Medieval Mistress

The newest member of our PODBRAM review team is Susan Higginbotham. Susan and her first book, The Traitor's Wife, hold a special place of honor here at PODBRAM. Way back in September 2006, The Traitor's Wife was only the second book selected for review on this site, and what a book it was! Susan had already garnered pounds of high praise for her historical fiction novel by the time it arrived in my mailbox. She built the storyline up from the viewpoint of some of the lesser known characters involved in King Edward II's scandalous affair with Piers Gaveston.

There have been three separate editions of The Traitor's Wife published with three very different covers. The one shown with the PODBRAM review is, of course, the first one. The book graduated the second tier of success offered at iUniverse, whereas an updated version was released. As far as I know at this time, both of these versions are totally unavailable because Sourcebooks Landmark has scheduled the release of the third edition for April 1st of 2009. Each of the three editions of the five-hundred-page book has been offered at a lower price than the previous one. The new edition has already reached a better sales ranking at Amazon than most POD books ever achieve in their long lifetimes, and this at more than two months prior to its release!

Susan Higginbotham has also released two shorter books entitled Hugh and Bess: A Love Story and Edward II: His Friends, His Enemies, and His Death. She has written many articles and short stories, all of subject matter within a similar genre, historical fiction from Merry Olde England. Susan's website is quite substantial, offering many avenues of research and historical significance. Her site states that Hugh and Bess will be re-released later this year. I published my in-depth interview at PODBRAM with Susan Higginbotham in December 2007. Surprisingly, Ms. Higginbotham practiced law after receiving her degree, and she has worked for a legal publisher for many years. You can visit the site of her new publisher at Sourcebook, Inc.