Tag Archives: favourite historical fiction authors

Top Historical Fiction Author – Philippa Carr, Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Enthusiasts, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Authors, Writing Process

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Source: Open Road Media

Source: Open Road Media

You probably won’t know her as Eleanor Hibbert, instead you’ll know her as Philippa Carr, Victoria Holt or Jean Plaidy or one of the other pseudonyms she used, including her maiden name Eleanor Burford. As Jean Plaidy, she was selected as one the top 20 favourite historical fiction authors in last year’s survey.

Recently, Open Road Media announced the digital reissuing of Daughters of England series, written under Eleanor Hibbert’s final pen name Philippa Carr. Maggie Crawford, an editor and advisor at Open Road, has graciously provided information about Hibbert’s writing, researching and her very successful career.

How did Eleanor Hibbert begin her writing career? Did it take off immediately or did she experience a difficult start with rejections from agents and publishers?    Eleanor Hibbert started her literary career in the 1930s by emulating her literary heroes—Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and the Brontë sisters. She wrote nine long novels that were psychological studies of contemporary life. Publishers rejected all nine, so she turned to writing stories for London newspapers. It was the literary editor of the Daily Mail who advised Hibbert to forget about “serious fiction” and write something sellable, such as romantic fiction. Unfamiliar with the genre, Hibbert proceeded to read fifty romance novels! Daughter of Anna, her first published novel, came out in 1941 under the name Eleanor Burford, her maiden name. She continued to use this pseudonym into the 1960s as she wrote thirty more contemporary romance novels.

Hibbert loved history, and during the Second World War, when she and her husband were living in Cornwall near a scenic beach named Plaidy, she wrote her first historical novel under the pen name Jean Plaidy. Her first attempt at historical fiction was not a success, but once again she persisted, writing four crime novels under the pen name Elbur Ford, historical-crime novels under the pseudonym Kathleen Kellow, and five historical novels as Ellalice Tate. (The five Tate novels were later republished under the Plaidy pseudonym.) But in 1958, she published the second Jean Plaidy novel, and after that she was unstoppable, writing over one hundred more historical novels about the crowned heads of Europe.

While the Jean Plaidy novels made Hibbert a bestselling author in Great Britain, it wasn’t until 1960 that she became an international bestselling author with her first Gothic romance, Mistress of Mellyn, written under a new pseudonym, Victoria Holt. Readers thought Victoria Holt was a pseudonym for Daphne du Maurier because the novel’s atmosphere was so similar to that of Rebecca. Hibbert had shrewdly studied the market and determined that there was a wide readership for historical romantic suspense stories set in gloomy manor houses. She was right. Victoria Holt proved to be the most financially rewarding of her pseudonyms, and the one for which she was best known in the United States.

In 1972, Hibbert created her last pseudonym, Philippa Carr, returning to the subject she seemed to love best, English history, with her ambitious Daughters of England series. Beginning at the time of the Reformation with The Miracle at St. Bruno’s and ending in the final years of the Second World War with We’ll Meet Again, the series leads readers through the pageant of English history with fast-paced, suspenseful novels that also feature romance and dramatic historical episodes.

How many books did she write in total?    Eleanor Hibbert wrote over 200 novels and sold more than 100 million copies of her novels by the time she died in 1993.

Hibbert was clearly very skilled at writing historical fiction. What ingredients made her so successful?    Born and raised in London, Eleanor Hibbert grew up fascinated with the city and its 2000 years of history. She loved to explore London and she seemed to love to read as much as she loved to write. From the bibliographies in her Plaidy novels, we see that she researched her subjects extensively. She was well read in English and French political and social history as well as in biographies of prominent historical figures. I think she was so skillful at writing historical fiction because she studied a particular historical period and the major players of the time and formed her own opinions of their motivations, which she then conveyed in a realistic, dramatic narrative imbued with the colorful atmosphere of the era. The Jean Plaidy historical novels were popular among readers, yet they also received critical acclaim for their historical accuracy, authentic detail, and quality of writing.

What techniques did Eleanor Hibbert employ to write productively?    Hibbert was a force of nature. She wrote for five hours a day seven days a week, starting at 7:30 A.M. and completing approximately 5,000 words by lunchtime! She enjoyed taking two-month cruises in the winter, but she never left home without her typewriter because she said she felt miserable if she took so much as a week’s break from writing.

Hibbert wrote under different pseudonyms because she wrote different types of fiction for different audiences. Although she was a versatile writer, perhaps she suspected that readers of her Jean Plaidy novels, whose plots rarely strayed beyond historical facts and which were written in third person narration, wouldn’t enjoy her more heavily plotted, romantic, and suspenseful Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr novels, which were written in the more intimate first-person narrative voice. And no doubt her publishers wanted to market her novels to clearly defined audiences. Many of her readers never suspected her multiple identities. 

What strategies guided Hibberts’ writing career?    Persistence, paying attention to the market, writing about what fascinated her—English and European history—and consistently delivering high-quality novels to her legion of fans. I suspect that Eleanor Hibbert would advise writers of historical fiction to write about the period or periods they wish they could have lived in and to understand their characters’ motives. This type of insight enables a writer to make the characters come alive on the page.

Source: Open Road Media

Source: Open Road Media

Why has Open Road Media chosen Hibbert’s Daughters of England series for digital publication?    It is such an outstanding series of historical novels with an irresistible premise. With the Daughters of England novels, a reader can easily absorb the major currents of four hundred years of English history and experience the exciting dramas and conflicts of a significant period through the eyes of a woman of the time, one of the descendants of Damask Farland, the charismatic heroine of The Miracle of St. Bruno’s. The novels simultaneously entertain and educate, offering the reader the authoritative, authentic historical detail of a Jean Plaidy novel coupled with the suspenseful story line and intimate tone of a Victoria Holt novel. No doubt with her great love of history, Eleanor Hibbert was gratified to learn, shortly before her death in 1993, that each of the Daughters of England novels was borrowed approximately 300,000 times a year at British libraries, making Philippa Carr one of the 100 most requested authors.

Many thanks, Maggie Crawford, for providing these interesting insights into Eleanor Hibbert’s life. Like many others, I spent hours curled up with her stories being immersed in time and place as great historical events unfolded. I wish Open Road great success with the digital release of Daughters of England.

Historical Fiction Author C.J. Sansom’s Dissolution

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Enthusiasts, Top Historical Fiction Authors

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Dissolution by C.J. SansomA few months ago, I developed a concept of ten essential ingredients for favourite historical fiction. Time to test another top author against those ingredients. To do so, I’ve chosen Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, the first in his series about Matthew Shardlake.

When a royal commissioner is murdered in the monastery of Scarsea, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s feared vicar general summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead an inquiry. Shardlake and his young protege, Mark Poer, uncover evidence of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and treason, but when two other murders are committed, they must move quickly to prevent the killer from striking again.

(1) Superb writing - Sansom’s prose is an easy blend of narrative and dialogue. Dialogue drives the action of this novel from the very beginning, while narrative situates us in time (just after the death of Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour) and circumstance (the dismantling of Catholic monasteries). Sansom’s dialogue flows smoothly. He sprinkles it with phrases of the Tudor period and references to events of the day, but rarely confuses the reader. I quickly identified with Matthew Shardlake, a man of influence who suffers the stares and jeers of others because he is a hunchback, and Mark Poer, a promising young man with a troubled past.

Once Sansom takes us to the monastery, we meet a host of main characters: Abbot Fabian, Prior Mortimus, Brothers Guy, Edwig and Gabriel, Alice who serves in the infirmary, Brother Bugge who guards the monastery entrance, Brother Jerome who was racked in the tower of London. Several minor characters  appear as the mystery unfolds. I found such a large cast of characters confusing, although perhaps that’s what Sansom intended, and they remained more like stereotypes than individuals: the brutish monk in charge, the homosexual monk, the penny-pinching bursar, the religious zealot.

In terms of pacing, Sansom weaves action and tension into the novel as we follow Sharlake’s investigation of all aspects of monastery life, uncovering facts and hints pointing at one monk or another as the murderer. There’s a murky marsh behind the monastery said to be used by smugglers, a secret passage, a young girl who purportedly ran away though some think she was murdered. We are kept waiting, as befits a murder mystery, until almost the very end to discover who did the deed and at the last moment, there’s a surprising twist.    7/10

(2) Dramatic arc of historical events - The main story takes place over a few weeks but the story behind the story – that of the dissolution of Catholic monasteries – looms in the background adding to the tension of Sansom’s story. A third plot line revolves around Shardlake’s gradual awareness of Cromwell’s willingness to destroy anyone who gets in his way. And then, of course, we have a bit of romance.  7/10

(3) Characters both heroic and human - Matthew Shardlake is both heroic and human, his side-kick, Mark Poer, provides a useful counterpoint as the young, talented assistant whose ideals lead to choices that are contrary to Shardlake’s. Matthew never falters in the quest for justice, putting himself at risk on several occasions as he peels back the mystery. We also see him as a man with desires, doubts and insecurities. Sansom shows us a dedicated man, disfigured at birth who has been rejected by many, a man of faith and loyalty who intends to do what’s right. I had the sense that he might ultimately challenge his master, Thomas Cromwell. 8/10

(4) Immersed in time and place - Sansom’s opening sentence tells us where we are: “I was down in Surrey, on business for Lord Cromwell’s office, when the summons came.” A great hook that immediately grabs our attention. A little further into the scene, we read of “heads of those executed for treason stood on their long poles, the gulls circling and pecking” and “the throng of travellers and traders, cutpurses and would-be courtiers.” We know we’re in Tudor England.

When Sansom takes us to Scarsea, the monastery comes to life as soon as Shardlake and Mark Poer enter the courtyard. And over the next few chapters we explore each aspect of the monastery – infirmary, the abbot’s splendid home, the church, the refectory, the workshops, the bursar’s office – along with Matthew and Mark. Sansom paints wonderful pictures for his readers. The only negative is that some descriptions went on too long and slowed the pacing.  8/10

(5) Corridors of power - Lord Cromwell’s power is positioned from the very first chapter and looms over every plot turn and conversation, and dominates Shardlake’s personal thoughts. We see the corruption and machinations of Cromwell, the Catholic church, the reformers, and the nobility. It’s a brutal machine at work in a time of uncertainty. I feared for Shardlake, not because of the murder he was attempting to solve but because of his growing awareness of Cromwell’s true intentions.

“Around thrones the thunder rolls,” says Shardlake at one point.

Sansom also exposes the hypocrisy of the church and monastery life where wealth is accumulated and zealously guarded against the humble beginnings and Christian intentions of the Benedictines.  9/10

(6) Authentic and educational - Sansom skillfully gives the background to dissolution of the monasteries through Shardlake’s thoughts and various conversations he has with those inside and outside the monastery. We also learn about monastery life, its management structure, restrictions, demands and eroding adherence to Benedictine values. For some reason, C.J. Sansom includes two scenes about parrots, apparently a new exotic experience for that era. I could speculate that he wants us to compare those slavishly following Thomas Cromwell to parrots but if that was the intent, he needed to connect the dots a bit more.  8/10

(7) Ageless themes - class, loyalty, the destructive power of revenge, standing up for your beliefs and for people who are powerless, the pettiness of jealousy and the notion that those driven by wealth and power are often corrupted. In addition, Sansom uses Matthew Shardlake to discuss the differences between faith and religion. Occasionally, his characters sound like they are lecturing rather than conversing. Nonetheless these are compelling themes that remain relevant today. 7/10

(8) High stakes. In the best historical fiction, characters risk life, kingdoms, epic battles, fortunes, marriage and family on a grand scale. We have Mark Poer who risks his career for a chance at happiness, the murderer who, if caught, would likely be executed, the monastery brothers whose lifestyle is threatened. High stakes, but they didn’t captivate me as much as I hoped. 6/10

(9) Sex and love. Dissolution offers little in the way of sex and love to propel the story. I found the attraction between Mark Poer and Alice, the servant girl, somewhat unrealistic.  3/10

(10) Dysfunctional families. In dissolution, the dysfunctional family is the brethren living at Scarsea. Sansom refers to them as a family in several scenes and we find out quickly how dysfunctional they are. However, to be compelling, readers have to identify with the families within a story and I doubt most readers would do so in this case. As I write this, I wonder whether readers of Sansom’s novels are mostly men, and I am presenting a female perspective. 5/10

Near the end of the story, Matthew Shardlake visits the Tower of London to ferret out a clue to the murderer. Oldknoll, the tower armourer, has this to say about England:

A country full of godless crime. Papists and mad gospellers. We should hang them all.

A great comment that sums up the times and the danger people faced every day. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and can certainly recommend it for those who enjoy mystery with their history.

Top Historical Fiction Author – Jacqueline Winspear

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Authors, Writing Process

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Jacqueline WinspearI am delighted to have Jacqueline Winspear, author of the very popular Maisie Dobbs mystery series, appear on A Writer of History. You will see that she is passionate about writing and creating the best stories she can. Interestingly, Jacqueline also writes memoir and personal essays.

Why do you write historical fiction?     I enjoy history. I enjoy telling a story and I enjoy working with characters in an historical context. It’s a very simple equation – but I don’t only write historical fiction. I write memoir and the personal essay, which I also love.   I have learned more about writing from writing creative non-fiction, which is interesting.

Based on my survey, you are one of readers’ favourite historical fiction writers.    Well, I didn’t know that – I feel most honored.

What do you think attracts readers to your books?    My books are completely character driven. People are drawn to people – and with a series there is an ongoing connection, so readers like to come back to see what has happened to the characters who have engaged them.

Do you have a particular approach to research and writing?    No not really, I do a lot of research, and draw upon a lifelong interest in the era about which I write – but it’s important to remember that research is only there to underpin the story.  While true-to-life events can affect the narrative, the novelist is there to tell a story, so it’s important not to feel there is a need to give a history lesson.  Research brings color and texture, and well-placed detail can anchor a story in its time – but the novel should not be so fact-heavy that it is like a textbook.

Have other writers of historical fiction influenced you and, if so, how have they influenced you?    I just began to write stories that were in my head, but I can’t say I have been influenced by other writers of historical fiction.  I am inspired by other writers, but not necessarily writers of historical fiction.  I am also inspired by non-fiction and memoir written during the era about which I write – and of course, at the time it wasn’t historical, it was usually more in the context of current affairs/ journalism.

What ingredients do you think make for a top historical fiction author? Do you deliberately plan for these ingredients in your writing?    I truly think that the second you start thinking in this way as a writer, you might as well throw in the towel because it suggests you are becoming hungry for “top” as opposed to “writer” Or “good writer.”  I set out to write the best novel I can – that is all that is asked of me.  I do not try to write a bestseller, or a book that gives me a certain position – I just do my best, and I remain inspired by my characters and the period about which I write.  The fact that so many readers love my books is really the icing on the cake – that I get to write those books is my challenge and the work I love.  I think there is something inherently misguided in the idea of trying to incorporate ingredients that might make one a top historical fiction author – being considered “top” is not more important than the actual work.  I am trying to make the distinction here without seeming as if I am dismissive of the notion. I never consider myself “top” – instead I consider myself a writer who has a lot of room for improvement, a work in progress, so I am always looking at ways to stretch myself as a writer.  But I do not strive in that way to be perceived to be in a certain elevated position – I do it because I want to write the best story I possibly can, because I want to be more dexterous with language, with imagery, so that my readers’ experience is a richer one.  Does that make sense? I’m not dismissing “top” – just putting it in a certain perspective with regard to the most important part of the equation, which is a commitment to craft and story. And I always feel as if I have a long way to go.  I must have read “Jacqueline could do better” on a school report as a child, and been marked by it ever since!

You are about to release your tenth Maisie Dobbs novel. What advantages do you think will come from writing a series?    Writing the series gives me an opportunity to get to know the characters in a much more natural/organic way – over time.  At the outset of any relationship, you don’t know all there is to know about a person in one hour, or one meeting – relationships allow people to reveal themselves to each other over time.  So, in a way, the series is like that –with each novel there is another opportunity to discover nuances of character. I love the fact that I can take a cast of characters, each with their own ingrained cultural background, each with their life experiences, good and bad, and I set them in a time where I also see how they respond to the events of their day – what they have to say about the news, what they think about the world around them – and then into that I add the element of mystery.  I move my characters through time – each novel is set in a different month of a given year, so we have seen them develop from the Great War, then in more detail from 1929 – 1933.  That is a very rewarding process, for a writer.  I can hang the story on the peg of history, and see who those people are at the end of each book – that’s what brings me back to the characters, and I think it’s what brings readers back.

I don’t know of any disadvantages, as long as I am able to write other things too. I like the series format, but I also like the challenge of the short story, the novella or the non-series novel.

How has Maisie changed over these novels? Were any of those changes surprising to you?    Maisie has of course changed over the course of her life, from the age of 13, which is when we first get to know her, to her mid-thirties.  I have taken a character, born into a certain set of circumstances, then set her in a different milieu, then again I have given her the experience of war, where she has seen death of a most terrible kind, and where she felt the pain of loss.  She is as shell-shocked as any man, given her experiences.  And she is coming of age at a time when everything changed for women in Britain – so she is very much a woman of her time.  She has to change  – she would not be normal if she didn’t.  And not all changes impact people in a positive way – she can be controlling, sometimes appearing dispassionate – there can be a hard shell to her very soft heart.  Those traits are not atypical in people who have experienced trauma.  But we also see her through the lens of other characters, which is important.  None of the changes were a surprise to me – I expect people to be marked by their experiences and by their responses to the world in which they live, and to their responsibilities.

What brand are you trying to create for yourself?     I am not trying to create a brand. I am a writer – I create characters and write stories I want to write, and I do my best to make that story engaging for the reader.  I may be a bit of a Luddite, but I don’t think of my writing in terms of a brand.

What do you do to connect with readers?    I have a mailing list and send out about four pre-publication newsletters, but I don’t send newsletters out on a very regular basis – I know I get tired of receiving newsletters because I don’t have time to read them, so I only email my readers when I have news for them in conjunction with a new book. Most readers want the next book – so they don’t want or need to know anything more about my life than when I am going to produce the book they’re waiting for.  Having said that, I usually post something on Facebook every week or so, and I have shared some personal stories, but sometimes I don’t post anything for ages.

What do you know about your readers?    That they like my books.  That they are varied – equally men and women and across a broad age range. From emails I receive I know there are certain groups who enjoy my books – veterans of war, nurses, psychologists, students (the books are used in quite a few schools and universities), as well as people who enjoy the era, who like to follow series characters.

What data do you collect about your readers?    I do not collect any data about my readers. This is a really simple relationship in that I write books, my books are offered for sale and they have a readership.  I think my readers would be offended to think that I consider them subjects for a data mining operation. I am a writer – if I spend time doing all that data stuff, it means I am not working on improving as a writer. Having said that, I know publishers have all sorts of information at their fingertips, though like all information – what does it really mean to the writer at the end of the day? I have a mailing list for my newsletter, but I don’t “use” the information except to send that newsletter out. It always comes down to the book, and to the effort you put into it – you can’t get away from that, and all the data in the world doesn’t change that basic responsibility of the writer to the reader – in fact, the responsibility of the writer to her craft, and to her story.  

What strategies guide your writing career?     I don’t really have a strategy – oh dear, failed again!  I have ideas for books I want to write, and I get on and write them. I look for ways to improve my writing, and my outlook – attending workshops, for example, or stretching myself to write in a genre I am not familiar with. I write essays and articles – I believe in “cross-training” for the writer.  I don’t have a plan or a strategy, and that is perfectly fine with me. I will take it as it comes, do my best and see what happens.  At the end of the day, even the best laid plans can come unglued, so for me, I find it best to be led by my heart and my sense of what feels right at a given time.  It’s a way of going forward that has served me well.

What would you do differently if you were starting again?     I would probably have kept a few more copies of the first printing of the first edition of my first novel, Maisie Dobbs (apparently they are about $200 a piece on ebay!).  Other than that – nothing. Everything unfolds as it should.

Do you have any advice for writers of historical fiction?     Mainly to remember that you’re writing fiction, that you are first and foremost a storyteller.  The research component should be like an iceberg – only 7% of it visible above the surface, though the rest informs every word.  And I really think working at the craft is paramount – working on being the best writer you can be.

Many thanks, Jacqueline. I feel certain that others – both readers and writers – will enjoy hearing your perspectives. On a personal note, I am intrigued that you feel you have “learned more about writing from writing creative non-fiction” and by your cautions concerning historical detail being primarily below the surface just like an iceberg.

Leaving Everything Most LovedHere’s a note from Jacqueline Winspear’s website about her latest novel in the Maisie Dobbs series: “On March 26th, LEAVING EVERYTHING MOST LOVED, my new novel featuring psychologist and investigator, Maisie Dobbs, will be published. It is the tenth novel in the series, and for the life of me, if the books weren’t lined up on the shelf, I would wonder where the past ten years had gone. Vanished into the ether!”

Top Ten Ingredients of Favourite Historical fiction

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Authors

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

In his book Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century’s Biggest Bestsellers, James W. Hall sets out twelve ingredients that drive bestsellers to the top of the charts. I’ve written about Hit Lit in three separate posts: Thoughts from Hit Lit, More Features of Hit Lit, and Hit Lit – the Final Six Features. According to Hall, best sellers incorporate the following: (1) an offer you can’t refuse, (2) controversy of the day, (3) colossal characters doing magnificent things on a sweeping stage, (4) America as paradise, (5) an abundance of facts and information, (6) inner workings of a secret society, (7) bumpkins versus city slickers, (8) God sells, (9) re-enactment of American national myths, (10) rebels, loners, misfits and mavericks, (11) fractured families and (12) sex.

Do the same ingredients apply to historical fiction? This is the question I’ve been deliberating for the last two weeks and I have some preliminary thoughts. I would be grateful for your feedback.

To come up with this list, I’ve analyzed interviews with top historical fiction authors (my own and others) and looked at reviews of their works in a number of forums. I’ve also looked for materials discussing the ‘popularity of historical fiction’. The survey I conducted last spring showed that the top three reasons people read historical fiction are to bring the past to life, to enjoy a great story and to understand and learn. Not surprisingly, these reasons are reflected in the ingredients that distinguish favourite authors and best selling historical fiction.

My analysis suggests the following critical ingredients.

  1. Superb writing. Similar to Hall’s first feature – an offer you can’t refuse – this ingredient covers prose, pacing, emotional resonance, plot twists and entertainment value. Table stakes for high quality fiction of any genre.
  2. Dramatic arc of historical events. In essence, successful authors are masters at finding and selecting what Hilary Mantel calls ‘the dramatic shape in real events’.
  3. Characters both heroic and human. Readers want to experience famous figures as believable characters complete with doubts and flaws. Readers also seek stories showing every day people accomplishing heroic tasks in times so different from today.
  4. Immersed in time and place. Activating all senses, authors like Sharon Kay Penman, Bernard Cornwell, Margaret George and others transport readers to another era from the very first paragraphs of their novels.
  5. Corridors of power. Whether ancient Rome, Tudor England or the American Civil War, best selling novels expose the structure, corruption and machinations of monarchy, military, religion, law, nobility, and upper-class society.
  6. Authentic and educational. Readers love to learn. The hallmark of a top historical fiction author is meticulous research followed by carefully chosen information to create a seamless blend of history and story.
  7. Ageless themes. Instead of Hall’s ‘controversy of the day’, favourite historical fiction dramatizes thought-provoking themes that are as important today as they were long ago.
  8. High stakes. Life, kingdoms, epic battles, fortunes, marriage, family. In historical fiction, characters risk on a grand scale.
  9. Sex and love. Men and women from long ago rarely chose their partners. Love was often thwarted. Women were pawns. Favourite authors incorporate this type of conflict. In addition, sex is frequently depicted as a turning point in the lives of heroes and heroines.
  10. Dysfunctional families. Kings beheading their queens, brothers killing brothers, daughters betrothed at the age of six, incest, rivalry between father and son, wives banished or locked away – merely a few examples of dysfunctional family life that are the subjects of successful historical fiction.

So … that’s my take at the top ten ingredients of favourite historical fiction authors. As mentioned above, I would truly appreciate your thoughts.

Books, books, books

05 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Top Historical Fiction Authors

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After conducting the historical fiction survey and discovering a bunch of favourite authors, I decided that I should read as many of them as possible – not all their work but at least one book each. In some cases – Philippa Gregory is an example – I had already experienced the author but others, like CW Gortner or Deanna Raybourn, were unknown to me. So here’s my progress on the top 40, by the way, I’m concentrating on living authors.

READ OR READING

  • Sharon Kay Penman – Time and Chance
  • Philippa Gregory – the latest was Fallen Skies (an early work set in post-WWI times)
  • Elizabeth Chadwick – The Running Vixen
  • Bernard Cornwell – Sword Song
  • Ken Follett – Fall of Giants
  • CW Gortner – The Last Queen and The Queen’s Vow
  • Michelle Moran – Cleopatra’s Daughter
  • Susan Higginbotham – Traitor’s Wife
  • Helen Hollick – Forever Queen
  • Anne Perry – The Sheen on the Silk
  • Geraldine Brooks – People of the Book
  • Jacqueline Winspear – Maisie Dobbs
  • Deanna Raybourn – Silent in the Sanctuary and Silent in the Grave

TO BE READ

  • Diana Gabaldon – one of her Lord John Grey series (since I’ve read almost all of Outlander)
  • Alison Weir – Mistress of the Monarchy (a new author for me)
  • Margaret George – Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles (such a tragic figure)
  • CJ Sansom – Heartstone (one of his Matthew Shardlake series)
  • Tracy Chevalier – The Virgin Blue (interweaving present and past)
  • Hilary Mantel – Bring up the Bodies (completing the Wolf Hall story)
  • Sarah Dunant – Sacred Hearts (set in a 16th Italian convent)
  • Colleen McCullough – The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet (haven’t read this Australian author since The Thorn Birds)
  • Lindsey Davis – The Course of Honour (another new author)
  • Edward Rutherfurd – Dublin (who can resist Dublin?)
  • Sarah Waters – The Night Watch (WWII is up my alley)
  • Jean Auel – I’ve read them all (no pun intended)
  • John Jakes – On Secret Service (because I enjoy spies)

I have my work cut out for me. I’ll be trying to figure out what makes them such favourites.

PS – I’ve also read The Mathematics of Love by Emma Darwin, Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom and The King’s Daughter by Barbara Kyle.

Top Historical Fiction Authors Talk about Branding

28 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, Historical Fiction, Top Historical Fiction Authors

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As James Patterson said in a quote I used several days ago: “Brands are nothing more than trust.”

I asked each of the top historical fiction authors I interviewed what brand they are trying to create for themselves and I thought it might be interesting to look at their responses collectively.

Do not think of myself as having a brand – Sharon Kay Penman and Hilary Mantel

Personal brand – Helen Hollick, CW Gortner and Deanna Raybourn

Series brand – Helen Hollick

Well-researched historical fiction from a less travelled point of view – Susan Higginbotham

Writer of famous women whose names have been obscured by history – Michelle Moran

Historical accuracy married to vivid story-telling that puts the reader there in the moment – Elizabeth Chadwick

Biographicals – Margaret George (something that evolved rather than a planned brand)

Bringing to life misunderstood or maligned characters or eras – CW Gortner refers to this as a possible future brand

Other than Chadwick, none of the authors mentioned great stories as part of their brand, however, since they are all recognized as great storytellers, I’m going to assume that they each would have added that to their brand statement.

Returning to the notion of trust, when we pick up a Margaret George book we know we’re in for a great fictionalized biography of people like Mary Magdalene or Helen of Troy; Susan Higginbotham will bring us lesser know figures from history like Kate Woodville, sister to Elizabeth or Bess de Montacute who marries Hugh le Despenser;  Michelle Moran gives us stories of Cleopatra’s Daughter and Nefertiti; and, Helen Hollick delivers another exciting story about her pirate, Jesemiah Acorne or another instalment in one of her series about King Arthur or King Harold. We trust them. After all, they’re our favourite authors.

So let’s switch to another favourite author, JK Rowling and her just released adult book, The Casual Vacancy. The Huffington Post offers a round-up of reviews with eight relatively negative and only two positive. Reading them, one has the impression that if Rowling was not already famous, she might not have made it past the agent stage.

And what’s my point? JK Rowling has a brand, a wonderful brand that has served her and her readers well for many years. She has abandoned that brand and broken trust with her readers. The jury is out on whether she will be able to establish a new brand.

Hit Lit – the final six features

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Top Historical Fiction Authors, Writing Process

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The first post in this series of three explored ‘tricks of the trade’ used by best-selling authors. The second post summarized five of James W. Hall’s twelve features from Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century’s Biggest Bestsellers.

This final post outlines Hall’s remaining six features.

Feature #7 – “Bumpkins versus Slickers”

In most bestsellers, there’s a central character who sets off on a journey that takes her from rustic America into turbulent urban landscapes … almost as often, the heroes of bestsellers make an exodus in the opposite direction

Hall and others refer to this as the hero’s journey, a structure that has worked in endless permutations to leverage the ageless clash between city and rural values.

Question: is feature #7 the commoner versus the nobility in historical fiction?

Feature #8 – “God Sells”

Our twelve bestsellers all feature religion in prominent ways, consistently critiquing orthodox religious practice and the dangers of zealotry.

The secular world is juxtaposed against religion that has gone astray and people who claim to adhere to religious values while clearly committing contrary acts. False piety, says Hall. Common sense struggles against religious conviction, science against faith. Langdon of Da Vince Code fame is an example – a man of science clashing with powerful religious leaders.

Question – does religion have such prominence in historical fiction?

Feature #9 – “Americans delight in reenactments of our national myths.”

The rise from humble roots to become rich and powerful. A character struggling against injustice and, finally, triumphing over oppression. And we are also grimly fascinated by the flip side of these stories.

Hall illustrates: Mitch McDeere’s belief in the American Dream (The Firm), Scout Finch’s triumph over racism (To Kill a Mockingbird), Scarlett O’Hara’s example of the virtue of hard work (Gone With the Wind), exposing injustice (The Da Vinci Code), the freedoms of American society clashing against communism (The Hunt for Red October).

Question – is there an equivalent to America’s national myths in historical fiction?

Feature #10 – Rebels, Loners, Misfits and Mavericks

The heroes and heroines … are all rebels, loners, misfits or mavericks. They don’t fit in worth a damn, and that’s one of the reasons we love them so much

Hall explains that the “tension between mavericks and conventionalists operates at the core of the biggest bestsellers”. Heroes of these novels reject conformity and convention. They are strongly individualistic.

Feature #11 – “Fractured Families”

In each of our twelve novels, a member of a broken family finds an ingenious way to transcend his or her crazy stress.

A few pages later Hall states that “twelve of the most successful novels in publishing history and not a traditional, fully functioning family among them, yet all our heroes and heroines find ways to make peace with their extreme losses”.

Perhaps these novels function partly as therapy for readers coping with their own family distress particularly at a time when the traditional family model is changing (some would say has changed).

Feature #12 – yes this is the last one – Sex

In every novel on our list, one key sexual encounter plays a decisive role in the outcome of the plot and in the transformation of the protagonist.

Scarlett’s sexual encounter with Rhett Butler. The false accusation of rape in To Kill a Mockingbird. Unresolved sexual tension between John Smith and his former girlfriend in The Dead Zone. Raunchy sex just before a woman is eaten by a shark in Jaws. Mitch McDeere’s infidelity on a deserted beach in The Firm.

The sexual language may be toned down to broaden the books’ mainstream appeal, but copulation, both violent and extreme, still plays a crucial role in the outcomes of these stories … somewhere in our national consciousness we know that one good roll in the hay can change everything.

So … there you have it, the twelve features of bestsellers according to James Hall’s analysis. By the way, he has one final ingredient to add – personal passion. “Without this one last ingredient, a novel might easily contain all the recurring features but still remain a lifeless pile of mush.” There’s still magic involved.

Feedback – what do you think? Do these twelve features resonate in the stories of your favourite historical fiction writers?

Top Historical Fiction Authors Talk About What Attracts Readers

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Authors

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Those who are frequent readers will know of the interviews I’ve conducted with top historical fiction authors. Collectively these interviews generated lots of interest and discussion. But … what can we learn by looking across nine favourite authors?

One question I asked was what do you think attracts readers to your books. Let’s have a look.

Sharon Kay Penman: readers appreciate “that I am writing of people who actually lived and events that really happened” and “my efforts to be as historically accurate as humanly possible.”

C. W. Gortner: “readers have told me … I write about human beings, not cliches: that I show flaws and weaknesses as well as strengths” and “find the connections between us … that shared emotional experience”

Hilary Mantel: tries to bring the “best writing she can” to her readers … “finds the dramatic shape in real events” … and regards each novel as a “joint effort between writer and reader”

Susan Higginbotham: tells stories “through fresh viewpoints” and “treats the historical figures … with respect” and “tries to avoid black-or-white characters or cliched characters”

Helen Hollick: ” I think the passion I feel for my characters comes across in my writing”

Michelle Moran: “I hope it’s the historical accuracy and the ability to be transported back in time”

Elizabeth Chadwick: readers tell me “they love the feeling as if they are there in the moment … appreciate that the characters are of their time, believable and not anachronistic … they enjoy the vividness, the colour and also the emotional and historical integrity”.

Margaret George: “people do say they feel like they are really there”

Deanna Raybourn: “I try to tell a good story with characters my readers will care about. I am rabid on the subject of historical accuracy”

Common threads – historical accuracy, characters we can understand and care about, the drama of history, vividness of the time.

Connecting back to the survey – the top three reasons for reading historical fiction are (1) to bring the past to life appreciating how people lived and coped in very different times, (2) because it’s a great story, and (3) to understand and learn about historical periods without reading non-fiction. And the number one response to the question of what detracts from your enjoyment of historical fiction – historical inaccuracies.

No wonder these authors are favourites!

Top Historical Fiction Authors – Michelle Moran

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Authors, Writing Process

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Source – Author website

Today I welcome Michelle Moran, one of the top 20 favourite authors identified in the historical fiction survey. I am doubly pleased to publish her interview on the same day as the launch of Michelle’s latest book, THE SECOND EMPRESS. 

Why do you write historical fiction?     For every novel I have written, I can look back and say that there has been a very specific moment of inspiration – usually in some exotic locale or inside a museum – where I’ve said, “Aha! That’s going to be the subject of my next novel.” I never began my writing career with the intention to write books about three different princesses in Egypt. In fact, I had no intention of writing about ancient Egypt at all until I participated in my first archaeological dig.

During my sophomore year in college, I found myself sitting in Anthropology 101, and when the professor mentioned that she was looking for volunteers who would like to join a dig in Israel, I was one of the first students to sign up. When I got to Israel, however, all of my archaeological dreams were dashed (probably because they centered around Indiana Jones). There were no fedora wearing men, no cities carved into rock, and certainly no Ark of the Covenant. I was very disappointed. Not only would a fedora have seemed out of place, but I couldn’t even use the tiny brushes I had packed. Apparently, archaeology is more about digging big ditches with pickaxes rather than dusting off artifacts. And it had never occurred to me until then that in order to get to those artifacts, one had to dig deep into the earth. Volunteering on an archaeological dig was hot, it was sweaty, it was incredibly dirty, and when I look back on the experience through the rose-tinged glasses of time, I think, Wow, was it fantastic! Especially when our team discovered an Egyptian scarab that proved the ancient Israelites had once traded with the Egyptians. Looking at that scarab in the dirt, I began to wonder who had owned it, and what had possessed them to undertake the long journey from their homeland to the fledgling country of Israel.

On my flight back to America I stopped in Berlin, and with a newfound appreciation for Egyptology, I visited the museum where Nefertiti’s limestone bust was being housed. The graceful curve of Nefertiti’s neck, her arched brows, and the faintest hint of a smile were captivating to me. Who was this woman with her self-possessed gaze and stunning features? I wanted to know more about Nefertiti’s story, but when I began the research into her life, it proved incredibly difficult. She’d been a woman who’d inspired powerful emotions when she lived over three thousand years ago, and those who had despised her had attempted to erase her name from history. Yet even in the face of such ancient vengeance, some clues remained.

As a young girl Nefertiti had married a Pharaoh who was determined to erase the gods of Egypt and replace them with a sun-god he called Aten. It seemed that Nefertiti’s family allowed her to marry this impetuous king in the hopes that she would tame his wild ambitions. What happened instead, however, was that Nefertiti joined him in building his own capital of Amarna where they ruled together as god and goddess. But the alluring Nefertiti had a sister who seemed to keep her grounded, and in an image of her found in Amarna, the sister is standing off to one side, her arms down while everyone else is enthusiastically praising the royal couple. From this image, and a wealth of other evidence, I tried to recreate the epic life of an Egyptian queen whose husband was to become known as the Heretic King.

Each novel I’ve written has had a similar moment of inspiration for me. In many ways, my second book, The Heretic Queen is a natural progression from Nefertiti. The narrator is orphaned Nefertari, who suffers terribly because of her relationship to the reviled “Heretic Queen”. Despite the Heretic Queen’s death a generation prior, Nefertari is still tainted by her relationship to Nefertiti, and when young Ramesses falls in love and wishes to marry her, it is a struggle not just against an angry court, but against the wishes of a rebellious people.

But perhaps I would never have chosen to write on Nefertari at all if I hadn’t seen her magnificent tomb. At one time, visiting her tomb was practically free, but today, a trip underground to see one of the most magnificent places on earth can cost upwards of five thousand dollars (yes, you read that right). If you want to share the cost and go with a group, the cost lowers to the bargain-basement price of about three thousand. I took a few moments to think about this. I had flown more than seven thousand miles, suffered the indignities of having to wear the same clothes for three days because of lost luggage… and really, what was the possibility of my returning to Egypt again? There was only one choice. I paid the outrageous price, and I have never forgotten the experience.

While breathing in some of the most expensive air in the world, I saw a tomb that wasn’t just fit for a queen, but a goddess. In fact, Nefertari was only one of two (possibly three) queens ever deified in her lifetime, and as I gazed at the vibrant images on her tomb – jackals and bulls, cobras and gods – I knew that this wasn’t just any woman, but a woman who had been loved fiercely when she was alive. Because I am a sucker for romances, particularly if those romances actually happened, I immediately wanted to know more about Nefertari and Ramesses the Great. So my next stop was the Hall of Mummies at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There, resting beneath a heavy arc of glass, was the great Pharaoh himself. For a ninety-something year old man, he didn’t look too bad. His short red hair was combed back neatly and his face seemed strangely peaceful in its three thousand year repose. I tried to imagine him as he’d been when he was young – strong, athletic, frighteningly rash and incredibly romantic. Buildings and poetry remain today as testaments to Ramesses’s softer side, and in one of Ramesses’s more famous poems he calls Nefertari “the one for whom the sun shines.” His poetry to her can be found from Luxor to Abu Simbel, and it was my visit to Abu Simbel (where Ramesses built a temple for Nefertari) where I finally decided that I had to tell their story.

It’s the moments like this that an historical fiction author lives for. And it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that my decision to write Cleopatra’s Daughter came on an underwater dive to see the submerged city of ancient Alexandria. Traveling has been enormously important in my career. My adventures end up inspiring not only what I’m currently writing, but what I’m going to write about in the future.

You are clearly good at writing historical fiction. What do you think attracts readers to your books?     Thank you! I hope it’s the historical accuracy, and the ability to be transported back in time.

Do you have a particular approach to research and writing?     Because the publishing industry likes their authors to be on a book a year schedule, I divide my time evenly. Six months for research, six months for writing.

Have other writers of historical fiction influenced you and, if so, how have they influenced you?     12 years ago, I had the fortune to be wandering through the Borders bookstore in Claremont CA and see Robin Maxwell touring for her latest historical fiction, which at the time I believe was Virgin. So I summoned up the chutzpah to go over and tell her I was an historical fiction author too — at the ripe old age of 21! Hey, so what that I had only sold a book in German and my current agent wasn’t returning my emails? I was still an author, right? And, again, instead of laughing (or worse), she gave me her number and told me to call her with questions at anytime. We talked every five or six months or so after that, and she was a great inspiration to me. Since then I’ve been to her ranch. She lives in a beautiful expanse of desert with her husband, who’s a yoga instructor.

What ingredients do you think make for a top historical fiction author? Do you deliberately plan for these ingredients in your writing?     Oh wow. I really couldn’t say. As a reader, I look for historical accuracy, plus a place in time I know little about. I like to learn while I read, but I also want to be entertained. I feel that good historical fiction can deliver both.

You seem to be creating books focused on famous women of history. How do you balance an interest in ancient times such as the Egyptian empire with Napoleonic times?     Actually, my interests are pretty wide-ranging, so it hasn’t been difficult at all. History in general is what fascinates me, from the ancient world to the modern. I guess what compels me to reach back in time to search for untold stories is how similar we are to people who lived a thousand, even two thousand, years ago. People in ancient Egypt had the same hopes, dreams, fears, and desires as we do today. Human emotions haven’t changed.

What advantages do you think come from writing more than one book set in a given period? Any disadvantages?     I can’t see any disadvantages to writing a few books set in the same time period, but I can see disadvantages for a writer who writes more than two or three.  Not because their readers will get bored, but because they might! Of course, this doesn’t apply to all writers, and those who write series—I really take my hat off to them! For me, one of the best parts about writing historical fiction is the research, and I like to keep it new and fresh!

What brand are you trying to create for yourself?     I’d like readers to think of me as a writer of famous women whose names have been obscured by history.  Women who have been talented—not just beautiful, or married to the right man.

What do you do to connect with readers?     I have a very strong online presence. From my FB page for readers, to Goodreads, to my website, www.michellemoran.com, I try to make myself as accessible as possible, particularly those with questions about the history behind the books.

What do you know about your readers?     What I know often comes in the form of emails and FB postings. I have a very active FB page for readers, and I’m on there several times a day, as well as on Goodreads. I adore online communication, and I can’t get enough of it!

What data do you collect about your readers?     None. But I do try to read both positive and negative reviews to see if I can learn something from them.

What strategies guide your writing career?     Honestly, I just wrote what I enjoy reading. I ask myself if it’s a scene I’d enjoy in someone else’s book, and if it isn’t, I simply don’t write it!

What would you do differently if you were starting again?     Hmm… that’s tough. Because both my mistakes and my good decisions led me to where I am today. I’ve had tremendous good fortune in my career, and I have so many people to thank for that. I guess if I had to do something different it would be to market and publicize my second book better. I was so exhausted from the first book’s campaign that I didn’t really give THE HERETIC QUEEN enough time to shine.

Do you have any advice for writers of historical fiction?     Keep writing. If at any point along the way I had stopped writing and said to myself, you know, I think book number eleven will be my last, I wouldn’t be published. Writers don’t like to hear this, though. I know when I was looking at writing advice and I would see this posted somewhere I would think, well that’s helpful. I wouldn’t have thought of that. But the truth is there’s no good-ol-boys-club and there’s no backdoor into the publishing industry (unless you’re already a star). Good work sells, and if it doesn’t, write another one, then maybe once you’re a success they’ll haul out all of your old books that weren’t worth publishing the first time around, spruce them up a little, and voila, all of your previous efforts won’t have been wasted. Or maybe you’ll look back on those books and think, wow, they knew something I didn’t. My work has gotten better. And then you’ll hide those first eleven books in a closet somewhere (or a craftily labeled folder in My Documents so that no one ever finds them).

Is there a question you would like to answer that I haven’t asked?     No! You’ve pretty much covered everything, and it’s been a real pleasure. Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me!

Michelle, your passion for the subjects you choose and the research involved is so very clear. You’ve certainly inspired me to keep on writing although, having recently spent four months editing a manuscript, I can’t imagine completing a book a year! The Second Empress sounds like a wonderful read – I wish you great success with it.

THE SECOND EMPRESS:   Last spring, bestselling author Michelle Moran revived the tumultuous years of the French Revolution in her novel Madame Tussaud. Channeling the voice of the very real wax sculptor, Marie Tussaud, readers witnessed the fall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the Reign of Terror, and the rise of a general named Napoleon Bonaparte. In her new novel, THE SECOND EMPRESS: A Novel of Napoleon’s Court (August 14, 2012; Crown Publishers), Moran reveals the next chapter in French history, taking readers inside the court of Emperor Napoleon. Through the voice of three people who knew him best—Pauline Bonaparte, his infamous sister; Marie-Louise, his second wife of royal Austrian blood; and Paul, a Haitian chamberlain who caters to Pauline and advises the emperor—Moran offers a glimpse at the individuals behind the scenes who helped influence an empire.

Top Historical Fiction Authors – C.W. Gortner

01 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Authors, Writing Process

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Today I welcome C.W. Gortner, eighth on the list of favourite historical fiction authors. Since survey participants made me aware of Christopher Gortner, I have read The Last Queen and The Queen’s Vow – devoured would probably be a better word! I hope you enjoy his thoughts about writing and researching historical fiction.

Why do you write historical fiction?     I’ve always been fascinated by history. I grew up in southern Spain, near Malaga, in a fishing village with a ruined castle that had belonged to Isabella of Castile.  The people of the past were presences in my childhood; history never seemed dry or distant to me. In college, part of my Masters was in history. Writing historical fiction became a natural extension of my lifelong interest; I always want to know more than the facts. I want to delve beneath the surface and discover the hidden stories.

You are clearly good at writing historical fiction. What do you think attracts readers to your books?     I can only quote what readers have told me: that they like the balance I bring to my characters. They tell me, I write about human beings, not clichés; that I show flaws and weaknesses as well as strengths. I also try to find the connections between them and us: that shared emotional experience that isn’t constrained by the differences in our eras.

Do you have a particular approach to research and writing?     I do tend to research quite a bit, and travel is essential to me as part of that. I must see the places where my characters lived, even if those places have changed, as they usually have. Landscape is important to me: what surrounds a character is as vital to their development as what they experience.  I also tend to write chronologically; it’s tough for me to jump around when I’m working on a book, even during the revision stage. I envy writers who can write any part of a story at any time, because much as I have tried, I can’t do it. I have to feel the story’s continuum at all times.

Have other writers of historical fiction influenced you and, if so, how have they influenced you?     Of course! I’m always influenced, in the sense that if I’m captured by a writer’s work I want to know how they did it; I want to dissect their language and discover the formula they used to create that sense of magic for me. But I have learned the hard way to rein in that tendency because it’s destructive. My voice is my own. It takes years for a writer to find his or her voice and it’s one of the most difficult skills to master, and one of the most fragile to retain. It’s frightening how easy we can lose our voice, especially when insecurity and doubt seduce us into wanting to be more like that other writer we admire. Truth is, we can only write as ourselves; it’s what makes us unique. To mimic someone else is a mistake.

What ingredients do you think make for a top historical fiction author? Do you deliberately plan for these ingredients in your writing?     I don’t believe in set ingredients, per se. Books don’t come with recipes: you can’t brew them all the same way. I love all kinds of writing within our genre, from the so-called romantic to the allegedly literary to everything in-between. I think what truly makes for success in historical fiction is authenticity. A writer must be true to his or her vision. It goes to what I said above, about not being influenced.  I plan what I think is important for my books: there are elements that I personally value in story-telling, such as details of landscape; emotional development; lack of clichéd values or heavy emphasis on one aspect of a story to the detriment of others. But that’s not to say I’m right. It’s what I prefer, and as we know, preference is subjective. One reader’s delight is another’s poison.

You seem to be creating books with two themes: (1) famous queens and women of power and (2) a spy series set in Tudor times. How do you balance these different projects?     They are very different animals, so to speak. My queens are based on factual stories: I have set timelines and facts to adhere to; I can’t just run amok inventing alternative stories for them. I must find my love for them as people within the context of lives already lived; I also must remain bound to whatever is known about their personalities. While I can, of course, expand on these traits and find alternate reasons for their behavior, for that is what a novelist does, if every known fact states that, for example, Isabella of Castile was pious, I have to work with it. I can’t throw it out because it’s inconvenient to my particular vision of her. With my Tudor spy series, on the other hand, my protagonist is fictional, a young man with a secret past who becomes the intimate protector of Elizabeth I. The setting is factual, as are many surrounding characters, but he is not: Brendan Prescott is my creation and therefore reflects a lot more of how I feel about that era; while I must stay true to his development as a Tudor man, he’s also a stranger in his own world, an exile. He lives on the edge, in the shadows: he’s every man and no man, at the same time. I love writing him because I am free to inhabit him without constraints. He is what I make of him, for better or worse.

What advantages do you think will come from writing a series? Any disadvantages?     The advantages, as I see them, are that I can grow the character and develop his personal storyline alongside the historical one. I deliberately set the first novel in the series, The Tudor Secret, before Elizabeth’s coronation, because the idea is that he and Elizabeth forge their bond through adversity, so that when she becomes queen (planned for the third book) they depend on each other and that dependency will wreak havoc in their lives. It’s not a romantic dependency: it’s the intimacy shared by those who are traumatized by their experiences and recognize in the other a safe harbor. But others will seek to destroy them because of it. Also, Elizabeth’s reign was long and quite eventful: Brendan can go anywhere, be anyone, as a spy. The possibilities are endless and very exciting to me as a writer. The disadvantages are, of course, the challenge of staying fresh; I don’t want the story to ever go stale or become repetitive. Also, every installment must stand alone in a certain way, so that readers can discover the series without feeling bound to its chronology. While reading the books in order will deepen the experience, one book should make the reader want to read the others, not necessarily oblige them to it.

What brand are you trying to create for yourself?     I rarely thought about branding when I started. These were stories I wanted to tell: that was my goal. Now, of course, branding has become essential and invested publishers strive to create it. Also, every writer wants to reach that point in his or her career when readers buy our next book because they love our work, regardless of the subject matter.  I honestly don’t know if I’m there yet; I would like to reach that plateau because I have other stories I’d like to write, about lesser-known eras. I don’t want my brand to constrict me, as these things tend to do. If I were solely responsible for creating my own brand— and I’m not, let us be clear about this: branding is a marketing effort that often transcends the writer’s intentions— it would be as an author of strong historical fiction that brings to life those misunderstood or maligned characters or eras. I am drawn to controversy and always will be; for a story to interest me, it has to have an edge. It can be subtle, embedded in the era itself; after all, not everyone can be a Catherine de Medici, but an edge has to be there, nonetheless.

What do you do to connect with readers?     I maintain an active social media presence, to the best of my abilities, as well as an e-mail address where any reader can write to me. I answer all my e-mail personally, even though the volume can be overwhelming at times. I also do events, attend conferences, and in general try to be responsive to readers. I even respond to criticisms, though I draw a line at rudeness.

What do you know about your readers?     Sometimes a great deal; sometimes very little: it all depends on what the reader wants to share with me. I know that almost all of my readers love historical fiction; that they want to discover a living history that entertains them but also makes them think. I also believe most of my readers are women.

What data do you collect about your readers?     I’m a firm believer in privacy. I don’t collect data. I have over 3,000 readers on my mailing list and I know nothing more than e-mail addresses for the majority of them.

What strategies guide your writing career?     Perseverance, to start: it’s a tough business. You have to want to do this, more than anything else. I also rely on the advice of the professionals who help guide me: my agent, my editors, the marketing experts. It’s a team effort. I have to stay open to different points of view. I don’t always know what’s best for me.

What would you do differently if you were starting again?     Hard to say, honestly; success is often a combination of perseverance, talent, and sheer luck. Fortune can play an incredible role; the right agent with the right material at the right time can cannon-blast an author into the stratosphere and guarantee a lifetime of accolades, though sometimes, (more than we think) that same author ends up crashing back to earth. Other times, it takes years to break in and build slowly but surely, as I did and hope to continue to do. Perhaps the only thing I’d do differently would be to not suffer as much as I did. It took me thirteen years to find that right agent, with the right material, at the right time; many of those years were steeped in anxiety. The seemingly endless round of rejection can do a number on you. Looking back, I realize that I put myself through the wringer; in truth, it happened as it was supposed to. And I learned so much about myself and writing in the process. I should have enjoyed the journey more; because it’s always about the journey, in the end.

Do you have any advice for writers of historical fiction?     Everything I said above. Trust your gut. Find your unique voice. Master your craft. Write the very best book you can and don’t settle for anything less. Never give up, if you want to see your words in print. But recognize that if you really don’t, it’s okay, too. I had to ask myself that question about ten years into it, before I got published, when I lost my fourth agent and had no drive to find another, nothing left to give: I put it all aside for a year. I made myself experience life without it. I was miserable, so I knew I had to try again. That was when I understood – the gods save me – that I’d never be satisfied until I succeeded.

Is there a question you would like to answer that I haven’t asked?     More of a statement: I love animals and I believe we can each make a difference in creating a humane world, where we no longer treat our fellow beings, who share this earth with us, as something disposable. Every time we lose a species, every time a pet is euthanized in a shelter or wild creature hunted down and killed for sport, we sacrifice the very privilege that being human entails.

Thank you for your candid responses, Christopher. I particularly like your comment about a writer’s voice as “one of the most difficult skills to master, and one of the most fragile to retain” and the notions that “books don’t come with recipes” and that “one reader’s delight is another’s poison”. My next sampling of your work will have to be the first in your Brendan Prescott series!