FIRE AND SWORD by Louise Turner - Reviewed by Louise Rule

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Fire and Sword – by Louise Turner – Reviewed by Louise E. Rule

About Louise Turner

Louise Turner

Born in Glasgow, Louise Turner spent her early years in the west of Scotland where she attended the University of Glasgow. After graduating with an MA in archaeology, she went on to complete a PhD on the Bronze Age metal work hoards of Essex and Kent. She has since enjoyed a varied career in archaeology and cultural resource management. Writing has always been a major aspect of her life and at a young age, she won the Glasgow Herald/Albacon New Writing in SF competition with her short story ‘Busman’s Holiday’. Louise lives with her husband in west Renfrewshire.

Fire and Sword

“In September 1489, letters of fire and sword were issued by King James IV to Sir John Sempill, Sheriff of Renfrew. 

They referred to 'burnings, hardships, and destruction' in Renfrewshire and to an attack made by Sempill on the Place of Duchal in times bygone.
This novel was inspired by these events.”

Before our reading journey begins, we are presented with a cast of characters, which proves to be very helpful, as there are so many, such is the plot of Turner’s novel. The first and second group of cast members are people who actually existed, and are pivotal to the unfolding story. The third group of cast members, we are informed, are fictitious, as Turner informs us that …the common man scarcely ever warrants more than a fleeting mention in the sources at this time.

Turner also informs the reader in her Author’s Note that,

…Because Fire and Sword aims to recreate real characters and real places wherever possible, I've left the names very much unchanged. This may cause some confusion, because it means that every other man is called John, and every other woman, Margaret…

And I can only agree with her. I had to track back to the cast of characters quite a few times, until the characters were well seated in my head. This impeded my initial reading of Fire and Sword, but once I sorted out the characters, my reading was well under way. I have to admire an author who keeps historical names intact. Although this is a book of some 89 chapters, one would imagine that ­Fire and Sword would be presenting itself as an over-sized tome, but this isn't the case, being of some 454 pages.

Fire and Sword is a book of political intrigue. Set in Renfrewshire, it tells of the conflicts between the Semphills of Ellestoun and the Montgomeries of Eglinton. This is an extremely addictive era in Scottish history, and one that has me wanting to do more research for myself.

The book begins at The Place of Ellestoun, February, 1488:

“They say he’s in league with the Devil.” Marion Sempill paused with her hand on the latch. The candle guttered in the draught, giving her a fey, unearthly look. “From the looks of him, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.”

John caught his sister’s eye, curious, a little concerned. “What’s he doing here, anyway?”

“How should I know?” she retorted. “I’m just a woman!” She patted his arm. “Rather you than me.” Opening the door, she swept from the chill darkness of the stair-tower to the light and warmth of the hall.

John followed close behind.

Turner portrays her characters with great ease, allowing the reader to visualise them, faults and all. There is an element of peeking through the curtains, spying, almost, at the private lives of John and his family.

The dialogue is naturalistic, and flows well, and in places Scottish dialectal language has been used, which lends depth to the characters. For example,

…”For six months they’ve raided us. It was a hen or a few cabbages at first. Then they started lifting the kye and burning the byres…” I googled ‘kye’ and found that it was the plural of cy = cow.

And:

…Hugh’s gude-father Colin Campbell, the Earl of Argyll.] I had assumed that it meant ‘good’, but I was wrong. This I also googled, and this is was I found: It means God, and is pronounced ‘gyd’.

The John Sempill character shows both vulnerability and yet strength of character, which Turner describes in such a way that, for me, gives him a certain perspicacity. At the same time, however, his display of timidness when in the company of Margaret Colville is really touching, even if at times, I could have shouted at them both, the bonus of being the omniscient reader. Margaret does not want their arranged marriage, but must obey her family in this, as in all matters, being female. She does, however, set out to make the situation as difficult as she can for everyone. To say more would be laying down spoilers.

Turner’s style of writing is painterly, that is to say, her descriptions of her characters, and their surroundings conjure detailed images. It allows the reader to be fully immersed in the progress of the novel. For example:

Their surcoats formed a swathe of colour against the drab tones of the land, their banners hanging listless in the gnat-clouded stillness of the evening. The tips of countless spears glinted in the sunlight, a bristling thicket that sprang from the ground below.

The atmosphere of this scene is palpable, because their banners are …[..hanging listless in the gnat-clouded stillness of the evening.], and conjures in the imagination, a hiatus of one’s life, while awaiting the surge of battle. Imagine, also, spears that glint in the sunlight. An alarming image for the foe. Such depth of description in so few words, impresses the moment more fully on the reader.

And consider,

A flick of his wrist brought his visor down, and his surroundings shrank . The countryside was a distant memory, a sun-drenched strip which beckoned through a grim and claustrophobic world.

The description is absolute. Imagine, if you will, only being able to see through a strip when in a state of siege. The disadvantages are astronomical. Not being able to see to the right or the left without turning one’s head, no peripheral vision, only forward vision. Ask yourself, how would you cope? How would you feel? The weight of the helm, the weight of the mail, and the armour. It could not be more of a claustrophobic world, could it?

In conclusion, I would have to say that Turner’s ability to draw the reader into the fifteenth century world of Scotland, transport said reader to the locations, and eavesdrop on family conversations, lives and personal moments, is incredible.  It is because of this ability that Turner is able to intertwine both the history of that time with some well-crafted fiction into a compelling historical fiction novel.

The author is so graciously offering a free copy of Fire and Sword for one lucky winner. To get your name in the hat simply comment below OR at this review's Facebook page here. 

Louise Turner can be found on Facebook. 

Louise E. Rule is author of Future Confronted. She can be found on Facebook, here, Twitter and Goodreads.

Louise E. Rule Interviews Australian Author Wendy J. Dunn

From the cover of _The Light in the Labyrinth_

Wendy J. Dunn is an Australian writer who has been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor History since she was ten-years-old. She is the author of two Tudor novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This?, the winner of the 2003 Glyph Fiction Award and 2004 runner up in the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction, and The Light in the Labyrinth, her first young adult novel.

In the winter of 1535, fourteen-year-old Kate Carey wants her family home. She thinks her life will be so much better with Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII's second wife and the aunt she idolises. Little does Kate know that by going to attend Anne Boleyn she will discover love and a secret that will shake the very foundations of her identity. An attendant to Anne Boleyn, Kate is also swept up in events that see her witness her aunt's darkest days. By the time winter ends, Kate will be changed forever.

Wendy J. Dunn

While she [Wendy J. Dunn] has a very close and spooky relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder, serendipity of life now leaves her no longer wondering if she has been channelling Anne Boleyn and Sir Tom for years in her writing, but considering the possibility of ancestral memory. Her own family tree reveals the intriguing fact that her ancestors - possibly over three generations - had purchased land from both the Boleyn and the Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. it seems very likely Wendy's ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Wendy is married and the mother of three sons and one daughter - named after a certain Tudor queen, surprisingly, not Anne.

Welcome Wendy to The Review Author's Interview. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me today.

I would like to start by talking about your book cover.

Your book cover is impressive. Did you have any input into its design Wendy?

Close up detail of the picture from the cover

Thank you, Louise. Smile, I think the cover is impressive, too. The figure of the girl is taken from a painting called “The head of a Tudor Girl”, painted by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale in 1899.  I first saw and fell in love with this painting about two years ago. Ever since, I yearned to use the girl to represent Kate Carey on the cover of The Light in the Labyrinth. The other images on the cover are a symbolic peacock feather and, of course, the famous Anne Boleyn necklace. Can you see the blood on the necklace? That's the end result of trying to imagine how it would have looked after Anne Boleyn’s execution.

So, yes, I did have a lot of input into the design of the cover for my novel. But that’s also because Metropolis Ink is an extremely supportive publisher, made up of a wonderful partnership: Kurt Florman and David Major. David does the book layout and cover designs.  He, just like Kurt, always listens to his authors and works with them until they are completely happy with the look of their books. 

The title written in lower case ‘the light in the labyrinth’

The sub title written in upper case ‘THE LAST DAYS OF ANNE BOLEYN’

The colours of the lettering match the colours of Anne Boleyn’s English Gable Hood, making for a dramatic impact.

The main title colour matches the gold in her English Gable Hood, and the subtitle matches the red insert of her hood. This has a truly striking impact.

Background black with the symbolic peacock feather, which traditionally are linked to immortality and resurrection, and for this reason can be used in decorating a church at Easter.

There have been quite a few novels written about Anne Boleyn. She has proven to be a very enigmatic figure to many. What drew you to write about her Wendy?

Anne Boleyn has been part of my life since I was ten-years-old. As a very shy child, I was always drawn to Anne’s courage, her determination, her sharp intelligence and her strength of character that refused to wilt before strong men like Henry VIII. Her story, and that of her daughter, Elizabeth, lit a light of inspiration during all my growing up years.  But I never quite understood why her story spoke to me so deeply, or so loudly, until I started the journey of my PhD in 2010. Now I clearly see that I am drawn to historical feminist narratives, like that provided by the story of Anne Boleyn, because these stories connect deeply to my own experience of being a woman in a patriarchal society. Tudor women were educated that a virtuous woman was a silent woman. If they didn’t toe the line, they suffered the consequences. Sometimes, as in Anne’s case, the consequence was death.  I really believe Anne died because she refused to be silent.

The Light in the Labyrinth is my second novel that imagines Anne Boleyn’s story. Both this novel and my first, Dear Heart, How Like You This?, have left me questioning how much things have changed for women over the centuries. Women today are still punished because they refuse to be silent. In Australia, every week one woman dies through domestic violence. The story of Anne Boleyn has become a tool for me to critique my own society, and also opened my eyes to why the narratives of our world need to be rewritten so men and women walk side by side as equals. Until that happens, I don’t think the world will be able to find true healing.

It’s extremely interesting how you bring the reader into the story in media res, with Mary and Kate, and Kate angrily thinking:

 ‘Tis my mother’s fault. She’s the one who has brought shame on us. A sister of the Queen of England should know better than to wed a commoner.”

Thus achieving in one thought, just where we are in history. So, Wendy, would you like to tell our readers what gave you the inspiration to write this novel?

I wrote an essay about this very subject, which is included in The Light in the Labyrinth, Louise! A shorter version of the answer is that I believe writers grow by continually pushing themselves out of their comfort zones. 

Late in 2009, I went to a ten-minute play competition with a friend. The competition left both of us very inspired – and we challenged ourselves to write a play to enter in the 2010 competition. I really wanted to write a comedy – but I found all my ideas just went nowhere. Finally, with time disappearing on me and a new school term about to start, I picked up a copy of my first novel and found myself thinking about “Anne Boleyn in the Tower”, the painting used for its cover. Next thing I knew, I found myself writing a play that imagined the last night of Anne Boleyn’s life.

Remembering the hints from history that Katherine Carey may have been with her aunt, Anne Boleyn, during the lead up to her execution and also a witness to her death, I decided to include Kate Carey as one of my characters. After writing that play, I kept returning to the thought that Kate would make a great subject for the young adult novel I planned to write for my next major work. But before I could commit to writing another novel, I first had to do a lot of research to reassure myself that there was enough evidence to suggest Kate Carey was fourteen-years-old when her aunt was executed. Like Anne Boleyn, Kate is another woman from history with her birth year shrouded in uncertainty. For years, I believed she was most likely only twelve at the time of Anne Boleyn’s execution – too young, I thought, to be included as a witness to her aunt’s death, and one of the women responsible for ensuring that Anne Boleyn’s body was interned with all proper respect. But my research showed it was possible that Katherine Carey was fourteen in 1536 – a far more interesting age than that of a girl of twelve. Once I could believe that, I could begin my novel, which also became my PhD artefact, in earnest. 

You say that you have been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor history since being a child of ten-years-old. What drew you to this point in history Wendy?

I received a child's book of English history for my 10th birthday. In that book was a chapter about Elizabeth I. As Elizabeth Tudor was wont to do in her own lifetime, she hooked me - and I have stayed hooked ever since. From that point of time, I started to read and seek out everything I could find that would help me learn more about Elizabeth. That quest led to her mother, Anne Boleyn. Both these two remarkable women have been responsible for my lifelong study of the Tudors. 

As the history of Anne Boleyn is known by many, even if it’s only the fact that she was one of Henry VIII’s wives, what was your inspiration to making this novel new and fresh for your readers?

There are three parts to this answer. The first part has to do with Kate Carey. Very little is known about Kate Carey’s early life – and that offered a gap for my imagination to use to create a new fictional character, a character also based on a real person from history. The second part of this answer concerns the fictional construction of the last months of Anne Boleyn’s life. I think most people interested in Anne Boleyn wonder about the reasons for her tragic death. For myself, writing this story was my way to try to understand the real reasons Henry VIII murdered, yes, I see it as murder, a woman who he had turned his kingdom upside down to marry. I had mulled over this question for years, ever since I finished my first Tudor novel, Dear Heart, How Like You This? It seemed far too simple to blame the events of 1536 on Anne Boleyn’s failure in the birthing chamber. The third involves my imagined Anne. She is not the Anne of The Other Boleyn Girl or Wolf Hall. My Anne is not perfect. She makes mistakes, like all of us, and says things out of anger, jealousy and heartbreak. But my Anne is also an extremely intelligent, very human woman who deserves love and respect. I have researched Anne for decades now. The more I study her, the more I respect her, and recognise that Elizabeth I is very much her mother’s daughter. 

I thought I would concentrate here a little on Kate, the daughter of Mary, their relationship of which is palpable in its intensity. How much of their relationship comes from perceived knowledge, and how much is from your inspired imagination?

From both: perceived knowledge and imagination. I constructed my imagined Kate through my knowledge of her mother and her aunt. But as I have already mentioned, very little is known of Kate’s early life. So the relationship of mother and daughter was very much a product of my imagination.

Kate is a very strong character in your book. It’s quite revealing of her thoughts to show her writing in a journal. Given this aspect, what gave you the idea to have Kate writing in this way, or was it a well know aspect of life in that time?

This also came from my knowledge of both Anne and Mary Boleyn. We have in existence a letter written by the young Anne Boleyn to her father when she was in service to Margaret of Austria. We also know Anne Boleyn wrote poetry – and then there is that heart wrenching letter from “the Lady from the Tower”. Whilst it is debated whether this letter is indeed from Anne, I believe it rings with too much truth and bewilderment for it not to be from Anne’s own pen.

We also have a letter to Thomas Cromwell by Mary Boleyn, then Mary Stafford. So, in a time when many in nobility struggled to put pen on paper (reading was a far easier skill to learn), we have physical evidence that Anne and Mary wrote letters. It is such a shame we have lost Anne Boleyn’s letters to Henry VIII, but the very fact we have his love letters indicates a correspondence between them. It was this simple fact that Anne and Mary wrote letters, added to my knowledge of the Devonshire Manuscript, a shared book passed around a group of men and women at Henry VIII’s court, many of them also Kate’s kin, that gave the idea of that Kate would likely know how write as a teenager. That helped me decide on using the device of the journal to help to tell Kate’s story.

As the reader scans the page, it is evident when Kate is writing in her journal by the change in the font, which is an extremely effective device for the reader to recognise that moment. I read her journaling almost as though it were a soliloquy, an aside to the reader. Was this your intention?

Thank you, Louise – that was my exact intention, and I’m utterly delighted that you, as a reader, connected to the journal in this way. I saw the journal as a device to deepen the connection between Kate and the reader – and a way to include sections of first person narration, which research suggest is more appealing to the young adult reader.

Many readers are keen to know the routines of writers. So to that end, may I ask you if you have a set routine to your writing day? If so, could you tell us how your day runs please Wendy?

At the moment, I’m taking a break between The Light in the Labyrinth and submitting my PhD before starting in earnest my next novel. My family is the centre of my existence, so it is lovely to have more time available for them. But I also need to write. For big novel projects, I make a habit of going away to writing retreats so I can focus utterly on my work. Varuna, The Writers’ House in the Blue Mountains in Australia is perfect for this. Writers write in their rooms from 9 am to 6 pm. There is no phone in the house, and all mobiles have to be switched to silent. After 6 pm, everyone emerges from their rooms and eat a wonderful Varuna dinner together, cooked by a very special woman. (I miss you, Shelia!) Writers share their daily triumphs or frustrations, and sometimes read from their work-in-progress.

At home, I generally work when my family are not around– between 9 am to 3 pm. When I am deeply in a project, I will often return to my study around 7.30 and work until 9.30. 

   

The editing and proofreading process is a very meticulous task, as I’m sure you will agree, Wendy, so it would be interesting to know how you tackle your proofreading/editing process?

Writers of fiction need passion to dig out the clay to make the bricks of narrative. Passion gives writers drive and purpose – the reason to write. Second, third and fourth drafts call for more and more objectivity until your creation is ready for the eyes of publishers.

I always write the first drafts of my work for myself. That’s my time to experiment, and play around with ideas. It is when I arrive at later drafts I turn my thoughts to what needs to be done to ensure I engage readers other than myself.

When I arrive at second or third drafts, the task of writing begins to feel more like a collaborative project. I don’t believe writers can do their best work in the vacuum of isolation. I am fortunate to have critical friends who I can go to for feedback about my work. For The Light in the Labyrinth, I not only had my PhD supervisors as critical friends, but a group of fellow writers and dear friends who also critiqued my work through its various stages. Of course, the writer of the work is always in the driver’s seat. I take full responsibility for all the decisions made in writing this novel.

One thing I have found very useful to help proofread my work is to read it out loud. My brain has a terrible habit of seeing words in sentences I’ve really left out, but reading it aloud helps me catch those missing words. Another useful technique is to put your work away for a time and then come back to it to read it with fresh eyes. When we have just been working on something, it is difficult to see it clearly and objectively. I also think that every new draft pushes a work to the next stage because the writer becomes more and more certain of the direction of their story.

Writing fiction is all about surrender. To arrive at that point needs discipline, and the mental space to dream stories onto the page. My creative habits continually change. Nowadays, I need a fair amount of silence to write a first draft. I need to hear my thoughts and take them to a place where I can turn them into words on a page. My whole body is involved in the creative process. I am forever testing out my text, tasting, savouring words, to see if they make me vibrate. I put myself in the same space as my characters, to feel their pain, their joy – their experience of being. 

Finally, Wendy, is there anything else that you would like to tell our readers about your writing process?

Probably not so much about the process, but a final word about why I write. Writing has taught me that I use historical fiction as a way to tell my own story, as a woman who has lived the experience of being shaped by her culture, who also has known oppression and – in her growing up years – being deemed to have less value than the males in her world.  A woman who believes in writing as a space that creates and builds empathy – not only for the reader, but for the writer, too. 

Wendy, it has been an absolute pleasure chatting with you, and extremely interesting and very informative too. Thank you so much for joining me at The Review today, and may I wish you all success with your new book, _The Light in the Labyrinth_

Wendy's book is published by Metropolis Ink

Wendy J. Dunn is also author of _Dear Heart, How Like You This?_ 

Wendy can be found on Facebook,  and Twitter and on her blog and Goodreads

Louise E. Rule is the author of Future Confronted

Louise can be found on Facebook and Twitter,

and on her blog and Goodreads

Louise E. Rule

Louise E. Rule Interviews Judith Arnopp for The Review Author Interviews

From Judith Arnopp's Author Page on amazon.co.uk

Judith Arnopp

I live on a smallholding in West Wales with my husband, John, and two of our grown-up children. We used to do the whole self-sufficiency thing but the fox ate all the chickens, the slugs ate all the lettuce and ill health forced us to give up the battle. Now we care for our daughter's elderly pony and enjoy our Jack Russell, Bryn.

My greatest loves have always been writing and history. Since I was very small I have had a book in one hand and a pen in the other. These days, I have progressed to this wonderful machine which allows me to write the sort of books I love to read. Historical settings with a good strong lead female.

One of the great tragedies of history is that monastic chroniclers didn't think women sufficiently important enough to give them space on the record. This has caused women to be under-represented and, in my opinion, also often incorrectly categorised. Of course, the male section of medieval society tried to suppress their women; it still happens today but that doesn't mean that every one of them bowed down to male authority.

There were women like Aethelflaed, who ruled Mercia for thirty four years, led armies against the Vikings, refortified the Roman towns of Chester and Tamworth, founded Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Warwick and Stafford. Eleanor of Aquitaine who, among other things, ruled England on behalf of her son, King Richard the Lionheart's behalf until he could come to claim his throne. Margaret of Anjou who fought unsuccessfully for her son's rights and Margaret Beaufort whose campaign to put her son, Henry VII, on the throne, was rather more successful. Mary Banks who, along with her daughters and a handful of servants, withstood a siege at Corfe Castle on behalf of King Charles during the civil war. These are just a few examples of women who 'displayed a courage far above their sex as to surprise and disconcert their men' and they are the type of women you will find in my novels.

Welcome Judith Arnopp to The Review Author Interview, and thank you for taking the time to chat with me today.

Apart from your poetry book Waving at Trains, a personal account of your life, Judith, you have written and co-written many books. Can you tell the readers what gave you the inspiration to write about the Tudors?

The Winchester Goose

I have always loved the Tudors but when I started to write professionally I thought they'd been 'done to death' so I set my first novel in the Anglo Saxon period, which is another era I love. it was quite well received but, three novels later, I'd had so many people ask me if I had written anything 'Tudor' I thought I should oblige. That is when The Winchester Goose came into being and after that things really took off for me. I am very grateful, both to Henry VIII for having so many wives and to the people who suggested them.

Given that many books have been written about the Tudors, and in particular, Anne Boleyn, what was the catalyst that drove you to write The Kiss of the Concubine: A Story of Anne Boleyn?

I have both studied and read novels about Anne Boleyn since I was a young girl but never been entirely satisfied with any of them. She has been sadly maligned for years. I don't believe she was perfect but certainly most of the accusations against her were false. Most of the authors I've read embrace the legends of incest and witchcraft that emerged after her death. In my opinion Anne's story is dramatic enough and doesn't need embellishing too much. The Kiss of the Concubine doesn't concentrate on the pomp and ceremony of being queen, it hones in on the woman beneath and what marriage to a man like Henry might have been like.

I found it very interesting that you wrote it in the first person, and in particular at the beginning of the book, when Anne is a ghost talking to Henry on his deathbed. It lends an air of the sinister, matching the life of the king. With this in mind, can you tell the readers why you decided to write it from Anne's point of view?

The Kiss of the Concubine

I enjoy writing in the first person narrative and wanted to tell the story from her perspective. As I mentioned in the previous question she was subjected to false accusations and posthumously demonised further by her enemies. By stepping directly into her shoes, the reader experiences only the things that Anne would have been aware of. Henry and Anne's marriage was full of argument and reconciliation but there is very little to suggest any untoward break-up in their relationship right up to the time of her arrest. In The Kiss of the Concubine, when she is in the Tower, Anne is not fully aware of the real danger in which she stands and clings to the belief that Henry will free and forgive her. She knows nothing of the plots against her, or that the swordsman is summoned from France before her trial has taken place.

It is really intriguing seeing what life was like with Henry VII. Even though there is much to read regarding Henry and Anne, how did you go about making it different from all the other books written about them?

I didn't really give it much thought at the time but in retrospect I think it is different from other books because of the perspective it is written from, and also because I have stripped away the glitz and glamour to show the man and woman beneath. In the excerpt below their son has just been still-born, instead of having Henry angry and resentful, I paint them as grieving parents.

Exhausted after hours of travail, I slump on my pillows as they hand me my child. My son is swaddled in linen, his little blue face closed as in sleep, his purple lips like a bow. I cast back the covering to examine his perfectly formed limbs, his minute nail-less fingers, the tiny proof of his manhood. Apart from the fact he does not breathe, our little prince is perfect.

They take him from me, creeping away, and I roll over and wish I could die. I can find no comfort. I have lost our son, the prince that we have fought for all these years. What has it all been for? The tears don't fall, they wash down my face, no sobbing, no thrashing. I am saturated in grief. My attendants don't know what to say to me. They avoid my eye, speak in whispers and creep from my presence. When Henry finally deigns to come and face me I am quite alone, with only the terror of my thoughts for company.

He is deflated, like a child's bladder ball, his royal brilliance destroyed, his confidence quashed. I raise sore, wet eyes to him and for a long while we stare at each other, my throat working painfully, my breast burning. His face is flaccid and I can detect no anger, just unquenchable sorrow. In the end I hold out a hand, and after a long time of just looking at it, he eventually takes it and falls onto the bed beside me.

I curl myself around him, cling to the strong trunk of his body, my arms choking, my legs wrapped about his hips. If I could climb inside him I would, for there is nowhere and no one safe in this world but him; nowhere I can escape to and no way to put things right.

 As we lie there together, his torso begins to quiver and then shakes as great heaving sobs begin to tear him apart. I weep with him; useless, wrenching tears that have no end and do not heal. Henry and I are the most powerful couple in all of England and yet, in the face of death, we are powerless.

Writing historical fiction allows an author carte blanche to mix fact with fiction with alacrity. So how do you go about creating a balance between the two?

There is a very fine balance needed to create a believable world. By sticking too closely to facts and events the resulting book an be colourless. I research the Tudor world until I feel I can walk through the streets and houses quite comfortably. When it comes to writing it down I try not to describe it so much that I distract the reader from the story. I try to add just enough to provide an authentic backdrop. I keep a timeline of recorded events to hand, pictures and short bios of the historical characters and then I just begin to write. It sort of just happens. During the edits I sometimes have to take things out or add a little more to get the best mix. It is a bit like cooking; sometimes the recipe needs more spice, sometimes less. Whenever I do stray from fact or accepted opinion I always clarify it in an author's note. The past has gone and we can never really know what happened or how it was, so I never claim my version of events is 'history' or 'truth.' My stories are just ideas or speculation of how it might have been.

You are a prolific writer, Judith. Could you tell our readers what you next book will be about?

It is called A Song of Sixpence and is about Elizabeth of York and Perkin Warbeck - a dual narrative meshing their stories together until the time they meet. I have taken the idea that Perkin was in fact one of the princes in the Tower and Elizabeth's younger brother. It is going very well. I am just writing about the infancy of Elizabeth's second son, the young Henry (later the eighth of that name) and as you might imagine he is a proper handful. Elizabeth's life is quite well recorded so her side of the story follows history quite closely but we know virtually nothing of Perkin's life overseas so I am able to give my creative side fuller rein. This book is proving to be fun to write and I usually find that the more I enjoy writing a book the better it turns out. I have high hopes for this one.

Do you find writing becomes easier the more books that you write?

In some ways it does. Structure and formatting becomes second nature but it is quite difficult to ensure all the books don't end up the same. I have read lots of very successful authors who start off really fresh and gripping but after a while their books become formulaic. I hope I can avoid that but only time will tell. I think it is traditionally published authors who suffer this the most; they have the pressure of deadlines and publisher demands. As an independent author I can take as long as I want over a book and I put a lot of thought into how I want to structure it. If I want to take a risk and write first person, present tense I can, because I am my own boss. If it doesn't work I have only myself to blame. So, for me, keeping fresh is the greatest challenge.

When you co-write a book, how do you go about dividing the writing, or does it just evolve?

The only books I've co-written are anthologies with the writing group Cwrtnewydd Scribblers of which I am a member. We do one most years. We just get all our favourite different pieces together and decide which should go in and which should not. We then have to agree on covers and fonts etc. We give a percentage of the royalties to Air Ambulance Wales. Publishing our anthologies has improved our writing and publishing skills and added to the cohesion of the group and I would recommend it to all writing groups. You might not sell many but it is another string to your bow.

Judging by your posts on Facebook, your writing day starts quite early. Do you have a set working ethic, or is it flexible Judith?

It is entirely flexible; it has to be but I try to write and promote every day and aim to write four out of seven days. I write quite quickly so this works well for me. I also do a lot of blogging and networking, usually early in the morning while I am having breakfast and then I settle down to work on the WIP. I try to get a set amount of words done each day and sometimes I reach my goal, sometimes not. I often have to take a break to research some detail. There are also periods when my head gets so clogged up with the events in my novel that I am in danger of forgetting who I really am. Then I have to force myself to turn it off and re-enter the real world for a while.

I love making notes, and lists to do with my writing. How do you keep your story-lines on track?

I make a time-line and pin it up to keep a track of where I am supposed to be going. It is like the backbone of my novel and everything else is the flesh and muscle. When I research I scrawl notes on a notebook but my handwriting is so terrible I really struggle when it comes to reading them back. If I were to take all the sticky Post-It notes I have used so far in my career I could probably paper the walls of the house.

Many authors have beta readers for their manuscripts, so do you have beta readers for yours?

When I meet with the writing group they listen to the work so far and critique it as I go along. My husband also reads it. Then I have two other beta readers who are not related to me in any way. They look for continuity errors, things that trip them up, typos etc., by this time I have usually read it through so many times I am sick and tired of it and begin to not really 'see' it anymore. That is the time to lay it aside and step away.

After that I give it a final read through and edit before it goes off to my professional editor who does a wonderful job on it. Every writer really needs beta readers and editors - it is really not a good idea to publish without. It is asking for trouble.

Finally, Judith, could you tell our readers how you go about choosing a cover for your books?

In the early days I made many mistakes with covers and, once I had gained more experience, I had to repackage all three of my early novels. The cover is a big decision, something I didn't realise at first. These days I am lucky to have made friends with the designer Covergirl, and she now does all my covers. We work together to find a photograph we both like. I have simple tastes and prefer just a figure or a symbol that says something about the era the book is written in. For my last book, Intractable Heart, I was lucky enough to work with Darren Wilkins of The Tudor Roses fame, and purchased the use of his wonderful photograph. My cover designer then worked her magic on it. I am currently looking for a photograph or a contemporary painting that is available for use. Ideas are always welcome.

Thank you so much Judith, it's been really so interesting chatting with you.

Judith Arnopp is also author of:

Intractable Heart: A Story of Katheryn Parr
Peaceweaver
The Forest Dwellers, and so many more. 
To see all of Judith's books, please visit her amazon.co.uk page here.

Judith can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and on her blog and website

Louise E. Rule

Louise E. Rule is author of Future Confronted
And can be found on Facebook, Twitter and on her blog.

Lisl Reviews: Future Confronted by Louise E. Rule

Future Confronted 

by Louise Rule

It has on many occasions through time been spoken of: the unnaturalness of outliving one’s own child. Unfortunately, many people have had to endure this terrible order of events and each has their own way to grieve. It takes great fortitude to re-count events, for in so doing, one re-lives them and their affiliate pains, not only in the telling but also the reverberating ache that strikes the heart long after the listener has gone away.

In summoning the courage to tell her story—her son’s story—Louise Rule has gifted upon us a piece of herself, of her strength and love for people and life that teaches us without lecturing, enables us in our quest to see the world and its inhabitants as the precious creatures they are.

Rule’s son Rob was just 20 when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and less than two months later he was no more. Just like that, one might think, right before the swoosh of horror that passes through the consciousness coming to grips with the understanding that most people take much more than that to absorb the very reality of such an illness. Just like that.

That sort of swiftness is related to the flash of time Rule writes of in her poem, “Just a Moment,” that serves to introduce Rob’s memoir. She references that first awakening of each day before full consciousness, wherewithal, has set in—preceding the full knowledge, for her, of the reality that is.

This Moment lulls me into trusting

Everything is fine. The Moment

Passes, reality remains

I remember…

It is fitting that Rule opens the book with two memories: one of herself as a child staring up through an apple tree to the sky above, leading closer to the present as it transitions to an ash tree and a downpour, as if the heavens themselves are weeping at the loss to the world, whose tree we are under. Symbolic of healing, a state Rule pursues though cautioning on the difference between this and the impossibility of “getting over it,” the tree has now embraced Rob’s remains, his ashes, holding him in a way his mother no longer can.

Like life, even a life punctuated with occasional negative events, this memoir has its bright moments, most often shared with loved ones. Rule recounts these, too, proceeding by first talking about life after Rob’s death—fitting, given the sometimes-overwhelming task of continuing to live not just after her child has died, but also following a harrowing ten-week period in which speed and unplanned become key notions of existence, when even the compensation of adrenalin threatens shutdown and yet somehow keep going is the order of the day, and then, suddenly, without warning—stop. The adjustment is harrowing and can be debilitating.

Reflected in the title, this circumstance can lead to the breakdown of an entire family, and Rule relates how her clan could not simply go gently, as they say, nor move on: circumstances necessitated a confrontation with what was coming and a reconciliation with what was. She artfully manages the roles of each section in the book by steering them in their duties: a nonlinear storyline—the only way, really, it could have been done—told to an imaginary companion whose presence developed into a full personality, one who understood the singular import of allowing the bereaved to do all the talking. In so doing, she anchored Rule as the author found her way to a voice uniquely hers, yet fitting for all.

Rule is also clearly suited to the English degree she achieved—having commenced before her son’s illness and finished up after his death. Lyrical and flowing, while simultaneously conversational, her prose maps out these and other events free of emotion for its own sake, but with a writing quality and management skills that at times can lead us to envision the scenes in ways that reflect the moments. In one passage, for example, when the family first learn the seriousness of Rob’s diagnosis, it is as if we are viewing the passage through a prism and sensing the confusion via the distortion.

Nobody spoke; a heavy silence. We were all studying the registrar’s face, eventually; he looked at each of us in turn, then began talking again. I must admit to the fact that I can’t remember what he said after that. His mouth was moving, yes. I could hear a mumbling, yes, but I couldn’t seem to understand him. I tried…I did, I tried, but it had all become surreal, like watching T.V. with the sound down; it was happening to somebody else, not us…not us. Everything was running in slow motion. I became aware that everyone was standing up and moving toward the door…The door clicked, I turned around and stared at the door. We stood rooted, a tragic tableau in the corridor.

Within the pages of Future Confronted Rule takes us through the journey Rob and his family face as they make their way through a labyrinth, navigating in a learn-as-you-go fashion of how to do death when, in reality, despite modern advances in technology and a world of endless interpersonal seminars on taking life by the horns, most of us are still learning how to live.

Rule understands this, and makes no attempt to pass off anything formulaic—or even anything except what she knows and claims only for herself. She shares with us events from Rob’s (and her others sons’) childhood, linking, always linking her transitions and leading us to something we know we have to hear, not because it is hers, but because of her courage and generosity, that becomes ours.

The Russians say that no one ever truly dies as long as there is someone to remember them, and the author brings this to bear on the words of Cicero as she quotes:

The life of the dead is placed

In the memory of the living

Breathtaking and perhaps even frightening in the enormous responsibility this carries, Rule utilizes her skill and draws on her faith to achieve this memory keeper duty. In so doing, she allows us to see Rob a little bit more deeply, allowing us to share her task.

*********

Future Confronted has been re-released with additional content to incorporate a reflection on the 16 years since Rob’s death and how life carries out for a family missing one of its vital pieces. Time, a running theme in the book, has cemented Rule’s understanding that loss of a child is the most horrendous that ever can be. She reiterates the continuity of her “Moments,” and we sense once more the wish for cumulative moments to prolong the period in which knowledge of the worst is kept at bay.

Alas, it is not to be, though the gift that Rob was, that he is, remains the family’s focus, in part to continue living as a way to commemorate their son, their brother. “His name, and the person he was, will live on in the remembering.”

Louise E. Rule is currently focused on her next book with a working title of The Touching of the Stones and can be found at: her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Author Page, Smashwords and Goodreads. 

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Update: The new edition of Future Confronted, with additional content, is currently undergoing publication revisions. Please watch our Facebook page and this blog for updated information on where to order.