FATE: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic Blog Tour
This cool book event is through my collaboration with The Coffee Pot Book Club.
FATE: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic blog tour promotes an intriguing anthology collection of short stories.
Book Title:
FATE: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic
Authors: Annie Whitehead, Jean Gill, Marian L Thorpe, Helen Hollick, Alison Morton, Elizabeth St.John,
R. Marsden, Anna Belfrage, J. P Reedman, Debbie Young.
Blurb:
If you had a crystal ball to predict what lay ahead, would you be tempted to use it? Or would you leave
the future to the turn of Fate?
Tales of Variety. Tales of History, Mystery and Magic – some comprising just one of these popular fiction
genres, others, a mild mixture of all three. Perhaps you prefer historical fiction rather than a story about
magic or fantasy? Maybe you enjoy exploring new themes or prefer sticking to the familiar? Historical
fiction can often inform, imparting knowledge of the past, of its events and its people. Stories of mystery
exercise the ‘little grey cells’ as Poirot would say, while fantasy and magic create new worlds and awed
wonder.
Whatever result, this is where anthologies come into their own, and where short stories are often
appreciated as enjoyable, entertaining, quick or easy reads shown through the eyes of a variety of
extraordinary characters and situations. In this instance: an Anglo-Saxon woman facing the consequence
of conquest, the pursuit of alchemy, the concern of a mother for her daughter, the shifting of time, the
necessity of hidden identity, souls who will linger as ghosts, a warning from the supernatural, the
necessity for (justifiable?) revenge. All mingled with the rekindling of romance through a mutual quest,
and the preparations for a Cotswold village celebration. (Along with a good tip if illicitly snaffling cakes.)
The binding theme? Destiny… Kismet… FATE!
Book Trailer:
https://youtu.be/M9pSrDX8PTQ?si=sqe7R1JpQoGwUjrb
Buy Link:
Universal Buy Link: https://mybook.to/FateAnthology
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Author Bios:
BRAMBLE CREEP BY ANNIE WHITEHEAD
When the Normans arrive at a peaceful Anglo-Saxon village, do the women, children and old men
submit… or fight?
ABOUT ANNIE:
Annie Whitehead is a prize-winning writer, historian, and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and has
written four award-winning novels set in ‘Anglo-Saxon ’Mercia. She has contributed to fiction and nonfiction anthologies and written for various magazines. She has twice been a prize winner in the Mail on Sunday Novel Writing Competition, and won First Prize in the 2012 New Writer Magazine’s Prose and Poetry Competition. She has been a finalist in the Tom Howard Prize for nonfiction and was shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize and Trisha Ashley Award 2021. She was the winner of the inaugural Historical Writers’ Association (HWA)/Dorothy Dunnett Prize 2017 and was subsequently a judge for that same competition.
She has also been a judge for the HNS (Historical Novel Society) Short Story Competition, and was a 2024
judge for the HWA Crown Nonfiction Award.
Her nonfiction books are Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom and Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon
England. In 2023 she contributed to a new history of English monarchs, published by Hodder & Stoughton, and in February 2025 Murder in Anglo-Saxon England was published by Amberley Books.
Website: https://anniewhiteheadauthor.co.uk/
Amazon Author Page: http://viewauthor.at/Annie-Whitehead
SIX POMEGRANATE SEEDS BY JEAN GILL
A daughter’s dream can be a mother’s nightmare.
ABOUT JEAN:
Jean Gill is an award-winning Welsh writer and photographer living in the south of France with a scruffy
dog, a beehive named ‘Endeavour’, a Nikon D750 and a man. First published in 1988, her twenty-six
books are varied in genre, including novels, memoir, military history, dog books, poetry, and a cookery
book on goat cheese. With Scottish parents, an English birthplace and French residence, she can usually
support the winning team on most sporting occasions. She taught English for many years and was the first woman to be a comprehensive school headteacher in Dyfed, Wales. Life has been hectic as she is also
mother or stepmother to five children.
Website: www.jeangill.com
AmazonAuthor Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/jeangill
ONE BLACK DOG BY MARIAN L THORPE
A warning of Fate, or simply too much beer and a tale well told?
ABOUT MARIAN:
A dual Canadian/British citizen who divides her year between Ontario, Canada, and Norfolk, UK, Marian
published the first of her eight-book Empire’s Legacy series, historically-inspired speculative fiction, in
The series is set in a world ‘on the edge of history’: reminiscent of Britain, Northern Europe, and
Rome in the latter centuries of the first millennium, but a world where society evolved differently after the Eastern Empire left; a world where one young fisher woman answers her leader’s call to defend her country, beginning a journey into uncharted territory.
Website: www.marianlthorpe.com
Amazon Author Page: https://relinks.me/MarianLThorpe
IN THE SHADOW OF GHOSTS BY HELEN HOLLICK
Does the fate of those who survive linger forever?
ABOUT HELEN:
Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction,
nautical adventure series, cosy mysteries – and her short stories – skillfully invite readers to step into
worlds where the boundaries between fact and fiction blend together. Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was initially published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around
her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant. Her 2025 release is Ghost
Encounters, a book about the ghosts of North Devon.
Helen and her family moved from London to Devon after a Lottery win on the opening night of the
London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden, fending off the geese,
helping with the horses and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would occasionally help with the
housework…
Website: https://helenhollick.net/
Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER BY ALISON MORTON
When time turns in the wrong direction, fate will always step in…
ABOUT ALISON:
Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her eleven-
book Roma Nova thriller series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the ancient
Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution
and heartache but with a sharp line in dialogue.
Six years’ military service, a fascination with ancient Rome and a life of reading crime, historical and
thriller fiction have inspired her writing. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA
in history. She lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her latest three
contemporary thrillers, Double Identity, Double Pursuit, and Double Stakes.
Website: https://www.alison-morton.com
Amazon Author Page: https://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon
FOLLOWING FATE BY ELIZABETH ST.JOHN
A Lost Portrait, a Hidden Conspiracy, and a Second Chance at Love
ABOUT ELIZABETH:
Elizabeth St. John’s acclaimed historical fiction brings to life her ancestors – remarkable women linked to
England’s royalty – offering unique insights into Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Inspired by family
archives and historic sites like Lydiard Park and the Tower of London, her novels include The Lydiard
Chronicles, The Godmother’s Secret, and The King’s Intelligencer, exploring the English Civil War and
the mystery of the Princes in the Tower.
Website: www.elizabethjstjohn.com
Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn
THE BLACK ONYX BOX BY R. MARSDEN
The Bluffer’s Guide to Becoming a Famous Alchemist
ABOUT R. MARSDEN:
R. Marsden is an author and musician, passionate about the Middle Ages. He plays the gittern, a beautiful
medieval stringed instrument, ancestor of the guitar; and a thirteenth century recorder, a replica of one
which was excavated from medieval ruins in modern-day Poland. He also plays the piano, and there’s
nothing medieval about that!
Tales of Castle Rory are Medieval Fantasy Adventures, in which the demesne of Lord Rory of Hambrig is
brought to life. Set in the latter part of the thirteenth century, these stories have adventure, mystery and
magic at their heart. You’ll also find relationships, romance, friendship and the forging and breaking of
ties between people and nations. Running through the Tales are themes of family, loyalty, trust and
resilience, together with the other sides of those coins: abandonment, betrayal, loss and disempowerment.
Website: https://talesofcastlerory.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554417124566
Amazon Author Page: https://mybook.to/TalesOfCastleRory
BEWARE THE CROWS BY ANNA BELFRAGE
Beware the consequences of hatred. Revenge can take many forms…
ABOUT ANNA:
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she
became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance and writing. Anna has
authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and
Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th
century England, and The Castilian Saga, which is set against the medieval conquest of Wales. She has
also published a time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time, and its sequel Times of Turmoil, and is
now considering just how to wiggle out of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia,
as her characters are demanding. . .
All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel
Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud
recipient of various Reader’s Favourite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze
Coffee Pot Book Club awards.
Website: www.annabelfrage.com
AmazonAuthor Page: http://Author.to/ABG
DAME FORTUNE’S WHEEL BY J.P. REEDMAN
Fate can be in the hands of others – or held within your own…
ABOUT J.P. REEDMAN:
J.P. Reedman lives in Wiltshire near to Stonehenge. Born in Canada, she has had a lifelong interest in
ancient and medieval history, and is often found lurking around prehistoric sites, ruined castles and
abbeys, and interesting churches with camera in hand. She became a full-time writer in 2018. Series
include I, Richard Plantagenet, five books chronicling Richard’s life from childhood to Bosworth, and
Medieval Babes, a set of standalone novels about lesser-known medieval queens and noblewoman.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRichardPlantagenet/
Amazon Author Page: author.to/REEDMANHISTFIC
SAINTS ALIVE BY DEBBIE YOUNG
When children are not quite the saints we’d like them to be!
ABOUT DEBBIE YOUNG:
Debbie Young is the author of three series of cosy mystery novels set in the Cotswolds. The Sophie Sayers
series starts with Best Murder in Show; the Gemma Lamb series begins with Dastardly Deeds at St
Bride’s; and the Cotswold Curiosity Shop series kicks off with Death at the Old Curiosity Shop. She
sometimes sends characters from one series to visit those in another. She also writes short fiction, not all
of it crime-related, set in the same world, eg Christmas with Sophie Sayers. Her novels are published by
Boldwood Books in English, by DP Verlag in German, and by Antonio Vallardi in Italian. She has recently
written her first murder mystery play for performance by her village amateur dramatic group. She is a
frequent speaker at events for writers and readers, a course tutor for Jericho Writers, and the founder and
director of the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival. She lives in a Victorian cottage with her Scottish
husband, her student daughter, and three cats, and she writes in a little hut at the bottom of her garden.
Website: www.authordebbieyoung.com
Links to buy Debbie’s books: https://authordebbieyoung.com/books-2/
