BLAST, BLITZ, PROMOS, REVEALS, & TOURS . . . : SPOTLIGHT w/INTERVIEW - HISTORICAL FICTION - MAN OF WAR (The Rebels and Redcoats Saga, #4) by T.J. London

MAN OF WAR
The Rebels and Redcoats Saga, #4
by T.J. London

Publication Date: April 14th 2020

Paperback & eBook; 681 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

The man who wants everything gets nothing…

July 1755

War is brewing between England and France. Impressed into the Royal Navy, Lieutenant Merrick, against all odds, advanced through the ranks to become an officer—but he is not a gentleman. A man with a tainted past from a traitorous family, cast down by King George—a stain no man can remove.

Merrick’s thrust into the role of captain, when the HMS Boudica is attacked by pirates off the coast of Nova Scotia. On a captured enemy vessel he discovers a King’s ransom in treasure and a woman chained in the hold from passenger ship that mysteriously disappeared at sea.

Beautiful, defiant, and hell bent on revenge, India makes a deal with Merrick to uncover the pirates’ scheme, promising him everything he desires: fortune, glory, and the chance to bring honor back to the McKesson name.

Now, they race against time to uncover a plot that links those in the highest ranks of the British aristocracy, to a failed rebellion that is once again trying to topple the monarchy and place an old pretender on the throne. But all that glitters is not gold as passions stir and an impossible love blooms, threatening to undermine all Merrick and India have done to protect their King and a country on the brink of war.

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Author Info
T.J. London is a rebel, liberal, lover, fighter, diehard punk, and pharmacist-turned-author who loves history. As an author her goal is to fill in the gaps, writing stories about missing history, those little places that are so interesting yet sadly forgotten. Her favorite time periods to write in are first and foremost the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the French and Indian War, the Russian Revolution and the Victorian Era. Her passions are traveling, writing, reading, barre, and sharing a glass of wine with her friends, while she collects experiences in this drama called life. She is a native of Metropolitan Detroit (but secretly dreams of being a Londoner) and resides there with her husband Fred and her beloved cat and writing partner Mickey.

The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with TJ London . . .

How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work? First of all, thank you for interviewing me, I always find these super exciting, and I am relatively new to this whole author thing. The Tory, my first book, only came out two years ago, and honestly, I never pictured myself being a published author. So, to answer your question, I would definitely say I have a style. LOL. Don’t all authors? Right. Truly, there are no new ideas, only new spins; that’s why we have tropes and themes. Life is universal and so, too, is the struggle; we just all experience it differently. I really believe that. Where were we? Oh yeah, my style. Well, before I can explain that, I have to let the readers in on a bit of information. I started writing as part of a counseling tool to help me cope with grief which means my stories are rooted in my personal struggle. That being said, I often write from very dark places, so my stories tend to be gritty, often dark, and frequently dangerous, and the reader is going to have an emotional experience—that’s a promise. But I’m also a romantic, a total optimist, and I love high adventure, so my stories are full of passion, sensuality, and moments of total euphoria—only to find ourselves dropped from dizzying heights a page later. That’s how life works, and I strive to give the reader a real-life experience. I don’t shy away from the bad stuff either. War is killing, and so, too, was the American Revolution. You will feel pain, witness horrors, be terrified, and sometimes be thoroughly disturbed within the pages of a T.J. London book.

I write historic fiction with romantic elements, but I don’t write romance. I love pure romance novels (actually, I ADORE them!!!). I have lots of friends who are literary romance goddesses, but that’s their genre, and I leave the heavy lifting to them. Writing romance is a hard job, and I have mad respect for the genre; those books have seriously kept me going through this COVID pandemic. However, when it comes to me being a writer, my story goal is different and so is the reader’s experience. Not every reader is looking for the same thing. I write what inspires me: gritty, realistic, historically accurate (well as much as I can be), romantic, and high drama adventures in Colonial America.

Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper? Yes, so much yes!!! My current readers, I think, will be super happy to hear a book about Gavin Carlisle is coming. Gavin started out in The Rebels and Redcoats Saga as a villain and eventually endeared himself to my readers when we learned the truth of Gavin and John’s feud. I am currently working on The Rebel, a story about another pseudo-antagonist in TRRS, Alexei McKesson. The reason I’m writing this book is because my concept editor demanded I tell his part of the story. LOL. I’m very excited about where it’s currently going. It should be tons of fun for my readers to see things from Alexei’s side of the story.

Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details? So, I’m currently writing The Rebel about Alexei McKesson, and I just signed a contract for an audio version of The Tory, Book #1. Currently, we’re auditioning actors, which is both exciting and scary. I know how John Carlisle sounds in my head, but can anyone truly do him justice in my mind? We shall see! Stay tuned.

A bit about The Rebel, hummmm. Well, it’s a complicated story. Partially because we see Alexei a lot in the Saga, therefore we know a lot about his family and his father, but we don’t know a lot about Alexei. Much of his story is already written; I just have to connect the dots and create a full picture of what he was doing through three books—besides messing with John Carlisle. That being said, this is a bit of the Fifty Shades of Grey/Grey type of issue. We see John Carlisle in the three Saga books, but now we see the story through Alexei’s eyes. So, some of the high points won’t be new for the reader, but the overarching story will be because now we’re focusing on that secondary character. The end of The Turncoat and Man of War were setups for The Rebel. I threw lots of kernels out to the reader in those books, alluding to what Alexei had to live through, but now it’s going to be in your face. So, I think it will be fun, and it’s a serious challenge for me as a writer, which I love.

What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
All of my books are upwards of 500 pages (solid, tight font, 500 pages and more) and they require lots and lots of research and editing. I am indie, I do all my own research, and I travel to the sites I write about in my books. Also, I have a full-time job, so producing Man of War and my audio of The Tory is it for this year. Next year, I hope to produce the audio of The Traitor and Alexei’s book, The Rebel. After that, we’ll likely do the audio of The Turncoat, and then it will be another book about Dellis and John, my main characters in the Saga. I also hope to do a few small novellas about minor characters, but that’s being ambitious. There are two other series mulling around in my head as we speak: one is a historical paranormal, and the other is about the New England part of the Revolutionary War. But again, it’s about making sure the story is up to my standards, so I never rush my process. If it’s not right in my eyes, I won’t put it out.

If you could spend one-week with 5 fictional character, who would they be and where would you spend that time?
John Carlisle, my hero of TRRS, because he’d be so fun to hang with, and of course, it would be in 1777 in upstate New York, just like in my books.

Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel-I’d join his band of men rescuing French aristocrats from the guillotine.

Edmund Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo-I’d be at his side meshing out revenge in Marseilles. YES!!!!

D’Artagnan from The Three Musketeers-I’d have him teach me how to use a rapier and to ride a horse in the 1600s.

Phillip Kent from The Bastard by John Jakes-I’d travel through Boston during the Revolutionary War at his side. We’d do the Boston Tea Party, Lexington, and Concord and storm Ticonderoga to steal the guns for Washington! Huzzah Rebels!

LOL. I just noticed none of these are women! It makes sense when you read my books why I chose these characters. These are the ones that have truly inspired me.

Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
I’d spend a year in the United Kingdom. Not that I haven’t travelled there a lot, but I could spend the time I needed doing research and not be in a rush. There’s so much really good history there, especially in the Georgian Era. I’d love to see the King George III letters that were just released by the palace. Also, I’d spend more time in Portsmouth, researching the Royal Navy—which is another love affair of mine. I could also get over to Paris easily from the UK. And as we know, no good English story leaves out the frenemies across the channel.

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Man of War

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