The winner of Anne Gracie’s The Winter Bride is…….

Lynne!

Lynne, we’ll send your email to Anne Gracie and you should be hearing from her soon. If not, email me at diane@dianegaston.com

Thanks, everyone, for making Anne feel welcome!

The Riskies

It’s April 1, which means (no fooling!) Murder at Westminster Abbey (book two of The Kate Haywood Elizabethan Mysteries) is launched at last!  I get so nervous when it’s the release date for a book, sort of like watching a toddler take their first few steps on their own.  They are their own person now, not just mine, and it’s scary and exciting and great.  (I also love seeing them on shelves, real books with covers and everything!)

I’ve loved working on this series, not just because it’s a new genre challenge (historical mystery, with a dollop of romance, rather than vice versa…), but because I love getting to spend so much time with one character.  I feel like I’ve gotten to know Kate, a court musician and friend to Elizabeth I, very well.  In book one (Murder at Hatfield House), she was young and a bit naive, having lived all her life in the countryside, but also with an intelligence and shrewdness that comes from watching everyone around her (her father, who was once a court musician to Queen Katherine Parr; Princess Elizabeth and her household…) walk the tightrope of dangerous Tudor politics.  In Westminster Abbey, she learns even more about the world of a royal court, who to trust, who to watch closely, and when to fight back.  She’s good-hearted and loving, artistic, loyal, observant, and stubborn, and she’s started to feel like a friend of mine. 🙂

So I’m happy to say she’ll be back with even further adventures next year!  Murder in the Queen’s Garden will be out in February 2015, and I am loving the research behind this story, too.  Nonsuch Palace, alchemy and astrology, and the hoards of royal suitors knocking at the new queen’s door–not to mention a romantic choice for Kate.  (will it be the dashing, daring–and unreliable–actor Rob?  Or the handsome, intelligent, brooding attorney Anthony??  If you’ve read the stories, who would you choose for her?)

Also–a winner!  The winner from last week’s post is Louisa Cornell!!  Louisa, email me at amccabe7551 AT yahoo and let me know if you prefer hard copy or ebook…

And here’s a look at the book on Amazon!!!

And my own site, where you can read an excerpt and check out some behind-the-book history…

I hope you enjoy Kate’s adventures at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation as much as I did!