Hi, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host p.m.terrell
and her new book, “A Struggle for Independence”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with p.m.terrell and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
A Struggle for Independence
by p.m.terrell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Historical Novel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Sometimes a woman comes to the realization that she has built
the perfect life but with the wrong man.
It is
1916 Ireland, and Independence Mather has settled into a tedious routine in an
arranged marriage when she meets an architect hired to add a wing onto her
husband’s vast estate. She soon falls in love with the charming, attentive
Nicky Bowers, but he has secrets to hide. When she discovers he is an Irish
rebel, events propel her into the middle of the Easter Rising. Now she must
decide whether to remain the wife of a British loyalist or risk everything to
join the rebellion and be with the man she loves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT TWO:
As
the raindrops fell upon the gatehouse roof, they created a musical melody that
was enough to lull me into blissful complacency. The outside world could not
reach me here, and I could no longer remember what life had been like before
Nicky.
He
laid beside me now, his arm pulling me close. His eyes were closed, his
breathing regular, the cool air from fresh rain wafting through the open
windows to brush away perspiration that had formed on us both. Only his fingers
lightly rubbing my shoulder told me he was not asleep but only resting, a brief
respite before we made love all over again.
My
existence had been permanently altered. I knew that now, and I also knew I was
barreling toward a reckoning of which the details were hidden from me, and I
could only have faith that this was where I needed to be… and who I was meant
to be with.
I
did not see Stratford in the mornings as he departed each day at the break of
dawn. When he arrived home, I was no more than the candlesticks on the table, a
tiny ray of light he would never acknowledge but expected to remain in a given
place. One evening I simply did not stand in the hallway when he arrived home,
having given Johanna the excuse that I was under the weather should he inquire.
But when she reported back to me later, she said he did not ask for me, and
from the reports of the others, he went about his dinner as he always did, as
though I was seated at the far end of the table.
It
was not a relationship; I understood that now. It was a business arrangement;
it had always been a business arrangement and nothing more. I had been naïve to
believe it might ever turn into something else. Nor did I want anything else
with him, I realized. The mere thought of him touching me was enough to turn my
stomach. I was thankful for his inability to consummate the marriage.
Nicky
squeezed my shoulder and pulled me ever closer to him. My days were completely
different from my evenings; I lived for the hours between dawn and sunset. I
still took the path along the meadow each morning but an hour or so earlier
than I had in the past, and it was not long before Nicky arrived to whisk me
away. Sometimes we strolled along the water at the rear of the estate, far from
prying eyes. Other times we picnicked beneath the ancient oak, discussing all
manner of things. Sometimes we rode our horses to the far corners of
Matherscourt. And always, always, we ended up at the old gatehouse. It had
become our haven.
The
gatehouse was diminutive, but I was serenely comfortable here. The rushing
waters under the structure sounded like a constant lullaby, and on days like
this with a steady rain tapping against the roof, I felt wrapped in its cocoon.
The makeshift bed had been made plumper over time thanks to Nicky overstuffing
it, and my contribution had been some bed linens from the house, enough to
cushion the top so we could no longer feel pricks from the straw. Someday I
planned to stuff it with eiderdown; I simply hadn’t figured out the logistics
of that as yet.
Meals,
wine, and ale were all brought in a basket, and Léana never once gave me any
indication that she was puzzled by my sudden voracious appetite, though she
must suspect I was not eating it all by myself. Still, I had grown a bit
plumper. I had even managed to move in some old chairs and a table with Nicky’s
help, and a few peat bricks kept the fire going.
Yes,
we had set up our own little home here, and while I knew we could not expect to
live out our lives in a gatehouse on Stratford’s estate, I was content to let
the days slip by.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
What’s in a Name?
It
was 2002, and I was participating in a book signing in the Washington, DC area
when a reader asked me if I wrote under the pen name p.m.terrell because people
would not buy my book if they knew a woman had written it. I had honestly never
considered the possibility that my gender would either entice or prevent a
reader from purchasing it. The use of my pen name and it’s lower-case letters
came about almost accidentally.
My
name is Patricia McClelland Terrell. When my first suspense was picked up by
Chicago Spectrum Press, the book was released in the size of a mass paperback.
The length of my name gave the publisher pause, because of the amount of space
it would take up on the cover. Eventually, she suggested using my initials, so
my name appeared in a larger font. When I saw the cover for the first time as
p.m.terrell, I was surprised to see my name in all lower-case letters. The
publisher hated it, but I loved it. It was unique. As I began participating in
group signings, attendees commented that my name stood out precisely because it
was in lower-case.
The
titles of my last two books have been a play on a main character’s name. In April
in the Back of Beyond, released in 2019 by Drake Valley Press, the story
begins in the month of April in Ireland. The reader quickly realizes, however,
that the mystery is about a ghost named April Crutchley that haunts the cottage
a writer rents to complete her book.
A
Struggle for Independence takes place in 1916 Ireland as Irish
rebels plan the Easter Rising. The title, however, is named for the main
character, Independence Mather, as she struggles between the relative comfort
and stability of an arranged marriage and the Irish rebel with whom she falls
in love. The title on the cover splits between masculine and feminine fonts,
reflecting the masculine concept of war and the feminine concept of a wife
breaking away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
p.m.terrell is
the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the
award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 24 books in
multiple genres, including contemporary suspense, historical suspense, computer
instructional, non-fiction and children’s books.
Prior
to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC
Metropolitan Area: McClelland Enterprises, Inc. and Continental Software
Development Corporation. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence
Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department
of Defense. Her specialties were in the detection of white collar computer
crimes and computer intelligence.
A
full-time author since 2002, Black Swamp Mysteries was her first series, inspired
by the success of Exit 22, released in 2008. Vicki’s Key was a top five
finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards
nominee, and The Pendulum Files was a national finalist for the Best Cover of
the Year in 2014. Her second series, Ryan O’Clery Suspense, is also
award-winning. The Tempest Murders (Book 1) was one of four finalists in the
2013 International Book Awards, cross-genre category. Her historical suspense,
River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to
be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville
Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee. Songbirds are Free is
her bestselling book to date; it is inspired by the true story of Mary Neely,
who was captured in 1780 by Shawnee warriors near Fort Nashborough (now
Nashville, TN).
She
was the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to
raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high
illiteracy rates. She was the founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual
event held in the town of Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase
literacy and reduce crime and served as its chairperson and organizer for its
first four years. She also served on the boards of the Friends of the Robeson
County (NC) Public Library, the Robeson County (NC) Arts Council, Virginia
Crime Stoppers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield
County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.
For
more information, book trailers, excerpts and more, visit the author’s website
at www.pmterrell.com – and at the links below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH p.m.:
Website:
Blog:
Newsletter:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
YouTube:
LinkedIn:
BookBub Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Kobo eBook:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
p.m.terrell will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
Patricia ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. ~ I really enjoyed reading your guest post! I had been curious about how your pen name came about - very interesting! Also, I love that you title your books with the main character's name and use it as a phrase! Hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy!!
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for both the book description and giveaway as well. I enjoy hearing about another good book.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read your book.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like an interesting book! Thanks!
ReplyDelete