Author Guest Post with Beth M. Caruso

Welcome to one of the April 5th stops on the blog tour for The Salty Rose by Beth M. Caruso, organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for several other author guest posts and interviews and don’t forget to enter the giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Welcome back to the blog, Beth & The Salty Rose! Check out our previous spotlight for this title to read an alternate excerpt.

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Author Guest Post

Getting to know John Tinker, a protagonist in The Salty Rose: Alchemists, Witches & A Tapper In New Amsterdam by Beth Caruso. The year is 1662 in the colony of Connecticut.

Are you an only child? How many siblings do you have? Are you close or are you estranged?
I come from a large family originating in New Windsor, Berkshire, England. My two older brothers died before me. I have several sisters though and my mother who made me the center of attention. Father has long been dead. He was a wealthy and successful wool merchant. ‘Tis sad but our once close-knit family was severed in the events leading up to the death of our dear cousin Alice who was accused of witchcraft and hanged.

Do you have your own family or children? How many times have you been married?
I have a young wife and five small children. She is my second wife. The first died only two months after our marriage.

What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is that many more will die from the dark and sinister witchcraft accusations taking place now in Hartford. Those who were close to family members and friends indicted for that crime are often viewed with suspicion and may be accused themselves. Such tragedies!

How would you describe your personality?
I’m congenial, capable, and friendly. I laughed freely in my youth, but with age and heartbreak, joviality comes less easily. Those who know me well describe me as a two-sided coin. People may think they know me, but I have my secrets that I share with only a few others.

What is your occupation?
I am a trader and merchant. I’m also the right-hand man or assistant to the renowned Governor John Winthrop Jr. of Connecticut, the famous alchemist and physician. He admires my good nature, my intellect, and my loyal support.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I’d be stronger, not fearing anything or anyone!

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
In working together with Governor Winthrop, we’ve advanced several settlements. He is the dreamer and I am the practical realist who follows through on the details to solidify his dreams of settlement and promotion of alchemy in the colonies.

What is your greatest regret?
My greatest regret is that I could not save my cousin Alice from her witchcraft indictment and subsequent hanging.

What is it that you most dislike?
Nothing stirs the ire in my soul more than pompous men who play the pious when their true desires are less than noble.

How did you meet fellow protagonist, tapper Marie Du Trieux, in The Salty Rose? And what is a tapper anyway?
Ever since I moved to New London, I was granted sole rights to distill alcohol. I was looking for new markets for my newly distilled rum in New Amsterdam. A man named Jan Peek, the agent for all Englishmen who come to trade there, was recommended to me. I went to The Salty Rose tavern to seek him out. Much to my surprise, when I met owners Jan and his fiery wife Marie du Trieux, I was able to laugh comfortably in their presence and we became fast friends. A tapper is another name for tavern keeper because it’s necessary to tap the barrels to serve the wine, rum, or beer from them.

About the Book

The Salty Rose
Alchemists, Witches, & A Tapper In New Amsterdam
by Beth M. Caruso

Published 1 September 2019
by Lady Slipper Press

Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 308
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Marie du Trieux, a tavern keeper with a salty tongue and a heart of gold, struggles as she navigates love and loss, Native wars, and possible banishment by authorities in the unruly trading port of New Amsterdam, an outpost of the Dutch West India Company.

In New England, John Tinker, merchant and assistant to a renowned alchemist and eventual leader of Connecticut Colony, must come to terms with a family tragedy of dark proportions, all the while supporting his mentor’s secret quest to find the Northwest Passage, a desired trading route purported to mystically unite the East with the West.

As the lives of Marie and John become intertwined through friendship and trade, a search for justice of a Dutch woman accused of witchcraft in Hartford puts them on a collision course affecting not only their own destinies but also the fate of colonial America.

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Excerpt

“Marie. Enough of this! Go roll out another barrel to tap. We are already out. These ravenous sailors will drink us dry with their unending thirst. And, think about minding your manners with the wealthy man at the window table,” Mr. Couwenhoven scolded me as he glared in the man’s direction.

The tavern was humming with activity, encased in a cloud of smoke and overflowing with not only beer but also boisterous laughter that night.

I’d rebuffed a lecherous traveler again. My mistake was that he was a repeat customer and one who had a little wealth to spread around.

“What shall I do? Let the letch grab me? You ask too much of me,” I retorted. “Certainly, you understand I must protect myself against some of these animals,” I emphasized.

Mr. Van Couwenhoven was a hideous man, only thinking of his coin.

“Listen to me quite well, you little Walloon,” he retorted as his chubby face reddened with anger. “I’m giving you a chance to have a living, but you will end mine if you are not a little more lenient with my good customers! I don’t care if you unleash that sharp tongue of yours with the foolish rogue sailors who are too drunk to remember what you say, but you will not chase away my better clientele. You understand me? Be polite!” he yelled.

I looked at Van Couwenhoven’s son, Pieter, nodding as he raised his eyebrows at me, motioning to the back.

“Yes. For you, I can be ever so lenient,” I said under my breath, staring into Pieter’s bright blue eyes.

My heart raced a little at the chance to meet Pieter in the back. It was hard for me to take my eyes off his handsome cherub-like face, a face that hid the personality of a little rascal.

Mr. Van Couwenhoven ordered me to the storeroom one more time, not wanting to lose business.

“Marie, I said to go get another barrel of beer from the back. Do as I say!” Mr. Van Couwenhoven ordered me.

As mad as he was, he still liked me. It was worse when his wife was around too. The husband was greedy but only resented me if I got in the way of profits. His wife was another story. I knew she’d despise me once she got wind of my budding romance with her son.

About the Author

Award-winning author, Beth M. Caruso, is passionate to discover and convey important and interesting stories of women from earlier times. She recently won the literary prize in Genre Fiction (2020) from IPNE (Independent Publishers of New England) for her most recent novel The Salty Rose: Alchemists, Witches & A Tapper In New Amsterdam (2019). The Salty Rose is Beth’s second historical novel and explores alchemy in early colonial times, an insider’s view of the takeover of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, and the Hartford Witch Panic with information she gathered from previous and ongoing research. Beth’s first historical novel is One of Windsor: The Untold Story of America’s First Witch Hanging (2015), a novel that tells the tale of Alice ‘Alse’ Young and the beginnings of the colonial witch trials. She based the story on original research she did by exploring early primary sources such as early Windsor land records, vital statistics, and other documents. She lives in Connecticut with her family. Beth kayaks and gardens to unwind.

Email: oneofwindsor@yahoo.com

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Giveaway Alert!

Beth M. Caruso will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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