Shakespeare’s Conspirator

Did a shunned Jewish woman of color write many of Shakespeare’s plays?

A young woman seals a secret pact with Shakespeare bringing her plays into the world but the acclaim to him, yet she embeds subtle clues pointing to her authorship and imperiling her life.

Shakespeare’s Conspirator

The Woman, The Writer, The Clues

by Steve Weitzenkorn

Genre: Historical Fiction

 

Brimming with intrigue, SHAKESPEARE'S CONSPIRATOR shatters beliefs about the world's greatest playwright. Did he really write the thirty-seven plays credited to him?

 

It's 1587. Shakespeare is struggling to launch his career. Finally he persuades James Burbage, a theater owner, to stage Henry VI. He's the same proprietor who refused to look at Amelia Bassano's comedic script. Infuriated after being blocked at every turn, she reluctantly seals a secret pact with Shakespeare.

So begins a fiery relationship that triggers suspicions, plots to expose them, and grave dangers.Craving recognition and ways to break through, Amelia pursues illicit relationships with Elizabethan luminaries while becoming a controversial advocate for women.

Scandals and complications follow as her life takes dreadful turns. When Shakespeare pressures her to write a soul-tormenting script, she fears being exposed as a hidden Jew, a felony in Elizabethan England. Undeterred, she embeds hints to her authorship and true identity in Shakespeare's plays. But not everyone is deceived.

In this captivating story, the web of secrets and trail of clues reveals a perilous and cloaked Shakespearean world.

 GUEST POST

Top 10 Reasons Shakespeare May Have Been a Fraud

Steve Weitzenkorn

William Shakespeare is the most acclaimed playwright in history. Four hundred years after his death, the plays attributed to him are still performed and studied all over the world. But notice how I phrased that last sentence. I wrote “the plays attributed to him.” Why do I doubt that he wrote them all? Well, there is not a lot of circumstantial evidence suggesting that he did. He may not have written any of them, or if he did, collaborated with others. Yet, no co-authors are ever given credit. Although there is ample speculation.

Here are the top ten reasons I think it’s unlikely he is the true author of many of the plays credited to him.

1. 37 plays bear his name. His writing career lasted 23 years, from 1590 to 1613. Think about that. Could anyone have written 37 intricate five-act plays plus154 sonnets in that amount of time on a part time basis? Don’t forget, he was acting in those plays at the same time. And he wrote with a quill. Even modern-day playwrights and authors would be hard pressed to do that, and they have access to word processing software, personal computers, and the Internet.

2. Shakespeare never set foot outside of England but over 60% of his plays are set in foreign lands or at sea. How did he know about those cultures? What interested him in them? He was, after all, a boy who grew up in a rural market town a three-day journey (in those days) from London. In some plays, it’s clear the author had personally witnessed local sites and was familiar with local customs.

3. Shakespeare was fourteen when he stopped going to school. How did he get the wherewithal to write so many historical dramas, comedies, tragedies, and a fantasy. How was he able to switch genres so fluidly? Most authors, even very prolific ones, stick to one or two genres and are far more educated.

4. While some original manuscripts (and cue scripts) in the handwriting of other famous playwrights of his era still exist, none do for Shakespeare. And he theoretically wrote far more plays than they. Why not? What happened to them?

5. In King Lear, Measure for Measure, and Macbeth phrases appear that are strikingly similar to unique lines Dante wrote Italian in his Devine Comedy. The problem is that Shakespeare could not read or write Italian and the Devine Comedy was not translated into English until 150 years after his death. So how did that happen?

6. Shakespeare’s signature appears on six documents including on a legal suit, a deed, a mortgage, and on three pages in his will. He spelled his name differently each time. For an esteemed playwright and poet, this seems quite odd. And he sign his name “Shakespeare” anywhere.

7. Shakespeare, having grown up in Stratford-upon-Avon, probably has a British Midlands or Warwickshire accent. That regional dialect does not show up in the scripts.

8. How did Shakespeare know so much about the inner workings and politics of the English royal court? As a man with a working-class upbringing, he had no known aristocratic contacts other than the Lord Chamberlain—and that was toward the middle of his career after most of the plays about English kings were written. How did he gain access and insights?

9. Why would such a great literary figure marry an illiterate woman and never teach his daughters to read and write? It seems incongruous.

10. Ten people who had published books, poems, letters, and journals and who knew Shakespeare as a young man and as an adult said they had never seen him write a script and did not associate him with any of the plays attributed to him.

I know there are many scholars and academics who claim that “Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare,” but none of the articles that I have seen dispute the ten facts listed above. And most don’t mention any of them. I leave it to you, dear reader, to form your own conclusions.

EXCERPT

SHAKESPEARE’S CONSPIRATOR

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 9

Will settled back down and nodded his goblet toward her. “How is your play about the two sets of twins?”

Emilia believed he already knew the answer. She cleared her throat. “Using your phrase, I’m calling it A Comedy of Errors, but…” Her lips turned downward as she continued. “I’ve gone to every theater owner, but none will look at it.”

Tears welled in Emilia’s eyes, and she dabbed them with a linen handkerchief.

“Do they say why?” asked Will.

“Some do, some don’t. One claimed a play by a woman wouldn’t attract audiences, which is curious since there’s never been one. But there’s also an unstated reason.”

“Which is?”

Emilia stared through the rain-streaked window and gathered her courage to admit the truth. “I’m not well thought of among theater people. I shan’t go into details but my reputation has been sullied.”

“I won’t inquire, but I’ve heard rumors…about another playwright.”

Emilia swallowed hard, relieved he didn’t mention names. She didn’t wish to talk about Marlowe. An awkward silence filled the space between them. Yet she could tell Will’s mind was working furiously.

“What are you thinking?”

He coughed, making a dismissive wave. “It’s nothing.”

“Will, say it. You can be blunt.”

“I’m searching for the right words so I don’t offend you.”

Emilia took another sip of ale. “I’ll be more offended if you don’t tell me.”

Will still hesitated and spoke as if he chose his words carefully. “There are certain barriers that aren’t coming down. That means if you want your play performed, you’ll need to make a reluctant choice.”

“Will, what are you saying?”

Will shifted in his chair, grimacing as if struggling to broach his idea with her. “Emilia, I’ll be plain. I doubt men’s attitudes toward women will change. They’re deeply implanted. So—and this was the mad thought that occurred to me—why not use a man’s name as the author? Then your script would receive due consideration.”

Emilia recoiled at the artifice. “You’re suggesting I use a male alias like Emil Bassano or some other contrived appellation?”

“It could work.”

“It might, but if every woman did, we’d never be recognized for notable work. Our genders should not matter.”

Will shrunk back in his seat, looking pained. “Everything you say is true, bringing me to the point I wished to make earlier, which would solve those practical problems but create other risks.”

Emilia planted her elbows on the table. “And that is?”

“To get Burbage’s true reaction, what if, with your assent, I showed him your script without any name on it? If he responds favorably, then we’ll discuss our next moves.”

Emilia saw the value of that approach. “That’s an intriguing idea. But if he likes it, then what?”

“It will depend on his reaction,” said Will.

Emilia fidgeted with uncertainty, reluctant to lose control over her work. “I have little to lose, I suppose.”

“Emilia, it’s worth trying. Can you bring the script here tomorrow?”

Emilia paused, assessing Will. She believed him to be sincere and fair-minded. He wasn’t sinister like Marlowe, who would have a concealed motive. I’ll trust him and see. Only then will I know. “I’ll bring it, but I’ll need it back.”

***

Emilia paced the streets near the Horn waiting for Will. Her leather chopines had rubbed her ankles sore. The two-inch wooden soles and heels were caked with crud from stepping off curbs into sloppy, potholed roads. Horses and carriages splattered mud on her black skirt. But Emilia thought only about Will’s meeting with Burbage, paying little attention to where she walked. She passed the Horn again and saw Will approaching from the opposite direction, looking downcast.

“Burbage wants A Comedy of Errors,” he announced matter-of-factly.

Something’s wrong, Emilia sensed. Why isn’t he pleased?

“Let’s talk inside,” suggested Will.

They found a window table that two laborers had vacated. Will ordered ale for them both.

“Will, don’t keep me in suspense.”

“Burbage likes the novel theme and plot. He thinks it will draw sizeable audiences...”

Will’s tone is flat, devoid of emotion. Something’s not right. “Does he know who penned it?”

Will hung his head and put his fist to his mouth.

“What is it, Will?”

“Burbage assumed I wrote it. He said I should be confident enough to say so.”

Oh no! Is Will stealing my work? “What did you say?”

“I didn’t correct him.”

Emilia jumped to her feet, folding her arms across her chest. I didn’t expect treachery! “I trusted you! You didn’t tell the truth?”

Descriptive Paragraphs:

England, 1587: A young William Shakespeare persuades a theater owner to stage Henry VI––the same one that refuses to look at Emilia Bassano's play because she’s a women. Blocked at every turn, she reluctantly agrees to let Shakespeare submit her scripts under his name, but at what cost?

Emilia’s plays propel Shakespeare’s success, which sparks envy and suspicion from a fledgling playwright after he detects clues embedded in the scripts that point to her authorship. She faces threats and grave dangers as a biracial, half-Jewish woman believed to be abetting Shakespeare’s deception. In contrast to the belittlement and injustices women face, she portrays their strengths, intelligence, and savvy through her characters, storylines, and poetry.

Emilia Bassano Lanyer is most accomplished writer you’ve never heard of. Until now

REVIEWERS HAVE CALLED SHAKESPEARE’S CONSPIRATOR: 

“A STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT.”

“A MUST READ ON THE TRUE AUTHORSHIP OF SOME OF SHAKESPEARE’S GREATEST WORK.”

“AN HISTORICAL WHO-WROTE-IT,” “ENTHRALLING,” “LOVINGLY RESEARCHED.“

“A TRIBUTE TO A STRONG AND CREATIVE JEWISH WOMAN.”

 

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeares-Conspirator-Woman-Writer-Clues-ebook/dp/B013S8EG9G

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/shakespeare-s-conspirator-the-woman-the-writer-the-clues-by-steve-weitzenkorn

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26028399-shakespeare-s-conspirator

 

About the Author

I write historical fiction that challenges assumptions and provides fresh insights into the events of prior centuries, legendary figures, and people overlooked in the sweep of time. My first novel, Shakespeare’s Conspirator, has been optioned by a celebrity-owned production company in LA. It imagines the life of Emilia Bassano Lanyer, a real woman who may have written several plays attributed to Shakespeare. I’ve also written a prequel and sequel that delves in to the Shakespeare authorship mystery. With any luck, all may be coming to a screen near you.

 

My writing journey began as I was winding down my career as an organizational behavior consultant and co-authored a book on teamwork and leadership. As an avid reader, I became intrigued by curious fact patterns inconsistent with commonly-held beliefs, that I, like many others, assumed were true. When I realized the logic of those assumptions did not always hold up to close scrutiny, and experts had dug trenches around their own theories, I launched into my own research. Fascinating stories emerged and my imagination took over.

 

Since most people don’t read academic material, I reasoned that a compelling way to convey the evidence and challenge beliefs was to depict real and fictional characters dropping the bread crumbs, or following them, in reality-based historical fiction. In my novels, characters uncover and discuss clues through intriguing plots that track with historical chronologies—allowing readers to form their own conclusions.

 

My most recent published novel delves into the Spanish Inquisition, the trauma it created, and the life-changing decisions it triggered. Two other historical novels are in the pipeline. In one, the protagonist discovers her family’s hidden past while alternate chapters track her ancestor’s journey over hundreds of years.

I have also co-authored two non-fiction books: The Catalyst Effect: 12 Skills to Boost Your Impact and Elevate Team Performance and Find-Fulfill-Flourish about discovering one’s purpose.

 

I have a dry sense of humor along with a Ph.D. in Human Learning and Organizational Behavior. I’ve been honored with the William C. Byham Award for Innovation and Excellence in Training Technology and the Henkel Award for Global HR Excellence. I have served on the boards of nonprofit organizations and as president of two. I enjoy mentoring, teaching, presenting, volunteering, and learning in any way possible.

 

Website * Facebook * Instagram *  Amazon * Goodreads

 

Author Links

Website: https://shakespearesconspirator.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShakespearesConspirator

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shakespearesconspirator/

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Steve-Weitzenkorn/author/B01C7UET2A

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4864138.Steve_Weitzenkorn

 

Giveaway

$30 Amazon

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://bit.ly/ShakespearesConspiratorTour

 

Shadows

 There are old tragedies sealed in the stones of Llysygarn and their shadows don't let go. 

Shadows 

Llysygarn Book 1 

by Thorne Moore 

Genre: Paranormal Historical Crime 

Kate Lawrence can sense the shadow of violent death and it's a curse she longs to escape. But, joining her cousin Sylvia and partner Michael in their mission to restore and revitalise the old mansion of Llys y Garn, she finds herself in a place thick with the shadows of past deaths.

She seeks to face them down but new shadows are rising. Sylvia's manipulative son, Christian, can destroy everything. Once more, Kate senses that a violent death has occurred…

A haunting exploration of the dark side of people and landscape, set in the majestic and magical Welsh countryside.

 

 GUST POST

How I came to write.

I suppose it began with books. Then there were stories my father told me, at bedtime, with a glass of hot milk (disgusting) – stories about a little man called Flapperjack who lived in a tree. You can summon him with a special secret rap: knock-knock, knock-knock-knock, knock-knock. No idea what happened after he was summoned, but it was the fantasy that mattered. Fiction. There were books my mother read to me until I’d grasped enough to tackle them myself. The very first book I can remember tackling on my own was a picture book about a kitten. No idea what actually occurred in the kitten story, but the kitten was enough. I was, am and always will be a cat woman. But I didn’t stick solely with cats. When I decided to tackle a book, I wasn’t concerned with recommended age prescriptions. I was tackling the sequel to The Three Musketeers when I could read maybe one word in five. I picked that partly because it had a few pictures scattered through it and partly because it featured a king having his head cut off, which was strangely intriguing.

These were all means of showing me there could be imaginary worlds of drama and adventure (and decapitation) that I could enter. Then came the Sunday afternoon drives. It was a ritual. We all piled into the Morris 8 (starting handle, running board and little fingers that stuck out to indicate turning), and my father took us for a ride in the country, before returning to bath and boiled egg and soldiers, ready for school the next day. I did look out and observe as we drove along, and I do have clear memories of many curiosities scattered in the surrounding countryside, but mostly I drifted in the back of the car, gazing up at the clouds, lost in imaginary worlds with imaginary characters of my own creation. I think it took quite a few years before it occurred to me to write my stories down, but the need grew, until I realised that writing was something I really wanted to do. In fact, the only thing I wanted to do. In my final year at school, my principal told me I should study law (I was argumentative). He even sent me to Oxford for a weekend introduction to the subject to see if I fancied it. We were addressed by several members of the legal professions, and the main thing I took away from it was that law was very well paid. I could be a lawyer and be rich. Or I could be a writer, very poor, probably living on dry crusts in an attic, wearing mittens to keep my fingers warm enough to hold a pen.

I chose the attic.

Some things don’t change. I no longer go for Sunday drives but I do go for walks, and it’s while I’m walking that my stories get written, in my head – all the problems are solved, the dialogue emerges, plots are tangled as I stroll alone. When I get home from my walk, the scene or chapter merely has to be transferred to the page. On a laptop. I gave up on the idea of a pen, with or without mittens, because I can no longer read my own writing, and because

a laptop has the greatest invention known to Man: the delete button. Where would we be without it?

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4DXKKF7

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/shadows-llysygarn-book-1-by-thorne-moore

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213590101-shadows

 

Long Shadows

Llysygarn Book 2

Llys y Garn is an ancient mansion riddled with mysteries. What tragedies haunt the abandoned servants' attics, the derelict great hall, the deep mire in the woods?

1884. The Good Servant. Nelly Skeel is the unloved housekeeper whose only focus of affection is her master's despised nephew.

1662. The Witch. Elizabeth Powell, in an age of bigotry and superstition, who would give her soul for the house she loves.

1308. The Dragon Slayer. Angharad ferch Owain, expendable asset in her father's eyes, dreams of wider horizons, and an escape from the seemingly inevitable fate of all women.

 

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4FSNCN7

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/long-shadows-llysygarn-book-2-by-thorne-moore

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213604356-long-shadows

About the Author

Thorne was born in Luton and graduated from Aberystwyth University (history) and from the Open University (Law). She set up a restaurant with her sister and made miniature furniture for collectors. She lives in Pembrokeshire, which forms a background for much of her writing, as does Luton.

She writes psychological mysteries, or "domestic noir," exploring the reason for crimes and their consequences, rather than the details of the crimes themselves. and her first novel, "A Time For Silence," was published by Honno in 2012, with its prequel, "The Covenant," published in 2020. "Motherlove" and "The Unravelling" were also published by Honno. "Shadows" is set in an old mansion in Pembrokeshire and is paired with "Long Shadows," which explains the history and mysteries of the same old house. Her latest crime novels, "Fatal Collision" and "Bethulia" are published by Diamond Crime. She's a member of Crime Cymru.

She has also written the Science Fiction trilogy "Salvage," including "Inside Out," "Making Waves" and "By The Book" as well as a collection of short stories, "Moments of Consequence."

 

 

Website * Facebook * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

 

Author Links

Website: https://thornemoore.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thornemoorenovelist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thornemoore2019

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/thorne-moore

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thorne-Moore/author/B00DWY0OZC

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6562052.Thorne_Moore

  

Giveaway

$10 Amazon

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://bit.ly/LlysygarnSeriesTour

 

The Secret of Terror Castle

The Three Investigators series are a wonderful and wholesome mix of adventure, mystery, comedy, and critical thinking/detection. They enthralled several generations of readers worldwide – and in these new 60th-anniversary editions, they are again ready to take on the world!

 

The Secret of Terror Castle

The Three Investigators Book 1

by Robert Arthur

Genre: Middle Grade Mysteries with a Supernatural hook

In the first adventure of Robert Arthur’s classic mystery series, it's 1964 in the town of Rocky Beach, California. Working out of their newly established Headquarters – an old trailer hidden behind carefully arranged junk in the Jones Salvage Yard – and driven around southern California in a gold-plated vintage Rolls Royce they've won the use of in a contest, Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews decide to get publicity for their fledgling detective firm by finding a real haunted house for the renowned film director Reginald Clarke.

But although the highly rational Jupiter starts with the belief that there is no such thing as a ghost, a spook, a phantom, or a spirit, Terror Castle – the old mansion supposedly troubled by the ghost of the late Stephen Terrill, the silent horror film star called the Man with a Million Faces – may prove him wrong!

By turns exciting, spine-tingling, and humorous, The Secret of Terror Castle promises to please not only the existing fan base of The Three Investigators series but a whole new generation of readers who will find in its pages three very different boys whose imagination, courage, and intelligence can remind us that curiosity, perseverance, and rational inquiry are just as vital as friendship and cooperation.

At the end of each Three Investigators book published by Hollow Tree Press are notes written by Robert Arthur's daughter and son-in-law, exploring three subjects connected to the story – in this case, Silent Movies, Salvage Yards, and Rolls Royces – and young readers may want to use the notes as guidelines for further investigation. After all, the motto of The Three Investigators is "We Investigate Anything," and their trademark is “???” – three question marks, taken together.

On the 60th anniversary of the creation of The Three Investigators series, the first-ever English-language e-book editions of Robert Arthur’s novels, as well as the first new English-language print editions in over twenty-five years, stand ready to delight a whole new audience. Be sure to seek out all ten titles!

 GUEST POST

 What made the books stand out at the time and what makes them unusual even today:

• The three boys come from blue-collar and middle-class families. Jupiter, Pete, and Bob work hard for everything they get; their headquarters is in a battered mobile home trailer in the middle of the Jones Salvage Yard (where Jupiter, an orphan, lives with his aunt and uncle.)

• These are free-range kids (as was common at the time; I certainly was.) Their parents trust them, give them enormous leeway, and the boys reward that trust with their conscientiousness, discipline, and good old American can-do spirit.

• The books celebrate rational inquiry, critical thinking, and a belief that there is no mystery that cannot be brought to heel with the proper application of shoe leather and sharp thinking, courage, and determination.

• Unconsciously (I think) Arthur created three boys who more or less embody the three aspects of human personality, at least as famously defined by Freud – the id, ego, and superego. Together the three boys interact seamlessly, make up for one another’s deficits, and are tenacious, ingenious, courageous, creative, and self-confident. As a trio, they are a supremely satisfying combination.

• The books are written simply, but with literary flair; they’re frequently very funny; and they’re genuinely puzzling and exciting. • The books are apolitical. So many books for young readers today push an ideological agenda, and seemingly have been written with that in mind. These are just great stories -- no preaching about race or gender or sex or oppression -- just stories about three unusual American boys who live in a freer and more relaxed time.

EXCERPT

THE MYSTERY OF TERROR CASTLE

Jupiter started up the road, using a flashlight to pick his way around the rocks that had tumbled down from the steep canyon walls onto the cracked concrete. After a moment Pete hurried after him.

“If I'd known it was going to be like this,” he complained, “I'd never have become an investigator.”

“You'll feel better after we solve the mystery,” Jupiter told him. “Think of what a wonderful start it will give our investigation firm.”

“But suppose we meet the ghost? Or the Blue Phantom, or the mad spook, or whatever it is that haunts this place?”

“That's exactly what I want.” Jupiter slapped the compact flash camera that hung from his shoulder. “If we can get its picture, we'll be famous.”

“Suppose it gets us?” Pete retorted.

“S-s-sh!” his stocky friend said, stopping and snapping off his flashlight. Pete froze into silence and the darkness closed around them.

Somebody - or something - was coming down the hillside directly toward them.

Pete crouched down. Beside him, Jupe was swiftly getting his camera ready.

The noise, a pattering of rock displaced by moving feet, was almost on them when Jupe's flashbulb lit up the night. In the sudden radiance of the flash, Pete saw two huge red eyes leaping directly at him. Then something furry scurried past, struck the concrete road, and went bounding away. In its wake several small rocks rolled down and came to rest at the boys' feet.

“A jackrabbit!” Jupiter said. He sounded disappointed. “We frightened it.”

“We frightened it!” Pete exclaimed. “What do you think it did to me?”

“The natural effect of mysterious sound and movement at night upon a susceptible nervous system,” Jupiter said. “Forward!” He

grabbed Pete's arm and pulled him along. “We don't have to move quietly now - the flashbulb will have alerted the phantom, if there is a phantom.”

“Can we sing?” Pete asked, reluctantly falling into step beside him. “If we sing 'Row, row, row your boat' loudly enough, we won't be able to hear the spook moan and groan.”

“There's no need to go to extremes,” the other boy said firmly. “We want to hear any moans and groan - also any screams, sighs, screeches, or rattling of chains, all of which are supposed to be common manifestations of a supernatural presence.”

Pete suppressed the impulse to tell his partner that he had no desire whatever to hear any moans, groans, screams, screeches, sighs, or rattling chains. He knew there was no point in it. When Jupiter made up his mind, he made up his mind. He was about as easy to move as a large rock.

As they moved forward, the rambling old building loomed larger, gloomier, and altogether less desirable. Pete tried hard to forget all the stories Bob had told them about the old place.

After a last stretch along a high, crumbling stone wall, the two boys entered the main courtyard of Terror Castle.

“Here we are,” Jupiter said and stopped.

One tower stretched skyward far above them. Another, shorter tower seemed to scowl down at them. Blank windows were like blind eyes reflecting the starlight.

Suddenly something flew around their heads. Pete ducked.

“Wow,” he yelled. “A bat!”

“Bats only eat insects,” Jupiter reminded him. “They never eat people.”

“Maybe this one wants a change of diet. Why take chances?”

Jupiter pointed to the wide doorway and the big, carved front door .directly ahead.

“There is the door,” he said. “Now all we have to do is walk through it.”

“I wish I could get my legs to believe that. They think we ought to go back.”

“So do mine,” Jupiter admitted. “But my legs take orders from me. Come on.”

He strode forward. Pete couldn't allow his partner to enter a place like Terror Castle alone, so he followed. They walked up the old marble steps and across a tiled terrace. As Jupiter was about to reach for the doorknob, Pete grabbed his arm.

“Wait!” he said. “Do you hear spooky music?”

Both boys listened. For a moment they had the impression they heard a few weird notes, sounding as if they came from a million miles away. Then in the darkness they could hear only the night noises of insects and of a small stone or two rolling down the steep sides of the canyon.

“Probably just imagination,” Jupiter said, though he did not sound too certain of it. “Or possibly we heard a TV set playing over the ridge in the next canyon. Some trick of acoustics.”

“Some trick, all right,” Pete muttered. “What if it was the old ruined pipe organ being played by the Blue Phantom?”

“Then we certainly want to hear it,” Jupe said. “Let us enter.”

He grasped the knob and pulled. With a long scre-e-e-ch that curdled Pete's blood, it opened. Not waiting for their courage to evaporate, the two boys marched into a long dark hall, playing their flashlight beams straight ahead.

They passed open doorways, full of shadows, which seemed to breathe musty air at them. Then they came out into a large hallway with a ceiling two stories high. Jupiter stopped.

“We're here,” he said. “This is the main hall. We'll stay one hour. Then we'll leave.”

“Leave!” a voice low and eerie whispered in their ears.

Amazon * B&N * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Terror-Castle-Robert-Arthur-ebook/dp/B0D6X4RD1Y

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-secret-of-terror-castle-robert-arthur/1000157935?ean=2940185794470

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-secret-of-terror-castle-by-steven-bauer-and-robert-arthur

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214574336-the-secret-of-terror-castle

 

 The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot

The Three Investigators Book 2

In the second adventure of Robert Arthur’s classic mystery series, Jupiter, Pete and Bob are in search of a missing parrot. The case soon gets complicated as they discover that not one but six talking parrots and a mynah bird have disappeared.

With the help of their new friend Carlos, the Three Investigators figure out that each of the birds has been taught to recite part of a complex puzzle, that, when taken together, could lead the boys to a great painting. But as their search takes them to a spooky graveyard, they're not the only ones hot on the trail!

By turns puzzling, compelling, and absorbing, The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot promises to please not only the existing fan base of The Three Investigators series but a whole new generation of readers who will find in its pages three very different boys whose imagination, courage, and intelligence can remind us that curiosity, perseverance, and rational inquiry are just as vital as friendship and cooperation.

At the end of each Three Investigators book published by Hollow Tree Press are notes written by Robert Arthur's daughter and son-in-law, exploring three subjects connected to the story - in this case, Puzzles and Word Games, Parrots, and Sherlock Holmes - and young readers may want to use these notes as guidelines for further investigation. After all, the motto of The Three Investigators is "We Investigate Anything," and their trademark is “???” - three question marks, taken together.

On the 60th anniversary of the creation of The Three Investigators series, the first-ever English-language e-book editions of Robert Arthur’s novels, as well as the first new English-language print editions in over twenty-five years, stand ready to delight a whole new audience. Be sure to seek out all ten titles!

 EXCERPT FROM THE MYSTERY OF THE STUTTERING PARROT

“Good grief!” Pete said in a low voice. “We started out to look for a missing parrot. Now before we even get to the house, someone is screaming for help! I hope this isn't going to be another case like the last one.”

“On the contrary,” his stocky partner whispered back, “it is starting very promisingly. But all seems quiet now. We'd better approach the house and find out what is happening.”

“That isn't a house I want to approach,” Pete told him. “It looks like a house full of locked rooms that shouldn't be opened.”

“A very good description,” Jupiter replied. “Remember to tell it to Bob when we get back to Headquarters.”

Bob Andrews was the third member of the firm. He kept the records of their cases and did necessary research.

Jupiter started to slip toward the house, moving between bushes and flowers without stirring a ripple of movement in the vegetation. On the other side of the path, Pete kept abreast of him. They had come within a hundred feet of the house when something grabbed his ankle and he was flung to the ground. As he tried to pull free, the unseen hand gripped more tightly and jerked him back. Flat on his face, he couldn't see who or what had grabbed him.

“Jupe!” he gasped. “Something's got me!”

For all his stocky build, Jupiter moved swiftly. He darted across the path and was at Pete's side almost before the other boy finished speaking.

“What is it?” Pete croaked, rolling his eyes sideways at his partner. “Something's dragging me away. Is it a boa constrictor? This garden could hide anything.”

Jupiter's round, determined features looked unusually grave.

“I'm sorry to tell you this, Pete,” he said, “but you have been trapped by an unusually vicious specimen of vitis vinifera.”

“Do something!” Pete gasped. “Don't let vitis whatever it is get me!”

“I have my knife,” Jupiter said. “I'll do my best.”

He whipped out his prized Swiss Army knife that had eight blades. Then he grasped Pete's leg. Pete could feel him slashing fiercely. The grip on his ankle relaxed. Pete immediately rolled away and sprang to his feet.

Behind him, his partner, with a broad grin, was putting away his knife. A heavy loop of vine that had been cut in the middle was bobbing up and down close to the ground.

“You put your foot into a twisted grapevine,” Jupiter said. “The harder you pulled to get away, the harder the vine pulled you back. It was a very evenly matched test. Neither of you was using any intelligence. The vine doesn't have any, and you allowed panic to cloud your mental processes.”

Jupiter usually talked like that. By now Pete was used to it.

“Okay, okay,” Pete said sheepishly. “I panicked. I was thinking about that call for help, I guess.”

“Panic is more dangerous than danger itself,” Jupiter said. “Fear robs the individual of the ability to make proper decisions. It destroys – destroys – Ulp!”

Looking at Jupiter, Pete had the impression that his partner was displaying all the symptoms of the fear he had just been talking about. He had suddenly turned pale. His eyes bulged. His jaw dropped. He seemed to be looking at something just behind Pete's back.

“You're a good actor, Jupe,” Pete said. “That's the best imitation of fright I've ever seen. But now what do you say we – we – ”

He turned and he saw what Jupiter was looking at. And the words stuck in his throat.

Jupiter was not acting. The very fat man who stood facing them, with a large, old-fashioned pistol in his hand, would have startled anybody.

Amazon * B&N * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Stuttering-Parrot-Robert-Arthur/dp/B0D5VZD48W

Apple:
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mystery-of-the-stuttering-parrot-robert-arthur/1001928831?ean=2940185794487

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-mystery-of-the-stuttering-parrot-by-robert-arthur

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213690279-the-mystery-of-the-stuttering-parrot

 

**Don’t miss the rest of the series!**

Find them on Amazon or B&N

 

About the Author

ROBERT ARTHUR is best known as the creator of THE THREE INVESTIGATORS, the classic mystery series for young readers, for which he wrote the first ten books before his untimely death in 1969. By the time the last English-language-original book was published in the late 1980s, there were forty-three titles, some of which had been translated into over twenty languages.

Young readers in the U.S., Canada, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia, as well as in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and throughout the Spanish-speaking world grew up on the books, and many credit their lifetime love of reading to having discovered the story of three young American boys who form a detective agency.

Robert Arthur got the idea for the series while working in Hollywood as a story editor, showrunner, and scriptwriter for Alfred Hitchcock's TV show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1963, he left Hollywood and moved to Cape May, New Jersey, where, in a brown-shingled house two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, he created The Three Investigators. The Secret of Terror Castle and The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot were published in 1964 by Random House. The series' original title was ALFRED HITCHCOCK AND THE THREE INVESTIGATORS.

The books have supernatural hooks -- haunted houses, whispering mummies, gnomes, ghosts riding carousels, screaming clocks, talking skulls -- that turn out, after closer examination, to have rational explanations.

From his memories of his years in southern California, Arthur created the small fictional town of Rocky Beach, not far from Hollywood. His disbelief and dismay at the way old houses were being torn down and their contents junked resulted in his placing The Three Investigators Headquarters in a salvage yard, where all sorts of goods have been reclaimed and are for sale. He based his head investigator, Jupiter Jones, on his idea of a young American Sherlock Holmes, and the boy who keeps records and does research -- Bob Andrews -- he based on himself (they have the same initials!)

The books are a wonderful and wholesome mix of adventure, mystery, comedy, and critical thinking/detection. They enthralled several generations of readers worldwide – and in this new 60th-anniversary edition, they are again ready to take on the world.

 

Website * Newsletter * X * Amazon * Goodreads

 

Author Links

Website: https://www.threeinvestigators.net

Newsletter: https://elizabetharthur.substack.com/

X: https://x.com/RockyBeach2019

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robert-Arthur/author/B0D3691VF3

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/50291.Robert_Arthur

 

Giveaway

$20 Amazon

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://bit.ly/ThreeInvestigatorsTour

The Little Helliad

In this first-ever full-length Heroes in Hell novel by Janet and Chris Morris, Homer, the famous poet of ancient Greece who wrote The Iliad, receives a travel pass to tour Hell on special assignment from Satan. 

The Little Helliad 

A Heroes in Hell Novel 

by Janet & Chris Morris 

Genre: Dark Fantasy 

In the ninth installment of the acclaimed Heroes in Hell series, The Little Helliad takes readers on a journey through the underworld like never before. Homer, the legendary ancient Greek poet, finds himself in Hell, tasked by the Devil himself to chronicle the epic tales of the damned. Drawing inspiration from the lesser-known vignettes of the Iliad, this novel weaves a tapestry of myth, history, and fantasy. 

As Homer navigates the treacherous landscapes of Hell, he encounters a host of unforgettable characters, each with their own stories of heroism, betrayal, and redemption. With the unique perspective of the Morris duo, this book offers a fresh and compelling take on the classic tales of the Iliad, reimagined in the fiery depths of the afterlife. 

The Little Helliad is a must-read for fans of epic fantasy and mythological retellings, blending rich storytelling with the dark allure of the underworld. Join Homer on his odyssey through Hell and discover the timeless tales that continue to captivate readers across the ages. 

GUEST POST

What is something unique/quirky about you?

We breed Morgan horses. We consult with Morgan breeders to help them choose breeding combinations to achieve a desired result.

We are also song writers; Janet plays bass guitar and Chris sings and plays guitar. We have an album on MCA records. Look for Christopher Crosby Morris on Soundcloud or N1M.com

Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?

Janet wrote her first book in 1975 and Chris was the first one to read and comment on it. Their marriage survived. A routine emerged where Chris would read aloud all the new drafts and we would make edits on the spot. After a few books Chris’ ideas became frequent enough that we agreed he should have credit for writing, whereas before we had kept separate Janet’s storytelling and Chris’ songwriting. The rest, as they say is history.

Who is your hero and why?

Heraclitus of Ephesus, a pre-socratic philosopher, whose Cosmic Fragments foreshadow our knowledge of reality and how to perceive it. Among his precepts is the statement that change alone is unchanging. We’ve worked Heraclitus’ fragments in here and there throughout our books.

What inspired you, to write your The Little Helliad novel?

Like many readers, we went through a phase of reading the Homeric works and since Homer himself spent Odysseus to Hell on his way back from Attica, his homeland. We thought it only fair to send Homer to Hell in hopes of getting a book deal from a publisher in New Hell. Instead he gets an unlimited travel pass to research a book the Devil hopes will glorify him. Guess what happens . . .

Convince us why you feel The Little Helliad is a must read.

The Little Helliad isn’t a must read, it is a fun read and one that will introduce readers to historic fictional characters. It is a full-length novel and casts present day themes in ancient Greek sensibilities. That may sound like a mouthful, but The Little Helliad evokes a collision of eras for Homer to glorify as only he can.

Who designs your book covers?

The Little Helliad’s cover was conceived by Perseid, created using AI, and realized by Roy Mauritsen, our gifted cover artist.

EXCERPT

This is a tale of the horrors of love and how it brought low the Lord of Hell. In my cell here alone, I can tell it only to you, the clay tablet a guard has smuggled me, and hope you will retain the story until the time is right for its retelling.

What is love, and where does it abide but in the sinews of man and the passions of conflict? This I dared to write and no one would heed me—not here, not in Hell. In Hell, as in life, truth is judged not by men’s minds but by their glands, and must pass the test of convenience.

Is it convenient to know that I was called Homer, that I wrote in a weak and piteous age of a better one, and from my work men drew the truths of their convenience and inspiration for every kind of sin? Is it helpful to observe that from my tales of mighty souls and mighty passions skewed by love into mighty errors, men learned nothing of caution, nothing of wisdom—learned only to pit themselves against one another more fiercely?

I’m here in Hell, so I am told, because I am responsible for the ‘Homeric’ tradition, for the heroic model that spurred so many fools to murder and death. I’m here because my work was perceived as a treatise on the art of fighting with spear and bow, of chariotry and covert tactics—because I made war beautiful and glorious.

My stamp is on the corpse of every warrior to come here, the Welcome Woman said to me. As if they all wouldn’t have made the Trip by other means, as if all the Alexanders and Pattons and worse of history wouldn’t have come to their fates some other way.

I met a man, while I was with the Dissidents sworn to bring the Devil low, who had fought in a war so terrible its weapons razed whole countries, boiled seas, and made the very air rain char. I met another sure that truth was the single most potent weapon of destruction in a world powered by lies.

And there too I met Alexander of Macedon, who looked upon me with teary eyes and said that it was my work that had guided him to his greatest moments, my influence that made of him what he was.

My influence. As if there had been no Troy, no black ships on the beach, no Odysseus and Diomedes, no Helen who raised her skirts to tumble men into war.

But I digress. I mean to tell you a simple tale, a tale of afterlife and what it holds. I have paid a great price to be witness for the damned. I have met an angel, a single emissary of Olympian grace, who has agreed to smuggle out the story.

It is a tale of truth. It is a tale of sorrow. It is a tale that cannot be told here in my cell nor in the whole of Hell itself, where only the damned abide. This tale must be told on the living land, where the sweet wind blows and the winey sea rolls dark and bold. It must be told in my homeland and in all the homelands of men who live and breathe, so that they will cease hastening here in all their numbers.

It must be told so that I, who meant one thing and accomplished another, can make peace with every soul here on my account.

This time, I add a preface so I cannot be misunderstood. I say to you, clay tablet and custodian of my endeavor, that if all the men of the world can learn what I have learned since last I wrote, then they will know better things than how to strike a killing blow up through a man’s bladder. They will learn that the price of passion is to be its everlasting slave. They will learn that what is done in life is forever, and what is given there will be received, manifold times over, in afterlife.

And if this tale does not teach the lesson, then I cannot teach it. And if we do not learn it, then death and destruction eternally is our lot. And so, since I cannot find an ear here, among those who have nothing left to save, I have struck my bargain with the angel.

It is for you, soft clay of infinite memory and infinite strength, to take this tale of self-made folly to those who may hear it, whose ears are not closed with the wax of arrogance and whose eyes are not sewn shut with the thread of sins. For on Earth, not in Hell, there is a chance to change the future. In Hell, there is no future, only the results of chances untaken and opportunities lost.

Everything that I tell you here is true, tablet, as everything I told before was true. It is up to

the angel and fate and your faithful self to make sure that this time there is no misunderstanding.

**On Sale for Only $2.99 this month!** Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads 

Book Links: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9CCC1ZB Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-little-helliad-heroes-in-hell-by-chris-morris-and-janet-morris Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216422819-the-little-helliad 

About the Authors 

Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and has since published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others. Most of her fiction work has been in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical and other novels. Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national security topics. 

Christopher Crosby Morris (born 1946) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He is married to author Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, but occasionally uses pseudonyms. 

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Bookbub Amazon * Amazon * Goodreads * Goodreads 

Author Links Website: https://theperseidpress.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PerseidPublishing Twitter: https://twitter.com/Perseid_Press Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perseid_press Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/janet-morris Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/chris-morris Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Janet-Morris/author/B001HPJJB8 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chris-Morris/author/B008L41JNO Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/121072.Janet_E_Morris Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/317667.Chris_Morris 

Giveaway 

Choice of print or ebook copy of The Little Helliad, $10 Amazon giftcard – 1 winner each! Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway! https://bit.ly/TheLittleHelliadTour