Ellen Read's Blog, page 6
June 11, 2020
A Quote + Podcast Review on The Dragon Sleeps — Pauline Reid
It’s as if a giant hand has sprinkled stardust over the black velvety dome of heaven Below is my podcast channel with the latest podcast, if you want to listen to The Dragon Sleeps podcast review, Episode 6 is the one you are looking for. Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to […]
A Quote + Podcast Review on The Dragon Sleeps — Pauline Reid
May 30, 2020
DEN OF DRAGONS ANTHOLOGY
I’m so pleased to announce the DEN OF DRAGONS Anthology is OUT NOW!
By Various Authors and Published by Crimson Cloak Publishing.
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I have two short stories in it.
The Dragon Awakes – following Alexandra and the Thorntons in another mystery.
AND
The Beached Whale is my debut children’s story.
I have also read the other stories in the anthology and really enjoyed them. I’d certainly highly recommend this book. There is something for everyone. And, after all, who doesn’t love dragons. They can be frightening and others can be sweet.
My video is on YouTube if you’d like to take a look.
April 28, 2020
Book Review
Book Review by Pauline Reid 
The Dragon Sleeps by Ellen Read
The Dragon Sleeps by Ellen Read
Book One of The Thornton Mysteries
Historical Fiction ( Australia – 1927 post or after WW1)
Cosy Mystery Murder/Romance
Crime/Thriller
Thank you to Ellen Read for giving me an ARC of The Dragon Sleeps in return for an honest review. This book has been re-published by Crimson Cloak Publishing
My View On What This Book Is About
We open The Dragon Sleeps, and here we are, an invitation to a weekend party at Thornton Park. The hot topic is a brass Dragon…… it sits inside a velvet-lined box. An antiques dealer, Mr Zhang sold it to, Thomas Thornton, (Alexandra’s father) the owner of Thornton Antiques.
Edith wasn’t all that impressed with the brass Dragon and told Alexandra so. However, Alexandra felt she had to defend her father and said to Edith it…
View original post 837 more words
April 24, 2020
MRS PRESTON’s KITCHEN and ANZAC BISCUITS
Morning Tea
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Miss Alexandra said to me, Mrs P … Miss Alexandra calls me Mrs P. Such a lovely young woman. I’ve seen her grow from a beautiful baby … wait, I’m getting off track. Edward, that’s my husband, Mr Preston, he tells me I waffle too much. Dear Edward, he only teases me. So, Miss Alexandra said why don’t you tell everyone about what you have for morning tea … especially this time, because of Anzac Day. Mr Benedict fought in the Great War. He was only a boy. So many boys killed. I think it upsets Miss Alexandra too much to talk about it.
I had to get my head on straight though to talk to you about it, too. I had to think when it all started. 1916 – that was the first Anzac Day. One year after all those poor boys and men died on Gallipoli Peninsula on the 25th April 1915. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Well, we had to commemorate the tragic loss of life. I remember that first Anzac Day. We held a Dawn Service here at Thornton Park, and in the afternoon, Mr Thornton opened the polo field up to the locals for a football match. Some people played tennis. Mr Preston told me later that services were held across Australia and our boys in Egypt had a sports day. To us Aussies, it’s the mateship that’s important.
Such a terrible time. The things I read in the newspaper about our poor boys. They landed at Gallipoli to knock Turkey out of the war but everything … now what’s that word …stalemated, that’s it. Eight months and over eight thousand soldiers killed.
I remember on other Anzac Days, the 25th April became the day we remember the sacrifice of all those who had died in war. Ooh I can’t think of it without crying. Miss Alexandra always gives me a kiss on the cheek when I get upset. Edward tells me to pull myself together … but it upsets him to remember, too. Those Anzac boys were courageous and have left a strong legacy.
By now, you’re probably wondering about morning tea. At Thornton Park, we have Anzac biscuits. Like the poor boys in the trenches ate. They weren’t called Anzac biscuits then. The boys called them the Soldiers Biscuits. Food took a long time to reach the boys and there wasn’t any refrigeration then. Not like I have here now. Mr Thornton bought me one of those new ice boxes. So, food had to last. Like hard tack, bully beef – tinned corned beef, rice and tea. That’s what fed the army.
I always make Anzac Biscuits. It’s so easy – rolled oats, plain flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup or treacle, coconut, bi-carbonate of soda, and boiling water. I like to make the original recipe. I’ll let you have a copy of it. I had it from a friend of a friend.
I hope you’ll enjoy a cuppa and an Anzac biscuit now with me. Mr Preston and Harry just served the family. I made some jam tarts to go with the biscuits.
I’ll see you next time. After I’ve finished my cuppa, I have to think what to prepare for lunch.
ANZAC BISCUITS
Ingredients
1 cup each of plain flour, rolled oats, coconut and sugar
4 ounces butter
1tablespoon treacle or golden syrup
2 tablespoons boiling water. (Add a little more if the mixture is dry)
1 teaspoon bi-carbonate soda
Method
1 Grease tray and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2 Combine the dry ingredients.
3 Melt together butter and golden syrup. Combine water and bi-carbonate-soda – add to butter mixture
4 Mix butter and dry ingredients.
5 Drop teaspoons of mixture onto tray.
Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden.
Allow to cool on tray for a few minutes before transferring onto cooling racks.
Makes approximately 35 biscuits.
(This is from an original recipe by Mr Bob Lawson, an ANZAC present at the Gallipoli landing.)
April 14, 2020
MRS PRESTON’S KITCHEN
The Thornton Mysteries
When writing a book set in the 1920s, the first thing you realise is there is a lot of research to do. The Dragon Sleeps is a murder mystery, the first in The Thornton Mysteries.
The family home, Thornton Park, is a lavish mansion. There are servants and a definite upstairs downstairs scenario. Fashions, music and cars aside, I found the need to research food. What would the family eat in 1927? What did the servants eat?
Mrs Preston is the cook at Thornton Park. Not a chef, but she’s as meticulous and proud of her culinary achievements, as any chef in a restaurant would be. She manages the menus and the kitchen staff to perfection. She does discuss the family menus with Alexandra Thornton, who is mistress of the house.
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On an average day, the family is served breakfast in the morning room. This usually entails dishes such as Kedgeree served with softly scrambled eggs. This is a British recipe, as much of Australian food was at that time. Kedgeree originated in India, during the British Colonial days. At a time before refrigeration, it allowed cooks to use leftovers from the night before to make into appetising breakfast dishes. Essentially the ingredients are boiled rice, chopped hard-boiled egg, cold minced fish, fried in one pan and flavoured with herbs.
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Sausages are also a much-loved breakfast fare, along with English muffins and toast, served with marmalade and strawberry jam. All served with tea or coffee.
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For the servants of Thornton Park, Mrs Preston always cooks a whole grain oatmeal or porridge, whether it be summer or winter. The servants need a hearty breakfast to sustain them for the long hours ahead.
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Now, there’s morning tea to think of. What will Mrs Preston serve?
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You can purchase The Dragon Sleeps from the following:
Amazon http://myBook.to/DragonSleeps
You can follow Ellen on the following
Goodreads
WordPress Blog
March 13, 2020
The Dragon Sleeps
Thank you so much to Karen’s Book Buzz Blog.
Genre Mysteries/Women Sleuths
Benedict Archer, who is manager of Thornton Antiques in Melbourne and who has been secretly helping Alexandra learn more about her family business, is also invited. Alexandra asks Benedict and Edith Blackburn, her friend since childhood, to be with her when she approaches her father.
Excerpt
It was as if the room had wrapped its shadowy folds about her and shut out the world. As a child, she may have been afraid but now, she felt comforted, as if the room welcomed her. It was also the smell … that wonderful bouquet of aged paper, ancient artifacts and dust.
It called to something in her blood, perhaps the same call that had taken the first Thomas Thornton to Hong Kong, the same surge of excitement and wonder that ran through the veins of her grandfather and father.
It was the reverence of something…
View original post 187 more words
December 17, 2019
The year is almost over…
This year has been an exciting one for me with the release of The Dragon Sleeps in November. It’s the first book in The Thornton Mysteries. A cosy mystery series with a tender love story.
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Book 2 is with my publisher, with book 3 soon to follow. I’ve finished it except for a last read through.
In January, I’m starting book 4. The research is done. I’m looking forward to writing it.
Book 1 is set at Thornton Park, the family home in Victoria.
Book 2 is principally set in Daylesford, a small town in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria. Dayleford is a beautiful place, and today is known for its spas and for its natural mineral springs.
Book 3 is set at Thornton Park and the Barossa Valley in South Australia. The Barossa is prime wine country.
Book 4 will take us to Norfolk Island, a beautiful island in the South Pacific not far from Australia. I went there last year to do some research. I’m going back in 2020.
I hope you’ll come on this journey with me.
This year also saw the release of Broken, a story that is free on my website.[image error]
After the tragic death of her parents, Rachael Watson ran away, leaving her sister to manage the family lavender farm and shop. Three years later, crushed by her unrelenting grief, workplace bullying, and guilt and shame for letting her sister down, Rachael decides to return home.
There, Rachael meets Ebony, a black mare who has been mistreated and beaten. Rachael realises she is not the only one who has been broken.
The Treasure is also free on my website. It’s a novelette – short than a novella but longer than a short story. YA/NA Fantasy.
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Lastly, I’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas – or Happy Holidays if you don’t celebrate Christmas – and a Happy, Healthy New Year.
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November 28, 2019
The Dragon Sleep – Book of the Day
My publisher Crimson Cloak Publishing is holding a
‘Book of the Day’ promotion.
For Friday 29th November it is my book,
The Dragon Sleeps by Ellen Read
A Dragon statue. An ancient sword. A body in the orchard.
What secret has remained hidden at Thornton Park for the last eighty years?
It’s 1927 in Victoria, Australia. A time after the Great War when women have more options opened to them.
At a weekend house party at Thornton Park, Alexandra Thornton decides to break the news to her father that she wants to be an antiques dealer, like her father, grandfather and great-grandfather before her.
Guests include Zhang Huo, the Chinese antiques dealer who, with his son, has brought a Ming dragon statue from China for Thomas Thornton, Alexandra’s father.
Benedict Archer, manager of Thornton Antiques in Melbourne, is also invited.
When Edith Blackburn, her friend since childhood, points out to Alexandra that Benedict is attracted to her, Alexandra can’t believe it.
Then a body found in the orchard, and before the weekend is over, a priceless artefact is stolen.
Alexandra is determined to discover how these things are connected to the Ming dragon and the antiques her great-grandfather brought with him from Hong Kong so many years ago.
What treasure is worth killing to possess?
The link to purchase is below:
http://myBook.to/DragonSleeps
November 12, 2019
The Dragon Sleeps is released and available on Amazon
The Dragon Sleeps
is released and available on Amazon
A Dragon statue. An ancient sword. A body in the orchard.
What secret has remained hidden at Thornton Park for the last eighty years?
It’s 1927 in Victoria, Australia. A time after the Great War when women have more options opened to them.
At a weekend house party at Thornton Park, Alexandra Thornton decides to break the news to her father that she wants to be an antiques dealer, like her father, grandfather and great-grandfather before her.
Guests include Zhang Huo, the Chinese antiques dealer who, with his son, has brought a Ming dragon statue from China for Thomas Thornton, Alexandra’s father.
Benedict Archer, manager of Thornton Antiques in Melbourne, is also invited.
When Edith Blackburn, her friend since childhood, points out to Alexandra that Benedict is attracted to her, Alexandra can’t believe it.
Then a body found in the orchard, and before the weekend is over, a priceless artefact is stolen.
Alexandra is determined to discover how these things are connected to the Ming dragon and the antiques her great-grandfather brought with him from Hong Kong so many years ago.
What treasure is worth killing to possess?
You can follow me on:
October 30, 2019
BOOK OF THE DAY – this Friday 1 November
Crimson Cloak Publishing is holding a promotion for BOOK OF THE DAY this Friday 1 November.
Reel Love by Elizabeth Hartey
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Sometimes you land a great job, meet your soul mate and live happily ever after – nothing else required. This isn’t one of those times.
Annie Caslo is a successful young doctor, but when she begins rethinking the career choices she’s made, she makes a decision to find a way to stay focused and achieve her true ambitions – that is, until fate steps in and she is thunderstruck by Colt Ballard. He’s six foot three inches of heart-stopping hotness, an adept, roguish soccer star and one of her interns. But he’s a player – on and off the field – and Annie has better things to do. Still, the combustible chemistry between them is impossible to resist – Colt brings out feelings she never knew existed and Annie’s swept off her reluctant feet.
When she continues to second-guess her life choices, opportunitites and obstacles begin piling up higher than the greasy Mexican food stacks she hates to admit loving. While in a state of emotional turmoil, she gets a celestial visit from a hunky, Hollywood heartthrob lookalike, who claims to be her guardian angel. He takes her on a magical road trip to self-discovery with the help of several dearly departed film icons.
Drawn into the excitement of a life she’s always dreamed of, this new life threatens to shatter the life and love she already has – unless her quirky angel can help her find a way to have it all.
You can buy Reel Love by clicking the link below.
About Elizabeth Hartey:
Elizabeth lives and writes in Pennsylvania.
As a lover of the northeast USA, Elizabeth and her husband moved to the Poconos several years ago to open a Chiropractic Clinic. Four children and a menagerie of animals later, she has finally found time to fulfill her lifelong dream of writing novels. A dreamer at heart, romance is, of course, the genre she spends most of her time writing and reading into the wee hours of the morning. When she’s not juggling work responsibilities and writing, she enjoys swimming, knitting, hiking the beautiful hills and woods around her home, and spending time with her family.
https://www.elizabethhartey.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Reel-Love-1826632230886768
https://www.facebook.com/EHarteyauthor
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100014957197382
