BOOK INFORMATION
TITLE – King
Arthur’s Sister in Washington’s Court
AUTHOR – Kim Iverson Headlee
GENRE – Science Fiction/Fantasy Time-Travel Romance
PUBLICATION DATES:
– 1 November 2014 (ebook, illustrated)
– February 2015 (audiobook, performed by Caprisha Page)
– November 2015 (hardcover, featuring more than 100
illustrations)
LENTH (Pages/# Words) – (350 pages/70K words)
PUBLISHER – Lucky Bat Books
COVER ARTIST – Jennifer Doneske
ILLUSTRATORS – Jennifer “The Royal Portraitist” Doneske and
Tom “The Creature King” Doneske
BOOK BLURB
Morgan le
Fay, 6th-century Queen of Gore and the only major character not killed off by
Mark Twain in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, vows revenge upon
the Yankee Hank Morgan. She casts a spell to take her to 1879 Connecticut so
she may waylay Sir Boss before he can travel back in time to destroy her world.
But the spell misses by 300 miles and 200 years, landing her in the Washington,
D.C., of 2079, replete with flying limousines, hovering office buildings,
virtual-reality television, and sundry other technological marvels.
Whatever is
a time-displaced queen of magic and minions to do? Why, rebuild her kingdom, of
course—two kingdoms, in fact: as Campaign Boss for the reelection of American
President Malory Beckham Hinton, and as owner of the London Knights
world-champion baseball franchise.
Written as
though by the old master himself, King Arthur’s Sister in Washington’s Court by
Mark Twain as channeled by Kim Iverson Headlee offers laughs, love, and a
candid look at American society, popular culture, politics, baseball...and the
human heart.
BUY & TBR LINKS
EXCERPT
Chapter XI: The Queen in Search of a
Baseball Club
CLARICE
HELPED ME pack my clothing and accessories for the relocation to London: just
what I would need for the first brace of weeks, which amounted to eight large
traveling cases, one of which was devoted to my hair accoutrements and
cosmetics. Not long after arriving in this century, Clarice had introduced me
to these wonderful products, which allowed me to create the same visual effect
as I had done for decades with the aid of magic; now you sit privy to the
secret of how I could cast ever so many enchantments for President Malory and
remain looking as glorious as ever.
While I was yet sorting through my garments deciding which
to bring and which to leave, my thoughts turned toward a leaving of another
sort. I must have appeared sorrowful, for of a sudden Clarice asked if aught
ailed me.
“I shall miss you, Clarice, when I get to London.” Since
that answer represented only half the truth, I hurried on with: “And yet I know
that you shall perform your duties in continuing to oversee my office here in
Washington to the utmost of your considerable abilities.”
That made her smile, and she thanked me for the compliment,
but her look turned shrewd. “I imagine you’ll miss President Hinton, too.”
“Of course I shall. She has become as a sister to me.”
I resumed examination of the dress I had been holding, a
sexy little black thing that I would have loved to have worn only for Accolon…
“Please tell me about him,” said Clarice.
“I beg your pardon?”
The shrewd look was back. Mayhap it had never left. “Sir
Accolon. Queen Morgan, you have not—um, partnered with any man of this century
more often than once to my certain knowledge, since I manage your schedule. I
suspect that you have not yet found anyone you like, let alone love, as well as
he. No one of this era could make you go all moony-eyed while looking at a
dress; therefore, you must be thinking about Accolon. So, please tell me about
him.”
Ha. I knew I had chosen her as my trusted adviser for good
reason, and I rewarded her accordingly. As the memories swirled about in my
mind, making me yearn even more acutely for Accolon’s company, I said:
“He was a knight with very few peers during his lifetime,
excepting only Sir Launcelot and Sir Gawaine. And my brother—those three were
the only knights who ever bested him in single combat. So naturally, he was
big—in all parts and portions—and muscular, and very strong, yet as a lover he
was no brute, but as tender as any virgin maid could ever wish for. His
intellect was nearly as keen as mine, as was his eagerness to assist me in
righting the wrongs inflicted upon me by my brother. He had hair as glossy
black as a raven’s wing, which he kept short-cropped in the old Roman style; he
once said it was more comfortable under the helmet than having masses of hair
stuffed up under and making the head sweat overmuch. It had a fine curl to it
that I found most endearing. His eyes were an unforgettable shade of blue, and
he had a strong chin that he kept clean-shaven…Lord God in heaven! Who on earth
is that?”
While I had been discoursing on Accolon’s virtues, Clarice
had activated her screen, which was now displaying the image of a man who could
have been my dead lover’s twin.
Clarice grinned. “You said the other day that you wanted to
find another general manager for the Knights. This man is Alexander Leroy
‘Sandy’ Carter, former WBF second baseman and 2073 Tournament MVP for the
Connecticut Yankees. Since his retirement as a player, he has served in various
capacities for several teams, including as a GM. He is a renowned expert in all
matters baseball.”
In any era, when something—or someone—sounds too good to be
true, it—or he—usually is. I asked, “If he is so valuable, then why does he not
stay with one team?”
A look of chagrin crossed her countenance. “Sandy Carter is
what we call a ‘loose cannon.’ He can be temperamental and wild, and he gets
into fights with players and coaches and…sometimes even with his bosses. And
not just verbal fights, either. Usually his points are quite valid, but his
means of expressing them don’t earn him any friends.”
In a word, then, passionate. Passionate men I understood and
could work with. It had been thus with Accolon at the start of our association,
and look at all I had been able to accomplish with him. Everything I had ever
desired, except King Arthur’s throne.
Wit I well that lying and gullibility were two facets of
human nature that had not changed in the last fifteen centuries and shall not
change in the next fifteen, either. I had learned this while trying to evaluate
potential new Knights for the team. Everyone speaks glowingly of his
accomplishments and accolades; no one ever mentions his flaws or mistakes or
regrets unless a wise employer chooses to ask specific questions of this ilk.
Yet Clarice had offered the bad along with the good of this man. Still, I would
be forced as a point of honor to relinquish my coveted title of The Wise if I
accepted her words at face value; upon turning the thought-receptors toward me,
I soon verified everything she had told me about this volatile man.
I asked, “Is Sandy Carter available now?”
Clarice’s grin returned. “For the right price, Queen Morgan,
anyone is.”
It took only one call, and Sandy Carter expressed exceeding
pleasure and eagerness to accompany me to London as general manager of the
Knights. The fact that I had worn the sexy black number during the call saved
the team quite a sum with regard to Carter’s agreed-upon salary.
Neither as queen nor as ball club owner do I ever make idle
promises.
AUTHOR BIO
Kim Headlee
lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family, cats, goats, and
assorted wildlife. People & creatures come and go, but the cave and the
250-year-old house ruins -- the latter having been occupied as recently as the
mid-20th century -- seem to be sticking around for a while yet.
Kim is a Seattle native (when she used to live in the Metro
DC area, she loved telling people she was from "the other
Washington") and a direct descendent of 20th-century Russian nobility. Her
grandmother was a childhood friend of the doomed Grand Duchess Anastasia, and
the romantic yet tragic story of how Lydia escaped Communist Russia with the
aid of her American husband will most certainly one day fuel one of Kim's
novels. Another novel in the queue will involve her husband's ancestor, the
7th-century proto-Viking king of the Swedish colony in Russia.
For the time being, however, Kim has plenty of work to do in
creating her projected 8-book Arthurian series, The Dragon's Dove Chronicles,
and other novels under her new imprint, Pendragon Cove Press. She also writes
romantic historical fiction under the pseudonym "Kimberly Iverson."
YouTube video interview: http://youtu.be/DV5iKrEIROk
FOLLOW KIM
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