My Book Has Published! The Gilded Crown, Book 1 of the Raven's Trade Series

 

 

The Gilded Crown, HarperVoyager

 

 

 

My debut novel, The Gilded Crown, is now published! Having a book finished and out there is something of a dream come true, and it's a real honour to be publishing with HarperVoyager. 

 

I've been writing since I was a child and I've always known it was what I wanted to do. I think it emerged from a complete paralysis about what I should morph my life into; pirate, firefighter, astronaut, soldier, I was spoiled for choice at a young age and very privileged to be in a position to become whatever I wanted to be (well, except perhaps pirate, but there's still time). As a writer, you can be anything and everything, you can study a thousand different areas of research (for the GC I read up on medieval medicine, herbology, and raven care, just to name a few), and become a thousand people. It is freedom, pure and simple, to cloak yourself in the fur of whatever beast you'd like to become. I have soared and galloped and now I'm here, and I can't wait to keep writing.

But it works both ways, books of course are a way for readers to live a thousand lives vicariously. There's a story my mum used to tell me as a kid, about a man with a roomful of hats. Every time he put on a new hat, he would go on a different adventure. I used to try putting books on my head in an effort to be swallowed in its world, alas it never worked.

Anyway, my book is out there. Go and try it on for size!

Blurb: 

The Witch’s Heart meets The Foxglove King in this debut novel about a woman who can bring people back from the dead, and the princess — and only heir to the throne — that she must protect, no matter the cost.

The first time Hellevir visited Death, she was ten years old…

Since she was a little girl, Hellevir has been able to raise the dead. Every creature can be saved for a price, a price demanded by the shrouded figure who rules the afterlife, who takes a little more from Hellevir with each soul she resurrects.

Such a gift can rarely remain a secret. When Princess Sullivain, sole heir to the kingdom’s throne, is assassinated, the Queen summons Hellevir to demand she bring her granddaughter back to life. But once is not enough; the killers might strike again. The Princess’ death would cause a civil war, so the Queen commands that Hellevir remain by her side.

But Sullivain is no easy woman to be bound to, even as Hellevir begins to fall in love with her. With the threat of war looming, Hellevir must trade more and more of herself to keep the princess alive.

But Death will always take what he is owed.