Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of best-selling Tudor historical fiction. His latest novel is Bess: Tudor Gentlewoman which is the sixth novel in his Elizabethan series. I’ve read the first three – Drake, Essex, and Raleigh plus others Tony has written and can highly recommend his storytelling skills.
Why write a six-novel series? Here’s Tony to answer that question.
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After the success of my Tudor Trilogy I decided to tell the entire story of the Tudors, to the last days of Queen Elizabeth and the end of the dynasty. Rather than write one book about the complex and enigmatic queen, I decided to show her through the eyes of three of her favourite men. Sir Francis Drake worshipped her as ‘Gloriana’, the Earl of Essex was like the son she never had, and Sir Walter Raleigh was the Captain of her Guard.
While researching these I became intrigued by the Elizabethan women who witness and influence many of the great events of the era. I decided to make the Elizabethan trilogy into a series of six books, and chose Baroness Penelope Rich, elder sister of the Earl of Essex, his wife, Countess Frances, and Lady Bess Raleigh. Each had a very different relationship with the queen.
Even more so than with a trilogy, a six book series, technically known as a ‘hexalogy’, from the Greek words “hexa” (six) and “-logia” (discourse), there is scope to do a ‘deep dive’ into the social, political and economic aspects of the period. I also benefitted from economies of scale, as I’ve been immersed in the Elizabethan world for the last six years, and have a wonderful collection of books covering everything from Elizabethan food to the intricacies of fashion which were referred to multiple times.
I also like finding primary sources, such as letters, which can be great for understanding the time and place. These often had details which were of use in the other books, so I developed a system for remembering where I’d seen the original reference. I enjoy visiting the actual locations in my books to have an authentic sense of what it must have been like to live and work there. As part of my research I visited her home at Sherborne in Dorset, which features in both Bess and Raleigh, and the present owner of Sherborne, Lady Maria Wingfield Digby, kindly gave me a personal tour, including Walter’s study, which is not usually open to the public.
Some locations, such as the Tower of London feature in most of the books, so I had good value from my visits. It was amazing to climb the stairs of Walter Raleigh’s cell as he and Bess would have done so many times.
It can be quite daunting to commit to writing six books, but I developed a system of researching and visiting locations in the summer, writing in the autumn, editing in the winter and launching the new book in the spring. This enabled my editor to plan her availability, and I could agree the format for the covers with cover design artists well in advance.
There are challenges in writing a longer series. The main one was to find ways to avoid repetition. I explored big events, such as the Spanish Armada, through the eyes of each different character, and gave a lot of thought to the possible consequences. At the same time I enjoyed how their lives intersect. An advantage of a six book series is having the scope to show how relationships and lifelong friendships develop and shift over many years. Most importantly, feedback from readers is that they enjoy a longer series, and many end up buying all twelve books from book one of the Tudor Trilogy to book six of the Elizabethan Series.
The last two books in the Elizabethan Series extend past the end of the Tudors into the rise of the Stuart dynasty, and I am now researching a new Stuart Trilogy, starting with a little known (and I think underestimated) Queen Consort, Anna of Denmark.
Many thanks for sharing your experience, Tony. Congratulations on writing the series and best wishes for Bess.
Bess: Tudor Gentlewoman by Tony Riches
Bess Throckmorton defies her notorious background and lack of education to become Queen Elizabeth’s Gentlewoman and trusted confidante.
Forced to choose between loyalty and love, duty and desire, will she risk her queen’s anger by marrying adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh without permission?
Entangled in a web of intrigue, from the glittering Palace of Whitehall to the cells of the Tower of London, Bess endures tragedy and injustice, becoming a resilient, determined woman, who takes nothing for granted.
Can she outwit her enemies, protect her family, and claim her destiny in a world where women are pawns and survival is a game of deadly consequences?
This is the true story of the last of the Elizabethans, which ends the story of the Tudor dynasty – and introduces their successors, the Stuarts.
Tony Riches lives in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the history of the Wars of the Roses and the lives of the Tudors. For more information about Tony’s books please visit his website tony and his blog, The Writing Desk. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter (X) @tonyriches and Bluesky. You can find out more about his research on his popular podcast series, ‘Stories of the Tudors’.
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
