Susan Appleyard

Biography

Some of Susan Appleyard’s books have won Brag Medallions, been finalists in the MM Bennetts Award and the Wishing Shelf Award, and The Coffee Pot Book Club’s Gold Medal for Historical Fiction.
Mother of three and grandmother of six, Susan lives in a snowy part of Canada but is fortunate to be able to spend part of each year in Mexico. No prizes for guessing which part.
Before learning how to self-publish, Susan signed a three-book contract with a traditional publishing house in Toronto, which sold out to another company after publishing two of her books. Now, thanks to Amazon and others, she has published ten Ebooks and is working on a story set before, during and after the Russian Revolution.

Smashwords Interview

What are you working on next?
My next book will be a sort of 'prequel' to Queen of Trial and Sorrow. It will tell of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses and how Edward IV won his crown.
Who are your favorite authors?
Sharon Kay Penman, Morgan Brittany and Pauline Gedge. Note all are writers of historical novels.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Susan Appleyard online

Books

The Disappearance of Michael Romanov
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 90,370. Language: Canadian English. Published: April 30, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » General, Fiction » Romance » Historical » 20th Century
Against his wishes, Grand Duke Michael Romanov was tsar for one day when his brother, Tsar Nicholas II, abdicated. It was an act of cowardice and betrayal by the tsar which put Michael in the sights of the Bolsheviks and in grave danger. When he disappeared, his wife Natasha fled to England with her teenage daughter, but never stopped looking and praying for him until she learned the truth.
One Night in the Vienna Woods
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 84,790. Language: English. Published: May 21, 2022 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » General
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria was given an extensive, liberal education which he strove to use to bring the Habsburg Empire into the modern world. In his struggle, he was obstructed by his father, Emperor Franz Josef, the conservative court, and the reactionaries in the government. With his ideals shattered, Rudolf meets Mary Vetsera and begins an affair that ends with the tragedy at Mayerling.
Bonfire of the Perfect
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 100,260. Language: English. Published: April 1, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Medieval
Lovers Bräida and Jourdan are torn apart when war comes to Languedoc. Jourdan joins the resistance while Bräida flees with her family to the relative safety of the Pyrenees, neither knowing if they will see one another again. But no one is safe when the Church creates the Inquisition to root out heresy in the devastated land.
For the Crown
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 113,310. Language: English. Published: June 24, 2018 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Historical » General, Fiction » Historical » Medieval
Robbie, Bastard of Ovedale, is a warden of the East March of Scotland. Chasing Scottish raiders, he goes after a youth who has wounded his friend, only to discover the youth is a girl. To his mortification, her family refuse to ransom her. Other than tossing her in a rive, which he is advised to do, Robbie is unable to get rid of her. But it's already too late for that. Robbie is falling in love.
The Forsaken Queen
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 113,310. Language: English. Published: August 15, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Medieval, Fiction » Romance » Historical » General
Isabella Queen of England suffered persecution at the hands of her husband Edward II and the infamous Hugh Despenser. When she was sent on a mission to France, she refused to return unless Despenser was banished from her husband’s side. While in France she met the exiled Roger Mortimer. Together they invaded England to dispose of Despenser. But then the question arose: What to do about the king.
Dark Spirit - Ludwig II the 'Mad' King of Bavaria
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 36,030. Language: English. Published: April 3, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Victorian
Born into the royal Wittelsbach family of Bavaria, with its legacy of madness, depression and eccentricity, Ludwig II's extravagant and ruinously expensive building projects, coupled with increasingly aberrant behaviour caused the people of his day to wonder. Was Ludwig mad or a genius, or was he a victim of his own government's scheming?
In a Gilded Cage
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 118,030. Language: English. Published: June 9, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » General
As the 16 year-old bride of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, Sisi was taken from her carefree Bavarian home to the cruel court of Vienna, where strict protocol ruled her every act. Often ill and anorexic, she struggled to find a place for herself in this hostile and alien environment until she found a cause into which she could pour her heart and soul and a man she could love.
The Remorseless Queen
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 104,340. Language: English. Published: March 13, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Medieval, Fiction » Historical » United Kingdom
When she came to England as the fifteen year-old bride of King Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou had many difficulties to face. With a weak and ineffective king on the throne, rival parties tilted for power. When the struggle escalated into war Margaret realized she had no choice but to suppress the feminine side of her nature in order to protect her feeble-minded husband and infant son.
The First Plantagenet
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 148,370. Language: English. Published: January 21, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Medieval
A great deal has been written about Eleanor of Aquitaine, not so much about her husband. Ambitious, intelligent and energetic, Henry II was one of England’s most effective kings.But his inability to control his sons, added to their quarrelsome natures, resulted in their making war on him and on each other and the imprisonment of his queen.
This Sun of York
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 202,740. Language: English. Published: February 16, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Medieval
A weak and feckless king, a strong-willed and ruthless queen, and great lords fighting among themselves to become the 'power behind the throne', eventually leads to the struggle known as the Wars of the Roses. From the maelstrom of war Edward Earl of March, a charismatic and courageous eighteen year old, emerges to fight his way to a new dynasty.
Queen of Trial and Sorrow
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 131,210. Language: English. Published: January 4, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Medieval, Fiction » Biographical
A B.R.A.G, Medallion winner, this is the story of Queen Elizabeth Wydeville, mother of the princes who were murdered in the Tower of London. And here too are the York brothers: the charismatic King Edward IV, treacherous, unstable George of Clarence and the loyal brother who was to become Richard III.

Susan Appleyard's tag cloud

12th century    13th century    14th century    15 century    20th century russia    albigensian crusade    austria hungarian empire    battle    battles    bavaria    bavarian history    bolsheviks    carcassonne    cathars    catholics    causes of ww1    church abuse    crown prince rudolf    crusades    earl of warwick    edward ii    edward iv    eleanor of aquitaine    elisabeth of austria    empress elisabeth    empress elisabeth of austria    fifteenth century    franz josef    german history    germany    girl love    henry ii    henry vi    historical fiction    history 1800s    history europe    homosexual kings    hugh despenser    humorous adventure    inquisition    insanity    invasions    isabella of france    kaiser wilhelm    kings of england    languedoc    ludwig ii of bavaria    margaret of anjou    mary vetsera    maximilian of mexico    medieval    monarchy    murder    nicholas ii    nineteenth century    otto von bismarck    philip augustus    plantagenet    plantagenets    princes in the tower    queens of england    rebel queens    richard iii    richard the lionheart    roger mortimer    romanovs    russian books    russian emigres    russian novels    russian revolution    sisi    south of france    st petersburg    thomas becket    tower of london    true suicides    tsar    vienna    war    war of the roses    wars of the roses