The Cursed Baron

THE GLORIOUS VICTORIES OF ELEANOR MACLEOD is an art deco fantasy epic that explores feminine strength, the meaning of life and death, and the nature of good and evil. Arranged as five books, each with its own genre, the series follows the life of a vivacious, war-veteran nurse, Eleanor MacLeod, as she crosses paths with a crew of powerful beings and is brought into their fold with divine secrets she cannot reveal, especially to her new half-human husband. Set in the height of the hopeful, scarred, bacchanalian 1920s, Eleanor's story is a poignant yet lighthearted exploration of the ripples of impact created by an exceptionally powerful woman making her imperfect way in the world. The first book starts out as an Agatha Christie style murder mystery with an aristocratic weekend get-together in a derelict mansion plagued by dark secrets, familial lies, and homicidal intentions. When the best laid plans go horrifically awry, can a shell-shocked, half-human soldier and a clever Scottish nurse unwind the truth before a ruthless killer strikes again?THE CURSED BARON starts off the series with more questions than answers--answers that will unfold with more intrigue, romance, adventure, and danger in the subsequent four books of the series, all published together as one fully-integrated 2,800+ page epic. As much about the inevitable cycles of change and rebirth as they are about the cozy comfort of a life filled with unconditional love, all five books of the series were published at once in August 2019 for consideration in the KindleStorytellerUK contest. They are intended to be read in order as one continuous saga. This is Book One, the perfect place to start. When writing Eleanor's story, Ashley Mayers started at an unusual place. Eleanor, a minor character from her first modern fantasy epic, THE SITA CHRONICLES, only referenced in the context of her tragic martyrdom in childbirth in 1926, was a model of perfection that could only exist as a one-dimensional icon. Just like other dead mothers in fairy tales, like Cinderella's, Snow White's, and so many others, the only thing that mattered about Eleanor MacLeod in the first series was her womb that brought her daughter into the world. But, who really was she? What vibrancy and truth had been lost with her tragic death? What was her value beyond her ability to childbear? How much lost complexity could there be behind every other enshrined martyred mother - behind women whose deaths had turned their memories into an illusion of perfection, replacing their real voices and stories with the simplicity that so often comes from the surviving storytellers in their grief? Ashley set out to transform Eleanor's flat voice into a rich, real, wonderfully imperfect multi-dimensional one. She set out to give Eleanor life. What resulted surprised even Ashley, and as she wrote and edited the series over the course of 2017-2019, she learned as much about herself as she learned about Eleanor. It is Ashley's sincerest hope that readers will find as much inspiration and self-reflection in Eleanor's glorious victories as she did.