Guest Author Monday

Please welcome with me today our Guest Author — Elizabeth Rose

Hi, and thank you for having me as a guest today.

To tell you a little about myself, I am Elizabeth Rose. I have close to 30 published romance novels ranging from medieval to contemporary to paranormal. I am also an artist and create my own book covers as well as my own book trailer videos. I am happy to announce that my brand new book trailer for my Daughters of the Dagger Series is now finished. And the Prequel to the series is FREE, so be sure to pick up your copy today.

When I started writing my Daughters of the Dagger Series, I thought about all the old medieval superstitions and the odd things people believed in, and decided to make up one of my own. Mirabelle de Burgh wants more than anything to give her husband children, but is barren. And in the medieval times, every man wanted as many boys as possible, as they valued them more than girls. So Mirabelle takes a risk, steals money from her husband, and goes in secret to buy gemstone daggers from a blind old hag. She’s heard the superstition that for every dagger bought from the hag, she is sure to conceive a child. Now without risking giving away any more of the story, let’s just say that things don’t always go as planned.

There are four daughters in the series. While writing about the girls and their romances with dangerous, headstrong men, I decided I’d take my love for medieval history and let my readers not only be entertained, but also learn things that they might not have known. So in Ruby – Book 1, my hero has been entrusted to protect a baby who may be the king’s bastard. Back then, just about every king had mistresses and bastards so it wasn’t uncommon at all.

In Sapphire – Book 2, I explore wool smuggling and the secret passageways attached to some pubs, some still being found in England today. In Amber – Book 3, my heroine is a novice in an abbey – until she meets her devil of a husband. This book explores the power as well as the corruption in the church back then, and the stealing of relics – and in my book, the Regale Ruby. I think this book is my favorite of the series, and I even show the process of illuminating a medieval manuscript. That was something I didn’t know how to do, until I researched it. Fascinating.

And then there is Amethyst – Book 4. I once again pushed the envelope, as I decided I wanted to write about the process of building a castle and I wanted my heroine involved in doing it, even though that would never happen in that time period as most lords treated their dogs better than they did women. So she is sent by the archbishop’s orders, (so no one is going to object with orders from that high up), as assistant to her uncle, the master mason, to help build a castle for an earl who has no respect for women.

Now, without giving away too much, I’d just like to say that the series following this one is my MadMan MacKeefe Scottish series. In Onyx – Book 1, he is a crazy Highlander who is feared for his appearance of having two different colored eyes. There are three men in the series who are friends and known for doing crazy, risky things. In Onyx, I incorporate the Book of Hours. And in my latest release, Aidan – Book 2, I write about the Stone of Destiny. It is said that when the Stone of Destiny – the ancient coronation stone of Scotland – was stolen by England, that it may have been a fake. And the true stone may have been in hiding. So the basis of my story is that this is exactly what happened, and Aidan is the guardian of the stone, and Effie needs to steal it in order to free her sister from being held captive by the English.