
Bold Strokes Books, 2017
buy the book
Spark
Jamie Maddox is worried about her grip on reality. Has her consciousness really been transported back to 1560, landing in the body of Blanche Nottingham? Not good, since Blanche, a lady-in-waiting for Queen Elizabeth I, is plotting a murder. The other possibility that Jamie faces? She’s had a psychotic break that has trapped her in an Elizabethan fantasy while another personality—let’s call her Blanche—has taken control of Jamie’s life and is jeopardizing everything.
Jamie is repeatedly zapped back and forth between the present and 1560 (or in and out of that twisted fantasy.) Betrayal, murder, thunderstorms, and two doctors complicate everything as Jamie and Blanche battle to control Jamie’s body. Just as Jamie is running out of both hope and time, help—and love—come from a most unexpected place.
awards and recognition
Golden Crown Literary Award, 2018
readers' comments
“As someone who loves history, especially history involving royal families, this book was just perfect… The writing style was marvelous and it was hard to put the book down.” —Goodreads
- Where Jamie and Chris lived
- The Tower of London with Salt Tower in the trees on the right side. [Photo © Hilarmont (Kempten), CC BY-SA 3.0 de http://bit.ly/2tqSeT9]
- Traitor's Gate entrance to the Tower of London. This was how Jamie was brought in.
- Inside the Salt Tower, where Hew was kept prisoner
- Astrological chart carved by Hew Draper in Salt Tower over 450 years ago
- An artist's conception of the chaotic Whitehall Palace, home of Elizabeth I
- St. Paul's Cathedral ... where Jamie was in labor during a thunderstorm
- Queen Elizabeth I
- Queen Elizabeth I at her coronation
- Robert Dudley
- Amy Dudley, Robert Dudley's wife
- Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth's mother
- The author at one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square