Sunday, September 05, 2010

FOR THE KING'S FAVOR GIVEAWAY















Click to enlarge.

Hello all,
I'm a bit late with this one, but I am fighting for time at the moment as I head towards my deadline on LADY OF THE ENGLISH.

My UK novel THE TIME OF SINGING was bought by my USA publishers Sourcebooks. We decided to rename it FOR THE KING'S FAVOR. I know this hasn't met with universal approval from all readers and I do understand that it can be a problem with duplications but it's one of the prices paid when global markets collide and the Internet bring everything closer together. We changed the title because readers kept getting TTOS wrong. It has been A TIME OF SINGING, THE/A TIME FOR SINGING. Sourcebooks and I decided to go for something a bit more mainstream. FOR THE KING'S FAVOR, is one of the strongest themes in the novel. What do you have to do to earn and keep it? Is it a good thing to have? What are the consequences of being out of favour? What is the price you pay when all is said and done? The original TTOS title grew out of the song of Solomon and the fact that when Roger Bigod first sets eyes on Ida de Tosney, she is singing. There is a lot of garden imagery in the novel and I felt the Song of Solomon fitted, but it's not immediately obvious.
So, agree or disagree, that's the thinking behind why the title changed and why both are appropriate. Goodness knows what titles are going to translate to when my other foreign editions are published!
The cover has changed too - to suit the market and Sourcebooks branding style. I love it. I love the colours and the movement of the sleeve and the fact that there are a couple of corridor scenes in the novel that the cover picture could even be from. The model was actually expecting her first child when the pictures were done, so this makes it even more poignant (as you'll know when you read the novel).

Anyway, I have 3 copies to give away in a prize draw and I am making it international even though it is an American publication. And to re-iterate, it is available in the UK as The Time of Singing. They are virtually the same book. (I've done a bit of minor editing).
There will be one copy for a UK reader, one for a USA/Canada reader, and one for the rest of the world. Just drop me an e-mail to elizabethchadwick@live.co.uk, saying which draw you want entering into - UK, USA & Canada, or Rest of World, and I will do the rest! Closing date Mid-day London time on October 1st.

If anyone wants to know more about the characters in The Time of Singing/For The King's Favor, just go to my website and click on book cover icon on the home page. There is a biography about Roger Bigod the hero, and links to blog posts I have written about the novel in the past, including one on Roger's hat collection!

And now back to the grindstone!

Editing today (14th September) to add a few excellent blog reviews that have come in since publication.
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/09/for-the-kings-favor-by-elizabeth-chadwick-book-review/

http://www.rundpinne.com/2010/09/book-review-for-the-kings-favor-by-elizabeth-chadwick.html

http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/2010/09/book-review-for-kings-favor-by.html