Crime, Calcutta and the End of the Raj - interview with author Abir Mukherjee

Abir Mukherjee is the author of historical crime fiction novels A Rising Man and A Necessary Evil, both set in Calcutta in the aftermath of WWI. A third novel, Smoke and Ashes, is due out next year, and he has just received a contract for another two. 

Here he talks to Catriona Troth about his inspirations, his research and his plans for the series.

As someone who began as an applied mathematician, I am always fascinated by others who have made a less-than-conventional journey into writing. Can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

Thanks so much for having me on your blog!

I suppose it was a bit of a mid-life crisis. I’m an accountant by profession and had spent the past twenty years in finance. I was thirty-nine, hurtling towards forty and I thought, maybe there might be more to life than accounting.

Then I saw an interview with Lee Child on BBC Breakfast where he talked about how, at the age of forty, he started writing, and I thought, why not? I’d always wanted to write a book but had never had the confidence, and anyway, it seemed safer than other methods of dealing with my stage of life, like buying a motorbike and piercing my ear.

I started writing A Rising Man in September 2013 and a few weeks later I came across details of the Telegraph Harvill Secker Crime Writing Competition, looking for new and unpublished crime writers. The judges were looking for the first five thousand words of a novel, together with a two page synopsis of the whole thing. The only other stipulation was that, in keeping with Harvill Secker’s focus on the best of international crime fiction, there be some ‘international element’ to the submission. By this point I’d already written about ten thousand words, and as the plot was set in Calcutta, it seemed as though what I was writing was tailor made for the competition, so I tidied up the first few chapters, wrote the synopsis and sent off my entry. I really didn’t expect to win.


Why Calcutta and why this particular period of Indian history?

I find the period of British rule in India a particularly fascinating place and time, unique in many respects and one that’s been overlooked, especially in terms of crime fiction. I think that period in history has contributed so much to modern India and Britain, and it was a time that saw the best and the worst of both peoples.

I made a conscious decision to set the series in Calcutta, not just because it was the place my parents came from, but it’s a fascinating city, unique in many respects and in the period that the series is set, it was the premier city in Asia, as glamorous and exotic a location as anywhere in the world. But it was a city undergoing immense change and it was the centre of the freedom movement, a hotbed of agitation against British rule. The history of Calcutta is the history of the British in India. Their presence still cries out from its streets, its buildings and in its outlook.

It would have been harder for me to write authentically while setting it in another Indian city. While I know Bombay and Delhi quite well, I don’t speak the language. Also, I don’t think either city had the same hothouse atmosphere that Calcutta had during the period.


Your books are brim-full of period and location detail. How do you go about researching the background to your books? And conversely, how do you avoid the trap of getting so lost in the research that you forget about the writing?

My research tends to happen in several phases. In the first stage, I’ll do a lot of general reading about the time I’m hoping to write about - in the next book, Smoke and Ashes, which comes out next June, I knew I wanted to set the book in 1921, so I started my general research on that year in India. It turns out that 1921 was the year that Gandhi launched his first all-out non-cooperation campaign and that seemed really interesting to me, so I decided to set the book against that backdrop. I then narrowed my research to the effects of that campaign, both on the Raj and on Indians, so that I could get the background to the book to be as authentic as possible.

At the same time, I’m working on the plot, and deciding how to enmesh it into the period and the setting. I’ll then start writing the first draft, and that is where the next stage of research comes in. At this point it tends to be very specific, micro-issues, that are fundamental to the authenticity of the action. For example there is scene at a fairground in the new book and I needed to make sure I knew what sort of stalls and entertainments there would have been at a fair in India at that time.

You’re right though, sometimes there is the temptation to get bogged down in the research and then put as much of it as I can in the story. But then I remember that no one is likely to be interested in intricacies of things like the Calcutta sewer system.

You have two brilliant main characters - Captain Sam Wyndham, British war veteran, newly arrived in Calcutta, and Surendrenath (Surrender-Not) Banerjee, his Harrow-educated, Bengali detective sergeant. But it is Sam whom you chose as your point of view character and the voice of the narrative. Why him and not Surrender-Not?

There were a couple of reasons for that. Firstly, I needed my narrator to have access to all levels of society - from the Viceroy all the way down to the poorest sections of Calcutta society, and at that time, an Indian policeman, even one educated at Harrow and Cambridge, just wouldn’t have been able to access the British parts of that society.

At the same time, and more fundamentally, I just didn’t feel I could write authentically from an Indian’s perspective, even though my parents and heritage are Indian. I’d like to write something from Surrender-not's perspective - maybe one day when I’m more confident in my writing.

You say in your Author’s Note that A Necessary Evil was inspired by the Begums of Bhopal. Can you tell us a bit more about them, and how they triggered the kernel of your second novel?

Between 1819 and 1926 four Muslim women rulers reigned over Bhopal, the second largest Muslim state of India, despite staunch opposition from powerful neighbors and male claimants. The British East India Company also opposed female rule in Bhopal until the Begums quoted Queen Victoria as their model and inspiration.

As I researched the period, I found that these women, and others like them in other kingdoms, seem to have been very influential and somewhat forgotten by history. Often, while the maharajahs became debauched, it was the their maharanis and princesses who became the true keepers of the traditions of the kingdoms. I found this fascinating and wanted to make it a part of my story.


The line that made me laugh out loud came when Sam tells Surrender-not that Indian women are just as capable of murdering their spouses as English women. “Not Bengali women, sir,” Surrender-not replies, “They just browbeat their husbands into submission. I doubt the need for murder would arise.” Reminded me of a couple of friends of ours! I have a feeling there might be a story behind this, if you’re willing to share.

Of course!

Rather than one story, though, it’s more an amalgam of many examples I’ve seen over the years, both from my parents' generation and my own. It might be because Bengal has historically been a pretty liberal part of India, where women have played a more equal role in society than their peers in other parts of the country, be it in terms of education or workplace opportunities. Whatever the reason, Bengali women can be fearsome!

In terms of stories, probably the best illustration is the tale of the weekly poker game which my father and some of his friends used to hold most Saturdays. One of his Bengali friends who lived close by, was given strict instructions by his wife that he was not to attend as he tended to lose money most of the time. So he gave her his word that he wouldn’t. Instead he told her to go up to bed for a nap while he tidied the house. Being a clever chap, however, he simply switched on the hoover, and leaving it running, he left the house and came over to ours for the card game. Half an hour later, there was a terrible banging on the front door and an irate auntie looking for her husband, who by this time was fleeing out the back way.

I believe you have some pretty long-reaching plans for this series. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Ideally I’d like to look at the whole period of British India between the end of the First World War and Indian Independence in 1947, which is almost thirty years. I want to see how the relationships between the British and the Indians evolve during this period, and I think that will be mirrored in the changing relationship between Sam and Surrender-not.

And I think Ian Rankin has told you that you really ought to write something contemporary as well. Any temptation to follow his advice? And if so, what might you write about?

I would love to write something set in the present day, looking at issues around radicalisation of Muslim youth or some of the other problems facing British society. The problem really is one of time. I’m still working full time and my publishers, Penguin Random House have just given me a new contract for another two Sam Wyndham novels. I’d like to think that once I’ve written them, I’ll be able to take a break to write something more contemporary.

Thank you, Abir. Looking forward to reading Smoke and Ashes as soon as it comes out!

You can read Catriona Troth's reviews of A Rising Man  and A Necessary Evil on BookMuseUK.



Abir Mukherjee grew up in the West of Scotland. The son of Indian immigrants, A Rising Man, his debut novel, was inspired by a desire to learn more about a crucial period in Anglo-Indian history that seems to have been almost forgotten. The first in a series starring Captain Sam Wyndham and ‘Surrender-not’ Banerjee. It won the Harvill Secker/Daily Telegraph crime writing competition, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and is currently shortlisted for both the CWA Gold and CWA Historical Daggers, and also for the HWA Debut Crown 2017. His second novel, ‘A Necessary Evil’ is out now.

You can follow him on Twitter at @radiomukhers

Researching Regency England

How Mary Wollstonecraft, an about-to-be-demolished shop and an aircraft inspired a Regency time-slip novel.

by Bradley Bernarde.

I had always wanted to write a novel set in the Regency period, mainly because my admiration for Jane Austen, and her remarkable talent, was combined with an intense interest in the late eighteen and early nineteenth centuries, when women were, very slowly, becoming more prominent, especially in the world of literature.

As early as 1750, Hannah More, Elizabeth Montagu and Elizabeth Carter, were holding literary discussions, while later in the century Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women, championed educational equality for women. I have always believed that these efforts, combined with those of other equally talented women, would have helped us achieve advancement, had the Prince Regent’s daughter, Princess Charlotte succeeded to the throne, rather than his niece Victoria. Many of the books written by these determined women, often under pseudonyms, can now be viewed at Chawton House, which has an expansive library of Women’s Fiction up to 1830. The house is, of course, situated not far from the Jane Austen Museum, in the village of Chawton, a building I have visited many times.

I had a vague idea for my plot, and the stirrings of inspiration intensified during an afternoon stroll near Gray’s Inn, when I encountered some workmen widening part of a side road. Seeing my interest, one of the men explained that they had dismantled a very narrow passage running alongside, in order to make a wider thoroughfare. Any shops in the street had fallen into disrepair, and been pulled down, but one of them had, apparently, been very old because, my informant told me, it had had bow windows. As I watched the men working, I imagined the small, squat shop, its bulging windows full of goods unrecognisable to the modern eye, and realised that my story was beginning to take shape.

When, at last, I continued walking, I found myself in Gray’s Inn, just as the occupants of the various offices were leaving at the end of a working day. There were a number of men and women, all carrying the obligatory laptop, and I noticed one girl in particular, as she appeared younger than the others. Although immaculately dressed and groomed, there was a certain element of vulnerability about her; especially when, instead of joining her companions, she appeared to excuse herself and hurry away. With that strange perception that sometimes hit fiction novelists mentally, I knew I had found my heroine but, despite her vulnerability, she still exuded too much self-possession for a Regency girl.

Jane Austen's final dwelling in Winchester

So it took some time for the plot to reach maturity, and in the hope of acquiring more inspiration, I went to Winchester Cathedral and read the words on Jane Austen’s tomb; then I wandered down the street and past the house reputed to have been her last residence. As I strolled an airplane flew overhead, and for a moment I was mentally suspended between the past and the present, and knew exactly how I was going to deal with my heroine. She was going to be a secret (because being a solicitor such an obsession would have been farcical) admirer of Austen, and have a longing to return to her times in order to meet her heroine. Her journey back into the past would be accomplished with the help of whoever had owned the shop with bow windows, and she would have to learn how to adapt her twenty-first century persona in an early nineteenth century world. This meant I would not be writing a straightforward historical novel, but a fantasy, which would have to sound as logical as possible.

Having decided on the plot I launched into the research, which was fascinating. Guildhall Library displayed numerous charts and maps of Regency London; not to mention numerous copies of The Times circa 1816, while Chelsea Library’s many books on period costumes were invaluable in dressing my characters. I enjoyed writing the book immensely because, in a vicarious sort of way, I joined my heroine in her travels and experiences and enjoyed them as much, I hope, as she did.


Bradley Bernade is a member of The Society of Authors, the SWWJ and the Emile Zola Society. Her novel, Twelve Days to Dream, will be released later this year, published by SCRIPTORA.

60 Seconds with Gill Paul

By Gillian Hamer

Gill Paul has had six historical novels published, with the seventh coming out in August. The Secret Wife, published last September, made number 4 in the USA Today bestseller list and topped the kindle charts in the UK and US. It’s a love story about one of the daughters of Tsar Nicholas, of the ill-fated Russian royal family, and a cavalry officer named Dmitri Malama. Dinah Jefferies called it “A cleverly crafted novel and an enthralling story… A triumph.”
Gill lives in London with her artist partner, who has not read any of her novels.


Tell us a little about you and your writing.
I write historical fiction about some of the (to me) most dramatic events and fascinating characters of the last 150 years - among them the sinking of the Titanic, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton meeting on the set of Cleopatra, and the fate of the Romanov royal family. I am Scottish-born but now live and work in North London, where I swim year round in an outdoor pond.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?
There’s a feeling when the writing is going well, when the story is just flowing out of your head and onto the page, that is almost better than sex. And I also love the unstructured hours: being able to slip out to swim at the sunniest part of the day without needing permission from anyone but myself is pretty cool.

And the worst?
The rampant insecurity, the lonely terror of watching your Amazon rankings, and the abject fear after you have written a successful book that you will never be able to pull it off again.

Why did you choose your genre?
I inherited a love of history from my late mum. We watched all the historical dramas on TV together and read Jean Plaidy and Georgette Heyer. I studied History at uni (among other subjects - I was a student for ages) and still love reading historical fiction. It’s a great way to learn about a period without feeling as though you’re back at school. The best historical authors write about ageless human dramas and the setting is incidental.

Do you have a special writing place?
I have an office with bookshelves up to the ceiling and a scary ladder to reach the top ones. There’s a window beside me with a view of trees and overgrown climbing plants and lots of different kinds of birds stop by to distract me.

Which writers do you most admire and why?
I am in awe of literary writers like Maggie O’Farrell, Barbara Kingsolver, Rose Tremain and Paula McLain who conjure up glorious images that take root in my head and create unforgettable characters with a flick of their metaphorical fountain pens. And I love Dinah Jefferies, Lucinda Riley, Iona Grey and Kate Riordan for their great historical page-turners.

If you could choose a different genre to write in for just one book - what would it be?

Contemporary, possibly with a bit of a crime thrown in. But it would be a mystery rather than a police procedural or a gore-fest.

What was your inspiration behind The Secret Wife?
One day I was pootling round on YouTube when I came across a clip of the young James Taylor singing “Fire and Rain” and I was transfixed, because it took me right back to my first love, a seventeen-year-old boy who looked like him and used to play that song for me. Then I heard about the love story between Dmitri Malama and Grand Duchess Tatiana and I decided to try and capture the seismic, all-consuming power of first love that I suspect they felt for each other. And that’s where The Secret Wife came from.

What three tips would you offer up-and-coming authors? 

• Force yourself to keep writing even when you are getting rejections from agents and/or publishers. Don’t give up, because you’ll get better with every single page you write.

• Show your work to a few well-selected readers before sending it out: people who will be constructive but not harsh.

 • Try to pitch your novel idea in one sentence. Is it compelling enough to have readers who don’t know you rushing to buy it? If not, find one that is.

What are your future writing plans?
I’ve got a new novel called Another Woman’s Husband coming out in August (hardback and ebook) then November (paperback) and there’s a contract for another one to come out in 2018 which I have to admit is still in early stages (i.e. still in my head rather than on the page).

See our Bookmuse review of The Secret Wife HERE

Website: www.gillpaul.com

Twitter: @GillPaulAuthor

Facebook: gill.paul.16

Highlights from the Triskele Lit Fest

When the Triskele Books' one day Lit Fest came to a close in September, we knew that the conversations generated across the five panels were far too good not to share with a wider audience.

Thanks to sponsorship from Matador Books and sound engineering expertise from Live Box (who overcame some significant challenges in the form of noise intrusion from dance classes in the room above) we were able to record the panels and upload the videos to our YouTube channel.

Here are some of the highlights from the day, which we hope will tempt you to delve into the videos to watch the discussions in full.

Sci Fi and Fantasy

We kicked off the day with a lively discussion with Sci Fi and Fantasy authors Felicia Yap, CS Wilde, Jeff Norton, Eliza Green and Yen Ooi, chaired by Jack Wedgbury from Matador.

The panel showcased the vast range of modern Sci Fi and Fantasy. Felicia's upcoming Yesterday is a thriller about a murder being investigated in a world where most people only remember yesterday. CS Wilde's A Courtroom of Ashes is a fantasy about a lawyer in hell. Jeff Norton's MetaWars explores what happens when humans retreat from the real world into a digital one. Eliza Green's Becoming Human imagines humans competing for resources with another race on a distant planet, while Yen Ooi's Sun; Queens of Earth harnesses the powers of dreams to provide energy.

Between them, they reveal their inspiration and discuss how SFF liberates them to explore big themes from what it means to be human to the destruction of the Earth, but to view them through a personal perspective.

What do an oyster card, an iPod, a set of Bose headphones, a paintbrush and a passport reveal about their writing processes?

Romance

In the second panel of the day, Triskele's Liza Perrat talked to Romance writers Isabel Wolff, Charlie Maclean, Sareeta Domingo and Carol Cooper.

Isabel is an accidental novelist who began her fiction career when a newspaper column about the singles scene was turned into a novel. She has since written ten more novels.  Charlie Maclean's Unforgettable is a 'Sliding Doors' type story that explores the consequences of asking someone on a date ... or not. Sareeta Domingo's The Nearness of You, about a young woman falling in love with her best friend's boyfriend, also examines themes of bereavement and depression. Carol Cooper's multi-stranded narratives follow an array of couples at different stages in their lives.

They explore how far a Romance novel can play with the RWA's definition of "a narrative centred around two individuals falling in love and struggling to make their relationship work." They consider the role of sex in a romance novel - does it have a place in moving the plot forward and revealing character, or should the author keep the bedroom door closed? When men write Romance, does it get 'elevated' into a different category? What happens when you try writing in the dark?

And a pocket watch, a photograph, some music and a bottle of bathroom cleaner reveal surprising secrets about their writing process.

(With apologies for the poor quality of sound in the audience segments on this video)

Crime and Thrillers

Next, Ben Cameron of Cameron PR talked to Crime and Thriller authors Kate Hamer, Adam Croft and Chris Longmuir.

Kate Hamer's The Girl in the Red Coat is a dual narrative about a mother and her lost child. Adam Croft's Her Last Tomorrow is also centres round a missing child, but in this case the father receives a ransom note with an impossible demand. Chris Longmuir's Devil's Porridge is a historical crime novel based around the first policewomen in Scotland, guarding a munitions factory during WWI.

They contrast the challenges of the different types of stories they tell, reveal the horrible secret of what Devil's Porridge really was, explore the new concept of Grip Lit, and explain how a bottle of perfume, a literary award and the scan of one's unborn child continue to inspire their writing.

The empty seat at the end of the row belongs to Nigerian author Leye Adenle, who was prevented from getting to the Lit Fest on the day. Catriona Troth caught up with him a few weeks later and you can read her interview with him here. 

Historical Fiction

In the last genre based panel of the day, four very different authors discuss Historical fiction with fellow author Jane Davis.

Orna Ross's Her Secret Rose is a fictional account of the real life lovers WB Yeats and Maud Gonne. Radhika Swarup's Where the River Parts looks at the largest displacement of people in human history, following the Partition of India, through the eyes of a young Hindu woman. JD Smith's Overlord series takes us all the way back to 3rd Century Syria and the life of Zenobia, the warrior queen who nearly toppled the Roman Empire. Alison Morton's Roma Nova series is an alternative history in which the Roman Empire survived into the 20th Century.

The four authors reveal why the chose their particular stories to tell, the different challenges and responsibilities of writing history from the recent and distant pasts, how to create a voice appropriate for a different time period , and the discovery that surprised them most in the course of writing their books

And an index card, a bracelet, 'the only book I have ever defaced' and a photograph of a Roman gladius reveal secrets about their writing process.

Preserving the Unicorn - conversations with literary authors and their editors.

The last panel of the day was a discussion with literary authors and their editors, chaired by Triskele's Catriona Troth. Sunny Singh discusses her novel, Hotel Arcadia, and the fascinating role her Dutch translator played in honing the manuscript. Alex Pheby and his editor from Galley Beggar Press, Sam Jordison, discuss his novel, Playthings, the fictionalised story of Daniel Schreber, of one of Freud's most celebrated case studies. And Rohan Quine and his editor Dan Holloway take the lid off the process of editing Rohan's latest novel, Beasts of Electra Drive.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Sunny reveals inspirations ranging from Dante's Inferno to Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. Alex  explains how his novel grew out of frustration with blinkered 20th C analysis of Scheber. Sam  describes how he absorbed the emotional impact of the book and imagined telling a reviewer, "I've got this book and it's going to destroy you," before deciding "of course we've got to publish it."  And Rohan describes his book  as a 'love bite to the world,'  while Dan calls it 'a beautiful spectacle compiled of horror.'

Part way through the conversation, Alex Pheby threw a provocation to the audience. "All forms of masculine activity are vile and pernicious and should be weeded out." Sadly, time ran out before the implications of this could be explored. After the event, though, Orna Ross came up with some great questions for Alex. We hope to get the chance to put those questions to him in the new year. If so, we will publish his responses in Words with Jam.

Stepping into Early Medieval Worlds

By Tracey Warr

When I first set out to write early medieval fiction one of my motivations was to dispel some of the myths about those times, myths which I had believed myself until I started doing some serious research, such as: all medieval people did not wash and were illiterate and women had no power or rights. My historical novels are set across Europe in the 10th-12th centuries and their protagonists are always women: countesses, servants, slaves and female troubadours. Yes, there were real female troubadours in the early Middle Ages. They were called trobairitz and wrote racy, sensual and profoundly moving poetry (see Peter Dronke’s Women Writers of the Middle Ages and Meg Bogin’s The Women Troubadours). There were also female poets, known as skalds, amongst the Vikings. As well as appearing as characters in my novels, the words written by these women are invaluable sources for creating credible, sensory worlds for my readers to step into.

Many of my characters are based on real historical people, including the male characters, some of whom, such as Audebert Count of La Marche, emerge even from dusty, centuries-old chronicles, as rather hot! Just as we know more from the historical evidence about the experiences of noblemen and women than we do about the lives of the peasants and lesser people, we also know much more about the men than about the women. So I am faced with the challenge of how to create a fully sensory world from a range of female perspectives.

For the servants and slaves, the labour involved in day to day life in a pre-industrial society is always a significant factor to consider. Whenever I visit one of the glorious medieval bastide towns in France such as Cordes-sur-Ciel or Najac, built atop very steep mounds to give strong defensive positions and views of approaching enemies, I always think about the servants plodding up and down those steep inclines with mules loaded down with wine skins, parchment, spices, whatever the lords and ladies of the castle required. All medieval people were living much more closely with the rhythms of day and night and of the seasons, since they had no electric light and many of the other things we take for granted in modern life. They did not travel or go to war in the winter when seas and rivers were turbulent and roads were muddy morasses. Their day began with sunrise and they ate earlier, went to bed earlier. They grew, hunted and cooked their own food and made their own clothes. We imagine medieval people living narrow existences in one place but some of them were great travellers: pilgrims, traders, vikings of course, and some noble brides went far from the places of their birth for their marriages. Travel was possible, it just took a lot longer.

I use original sources such as The Trotula, a compendium of women’s medicines written in Italy in the 12th century, or Dhoda’s marvellous 9th century handbook written to advise her son, along with medieval handbooks on cooking, hunting, hawking, bee-keeping, and the writings of medieval chroniclers including Ademar de Chabannes, William of Malmesbury and Orderic Vitalis, to help give the world I am creating veracity and bring it to life. A museum in Toulouse gave me a reproduction of an 11th century map of the city to help me recreate that, since modern Toulouse bears little resemblance to the city my 11th century countess rode through.

The protagonist of my first novel, Almodis the Peaceweaver, was the real Countess of Toulouse and Barcelona, my second novel incorporates real historical characters such as the Norse Viking Olafr Tryggvason and the Viscountess of Limoges who was kidnapped by Vikings and held hostage for three years. My new novel published later this year, focusses on the experiences of the real Welsh princess, Nest ferch Rhys, who was held hostage by Norman invaders from a young age. I undertake historical research finding out what happened, when, where, to whom. What did the people wear and eat, what were the places they lived in like, how did they travel, how long did it take to get from one place to another on horseback or on a river boat. I use lots of sources to inspire me aside from literature and historical documentation, including objects in museums that my characters might have handled and owned, my visits to intact medieval sites and Romanesque churches, looking at paintings and manuscript illustrations. The appearance of my character Almodis is based on a beautiful statue of the Virgin in Albi Cathedral in France, but my character Nest ferch Rhys is modelled on a striking black-haired, blue-eyed Welsh girl I saw on a train between Swansea and Carmarthen. Several objects from the British Museum feature in my first novel including the Dunstable Swan Jewel and a delicate pink glass palm cup. A Viking serpent brooch and an exquisite decorated Viking swordhilt found in the sea between Pembrokeshire and Ireland were inspirations for my second novel, as were the Welsh islands of Caldey and Skomer which were occupied and named by Vikings. For my new novel I spent time walking along the cliffs and estuaries of Carmarthen Bay in Wales where a significant part of the story is set. 

The French historian Georges Duby wrote ‘I must never forget the differences, the hundreds of years that separate me from my subject, the great stretch of time that hides almost all I am endeavouring to see behind a veil I cannot pierce.’ Similarly the historian Thomas Asbridge says that ‘The emotional landscape of this era will never be fully recovered’. Some things have not changed much despite the years: landscapes, weather, love, whilst other things do feel significantly alien to us, such as slavery, youthful betrothals and brides and constant childbearing. People lived much shorter lives and had to get on fast with the business of living. From our 21st century perspective it is a stretch to imagine how medieval women really perceived their relationships with men, God, power, and their children. I feel I have a certain freedom to imagine and fictionalise my characters’ experiences as long as I can sustain credibility for my readers - well that is the difference between writing history and writing historical fiction.

About Tracy:
Tracey Warr’s novels Almodis the Peaceweaver and The Viking Hostage are published by Impress Books. Her new novel, Conquest: Daughter of the Last King, will be published in the autumn. You can find out more about her writing at http://traceywarrwriting.com

In June and July Tracey Warr is one of the award-winning authors who are tutoring week-long residential writing courses in south-west France organised by A Chapter Away http://www.achapteraway.com


Image Captions & Credits

1 The Dunstable Swan Jewel from the British Museum, used in Tracey’s first novel, Almodis the Peaceweaver. Wikimedia photo by Ealdgyth.

2 Print from a Viking serpent brooch in the British Museum. The brooch features in Tracey’s second novel, The Viking Hostage. Print and photo by Tracey Warr.

3 View of the sea and estuary through Llansteffan Castle window, Wales. The castle features in Tracey’s new novel, Conquest: Daughter of the Last King. Wikimedia photo by dwtheprof.

In Conversation with Piers Alexander

Hello, Piers, welcome to WWJ. Tell us a little about yourself and your writing?

I love my beard, my wife, my dog and the dusk. I live in London, where I founded a couple of businesses that nearly killed and bankrupted me but now give me more time to write. And I write slightly grubby, vulgar historical adventures - I'm just finishing my first trilogy, set in late seventeenth century England and its nascent empire.

Your debut novel is called The Bitter Trade. Can you sum it up in a single paragraph?

Oh yes! In 1688, torn by rebellions, England lives under the threat of a Dutch invasion. Redheaded Calumny Spinks is the lowliest man in an Essex backwater: half-French and still unapprenticed at seventeen, yet he dreams of wealth and title. When his father's violent past resurfaces, Cal's desperation leads him to become a coffee racketeer. He has just three months to pay off a blackmailer and save his father s life - but his ambition and talent for mimicry pull him into a conspiracy against the King himself...

You’ve been brave in giving up your ‘real job’ to write full time, something not many writers dare to try. What drove you to make that decision? 

I couldn't stand not writing. And I couldn't stand working in an office. And I have an unhealthily high tolerance for risk.

Do you ever regret your decision or are you happy to be a full-time writer?

I never regret it. And I don't think being a full time writer is like a full time doctor, or mum, or any other job. I think it should involve having lots of other pursuits - things you're learning, research, travel, taking risks - what Roy Jenkins called a "hinterland". So I still do bits of working - I'm on some company boards, a literary advisory board, and I give bits of unsolicited advice to young people (I call it "pro bono work", haha!).

What are the worst things for you about being a writer? 

I can't think of any bad experiences that haven't been transmuted into painful but welcome learnings, or new friendships, or both. The worst bit was when I was trying to grow a proper business career and develop as a writer. That was agonising, and expensive, and in the end I just had to choose one or the other.

I heard you talk at LBF Fringe about your rather original (and successful) marketing techniques getting your paperback into WH Smith. Can you retell the story here? 

Well: I took the foolish decision to make a trade paperback, one of the big format ones you see in airports. And we embossed it and used spot UV (ie a shiny bit of print to make a blood pool stand out). It alienated regular book shops and cost a lot more than usual. And then I met the amazing fiction buyer for WHSmith Travel at the Historical Novel Society's conference. Unable to speak (and that NEVER happens to me!), I pressed the book in his hands. He read it on the tube and liked it. And it's sold very well there. Wonderful luck.

And then you were voted WH Smith’s ‘Fresh Talent’ for 2015. How did that feel?

Honestly? 50% "imposter syndrome", 50% gratitude and happiness!

What inspired you to write The Bitter Trade? And what attracts you about writing historical fiction?

I hadn't planned to write a historical novel, but I nicked my wife's (Singer-songwriter and published author Rebecca Promitzer) premise for a futuristic coffee smuggling thriller and found that I was naturally writing in the past. Then I saw a statue of William III outside the London Library, looked up the a Glorious Revolution and realised I had found the perfect context for the story I wanted to tell. What a period that was! Intrigue and war, an explosion of ideas and science and commerce, and opportunity for a gobby outsider to become somebody.

How do you handle research as it’s known as a stumbling block in your genre? 

I don't do it all up front, because I find it stifles the characters and the originality of the story. I learn about the context and write an outline. Then I read a few dozen books to understand more about the characters, key events and customs of the day, and write the first draft. Then I go back and re-research all the detail I've found that I am light on, and simultaneously question the motivations and consistency of my characters, with help from wonderful beta readers including the historical author Anna Belfrage, academics, and my friend the editor Sally O-J. So the research always advances in step with the truly fictional parts. It's organic.

What other writing ambitions do you have on your hit list?

I have a rather epic overarching theme and concept for the trilogy, which I can't reveal without plot spoilers. And after that, I am going to wander London, the world and my imagination waiting for adventure to entice me down a filthy side alley....

Can you name three authors and/or novels who inspire your writing - and why?

Patrick O'Brian, who wrote historical adventures that are better-written and say more about humanity than most literary novels. Wilbur Smith, whose earlier books filled my young brain with lusty restlessness. And Bernard Cornwell, whose heroes are ordinary and sinful and selfish, and whose violence is elegant and purposeful.

What is coming next for you?

A research trip to South Carolina, which will also involve time travel to 1715. If I return to this era, I'll tell you all about it!


www.piersalexander.com

www.facebook.com/thebittertrade

@thebittertrade

In Conversation with Anne O'Brien

By Gillian Hamer

Hello, Anne, Welcome to WWJ. Tell us a little about you and your writing?

Hello. I am very pleased to be here with you.
I was born in West Yorkshire and lived most of my life in Beverley in East Yorkshire before moving to where I am today, in Herefordshire in the beautiful Welsh Marches where I live in an eighteenth century cottage. I gained my history degree and professional qualifications at the universities of Manchester, Leeds and Hull and have enjoyed city life as well as rural isolation. I had no long standing ambition to write, and so was a late-comer, only deciding to try my hand at historical fiction when I had some free time. From that moment, twelve years ago, I have become hooked on writing about the women of medieval England. When not writing I enjoy reading, cooking, gardening and visiting castles, cathedrals and anything with a historical vibe.

Why did you settle on historical fiction?

This was an easy choice for me. In a previous life I taught history and have always enjoyed the splendid stories and strong characters from the past. Here was an opportunity to bring these events and people - particularly the powerful but silent women of the 14th and 15th centuries - back to vivid life and give them a voice again. They may have lived 600 years ago, the social and moral pressures on their lives may have been very different from ours, but much of what they experienced, and how they reacted to it, can still resonate with us today. I particularly enjoy writing about relationships as the Plantagenet Court. For me, history is definitely not dead!

How do you handle the endless research required for histfic?

Because I have written about events in the royal Courts of the Plantagenets and Lancastrians in six novels, I now have a reasonable knowledge of what life was like, so I do not have to return to basics every time I embark on a new book. I do of course have to delve into the lives and characters of those who will people my story. I find this to be no burden at all. This is the exciting part of the work, particularly if I discover something I did not know about, something to give my story an edge or an excitement. It is a great pleasure to unwrap the story of my heroine and those who will interact with her.

What’s the best thing about being a full time author?

Quite definitely the best for me is to be able to plan when I write and how long I write, without too many outside influences and distractions. I am a morning writer, so I arrange my day to start early and work through the morning until lunch. If I need longer - when deadlines for my editor loom - then I am also free to do this.

And the worst?

I cannot think of a 'worst'. I found that when I taught full time, writing even short stories was very difficult. Even if I had the physical opportunity, my mind tended to be full of academic history and the demands of the lessons for the next day. The total freedom to write is amazing, and I am well aware of how fortunate I am.

I suppose what does irritate me most is when real life creeps in - as it does - and I have to push aside my characters and their important and emotional problems, to visit the supermarket or tackle some basic housework. And because I work at home, sometimes I cannot ignore what needs to be done around me.

For writers interested in the whole nuts and bolts process, can you give us a potted-history of your route to publication?

Here goes!
I choose a character who has something to say. Whose life involves tension or difficulties or choices that will make good drama. Without this, there will be no excitement for the reader. There is nothing worse than a totally 'good' character
I construct a detailed timeline of her life, interwoven with the lives of the characters who will play a part in her story. I add where and why and how as ideas come to me.
I select the most dramatic scenes that must be present to hold the story together, and I decide where my heroine's story will start and end.
Then I start writing.
I write a rough draft. Followed by another two or three edits and re-edits to build up the detailed layers of historical detail and the facets of character which become clearer as I write.
A final read-through to get a sense of pace and 'page-turning' quality.
Twelve months later, by which time we have lived cheek by jowl and I know my characters very well, and they have sometimes surprised me ...
I send my completed novel to my agent and editor.
This is followed by some re-editing. It is always vital to have a second opinion at this stage. I am too close to my story to be totally objective so advice is very valuable.
And then (hopefully) it is taken out of my hands for publication. A day of celebration!

What do you know now as a writer that you’ve learned since the publication of your first novel?

I  have learned two essential elements to writing historical fiction about people who actually lived. The first is the importance of historical accuracy. This is the bedrock of my writing. If the facts are known, then they cannot be changed. Outside the facts there is, of course, room for 'historical imagination' to fill in the dots as long as the character remains true to herself and the history around her.

The second is the importance of 'readability'. A novel must have pace and excitement to carry the reader on. They must be driven by a need to know what happens next. For this reason I must be selective in which historical detail I use. It is important that the lives of my characters do not become weighed down with too much historical fact. I might find the description of a particular battle fascinating, but four pages of description of who killed who will not enhance my novel! It is a lesson in self-control and careful selection.

If you could take a time machine back to any period of history, where would you go and why?

Because I have written about this in depth in recent books, I would choose to be a fly on the wall at the court of Richard II. Vigorous, extravagant, full of promise with a young monarch and good councillors, it was to descend into tragedy because of Richard's weak choices, royal favourites, politically inept decisions. Finally there was the downfall and death of the king himself. And such splendidly dramatic characters are there: John of Gaunt, Katherine Swynford, Elizabeth of Lancaster, Joan of Kent, John Holand: all of whom have appeared in my novels so far. It was a remarkable reign and I would certainly like to see it for myself.

Would you like to write a book in another genre? If so what would it be and why?

I have no plans to write in another genre, but occasionally it crosses my mind to change from medieval history to the highly romantic, tragic and colourful world of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the PreRaphaelites. There are so many exceptional characters, both the artists themselves as well as the 'stunners', the women who influenced them and their art. Can I truly abandon my medieval people for the reign of Queen Victoria? One day perhaps ...

What is next in the pipeline for you?

I have a new historical novel very close on my horizon now. It will be published in January 2016. It is 'The Queen's Choice', telling the little known story of Joanna of Navarre who became the second wife of King Henry IV in the early years of the 15th century. A mature woman with her own family, she discovered some surprising and uncomfortable obstacles for her to overcome on becoming Queen of England. Not least being accused and imprisoned for three years, by her stepson King Henry V, on a dangerous charge of necromancy. I discovered her to be a remarkable heroine, and I think that my readers will also enjoy her experiences.

We have a theme of CLASSICS for this month’s issue. Which is your favourite Classic - and why? And do you think it has influenced your own writing?

I have always enjoyed Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, told from Jane's personal point of view, the approach I use in my own writing. I enjoy the vibrancy it allows when writing from the main protagonist's point of view.
But the Classic that influenced me most was Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. I remember reading it when I was very young and romantically impressionable. I loved the colour and romance, and the weaving of real and imaginary characters into the backdrop of history. It made history come alive for me, so that I was drawn in to enjoy and suffer with those I admired or hated. It is my ambition to do the same for my readers.


For those who would like to follow Anne and keep up to date with her writing, particularly the release of The Queen's Choice:
Website: http://www.anneobrienbooks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anneobrienbooks
Twitter: @anne_obrien
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thisisanneobrie/

60 Seconds with Marius Gabriel

Marius says 'I am a writer by profession. I love books, music, food and all other forms of human culture. I love serious things and silly things. Almost nothing in life is uninteresting to me. I like to share what delights me, and that is why I write.'

Tell us a little about you and your writing.

I have been writing fiction since I was a child and will probably keep writing till I die. I write about what I’m interested in, not necessarily about my experiences - it’s a way for me to explore my own imagination.

You’ve written across many genres from romance to historical fiction, why such a diverse range? 

I started writing romance novels to pay my way through postgraduate studies, but soon realized that it was going to be my career, anyway. I wrote around 35 short romances before turning to longer fiction. I loved writing romance, it was like being constantly drunk on champagne.

Did you enjoy writing for Mills & Boon? What do you think male authors add to romance novels?

I think male authors are surprisingly adept at romance, so long as they are able to understand the ups and downs of love, and see both a woman’s and a man’s point of view. Oh, and I enjoyed it very much!

Tell us about your latest novel, Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye. (see our review here …)

It’s a novel about three sisters who experience World War II each in her own way. I fell in love with all three of my characters, and have just finished a sequel, which will come out early in 2016!

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

What it does to your mind.

And the worst?

What it does to your mind.

Where do you write?

I am at my desk, in my study, by 8am each day, and write until around 6pm. Fuelled by coffee and loud music.

You’ve lived in some wonderful locations, do you use any of them as settings in your novels? Is location important in your writing? 

Yes, I’ve drawn heavily from my locations, and the people who inhabit them. I feel one learns something about history from individual memories that can’t be found in history books. I’m a great listener to old people.

Which 3 books would you take to a desert island?

If Shakespeare and the King James Bible are already there, I would take Tolstoy’s “War And Peace”, Joyce’s “Ulysses,” and Yeats’ Poems.

What are your future writing plans?

I am debating writing a third novel in the “Wish Me Luck” series, and making it a trilogy, going up to the end of the war!


LINKS

www.mariusgabriel.info

https://www.facebook.com/scribbler4bread

twitter: @scribbler4bread

60 Seconds with M J Trow

M J Trow has been writing for over thirty years and hasn’t said even a small fraction of what he wants to share as yet. With over sixty books to his credit, including crime and historical fiction, historical biography, true crime and ghosting, his life is never dull and whether he is meeting real new people or imaginary ones, the living or the long dead, he doesn’t mind; it is all grist to his mill. He does relax, usually on the sixth Tuesday of every month and is lucky enough to be able to cruise once or twice a year, when lecturing takes him onto the high seas. 

A ‘Jack of all Trades’ could be used to describe your writing career, why so varied? 

Not actually that varied. All my books have an historical flavour and most of them, fact and fiction, deal with ‘blood ‘n’ guts’.

If you had to choose a favourite between fiction and non-fiction, which would it be? 

Non-fiction - it’s stranger than fiction any time.

How do you handle the difference between solo writing and ghost writing?

There’s obviously greater freedom with solo writing. In ghosting work you have to try to recreate the subject’s ‘voice’.

You’re a talented artist too, what does it mean to be able to create your own covers?

The cover is very important and I enjoy being able to use my artist’s eye to choose the image, or create it. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but most people do. I recently saw an historical novel set in the 16th century with a 12th century crusader on the jacket - I didn’t even open it.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

The chance to leave even a little bit of yourself for posterity.

And the worst?

It’s a crowded market and you’re only as good as your last book.

Where do you write?

In the summerhouse, surrounded by books, sixties music and lots and lots of chocolate!

Is location/setting an important aspect for you in your novels?

Very. In fiction, I invariably choose a place I know well and adapt it to the situation/plot. I once invented a mad family who lived in Parabola Road, Cheltenham and now I feature in the town’s guide books!

Which 3 books would you take to a desert island?

Anything by Maryanne Coleman (who happens to be my wife). So that would be Goblin Market; Pandemonium; and the-one-currently-in-production-but-she-hasn’t-time-to-finish-because-she’s-always-typing-mine.

Which crime author do you most admire?

George Bellairs. He is very under-rated but his characters leap off the page and if the perp is sometimes a little obvious, you don’t care; the writing is why you read his books, not the clever twists and turns which seem to be the stock-in-trade of most modern writers. Sadly, like most crime writers, I can see them coming a mile off.

Which of your own books are you most proud of - and why?

I like bits of all of them, but as an entire book, I think Survivor which I ghosted for Sam Pivnik. Holocaust stories are crucially important, if only to prevent such a thing happening again.

What are your future writing plans?

I’m writing Return of the Kings with my son, Taliesin, a 35-book series which gets back to good old-fashioned historical story-telling. More of Kit Marlowe with Carol (sorry, Maryanne), more ghosting, new fiction series … After lunch, I’ll have a go at something else!

More information on Mei and his books go to -
Website: www.mjtrow.co.uk
Blog: www.rantalongamax.wordpress.com

60 Seconds with Alison Morton

Alison Morton writes Roman-themed alternate history thrillers with strong heroines. She grabbed a first degree in French, German and Economics in the mid-70s and went back to school for a masters’ in history thirty years later. A ‘Roman nut’ since age 11, she has clambered over sites throughout Europe including the alma mater, Rome.

INCEPTIO, the first Roma Nova thriller, which was also shortlisted for the 2013 International Rubery Book Award, and PERFIDITAS, the second in series, have been honoured with the B.R.A.G. Medallion, an award for independent fiction that rejects 90% of its applicants. Both were finalists in Writing Magazine’s 2014 Self-Published Book of the Year Award.

Alison’s third book, SUCCESSIO, which came out in June 2014, was also awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion and selected as the Historical Novel Society’s indie Editor’s Choice for Autumn 2014 and Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller’s inaugural Indie Preview, December 2014.

Tell us what genre you write in and why?

Alternative history thrillers. I love thrillers with more than the simple smash-and-chase, and I love historical fiction. I didn’t know you could change or ‘alternate’ the historical narrative until I read Robert Harris’ political detective thriller, Fatherland. So then I turned my idea of a women-led modern Roman society into real stories of action and adventure…

Where do you write?

In an office I designed with my husband. We converted part of the huge basement under our house into a snug working area.

What location most inspires your writing?

Juno! *thinks* The essence of every Roman site I’ve visited since I was 11 years old has embedded itself in my brain, but my favourite is Ostia Antica, Rome’s ancient seaport, because it’s human rather than grandiose.

Which of your books are you most proud of - and why?

Although SUCCESSIO, my latest, has gathered prestigious mentions - Historical Novel Society indie Editor’s Choice and The Bookseller inaugural indie preview Editor’s Choice - INCEPTIO, the first in the series, is the book of my heart. Like its heroine, its journey to publication has stumbled from ignorance via hard work, persistence and overcoming obstacles to reach its goal.

Tell us why you chose to write 'Roma Nova' series?

 The story had been bubbling away in my brain since I was fascinated by my first Roman mosaic pavement at age 11 in north-east Spain. I asked my father, “What would it be like if Roman women were in charge, instead of the men?” Maybe it was the fierce sun boiling my brain, maybe early feminism peeping out or maybe just a precocious kid asking a smartarse question. But clever man and senior ‘Roman nut’, my father replied, “What do you think it would be like?”

How did you handle the research?

In my stories, the standard timeline had diverged 1600 years previously in AD 395. This gave me a known baseline of the end of the fourth century so I researched the social, economic and political conditions of that time. By then, much had changed, even the everyday symbolic, yet practical, things like coinage; solidi had replaced sestertii and denarii, for instance. Regional government was localising with ‘barbarian’ warlords acting less like client kings of Rome and more like autonomous chiefs. The late fourth century was much less secure and prosperous than in the golden years of Vespasian’s or Trajan’s rule.
                     The families who would become Roma Novans held fast to traditional Roman values and religion - a conflict with the eastern, bureaucratic and Christian nature of the empire in AD 395. For a writer, such conflict is delicious!
                     I had to consider what would seem important to the Roma Nova colonists in those transitional times: security, food, and hope, ultimately survival. Their core Roman values would have bolstered them and formed a social glue while they struggled for existence. Next, I had to project the alternative timeline forward in a historically logical way but always with the 21st century in sight. A good general knowledge of/addiction to European history came in very handy!

What has been your proudest writing moment?

Unpacking the first ever box of INCEPTIO paperbacks. My book was real!

What book has most impressed you over the past year?

Okay, I’m going to cheat. Fiction: Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin. Non-fiction: Altered Pasts: Counterfactuals in History by Richard J. Evans

Give us a potted history of your route to publication.

When I was watching a terrible film in 2009 and realised even I could write a better story than the one on the screen, Roma Nova poured out of me. My now critique partner made me read aloud to her writing group and encouraged me to join the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme.
                   My first book, INCEPTIO, went through the scheme as well as through other professional assessments. I was getting full reads and ‘good’ rejections from agents and small publishers; “fresh, intelligent writing”, " tight dialogue”, “good action sequences”. I even had a full read from a US agent! Most of their concerns were about how to market “such innovative, high concept stories”.
                   I was burning to get my stories in front of readers - they are the ultimate arbiters - so I investigated self-publishing. I wanted my books to have the highest possible production values and in October 2012 opted for assisted publishing with SilverWood Books. In summer 2014, I decided to sign with an agent for subsidiary and foreign rights as feel under-qualified to optimise these. I prefer to spend my time writing!

What are your future writing plans?

Roma Nova book 4, AURELIA, is with my structural editor, who will no doubt have revisions for me, then it goes to the copy editor in late January, with a target publication of May 2015. Meanwhile, on with drafting book 5. Books 6 and 7 are swirling around in my head as I answer this question…



Alison’s web/blogsite: www.alison-morton.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor
Twitter: @alison-morton

In Conversation with Elizabeth Chadwick

By Gillian Hamer


Elizabeth Chadwick is one of Britain's foremost historical novelists. The Historical Novel Society recently called her 'The Best Writer of Medieval Fiction currently around.' She is published internationally and her work has been translated into sixteen languages. She is renowned for her extensive research into the medieval period and particularly so in the area of the Marshal and Bigod families. Her novels about the thirteenth century magnate William Marshal - The Greatest Knight, and The Scarlet Lion, have brought her international acclaim.

Photograph by Sandy McLeod.

From humble beginnings in 1989, after years of writing and rejections, finally Carole Blake of the Blake Friedmann literary agency became interested in The Wild Hunt, one of Elizabeth's books. A year later the book was published by Penguin and won a Betty Trask Award, which was presented to the author by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.

In the past quarter of a century Elizabeth has gone on to publish over twenty further novels and has won many more awards and accolades. She has built an entertaining social media platform, and regularly engages with her readers.

So, let's talk to Elizabeth about this month's theme of 'voice'; how she become involved with a Hollywood blockbuster .... and much more!

Warm welcome to Words with Jam, Elizabeth, you’ve been called one of the UK’s most prolific historical fiction authors, where did your love of the genre come from?

I developed an interest through watching film and TV - programs such as The Six Wives of Henry VIII (the Keith Michelle version, not more recent editions) and a children’s TV programme titled Desert Crusader which was about a knight having adventures in the Holy Land. If you Google ‘Thibaud ou les Croisades’ you can see the episodes in the original French. It also developed from having a great history teacher when I was at junior school who made the Middle Ages particularly interesting. I enjoy historical fiction in general as a reader, but only as part of a broad and eclectic reading habit. You’re just as likely to find me with my nose buried in a modern thriller, fantasy novel, a work of literary fiction, or work set in a different culture All are grist to the mill.

Why the Medieval period in particular?

As above mentioned, my interest was sparked by TV and education. When I became interested in the knight from the holy land, I was inspired to write a story, and I needed to begin researching the period. I knew nothing about it, so it involved starting from scratch. The more I researched the more interested I became in the life and times, and the more I wanted to write about it, so it went round in a circle really, one feeding off the other.

Would you like to have lived in the periods you write about, is that part of the fascination for you?

No, I’m quite happy living in my own century with all its modern benefits such as access to good health care and central heating. We might moan but we don’t know when we have it good. I would, however, really enjoy going back in time for regular holidays. Now that would be fun. And I would make it so I could take all my modern technology with me such as a camera and digital recorder to make note of everything I experienced.

Which book do you wish you had written - and why?

I don’t think there’s any book I wish I had written. When a teenager I often pondered about writing about Native Americans. I suppose from the far outside, and at an age when I was still immature, I thought the lifestyle terribly romantic. But then I read Hanta Yo by Ruth Beebee Hill and that was so brilliant that it put all such thoughts to bed. It’s one of my all-time favourite novels. But it was for her to write that book of her heart, not me.

Voice is the theme of this month’s issue, and I can’t think of a more appropriate author to talk about voice. How do you make sure the voice is perfect for the character and the period?

You find your own voice. For me it’s an instinct thing. I was born doing it. It’s like asking a bird how to fly an aeroplane. Practically I would say do your research. Read around your period and obtain many views. This will give you depth. Get to know your characters and their world inside and out. You need to be in their skins as much as you are in your own. You have to become them because if you don’t, you might as well just be yourself in fancy dress. At the same time you also need a sense of detachment. You need to be inside your character, and outside at the same time making critical writerly decisions. That’s not something I can tell you how to do, you have to find it for yourself

Research, love or loathe? It must be a massive part of your books. How do you handle it?

Absolutely vital. The more you know the better your characters will be of their time and the more realistic they and their settings will be. That doesn’t mean you have to info dump it into the novel. Heaven forbid. It should all be an organic part of the whole. It has to come from your characters and their lives in their world, not the author’s voice-over.

Who is your favourite of your own characters - and why?

That would have to be John Marshal from A Place Beyond Courage. Mainly because he is often misrepresented in history. I went digging to find his story and far from being the bad parent and fickle turncoat that other novelists have sometimes made him out to be, I found him to be a man of deep integrity faced with some utterly terrible decisions with all the responsibility - and blame - lying on his shoulders.

Which historical character do you have a secret urge to write about?

I think it would be interesting to write about Henry VII in a positive light. Richard III has been rightly studied and vindicated after his centuries long role as evil, child murdering hunchback. But in some ways he has turned into glowing Saint Richard, and because of that, Henry VII has now become the evil, thin lipped, nasty, sneery villain. So in losing the pantomime version of one we have created the pantomime version of the other. So yes, I think I’d enjoy redressing that balance. I’m not anti-Richard at all, I just think that there’s a lot more nuance to it than black or white.

You must have been delighted to get the three book commission to write about Eleanor of Aquitaine. Why did you want to tell her story?

Whenever I look at a character, I am always asking them: ‘What can you tell me that you have not told anyone before?’ Eleanor had been on my radar for quite a while because she kept cropping up in cameo roles in my novels. I began asking her that question, and the answers proved very fascinating because there is an awful lot that has not been said about her before, or has been said with a very different slant. Readers keep writing to me saying ‘This feels like the real and definitive Eleanor out of all the fiction that I’ve read.’ Obviously I’m very pleased about that, but it is the result of intensive and extensive research.

How did you become involved in writing the companion novel to the film, First Knight, and how did the experience differ to writing your own novels?

My agent happened to sit next to another agent at the Frankfurt book fair who had been employed by the film company to find a writer to turn the script of First Knight into a novel. My agent said she had such a writer on her books and that was how it came about. Being as I had a script I had to adapt, it made it a lot easier; it wasn’t as if my page was entirely blank to begin with. All I basically had to do was put in link scenes and some extra descriptions. So in many ways it was a quick write.

Your first novel, The Wild Hunt, was published in 1989. You must have seen many changes in publishing in the past quarter of a century?

The Wild Hunt was published in 1990 having been accepted the previous year. Indeed there have been changes. The rise of the Internet, the rise of self publishing, which is both a blessing and a curse. I think it’s wonderful that authors are now able to get their work out there to readers more easily; our technology has made that possible. But at the same time not all novels are ready to be published when their eager authors put them out there. It’s always best to seek out professional advice on editing and cover design if you are self publishing, and to seek out professional critiquing services, if you’re at the start of your career and you think you would like to self publish.

What three pieces of advice would you offer to up-and-coming writers today?

Most importantly, enjoy what you do. Have a good time telling the story. Writing should be fun.
Sure there are rules for writing, but in the words of Captain Barbosa from The Pirates of the Caribbean they are more like guidelines really. Don’t ever become their slave.
Be professional. If you have a professional attitude to your work and to social media, it will stand you in good stead as a platform from which to promote your work

Your writing is so visual, perfect for the film medium. Are there plans to see any of your own books made into TV or film?

It’s not as easy as it seems from the outside especially with historical which tend to have huge budgets because of the costumes. You may find some of the really big named authors such as Philippa Gregory or Bernard Cornwell obtaining film and TV contracts, but there are only so many historical series that are made. My agency in the UK is a film and TV agency and they have contacts in the industry and do their best. As yet nothing has happened although we have had a few nibbles interest round the edges. Let’s hope someone comes and takes a proper bite! I have my fingers crossed for Eleanor or William Marshal.

Can you tell us your future writing plans?

I have the third novel in my Eleanor of Aquitaine Trilogy to write The Autumn Throne. After that I shall be returning to William Marshal to write the story of what he did in his missing years in the Holy Land.

60 Seconds with Ann Swinfen

Ann Swinfen spent her childhood partly in England and partly on the east coast of America. She read Classics and Mathematics at Oxford. Her first three novels, The Anniversary, The Travellers, and A Running Tide, all with a contemporary setting but also historical resonance, were published by Random House, with translations into Dutch and German. Her fourth novel, The Testament of Mariam, marked something of a departure. Set in the first century, it recounts, from an unusual perspective, one of the most famous and yet ambiguous stories in human history. At the same time it explores life under a foreign occupying force, in lands still torn by conflict to this day. Her second historical novel, Flood, is set in the fenlands of East Anglia during the seventeenth century, where the local people fought desperately to save their land from greedy and unscrupulous speculators.

Currently she is working on a series set in late sixteenth century London, featuring a young Marrano physician who is recruited as a code-breaker and spy in Walsingham’s secret service. The first book in the series is The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez.

She now lives on the northeast coast of Scotland, with her husband (formerly vice-principal of the University of Dundee), a cocker spaniel and two Maine Coon cats.


Website: http://www.answinfen.com
Twitter name: @annswinfen
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ann.swinfen?fref=ts
Link to Mariam podcast: http://bit.ly/1DPEhhh

Tell us what genre you write in and why?

In the past I’ve written contemporary literary fiction, but I’m now writing historical fiction. History fascinates me, and the sense that all our roots are in the past. We are what we are because of everything that has gone before.

Where do you write?

In an armchair, with an extra large lap tray holding my laptop, notebook, pen, cup of tea… Piled up on either side, reference books and notes.

What location most inspires your writing?

I love the sea, but also any wild open spaces - mountains, moorlands.

Which of your books are you most proud of - and why?

Aren’t all of our books like our children? It’s unkind to single one out. But I suppose The Testament of Mariam is the most searching. Though I always try to confront serious issues as well as tell a good story.

Tell us why you chose to write 'The Testament of Mariam'?

Those who haven’t read The Testament of Mariam should understand that it is not a religious book. I’m not a church-going Christian. However, I do believe there was a remarkable man called Yeshûa ben Yosef (his Aramaic name), living in the Roman-occupied province of Palestine in the first century. I was intrigued by the fact that a man from a peasant village in the northern, rebellious part of the country managed to change the world with his message. Yet he was flesh and blood, had a normal family. What would it have been like to be the sister of such a man? That was my starting point. I wanted to dig away to find what it would have been like. At the beginning.

How did you handle the research?

Research is a joy! It feeds my appetite for history and I gobble it up. I probably buy far too many research books (the house is groaning under their weight), but I like to own them. The internet can be useful as a starting point, but I prefer to use the professionals. For Mariam I was astonished to find what a lot of detailed information was available, including the massive transcription of the Dead Sea Scrolls. When I needed to write a psalm of my own to use in the Essene portion, I even found a book on the structure and imagery of the psalms!

How did you so effortlessly transport the reader to the period/location?

I suppose it’s because when I am writing about a particular period and location, I am simultaneously living there myself, inside my head. All my senses are alive to the situation, so I suppose that comes across in the writing.

What book has most impressed you this year?

I seem to have been rereading a lot this year - the whole of Dorothy Dunnett’s work, the whole Cadfael series. I’ve also read, for the third or fourth time, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. I’ve long admired Hilary Mantel’s work and I think these are her best yet, so they take the prize.

You have moved from trad to indie publishing - why?

I became very frustrated with traditional publishing, with all its restrictions and long, long delays. When my agent said she wasn’t interested in handling historical fiction any more, it was time to move on. Indie publishing hands back control to the author, so we are reverting to the publishing practices which existed right up to the end of the nineteenth century. Indie authors form a warm and supportive community. I’m in control and have a wonderful group of friends - no wonder I’m happy!

What are your future writing plans?

I’ll be continuing with the Elizabethan Christoval Alvarez series, featuring a young physician working as a code-breaker and spy, which will eventually carry on into the reign of James I. A lot of readers have been urging me to write a sequel to my seventeenth-century fenland novel, Flood, so that is on the cards. A mediaeval series is a gleam in the corner of my eye.

Thank you so much, Gill, for inviting me to do this interview - excellent questions!


Anne has kindly offered one lucky reader the chance to listen to the audiobook version of The Testament of Mariam for FREE via Audible. Simply email whether you are US or UK based to [email protected] to enter the prize draw.

You can read Gillian's review of The Testament of Mariam .... HERE