Ironic anniversaries of Charles II

On February 6, 1649, a week after Charles I was executed in London, the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed his son Charles King of Great Britain and Ireland in Edinburgh. The English Parliament passed a statute that made any such proclamation unlawful and outlawed the monarchy. Charles II's formal accession to the English throne would have to wait until 1660, when General Monck, who controlled the army, engineered Charles's Restoration.
Charles died on February 6, 1685. Almost his last words, to his brother James the Duke of York, soon to succeed him as James II, were "Let not poor Nelly starve." He knew that of all his mistresses, Nell Gwynn was the one who truly relied on his support for survival.

"Darling Strumpet" named No. 1 of 2011!

I'm thrilled to say that The Darling Strumpet has been named No. 1 in the 10 Best Historical Novels of 2011 by Kayla Posney of the Pittsburgh Historical Fiction Examiner!

Here's the link to the list, which has links to Kayla's original reviews of The Darling Strumpet and The September Queen:

http://www.examiner.com/historical-fiction-in-pittsburgh/the-10-best-historical-fiction-novels-of-2011?mid=579512

Nell's in the Top 100!

Hey!  The Darling Strumpet made it into the top 100 in the Best in Women's Fiction Poll!

http://heartpress.com/2011/12/top-100-womens-fiction.html#disqus_thread

And the U.K. edition is No. 82 in historical fiction books on Amazon U.K., and No. 69 in historical fiction on Kindle!

The History of Gingerbread

My contribution to the season - article on the History of Gingerbread on English Historical Fiction Authors:

http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2011/12/history-of-gingerbread.html

A rapping Charles II!?

A rapping Charles II!?

Nell hits the streets in London!

The UK edition of The Darling Strumpet is not officially available until Thursday, but it seems to be in stock and availableto ship on Amazon.co.uk!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darling-Strumpet-Gillian-Bagwell/dp/1847562507/ref=pd_rhf_p_img_1

and Waterstones:

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=8291625

and Pick a Book!

http://www.pickabook.co.uk/9781847562500.aspx

Nell's London Debut - and my next book!

The U.K. edition of The Darling Strumpet will be released on August 4!  You can buy it at Waterstone's, WH Smith, WHS Travel, ASDA, Sainsbury's, Tesco, as well as independent bookstores and many on-line sites.  You can pre-order now from Amazon.co.uk - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darling-Strumpet-Gillian-Bagwell/dp/1847562507/ref=pd_rhf_p_img_3.

I'll be doing various guest posts and interviews on blogs - details to follow soon!

And I'm thrilled to say that my brilliant agent Kevan Lyon has just made the deal for my next book.  Working title is My Lady Bess, based on the life of Bess of Hardwick, 1527-1608, the formidable four-times widowed Tudor dynast who began life in genteel poverty and ended as the richest and most powerful woman in England after Queen Elizabeth; built Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall; and is the forebear of numerous noble lines including the Dukedoms of Devonshire, Norfolk, Somerset, and Newcastle, the Earls of Lincoln, Portsmouth, Kellie, and Pembroke, the Baron Waterpark, and the current royal family of Britain.