Please Welcome Author Jo Grafford

I am so honored to introduce an author new to Astraea Press. Jo Grafford's recent release, Breaking Ties, is a historical romance set in the earliest years of colonial America. Having spent many years studying our nation's history, I've often wondered about the inhabitants of the Roanoke Island. Where did they go? What happened to them? Jo has a great answer for those questions. Here she is to tell us about it!

A cursed island, a chilling conspiracy, and an unforgettable love story. The 115 colonists on Roanoke Island couldn’t GPS, skype or twitter their ultimate destination back to their families and friends in 16^th Century England. But modern laser technology has finally uncovered a clue - hidden beneath a patch on an ancient map at the British museum - that leads us to their whereabouts. Considered “lost” for centuries, these brave pioneers finally reveal the rest of their story in...THE LOST COLONY SERIES.

Rose Payne’s world is left in tatters after a disastrous betrothal, making her an easy target for recruiters to the Colonies. Using every cent she has, Rose sails for the New World and a fresh start, vowing to never again fall for a wealthy man.

Returning from a diplomatic tour in London, Chief Manteo is bewitched by the fiery-haired ship’s clerk and determined to overcome her distrust. He contrives a daring plan to win her heart – one that forces her, honor bound, to serve as a slave to his tribe – a plan he prays will protect her from a chilling conspiracy involving murder, blood money, and a betrayal of their fledgling colony so terrifying it can only be revealed in BREAKING TIES.

HOW DID I BECOME INTERESTED IN THE LOST COLONY?

Ever since I was a kid, it made me sad to learn about the Lost Colonists in history class. It seemed to me that historians were too quick to write them off as "most likely slaughtered by hostile natives." At least give them a little more credit than that. From my perspective, they were one of the most amazing and heroic groups of people of all time. For one thing, they were the first group of English colonists to travel with their wives and children. They planned to build a glorious new colony called the City of Raleigh. Two of these courageous ladies were pregnant. One was nursing. How long was your last road trip? Their trans-Atlantic journey lasted nearly three months! During those three months of scorching heat, they suffered the loss of their flyboat in a storm (carrying most of their supplies), came close to starving, and were eventually escorted off ship at gunpoint during a mutiny when they finally reached the New World. This is just the beginning of their story, and they've already endured enough excitement to fill an entire season of their own TV series!

Oh by the way...their pilot was a Portuguese man named Simon Fernandez who was slotted to hang for piracy. He was rescued and hired by a man known as the Chief Spymaster of England who really wanted to get his hands on the land patents which authorized the Lost Colonists to colonize Virginia. If anything happened to these brave men and women and they failed to build their city and turn a profit for their investors back in England, well...these land patents would expire and the Queen would have to grant them to someone else...like him. Interesting how the City of Raleigh colonists turned up missing shortly after their arrival to the New World. And there's the first episode of season two for the Lost Colony Series!

HOW DID I COME UP WITH THE PREMISE BREAKING TIES?

BREAKING TIES took a life of its own during the research phase. As I read through the list of names on the ship manifest and pieced together their backgrounds from sailing journals and church registries, Rose and Manteo became very real to me. Rose would have most likely bunked with the other unmarried young women - Jane, Agnes, Margaret, and Emme. At least one of them would have sighed and swooned over the handsome Sheriff of Huntington, Lord Anthony Cage, in his military jacket and leather riding boots shined to a high polish. Wouldn't they?!

And how could they fail to admire their only Native American passenger. Manteo was returning from a year-long diplomatic tour to the British Crown. Men of his tribe were described as taller and more built than the average Englishman back in the day. He would have learned some of their language by then. He would have known how to bow like and English gentleman, kiss their hands, and converse with them with the style and manners of the socially elite. No doubt, he was an exotic addition to their circle of friends. For all of you Twihards out there, go Team Jacob, right?

And suddenly these colonists were more than just a legend to me. They were people who really lived and really sailed to Roanoke Island in 1587. They laughed and cried and argued and dreamed and fell in love and even gave birth to two infants just days after they dropped anchor near the Outer Banks. Now those are some gutsy ladies! Nowadays our family doctors advise us against air travel close to our due dates. How about traveling more than ten weeks at sea, ladies, and delivering on the beach?

The single most exciting thing that happened during the writing of BREAKING TIES, however, was the discovery of a fort sketched beneath a patch on an original Lost Colony map held at the British Museum. The news was released in October, 2012 (while I was in the middle of writing the novel), and historians started claiming that - at long last - there was credible proof of survivors. Located fifty miles inland from Roanoke Island, the location of this new fort currently lies beneath a golf course and is still waiting to be excavated. I hope the publication of BREAKING TIES renews interest in our Lost Colonists and helps generate the resources necessary to explore this latest clue to their fate.


And here is the book trailer for Breaking Ties:

Breaking Ties can be purchased at Astraea Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and several other ebook outlets.

Jo Grafford can be found on facebook and twitter @jografford