tjati – vizier; governor of a sepat or district
Waser – Osiris, god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead
Waset – Thebes
A Note to the Reader
Reader, if you have finished The Crook and Flail, then chances are good you've also read The Sekhmet Bed, and I must thank you doubly.
Two years after self-publishing The Sekhmet Bed, I am still somewhat surprised by its continued popularity and the enthusiastic feedback I regularly receive from readers. I never really intended to write the book you have just finished reading. I figured that The Sekhmet Bed would meet its rather inauspicious end as some forgotten mess of electrons, just another self-published book in a sea of them, and I would leave the Thutmosides behind and move on to bigger and better things. I never could have predicted that my Egyptian historical novels would become the biggest and the best thing about my writing, but I am grateful and humbled that it is so. Reader response has been so warm and welcoming of The Sekhmet Bed – of me as a writer – that I have gladly committed myself to continuing the story of the Thutmosides, and am planning other forays into Egyptian historical fiction, too.
Another wholly unexpected result of self-publishing is how much I have come to love it. Its most rewarding aspect for me is the close nature of my ties to my readers. I love that nothing stands between you and I – no agent to filter your letters, not even an editor to shape my style or my subjects. I take reader input into my work and my career very seriously; your opinion and your suggestions do matter to me. I read every review, though I respond to almost none.
But your honesty in your book reviews does not impact only me and help to shape the books I write for the better. Reviews matter to other readers, too – they help readers sort through a sea of books, not only indie, but traditionally published as well, to find the reads they will love.
For indie authors, it is still so difficult to be taken seriously, although some of us may be writing as well as any author you will read from New York. (I won't presume to say whether I am; that is up to you to decide.) Right now, a wealth of honest reviews is still the best – perhaps the only way for good indie authors to find the eager, supportive audiences they rely on. Here in the indie world, even more than anywhere else, readers are at the helm of every career: it is you, Reader, who decides the success of the indie authors whose works you enjoy. But I think that's the way it ought to be. I am sure you agree. It's about time the opinions of readers hold the weight they deserve; it's about time the lovers of books decide which books succeed, and not executives or publicists.
I encourage you to take a few moments to share your honest thoughts about The Crook and Flail on Amazon, on Goodreads, on your blog...wherever you typically review books. The time you put into a thoughtful review makes a very real difference in the way I write.
As always, thank you for supporting independent authors. You have made a difference in my life just by buying this book, and I am grateful to you.
Acknowledgments
My first, my biggest, my sincerest thanks are due to the readers who supported my first novel, The Sekhmet Bed. Support of that book, and the success of its sales, has frankly overwhelmed me, though in a good way – a very good way. I thank every reader who bought The Sekhmet Bed, for without their interest The Crook and Flail truly never would have come to be.
I owe my gratitude to my two beta readers, Rebecca Lochlann and Debra Giuffrida, who read the book in record time and gave me much-needed input on the plot and characters.
My thanks to the community at the Writers' Cafe on Kboards.com, which is, I am now convinced, the only sane and sensible community of writers on the internet. If you, reader, are looking for advice on writing or on publishing, learn from my mistakes and don't waste your time anywhere else.
Gratitudt ie to my two main sources for historical research, Joyce Tyldesley and Barbara Mertz, by far the best writers on the subject of Egyptology.
Thanks to Johnny B. Truant, Sean Platt, and David Wright of The Self-Publishing Podcast. Believe it or not, you guys are actually pretty useful.
Thanks as always to Paul Harnden, my wild goose and the brother of my heart. He is the breath of life to me.
- L. M. Ironside
Seattle, WA, 2013
About the Author
L. M. Ironside lives in Seattle. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping and backpacking, road tripping, rockhounding, and painting. She welcomes emails from readers; contact her via her web site, lmironside.com
The Crook and Flail
L. M. Ironside
First Ebook Edition
Copyright © 2013 – Libbie M. Grant
All rights reserved.
This book is available in print at most online retailers.
Cover design: Running Rabbit Press
Cover art: “Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Those Condemned to Death” Alexandre Cabanel, 1887
RUNNING RABBIT PRESS
Seattle, WA
Also by This Author:
The Sekhmet Bed – The She-King, Book One
Sovereign of Stars – The She-King, Book Three (summer, 2013)
Writing as Libbie Hawker:
Baptism for the Dead
Tin Moan (forthcoming, 2013)
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Historical Notes
Notes on the Language Used
Acknowledgments
About the Author
PART ONE:
The Crook and Flail Page 28
