Sunday, December 29, 2013

Notes From Underground




Recently, I visited the oldest cemetery in Europe. Remarkably, it is right around the corner from my house in a natural gorge called Burrington Combe.









Burrington Combe is a natural geological formation in the Mendip Hills an area riddled with caves and underground caverns, the most famous being Cheddar Gorge. At the foot of Burrington Combe, just a few metres from the busy road, is a cave called Aveline's hole.





Aveline's Hole is credited as being "the oldest cemetery in Europe" as it was used by people back in the Mesolithic era (late ice age, just the climate was warming ) as a place to inter the bodies of their dead.

The cave was closed in antiquity by a landslide, but a hundred years ago two men and their dog pursued a rabbit that disappeared into a hole in the gorge wall.



When they dug in after the rabbit, they discovered a cave and the skeletal remains of 21 people, all preserved by calcium deposits. The bones were later carbon date to between 10,200 and 10,400 years old.

On my first visit to the cave I ran into John Cooper, an amateur cave historian (the gentleman in the photos). John showed me a human tooth and a hand axe embedded in the cave wall by mineral deposits. While we were talking, a small horseshoe bat flitted about our heads.

Remarkably the cave offers free access to the public, although there is now a gate preventing access to the back reaches of the cave where
cave art (rarely surviving in British caves) was recently discovered.


In many other caves in the area feature even older artefacts, such as the fossil remains of hyenas, bears, cave lions and other megafauna long extinct in the British Isles.





















Friday, December 27, 2013

Saturday, December 21, 2013

UK Cover from Titan Books!

Just received my first glimpse of the  cover for the Titan Books version of The Revenant of Thraxton Hall.

This trade paperback edition will be available in bookstores in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on March 28th, 2014.

Have to say I think my name looks very cool in the sexy-sexy font they chose.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Readers of the Lost ARCs

Ever wondered how the hot-off-the-press book you just snapped up at the bookstore already has reviews on the back cover or inside jacket from newspapers or library critics, not to mention those glowing quotes from other authors? Well, those are thanks to ARCs. The acronym stands for Advanced Reader Copy. These are typically sent out far in advance of the publication date. ARCS give book reviewers a sneak peek at forthcoming titles so that reviews can appear in newspapers and on web sites to coincide with the book’s official publication date. ARCs helps librarians and  buyers for the big book chains determine how many copies they will ordering. To the left is a photo of the ARC for my upcoming novel, The Revenant of Thraxton Hall. While St. Martin’s Press will be publishing The Revenant as a hardcover, but the ARCs are printed in trade paperback format. The price is missing and you can’t halp but  notice the big “Reader’s Copy” notice printed on the cover as well as a “not for resale” notice inside. Somewhat surprising to me is that the text is taken from a version of manuscript quite early on in the editing process. As such, it includes typos and other boo boos that have long since been cleaned up. The ARC is also devoid of artist’s sketches that will (hopefully) appear in the final book. Still, I’m excited that these ARCs of my novel are now circulating and have already elicited the follow blurbs from other famous writers:
"London's gaslights sputter and the game's afoot in The Revenant of Thraxton Hall, a witty atmospheric tale featuring the unique detecting duo of Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde." --Cara Black, "New York Times "bestselling author of Murder Below Montparnasse
 "Entwistle is a talented writer who has written an imaginative story with vivid period details and a compelling plot. I was hooked from the very first page and can't wait to read the next book." --Emily Brightwell, author of the Mrs. Jeffries Victorian mystery series
"The Revenant of Thraxton Hall" is a delight.  It's a treat to meet the Great Detective's creator (Arthur Conan Doyle) as a sleuth in his own right. And partnered with Oscar Wilde--what a bold and wonderful conceit!" --John Lescroart, "New York Times" bestselling author of The Ophelia Cut
"Entwistle gives the man who created Sherlock Holmes his own mystery to solve in this amazing novel. Arthur Conan Doyle proves himself worthy of Holmes's mantle as he and his clever friend Oscar Wilde untangle a decades-old mystery to save a beautiful young woman's life." --Victoria Thompson, author of "Murder in Chelsea"

 "Thrilling, suspenseful and utterly captivating, "The Revenant of Thraxton Hall" ingeniously combines historical fact with creative imagination. Conan Doyle and Wilde are a unique and lively recombination of Holmes and Watson, and once again, the game is most assuredly afoot. Don't miss it!" --Kelli Stanley, Macavity Award winning author of City of Dragons

Saturday, November 30, 2013

My life just hit a new milestone. Professor Elemental is now following me on Twitter! Watch the hilarious video from the foremost practitioner of "chap hop," a very British respond to hiphop
http://tinyurl.com/2u8gu7g

Sunday, November 17, 2013

http://titanbooks.com

British publishing house Titan Books has just signed with St. Martin's Press to publish The Revenant of Thraxton Hall in the UK and Commonwealth! My plans for global domination are proceeding apace. Soon my enemies shall kneel before me! MOHAHAHAHA!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Greetings from North Somerset

With all of Britain to choose from, where did I end up? Blagdon, "the middle of everywhere," as locals like to call it. Blagdon is a small village of around 1,600 souls in the Mendip hills of North Somerset. It has been a village for a very long time.

It was mentioned as Blachedon in the "Domesday Book" of 1086. The name comes from the Old English bloec and dun meaning the "black or bleak down."  The romans were there as early as 49 AD, but there are numerous archaeological sites in the nearby area that date back to the late Ice Age of the Mesolithic period.




A telephoto shot of our rental house (the middle of the three white houses a lower center) taken from the top of nearby Blackdown hill. 
The church of St. Andrew in the village.
Is this rustic enough for you?
Back in Blighty!

Back in Blighty at last! Me, the wife and our menagerie have returned to Britain. Here we are mugging for the camera outside our rental home. Somerset is gorgeous and a mind-boggling place for a history buff like myself to live. There is so much history almost literally on my doorstep, from the Mesolithic era to WW2. I'll be posting more as time allows

Friday, July 19, 2013

The Revenant of Thraxton Hall Now Has a Cover!

Wahoo! The next step in the process and unquestionably the sexiest so far, my book now has a cover.

And what a cover it is! I'm thrilled.


My editors at Minotaur wanted something that evoked the gothic/paranormal/mysterious aspects of the book without straying into horror novel territory.

I think this cover nails it. Dark and foreboding, with a hint of the whimsical.

What do you think about the cover? Would it make you buy the book?

Email me to tell me what you think of the cover at vaughnentwistle@gmail.com. Best response will win an autographed copy of The Revenant of Thraxton Hall when it comes out in March, 2014.

You can also click on the links to be taken to Amazon where you can preorder the book.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Moving Back to Blighty



Okay, it's official, the missus and me are moving back to England. We just returned from a three week research tour for my next two novels and decided it's the place for us. London was stupendous with its amazing museums and incredible architecture. Somerset was green and glorious. We visited the cathedral at Wells and decided that the this charming city (the smallest in England) would make a good place to live. We also visited Surrey and Sussex. Very lovely places, but I don't think we can afford a private farm with a built-in swimming pool, polo pitch and a string of polo ponies just yet. Still, all will provide future locations for my novels.

The main reason for the trip was research for the next two novels in the Paranormal Casebook Series. I spent time in The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Museum of London. the British Library, the National Gallery and many others. The fact that these world-class museums are absolutely free to the public (you are encouraged to make donations and we did), made me proud to be a Brit. Theses museums are filled with some of civilization's greatest treasures and ensuring access to all, regardless of financial means, is wonderfully egalitarian. 


As I mentioned, this was a working holiday for me, and I spent hours accumulating research that will be incorporated into my novels. Along this line we visited Lydford Gorge in Dartmoor, an amazing water carved gorge with waterfalls, pools, and boiling cauldrons that will feature as a location in my third novel, currently being outlined. 

As a huge fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I had to make a pilgrimage to Hindhead, Surrey to visit Undershaw, the home that Conan Doyle designed and had specially constructed for his family. The move to Surrey was to partake of the cleaner air, necessary to prolonging the life of his invalid wife, Louise, who lived many years with consumption (the dread disease of the Victorian age) but who survived, much longer than most victims, thanks, in large part, to Conan Doyle's diligent care. The house had a specially constructed shallow staircase to enable "Touie" as he lovingly called her, to climb the stairs with minimal effort. Sadly, these days Undershaw is in a sad state of dereliction  and is the center of a struggle between developers, who wish to split the property into luxury flats and build additional housing units on what are currently the gardens. To counter this, a society has been formed by the actor, novelist and producer Mark Gatiss (Mycroft Holmes in the current BBC Sherlock)  to  preserve Undershaw as an important cultural landmark: The Undershaw Preservation Trust: www.saveundershaw.com. 


Used briefly as a hotel, this lovely house with beautiful gardens, is but a ghost of its former self. 

The broken windows are boarded up tight. Vandals have stolen the lead from the roof. Many of the rooms are in ruins, but the building could and should be restored.

To lend your help, please join the Friends of Undershaw  by visiting their web site at www.saveundershaw.com and help preserve the home of one of history's most influential writers.


Tuesday, February 19, 2013


The Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


Okay, I’ve been remiss in updating my blog. The reason? I’ve been incredibly busy writing. In September, 2011, my wonderful agent, Kimberley Cameron landed me a two book deal with St. Martin’s Press for my historical mystery series, The Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The first book in the series is entitled, The Revenant of Thraxton Hall. Thankfully, my editors at Minotaur, (Keith Kahla, Executive Editor and Hannah Britten Editorial Assistant) required only relativley minor revisions to the book. The edits have now all been completed and I’m cranking away on the second novel in the series: Book 2: The Dead Assassin.

I should have galley proofs of The Revenant by July. The publishers are also working on the cover design, which I am really excited to see. I’m expecting to have that within the next six weeks. The book is finally going to seem real once I have cover art.

Most recently, my agent, Kimberley Cameron, gave me a wonderful plug while she was being interviewed by Writer’s Digest. You can read the full interview at: http://t.co/zEEOZ0at

The Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


Okay, I’ve been remiss in updating my blog. The reason? I’ve been incredibly busy writing. In September, 2011, my wonderful agent, Kimberley Cameron landed me a two book deal with St. Martin’s Press for my historical mystery series, The Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan 
Doyle.

The first book in the series is entitled, The Revenant of Thraxton Hall. Thankfully, my editors at Minotaur, (Keith Kahla, Executive Editor and Hannah Britten Editorial Assistant) required only relativley minor revisions to the book. The edits have now all been completed and I’m cranking away on the second novel in the series: Book 2: The Dead Assassin.
 
I should have galley proofs of The Revenant by July. The publishers are also working on the cover design, which I am really excited to see. I’m expecting to have that within the next six weeks. The book is finally going to seem real once I have cover art.

Most recently, my agent, Kimberley Cameron, gave me a wonderful plug while she was being interviewed by Writer’s Digest. You can read the full interview at: http://t.co/zEEOZ0at