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 16th
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:
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