Strong Women or the Weaker Sex by Jan Selbourne

MUSE MONDAY

Writing is more than just listening to our muse and getting inspired to create. There is usually a good deal of research authors put into their stories. Jan's post is about the work, and I know you'll find it interesting. Read on!

Historical fiction requires research. If we want to transport readers back to another time and place, our characters must be living there with its customs and laws and beliefs.

For example – coaches of the early 18^th century were devoid of springs and lumbered along at four miles or less an hour. By 1820, with lighter, well sprung coaches and improved roads, they travelled at the dizzying speed of ten to twelve miles an hour, stopping frequently to change horses. Today driving 50 miles means nothing more than putting the car into gear and the foot on the peddle.

It took my ancestors three long arduous months to sail the 13,000 miles from Britain to Australia via the Cape of Good Hope. Today I can travel the 10,573 miles in 22 – 23 hours.

What stands out during research is the influence of women throughout our history. Dubbed the “weaker sex” or “imbecillitas sexus”, derived from Roman law, literally meaning the weakness of female mental power, women stepped up time and again to face adversity and deprivation. It’s hard to believe that before the 1960s married women couldn’t own a bank account without their husband’s permission. Worse, over a century ago, husbands had the right to prevent their spouses from working.

It’s no wonder women’s suffrage grew in the mid-19^th century and the First World War had a huge impact on their struggle. Despite early opposition, thousands of women joined the war effort, working in areas that were previously male only occupations.  

Before I talk about my character Gabrielle, I must relate an amusing true story of that early opposition. In 1914, the British War Office turned down an offer of help from Scottish doctor Elsie Inglis with “My good lady, go home and sit still.” Undeterred, Dr Inglis set up the Scottish Women’s Hospitals on the fighting fronts.

Gabrielle, Perilous Love, was a product of the genteel upper-class world of servants and country homes in pre-war England. She was expected to marry well, and she did, to Adrian Bryce whose wealth spread from England to Europe. They soon discovered they had little in common and after two children led polite separate lives. In truth, they can barely stand the sight of each other – until Belgium in the summer of 1914. There, a terrible betrayal reveals the real reason why Adrian decided to join her, forcing them to flee as World War One erupts over Europe. From pampered comfort to hiding in a barn loft without money or food Gabrielle has no choice but trust the man she despises. The enormity of their predicament hits home when he’s injured. It’s now up to her to find food and means of escape. An abandoned farmhouse almost breaks her because she’s never boiled water, let alone cooked, and has no idea what to look for.  But, gnawing hunger, fear of capture and two children at home are powerful teachers. Grabbing what she hopes is edible she finds filthy farmer’s overalls in the washhouse. Shedding her torn dress, she struggles to put them on, unaware they are back to front. She runs out the rear door – and stops. In front of her is their escape in the shape of a scruffy plough horse. If she can catch it, if she can find a harness and wagon, they might, just might, blend in with the thousands of Belgians fleeing the brutal invasion. 

Like so many women of that era, Gabrielle discovered what she was truly capable of.

Perilous Love blurb -

Gabrielle Bryce’s plan to end her miserable empty marriage is thwarted when her estranged husband Adrian abruptly announces he’ll accompany her and their two children on the annual trip to Belgium. Unknown to anyone, Adrian is under orders from the British government to find proof Gabrielle's Belgian uncle is secretly supporting the German Empire’s quest for war.

The proof Adrian finds could kill them, and they run for their lives as the German forces cross the border. With only a stolen horse and buggy to their name and facing danger, brutality, and painful truths about themselves, they reach safety as two different people. Waiting for them are charges of treason and a woman who’ll stop at nothing to see Adrian dead. 

Excerpt – 

“What’s the matter, Adrian? The cat got your tongue?” Gabrielle whispered nastily. “You owe me the truth, because I am the poor fool who is the last to know about anything.” Her face flared red with anger. “You and Uncle Henri shared the delectable German harlot, you knew Belgium would be invaded, Uncle Henri has German guards ready to shoot us. What else has been going on behind my back?” 

When he didn’t reply, the bubbling volcano erupted. “Stand up and talk to me you devious, lying bastard!” She yelled then looked fearfully at the closed door. 

Her jaw dropped when Adrian shrugged dismissively. “What does it matter now? We have no feelings for each other.” 

“What does it matter?” She spluttered. “I’ve just been told your  German woman who is also Uncle Henri’s German woman, followed you to meetings with the Secret Service Bureau. Has it escaped your    attention that we have two children relying on us? No, they rely on me, and I am stuck  in this room with you.” 

She stepped back as Adrian scrambled to his feet, his eyes blazing. “Don’t yell at me, Miss Pure as the Driven Snow. I have a question for you, what does Brian Charlton find so interesting in my home? 

Buy links –

Perilous Love - Kindle edition by Selbourne, Jan. Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14661584.Jan_Selbourne?from_search=true

http://twitter.com/JanSelbourne

https://www.facebook.com/jan.selbourne

https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Selbourne/e/B0184OSZ6E/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-selbourne-2817b6140/

Jan Selbourne

https://nomadauthors.com/

https://nomadauthors.com/JanSelbourne

Twitter   Jan Selbourne @JanSelbourne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Next Stop is Dead by Jan Selbourne

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Please welcome Jan Selbourne for an exciting glimpse into her story. Is it real? You judge...and enjoy!

Alison McLeod had no idea that getting into the train on a dreary Saturday afternoon would change her life and almost kill her. Seated at the end of the otherwise empty carriage are three men and at the next stop another man enters the carriage.  A few minutes later this man sits beside her and opens his newspaper. It takes Alison several seconds to absorb what he’s written on the inside page. ‘Don’t look up. Get out at the next stop. The man in the middle is dead.’   

Trapped in a carriage with four men, on a train going express through the next four stations. Alison is terrified, but she has no choice but trust this man until she can get out at the next stop.

Doug Stanford hastily introduces himself as they run to a phone to call the police. When the train is stopped and searched there’s no sign of the three men, nor has anyone else seen them. Worse, Alison and Doug are charged with wasting police time and disrupting public transport.

It’s an old newspaper photo and a visit from a security organization that convince Alison and Doug something is very wrong.  However, nothing prepares them for their capture at gunpoint and the discovery the three men on the Melbourne train go back to Europe’s dark days of Nazi occupation - and the man known as evil in uniform. 

Evil Lives in the Night: Two historical, suspense, noir novellas - Kindle edition by Selbourne, Jan, Krist, Anne. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Website: https://nomadauthors.com/JanSelbourne/index.html
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanSelbourne
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-selbourne-2817b6140/
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/h8t2y6 

Author’s note –

I grew up in Melbourne Australia. Years ago, my friend’s cousin was on an almost empty Melbourne train when another passenger wrote on his newspaper to get out at the next stop. A man seated between two others at the other end of the carriage was dead. When the police stopped and searched the train, the three men had vanished. It never made the news, nor did I hear anymore.  Was there a body or was it hushed up? It’s a story that begs an ending. 

War and Christmas: Inspiration by Anne Krist #MuseMonday

MUSE MONDAY

War can inspire all kinds of literature. Join Anne today to see how it inspired her Christmas story.

It might seem strange to use war as a muse, but that is what Jan Selbourne and I did in our duo book Finding a Christmas Miracle. In Jan's A Miracle in the Outback, an Australian soldier on his way back to camp stops to help a woman who is not only in great need but also in danger. In my story, The Miracle of Coming Home, it takes a paranormal experience for PFC Tom Stabler to find himself when he comes home for a week at Christmas. The common point in both our stories is the war in Vietnam.

There's no denying the effect the war had on the lives of everyone living during the 1960s and 70s. Jan was closer to the action by virtue of Australia's location. For those of us in the U.S., the war felt a million miles away. We watched, fascinated and shocked, on the evening news each night. Everywhere we turned, Vietnam slapped us in the face. For years afterward, I tried putting it from my mind. I refused to write about it until I finally broke down and wrote Burning Bridges, which has its root in the time period.

Because the war was, well, what it was, how could any of us write the story of our youth and not pay homage to the place the war had in it?

The Miracle of Coming Home in Finding a Christmas Miracle (Anne Krist and Jan Selbourne)

Blurb
Jan Selbourne lends her award-winning writing talent to A Miracle in the Outback. Nick Saunders helps a woman in desperate need. He doesn’t know it, but he needs her help, too.

In award-winning author Anne Krist’s The Miracle of Coming Home, Army PFC Tom Stabler experiences the paranormal at home for Christmas. Will it help heal him or will he need a miracle to do the trick?

Buy link
Amazon Kindle

Excerpt
Awake now, Tom wondered if he’d ever adjust to the feeling of safety again, ever truly believe it existed. He feared he’d always be peering into shadows for the hidden enemy or listening for the almost silent, deadly snick of a landmine trip.

Falling back on the pillow, he stared at the posters on the opposite wall, illuminated by weak moonlight shining through the window. One was for a rock concert held in Omaha four years ago. He’d wanted to take Susan Swensen, but her father wouldn’t let her go the hundred-plus miles into the city with him. Too far, he’d said in his thick Scandinavian accent. Too much can go wrong with a car. Young people can get stranded. Alone.

The last was said with a long, thoughtful stare right into Tom’s soul. How had the man known of Tom’s evil intentions to fake a car breakdown in order to make time with his daughter? Eventually, when she was accepted into nursing school, Mr. Swensen had let Susan go to Omaha. By then, Tom had gone much farther. All the way to Hell, in fact.

The other poster hailed the Fighting Hawks, his high school football team, on which he’d been the star linebacker. Those were heady days. He’d made a great linebacker at the university, too, but a lousy scholar, which was what put him on academic probation and placed his ass squarely in the middle of that worthless strip of land called Vietnam.

Now he wouldn’t even make a linebacker. He skimmed his hand down his chest and across his stomach. Lean—skinny almost. Where once had been bulk there was sinewy muscle. He could still run, though. Oh, yeah, he got lots of practice running. From firing position to firing position, from cover to transport helicopters—black birds hovering over open kill zones to lift guys out of danger or drop them in—and from helicopter back to cover. Some days it seemed he ran the whole damn time.

It felt that way now. But what the hell was he running from?

About Anne and where to find her
A few years ago, Dee S. Knight began writing, making getting up in the morning fun. During the day, her characters killed people, fell in love, became drunk with power, or sober with responsibility. And they had sex, lots of sex.

After a while, Dee split her personality into thirds. She writes as Anne Krist for sweeter romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and shifter stories. All three of her personas are found on the Nomad Authors website (www.nomadauthors.com). Fortunately, Dee’s high school sweetheart is the love of her life and husband to all three ladies! Once a month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected charity.

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Swapping Identities by Jan Selbourne #WWI #Historical

MUSE MONDAY

Please welcome Jan Selbourne. She has a fascinating premise and WWI is her backdrop. Read on!

In 2015, I joined an Anzacs on the Western Front tour, visiting the battlefields where my grandfather served during World War One.  Looking at the lovely towns and villages and soft green fields it was hard to imagine the horrors of that war until our guide held up enlarged photos of blackened, treeless wastelands littered with bodies of men and horses.  

We visited the immaculately cared for Commonwealth War Graves and memorials and it was very humbling to see the thousands of graves of young men who never came home. Particularly sad was the inscription on so many headstones - "Known Only to God"." I could only assume their bodies were unrecognizable, and their identity discs buried in the mud or blown elsewhere. . 

After the tour ended, I got to wondering if it was possible for a soldier to swap identity discs with another who had been killed in battle.  In those days, War Service records were hand-written. It would have been a mammoth task to record the thousands of injuries and deaths from each battle. Curiosity grew to a real need to know, so I contacted London's Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial in Canberra asking that question.  Both replied that it was possible but unlikely because the chance of discovery was high and the penalties very harsh. Neither would confirm it did happen, but that was good enough for me to write The Proposition. 

Blurb 

War changes a man. For Harry Connelly it’s down to a bullet on the Western Front or arrest and prison at home – until, badly wounded, he collapses beside the body of Andrew Conroy.  Same build, same coloring, illegitimate, no known family. What does he have to lose?  Harry swaps identity discs.

Now Andrew, he’s another face in post war London until a letter. A cousin from the dead soldier’s unknown family wants to meet, to make amends.  Barely surviving on his pension, ‘Andrew’ agrees and is presented with a shocking proposition. Accepting is out of the question, refusing pushes him into a nightmare of murder and blackmail and a very frightened Lacey Haines.

Lacey is barely coping with the consequences of her sister’s treachery until Andrew saves her from a vicious assault. Can she trust him when she’s hiding secrets that could kill them both? 

Excerpt 

Andrew forced himself to look at her. “Please hear me out before you throw me out. There’s no other way to say it. I am not Andrew Conroy.”

Lacey’s face froze in horror.

He put up his hands. “I am not the killer! I am, or was, Harry Connelly. Andrew Conroy and I were two of the thousands of men at Amiens, preparing to face another hell for King and country.”

An anguished whisper. “What on earth are you saying?”

 She didn’t speak while he told her everything from the day before the battle, the bloodbath, Conroy’s lifeless body, his injury and discharge.

“You stole a dead soldier’s identity discs and left him to be buried without his name?”

“He’d already gone to the hereafter. I doubt identity discs would make any difference there.”

 “Hereafter or no hereafter, it was despicable,” Lacey whispered contemptuously. “So, you were discharged and went on your merry way as another man.”

“Not a merry way, a room in a boarding house drinking too much rum. Then Elliot’s letter and the real reason why he invited me.”

He told her, watching her expression change from scepticism to disbelief.

“Do you really expect me to believe that ridiculous story?” Lacey looked at Gina and dropped her voice. “You’ve used Gillian’s letters to cover up why you were there.”

“Her letter about Elliot’s proposition which would give her money to leave England? Why did Elliot hire an investigator to find me? The reasons why he was so desperate to produce a child and why he needed a substitute will be the reason behind those murders.”

A shadow of uncertainty crossed her face. “I don’t believe a word you’ve said.”

“It is unbelievable, its obscene and it’s the truth. I’ve told you he locked me in a room upstairs. It was pitch black and sheer luck I found an adjoining door to the next room. I went downstairs, knocked out and you know the rest.”

“You can’t prove one thing about that night.”

“Neither can you,” he hissed back at her. “You’ve told everyone you didn’t know your sister’s whereabouts and by incredible coincidence you were there that night. Did you really hide in the kitchen? Did you hit me on the head?”

Her mouth tightened, then the question he was dreading.

“Why did you take Andrew Conroy’s identity discs?”

“My career in the police force ended when I belted the son of a Member of Parliament senseless, and my wife humiliated me for the last time.”

Buy Link

https://www.amazon.com/Proposition-Jan-Selbourne-ebook/dp/B087LNZS4S/ 

Find Jan here: 

https://www.facebook.com/jan.selbourne/

https://twitter.com/JanSelbourne

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-selbourne-2817b6140/

https://nomadauthors.com/JanSelbourne