Title: FATE: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic
Authors:
by (in order of appearance)
Introduction: Cathie Dunn. Bramble Creep by Annie
Whitehead, Six Pomegranate Seeds by Jean Gill, One Black Dog by
Marian L Thorpe, In the Shadow of Ghosts by Helen Hollick, A Fateful
Encounter by Alison Morton, Following Fate by Elizabeth St.John, The Black
Onyx Box by R. Marsden, Beware the Crows by Anna Belfrage, Dame
Fortune’s Wheel by J. P Reedman, Saints Alive by Debbie Young
Endword: Helen Hollick
Amazon
Universal Buy link: https://mybook.to/FateAnthology
(will
also be available to order from any good bookstore)
Available as: Kindle Unlimited, e-book and paperback
Publication date: 16th June 2025
Publisher: Taw River Press
ISBN: 978-1-0687721-4-6 paperback / 978-1-0687721-5-3 e-book
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?
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!
Content warning: some stories have adult content/language
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Historical Fiction with Spirit
AUTHOR INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION BY CATHIE DUNN
author, and host of The Coffee Pot Book
Club Author Services
website: www.cathiedunn.com
Author Services: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.com/
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 (published by Amberley books) and Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England (Pen & Sword Books). 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/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnieWHistory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anniewhiteheadauthor/
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.
Website: www.jeangill.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerjeangill
Amazon Author 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 2015. 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 fisherwoman answers her leader’s call to defend her country, beginning a journey into uncharted territory.
Website: www.marianlthorpe.com
Other social media: https://mlthorpeauthor.substack.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 – skilfully 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/
Newsletter Blog: https://thoughtsfromadevonshirefarmhouse.blogspot.com/
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 two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity and Double Pursuit.
For the latest news, subscribe to her newsletter at https://www.alison-morton.com/newsletter/ and receive 'Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’ as a thank you gift.
Website: https://www.alison-morton.com
Facebook: 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
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/elizabethstjohn.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethJStJohn/
Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn
THE BLACK ONYX BOX BY R. MARSDEN
The Bluffer’s Guide to Becoming a Famous Alchemist
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
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/abelfrageauthor.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annabelfrageauthor
Amazon Author 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 noblewomen.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRichardPlantagenet/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/stonehenge2500/
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
Facebook: AuthorDebbieYoung
Instagram: DebbieYoungAuthor
You’ll
find links to buy Debbie’s books here:
https://authordebbieyoung.com/books-2/
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