has willingly underestimated the power of falling in love happily ever after.

The giveaway 

This book has been won by kaewink who left a comment to the author interview I posted last week. Congratulations to the lucky winner and many thanks to Samantha Chandler for being my kind guest. 

Dedicated Undeniably to You is available at Amazon  or through Barnes and Noble, Xlibris bookstore and ebook store by Sony reader.

ANNE EYRE BY SUMMER DAY - GIVEAWAY WINNER

Quick post to reveal the name of the winner of Summer Day's new e-book. 

Congratulations to Kelly H.!

3 Scripted Television Shows Every College History Buff Should be Indulging in Right Now

by guest blogger Samantha Gray

While history books will tell you the accurate version of what happened in the past, sometimes it's more fun to "indulge" in a fictional "historical" series or two to help you get a more "entertaining" version of how our society was formed. While the shows listed below by no means should be used as historical evidence in your next term paper, they can make your study breaks that much more enjoyable.

Game of Thrones

Based off of the number one selling American quasi-medieval series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones is HBO's newest number one hit show. In fact, Game of Thrones even won an Emmy for its debut season. Shot mostly on the hills of Northern Ireland, "Game of Thrones" is an intense fantasy drama that showcases the rivalries of seven Nobel families fighting over the mythical kingdom of Westeros—a land where winters last for decades. 

A NEW TALE BY SUMMER DAY: ANNE EYRE - AN EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY

Summer Day has already been my guest with her fanfiction tales based on classics: Pride and Princesses and Wuthering Nights. Today I'm glad to present her new novel, ANNE EYRE (to be released in August) . There's a digital copy for you! Get a chance to win it: leave your comment + e-mail address! The contest is open worldwide and ends on July 28th.

From the Blurb 

When eighteen year old Anne Eyre accepts a summer job at majestic Thornfield Hall, she meets the handsome Nathanial Rochester – a man with a devastating secret. From the writer of Pride & Princesses and Wuthering Nights, Anne Eyre is inspired by the classic, gothic romance, Jane Eyre

Read an excerpt from the novel

AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY - SAMANTHA CHANDLER, DEDICATED UNDENIABLY TO YOU

Welcome to FLY HIGH! Samantha. Thanks for accepting my invitation to tell us about yourself and your new novel. My first question is, what made you finally decide to sit down and write Dedicated Undeniably To you?

 First of all, let me thank you for inviting me, Maria Grazia. Then, my answer to your question: I wrote the novel because I read all of Judith McNaught's novels and ran out.  So I started writing to see if I could come up with a story that would make you fall in love with love, laugh and wonder about another time and place.  

What about telling us something more about yourself? 

Samantha Chandler is my pen name. It's composed of my niece's name Sammantha (two mssss) and a chandler is a person that makes candles ...which I do. I have a company called S.ENT and I hand-pour soy candles...Although, I am an architect and the design director for a firm in Miami. I design high rise modern buildings very modern...but my heart is somewhere in 1819...go figure....If you like architecture visit thefullertongroup.com and look for Daisy Sanchez-Fernandez - my designs include the buildings called - Capital, Reforma, Everglades, Ocean Palms, Soliel....

READING JANE EYRE ON A KINDLE: REASONS TO LIKE EBOOKS

by guest blogger Angelita Williams

A scene from Jane Eyre 2011

Die-hard fans of hardcopy books will tell you they can't fathom a world in which ebooks rule the roost and paper books are viewed as relics of the past. Only time will tell whether ebooks replace paper books in the way that tapes replaced records and CDs replaced tapes and MP3s replaced CDs. Judging by the way things are going, however, it seems as though ebooks are definitely here to stay.

If you haven't invested in an ebook reader yet, you may be wondering what all the hype is about. After all, you can go to the used bookstore down the street and buy a hardcopy book for half the price you'd pay Amazon to get your hands on the digital version of the same book. There are undeniably some reasons to stick to hardcopy books and skip out on the ebook frenzy. However, there are also plenty of reasons to like ebooks. Here's what digital books have going for them:

There are tons of free ebooks

Sites like Project Gutenberg and OpenCulture offer thousands of ebooks for free, and downloading them to your ebook reader is 100% legal. Project Gutenberg offers the complete works of William Shakespeare, almost all of Jane Austen's novels, and most of the Brontë sister's literary contributions. Open Culture boasts a plethora of contemporary and classic literature and a bunch of free electronic text books for college and grad students.

In addition to downloading free ebooks from sites like Project Gutenberg and Open Culture, you can also download free digital literature from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, and Sony (depending on who the maker of your ebook reader is). You may not be able to get around paying Amazon $12 for a current bestseller, but there are a bazillion different ways you can find free and affordable ebooks to satisfy your book loving soul.

RICHARD III URGENT ARCHAELOGY APPEAL

What follows is an appeal in aid of the archaeological search for the lost grave of King Richard III from Philippa Langley. Philippa  is a screenwriter and founder, in 1999, of the Scottish Branch of the Richard III Society. Concurrently with this archaeological project she is preparing a script about the real Richard III. Here's what Philippa wishes to inform Ricardians and  friends about: 

After the battle of Bosworth, Richard III was interred in the choir of Greyfriars church in the centre of Leicester. Ten years later Henry VII had the remains placed in an alabaster tomb where they remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In late August 2012 archaeologists are due to excavate the site which, after exhaustive investigations, is believed to be his most likely last resting place, in the Choir of the former Church of the Greyfriars. 

New map regression analysis and Ground Penetrating Radar have helped to pinpoint the location, and it is here that the first-ever search for the grave of an anointed King of England will begin.

READING THE HOBBIT IN SEARCH FOR THORIN - PART I

It's time to wrap up for cast and crew led by Peter Jackson in New Zealand, for a few of them to present The Hobbit first movie at San Diego Comic-con  2012 , and it's rather time for me to start my personal journey into The Hobbit  by J.R.R. Tolkien. December 2012 is not that distant anymore. 
This reading is something I planned as soon as I heard Richard Armitage was going to play Thorin Oakenshield.  As it has already happened in the latest years, I'm going to approach  a genre I've never been interested in , as a total newbie, to follow Mr Armitage's career with due background information and knowledge  to be able to enjoy and appreciate every little aspect of his detailed acting. 

If it is not totally clear yet, I've just confessed I've never read Tolkien's books nor been interested in them so far. You can't imagine how many times my teenage students have asked me to read and teach Tolkien to them, but I've always had to answer  : how can I teach something I don't know anything about? They could have taught me much about Tolkien and the world he created on the reverse.

However, it's never too late to start.

AN HONOURABLE ESTATE BY ELIZABETH ASHWORTH - GIVEAWAY WINNER

England 1315. Famine and unrest spread across the country and when Sir William Bradshaigh joins Adam Banastre’s rebellion against their overlord, the Earl of Lancaster, things do not go to plan. Sir William is lucky to escape with his life after a battle at Preston and, as a wanted man, has no choice but to become an outlaw. Meanwhile, the lands at Haigh are forfeit to the king and are given to Sir Peter Lymesey for a year and a day, and Lady Mabel Bradshaigh must make a hard choice if she is to protect her children and herself.

Elizabeth Ashworth's signed copy of  AN HONOURABLE ESTATE has been won by 

Gerri Bowen

Congratulations, Gerri! Many thanks to Elizabeth Ashworth for being my guest (HERE) and for granting the copy to give away.

An Honourable Estate is available at Amazon both as a paperback and as a Kindle.

WHAT JANE AUSTEN'S NOVELS CAN TEACH US ABOUT DATING

Just a snippet to lead you to the latest post on My Jane Austen Book Club, my Austen-dedicated blog. Angelita Williams has written a lovely post about how reading Jane Austen can help young people (and not only them!) to cope with dating. She suggests to read Emma, Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice, of course! 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE POST

AUTHOR GUEST POST & BOOK GIVEAWAY - ELIZABETH ASHWORTH, AN HONOURABLE ESTATE

Elizabeth Ashworth accepted my invitation to present her just released novel to you readers of FLY HIGH! She has also granted a signed paperback copy of An Honourable Estate.

Leave your comment + e-mail address to be entered in the contest. This giveaway is open worldwide and will end on July 10th. 

Thank you for inviting me to make a guest post on your blog to mark the publication of my new novel, An Honourable Estate. The pouring rain that we’ve had recently in the north west of England seems appropriate for the launch, because the story begins in the year 1315 when the rain was also torrential.  There was famine because the crops rotted in the fields and the animals were struck down with disease.  People were starving and the price of food was very high.

Like now, people tended to blame government for everything and Adam Banastre, a minor lord from Lancashire, decided to lead a rebellion against his overlord, Robert Holland, who was secretary to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster.  One of the men who joined the Banastre Rebellion was William Bradshaigh.  But the rebels were defeated at a battle at Preston, on the banks of the River Ribble.  They fled for their lives and, as wanted men, had no choice but to live as outlaws.