Blog Tour ~ The Brittle Sea (The Brittle Saga Trilogy Book 1) by Tom Kane

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

The Titanic disaster is the catalyst that sparks a bloody feud between two families in early 20th century America.

Magda Asparov is travelling from her home in the Ukraine to be the chosen bride of American businessman Matthew Turner III. But the ill-fated voyage of the unsinkable ship has far reaching consequences for her and her savior.

Magda has lost her memory and a new personality, Maggie, has taken hold. The Captain of her rescue ship, Richard Blackmore, has fallen for Maggie.

A mental illness, betrayal, murder, and corruption destroy Blackmore's life until all that remains is for him to seek revenge.

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About the Author

As a child, Tom Kane's family always insisted he was born in the corner of the living room, behind the TV. That strange assertion, true or false, seems to have set the tone for the rest of his life. Kane's mother inspired him to write. Doctor Who and Isaac Asimov inspired his love of science fiction. Monty Python inspired him to be silly and he continues to blame Billy Connolly for his infrequent bursts of bad language In the corner or behind the TV, what is officially known about Tom Kane's birth is that it took place in England many moons ago. Find out more at Tom's website https://www.tom-kane-author.website/ and find him on Facebook and Twitter @TigerBites

Special Guest Interview with D. K. Marley, author of The Fire of Winter

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

She is known as Lady Macbeth. What leads her down the path of murder? What secrets fire her destiny?Gruah, the granddaughter of King Cìnéad III of the Royal Clan Alpin, marries two men in less than six months, one she loves and one she hates; one in secret, the other arranged by the High King of Scotland.

I'm pleased to welcome author D. K. Marley to The Writing Desk:

Please tell us about your latest book

My latest book, "The Fire of Winter" is a historical adaptation of Shakespeare's play "Macbeth", told from the point-of-view of Lady Macbeth. As part of my set of books known as the Fractured Shakespeare books, I weave his plays with actual historical events. "The Fire of Winter" was a challenge since Shakespeare's play was not based on actual history but on his desire to appease King James' by showing a connection to Banquo's lines of Kings descending into the future as prophesied by the three witches. 

However, the real history of Macbeth is quite different. He, in truth, had a long successful and somewhat peaceful reign of nearly 17 years in Scotland. So, my challenge was to incorporate known history while staying true to the integrity of the play. I felt the key was with Lady Macbeth. She is a well-known character in the play but she actually has a very small part; however, her lines speak powerfully to her influence over her husband. My question to begin this novel was 'what was her deep motivation to kill and what was her story before meeting Macbeth'? 

What is your preferred writing routine? 

I spend most of the first part of a week, Monday through Wednesday, writing without restraint. Getting the words on the page first and letting my mind flow without any editing along the way. Later on, I will re-read what I wrote out loud to myself and do initial slashing to tighten the story; then, I set a goal of how many words to accomplish for the week to achieve a first draft with the ultimate goal of finishing a book within six months. I have learned this method for myself and the keeping to a time-line really pushes me to finish. My first novel "Blood and Ink" was not that way at all. I spent fifteen years of studying and researching and writing for that book until publication, but there was a lot I have learned through the years.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Go to a writer's retreat, a reputable one, such as The Break-out Novel with Donald Maass or the Writer's Retreat Workshop founded by Gary Provost. I went to WRW early on when I was writing my first novel and the experience has stayed with me for the past fourteen years. I learned more in those 10 days than I ever have in reading a single book about the process of writing. Even now, I still sign up occasionally for online courses with Free Expressions Seminars (Lorin Oberweger is a good friend and one of the instructors with the Donald Maass workshops). Never stop learning and pushing yourself to hone your craft!!

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books? 

Definitely, do a blog tour; several, in fact!! If you are passionate about your books, others will be, as well. Marketing is difficult and something I do not enjoy, but I have learned that you have to look at writing as a business, especially if you want this as a career. Whether you are traditionally published or self-published, you need to dedicate yourself to the long-haul. I've done several blog tours with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and reached a vast number of new readers that way.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research.

With "The Fire of Winter" I was shocked to discover how much of Shakespeare's play was not based on historical facts and events of Macbeth's life. Also, I was amazed at the links of the family lines between Scotland and England during the 11th-century; such as, the possibility that William the Conqueror's mother might have been the half-sister of Macbeth macFindlaech.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing? 

The hardest scene was what happens to Gruah (Lady Macbeth) as a child of eight. This terrible scene that occurs on the day that Macbeth's father is killed by MailBrigte and Gille Comgain in their desperate attempt to seize the place as Mormaer of Moray. They partner with Donnchad (Duncan) to terrorize young Gruah, knowing she was the only female connection to a claim to the throne of Scotland. What they do to her fuel's a young girl's revenge and sparks the retribution coming to all of them in the later chapters.

What are you planning to write next? 

I am already working on book one in the "Kingfisher" historical time-travel series, my first attempt at this sub-genre, as well as the next book in the Fractured Shakespeare set based on the play, Romeo and Juliet.

D. K. Marley

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About the Author

DK Marley is a historical fiction writer specializing in historical Shakespeare adaptations, historical time-travel, and alternate historicals. Her grandmother, an English professor, gave her a volume of Shakespeare's plays when she was eleven, inspiring DK to delve further into the rich Elizabethan language. Eleven years ago she began the research leading to the publication of her first novel "Blood and Ink," an epic tale of lost dreams, spurned love, jealousy and deception in Tudor England as the two men, William Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe, fight for one name and the famous works now known as the Shakespeare Folio. Find out more at her website https://www.histficchic.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @histficchickie

Special Guest Post by R. N. Morris, Author of Fortune's Hand: The Triumph and Tragedy of Walter Raleigh

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Drawn by ambition to Elizabeth’s court, Walter Raleigh soon becomes the queen’s favourite. But his meteoric rise 

attracts the enmity of powerful rivals.

Imagining the past, conjuring the future

Fortune’s Hand is a historical novel narrated by Walter Raleigh. It imagines him at the moment of his execution, lying with his head on the chopping block. The whole of his life flashes before him, just as the executioner’s axe comes down. 

The narrative follows the chronological timeline, sticking broadly to the historical record, although there are one or two incidents in there – such as Raleigh being transformed into Halley’s Comet and flying towards the sun – for which there is, to my knowledge, no documentary evidence. 

One of the biggest challenges I faced was deciding what to put in and what to leave out. Raleigh lived a full and fascinating life. Obviously, I couldn’t include it all, though that didn’t stop me trying. The first draft of the novel came out at over 200,000 words. In the final edit, I got it down to pretty much half that. 

He was involved in complicated court politics, convoluted plots and confusing intrigues, any one episode of which might have made a novel in its own right. He married, fathered children, including an illegitimate daughter in Ireland. Very little is known about her apart from the fact that he remembered her in his will. A whole relationship can be imagined from that detail. 

He was a courtier, a soldier, a shipowner, a founder of colonies, an occasional and indifferent sailor (he suffered badly from seasickness), an unapologetic plunderer of Spanish treasure, a ruthless suppressor of rebellion, and, oh yes, a poet. All that from relatively modest beginnings: Raleigh came from gentry stock, unlike his noble rivals. So he was something of an outsider too. 

Perhaps the most dominating, and tumultuous, relationship of his life was with Elizabeth I.  But his life was populated by a host of supporting characters too. Some were relatively minor. Others, more significant. People who were important at one period of his life, dropped out of it altogether later. Or they appeared on the scene relatively late in his life, to play an unexpectedly significant role. 

In other words, Raleigh’s life, like all lives, was messy and chaotic.  

By the twin arts of emphasis and editing, historians and biographers succeed in creating an impression of coherence. I’m not a historian or a biographer. I’m a novelist. My job is to tell a story. The best stories tend to have a defined narrative arc, a beginning, middle and end, a limited number of characters and no extraneous detail. Stories also have meaning, something that the author wanted to say. It’s not enough, in my view, to simply write a fictionalised biography, fleshing out the known facts with evocative descriptions and imaginary dialogue. 

For me to write a novel about him, Walter Raleigh had to cease to be a historical personage and become a fictional character. I had to somehow break free of the straitjacket of history, but at the same time I couldn’t play fast and loose with the known facts. I was not writing Walter Raleigh: Vampire Hunter. 

I had to sort through the mass of detail and incident to find the story that I wanted to tell.  

So what is that story and why did I want to tell it? 

To answer those questions, I have to go back to the moment when I first decided to write this novel. I was visiting an exhibition at the British Museum about the mythical city El Dorado and the quest for gold. What struck me was the way that human beings can be taken over by an idea and driven to do extraordinary things under its influence. They can put themselves at great risk, for instance crossing an ocean in a flimsy wooden boat, or gambling fortunes on a far from certain outcome. 

What’s more, the idea that drives them can have no basis in reality. It can be a myth fuelled by rumour.  

The world today is in many ways very different to Elizabethan England. But we still see this same willingness to be seduced by a compelling idea, the same tendency to believe what we want to believe.  

Raleigh’s relationship to the myth of El Dorado is interesting because he seems to have been both in its thrall and a cynical exploiter of its power in his own self-interest. (Perhaps he has more in common with some modern politicians than we might at first suspect.) He used the myth to entice backers for his highly speculative ventures, including the final, ill-fated expedition he undertook during James I reign.  

He promised to find El Dorado and bring back its riches. But there is some evidence that he didn’t literally have in mind an actual city. He seems to have been happy to interpret El Dorado rather more loosely. If it turned out that he got his gold from raiding a Spanish fort or capturing a galleon, then that would serve just as well, even if James had expressly forbidden him from attacking Spanish interests. El Dorado was a flexible as well as a powerful idea. 

Raleigh was at one point in his life accused of atheism, which was a far more serious matter then than it is now. His intellect, as well as his imagination, roamed fearlessly. And so I have no doubt he was capable of contemplating the possibility of a godless universe, and of discussing the matter with the philosophers and freethinkers of his School of the Night. Perhaps he looked upon the myth of El Dorado in a similar light. 

It is often said that the Elizabethan age was a time of contradictions: of brutality and poetry, bear pits and theatres. Raleigh embodied those contradictions like no one else. It would not have seemed strange to him to hold two seemingly contradictory positions on El Dorado, to believe in it as a literal reality, but also to exploit it as a persuasive myth, wanting it to be true, but making other plans in case it wasn’t. 

Raleigh was a visionary, a dreamer with the charisma to make other men act on his dreams. His dreams were not necessarily ones we would approve of today: a manifesto of aggressive colonial conquest would garner few likes on twitter.  

What I saw in the myth of El Dorado - and its hold over Raleigh, and the subsequent hold it gave him over others - was the power of the imagination. One of Raleigh’s associates was Dr John Dee, mathematician, alchemist and astrologer. It can be argued that Dee was instrumental in creating the foundation myth of the British Empire, giving Raleigh legitimacy for his colonial ventures. Dee was also a conjuror of angels and demons. 

For men like Dee, imagination and magic were interlinked. In his ability to envisage the future, and then will it into being, I think the same was true for Raleigh.  

R.N. Morris

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About the Author

Roger (R. N.) Morris is the author of thirteen novels. The latest is Fortune’s Hand, a historical novel about Walter Raleigh.  He is also the author of the Silas Quinn series of historical crime novels and the St Petersburg Mysteries, featuring Porfiry Petrovich, the investigating magistrate from Crime and Punishment. Find out more at Roger's website rogernmorris.co.uk and find him on Facebook and Twitter at @rnmorris

(Photo credit Calum Furminger.)

Special Guest Post by Alison Morton - Serious About Writing a Series

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

From Book 1: "It’s about blood, survival and money. Mostly yours."

New Yorker Karen Brown is running for her life. She makes a snap decision to flee to Roma Nova – her dead mother’s homeland, and last remnant of the Roman Empire in the 21st century. But can Karen tough it out in such an alien culture? And with a crazy killer determined to terminate her for a very personal reason?

When I started my first novel, INCEPTIO, I had no idea what I was doing. Writing was an impulse, an outpouring, a reaction to a dire film and thinking I could produce something better. But not even halfway through the first draft, I realised I had a far bigger story than I’d anticipated. So I did the classic thing – I decided to make it a trilogy then add a novella. But it has now grown into a series of nine books; six full length novels, two novellas and a collection of short stories.

My adventure thrillers with a historical framework and a dash of romance are set in an imaginary country, Roma Nova. The first four¬ books – the Carina strand – follow the adventures of Carina Mitela from when she first arrives in Roma Nova as a 24-year-old to sixteen years later when as she puts it, she’s ‘knocking on the door of forty’. She pursues her quests and saves the world as well as herself. The second four – the Aurelia strand – go back to the late 1960s to early 1980s and feature Aurelia Mitela, Carina’s grandmother, as a young woman. The short stories dip into events between AD370 and a few years into the future.

What did I learn from writing these?

1. Work out the overarching plot in advance

Each book should contribute to the overall plot arc of the series. In my own series, Book 1 of each strand sets the scene, introduces the world, the ‘rules’ of that world, the main characters and the initial obstacles the heroine must overcome. Book 2 (novella) establishes the heroine in her own adventure. Book 3 throws a major challenge at her, consolidates the story arc and sets the ground for the final reckoning in Book 4. 

That’s how the four Carina books emerged, almost spontaneously and more by good luck than judgement. Almost by accident, I learned a great deal from writing that first group and applied the lessons I’d learned more scientifically to the second strand, the Aurelia books.

If you go back to write a prequel or in my case a prequel four books, you have the benefit of knowing what is to come, but you also need to fit early events carefully.

2. Do not write instalments

I admit this is a pet peeve of mine. Each book must stand on its own as a complete story with a definite resolution. A reader may pick up Book 2 or 7 first and while they may be eager to find out what went before and what happened afterwards, they must have a satisfying read from the book they bought. Writers need to drip in enough backstory to bring the new reader up to speed without boring the established fan. 

3. Use and recycle your characters 

Adding a raft of new characters in each book is tempting. However, bringing back characters from another book not only helps eliminate ‘character creep’ but is a pleasure for both writer and reader as we see each individual develop his or her own story.  Of course, you do need new people now and again and, however reluctantly, you should kill off one or two or you risk making your world too much like Shangri-La or Pleasantville.

4. Work out big secrets in advance and scatter little ones throughout all the books

As a reader, I like a ‘twist in the tale’ and hints about this should pop up subtly throughout the book. As a writer, I love laying ‘Easter eggs’ in one book that hatch in another one in the series. I was lucky that I was able to do this with the original three books as I had written all the first drafts before Book 1 finally went to print. The later Carina novella which slotted in as the second in that strand picked up other points and expanded incidents that had only been referred to in the original three.

5. Intrigue by revelation over a longer stretch

With a series you have the advantage of being able to reveal backstory and other facets of your characters over a longer span. This needs to be done carefully and not become an excuse for padding. In an epic, saga or high concept story, we all love ‘deep lore from the past’, hidden family secrets or a forbidden passion. Timely revelations also strengthen the interconnectedness of the books.

6. Practicalities

Consistent information on values and culture, government, society and economic structures, geography, history, sources of income, education, food, religion language are essential as is knowing where the power lies. Oh, and keep a track of eye and hair colour across a series. Yes, I fell into that one. Spreadsheets are your friend!

Maps help you anchor the settings for the whole series. I only use a sketch map of Roma Nova, but I know that Castra Lucilla lies to the south and Aquae Caesaris and Brancadorum are to the west and east respectively.

Another crucial technique is to maintain a list of characters for each book, remembering to update it in the next one as characters change job, get promoted, marry, or move on. A spreadsheet of ages will track who is what age when something happens and prevent character X being older that his mother.

7. The very worst thing to avoid?

As a reader, I dislike it when something or somebody pops up like a deus ex machina in a sequel to solve the mystery or make the quest come to a good end and there has not been the least hint about it or them in an earlier book. One step further down the path to Tartarus is when the intruder directly contradicts something in a previous book in the series. Even if you, as a writer, think up the cleverest idea in the world later and are tempted to parachute in, please don’t do it! 

Writing a series can be fun as well as hard work, but very rewarding when you find you have created an interwoven world with layers of personality and history that will entrance readers as much as it does you as a writer. 

Alison Morton 

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About the Author

Alison Morton writes the award-winning Roma Nova thriller series featuring modern Praetorian heroines. She blends her deep love of history with six years’ military service in a special communications regiment and a life of reading historical, adventure and thriller fiction. A ‘Roman nut’ since age 11, Alison has misspent decades clambering over Roman sites throughout Europe. She holds an MA History and blogs about Romans and writing. Now she continues to write thrillers with tough heroines, cultivates a Roman herb garden and drinks wine in France with her husband. Connect with Alison on her Roma Nova site: http://alison-morton.com and find her on Facebook and  Twitter  @alison_morton

Special Guest Interview with Jacqui Hodder, Author of The Sentinel

Available on Amazon UK, Amazon US

and Amazon AU

Escaping from a disastrous relationship, Kathleen Devine flees to an isolated lighthouse off the Victorian coastline. Taking up the position of Head Teacher to the lighthouse keepers' children, she is ensnared in the lives of those marooned on the lonely outpost and soon realises no-one can escape their past. When the fearsome Head Lightkeeper, Mr Johannsson forms an unlikely friendship with the daughter of one of the keepers, it threatens to destroy their fragile peace. Can Kathleen find the strength to survive and answer the question that haunts them all: what happened to Isabella and why?

I'm pleased to welcome author Jacqui Hodder to The Writing Desk to talk about writing her debut novel

Tell us about your latest book 

I've just written an historical fiction novel set in 1880, in a lighthouse off the coast of Victoria, Australia. The story follows Kathleen Devine who is writing a letter home to her father detailing the events which have led to a terrible tragedy. Here's the blurb from the book:

Escaping from a failed relationship, Kathleen Devine flees to an isolated lighthouse off the Victorian coastline. Taking up the position of Head Teacher to the lighthouse keepers' children, she is ensnared in the lives of those marooned on the lonely outpost and soon realises no-one can escape their past. When the fearsome Head Lightkeeper, Mr Johannsson forms an unlikely friendship with the daughter of one of the keepers, it threatens to destroy their fragile peace. Can Kathleen find the strength to survive?

What is your preferred writing routine? 

It's really about snatching moments of time when I can.  When I researched and wrote The Sentinel (it took almost 4 years), I spent every Saturday visiting the State Library of Victoria as well as my local library - both contained a wealth of information. For instance, the State Library had the original journals of Henry Bayles Ford who was lighthouse keeper for nearly 30 years at Cape Otway in South West Victoria. I wrote about my experience of opening the journals for the first time in a blog I did but it was so special - the closest thing to a time machine! When at my peak of writing I aim for 1000 words per day (they may not be the best but at least they're down 'on paper' - ie. written).

What advice do you have for new writers? 

Writing is such a personal thing and you really have to do it for the love - not for the money or success. My advice is to always come back to the initial spark that led you to write - and always remember the joy to be had by creating.

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books? 

For my debut novel, I've done lots of research but I think the best thing I did was to hire a friend who is a marketing guru. She did a social media audit and gave me strong recommendations and advice on how best to raise awareness of my book. I also did the Amazon Kindle deals and signed up to be a Goodreads author.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research 

The best piece of research I uncovered was when I read Henry Bayles Ford's journal and discovered a whole section detailing the conflicts that occurred between the three keepers. It was hard to decipher some of Ford's writing as it was written in very flowery lettering but what I could decipher gave me so much information about how easily relationships between the keepers could break down, about their daily chores and the conflict that occurs when some keepers did not pull their weight. This was exactly what I was looking for in thinking through my antagonist's character development.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing? 

Without giving away spoilers, I think the ending. I organised a manuscript assessment for 'The Sentinel' through Writer's Victoria and one piece of advice I received was to try to shorten the ending as it had taken up almost a third of the book. I think the revisions I made helped make the novel tighter but it was hard to do that and try to maintain the climatic events.

What are you planning to write next? 

I'm publishing a middle-grade novel next. My next historical fiction novel is a futuristic memoir set in Australia and the UK - working title is: My Australian Conceit - we'll see how we go :-)

Jacqui Hodder

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About the Author

Jacqueline Hodder is a writer, blogger, teacher and reader based in Melbourne, Australia. She's happily married to an incredibly supportive man, proud mother to a daughter and a son and co-caretaker to a gaggle of pets including three ducks, a dog and a cat. She has been writing since she was a child. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing (University of Canberra) after winning the Mary Grant Bruce Short Story Award for Children's Literature. She has worked in many different industries but writing has always been her first love. Jacqueline loves transporting her readers into the past and showing them the intricacies of life in bygone times. Find out more at Jacqui's website https://jacquelinehodder.com/ and find her on Facebook and Twitter @HodderJacqui

Special Guest Interview with Pamela Stephen, Author of Artists and Spies

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

In 18th century France, artist and nun Charlotte Le Juge needs to change her life in a radical way. Her pioneering decision takes her on a journey which will bring danger and romance in equal parts.

I'm pleased to welcome author Pamela Stephen to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book

This was the year I published my first novel, Artists and Spies. It tells the story of Charlotte Le Juge, who discovers that she is the daughter of a famous painter and realises that the talent that she has used to paint convent altarpieces is a passport to life in the outside world. She leaves the convent after the death of her father, to pursue her new career. She is accompanied by Antoine, the son of her father’s butler, a resourceful man who has lived in England before, and harbours a secret past. They are in the company of a novice nun who also dreams of a life outside the convent walls, and has Charlotte’s help to get free.

The novel is set in Paris and Chiswick in the middle years of the 18th century. It is published by Amazon, and available as a paperback and ebook. It is also available through Kindle Unlimited.

What is your preferred writing routine?

During the early part of this year, I got into the habit of writing for about two hours at a time. When I look back on the writing of that novel, I can’t believe that I wrote it on a tablet, using a free notes app! It meant that I could only create six hundred odd words at a time in a section, before the app stopped recording the words. I think that might be why the two hour stretch has become a habit. Write for an hour, check it through, make sure it’s saved. Check that the research still holds good. I learnt to keep a separate record of chapter titles and opening quotes, just so that I had plenty of scope for the text in the chapter.

Now I have a laptop, and a proper writing package. What a relief! It doesn’t object after the first hour of writing, and my fingers are hitting real keys instead of the virtual keyboard that would randomly disappear for reasons which I didn’t understand.

So I set up my laptop, get in the zone by wasting time on Google - online shopping, checking book sales stats, fiddling about, then start. And just in case, once I finish, I print out finished chapters, or complete short stories in first draft. I know, I know, it’s a waste of paper, but leaving it only on the computer seems risky and makes me anxious. That might be something to do with the four tablets I’ve managed to work my way through, each one doing peculiar and unaccountable things before I had to either 1. take them back to the shop, or 2, throw them out. I notice from looking online that writers fall into two camps - the pantsters ( seat of the pants, I presume) and planners. Just to be clear, I’m a bit of both!

What advice do you have for new writers?

I’m not sure I feel qualified to give any advice to anyone about writing. I was an English teacher though for many years, and one thing that really gets in the way for a reader is the kind of technical mistakes that prevent you from enjoying the flow. Spelling is right up there. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that it needs to be addressed in the second draft at the latest. Get someone else to read it for you, especially if you’re not confident that you can spot the errors. Join a critique website (and get a thick skin) There are some good ones out there. But if you think you’re going to submit your work to a publisher, check that it isn’t an access to all site.

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?

I’ve had good reaction to my efforts, but I suppose that getting into real bookshops rather than only being in the ether would be a good goal. There are so many books on Amazon, for example, that it’s easy to sink without trace. Giveaways certainly seem to have helped me, as well as Kindle Unlimited.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research

I was researching the world of a real life painter after a visit to the museum in Perpignan, France. Hyacinthe Rigaud, a Catalan artist, was born just as as his home town came under French rule. In middle age, he married the widow of a government official, and she had a young daughter who was educated at a distant nunnery. The idea that the girl was his daughter came from a piece of research I read by an academic George Gallenkamp who speculated in the 1960s that well before the couple married, they had a child. It occurred to me that if she were the daughter of a renowned artist, she might well have inherited the kind of talent that would give her a career, at a time when most painters were men.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing?

I wrote a murder scene in my first novel. I remember doing lots of research for it about suitable weapons and various other important details. I also remember being very pleased with it. Then I passed the chapter to my husband who asked me about four questions connected to the murder and its aftermath. I realised that the whole thing didn’t work. In the end it took about four rewrites more than anything else in the novel before I thought the plot was right.

What are you planning to write next?

An easy one. I’ve started a new historical novel, set in the early Georgian period. I wanted to be able to write about Venice, so my story begins there. Fittingly it is a historical romance. The story then shifts to England, where the lovers meet again. I’m also three quarters of the way through a collection of contemporary short stories.

Pamela Stephen 

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About the Author

Pamela Stephen is the author of ‘Artists and Spies’, a novel about Charlotte Le Juge, stepdaughter of the celebrated 18th century artist Hyacinthe Rigaud. She was born in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom, but has spent most of her life in the East of England. She now lives in Lincolnshire with her husband, and is currently working on a new historical novel, and a collection of short stories. You can find out more at Pamela's blog and follow her on Twitter @PamStephen13

Special Guest Post by Helen Hollick ~ Undoing The Facts For The Benefit Of Fiction?

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The story of the Battle of Hastings, by the acclaimed author of 'A Hollow Crown' (Arrow/Random House). Two men. One Kingdom. One Crown. This is the story of the men and women involved in the tide of events that led to a battlefield near Hastings in 1066

1066, the Battle of Hastings. The event that most of us know a little about, although quite often that ‘little’ is what we were taught at school, and was not always correct. History was usually recorded by the victors – especially when such recording was limited to being written by a few, often biased, monks or the victors themselves who had a huge propaganda issue to maintain.

So, the common ‘facts’ for 1066 are that Harold II, King of England had no right to the English throne because he swore an oath to William of Normandy to support his claim. That Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye, and that Duke William introduced the wonderful new system of government called feudalism – oh, and he had the brilliant idea of compiling the Domesday Book so everyone knew who owned what.

I think the modern term to express contempt for these sort of ‘facts’ is, ‘Yeah, right...’

Historical fiction writers have an obligation to their readers to try their best to research the facts and to get these facts right in our novels. Years ago, I stopped reading a novel because Romans were sitting with their backs propped against a wall they were building, eating their well-deserved dinner. Nothing wrong with that, a nice human scene. 

What spoilt it was that they were enjoying rabbit and potato stew. I could forgive the rabbit bit, (although it is generally accepted that the Normans introduced rabbits into England as a food source after 1066,) but potatoes? Umm ... Wasn’t that Sir Walter Raleigh who brought the humble spud to England from the New World in the 1500s? That’s quite a long while after those Roman chaps would have been toiling over building Hadrian’s Wall! 

Mistakes over little, obscure facts, I think, can be forgiven, especially in novels that were published pre-World Wide Web and Internet days. (Who remembers having to traipse to the local library on a regular basis to look up facts?) But these big things that everyone who has even the slightest interest in history should know about...? A novel can be ruined by one small un-fact.

There again, there is an argument that historical fiction is just that, fiction. We, as historical fiction writers make most of it up, especially where these ‘facts’ are few and far between or disputed. Richard III is a classic example. One writer will pen a novel where he did not murder those princes in the Tower of London. Another writer will produce a novel firmly stating that he did. Where there is no evidence, we invent. For the sake of an entertaining darn good read, that is.

The difficulty comes when history itself is questionable. 

Take 1066 and the matter of Duke William of Normandy v Earl Harold of Wessex, as he was known before he was crowned as king on 6th January 1066. Yes, Harold did swear an oath of allegiance to William. That is as near fact as we can be certain because it is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry (which is, actually, an embroidery, not a tapestry). 

What isn’t mentioned is that Harold had no choice. He was William’s ‘guest’ in Normandy. If he had not sworn that oath then he would very probably have been imprisoned for the rest of his life and his men killed. An oath made under duress, even a holy oath, is not binding.

Then there’s the matter of Duke William claiming that Edward the Confessor, who had no heir, had promised him the throne. Er, no, Billy Boy, English custom didn’t work like that. Our kings were chosen and/or elected by the Witan, the Council. Yes, usually the eldest son, the æthling, was selected because he was the one who had been trained for the job... But it didn’t always work out like that. Earl Harold was chosen because he was the best man at the time.

What about that arrow in the eye? That is also a scene in the Bayeux Tapestry, isn’t it? Sorry, no. Well, yes, it is there, but it has been misinterpreted. The image shows a man apparently pulling an arrow out of his eye. In fact he is throwing a spear, except the thread has disappeared – the stitch marks are there, though. Harold is the next man along. The one who is being hacked to pieces by Bill’s cronies. 

As for feudalism – don’t get me started! Enforced slavery, keep the poor where they belong, wealth for the rich Normans, poverty for the English...

Oh, and Domesday Book? Nope, that wasn’t William’s idea either. He wanted to know what he now owned (through murder, tyranny, invasion, stealing...) so he ordered all the tax records of every town and village in England to be put together into one big book.

Every detail from mansion to the lowliest pigsty. But those tax records were already available. Since the days of the early eleventh century when Æthelred the Unready had to gather the information together in order to raise money, via taxation, in order to pay those pesky Vikings to go away. 

And there’s one more fact, which you might have worked out for yourself by now. I don’t like Duke William very much! 

In my novel of the events that led to the Battle of Hastings, I unravelled the un-facts, the Norman propaganda, the incorrect history as we are taught in school (and in too many history books) and wrote a story from the English point of view.

And I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. (Fact!)

Helen Hollick

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About the Author

Helen moved from London in 2013 and now lives with her family in North Devon, in an eighteenth century farmhouse. First published in 1994, her passion now is her pirate character, Captain Jesamiah Acorne of the nautical adventure series, The Sea Witch Voyages. Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (UK title A Hollow Crown) the story of Saxon Queen, Emma of Normandy. Her novel Harold the King (US title I Am The Chosen King) explores the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy, set in the fifth century, is widely praised as a more down-to-earth historical version of the Arthurian legend. She has written three non-fiction books, Pirates: Truth and Tales, Smugglers in Fact and Fiction (to be published 2019) and as a supporter of indie writers, co-wrote Discovering the Diamond with her editor, Jo Field, a short advice guide for new writers. She runs the Discovering Diamonds review blog for historical fiction assisted by a team of enthusiastic reviewers.  Helen is published in various languages. For more information visit Helen's website www.helenhollick.net and blog www.ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @HelenHollick.