Capturing Bliss

   In 12th century England, love isn't part of the marriage equation. But Lady Blissot de Woodville adores her younger sister too much to see her suffer such a fate. Instead, Bliss recklessly switches places with her sister - and marries a total stranger under false pretenses! Fortunately, she soon discovers she shares a rare passion and genuine love with her new husband, the ardent Lord William Reynard. Yet the happier Bliss becomes, the more her secret weighs heavily on her heart ...because the desperate lie could destroy everything she's come to cherish.


Capturing Bliss Coming soon!

Capturing Bliss, birthdays and Christmas!

    So Christmas is almost upon us and I'm running about like a headless chook. People keep asking me if I'm all ready for Christmas and the answer is a resounding - NO!  I haven't even started, that's right - twelve days to go and I think I've bought two presents. You see, I've never been very good at planning things. This is evident when you consider that my son was born on Christmas Eve. So before I get to Christmas I have to get through my son's 18th birthday - Yikes! 
    Hosted a birthday dinner for Conor and his friends the other night - getting people to turn up for a birthday party on Xmas eve is just too difficult, so we have to celebrate a bit earlier.

    Added to that I've been trying to get the edits finished for "Capturing Bliss". I sent them to my editor today, fingers crossed - if all goes well then maybe there will be a Febuary release.

    Hope that everyone has a safe and lovely Christmas - Happy Holidays.

                                                                                                                 Nicole

Conor's Birthday Cake

Book Trailer - part II

So I really shouldn't have worried - my new book trailer for 'The Trinket Seller's Daughter' is up and totally fabulous. As some of you may know, my son took the trailer thing out of my hands. I was a little dubious and expected anything from exploding heads to armies of zombies - which is great but not for a medieval romance. Conor has done a brilliant job of editing the whole thing and there isn't a zombie in sight - fantastic! Check it out at - 
  www.nicolehurley-moore.com/mybooks.html

Nicole

Book Trailers

   So I decided that I would try my hand at making a book trailer for my book "The Trinket Seller's Daughter". I've seen other authors book trailers and I thought they were all pretty darn cool - so why not give it a shot. So I invested hours finding the right royalty free pictures and I even bought a couple. So finally, I was kind of pleased with myself and ready to start. Remember I said that I had spent hours on this - eventually I worked out how to use the 'movie' thingy on the computer and had managed to put the basic trailer together - pictures & script. This had taken a big chunk out of my Sunday afternoon but I was sort of chuffed with the results.
   Enter my tech head teenage son. The same son that designs animation, shoots movies and wants to become a film maker. He chokes back a laugh and gives me a pitying stare.
    "Mum, that's so newbie-ish. It's so - I've just learnt how to do this."
    I responded with "But I have just learnt how to do this."
    "Just give it here." He said with an exasperated sigh.

Last I heard he had disappeared into his 'cave' mumbling words like 'sound effects, fades and animation.'
My only hope is that he remembers 'The Trinket Seller's Daughter' is a historical romance and as far as I can remember there isn't any call for explosions or exploding heads (even if they are cool!)
                                                                                                                                             Nicole

Capturing Bliss

   My new novella 'Capturing Bliss' has just been accepted by Pink Petal Books!

   I am absolutely thrilled that I will be able to share Blissot and William's story. It is another medieval tale that is set in England in 1139 AD.

   To save her sister, Blissot de Woodville exchanges places and presents herself to Sir William Reynard as his intended bride. All would have been well if their marriage had remained one of convience. But Blissot finds herself drawn to her husband more and more. Bliss never meant to fall in love - but she did.  Unfortunately the lie that was born out of love, may be the very thing that destroys her fledgling marriage and William's trust.

Nicole

The Trinket Seller's Daughter

Just got an amazing review for The Trinket Seller's Daughter from Long and Short Reviews. A 5 book Rating - Wow, I'm thrilled and over the moon.
                                                                      -Nicole

 <center><a href="http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm251/lasrcovers/reviewedatlasrARIALROUNDEDcopy.jpg" border="0" alt="Long and Short Reviews" /></a></center>

Halloween

   So, in keeping with the atmosphere of the evening I thought I'd share a medieval ballad. It's almost a thousand years old and the author is unknown. It's a little grim but I hope you like it. 
                                                                                                                                    -Nicole

The Twa Corbies

As I was walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies making a mane;
The tane unto the t'other say,
'Where sall we gang and dine to-day?'

'In behint yon auld fail dyke,
I wot there lies a new-slain knyght;
And nae body kens that he lies there,
But his hawk, his hound, and lady fair.

'His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk, to fetch the wild-fowl hame,
His lady's ta'en another mate,
So we may make our dinner sweet.

'Ye'll sit on his white hause bane,
And I'll pike out his bonny blue een;
Wi' ae lock o' gowden hair,
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare.

'Mony a one for him makes mane,
But nane sall ken where he is gone;
O'er his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for evermair.'

The Trinket Seller's Daughter

   I'm thrilled this morning as my novella, The Trinket Seller's Daughter is now available to purchase from Pink Petal Books, Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, 1 Place For Romance, Book Strand, Smashwords and Firsty Fish Ebooks.
   The novella was published by Pink Petal Books and the beautful cover was conjured  by Winterheart Design.

 So grab a copy and tell me what you think - I would love to hear from you :)

 -Nicole

Rosemary for Remembrance

   I'm sad today as I have just found out that we have lost Sara Douglass. For those who may not know, she was the award winning fantasy writer. Some of her works include the Axis Trilogy, The Wayfarer Redemption, Troy Game, Threshold and The Devil's Diadem. Many will remember her ability to weave a tantalizing tale. But for me, I will always remember her as my 'Early European History' lecturer. She taught me so many things about medieval history and I will always be grateful.
                       Farewell Sara.   Pax Vobiscum.
                                                                       Nicole
                                        

                                                                

How the Lemon Drizzle Cake won.

   So after bleating about which story I should finish first, I went and baked instead. I managed to waste a couple of hours in the kitchen and then proceeded to spend the rest of Sunday afternoon and most of the evening readying a manuscript for submission. 'Good for you.' I hear you say but the truth is I think it was another one of my devilish ploys to delay the decision. So here I am at 3.40pm Monday afternoon and I still haven't made up my mind.
                            'Damn you, procrastination ...damn you!'

     But then the lemon drizzle cake does tastes pretty spectacular.      
                                                                                                                         Nicole

In A Muddle

   So today I'm in a bit of a muddle. I have just sent off a short story called 'Capturing Bliss'. It's set in medieval England and tells the story of Blissot; who to save her sister exchanges places and married Sir William Reynard. Fingers crossed that it will be accepted.
   But that's not why I'm in a muddle. Now I have to decide which story I should write next - or more to the point ... which one should I finish. The problem is that I have a heap of  stories that I have started and drawer full of plotted ideas. There are three that have fought their to the front and are calling me. And even though I have spent all morning thinking about it -  I still haven't been able to decide. Do I go with the yummy viking vampire who has waited more than a thousand years to fall in love? Or the hottie from ancient Persia who has been cursed into a magical ring? Or the girl that has only just discovered she is a witch? They are all plotted out and have about 13,000 words each ......... why can't I make up my mind!!!!!!
   Maybe I should just go and make a lemon drizzle cake instead. But then again, lemon drizzle cakes don't get stories written.  Arrgh!
                                           Nicole

Release Day at Pink Petal Books.

   It's Release Day at Pink Petal Books and my medieval tale, The Trinket Seller's Daughter  is officially available. Become entangled in the story of Emelin and Allard; as they try to escape a powerful enemy that hunts them through a dark forest. Will they survive?  And can a knight and a trinket seller's daughter bridge the vast divide between their worlds?

                                                  - Nicole.

Just for Fun

    I came across this recipe - maybe it will put us in a medieval state of mind. I haven't tried it yet ... but I think I'm tempted. Old English first followed by the updated English recipe.

Samon Roste in Sauce

   Take a salmond and cut him rounde, chyne and all, and roste the peces on a gredire; and take wyne and pouder of canell, and drawe it porgh a streynour; and take smale myced oynons, annd caste pereto, and lete hem boyle, and pen take vynegre or vergeous, and pouder ginger, and cast thereto. And pen ley the samon in a dissh, and cast be sirip peron al hote and serve it forth.

   6 salmon steaks, 1 cup of wine, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1 onion or 3-4 spring onions finely minced, juice of half a lemon or a tbsp of vinegar, 1/8 tsp ginger ans salt to taste.

   Brush the salmon steaks with cooking oil or melted butter and grill them. Meanwhile, put onions in saucepan with the wine and cinnamon and bring it to the boil; turn down heat and simmer gently. When salmon steaks are brown on both sides, add lemon and ginger to the sauce. Put salmon on serving dish  and pour the sauce over it.

                                  From Pleyn Delit - Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks. By Hieatt, Hosington and Butler.

                           

The Trinket Seller's Daughter

      Hi and welcome once again. This week I am beyond excited as my very first novella, The Trinket Seller's Daughter will be released through Pink Petal Books on Thursday. It is a historical romance that is set in Medieval England. I love this period and have done so since I was a child. At first I think it was the romanticized images of knights in shining armour and graceful ladies in bowers that caught my attention. Added to that there were also the wonderful stories of King Arthur and his knights.  However over the years the more I studied it, the more I fell in love with the middle ages - the good and the bad aspects. The good including things like architecture, literature, chivalry and having a stronger tie to the natural world. Whilst on the other hand there were the Crusades, short life expectancy and the Black Death.
     During the medieval period forests were seen as wild, untamed and dangerous places. Dangerous, not just because of the game and wild animals that inhabited but also the otherwordly forces that resided there as well.

      Here's the general gist of The Trinket Seller's Daughter - I hope you like it.

      Lost in the forest, Emelin runs for her life after her travelling party is massacred by outlaws. Sir Allard de Gerril is in pursuit of the ruthless Archer and his band when he finds Emelin. Bound by vengeance the pair seek out Archer – but as they journey through the dark woods revenge gives way to passion. With each passing day, Emelin dares to dream that there is a place for a lowly trinket seller’s daughter by the knight’s side. Yet as Archer begins to hunt the couple, Emelin fears that she and Allard will not have a future together as they may never escape the tangled wood alive.

     Released 6th October by Pink Petal Books
     Cover Art by Winterheart Design

My First Blog

   Hi and welcome to my first blog. I find this process a little daunting but also exciting. Generally I'm an old school type of girl - old school like parchment, fountain pens and sealing wax! But I'm giving blogging a whirl.
   I'm a romance writer and after toying with the craft for several years, my novella has been contracted by Pink Petal Books - So Excited!!! It is a medieval romance called The Trinket Seller's Daughter and is due out in October.