Book Review ~ Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me, by Matthew Lewis

New on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Perhaps the greatest paradox about King Richard III is we think we know his story, yet how much of that knowledge is based on fact? The amazing discovery of Richard's grave in September 2012 triggered fresh interest in uncovering the truth, so before reading this book, try to set to one side everything you know about him. 

That means whatever you were taught at school, and of course Shakespeare's caricature, as well as all the films and documentaries you might have ever seen. You will then be able to approach this fascinating account of his short life as Matthew Lewis would wish.

With a forensic approach to uncovering the facts, Matthew Lewis brings his literary style to relating Richard's story. By following the detail of his troubled boyhood, we begin to understand how the man who emerges from his brother's shadow might feel he has something to prove. Pious and chivalric, Richard could have earned his living as a lawyer if circumstance had not made him a warrior king.

Richard might have ruled for little more than two years but until his dying breath he fought with great courage against prejudice and treachery.  Is this the definitive work on Richard III so far? I think it might be. Highly recommended.

Tony Riches

# # #

About the Author

Matthew Lewis was born and grew up in the West Midlands. Having obtained a law degree, he currently lives in the beautiful Shropshire countryside with his wife and children. History and writing have always been a passion of Matthew's, with particular interest in the Wars of the Roses period. His first novel, Loyalty, was born of the joining of those passions. Find out more at Matthew's website 

mattlewisauthor.com and find him on Twitter @MattLewisAuthor

Special Guest Post by Kate Innes, Author of All the Winding World (Arrowsmith Book 2)

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

England 1294 - The country is under siege, threatened by treachery and invasion. In the contested territory of Aquitaine, the incompetence of the English command has led to the capture and death of many of King Edward’s most trusted knights. Amongst the angry hostages, there is one who will choose to betray his country.

It’s been a few years since the first of my Arrowsmith books, The Errant Hours, was published. It became one of Book Riot’s One Hundred Must-Read Medieval Novels. It was included on a reading list at Bangor University. It was endorsed by an Oxford historian.

So you can imagine that I approached writing the sequel with some trepidation. What if the heroine, Illesa Arrowsmith, had no more to tell me? What if the magic didn’t work again? The spectre of second novel syndrome haunted my desk. I had to force myself to sit and write, gritting my teeth until the fear passed and the story took over. The sense of relief when the characters came to life and began to do their own thing was enormous.

All the Winding World is set ten years after The Errant Hours in 1294 – a time when England was once again at war, this time on several fronts. King Edward I was sucked into an embarrassing and avoidable war with King Philip IV of France, known as Philip the Fair, over his territory of Aquitaine in southwest France. (King Philip was most certainly fair of face, not of nature.) 

King Edward’s barons and knights were tired of the expense of constant warfare, and refused to fight overseas for him. So the king sent out men-at-arms to conscript soldiers across Wales and the Welsh March. Their brutality provoked a large-scale rebellion. Many of his Welsh castles were torched, and Edward was forced to reroute the troops heading to Aquitaine to fight the nearer threat in Wales. 

 Map of Aquitaine by James St Clair Wade

A small fleet of ships full of reluctant knights and pardoned criminals set sail from Portsmouth in October 1294 to fight the Norman French, expecting reinforcements to arrive at any moment. But they didn’t come and the inexperienced English command, after some initial success, began making serious errors of judgment. One of these led to a riot, the sacking of the town of Rions and the capture of twelve of Edward’s knights. The hostages were taken to an impregnable tower in Bordeaux. But one of them had plans to break free at whatever cost, even if it meant betraying his country. This is the political background to All the Winding World. 

Over the course of the story we meet a large company of characters, including some old friends. I was delighted to be able to write more about the player, Gaspar, who was so entertaining during King Edward’s Round Table Tournament in Wales in Book One.

But allow me to introduce you to two new characters who arrived in the story, determined to make their mark on the plot. 

1. Azalais of Dax – a singer and composer of songs from Occitania, the area of Southern France which gave birth to the concept of ‘Courtly Love’ through the songs of the troubadours and trobairitz (female troubadours). Occitania was a part of Europe where women had a little more power, autonomy and creative opportunities than elsewhere in the medieval world. Azalais is vibrant, determined and knows her own value. She was inspired by the real historical figure, Azalais de Porcairages (born 1140) a trobairitz from the area near Montpellier. Her talents are vital in the second half of the book.

 

Azalais de Porcairagues

(from a 13th century chansonnier BN MS12473)

2. Father Raymond – a priest of the Knights Templar

The Templars, a monastic military order, were very powerful in the south of France, and, after the fall of Acre and the end of the main period of Crusades, it was their role to protect pilgrims on the many routes through this area travelling to the famous shrine at Santiago de Compostella in northern Spain. The Templars had a unique position – they were not beholden to the King, or Barons, or to any lesser ecclesiastical power than the Pope himself. As such they were able to trade, buy land, lend money and generally set up a large business with branches all over Christendom without constraint. King Philip IV got into considerable debt with them, and resented their wealth and power over him. Eventually, having brought Pope Clement V at Avignon under his control, he totally destroyed the Templars and confiscated their property. 

 Bust of Philip the Fair – from St Denys

But that was in 1307. In 1295 when All the Winding World is set, the Templars were still at the height of their influence, and the Templar priest, Father Raymond, is able to manipulate the powers in Aquitaine to help a poor group of pilgrims, (in fact Illesa, Gaspar, and the singer Azalais in disguise) who are on a very strange kind of pilgrimage.

All the Winding World is an adventure set in the Welsh Marches, the south coast of England, and the dangerously fertile land of Aquitaine. It is also an exploration of the effects of war, the power of illusion and the ingenuity of love.

Kate Innes

“Rich, intricate, and full of ordinary women finding power in a society that seeks to rob them of autonomy. Second novels rarely live up to the promise of the first, but this delivers wholeheartedly. A fantastic testament to the power of love.” Manda Scott

“This was such a gripping tale that I read it almost in one sitting! And yet the story is well grounded in the realities of medieval life. All the Winding World is a great achievement, and I am already looking forward to the third in the series.” Dr Henrietta Leyser, St Peter’s College Oxford - author of ‘Medieval Women – A Social History of Women in England 450-1500’

# # #

About the Author 

Kate Innes was once an archaeologist and museum education officer, but she now enjoys living in the past by writing historical fiction. Her first novel, The Errant Hours, is a Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice and was included on the ‘Medieval Women’s Fiction’ reading list at Bangor University. The sequel, All the Winding World was published in June 2018. Her poetry collection Flocks of Words was shortlisted for the International Rubery Award. Kate performs her poetry with the acoustic band Whalebone and runs creative writing workshops around the West Midlands. Find out more at Kate's website www.kateinneswriter.com and follow her on Twitter @kateinnes2

Visiting The Dylan Thomas Boathouse and Writing Hut in Laugharne

The poet, writer and broadcaster Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) lived at the boathouse overlooking the estuary in Laugharne in West Wales for the last four years of his life, and it's where he wrote his last work, the famous 'Under Milk Wood.' 

The boathouse now contains a museum with many original furnishings and memorabilia,  including Dylan's father's desk.  Here is an original letter from Dylan Thomas to Augustus John, asking for financial support:

This is the view of the Taff estuary from the boathouse at low tide:

The Writing Shed

Above the boathouse is the little 'writing shed' (which was originally the garage for the boathouse), where he wrote,  which has been preserved and is visited by people from all over the world.

View inside the 'Writing Hut' (Used as the header for this blog)

Writing routine

Dylan Thomas settled into a routine of reading and writing letters in the mornings, doing the crossword and drinking (heavily) in the nearby pub at lunchtime.  He would then work in his shed from two in the afternoon until seven in the evening.  It's said  he would read his work aloud, over and over, perfecting the alliteration and hearing the rhymes.

The hut had a simple stove for heating in the winter and Dylan covered the walls with photographs and magazine cuttings of his favourite poets, Byron, Whitman, Auden and William Blake.

Special Guest Interview with Best-Selling Historical Fiction Author Robyn Young

New on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Henry Tudor has vanquished Richard III and claimed the throne of England, taking possession of a secret map. At the glittering court of the Medici in Florence, Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of the republic and head of the mysterious Academy, is engaged in a dangerous game of power with the Vatican. In Spain, the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, have declared a crusade against Islam, forcing the Moors from Granada. Europe stands upon the brink of war, at the edge of a discovery that will change everything.

I'm pleased to welcome author Robyn Young to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book

My latest novel is Court of Wolves, which came out in August. Opening in 1485, after the Battle of Bosworth and the crowning of Henry Tudor, it’s the second in the New World Rising series, following on from Sons of the Blood. 

My protagonist is Jack Wynter, bastard son of Sir Thomas Vaughan – a real figure from history, who was executed on a charge of treason by Richard III. Outlawed by Tudor, left with nothing to his name and no hope now of the life he’d dreamed of living, Jack follows a lead to Florence, hoping to unravel the legacy of secrets his father has left him. Here, he finds himself swept into a dangerous conspiracy in the court of the Medici family, under the republic’s powerful, enigmatic ruler, Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Meanwhile, Jack’s hated half-brother, Harry Vaughan, has been sent to Seville by his new master, Henry Tudor. A precious map, entrusted to Jack by their father and stolen by Harry, shows an unknown coastline out in the Atlantic. England’s new king is keen to explore the possibilities of this, but fears the interest of the Spanish monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, who are considering plans to seek a trade route west, with a sailor named Columbus.

While Jack plots a course through the deadly, serpentine politics of Renaissance Florence, Harry fights to stay on track with his secret mission in Spain, where the king and queen are at war with the Moors in Granada. Neither brother knows that their paths are destined to collide.

What is your preferred writing routine?

It’s changed over the years, and always depends on what stage of a book I’m at (research or plotting, early chapters or racing to deadline), but I’ve always found morning my preferred, and most productive, time for writing. I might read for half an hour in bed first thing; wake my brain up. Then I’ll go to my computer and do a solid three to four hours. After that I’ll go for a bike ride or a walk, then have lunch.

Afternoons tend to hold a bit of a slump for me, although I find my new standing desk helpful at keeping my energy levels up. I’ll often do admin or catch up on emails at this point, then head back to writing for a few hours into the evening. Two or three months out from deadline, my pace picks up and I work long hours most days.

I find night writing exceptionally productive – if I’m up pre-dawn I can get a good few thousand words done by breakfast. But it’s terrible for sleep patterns and social life!

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Always a tough question. What worked for me might not work for others. But I guess my key bit of advice would be: edit, edit, edit!

I truly thought the first draft of my first novel would get published and was quite frankly astonished when I got the pile of rejection slips through my door.

It would be one more (also unpublished) novel, a foundation course in writing, a Masters in creative writing, a critically-constructive writing group, a good idea, twelve rewrites of that good idea, two years working with an agent, and two more rounds of publisher rejections before I had a novel – Brethren – published.

The main thing I learned in that time was just how crucial editing is as part of the writing, and publishing, process. Chances are, the draft you think is ready, still has a way to go.

Give yourself a break from it if you can (even a week can be beneficial), read some other novels, clear your head, then revisit it. Often, you’ll see where it needs more work once you’ve stepped back a little.

Good writing courses or groups can be an excellent way of honing your editing skills – but you have to be in a group that understands and engages with the critical process. Groups where you’re either constantly criticized or constantly praised can be incredibly stagnating for a writer.

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

I was very fortunate in that when I was first published, books had a multitude of platforms from which to reach readers. There were Borders and Ottakars, Waterstones, Woolworths, WHSmiths and a large number of independents, with Amazon only really just starting up. And, if your publisher was pushing you, as mine were, you had a good shot at the supermarket shelves.

There was a lot more space for books across the media – book clubs and book shows, interviews and reviews. You might even have had posters on tube and train stations, bus stops and high streets.

In those days, you could shift tens, even hundreds of thousands of books in a short space of time. My second published novel, Crusade, sold 16,000 in one week in paperback and went to number 2 in the Sunday Times.

Now, with so few bookshops, and the selling models so different, so little space in the media, and publishers far more reserved about which books to promote, even well-established authors fight to sell in the hundreds.

While I think newer authors are less fortunate in the sense that they would really struggle now to have such a huge boost at the start of their careers, I think they’re probably in stronger positions than we veterans to understand and learn for themselves what works to raise awareness of their books.

It’s one area I’m only now just getting to grips with, having been handed all that promotion and publicity on a plate through most of my career.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research

Oh goodness, there’s always so much. Perhaps the most intriguing thing I came across during research for the New World Rising series, was the inscription on the tomb of Pope Innocent VIII, which credits him as being the pope under whom a ‘new world’ was discovered. But Innocent died in July 1492, a week before Columbus supposedly set sail on his first voyage… 

What was the hardest scene you remember writing?

The hardest scene I’ve written was in my fifth novel, Renegade, part of my trilogy on the Scottish Wars of Independence. It was the execution of William Wallace in London. After scrubbing my brain of the Braveheart version, I delved into the scene with some gut-wrenching research, then set about writing it from the point of view of my protagonist in the novel, Robert Bruce, in the crowd, watching an ally, and indeed his own hope for his country, being eviscerated.

I didn’t want to dwell too much on the horror, but I did want to show just how barbaric it was, so the detail is pretty gruesome and left me feeling pretty sickened at having to write it.

What are you planning to write next?

Well, I still have the third book in the New World Rising series to go, but before that I’ve been given a fantastic opportunity to write something completely different, which has been on my mind for some time. It’s a contemporary crime thriller, with my first female protagonist, so a real departure for me, but I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ll be releasing more details in the coming months!

Robyn Young

# # #

About the Author

Robyn’s first novel, Brethren, went straight into the Sunday Times top ten, where it remained for five weeks, becoming the bestselling hardback debut of 2006.  It entered the New York Times top twenty on publication in the US and was named book of the year by German newspaper Bild.  Her second novel, Crusade, reached number two in the charts and a third bestseller, Requiem, completed the trilogy. In 2007 she was named one of Waterstones’ twenty-five “authors of the future” judged by a panel of industry insiders who were asked to nominate the authors they believed would contribute the greatest body of work over the next quarter century. In 2010, the Brethren Trilogy was followed by the highly acclaimed, bestselling Insurrection Trilogy (Insurrection, Renegade & Kingdom), telling the story of Robert Bruce and his struggle against King Edward of England during the Scottish Wars of Independence. Her latest series, New World Rising, follows Jack Wynter, from the bloody turmoil of the Wars of the Roses through the chaos and splendour of Renaissance Europe. Jack’s story begins in Sons of the Blood and continues in Court of Wolves. Alongside writing novels, Robyn has collaborated on a WWII screenplay.  Her books have been published in 22 countries in 19 languages and together have sold almost 2 million copies. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Sussex and lives and writes in Brighton. Find out more at Robyn's website www.robynyoung.com and find her on Twitter @RobynYoung36 

Stories of the Tudors Podcast Six - Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland

Margaret was the eldest daughter of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York, and was born on 28 November 1489 at the Palace of Westminster, a year and a half before her famous brother,  who became King Henry VIII.

Henry VII wanted to use his daughter’s marriage to James IV of Scotland to end the wars, stop him supporting Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the English throne, and make a lasting alliance with Scotland. This podcast tells the story of what happened next.

Click here for the podcast: Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland

Book Review - The Du Lac Prophecy: Book 4 of The Du Lac Chronicles, by Mary Anne Yarde

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

The much-awaited fourth book in the Du Lac Chronicles could be read as a stand-alone novel but to really understand the complex web of relationships I recommend starting with the first book.

You also need to brace yourself for some brutal action, as even by Du Lac standards, this has more than its share - from the first page to the last.

The strength of this series is the link back to ancient legends which form a tantalising backdrop as we learn a little more with each book. I particularly like the development of secondary characters, although I must warn readers not to get too fond of any of them!

The Du Lac Prophecy is a future classic, with an ending I'm sure even George R. R. Martin would be proud of.  Five out of five stars.

Tony Riches 

# # #

About the Author

Mary Anne Yarde grew up in the southwest of England, surrounded and influenced by centuries of history and mythology. Glastonbury—the fabled Isle of Avalon—was a mere fifteen-minute drive from her home, and tales of King Arthur and his knights were part of her childhood. At nineteen, she married her childhood sweetheart and began a bachelor of arts in history at Cardiff University, only to have her studies interrupted by the arrival of her first child. She would later return to higher education, studying equine science at Warwickshire College. Horses and history remain two of her major passions. Mary Anne Yarde keeps busy raising four children and helping run a successful family business. Find our more at her website and follow her on Twitter @maryanneyarde. 

Rival Queens: The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots, by Kate Williams

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Elizabeth and Mary: cousins, rivals, queens. They loved each other, they hated each other – they could never escape one another.

Kate Williams’s thrilling new history tells the story of Elizabeth I of England and her betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots. At the end of the Tudor era, here were two women on two thrones. But this was a man’s world and many believed that no woman should govern. All around Elizabeth and Mary were sycophants, spies and detractors who wanted their power, their favour and their bodies. And so they became one another’s closest confidants in the struggle to be both women and queens.

Alliances were few, but for many years theirs survived – until the forces rising against them, and the struggles of love and dynasty, drove them apart. It was a schism that would end in secret assassination plots, devastating betrayal and, eventually, the signing of Mary’s death warrant in Elizabeth’s hand.

Kate Williams’ Rival Queens offers an electrifying new perspective on Elizabeth and Mary, and the most important relationship of their lives – that which they had with one another.

# # #

About the Author

Kate Williams studied her BA at Somerville College, Oxford where she was a College Scholar and received the Violet Vaughan Morgan University Scholarship. She then took her MA at Queen Mary, University of London and her DPhil at Oxford, where she received a graduate prize. She also took an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. She now teaches at Royal Holloway. Follow Kate on Twitter @KateWilliamsme and visit her website.