Free From Today! Black Diamonds on Kindle!

From today, my historical romance novel, Black Diamonds is being offered free on Kindle [for the next five days!] Black Diamonds is the first book in the 'Seasons of Change' series. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Download it here:

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Diamonds-Seasons-Change-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOW4IK2

US:  http://www.amazon.com/Black-Diamonds-Seasons-Change-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOW4IK2

A tale of passion and compassion and most of all, one woman's brave heart.

Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, 1865. When Lily Jenkin begins her first day working for the Morgans at their corner shop in the little village of Abercanaid, she has no idea of the calamity that lies ahead of that fateful day.

It is a day of tragedy at the Gethin Coal Pit that brings her into contact with the new handsome, chapel minister, Evan Davies, for the first time.

Although a dark cloud of death passes over the village, Lily and Evan draw close to one another as they help the villagers deal with the tragedy, forming a bond which could lead to love. However, there is a gossiping old crone in the village who will do her best to cause trouble for the pair by hook or by crook.

Lily has the opportunity to escape the valley of the shadow of death to make a new home for herself in Great Salt Lake, America. Will she take the chance to go to ‘Zion’, following her Mormon relatives, and more importantly, will Evan, a Welsh Baptist minister, go with her?

The Seasons of Change Series:

1. Black Diamonds
2. White Roses
3. Blue Skies
4. Red Poppies

Mondays excerpt: Black Diamonds [Season of Change book #1]

Monday's Excerpt: Black Diamonds [Seasons of Change book #1] can be read here:
http://askdavid.com/preview/12294

I'm very interested in local history and wrote Black Diamonds after discovering something interesting in my own family history. A skeleton if you like. I'd never realised before but one of my ancestors from my home town was a pioneer Mormon who emigrated to Great Salt Lake in 1871 and who had opposition from other family members, one of whom was his wife as she refused to follow him to 'Zion', so he left her behind and remarried bigamously there, and had further children.

Life was much better for him in Utah with the clean open spaces and fresh air, unlike the dirty grey industrial town he left behind.

Preachers like Dan Jones who made many converts in Merthyr Tydfil often encouraged people to move to Utah. The Church was keen to utilise the mining skills of the Welsh Brethren in Salt Lake City. But the 'Saint's who preached on the streets of Merthyr were stoned and treated badly.

I realise how brave my ancestor, William Harman, was as he was offered the chance to be sole beneficiary in the will of rich Uncle Edmund Harman if he chose to renounce his religion. But instead he chose his faith and Utah, his 'Zion'.

The population of Merthyr had exploded due to the iron works at Cyfarthfa, Dowlais and Plymouth. What had once been a small farming community became a heaving metropolis where Iron was king and coal its Queen.

It got me wondering what life would have been like in Merthyr Tydfil at that time.

During that sort of time period there was also a coal mining explosion at Gethin Pit which killed 34 men and boys in Abercanaid, Merthyr Tydfil. It happened just before Christmas of 1865, and this got me wondering what life in the village would have been like after that.

How would people cope during such a tragedy?

I began to write and research and discovered some amazing facts. Although this is a work of fiction, it's set around real life events that actually happened in the town.

The protagonist is Lily Jenkin, a spirited young woman, who has just begun working at the local shop when she discovers both her twin brothers have been involved in the explosion. She fears for their safety and it's while she's waiting to hear the news that she encounters handsome minister, Evan Davies. They join forces to do what they can for the injured and their families in the village.

It's a tale of passion and compassion and most of all one woman's brave heart.