The Household Cavalry

Categories: 17th centuryTags: · · · · · 18 Comments

When the last king of England, your father, has been executed by his enemies and you are finally reclaiming the throne, the first thing you want to do is get yourself a professional bodyguard, a crack force entirely loyal to you. This is what Charles II did when he was restored to the throne of England, Ireland and Scotland. As the Prince of Wales, he had been living with civil war since the age of twelve. He had seen men turn against his father and fight against him on the battlefield and turn  him over to his enemies. It’s no surprise that Charles…

Publishing announcement Traitor’s Knot

Categories: News · Traitor's KnotTags: · · · · 17 Comments

It is with a great deal of excitement that I announce that my novel, Traitor’s Knot, will be published by Endeavour Press in early 2017. Endeavour is the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. Traitor’s Knot is the first of a series that starts during the third English Civil war and leads to the restoration of King Charles II. I had the pleasure of meeting Amy Durant, Endeavour’s Publishing Director, at the Historical Novelist Society Conference in Oxford during a pitch session, and later hearing her thoughts on marketing and promotion during a panel discussion. Endeavour has come up with innovative ways to attract historical fiction readers,…

Worcester Cathedral 

Categories: 17th centuryTags: · · · · · · · · 3 Comments

This post was originally published for the English Historical Fiction Authors Blog on October 13, 2016. If you are interested in British History, I encourage you to visit the EHFA blog (click here). On the banks of the Severn River stands a magnificent cathedral. Framed against a river of gliding swans, Worcester Cathedral’s history has spanned centuries, serving as the final resting place for royalty and providing a backdrop for major conflicts. Even before the present day cathedral, the site was consecrated by a priory founded in the 7th century. Nothing now remains of this original priory, but in the 10th century,…

Battle of Worcester Society

Categories: NewsTags: · · · · · 5 Comments

I had the pleasure and honour of speaking before the Battle of Worcester Society for their Civil War Night series. The talk happened on September 1st, two days before the 365th anniversary of the Battle of Worcester, the final engagement of the English Civil War. As well, BBC Radio Hereford Worcester interviewed me on the subject of my talk and aired the interview in the evening before the event. The subject of my talk was Captain James Hind, a Royalist Highwayman who fought for King Charles II. Captain Hind managed to escape the battlefield and elude Parliamentary soldiers who were beating the…

Gone editing

Categories: Creativity · NewsTags: · · · · · · 2 Comments

Or should that be gone to edit, or better yet, I am editing… Just to drop everyone a brief line, for the next month I will be on my own hero’s journey, deep in the land of edits and searching for the holy grail of polished manuscripts. In the meantime, for the writers and artists out there, I’d like to suggest some articles on writing to inspire your own journey: Storytelling makes us human examines how our creativity sets us apart. Don’t speak to Bob is a reminder to keep close and personal to your main character NaNoWriMo is the marathon of the…