Monday 15 April 2019

Perilous Siege by CP Odom - Blog Tour, Excerpt and Giveaway

Perilous Siege by C P Odom - Blog Tour
Today I'm welcoming author C P Odom back to the blog with his latest Pride & Prejudice-inspired book Perilous Siege. C P Odom's previous books have been set in Jane Austen's time, and so is this one, though it has a modern element too - let's have a look at the blurb and then I'll hand over to the author for him to introduce a lovely, long excerpt.  There's also a chance to win a copy of the book! Read on for more details.

Book Cover: Perilous Siege by C P Odom
Perilous Siege Book Description

What is the Siege Perilous, and how does it affect the lives of everyone in the Regency universe of Pride & Prejudice?

When a man dressed in bizarre attire suddenly appears in a field on his Pemberley estate, Fitzwilliam Darcy has little inkling of the many and startling changes this man’s strange arrival will have on his life, his family’s lives, and indeed, his whole world.

Mysteriously sent to the Regency world of Pride and Prejudice, this refugee from a future Armageddon is befriended by Darcy. How will the presence of Major Edward McDunn influence the events of Jane Austen’s signature work, especially the tangled courtship between Darcy and the complex and endearing Elizabeth Bennet?

Introduction by C P Odom

Thank you Ceri for welcoming me to your blog, Babblings of a Bookworm. Claudine, the blog organizer for the Perilous Siege blog tour, suggested one of the excerpts from my book ought to be on the humorous side. This is the one I picked, and it takes place several months after Major McDunn materializes in mid-air a couple of feet above a field in Darcy’s Pemberley estate. I was trying to portray how well the small group of Regency characters got on with McDunn, since Jane Austen said that Darcy was supposed to be amiable with those with whom he was on close terms. However, she doesn’t really give us any real demonstrations of that amiability in Pride and Prejudice, so I kind of had an open field in which to portray that.

Naturally enough, I drew on my own experiences with close friends and colleagues over the years, from the kids I played sports with in high school to my comrades in the Marines to the people I associated with during my working years (from work, from church, from the Boy Scouts, etc.). Many of those (but not all, by any means) were men, since sports teams and the military, as well as the engineering profession, were mostly masculine enterprises. It changed at work somewhat, as more females became engineers, and four of the last five bosses I had before retirement were females.

So humor was a definite attribute of most of those interactions over the years. It was the same even in the Marines, though much of the humor was black humor about how little chance we had of surviving our enlistment (actually, even though it was the Vietnam era, the odds of survival were much better than we thought, but hey! We were young and thought we knew everything!). So, here is my humorous excerpt, which plays heavily on the far different background of McDunn compared to the Regency characters. Not only does he talk with a different accent, but the strangest words and sayings keep popping out of his mouth…

Excerpt from Perilous Siege by C P Odom

***
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
— Theodore Roosevelt, American adventurer, 
war hero, and twentieth US president


Book Cover: Perilous Siege by C P Odom
Friday, November 3, 1809
Pemberley, Derbyshire

“I’m still not sure this is a good idea,” McDunn said, staring doubtfully at the large, dark-brown horse Darcy and Fitzwilliam called a “hunter” that was being saddled in preparation for his first riding lesson. “I know I agreed, but it was in a moment of weakness. I kind of hoped you’d forgotten about it.”
“Nonsense, Major,” Fitzwilliam said. “Every gentleman needs to know how to ride.”
“But I’m not a gentleman, and this thing is immense. I’m going to break something if I fall off—something I’m going to need.”
“There is nothing to fear, old stick!” Fitzwilliam said, showing all of his teeth in a fierce grin. “Why, Pollux is so gentle, Georgiana could ride him! And he is barely fourteen and a half hands! My own Pennington is a full hand higher.”
“Whatever,” responded McDunn, clearly less than convinced, and both his tone and another of his Americanisms brought a laugh from the other three.
“You will make a splendid rider once I get through with you,” Fitzwilliam said cheerfully. “His Majesty’s cavalry has developed excellent techniques to teach recruits to ride. Officers, being gentlemen, are assumed to know already and have to bring their own mounts. But the other ranks usually have no experience and need instruction.”
“Excellent techniques, is it?” Darcy said teasingly. “What, pray, are these excellent methods?”
“We do it by a set of rules, you know,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said. “Rule number one: when you fall off your horse, immediately rise and get back on—after you catch him, of course.”
“And rule number two?” McDunn asked suspiciously.
“Follow rule number one,” Fitzwilliam said, cracking not even a hint of a smile. Darcy gave a bark of laughter, but McDunn’s response was a groan.
“Come, come, McDunn!” Fitzwilliam said, now grinning openly. “Would you not prefer to ride to battle than to walk? It is not only more gentlemanly but far less work.”
“I regard sitting up on top of one of those massive beasts while galloping about the battlefield primarily as a way to provide an excellent target for the bad guys. My skin crawls at the very thought of it, and my hard-earned survival instincts tell me I should get down flat on the ground and behind some solid cover so I can shoot with a lot more safety. Even better would be a fighting hole so I wouldn’t be so vulnerable to artillery.”
“Ha! Artillery is frightening, I admit, but musketry, especially French musketry, is pathetic. We lose a few troopers to musketry but not many.”
“That’s now. Smoothbore muskets are wildly inaccurate except at very short range, but it’s going to change in the not-too-distant future.
Fitzwilliam mulled over this unpleasant comment. “From what you have told me, warfare in the future sounds exceedingly unpleasant.”
“I’ve seen it, and I hate it even more than you,” McDunn said forcefully. “The only reason I was a marine was because someone needed to defend civilization against the bad guys. Anyway, I think we’ve had more than enough morbid conversation. Let’s talk about something more pleasant.”
“Excellent suggestion. Now, the first thing you should note is the saddle. When I was first learning to ride, my grandfather’s horse master made me saddle my horse repeatedly until I had blisters on all my fingers and could do it in my sleep. I thought it best to pass over that particular task.”
“And a good thing you did, Fitzwilliam, else I’d have instantly forgotten my agreement to learn to ride and would be striding manfully back to the house.”
“But you should at least note the following about this particular saddle, which is the type my regiment uses. It is derived from the kind made famous by the Hungarians though some are starting to call it the English saddle.”
McDunn’s eyes glazed over as Fitzwilliam pointed out the various parts of the saddle, and he stifled a yawn when Fitzwilliam moved on to other salient points such as mounting, correct posture astride the horse, use of the reins, starting and stopping the animal, and dismounting. The cavalryman was just warming to other less critical topics when McDunn held up his hand.
“For Heaven’s sake, Fitzwilliam, stop! How am I supposed to remember everything? Nothing more, please! I agreed to learn to ride, so let’s get to it.”
“But do you not find the topic interesting?” Fitzwilliam asked in genuine surprise.
“Not nearly as engrossing as you do.”
“Very well,” Fitzwilliam said. Then, unable to hold back any longer, he pointed at the clothes McDunn wore and burst out laughing.
“I know, I know,” McDunn said as he looked down at his grey imitation-BDU trousers and his grayish-white T-shirt, both still damp from his morning exercise. “I’m dressed most unfashionably, but I wanted to get my run completed before trying to ride this monster. Since I may well be paralyzed after this morning’s adventure, I wanted to be able to remember I could once run for three miles without even breathing hard.”
“Oh, Major, you are so amusing!” Georgiana said lightly.
“I’ll have nothing out of you, young lady,” McDunn said, trying to adopt the firmness of an older brother. “I remember the part you played in talking me into this hazardous enterprise!”
Somehow, this just made all three—especially Georgiana—laugh harder. At last, when the merriment subsided, McDunn pointed to his feet.
“All of you comedians will note I did change from my running boots to my newly delivered riding boots. And I brought my gloves. I realize I’m not nearly the splendiferous example of sartorial elegance you and other members of the gentry usually display, but you must remember I’m—”
“—an American,” all three finished for him in unison.
“What, pray, is that on your head, sir?” Darcy asked.
McDunn took off his camouflaged USMC soft hat, which bore a certain resemblance to the caps used by baseball teams in his time. He had found it among the items in his pack when he did his inventory.
“It’s just my regulation utility cover.”
“Cover?” Georgiana asked in confusion. “Why on earth do you call it a cover? It is just a hat, is it not?”
“A cover is what we marines called our headgear no matter what type it was, whether full dress or utility dress like this one,” he said, feigning infinite patience. “As for why it’s called a cover, I haven’t a clue. Why do you call the vest you’re wearing a wes-kit, Darcy? I happen to know it’s spelled like waistcoat.”
“I have not a clue,” Darcy said, attempting to control his expression but having to forsake the effort as the other three laughed.
“But see here?” McDunn said, pointing to an insignia inked on the front of his cap above the bill. “This is the famous Marine Corps eagle, globe, and anchor that you’ve all seen before on my stuff. And I even pinned my gunnery sergeant chevrons on my cover. I thought it looked pretty spiffy when I checked myself in the mirror. If I’m not to survive this morning, you see, I wish to be buried in suitable attire.”
“I am sure you will do well today!” Georgiana said with certainty.
“So you’ve said before. But you have to admit, Miss Darcy, I’m a lot more comfortably dressed than your brother or your cousin. If I do take a fall, I’d rather be free to tuck and roll without having to worry about splitting a seam like your menfolk would.”
Fitzwilliam drew himself up into a haughty pose. “I do not plan to fall.”
“Of course, you don’t. Now, how do we get this show on the road?”
“Pardon me?” Fitzwilliam asked and then at once perceived the sense of the saying. “Ah. I see. Getting the show on the road. That is a good one, Major! Mind if I steal it?”
“Not in the slightest. I didn’t invent it.”
“Thank you. Now, use the step to mount your horse. It is possible to do so with the stirrup, but it is easier with a step. Ah, very good. Yes, boots in the stirrups and the toes pointed up as I told you. Excellent.”
“Fitzwilliam, this is a lot higher off the ground than I thought it would be.”
“You will become accustomed to it. All new riders do. Now, let me examine your posture. Back upright and straight, good. Shoulders up a bit…good. Now, bring your legs forward. You want to have a straight line from your ear through your shoulders and hips down to your heels, your legs in a solid position to support you as you move from a walk through a trot and canter. Galloping will come later. We shall start at a walk today and move to a trot. But we will not spend too much time trotting. Beastly uncomfortable. A canter is much more comfortable. Now, after Darcy and I mount, we can be off.”
McDunn was surprised at how much more he could see. He was so used to seeing everything from the vantage of an infantryman that the different aspect from the back of the horse made him understand why officers in the armies of 1809 always wanted to view the ground while mounted.
And though the motion of his horse was initially disconcerting as the three of them left the stables, it was not as disturbing as he had anticipated. Later on, he found Fitzwilliam had been correct about a trotting horse. A trot felt like someone was pounding a hammer up the line of his spine. He was relieved when Fitzwilliam told him to kick his horse up to a canter. That was much better, though they only maintained the pace for a minute or so before dropping back to a walk.
The lesson continued for another hour, moving through various elements of riding, before they turned for the house.
For McDunn, the biggest surprise came when he dismounted.
“Ow!” McDunn exclaimed. “My back hurts low down. And the fronts and insides of my legs are killing me. But how can that be? I’m in good shape, and I was warmed up and loose.”
“I am not surprised,” Fitzwilliam informed him. “I have seen you run, and riding uses different muscles. It will pass as you get more practice.”
“I hope so,” McDunn said, trying to stretch out those muscles that hurt but quickly giving up the effort since stretching just made the pain worse.
“You did very well,” Georgiana said. “I thought you looked very natural—except for your outlandish attire, of course, but I shall soon put that aright.”
“Whatever you say, Miss Darcy. Right now, all I want to do is soak in a hot tub of water, as hot as I can stand.”
“It will pass,” Fitzwilliam said. “What is the saying you taught me from your Corps of Marines? Pain is only—”
“Pain is only weakness leaving the body,” McDunn groaned, hobbling a bit as he and Fitzwilliam returned to the house. “You’ve far too good a memory, partner. I’m going to have to be more careful about what I say to you.”
Fitzwilliam only nodded and smiled.
***
Book Cover: Perilous Siege by C P OdomWednesday, November 15, 1809
Pemberley, Derbyshire
At the noon meal, McDunn was enjoying a second cup of Darcy’s excellent coffee with the other gentlemen when Georgiana finally made her appearance. He waited until her food had been set before her and the servant had left before he spoke. “I would like to suggest a gathering in my sitting room after this for a council of war.”
The others looked at him with interest since he had spent the last several days deep in research.
Darcy was the first to speak. “I take it you have decided how best to proceed?”
“I have, but I reiterate I will only be making a suggestion, not a command decision. I need the agreement of my partners.
“What is this council of war, Major?” Georgiana asked with concern. “What war are you speaking of?”
“He means a meeting where all of us try to agree on a course of action, Georgiana,” Fitzwilliam said. “It is different from the command decision he mentioned where he would simply make the decision without asking our opinions.”
Georgiana nodded, though the nod seemed a bit dubious.
McDunn rose from his chair. “Then I’ll see you all shortly.”
***
Darcy and his sister found McDunn’s door already open and both McDunn and Fitzwilliam holding glasses half-filled with Scotch. Darcy shuddered at the thought that not only had his cousin been corrupted into trying it, but he was beginning to show a real preference for the drink. Darcy could only shake his head in bemusement.
He said as much aloud, and both McDunn and Fitzwilliam chuckled.
“The colonel is a fine fellow, Darcy,” McDunn said cheerfully. “A credit to your family. Not only does he show an admirable liberality in associating with a mere sergeant—although it is well known throughout the entire US Marine Corps that sergeants actually run things—but he’s developed a taste for this imitation Scotch your butler supplies.”
“I would like to propose a toast to sergeants,” Fitzwilliam said with a laugh. “Fine fellows even if we have more sense than to let them run things.”
“You only think they don’t, Fitz,” McDunn said.
“Something leads me to believe this is not the first glass of this swill you two have sampled,” Darcy said, pouring himself a glass of port and handing Georgiana a glass of watered wine. “And the sun has barely passed its zenith.”
“Swill?” Fitzwilliam challenged, taking another sip. “I used to say the same, but I have learned otherwise. It is the perfect drink for a penniless younger son.”
“I understand George Washington owned a distillery, and he pretty much gave you Brits everything you could handle a few decades back,” McDunn said.
“And yet another vulgarity!” Fitzwilliam declared with a flashing of white teeth in his tanned face. “Brits!”
“Short for the people of Great Britain. Though you wouldn’t suspect it right now, what with the Revolutionary War being relatively recent and with tensions increasing with the US, but both countries will become firm friends and allies in the not too distant future. For almost a century and a half in my world. Two world wars, two minor wars, and a host of smaller conflicts. Yeah, we call you Brits, and you call us Yanks.”
“Well, only proper, after all, since we share a common language.”
“One of your future statesmen once said the United States and Great Britain were two countries separated by a common language!”
“He did, did he?” Fitzwilliam said, pounding a knee. “Sounds like a stalwart fellow! And you know I am going to steal that one too!”
“Of course,” McDunn said, thinking Winston Churchill would have been appalled to see his country reduced to what it had been in 2045.
“Well, that Washington fellow was rather stalwart too, even if he did own a distillery,” Fitzwilliam said.
“I still cannot believe he did not become King George the First of North America,” Darcy opined. “All the dons at Cambridge spoke of it. Everyone, literally everyone, seemed to believe he would. They did not so much as question it.”
“Interesting man, Washington. Fine president. We needed more like him. Our President Davis might have gone down in history as very much like him—if the fanatics hadn’t killed him and the rest of our government leaders in the Massacre.”
Setting his glass on the table, McDunn sighed. “Time to get down to brass tacks.”
“Uh, Major?” Georgiana said.
“You don’t say that now? Well, it means getting down to essential stuff. I have no idea where it came from, but it looks as though it’s sometime in the future.”
“American sayings,” Fitzwilliam said. “As I said, he must have an unlimited supply.”
“As you know, I’ve been busy these past weeks, especially the last few days. We’ve talked several times about the possibilities I was considering, but I’m now fairly certain what our first project should be.”
“The telegraph?” Darcy said.
“Exactly. I think it has the best possibilities for becoming profitable, and the expenditures to build a working prototype shouldn’t be nearly as extensive as something like the steam locomotive.”
“I had been holding out hope for the breech-loading rifle,” Fitzwilliam said sadly. “Or those revolver pistols you mentioned. My men could use those, but I always knew they were low on your list.”
“The dynamite you spoke of was intriguing,” Darcy said, “but you are probably correct it would be more valuable in the United States than in Britain. More land there—more construction needed.”
“Especially since McDunn says there is going to be a war between our two countries in a few years,” Fitzwilliam said morosely. “As though we did not have enough troubles! Those idiots in the government!”
“Well, the US has more than a few idiots of its own, Fitz.”
“I do not understand how you can be so casual about a war,” Georgiana said, rather anxiously.
“I came from the year 2045, not 1812, Miss Darcy,” McDunn said with a shrug. “I have no real feeling of allegiance to the United States of this coming war with your country. It’ll be a stupid war with plenty of fault on both sides, but at least it’ll be a small war compared to your war with France.”
Georgiana nodded, then she turned rather pink before she said timidly, “I liked your ideas about…plumbing.”
“Me, too,” McDunn grinned. “I miss proper plumbing. But there are too many problems associated with making it work, especially in the cities. However, while I’m working on the telegraph, which I hope to sell to your government for lots of money, I’m planning a side project here at Pemberley with working toilets and water flowing through pipes inside the house. Pemberley has lots of land for the waste handling possible with a septic system. It may not be very cost efficient, but it’ll work.”
He nodded to Darcy. “Consider it partial payment for not throwing me off your land or having me trundled off to Bethlem Royal Hospital.”
“Nonsense. You have successfully convinced me all of us are going to make a great deal of money,” Darcy said. “You may be a lunatic American, but you are my lunatic American.”
McDunn looked at him in stunned silence for a moment. “That sounds very much like an American saying.”
“It does?” Darcy said, clearly pleased. “Well, great minds and all that.”
“That did, too!” McDunn said before turning to Georgiana. “Your brother is associating with entirely the wrong class of people, Miss Darcy. You must do something.”
“Now stop it!” she said, her hand over her mouth. “You were going to speak of the telegraph, brother!”
“Ah yes, the telegraph. The idea appears to have obsessed you to the point that you skipped several days of the physical punishment you laughingly call exercise.”
“Well, it is getting rather cold in the morning. And I wanted all of us to consider my suggestions before heading to London. I thought we needed to reach agreement before we left. And I’ve convinced myself, so I wanted to present my ideas to you. It’s always a good idea to have other people comment on your thinking so you don’t out-clever yourself.”
“Is that a word, William?” Georgiana asked. “Out-clever? I have certainly never heard it before.”
“No, Miss Darcy,” McDunn said. “I very much doubt it’s a real word either in your time or in mine. It just came to mind as a description of someone falling in love with his own clever ideas. My research has shown it’s happened with distressing regularity throughout history.”
“I suppose the word does capture the essence, my dear,” her brother said. “Now, I believe it would be best to let the major proceed.”
McDunn nodded cheerfully. “One of the best reasons for choosing the telegraph is that it can be done in the here-and-now, and the time is right. Some people are already looking at ways of sending messages electrically, but none of those ideas are anything close to workable and won’t be for a number of years. We can produce a better product in a shorter period of time—less than a year, hopefully—since we can avoid the mistakes and the false leads other inventors pursued.”
He went on to explain how the telegraph system he envisioned would work. It would use only a single copper wire with a telegraph key sending pulses by means of a simple but effective battery that historically would not be invented until 1860. It would also use electromagnets—not invented until 1824—at the receiving end to produce clicks an operator could hear. He also described how the clicks could be formed into a code for the letters and numbers.
“That’s where I think we ought to bring you in, Fitz. I plan to call the telegraph system itself the Darcy-Fitzwilliam Telegraph, and the code I plan to use is going to be called the Fitzwilliam Code. You’re going to have to learn the theory of this code by heart until you can explain the ins and outs of it and the advantages it gives. I don’t think you’ll need to actually learn to operate the telegraph key, but you’ll need to learn the theory of the code thoroughly.”
“Do you understand any of this, Darcy?” Fitzwilliam asked.
“A word here and there.”
“But this madman is saying I have to learn some kind of code! I can ride anything with four legs, and I am an excellent swordsman and a passable shot—but codes!”
“McDunn has obviously spent a prodigious amount of time and effort studying this, and I am sure he has good reasons for his suggestions. We owe him our full attention.”
“Be patient, Richard,” urged Georgiana.
“It’ll all work out,” McDunn said. “Trust me. You need to be a full member of this partnership, and if you take ownership of the code, it’ll be a weight off my shoulders.”
“Ownership!” groaned Fitzwilliam. “Another word I do not understand! Will there ever be an end to them?”
“Never, Fitz, never!” McDunn said cheerfully. “I think the version of the code that was the international standard for decades would be best. To tell the truth, I really haven’t given it the careful thought I gave the rest of the system, and I’d appreciate another viewpoint on how to make it better.”
He paused for a moment then said, “One more thing, Fitz. Being the go-to guy for the code—”
Fitzwilliam groaned at this, so McDunn only grinned before continuing.
“—it’ll give you a presence before the government and military people we have to convince to buy this thing. That may come in handy for you in future years.”
Whatever,” Fitzwilliam said with a depth of feeling that had everyone laughing.
McDunn clapped him firmly on the shoulder and said, “Now, here are some of the sketches and drawings I’ve made—”
After everything was explained, questioned, answered, and a consensus reached, Georgiana held up her hand.
“There is one thing I find somewhat troubling, Major,” she said, and it seemed as though she had a hard time meeting his gaze. “It seems…that is…should we be worried about the people who are working on this problem now? Is it unfair?”
McDunn was not offended. “Progress has always been a cutthroat business, Miss Darcy, and competition always has losers as well as winners. But none of the present versions of electrical transmission of messages is going to work. And when it finally does, the people working on it now won’t be the ones who benefit. We’ll just be stepping in and producing a workable product right away. I’m going to compete ferociously. We have to succeed at this. I will not waste your brother’s money by failing. No way.”
Georgiana still did not look completely satisfied, but McDunn was glad to see her brows unknit as she gave him a sheepish smile.
“Perhaps you could clap her on the shoulder, Yank,” Fitzwilliam said, only to have to leap from his chair as Georgiana flew after him. Luckily, he was able to get the door open before she could catch him, but she was still in hot pursuit, and the sound of their running feet receded down the hallway.
“Ah,” McDunn said, leaning back and sipping his drink, “to quote a movie my grandfather loved and I watched with him a number of times, they’ll make a fine, boisterous couple once they’re safely married.”
Darcy was so startled by the comment he forgot to ask what a “movie” was. He looked at McDunn intently for several moments since he had actually mused a time or two that McDunn himself might make a good match for his sister. At last, he relaxed and leaned back in his chair, looking at McDunn thoughtfully.
“Perhaps they will, Major Edward McDunn,” he said slowly. “Perhaps they will.”

***


About the Author

Author C P Odom
By training, I’m a retired engineer, born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma, and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. Sandwiched in there was a stint in the  Marines, and I’ve lived in Arizona since 1977, working first for Motorola and then General Dynamics. I raised two sons with my first wife, Margaret, before her untimely death from cancer, and my second wife, Jeanine, and I adopted two girls from China. The older of my daughters recently graduated with an engineering degree and is working in Phoenix, and the younger girl is heading toward a nursing degree.

I’ve always been a voracious reader and collector of books, and my favorite genres are science fiction, historical fiction, histories, and, in recent years, reading (and later writing) Jane Austen romantic fiction. This late-developing interest was indirectly stimulated when I read my late wife's beloved Jane Austen books after her passing.  One thing led to another, and I now have three novels published:  A Most Civil Proposal (2013), Consequences (2014), and Pride, Prejudice, and Secrets (2015).  My fourth novel, Perilous Siege, should be published in the second quarter of 2019.

I retired from engineering in 2011, but I still live in Arizona with my family, a pair of dogs (one of which is stubbornly untrainable), and a pair of rather strange cats.  My hobbies are reading, woodworking, and watching college football and LPGA golf (the girls are much nicer than the guys, as well as being fiendishly good putters). Lately I’ve reverted back to my younger years and have taken up building plastic model aircraft and ships (when I can find the time).

Author Links - Facebook / Amazon / Goodreads / Meryton Press

Buy links - Amazon US / Amazon UK / Add to Goodreads Shelf

Giveaway Time!

Book Cover: Perilous Siege by C P Odom
Meryton Press is offering eight eBooks copies of Perilous Siege. The giveaway runs until midnight, April 21, 2019.

Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once a day and daily commenting on a blog post or a review that has a giveaway attached for the tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented. If an entrant does not do so, that entry will be disqualified.

One winner per contest. Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international.


Perilous Siege Blog Tour Schedule

Check out the other stops on the blog tour!  Remember, you can have more chances to win the more blogs you visit.
Perilous Siege by C P Odom - Blog Tour
April 8 / My Jane Austen Book Club / Guest Post
April 10 / My Vices and Weaknesses / Book Excerpt
April 12 / Austenesque Reviews / Character Interview
April 13 / Just Jane 1813 / Meet C.P. Odom 
April 14 / Margie’s Must Reads / Book Review
April 15 / Babblings of a Bookworm / Book Excerpt
April 16 / From Pemberley to Milton / Vignette
April 17 / Diary of an Eccentric / Book Excerpt
April 18 / More Agreeably Engaged / Guest Post

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33 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your newest release! I did recognize a few modern words but one that did jump out “whatever”. Darcy and the Colonel probably think he’s a bit odd and not sure what that word means.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. As for "whatever," my daughters used it often to me, usually rolling their eyes, when I wanted them to do something like taking out the trash. It had to be said with a certain inflection, leaving the impression that I was asking the impossible!

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    2. Hi Dung. 'Whatever' always makes me think of Cher in Clueless!

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  2. Enjoyed the excerpt, so funny. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. As for the size of the horse, McDunn had virtually no experience with them in his time, and they are really LARGE to the uninitiated. My wife rode in her younger years, and she had to use a step to mount. And she took a fall or two. Very scary, as she told me.

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    2. Glad to hear you enjoyed the excerpt, Darcybennett!

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  3. Nice excerpt! I'm curious why McDunn says that "We *have* to succeed at this." What's the impetus?
    I look forward to more.

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    1. It's from a previous part of the book, when Darcy offers to help McDunn financially. McDunn feels he has to succeed so he won't waste the money of his new-found friend.

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    2. Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Ginna! Thanks for stopping by :)

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  4. Darcy really calls his waistcoat a wes-kit. It's certainly not an English pronunciation I have come across

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    1. Well, wes-kit was the pronunciation the internet gave when I looked it up. It's all academic to this boy from Texas. We didn't wear either waistcoats or wes-kits! How would you say it ought to be pronounced?

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    2. It's not one I've come across either, Vesper, but I have read that it was how it used to be pronounced. I am not sure when we moved over to pronouncing it more like how it's spelled, whereas things like handkerchief and lieutenant we would still pronounce as if they were spelled differently, i.e. hankerchief and leftenant.

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  5. Wow, another extra long blog contribution to be sweet to your readers, Colin. Your dialogue flys! Talk about action! Fantastic read. Thank you so much, and thanks also to Ceri for hosting.

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    1. I was trying to cut it down in size, but I decided not to do so, since there weren't any spoilers in the chapter. Thanks for your kind words. Tomorrow's blog stop includes a vignette at the Pemberley ball that felt the bite of the editing ax when I went in a completely different direction. So it's a scenario that never-was!

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    2. Thanks so much Suzan. Colin has certainly treated us to a whopper of an excerpt :)

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  6. Carole in Canada15 April 2019 at 23:05

    I can appreciate his feelings about the trot! Congratulations! Look forward to reading this and thank you for a chance at the giveaway!

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    1. I spent my early years on a farm, and I remember how uncomfortable the trot was. And I was only 13! One of the reasons I got an engineering degree was so I wouldn't have to go back to the farm! It HURTS when a cow or horse steps on your foot!

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    2. Hi Carole. I have only ever ridden a horse once, I think, and I don't think we got above a walk, so I will have to take your word for it!

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  7. Ceri, thanks for hosting me today on your blog. Managing a blog like this has to be a lot of work, and you deserve a pat on the back. Good comments by your readers, too, and they were very nice. And thanks again to Claudine for arranging everything.

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting the blog and coming to reply to comments, too. I want to thank you for this lovely comment, too, I am not sure I deserve it, but it's nice to hear :)

      And of course I would like to second your thanks to Claudine, it must be a lot of work to arrange a blog tour, and she does it so well.

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  8. I remember being so sore the first several times I rode. LOL Fun excerpt getting to know the four as friends.

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    1. In the book, McDunn is sore after his first riding lesson, despite having resumed running three miles a day. He's shocked at being so sore, but riding uses different muscles. As for me, I LIKE riding in automobiles (actually, I drive a full-size pickup truck!). I did NOT want to make a living as a farmer! Far too much work!

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    2. Glad you enjoyed the excerpt, Sophia!

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  9. This is certainly different. Thanks, Ceri for hosting. Thanks to our author for the generous giveaway.

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    1. I'll have to defer the credit to my publisher, Meryton Press. They came up with the giveaways as a standard way to stir up interest in the readership. As for "different," as you described, Perilous Siege is a break (of sorts) for me. My previous three novels have been more in the "What If" category, in which I took a coincidental event in P&P and went in a different direction. This one involved injecting a new and radically different character into the mix, stirring well, and baking for, oh, the several years it took me to finish this one!

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    2. It really does sound different, doesn't it, Jeanne! I hope you enjoy it when you read it.

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  10. Really unique. I liked the relationship between the canon characters and McDunn very much. I really wonder where this story is going!

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    1. Hi Agnes. It's really hard to tell where this one is going, isn't it!

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  11. Thanks for a chance to win - sounds intriguing.

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    1. Hi Sheila. Thanks for stopping by in the comments and good luck in the giveaway!

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  12. I enjoyed the excerpt. I really enjoy time travel stories and to have one mixed with Pride and Prejudice will be wonderful. This was had me chuckling. I loved riding and remember the soreness the beginning of each season. My remedy was a long walk and then a soak followed by more walking.

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    1. Hi Deborah Ann. It's good to see another time travel one, especially as the traveller has travelled as himself, as it adds a new character.

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  13. It's a fun and charming excerpt, Colin. I love the interaction between McDunn and his three new friends and that McDunn choose to involve them in his venture. But wouldn't his invention of the telegraph change the course of the future that he knows? Will events still remain the same when he mess up the timeline?

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If you're not logged in to Google please leave your name in your comment or it will post as anonymous. Thanks! - Ceri