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The Witches of Crannock Dale - Book Tour and Giveaway

10/1/2019

The Witches of Crannock Dale
Mara of the League Book 1
by Thomas M. Kane
Genre: Fantasy

When an enemy army threatens eleven-year old Mara’s home, she makes up her mind to save her family, one way or another. But when the knights protecting her village arrest her favorite aunt for witchcraft, she discovers that the difference between friend and foe may not be as obvious as she once thought.
This is a story of war and espionage, set in a low fantasy world. It is also about a child getting to know her mother and father in a new way.

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A week and two days before my twelfth birthday, the church bell rang.
Up until then, it had seemed like a normal day. Mamma had told me to practice my arithmetic. At first, I shook my head so hard that my braids flew, but Mamma sighed at me the way she sighs at Pappy.
“Mara Elspeth Bennet, just yesterday your Grampy asked me whether you could divide, and I had to tell him no.” After that, I felt really small, so I let her write out some problems on my slate.
I took the slate and two pieces of chalk down Crannock Hill to Grampy’s mill pond and tried to make a start, but I hated division, so what I really did was sit on a big rock and smell the grass and watch the water turn golden in the late afternoon sun. Division doesn’t make sense to me. You have to figure out how many times one number goes into another, and there seems to come a time where you just have to guess. So, I dug the side of my slate with a fingernail and thought about other things. I thought mainly about justice. Most of the girls in Crannock Dale learned their letters and maybe sums
and that was enough. I was the only one who had to keep on with numbers, and I didn’t think it was fair.
Just because Pappy went to school in Caer City is no reason. Once, I remembered, I said that to Mamma.
Mamma told me I had a choice—if I didn’t learn arithmetic, I could grow up to be a farmhand’s wife. When Mamma says you have a choice, she means you don’t.
Another time, I complained about numbers to Pappy. He told me that the reason why I had to study things other children didn’t was that I was smart. I said I wished I was smart enough to get out of studying arithmetic. He said that would be metasmart. I think that’s a word he made up, but I like it.
Anyway, while I was thinking about those things, the bell donged. And it was Nurnsday. My first thought was to be glad because it wasn’t division, and maybe there would be some excitement. The bell was supposed to ring on Yisday. First, the people in Minton Pass were supposed to ring their bell, and when we heard it, we were supposed to ring ours. Then the people in Merryhock and Glenet Bridge were supposed to hear us, and they were supposed to ring their bells to warn the villages farther down the valley. That was how we practiced spreading the alarm, so we would know how to call for help
if the Pure Men of Waan attacked.
Once, when Pappy and Mamma and I were having dinner with Grampy, I said that if I was Queen of Waan, I would invade on a Yisday, so that when the bells rang, people would think it was just for practice. Everyone laughed, even my grandfather, as if it was a joke. I laughed too, because I was pleased to have the grown-ups listening to me, but I thought I really would.
Now I wouldn’t, because now I knew that queens aren’t important in Waan. No one told me that. I found out for myself. My uncle Tate bought a broadsheet pamphlet about Waanish depravities. It was full of words which I’m not supposed to say, but he forgot and left it on a chair when my mamma took me to his house for a visit.
While the grown-ups were talking, I read the parts of the broadsheet that were facing up. That’s how I learned that kings in Waan have lots of wives, and that they keep them locked up. They also have concubines and catamites, who count for even less. So, now I would never be on their side.
After the bell rang, there were a few minutes in which nothing seemed to have changed. The paddlewheel was still splashing around in the stream, and the same growling noise was still coming from inside the mill. Then I heard another faint chime. This one came from the hills behind me. That meant the Minton bell was ringing after ours, and that the alarm was spreading from south to north. And we never practiced like that, because Waan was north of us.
That was when I realized that something real was happening. And that was when I got scared.

Thomas M. Kane is a fantasy author living high on a wooded hilltop. He taught international relations at a British university for close to twenty years and brings his insights concerning real-life war and politics into his fiction. He takes a character-based approach to writing, paying attention to his protagonists' personal relationships and inner lives.

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83 Comments

James Robert

10/1/2019 04:04:47 am

Thank you for taking the time to share your terrific book with us. I enjoyed reading about it.

Tom Kane link

10/1/2019 10:33:01 pm

Honored and delighted you should say so! Thanks for reading, and thanks to Silver Dagger for making it possible!

lynn clayton

10/1/2019 10:31:26 am

oh this is a nice cover i like it

10/1/2019 10:34:48 pm

Thank you! Artist Robin Birrell deserves the credit. I am extremely grateful to have met her and to have gotten her to work on this series. She has also done some wonderful line drawings which appear in the book.

Kelly D

10/1/2019 11:41:44 am

I like the cover. It makes me want to know more about the characters.

10/1/2019 10:40:37 pm

So gratified by your response. As I mentioned above, artist Robin Birrell did the cover and I am a huge fan of her work. One of her many strengths is her ability to "tell a story" with her paintings -- and I agree with you -- I think she did a great job introducing the characters.

Debbie P

10/1/2019 11:49:51 am

This book sounds like an awesome read. Great cover!

10/1/2019 10:42:31 pm

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your comment, and since I didn't paint the cover myself, I don't think its immodest of me to agree that Robin Birrell's cover is awesome!

Calvin

10/1/2019 12:08:28 pm

Sounds like the characters faces many adversities in the story.

10/1/2019 10:44:51 pm

Sad to say she does. Perceptive comment, BTW. you may possibly be aware that the name Mara means "bitter."

latisha depoortere

10/1/2019 12:20:29 pm

This sounds so good Thank you for sharing!

10/1/2019 10:45:44 pm

I am so happy to hear your kind words! Thank you.

Rita Wray

10/1/2019 12:43:34 pm

Sounds like a good book.

10/1/2019 10:47:03 pm

So glad you think so! Thank you.

Janet W.

10/1/2019 12:43:48 pm

Great cover! Sounds interesting!

10/1/2019 10:48:01 pm

Thank you so much! Yes, I am thrilled with Robin Birrell's cover.

wendy hutton

10/1/2019 02:59:19 pm

very nice cover, thanks

10/1/2019 10:49:54 pm

I really appreciate your comment! I will be telling artist Robin Birrell how much great feedback her work is getting.

SHERRY

10/1/2019 06:10:54 pm

I think the book sounds really good.

10/1/2019 10:50:44 pm

Thank you! I am truly gratified by your kind words.

Victoria

10/1/2019 08:57:02 pm

Sounds interesting!

10/1/2019 10:51:40 pm

Thank you so much!

Dale Wilken

10/1/2019 09:29:53 pm

Sounds really great.

10/1/2019 10:52:23 pm

I really appreciate your kind words!

10/1/2019 11:36:27 pm

Anyone who liked the cover -- not only am I grateful for Robin Birrell's work on the painting, I deeply appreciate Tallulah van der Made's work on the design!

Barbara Montag

10/2/2019 08:49:40 am

Fantasy and witches - I love it already.
And with an outstanding cover!

10/2/2019 09:00:32 pm

Thank you! I really appreciate that.

Stephanie Jones

10/2/2019 10:13:20 am

looks like a good book!

10/2/2019 09:01:23 pm

I am honored you should say so!

Amy F

10/2/2019 11:47:03 am

The book sounds great! Thanks for sharing the excerpt.

10/2/2019 09:02:58 pm

I really appreciate your kind words. Glad you enjoyed the excerpt -- you are very welcome!

Stephanie

10/2/2019 04:23:49 pm

Sounds like a story that will appeal to many ages.

10/2/2019 09:10:29 pm

Thank you! I hope so. I wrote it with adults in mind, but I would be honored if younger people found that it "spoke" to them. I read Tolkien and Ursula K LeGuin at ages 11-12 and discovering their work was a very positive thing in my life.

I would want parents to be aware that my novel contains a little crude language and a realistic fight scene.

Bea LaRocca

10/2/2019 04:45:09 pm

Great cover and synopsis. This sounds like a wonderful read. Thank you for sharing your book and author details.

10/2/2019 09:11:55 pm

Deeply honored you should say so. Glad you enjoyed the synopsis and -- of course -- you are very welcome!

Elaine G

10/2/2019 05:06:25 pm

Sounds like a good book. Thanks for sharing the excerpt.

10/2/2019 09:12:53 pm

Thank you! And, about the excerpt, you are very welcome -- I am thrilled you chose to read t!

Mary Cloud

10/3/2019 08:03:29 pm

No questions. The cover is interesting.

10/3/2019 09:02:25 pm

Thank you! I appreciate your response.

Beyond Comps

10/7/2019 10:34:28 am

Really nice cover!

10/7/2019 04:02:11 pm

Thank you so much! BTW -- artist Robin Birrell worked a lot of small details from the story into her cover painting. So, if you choose to read the book, you might want to look at the cover a second time to see how many you can spot. Once again, I appreciate your reply!

Terri Quick

10/7/2019 08:55:35 pm

Great cover

10/8/2019 11:56:05 pm

Thank you!

Peggy Salkill

10/8/2019 11:50:15 am

10/8/2019 11:57:06 pm

I am so glad!

Kelly Nicholson

10/8/2019 12:18:31 pm

What do you think of the book or the cover?

witches are protected these days,and we are all cursed

10/9/2019 12:00:53 am

I am amazed by artist Robin Birrell and designer Tallulah van der Made's work on the cover! Since I am the author, I may be biased but I think the rest of the book is pretty wonderful too. :) And you are right -- anyone who has a problem with witches had better learn to like eating flies. :)

Victoria Scott

10/8/2019 02:17:05 pm

Love the cover!

10/9/2019 12:02:01 am

Thank you! As I've mentioned above, I am grateful to have worked with the people who created it.

Tracie Cooper

10/9/2019 02:51:58 pm

I am so excited to read this book!

10/11/2019 09:40:42 pm

I am so happy to hear that! Thanks for posting. I hope you enjoy it!

LYNN CLAYTON

10/9/2019 10:07:14 pm

i really think this is a cute cover

10/11/2019 09:41:45 pm

:) Thank you! 'm really happy with it too.

Marcy Meyer

10/12/2019 12:08:18 pm

The cover looks really good. Sounds like an interesting story.

10/12/2019 09:40:02 pm

Thank you! I really appreciate the comment!

Serge B

10/12/2019 12:41:24 pm

A simple and pretty cover--I do prefer drawings sometimes!

10/12/2019 09:41:53 pm

So glad! I like drawings,and I felt artist Robin Birrell's style really suited this story. If you like her work, I'm glad to say she's also done some line drawings for the interior of the book.

heather

10/12/2019 03:14:51 pm

This so sounds like my kind of read and I love the cover too.

10/12/2019 09:43:18 pm

So glad to hear it! Thank you! And yes -- I am thrilled with artist Robin Birrell and designer Tallulah van der Made's work on the cover myself!

Ann Fantom

10/13/2019 10:35:16 am

I like the cover. It has great graphics

10/13/2019 09:51:16 pm

So glad you like them! Thank you very much for your comments.

Mood Reader

10/18/2019 01:19:06 am

Looks great! :)

10/18/2019 10:12:26 pm

Thank you! I am honored you should say so.

Gloria Browning link

10/18/2019 03:15:02 am

The cover seems more YA to me, but I like it.

10/18/2019 10:16:18 pm

Glad you like it! I take your point about the cover's YA qualities.

Cathy Truman

10/20/2019 08:29:36 pm

The cover looks very cute and like a fun book to read.

10/20/2019 09:55:40 pm

So glad you like the cover! I hope you enjoy the book!

Shirley Emitt

10/27/2019 03:36:53 pm

I do really like the book cover.

10/28/2019 12:27:56 am

I am so glad! Thanks for the positive feedback!

Bridgett Wilbur

10/28/2019 12:10:46 pm

I just love your cover and I would love to read your book.

10/29/2019 01:16:41 am

So honored you should say so! I hope you enjoy it and would be interested in your thoughts!

Jennifer R

10/28/2019 04:08:08 pm

The book cover has a simple appeal to it.

10/29/2019 01:20:17 am

Thank you! I agree -- artist Robin Birrell has a great sense of just how much detail to add.

bn100

10/28/2019 04:35:55 pm

interesting book

10/29/2019 01:21:08 am

Thank you! I am really glad you find it so!

Heather Mahley

10/30/2019 02:32:43 pm

THe book sounds amazong

10/31/2019 12:35:43 am

I am so flattered by your kind words! Hope you enjoy it!

Daniel M

10/31/2019 07:28:17 pm

like the cover

10/31/2019 09:14:33 pm

I am so glad! I really appreciate your kind words.

Francine Anchondo

11/1/2019 09:02:42 pm

I like the cover

11/1/2019 10:29:34 pm

I really appreciate your kind words! I am thrilled to be working with artist Robin Birrell and designer Tallulah van der Made.

Jerry Marquardt

11/1/2019 11:50:37 pm

I would like to give thanks for all your really great writings, including The Witches of Crannock Dale, and wishing the best in keeping up the good work in the future.

11/2/2019 08:47:44 pm

So honored by your kind words! Thank you! Since you mention the future, please let me take the opportunity to point out that Book Two of this series will appear in winter 2020.

The Witches of Crannock Dale - Book Tour and Giveaway

The Witches of Crannock Dale
Mara of the League Book 1
by Thomas M. Kane
Genre: Fantasy

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The Witches of Crannock Dale - Book Tour and Giveaway

The Witches of Crannock Dale Mara of the League Book 1 by Thomas M. Kane Genre: Fantasy

Leave a Reply.

Archives

The Witches of Crannock Dale
Mara of the League Book 1
by Thomas M. Kane
Genre: Fantasy