D K Marley

If you loved Ken Follett's "A Column of Fire," take another journey into 17th-century England with the 5-star reviewed alternate historical fiction novel, "Blood and Ink." History shows Kit Marlowe died in a tavern brawl in Deptford in 1593, but did he? England is torn apart by religious metamorphosis and espionage. The stages of England and bright intellectual boys are used to bolster Queen Elizabeth I's reign and propagate the rising Protestant faith. At the age of eight, Christopher Marlowe, the muse's darling, is sucked into the labyrinth of secret spy rings, blood, murder, and betrayal, while his own ambition to become England's favorite playwright drifts further from his grasp. As Christopher grows to manhood, he sinks further into the darkness, and a chance meeting with an unknown actor from Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare, sets him on a path of destiny - a fate of forced exile and the revelation that the real enemy is not an assassin of Rome, but a man who stared into his eyes and smiled. One he did not expect... Read the editorial review by the Historical Novel Society here: https: //historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/blood-and-ink/"The dialogue is as rich as a Shakespeare sonnet, the darker moments, as terrible as the Massacre of Paris, and the lighter moments as amusing as anything that William wrote. I adored the interpretation of both Marlowe and Shakespeare. So although this is very much Kit's story, there would not have been a story without William's running along side it. This book asks many questions and D. K. Marley has tried to give plausible answers. And although we will never know if Kit really did die in that dreadful fight in a house in Deptford, or if William really did pen the worlds most beloved plays, this story has something for anyone who is interested in these poets and the world in which they lived in. If you were to read only one book this year, then let it be this one." - 2018 Bronze Winner for Book of the Year from The Coffee Pot Book Club, Mary Anne Yarde

She is known as Lady Macbeth. What leads her down the path of murder? What secrets fire her destiny? Gruah, the granddaughter of King C n ad III of the Royal Clan Alpin, marries two men in less than six months, one she loves and one she hates; one in secret, the other arranged by the High King of Scotland. At the age of eighteen, she lays her palm upon the ancient stone of Scone and sees her destiny as Queen of Scotland, and she vows to do whatever necessary to see her true love, Macbeth macFindlaech, beside her on the throne. Amid the fiery times and heated onslaughts from Denmark and England, as the rule of Scotland hangs in the balance, Gruah seeks to win the throne and bring revenge upon the monsters of her childhood, no matter the cost or amount of blood tainting her own hands; yet, an unexpected meeting with the King called the Confessor causes her to question her bloody path and doubt her once blazing pagan faith. Will she find redemption or has the blood of her past fire-branded her soul? The story weaves the play by William Shakespeare with the actual history of Macbeth and his Queen in 11th-century Scotland. "...a woman's story at a winter's fire..." (Macbeth, Act III, Scene IV) "This beautifully written reworking of the Macbeth tale told from Lady Macbeth's point-of-view flows from the page and you quickly become immersed in the politics and intrigues of feudal Scotland as she fights for her rightful place and her true love A mesmerising read that grips from start to finish and Gruah is now one of my all-time favourite literary crushes. " - Iain Leonard, ARC Reviewer" Brilliantly conceived and beautifully written, The Fire of Winter is a tale not to be missed by lovers of Shakespeare, lovers of history, or lovers of the written word." - Riana Everly, Author of Teaching Eliza and Through a Different Lens

The year is 1722. A child is born on the isolated island of Ospo off the Georgia coast. In the midst of General Oglethorpe's vision for this new land, and the emerging townships of Frederica and Savannah, four lives entwine together on this island like the woven fronds in a sea-grass basket - the orphaned Irish girl born on Ospo, a war-ravaged British soldier seeking forgiveness and absolution, a runaway Gullah slave girl seeking a word of kindness on the wind, and a Creek Indian warrior searching for answers as to this intrusion onto his homeland. What they learn from this wild innocent girl, and from each other, will change their lives forever. A new birth, a new country, and the elements - Water, Wind, Fire, and Earth - entwine to teach one thing: Love conquers all. Love sees beyond borders. There is no ignorance in love.