Guest post: The Mallory Saga by Paul Bennett

It's been a long time since I have invited an author onto the blog for a guest post. But I love guests and it is with great pleasure that I welcome Paul Bennett on today to tell us all about his series of novels, The Mallory Saga, set during The French and Indian War and its aftermath, and the Revolutionary War.

Having dabbled in writing and poetry over the years, Paul had harboured the desire to write the next great American novel, but life got in the way until 2013 when he started writing book reviews, and communicating with authors about the process of writing a novel. His dream returned, and the fruit of his labours became the Mallory Saga novels.

So, over to Paul to tell us about the inspiration and the history behind the books.

The inspiration to write was, in the beginning, merely to see if I could do it.  I had written short pieces over the years but to tackle a full blown novel was a daunting prospect.  Once the seed was planted I came up with a rough idea of telling the story of three siblings living somewhere in colonial America.  Choosing that general locale was a natural fit for me as I’ve been a lifelong student of American history and I felt that if I was going to write a historical fiction novel, it might be prudent to choose a subject I knew a little about. I picked The French and Indian War as the starting point for what was now becoming a possible series of books that would follow the Mallory clan through the years.  That war intrigued me and I saw a chance to tell the story through the eyes of the Mallory family.  It also provided me with the opportunity to tell the plight of the Native Americans caught up in this conflict.  The French and Indian War paved the way for the colonies to push further west into the Ohio River area.  It also set the stage for the events of the 1770’s.  Britain incurred a huge debt winning that war and looked to the colonies for reimbursement in the form of new taxes and tariffs.  Well, we all know how those ungrateful colonists responded. 

As to the name Mallory – I have a photo hanging on my living room wall of my great grandfather, Harry Mallory.  I got to know him when I was a young boy and was always glad when we visited him.  He lived a good portion of his life in western Pennsylvania which is where much of Clash of Empires takes place.  So, as a gesture to my forebears, Mallory became the name of the family. 

Clash of Empires

In 1756, Britain and France are on a collision course for control of the North American continent that will turn into what can be described as the 1st world war, known as The Seven Year’s War in Europe and The French and Indian War in the colonies.  The Mallory family uproots from eastern PA and moves to the western frontier and find themselves in the middle of the war. It is a tale of the three Mallory siblings, Daniel. Liza and Liam and their involvement in the conflict; the emotional trauma of lost loved ones, the bravery they exhibit in battle situations.  The story focuses on historical events, such as, the two expeditions to seize Fort Duquesne from the French and the fighting around Forts Carillon and William Henry and includes the historical characters George Washington, Generals Braddock, Forbes and Amherst.  The book also includes the event known as Pontiac’s Rebellion in which the protagonists play important roles.  Clash of Empires is an exciting look at the precursor to the events of July 1776; events that are chronicled in the second book, Paths to Freedom, as I follow the exploits and fate of the Mallory clan.

Paths to Freedom

In Paths to Freedom the children of the three Mallory siblings begin to make their presence known, especially Thomas, the oldest child of Liza and Henry Clarke (see right there, already another family line to follow), but Jack and Caleb, the twin sons of Liam and Rebecca along with Bowie, the son of Daniel and Deborah are beginning to get involved as well. The French and Indian War, the historical setting for book 1, was over, and the Mallory/Clarke clan is looking forward to settling and expanding their trading post village, Mallory Town, now that the frontier is at peace. And for a time they had peace, but the increasing discontent in the East, not so much toward the increasing rise in taxes, but the fact that Parliament was making these decisions without any input from the colonies, slowly made its way west to the frontier. Once again the Mallory/Clarke clan would be embroiled in another conflict.
Another facet of my saga is that the main characters are not always together in the same place or even the same event. In Paths my characters are spread out; some have gone East, some have gone West, some are sticking close to Mallory Town, so in effect there are three stories being told, and that means more plots, subplots, twists and surprises. 

One of the aspects of the lead up to The Revolutionary War was the attempt by the British to ensure cooperation with the Native Americans, especially the Iroquois Confederation. The British had proclaimed that they would keep the colonies from encroaching on tribal lands, a strong inducement indeed. However, some tribes, like The Oneida, had established a good relationship with the colonists. I knew right away when I started book 2 that the relationship between the Mallory’s and the tribes would be part of it. Among the historical Native Americans who take part in Paths are the Shawnee Chiefs; Catecahassa (Black Hoof), Hokoleskwa (Cornstalk), Pucksinwah (father of Tecumseh), and the Mingo leader Soyechtowa (Logan).

I also realized that I needed to get someone to Boston, and the Sons of Liberty. Thomas Clarke, the eighteen year old son of Liza and Henry, was the perfect choice for the assignment (mainly because he was the only child old enough at the time). Through him we meet the luminaries of the Boston contingent of rebels, Paul Revere, Dr. Joseph Warren, John Hancock, and the firebrand of the bunch, Sam Adams. Plenty of history fodder to be had…British raid in Salem…Tea Party…the famous midnight rides…culminating with the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Oh yes, plenty of opportunities for Thomas.

An untenable situation arises in Mallory Town resulting in Liam and his two companions, Wahta and Mulhern, finding themselves on a journey to the shores of Lake Michigan and beyond. Driven by his restless buffalo spirit, Liam has his share of adventures; encountering a duplicitous British commander, meeting many new native tribes, some friendly, some not so much. A spiritual journey in a land not seen by many white men.

I ended Paths with the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first shots of The Revolutionary War. The flint has been struck; the tinder has taken the spark. Soon the flames of war will engulf the land, and the Mallory clan will feel the heat in the third book, Crucible of Rebellion. 

Crucible of Rebellion

The timeline for Crucible is 1775 – 1778. I decided to split the Revolutionary War into two books, mainly because there is so much more action as opposed to The French & Indian War…and because as I was writing, my characters insisted on some scenes I hadn’t previously thought of. 😀Book 4 of the saga is in the planning stages. Tentative title – A Nation Born.

The three Mallory siblings, Daniel, Liza, and Liam play important parts in Crucible of Rebellion, but it is their children who begin to make their marks on the saga. Their youngest son, Ethan, and their daughter Abigail, of Daniel and Deborah travel with their parents to Boonesborough, and reside there with Daniel Boone. The war reaches even this remote frontier, prompting Daniel and Deborah to move further west in search of peace. However, the banks of The Wabash River prove not to be immune to conflict.
Their eldest son, Bo accompanies Liam’s twins, Jack and Cal, first to Fort Ticonderoga, then to Boston with a load of cannon for General Washington’s siege of Boston (the Noble Train of Artillery with Colonel/General Henry Knox). In Boston they meet up with Liza and Henry’s son Thomas, who is no longer a prisoner (can’t say more than that), Marguerite, and Samuel Webb. 

General Washington has plans for the Mallory boys…plans which see some of them in a few of the more important battles of the war… the escape from Long Island, the surprise attack at Trenton, the turning point battles at Saratoga NY, as well as taking part in numerous guerrilla type skirmishes. 
A long ways away from the conflict Liam, with Wahta, are living with the Crow along the Bighorn River. Liza and Henry made the trip to Boonesborough with Daniel and Deborah, but do not go with them to The Wabash….they have their own adventures.

Although I write fiction tales, the historical aspect of the saga provides the backdrop. History is often overlooked, or is taught with a certain amount of nationalistic pride, whitewashing controversial events, much to the detriment of humankind. So I hope that what I write might help broaden the reader’s horizon a bit, that what they learned in school isn’t necessarily the whole story. Two main historical topics in the story of America that frequent The Mallory Saga are slavery, and the plight of the indigenous people who have lived here since before the founding of Rome; two historical topics that linger still in America’s story. Entertainment and elucidation; lofty goals for a humble scribe telling a tale.

Connect with Paul Bennett and buy his books

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/mallorysaga

Mallory Saga Blog

https://clashofempires.wordpress.com/

Clash buy link

Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXR186R

Paperback

https://www.amazon.com/dp/154066662X

Paths buy links

Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081V9P4R8

Paperback

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1710442093

Crucible buy link

Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P8Z1V1T

GUEST POST: Capturing Time and Place in a Sentence by Dean Hamilton

Way back in 2016 I read a novella by Dean Hamilton called Black Dog. It featured a swashbuckling tough character called Kit Tyburn and was a richly detailed portrayal of Elizabethan London.

A few days ago I started listening to the audio book of the first novel about the same character, THE JESUIT LETTER, and I have again been impressed with Hamilton's depth of historical knowledge and how he paints a realistic picture of 16th century England.

The creation of a believable setting is one of the key elements in writing convincing historical fiction, so I asked Dean to write a guest post explaining how he goes about casting the spell of time travel over his readers. I think the piece he wrote will interest readers and writers alike.

Capturing Time and Place in a Sentence

by Dean Hamilton

One of the challenges in writing historical fiction, is the effort to capture a setting.  How do you write believably about an era that is long vanished in time? How do you make that setting come alive, in a realistic and accurate way? How does that setting drive the story, characters actions and choices, and how do they interact with that world?

THIEVES’ CASTLE, my new book, is set in the Elizabethan era in 1576 in London. Most fiction embedded in the Elizabethan era tends to be tales of Court intrigue, set amidst the silken splendor of palaces.  Mine tends to hang about in ale-soaked taverns, muddy streets and fetid back-alleys where cold-steel by lantern light offers redemption or grim death by turns…

In THIEVES’ CASTLE, Kit Tyburn, ex-soldier turned play-actor and part-time intelligencer for the Queen’s spymaster Francis Walsingham, is back in London and adrift. Penniless, cut loose from both his playing troupe and his mercurial employer, Tyburn is hired to track down a missing gold-seller who has vanished, along with the monies needed for the completion of London’s first permanent theatre.

But London’s dark and fetid back-alleys hide deadly secrets, as Tyburn uncovers a more treacherous game – a war between two noble houses that pulls him into a murderous conflict on the streets, a deadly Spanish conspiracy and a twisted thief-lord chasing her vengeance.

The defining parameters for the setting of THIEVES’ CASTLE were driven by two ideas:

1. Take Elizabethan historical fiction out of the silken palaces and court intrigue and into the streets of London. 
2. Make those streets, taverns and hidden locales into as real place as you can, make London itself a detailed, complex, vibrant character in the books.

Tyburn, the protagonist, spends comparatively little time in the environment that most readers tend to associate with the Tudor world of fiction – the worlds of Kings, Queens, of palaces and grand homes or the splendor and intrigue of the Royal Court. Almost all the story moments that are set in such places are ones that Tyburn is uncomfortable and in an environment that is, at best, somewhat alien to him.

The streets however are different. In the streets, he moves with ease, he can blend in, find his way. He can move through the bustling crowds, the hawkers and the carters. It is a rhythm and a pace that he is familiar with and, in that familiarity, he brings the reader along to discover the discord and colour of the Elizabethan world.

“The weather was cold and damp and Tyburn’s breath hung in the air. A thin skiff of ice crackled underfoot where puddles had formed between desultory sets of cobbles and thick, sagging expanses of mud. Tyburn gave a rooting pig a sharp kick to open up some walking space between the stony wall of a building and a heavily laden cart. The cantilevered upper stories of the timbered houses on Shepard Lane hovered overhead like an oppressive canopy, giving the narrow laneway the feel of a mountain defile.”

Building an evocative setting for historical fiction is difficult, particularly for an era that few physical structures remain, such as the Tudor period. While most Tudor-era structures were laid waste by the impact of time, the Great Fire and, most recently, by the Luftwaffe and modern developers, there are still a wide range of primary and secondary sources that can help.

In trying to understand Tudor London and generate as vivid a picture of the setting as possible, the first and best starting point is to develop a picture of the physical geography of the place. A map is critical and there are a number of historical maps, panoramas, and other sources that you can use to dive into the structure of the city. Understanding how the city developed over time, the growth of population, critical infrastructure, points of entry, key industries and social structures all provide insight into the experience of walking those streets.

In the case of London, the Civitas Londinum map, also called the Agas Map, offers a brilliant view of London from about 1561. If you want, you can lose several hours exploring the interactive version online (https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca), which is a fabulous resource for writers. Beyond whatever maps are available, there are primary sources that touch upon the social structure, geography and commerce of the day. Again for London, I would recommend John Stow’s A Survey of London, published in 1598, which offers up a richly detailed survey of the city and its inhabitants.

One thing the Tudor era does not lack, is written documentation. You can read plays (Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson), commercial records, court records, proclamations, crime or religious pamphlets, sermons, travellers accounts, cookbooks, books on manners, legal records, even books that delve into the vagaries of cozenage (con-artists and tricks), gambling, roguery, crime and begging.

All of these sources together need to be processed, reviewed and considered from the writer’s point of view. Detail and depth are terrific but they need to serve the story foremost. As fascinating as we might find the background of a certain church or street, it needs to illuminate some aspect of the story world or the characters inhabiting it. Details that are immersive, that involve all the senses, such as the stench of a shambles, or the strident shouts of street hawkers, the feel of a starched ruff, are all details used to pull the reader into the setting and to experience it more richly.

The key goal is to make the setting a living place, with hidden depths and byways, and a myriad bustle of inhabitants that make it more than a painted backdrop. Done right, it makes the world your story inhabits one that engages the reader and feels real and lived in. And engagement helps turn the pages!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief dive into settings in historical fiction! Feel free to dive in a little more and grab a copy of my new book THIEVES’ CASTLE, now available for Kindle ebooks and print on AMAZON.

US https://amzn.to/2Nk8sKM
UK https://amzn.to/2LelIz1
Canada https://amzn.to/2Pl3foP

Dean Hamilton works as a marketing professional by day and prowls the imaginary alleyways of the Elizabethan era in his off-hours. He is married, with a son, a dog, and a small herd of cats. He is the author of the gripping Elizabethan thriller series The Tyburn Folios.

Website: www.tyburntree.blogspot.com
Twitter: @Tyburn__Tree

What Ruadh Butler learnt writing Lord of the Sea Castle

Today's guest blog post in the "What I Learnt..." series comes from historical fiction author, Ruadh Butler. Ruadh as born in County Derry at the height of the Troubles. A degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ulster, as well as study in Virginia and London, couldn't entice him into a life of scientific research, but to keep the wolf from the door he worked in laboratories, in newsrooms, and in bars. He even tried his hand as a soldier, musician, security guard and lifeguard during his twenties. Ruadh lives in Northern Ireland and Lord of the Sea Castle is the second novel in his Invader series.

I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Lord of the Sea Castle. It's a great read. Here's what I said about it:

"From tourneys to treachery; from Welsh Marches to Irish marauders, Ruadh Butler propels us into the tumultuous times of the twelfth century. The clangour of swords and battle cries of knights echo from the pages of 'Lord of the Sea Castle', as Butler tells a gripping tale with skill, verve and gusto."

What Ruadh Butler Learnt writing LORD OF THE SEA CASTLE

1. You can still visit ruins built by the Normans in 1170.

My new novel, Lord of the Sea Castle, takes place in the summer of 1170 and follows directly the events of Swordland. This book charts the activities of a small advance force of some 120 men (and one woman) that cross the Irish Sea in order to build a bridgehead and prepare the way for an invasion by a Welsh baron named Strongbow. Led by the wonderfully named Raymond the Fat, the historic figure upon whom my lead character is based, they immediately began constructing a defensible position on a headland called Dun Domhnall in south County Wexford. I had the pleasure of visiting the site (which is now called Baginbun) a few summers ago as part of my research and was amazed to find that the earthworks his men had built almost a millennia ago were still visible. And what a construction! The wooden palisade which had once topped the double entrenchments would’ve disappeared or been stolen soon after 1170, but the bulwarks still soared over my head, running between the sea cliffs for two hundred yards or so. It was not difficult to stand atop those dramatic ruins, in that wind swept place, and imagine what it might’ve been like to be a Norman invader beset on all sides by enemies and pounded by the weather off the ocean. Given the importance of the campaigns that followed I admit to wondering if the site deserved better than a mere sign noting the date of Raymond’s arrival.

Baginbun Head with the Norman earthworks running east-west between the two beaches at the narrowest point in the headland.

2. Irish names can be tough!

While Ireland was an easily accessible place for traders from across Europe in the Age of Invasions it nonetheless remained, culturally at the very least, an alien place to those from the Romanised world of Christendom (as well as to us now in the western world). This is perhaps most readily seen in the difficulties pronouncing the non-Anglicised versions of places and people. Where does one start when attempting Máel Sechlainn Ua Fhaolain, Donnchadh Ua Riagháin and Máelmáedoc Ua Riagain?! They are certainly confusing, but to go with ‘Connor’ rather Conchobar or ‘Rory’ rather than Ruaidhrí would be for me to lose an immediate and easy access to what the Normans experienced when they first arrived in medieval Ireland. That is the distinct and very real feeling of unease with the unfamiliar. My desire is to transport and immerse the reader in the twelfth century and I hope that this small ruse helps that cause! In Lord of the Sea Castle, the second instalment of the Invader Series, readers will be introduced to the world of the Ostmen. They were the descendants of the Viking Norse and Danes who had founded the great cities of Ireland such as Waterford and Dublin in the ninth and tenth centuries. A three hundred year old and unique culture by 1170, the Ostmen retained many of the customs of their Scandinavian ancestors, mingling them with Gaelic beliefs adopted from the natives. It was against them that the full force of the Norman war machine would be directed. So rather than names like Diarmait we will have to contend with Sigtrygg and instead of Osraighe we visit places as easy to remember as Veðrarfjord and Strangrfjord!

3. The Normans were the first proponents of Ikea-style self-assembly wares.

They were the descendants of Scandinavians after all! However, the Norman version of Ikea products was less about furniture for inside the house and rather more about exteriors. They brought ready-to-assemble wooden castles with them whenever their sights settled upon a new land to conquer. Many of these fortifications were subsequently rebuilt in stone, but when they first took England, swarmed across Wales, and later invaded Ireland they erected motte and bailey castles. Speed of assembly was essential. The castle was the greatest weapon that the Normans had to help them survive beyond the frontier in hostile terrain and so in preparation they cut and numbered timber boards and trunks to bring with them. With these they formed the lower portion of the castle, the bailey, bringing all they had with them inside and secure. The longer process – the building of the high earth hillock, the motte, and the digging of a defensive ditch – could then begin safe in the knowledge that their horses and supplies were behind a sturdy barricade. While it is not recorded whether the men who invaded Ireland brought a ready-made castle with them to Ireland, they did leave remnants of their work for us to see. In a bend of the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig just outside Wexford Town, the first invader of Ireland, Robert FitzStephen, built his castle. While that fortress has long since disappeared, you can still visit its location and the castle reconstruction at the Irish National Heritage Park.

4. It was the Welsh bow, rather than the Norman lance, that really conquered Ireland.

From the very early days of their invasion of Wales the Normans had fallen in love with the natives’ most deadly weapon, the longbow. The Lords of the March soon began employing Welshmen into their armies and quickly found out how effective they could be when deployed in combination with Norman cavalry. Needless to say when the time came for a new adventure across the Irish Sea the Norman lords made sure they had archers from Gwent on their side.

At the Siege of Baginbun in 1170, Raymond the Fat’s force of 120 was almost two-thirds made up of archers with only a handful of the heavy cavalrymen we consider so characteristic of the Normans of the period. The remainder, usually treble that of the heavy cavalry, was made of ‘half-armoured’ horsemen believed to be esquires or apprentice knights. The same structure would continue to be used by the Cambro-Normans throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and would remain all most irresistible even when the invaders were outnumbered many times over in a hundred different battles against the Gael and the Ostmen.

Picture taken looking down between the earthworks at Baginbun Head in Wexford. They were constructed by Raymond the Fat in 1170.

5. The final conquest of Ireland by the English crown came as a result of the murder of Thomas Becket.

The invasion of Ireland began as a private enterprise undertaken, not by the state or a king, but by individuals. The first to try their luck in 1169 were the Geraldines, a family from west Wales linked through their shared kinship to the famed Nest, daughter of the last King of Deheubarth, and led by Robert FitzStephen. This clan had been considered all but outside the control of the centralised state created by King Henry II of England. In Ireland they no longer felt the need to make even token acknowledgement to the throne as overlord. They found freedom beyond the frontier. The Geraldines were followed to Ireland by Strongbow. Though a rich landowner in Wales, he had been exiled from the royal court for fifteen years and was suffering under the financial and social constraints imposed by his disgrace. In Ireland he sought a crown of his own. King Henry feared that he might succeed and raise a rival Norman state in Ireland. He feared the potential drain on his warriors and the threat to his western borders. He feared losing control. But Henry II was not the sort of man to waste money on military escapades. His campaigns were more often led by lawyers and justices and fought with court decrees rather than sword and steed in glorious battle. His first attempt to derail Strongbow and the Geraldines was to ban shipping to Ireland from all English ports. Without supplies or hope of reinforcement from their homeland, the Norman adventurers only just managed to maintain their hold over their new lands. Little did the adventurers realise, but the murder of Becket in December 1170 would bring about an end to their, and by extension Ireland’s, independence.

According to some sources, Pope Adrian IV had issued a Papal Bull in 1155 granting governance of Ireland to Henry II in return for his enforcement of Papal reforms on the island. However, the king, having only just taken the throne, had his hands full imposing control over his unruly subjects in England and put a pin in the idea. Fifteen years later, when Henry found himself under the threat of excommunication by Pope Alexander III following Becket’s murder, and with a sudden and very real need to absent himself from England, the king remembered Pope Adrian’s Bull. Bringing the hitherto self-governing Irish Church (particularly all the associated revenues and profits) back under the auspices of the Church of Rome was, Henry considered, something that might just put in back in the good graces of the pope. It was even worth the great expense of putting an army in the field overseas, the miserly king reckoned. But of course there remained another reason for him to take a force of 4,000 men across the sea: Strongbow and the Geraldines. The price of appeasing King Henry in October 1171 was a heavy one for the insubordinate adventurers to pay. Strongbow was forced to give up the cities of Waterford and Dublin in order to retain the rest of Leinster. The Geraldines fared worse. They lost all their hard won Irish estates while their leader, Robert FitzStephen, was imprisoned for several months by the king. The Irish princes and chieftains probably thought that they had a good deal when they made their submission before the might of King Henry. Little did they know that in the decades to follow Henry and his sons would use this compliance as an excuse to award their kingdoms to Norman knights in need of reward.

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What Cynthia A. Graham learnt while researching for Beulah's House of Prayer

Next in the "What I Learnt..." series is Cynthia A. Graham. She is the winner of several writing awards, including a Gold IPPY and a Midwest Book Award for Beneath Still Waters. Cynthia is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the St. Louis Writers’ Guild, the Missouri Writers’ Guild, and Sisters in Crime. Her latest book, Beulah’s House of Prayer, is her first foray in the land of magical realism.

What Cynthia Graham learnt while researching for Beulah's House of Prayer

The past has always been fascinating to me because I never felt like it was some distant, forgotten time. It surrounds me, influences me, it contains the building blocks of who I am and where I’ve come from, it is everywhere. My family has always been a family of story. My dad was a master storyteller, relaying to me tales of his own childhood and those of his ancestors. Stories of covered wagons, twisters, music, and chopping cotton filled my thoughts and dreams.

 I grew up reading the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Louisa May Alcott and when I matured devoured every novel by Jane Austen and any sister with the surname Bronte. While the stories they wrote were contemporary for their time, I was struck with the fact that our basic human needs and desires have not changed over the decades or centuries.  These authors helped me to fall in love with the mannerisms and the hardships of the past.

The Great Depression has always intrigued me, perhaps because I have known people who actually lived through it and have seen firsthand how it changed them. Their experiences colored their lives and the way they looked at the world forever. I suppose I wrote Beulah’s House of Prayer because so much of the American mystique regarding the Depression is defined by John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath. But not everyone who lived through this time was a Joad -- an Okie traveling from home to try their hand in another place. In fact, the majority of Oklahomans stayed behind and these were the people who fired my imagination. I wanted to learn about them, why they stayed and what they suffered.

The Oklahoma Panhandle, where I set Beulah’s House of Prayer, was particularly devastated by the “Dust Bowl” days. It is easier to see the big picture when it comes to dust storms -- those eerie black and white photos of enormous clouds swallowing up houses -- than it is to understand the everyday nuisance and the absolute misery these storms created.  It is nearly impossible to comprehend how difficult it was to keep the dust out of a house. It had to be carried outside with a shovel after every storm. Towels and washcloths were wetted and placed in window sills to keep the dust from seeping in. Spiders, centipedes, and other insects sought shelter inside of homes and people would often wake to find them in bed.

It was also impossible to keep the dust off of and out of bodies. It is strange to think that something so seemingly benign could be deadly, but inhaled it caused dust pneumonia, an often lethal disease. To try and combat this, the Red Cross distributed Vaseline to citizens, instructing them to rub it in their nostrils to try and keep the lungs clear. But the dust was stealthy; it crept through masks, nestled in shirt pockets, and filled ears. It was impossible to escape.

Every day living was tedious and difficult. The storms were powerful enough to cause car batteries to short out leaving motorists stranded and they created the phenomenon known as St. Elmo’s Fire. Even a doorknob could deliver a considerable shock if the storm packed enough energy. Day after dust-filled day blotted the sun and eventually killed livestock and choked creeks and rivers.

But, above all, I believe these dust storms wore away at the fortitude of those living through them. They were soul killing. The mental and emotional toll caused by the constant monotony of storms, cleaning up, and hunger was staggering.  While some died from the dust outright, in the form of pneumonia or exposure, there was a hidden death toll in alcoholism and suicide. Those who didn’t succumb lived on prairie chickens and jackrabbits but they survived. And the heroism in this simple act of survival, in enduring one of the worst natural disasters in recent history, was what I sought to honor with Beulah’s House of Prayer.

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Keep up to date with Cynthia online: 

www.cynthiaagraham.com

@cynthiaa_graham

Buy Cynthia's books:

Beulah’s House of Prayer

Beneath Still Waters

Behind Every Door

What Anna Belfrage learnt while researching her latest series

Next up in the "What I Learnt..." series is Anna Belfrage. She is a prolific writer, who since 2013 has published ten novels and won many awards. She is a great writer, who manages to make everything she writes entertaining, so I am extremely pleased to welcome her to my blog.

What Anna Belfrage learnt while researching her latest series

As long as I can remember, I’ve had a thing about the Middle Ages. My first writing efforts were all set in this time period, most of them featuring a very brave and determined girl who dresses up as a page and saves Richard the Lionheart from repeated assassination attempts.

Some years down the line and I met my other half, who happened to come with an absolutely fascinating family history set in the 17th century. Yes, I was seduced (both by the man and the story). Yes, I turned my back on my first historical love and spent many, many happy years digging through the complexities of the 17th century before publishing an entire series set in this time frame.

But, as they say, one never forgets that first love, and through various convoluted means I was drawn back to the heady environment of the Plantagenets and their kingdom. Thing is, something had warped, and instead of digging into the familiar territory of Richard, baby brother John, impressive mama Eleanor and wonderfully contradictory daddy Henry II, I jumped forward a century or so. I had discovered the tumultuous reign of Edward II.

I knew a bit about Edward beforehand – and especially about that enigmatic gentleman, Roger Mortimer, who was to play such a pivotal role in Edward II's life. Why? Because I had a talented history teacher back in the good old days, and Mr Wilmshurst had three passions: The Maya empire, the reign and enforced abdication of Edward II, and perfectly coloured maps. You wanted an A from Mr Wilmshurst, and you’d best ensure every single map was delivered with beautifully outlined borders and blended colours.

Edward II and Roger Mortimer are two very different men – or so they are remembered. Where Edward II was the disappointing successor to an impressive and powerful king – Edward I was a hard act to follow – young Mortimer rose rapidly through the baronial ranks, applauded for his competence, his courage, his strategical skills, all qualities Edward II supposedly lacked. Well, maybe not courage, because Edward II demonstrated repeatedly that he could be very brave when so required.

What both Edward and Roger have in common is that people tend to approach them with a predetermined view of who they were. Edward is often dismissed as a homosexual fop, while Mortimer is the sadistic bastard who rammed a red-hot poker up the fop’s arse. Hmm. I’d say very, very few historians – if any – believe Edward was killed in such a ghastly way.

If we start with Edward, my recent years of researching this unhappy king, paints a complex picture. Undoubtedly intelligent, Edward was also vain, fickle, vindictive, and far too dependent on his selected favourites. He was also the father of four legitimate children and at least one illegitimate child, which would indicate he was fully capable of heterosexual relationships.

Whether or not Edward preferred male companions in bed, we don’t really know – we just think we know. His overt affection for men like Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser could be construed as going beyond friendship. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t. After all, in the medieval period it was not unusual for men to share a bed with no other intentions but to sleep.

We do know that for many years Edward lived in a relatively harmonious marriage with his beautiful and much younger wife, Isabella Capet. We do know that at some point in the early 1320s, his hitherto working marriage came under considerable strain when he deprived his wife of her dower lands. Some think he may have done this for one of two reasons: Isabella was French, and England and France were at war over Gascony, or, Isabella was suspected of being in cahoots with Mortimer, who was determined to oust Hugh Despenser once and for all from Edward’s life – an ambition Isabella eagerly applauded.

For those who do not share my passion for all things medieval, a very quick and dirty summary of events is that Hugh Despenser rose to be Edward II's royal chancellor and enriched himself as he went, appropriating land belonging to others, blackmailing widows and orphans into paying him substantial amounts for them to have access to their inheritance, and in general being a somewhat unsavoury character. Despenser and Mortimer were hereditary enemies – Mortimer’s grandfather had killed Despenser’s – so when Despenser’s star rose, Mortimer’s fortunes fell, to the point that he felt obliged to rebel, which ended with an extended stay in the Tower before Mortimer fled for France.

In conclusion, what we really know about Edward II is that he was an inept king who looked the other way when his favourite Hugh Despenser rode roughshod over the law to increase his wealth. We know his marriage collapsed in 1325 – in the sense that once Isabella left for France (she was sent to negotiate a treaty with her brother) she never came back to resume her position as Edward II’s loyal and devoted wife.  We know he hated and feared Mortimer and the barons who sided with Mortimer in his attempts to curb Despenser’s power. We know that when Mortimer and Isabella returned to England in 1326, Edward fled west with Despenser but was captured. Despenser was executed, Edward incarcerated. He was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, and reputedly he died in September of 1327. Some say he was murdered. Some say he sickened and died. Some say he didn’t die. Well, obviously he did die at some point, but maybe not in September of 1327 at Berkeley Castle.

So what of Roger Mortimer? What do we know of him? Born the heir to a Marcher baron, he contracted a fantastic marriage with Joan de Geneville which made him very, very rich. The couple had chemistry, resulting in at least a dozen children, the oldest born when Roger was fifteen or sixteen. He was a loyal servant to the crown, both in Ireland and in attempting to establish some sort of truce between Edward II and his fiery cousin Thomas of Lancaster. Life was pretty good for Roger well into 1318 – which was when Despenser began rising to true prominence thereby thwarting Mortimer’s ambitions. Edward no longer viewed Mortimer favourably, and in 1321 things exploded into rebellion. By 1322, Mortimer was in custody and labelled the King’s Greatest Traitor. I guess Despenser laughed his head off – for a while, until Mortimer escaped the Tower.

As an aside, because Mortimer was arrested and attainted – twice (once in 1322, once in 1330) – detailed records of what he owned survive. Out of the murky rolls steps forth the image of a man who enjoyed his luxuries, who preferred to sleep on (red) silk sheets, who had a predilection for decorating his fabrics with whimsical butterflies, who was serious about his fighting apparel, owning an impressive collection of armour, horses, weapons. A man of refined tastes, who read books and played chess, flew falcons and rode to the hounds. In truth, Roger was something of a bon vivant – and rich enough to indulge himself. Something he had in common with his king, I suspect.

When Mortimer escaped the Tower and fled to France he was warmly welcomed by Charles of France, Isabella’s brother and Edward’s brother-in-law. Why would a king support a rebel? Well, Roger was known as a great general, a proven leader of men, and such men were always useful. Did Charles suspect Edward wasn’t treating his baby sister as he should? No idea – nor do I think it would have affected Charles’ behaviour. Royal consorts were expected to deal with things, not whinge.

Whatever the case, in 1325 Isabella also showed up in France as her husband’s ambassador. Edward had demanded Mortimer be expelled from the French court before Isabella arrived, and initially Charles complied. But by December of 1325, Mortimer was back, and he and Isabella embarked on a love affair. We think. We don’t know, even if a lot of things point in that direction – like the fact that they seem to have spent a lot of time together – joined at the hip, almost. Some say Isabella and Mortimer were an item already back in 1322-3, that she helped him flee the Tower. Very doubtful – but it makes for a great story.

What we do know is that in 1326 Isabella invaded England – with Mortimer at her side. It is an equally undisputed fact that for the coming four years he was more or less always at her side, co-regent for Edward III. Were they lovers throughout this period? Did they share moments of pleasure in between ruling the country and restoring law and order? No idea – but I like to think so.

As stated above, in 1327 Edward II supposedly died. Some say at Mortimer’s hand – accusations of murder were made at Mortimer’s trial in 1330, but once again, we don’t know. But had he done it, I dare say he’d have resorted to subtler means than a red-hot poker. What we do know is that Mortimer died in November of 1330 – hanged by his neck after having been drawn through the streets of London. Did he deserve to die? Probably – but more for his usurpation of power than a purported (and unproven) murder. Was Isabella heartbroken? No idea – but she was also punished for her role in attempting to control the young hawk that was Edward III. In difference to Mortimer, Isabella did not hang. She was simply retired from the centre of things – for good.

In summary, after all my reading, all my researching, both Mortimer and Edward II remain shadowy creatures, the facts we know offering little more than an outline. What they thought and felt, how they grieved and celebrated, remains something of a dark hole. To paraphrase a popular TV series, all that reading and it can be summed up as “You know nothing, Anna Belfrage”. Thing is, this is not a bad thing for a historical novelist. In fact, it is absolutely perfect, allowing me to create my own images of these two flawed men and presenting them to the world. Is it a true and fair representation? Probably not. But I hope it is plausible – and engaging!

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Anna Belfrage is the author of the acclaimed time-slip series The Graham Saga, winner of multiple awards, including the HNS Indie Award 2015. Her new series, The King’s Greatest Enemy, is set in the 1320s and features Adam de Guirande, his wife Kit, and their adventures during Roger Mortimer’s rise to power. The first book, In the Shadow of the Storm, was published in 2015. The next book, Days of Sun and Glory, has just come out and Anna urges you to “enter a world of political intrigue, follow Isabella of France and Roger Mortimer as they invade England, watch my protagonists Adam de Guirande and his wife Kit navigate a world in which loss is certain and life is not.”

If you want to know more about Anna, drop by her webpage or her blog.

Guest post: Making Sense of the Past by Martin Lee

It is my pleasure to welcome historical novelist Martin Lee to my blog.

Martin Lee has spent most of his adult life writing in one form or another. As a University researcher in history, he wrote pages of notes on reams of obscure topics. As a social worker with Vietnamese refugees, he wrote memoranda. And, as the creative director of an advertising agency, he has written print and press ads, TV commercials, short films and innumerable backs of cornflakes packets and hotel websites.

Now he's written a guest post for my blog!

MAKING SENSE OF THE PAST

This is the first line of L P Hartley’s great novel, ‘The Go-Between’, made into a wonderful film by Joseph Losey in 1971.

It strikes me that, as writers of historical fiction, one of our jobs is to bring this ‘foreign country’ to life, and make the things they do ‘differently’ comprehensible to modern readers.

Personally, I write historical crime fiction and there’s a whole host of things I can’t do in my books on Shanghai in the 1920s and Pepys’ Restoration that more modern authors are allowed.

For example, I can’t simply call up DNA evidence to prove the presence of a criminal at a scene. In Death in Shanghai, I do have a pathologist, Dr Fang, who performs medical examinations but his guiding book was written during the twelfth century in China. It’s called ‘The Righting of Wrongs’ and was the world’s first book for medical examiners.

I also can’t pick up a mobile phone to call somebody. Everything takes far more time, and a copper looking for help has to blow his whistle or look for the nearest police box (and no, he won’t find Dr Who there!)

I can’t even use luminol to detect blood at a crime scene. You know, the stuff the CSI guys spray prodigiously on walls in the dark. The chemical wasn’t discovered until 1927 and its use at crime scenes not introduced until 1939.

So the historical crime writer has to create an old world to modern readers weaned on the fast fix of one hour TV programmes. A world where an investigator uses his mind to solve problems rather than science. Where poison, knives or a revolver are used as weapons rather than an AK47. And where human motivation for a crime is far more important than the scientific detail of the crime itself.

The latest book I have written, The Irish Inheritance, had a whole different set of problems.

How can a modern day investigator reveal the truth of the past?

And in this case, how can she discover who is the father of a young boy when he is listed as being killed in the Great War, eight years before the boy was born?

In this novel, there is no crime to be solved, but there is a story to be uncovered, a truth to be found. Here, the skills of genealogical and historical research come in. Parish registers, lists of war dead, interviews with veterans, meetings with relatives, old books and old pictures, all can be brought to life to reveal the truth.

Like all historical writing, it’s a foreign country waiting to be discovered. And it’s different there.

Our job is to make it comprehensible and believable, so that readers immerse themselves in the period.

Whether it’s the wars of Anglo-Saxon England. A murder in Art- Deco Shanghai. The theft of a diary in Restoration England. Or finding the real father of a young boy.

It’s one of the beauties of writing historical novels. There are thousands of foreign countries to be discovered in the past.

And our job is to make them our own country.

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When he’s not writing, Martin Lee splits his time between the UK and Asia, taking pleasure in playing with his daughter, researching his family history, practicing downhill ironing, single-handedly solving the problem of the French wine lake and wishing he were George Clooney.

He can be found at www.writermjlee.com, on twitter @writermjlee and Facebook as, you guessed it, writermjlee.

All his books can be found on Amazon. His latest release, a genealogical mystery called The Irish Inheritance, is launched on June 15th.

Buy it here: myBook.to/irishinheritance

What Char Newcomb Learnt while writing Battle Scars I & II

Next in my series of "What I learnt.." guest posts from other historical fiction authors is from Char Newcomb. Not only does she write kick-ass novels set in the time of the third crusade, but she has also written official Star Wars stories and is an even bigger Star Wars fan than me, if that is possible! So, what other day could I publish Char's guest post apart from Star Wars Day?

May the Fourth be with you!

What Char Newcomb Learnt while writing Battle Scars I & II

Siege of Acre

THIRD CRUSADE

I majored in U.S. history in college and had never studied medieval history in depth, but my interest in the Third Crusade was piqued by a BBC television series. I had to know more. The Internet can be a wonderful place. (When I was a kid, I was the one devouring articles in the old – print – World Book encyclopedias.) But thank you, Internet! I immediately found links to numerous reference resources, including digitized translations of primary source materials. Working in a university library has its perks, too. Our collection had many of the texts I could not find online and our interlibrary loan department borrowed many items for me. Translations of contemporary chroniclers provided a rich history, with many details about daily life on the march to Jerusalem.

I knew I wanted to write a novel about the impact of war on two young knights. Men of the Cross (Battle Scars I) was my first venture into writing historical fiction. I had written many stories set in the Star Wars universe, and my knowledge of events, weapons, people, and politics in that galaxy far, far away was deep. Taking on a novel set during the Third Crusade meant learning a lot more than just the conflict itself or assuming I could pick up the nuances of life in medieval times from television and movies. Any writer of historical fiction will tell you of the hours of research and fact checking that accompany the writing process. For me it meant learning about the logistics of moving an army of approximately 20,000 over land and sea. Unlike European warfare, the crusaders could not live solely off the land. They would scavenge what they could, but Richard’s fleet paralleled the march along the coast, replenishing food and water, including fodder for the animals. I learned more than I ever expected about weapons and armor, battle tactics, terrain and the weather, about the politics of the time, and of course, about Richard the Lionheart. Then it was a matter of weaving the plot of my novel, Men of the Cross, into that tapestry, to have my main fictional characters present and witness to King Richard’s trials and tribulations.

Nottingham Castle

NOTTINGHAM

Book II of my series, For King and Country, takes the knights back to England in 1193 and ends following the Siege of Nottingham in March 1194. I visited Nottingham Castle in 2010, but that was almost 2 years before I knew I was going to write a novel, much less a series. I was there as a tourist and completely oblivious about the history of the Castle. I was so excited to see the gatehouse, but it wasn’t until I started researching Battle Scars II that I learned that structure was built in the 1250s, more than 50 years after the siege I would be writing. Sadly, there is very little left of what was an extremely impressive royal castle with 3 baileys and 2 stone curtain walls with a massive keep where the 17th century ducal mansion, now a museum and art gallery, sits.

Clifford Tower

YORK

York is one my favorite cities in England - magnificent Roman walls, The Shambles, and York Minster. As a tourist in 2010 I didn’t realize the significance of Clifford’s Tower to the late 12th century. Yes, I read the brochures and the signs, climbed the stairs for the great views of York, but like the gatehouse at Nottingham Castle, the keep on the motte in 1190 was a timber building that had been torched during riots against the Jewish community where 150 Jews died. When my fictional character Stephan visits York Castle in 1193, the keep has been rebuilt, but it is still wooden. The keep we call Clifford’s Tower is higher than the 12th century one and was built of stone in the mid-13th century by Henry III.  And York Castle itself – gone.

York Castle

ON THE WRITING PROCESS

It is all right to charge through the writing of a first draft. I ended up calling my first draft of For King and Country “rough” rather than “first.” It had holes and I knew that, but I did not stop to flesh things out and did not go back to fine tune or edit, just charged through to get the story down. It was exhilarating, but daunting.

Four-thirty A.M. writing sessions may have warped my brain. It wasn’t until after two thorough edits and my final read through that I discovered I had completely glossed over a little plot detail. *head-desk* Back to the keyboard I went…

Critiques from my writing group are invaluable. Whether it was a reminder to bring in multiple senses, to hold a moment longer and show a character’s reaction to a situation, or just to provide a pat on the back – I cannot thank them enough. But even with that feedback I still have doubts about my own writing.

Writers of historical fiction need to immerse their readers in time and place. It is thrilling to have all this historical background in your head, but far too easy to bowl over the reader with it.  Carefully weaving it into the fabric is what makes great storytelling.

Images

Siege of Acre (public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3329854

Nottingham gatehouse – author’s photo CC BY-SA 2.0

Clifford’s Tower – author’s photo CC BY-SA 2.0

York Castle – by Stephen Montgomery created the original, hchc2009 edited the background [CC BY-SA 2.0] https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11797123CC

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Charlene Newcomb is the author of Men of the Cross and For King and Country, two historical adventures set during the reign of King Richard I, the Lionheart, though her writing roots are in a galaxy far, far away. She has published 10 short stories in the Star Wars universe and written one contemporary novel. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society and a contributor and blog editor for English Historical Fiction Authors. Charlene lives, works, and writes in Kansas. She is an academic librarian by trade, a former U.S. Navy veteran, and has three grown children. When not working at the library, she is still surrounded by books and trying to fill her head with all things medieval. She loves to travel, and enjoys quiet places in the mountains or on rocky coasts. But even in Kansas she can let her imagination soar.

Connect with Char: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

What E.M. Powell learnt when writing The Lord of Ireland

This is the first in a new series of guest posts where an author will talk about something (or somethings) they've learnt while doing something. This is very open-ended and results in a title in the following form: "What A.N. Author learnt when Doing Something."

I hope it will be an interesting series, and I'm looking forward to learning more about some of the great authors who are writing historical fiction at the moment.

So, without further ado, let me welcome to my blog the wonderful, E.M. Powell.

What E.M. Powell learnt when writing The Lord of Ireland

As any novelist will tell you (even if you don’t ask them), writing a novel is hard work. It usually takes several months and if you add in the extra time for the extensive research that writing a historical novel takes, you can add in a few more. I don’t know what it’s like for other writers, but for me, there are always key things that I discover in the course of the creation of said novel that will always stay with me.

Now, some of those things are writerly and noble, like an exciting research finding or the development of a character of whom I grow particularly fond. Others are quite random. I cannot, for instance, ever think of the wolf chase scene in The Fifth Knight, the first in my medieval thriller series, without thinking of pointing. As in mortar. This is because the entire outside of the house was being repointed as I wrote those chapters. So, yes: snow + howl + pursuit + blood + death is always alongside drill noise + dust.

A Fox and a Wolf (Public Domain)

It was exactly the same when I was writing The Lord of Ireland, the third book in the Fifth Knight series and my latest release. That book now has its own mixed collection of noble and random that are hard-wired into my brain. So when Matthew so kindly asked me to post on ‘What I learnt…’, how could I resist? Here are a few that are suitable for public consumption.

The Lord of Ireland is set during John’s (yes, THAT John- youngest son of Henry II and future Bad King John) disastrous campaign in Ireland in 1185. John was sent there as Lord of Ireland, a title granted to him by Henry. I learnt that one of the reasons Henry sent John was the King feared that one of his own men, Hugh de Lacy, 1st Lord of Meath, was getting far too big for his boots. De Lacy features as one of the major characters in the novel and so I made a visit to Trim Castle, which was constructed over a thirty-year period by de Lacy and his son Walter. It’s the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland and is truly impressive. No wonder Henry was jittery.

Trim castle Exterior and Interior © E.M. Powell

On a smaller scale, I viewed some fabulous 12th century artefacts in Waterford City. (Waterford was where John first landed and is the site of that infamous beard-pulling of the Irish by John. Oh, John.) Waterford has its very own Medieval Museum, which is just wonderful as well as the collections in the medieval Reginald’s Tower.

12th Century Boot © E.M. Powell

I learnt about the Viking board game of hnefatafl, too. The gaming pieces could be pegged into the board, which meant it could be played anywhere, including on board a moving ship. This board dates from c1150. My favourite piece is the knight on the right hand side. He was excavated beside the hearth of a Hiberno-Norse house and is slightly charred. I hope no-one mistook him for firewood- he's far too lovely.

Gaming Pieces incl Hnefatafl Board © E.M. Powell

I also learnt that there is a Twitter account for the board game of hnefatafl @cyningstantafl. Do we follow each other? You betcha. That’s exactly the kind of thing Twitter’s for.

Speaking of John, I was especially pleased to see his c1370 representation in the Great Charter Roll in the Medieval Museum. The illustrator may have been drawing John one hundred and fifty years after his death but I was particularly taken with the facial expression.

John, Lord of Ireland © E.M. Powell

As The Lord of Ireland was in its final, final proof-reading stages, I had the previously unknown experience of one of my books being published in another language. The Fifth Knight had become Der fünfte Ritter and was released in Germany and promptly ended up on the Bild bestseller list. I learnt that whatever illusion of control/influence you might have over your novel’s release in English, in a language you don’t speak, you have none. I also learnt that Google Translate becomes your best friend.

Der fünfte Ritter © E.M. Powell

I could mention so many other things that I learnt. That’s the joy of writing historical fiction. It might be concerned with the past, but it brings a new richness to your life and knowledge every day.
And although I write 12th century, not everything is from eight hundred years ago. I learnt that the phrase ‘get medieval’ is now a documented and recognised phrase in the Oxford English Dictionary. Its entry follows the usual and correct OED format in terms of definition followed by first usage, and reads thus: ‘U.S. to get medieval: to use violence or extreme measures on, to become aggressive. 1994   Q. Tarantino & R. Avary Pulp Fiction 131,   I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'm gonna git Medieval on your ass.’

Learning is a wonderful thing.

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E.M. Powell’s medieval thrillers THE FIFTH KNIGHT and THE BLOOD OF THE FIFTH KNIGHT have been #1 Amazon bestsellers and a Bild bestseller in Germany. Book #3 in the series, THE LORD OF IRELAND, will be published by Thomas & Mercer on April 5 2016. Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State), she now lives in northwest England with her husband, daughter and a Facebook-friendly dog. She is also a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers The Big Thrill magazine, blogs for English Historical Fiction Authors, reviews fiction & non-fiction for the Historical Novel Society and is part of the HNS Social Media Team.

Find out more by visiting www.empowell.com.

Connect with E.M. Powell:

Amazon Author Page: http://author.to/EMPowell-Author
Waterstones Author Page: https://www.waterstones.com/author/e-m-powell/2930720
Blog: http://www.empowell.blogspot.co.uk/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/empowellauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/empowellauthor