Diana talks to ... Louise Rule

Louise has very kindly offered a signed copy and an ebook of her memoir, Future Confronted. To be in with a chance of winning, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page. If anyone would prefer to leave a comment on Facebook, they can follow this link to our Facebook page

Although I have known Louise online for quite a long while, I met her for real for the first time at HNS16 - the Historical Novel Societies conference that was held this year in Oxford. Louise is a lovely lady and I could have sat and talked to her all day, but various activities tugged us in different directions, though not before I had asked her a few questions.

*

I am sure that you are tired of being asked the usual questions that would be interviewers ask authors, so hopefully this interview is an interview with a difference and I have come up with some unusual questions!

If your latest book Future Confronted was adapted into a TV show or a film, who would you like to play the lead role?

Ummm, well, the book is about my son, Rob, who had blonde hair and a ginger goatee beard, and thinking about anyone playing him is a bit weird. But, if I really had to choose, then the lead role would probably have to be Brad Pitt. He doesn’t look like my son, and he’s too old, but I like him… a lot, so it’s a pure indulgence.

(Note from Diana: Hmmmmm.... good choice!! Good taste!!!)

*

If, as a one off, (and you could guarantee publication!)  you could write anything you wanted, is there another genre you would love to work with and do you already have a budding plot line in mind?

What a great question! I would love to write a time-slip novel. I don’t have a plot line in mind, but it would definitely be set in Scotland, probably between the 14th and the 19^th century.

*

Do you have any rituals and routines when writing? Your favourite cup for example or ‘that’ piece of music...??

Absolutely, yes! I always have music playing. I like to play music that fits the scene that I am writing, where possible, of course. Film scores are good for this. Or if I am writing a sad, or devastating scene, then I like Mozart, or Vaughan Williams.

Now, as for a favourite cup, that really depends on what I’m drinking. If it’s tea with lemon, then it will be my red cup (I love red) with white polka dots. If it’s a latte, then it will be my tall tapered glass cup with my Nespresso coffee. But if it’s a difficult scene, or I am reading through, then it’s a milky coffee in my large, white cup, which holds half a pint. I think it’s true to say that I love coffee a wee bit more than tea.

*

What is the worse book you have ever read? What made it unreadable for you?

The worst book? I don’t know that I have read a really ‘bad’ book, per se, but I have read a book that was so full of woe, it was beyond depressing. I had to read it at university, and write a 5000 word paper on it. The title was The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is about a woman with a “nervous weakness” as it is referred to in the book, and true to the title, it is about how the protagonist sees the yellow wallpaper in the room which she is occupying. There is much said about the recurring pattern, I quote, “There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down.” I don’t know about you, but if I were in a room with that wallpaper, I think that I would have a “nervous weakness”. Even the description of the wallpaper is morbid.

*

Other than writing full time, what would be your dream job?

Oh fabulous question! I’d love to be on a film set, either behind the cameras as one who sees to the continuity of each take, or as an extra. I love everything to do with the making of films, it is such a fascinating process. The idea of making worlds so that an audience can be transported… well, it really appeals to me. Back in the day, there was no such thing as ‘blue screen’ or ‘green screen’ filming, so CGI now plays a huge part in the making of many films and TV series, making the possibilities just endless. Love it!

*

Coffee or tea? Red or white?

Coffee, absolutely, coffee. It’s my first drink of the day.

*

 I’m teetotal. But at Christmas I will have a small glass of red wine diluted with lemonade. I know all the drinkers out there will be screaming that it is a heresy to dilute any alcoholic drink, but there you go, that’s the way I roll.

*

If you had free choice over the font your book is printed in, what font/fonts would you choose?

The short answer is that I prefer Calibri.

(Note from Diana: I love Calibri and also Plantagenet Cherokee.)

*

Imagine that you could get hold of any original source document. What would it be?

*Rubs hands together* Oh fabulous! I would love to get hold of the original manuscript of Paradise Lost by John Milton. I did get a lot of source material from the British Library on John Milton, as I wrote about Paradise Lost vs Genesis in the Bible, for my dissertation. I absolutely love how his mind worked, a very, very clever man. Just to see, and maybe touch, that manuscript would be the best of days.

*

Historical fiction authors have to contend with real characters invading our stories. Are there any ‘real’ characters you have been tempted to prematurely kill off or ignore because you just don’t like them or they spoil the plot?

I’m writing my first historical fiction book at the moment. It has at its core, the death of Alexander III. So, I already have a real character’s death. I don’t think that there are any ‘real’ characters that I would like to kill off, or ignore. The history of the time in which I am writing is so fascinating. One of my characters, on the other hand, I would dearly love to kill off, but every time I think, now you are for the chop matey, he still hangs around. His day will come.

*

Are you prepared to go away from the known facts for the sake of the story and if so how do you get around this?

Interesting. It’s not something that I would set out to do. Generally, it peeves me when I come across this, even with the Author’s Notes to explain why. In my book, the facts, as known, about the death of Alexander III, have him falling over the cliff to his death, along with his horse. There is much debate as to whether that is exactly what actually happened, so I am following ‘that’ argument in my story. No spoilers, though, sorry.

*

Do you find that the lines between fact and fiction sometimes become blurred?

Yes, I am sure they very often are. After all, history is written with hindsight, and not as it actually happened. It is also someone’s point of view, how they saw it. There is a book that I read, can’t remember the title, but it revolved around one incident which was seen by several people. Each person was asked to write down an account of what they had seen, and each recollection was different, although the central core was the same. So for me, where the facts are truly known, that’s wonderful, but, yes, I do believe that fact and fiction do, most definitely become blurred, and for a writer that can only be serendipitous. 

*

Have you ever totally hated or fallen in love with one of your characters?

I hate to admit this, but yes. Maybe “fallen in love with” is too strong a thought, but most certainly very fond of one of my characters. Another of my characters, whom I detest with a passion, just will not go… yet. But he will.

*

What do you enjoy reading for pleasure?

I really enjoy reading both historical fact, and fiction, and would gladly read them all day, every day. I love the idea that the past can be brought to life through someone’s imagination, you know, breathing life into the long-dead, it’s like alchemy.

*

What drink would you recommend drinking whilst reading your latest book?

My latest book? For me it would be coffee, definitely, coffee. For the reader? Well, that is a loaded question. So I would have to say whatever their favourite drink happens to be.

*

Last but not least... favourite historical author?

Oh, that is so not a fair question! Many of the authors that I love are my friends, either personal, or on Facebook, and Twitter. They all write so well, so thoroughly, and conscientiously, that I would hate to choose one over the other. There are those authors of whom I do not know, but admire from afar, as it were. I have to say, though, that it would like choosing which one of your children is your favourite. Can’t be done.

(Note from Diana: Yep! I'd have the same problem myself!!)

 About Louise Rule: 
I have been married to Dave for 47 years, and we have raised a wonderful family together. We had three sons, now two surviving. We have five grandsons, being two sets of twins to one son, and a singleton to the other. My family are my absolute joy, and keep me sane, and sometimes make me insane! What can I say….? They’re my family!

Dave and I live on the south coast, in Hampshire, having moved down from London 31 years ago. It’s a beautiful place, and, although I love to travel, I can’t imagine living anywhere else but here.

I published my first book, _Future Confronted_, in December 2013, but I have just republished it, (September 2014), with added content. The book is about my youngest son, Rob, who died from a brain tumour at the age of 20. _Future Confronted_ was awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion, by IndieBrag.com in September 2014, which has not only made me feel very proud, but also made me feel very humble.

I am presently in the middle of writing my first novel, which is historical fiction, and has the working title of _The Touching of Stones_. The book is about a family of stonemasons, with the story commencing at the beginning of 14th century Scotland, so there will be plenty of political intrigue and war for my characters to become involved in.

 http://louiseeruleauthor.blogspot.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/LERuleAuthor

https://www.facebook.com/louiseerule.author
https://www.facebook.com/louise.rule
Future Confronted 

© Diana Milne July 2016 © (Louise E. Rule – 31.08.2016)

Magna Carta Week: The Magna Carta - A Childhood Memory

The Magna Carta: A Childhood Memory

by Louise Rule

Back in the day when I was a gangling nine-year-old, with a mass of freckles and the ubiquitous large bow in my hair, we had a Magna Carta Day at school. We were all so excited at the prospect of this. It was 15th June, 1956, a Friday it was, and we were allowed to wear our best clothes for the occasion.

We were lucky in having a teacher who had the knack of making every lesson interesting. Thinking back, I am sure she could have made the telephone directory interesting. She would just sit on the corner of her desk, and, well, just teach. Time flew in her class. Teachers like that are a gift to a child. She was my gift, and she nurtured my love of history. I will never forget her.

HRH Queen Elizabeth II

Queuing for sweets at 
the end of rationing

So, to continue; there hadn't been much to celebrate since WWII had ended, save for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and another landmark of 1953 for us children was the end of sugar rationing. We formed endless queues outside the sweet shop to buy our humbugs, barley sugars, and gobstoppers. Just don't get me started on gobstoppers with a different colour for each layer.... Sorry, I digress... Magna Carta. We were all excited when our teacher told us of the poem that we would all learn. It was simply called 'King John', by Hugh Chestermann (b. 20.03.1884 - d. 03.11.1941). It can be found in Brian Moses' anthology Blood and Roses: British History in Poetry, which was published by Hodder Children's Books in 2004.

King John

We were given it as a print-out. The teacher put the copies on the front desk, and asked us to take a copy and pass the rest back. This we did, until we each had our own. We were a class in excess of 45 children, being 'baby-boomers'. We were informed that we would be reciting it as a 'round', where one child would recite the first two lines, then the next child, the next two lines, and so on. That is why it would be done as a 'round'. By the time it had been recited many times, it stuck in my head. Over the years, however, I have only remembered the first four lines, but on seeing it again, it all came back to me. 

So, the poem

'King John'

John was a tyrant, John was a tartar

John put his name to the Great Big Charter.

Every baron from Thames to Tweed

Followed the road to Runnymede.

Every baron had something to say

To poor perplexed King John that day.

"Pray sign your name," said Guy de Gaunt,

"It's easily done and it's all we want."

"A J and an O and an N" said Hugo, Baron of Harpenden.

Quietly spoke the Lord Ranbure, 

"Oblige Lord King with your signature."

"Your name my liege, be writ just here,

A mere formality," laughed de Bere.

"A stroke of the pen and the thing is done,"

Murmured Sir Roger of Trumpington.

"Done in a twinkling," sniffed de Guise.

Said Stephen Langton, "Sign if you please!"

So many people egging him on

I can't help feeling sorry for John.

(There is an alternative ending...)

Too many people he did wrong

We have no cause to pity John.

I think it is safe to say, that whichever ending of this poem you prefer, there has never again been a king named John.

I am sure that my continued love of history stemmed from my teacher's enthusiasm for our Magna Carta Day. It conjured up in my mind all the colourful costumes, and the striped tents with their pennants flying in the breeze. I had seen Quo Vadis and Knights of the Round Table at the cinema, starring Robert Taylor, and it was those Hollywood images that were in my mind.

The Great Charter of 1215 (From Wikipedia)

John met the rebel leaders at Runnymede near both the royal fortress of Windsor Castle and the rebel base at Staines, on 10th June 1215, where they presented him with their draft demands for reform, and the "Articles of the Barons". Stephen Langton's pragmatic efforts at mediation over the next ten days turned these incomplete demands into a charter capturing the proposed peace agreement; a few years later, this agreement was renamed Magna Carta, meaning "Great Charter". By 15th June, general agreement had been made on a text, and on 19th June, the rebels renewed their oaths of loyalty to John and copies of the charter were formally issued.

This from the Magna Carta Society:

[M]agna Carta matters. It is the foundation stone supporting the freedoms enjoyed today by hundreds of millions of people in more than 100 countries. Magna Carta enshrined the Rule of Law in English society. It limited the power of authoritarian rule. It paved the way for trial by jury, modified through the ages as the franchise was extended. It proclaimed certain religious liberties, "the English Church shall be free." It defined limits on taxation; every American remembers that "no taxation without representation" was the cry of the American colonists petitioning the king for their rights as free men. For centuries it has influenced constitutional thinking worldwide including in France, Germany, Japan, the United States and India as well as many Commonwealth countries, and throughout Latin America and Attica. Over the past 800 years, denials of Magna Carta's basic principles have led to a loss of liberties, loss of human rights and even genocide. It is an exceptional document on which democratic society has been constructed.

The original Great Charter was agreed by King John on 15th June 1215, when he acceded to barons' and bishops' demands to limit his powers and directed that it be sealed. This version of Magna Carta was revised several times in the 13th century. The 1297 version became part of English la[w.]

Magna Carta 1215

It is, indeed, a document that transcends all others, and the compiling of which has demonstrated how what we do now most definitely influences the future - not just our future, but everyone's future. It is like the ripples from the stone dropping into still water. If the Magna Carta had not been written, albeit amended, who is to say what our lives would be like now? It is only with the glories of hindsight, that we can imagine the destruction that would undoubtedly have occurred.

So, I say thank you to my teacher of 1956, for gifting me the love of history, and I say thank you, to every baron from Thames to Tweed, who followed that road to Runnymede, to make John put his name to the Great Big Charter, on 15th June 1215.

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

Louise Reviews: Tizzie

Tizzie by P.D.R. Lindsay

Review by Louise E. Rule.

Please see below for information about the FREE COPY you could win!

I have a great interest in book covers, and what goes into the making of a great cover. The cover design for Tizzie, by Dawn Keur, gives abstract clues about what lies within, and I like that conundrum. For example, the countryside to the left, the quintessential Yorkshire landscape, and the staircase to the right. What could that staircase mean? Keur's cover design is such that it filled me with a need to look inside. It is only after one starts to read the book, however, that the clues on the cover gradually reveal themselves.

This is a book which demonstrates the stark contrast between the life of the single woman and the married woman in the 19^th century. P.D.R. Lindsay’s story is written in retrospect, first beginning in the summer of 1897, then regressing to January of 1887. The story takes place during 1887, with each chapter being headed as a season and a month, which gives a palpable sense of progress through the farming year. Our eponymous character, more to the point, our heroine, works on the family’s farm in Yorkshire, inherited by her brother, Jack Cawthra, and his wife, Maggie. The work is hard, and Tizzie is expected to do so much more than her fair share of the work, which includes not only milking the cows, and making the cheese and butter for the family, but also making and selling butter and cheese on market days.

Tizzie’s niece, Agnes, who is ten years of age, is set to follow in her aunt’s footsteps if her father and mother have anything to do with it. Tizzie is determined not to let this happen. Agnes is treated badly by all except her aunt, so she cleaves to her as her only companion and comfort. Agnes’ brothers are given every advantage, as was often the way in the 19^th century, but Agnes, who is a bright scholar and has dreams of becoming a teacher, is destined to be a drudge for her eldest brother when he takes a farm of his own. This is where this riveting story really begins, as Lindsay cleverly reveals, little by little, the story of Tizzie. Lindsay begins her story in media res, hooking the reader immediately into Tizzie’s world.

Tizzie leant against the kitchen range, ears straining. Were that Jack stirring? By, she hoped her brother wouldn’t catch her still inside. He wouldn’t half carry on.

Straight away Lindsay has made the reader aware that there is a history of friction between Tizzie and her brother, and that he has her life mapped out for her. For me, her life equates to familial slavery, as each member of the family treats Tizzie with such disdain, and as Lindsay takes us through the following events, page by page, it is evident that Tizzie feels this too.

The parlour clock struck six. The cows waited, and Jack’d be clattering down stairs, champing to get some milk into cans and off on the milk train to Leeds. Best move now she were warmed up. Tizzie bent to place her hands as close as she could to the fire door. At least she’d take warm fingers out to start with. Footsteps boomed overhead. Jack, already in a bate by the weight of that tread. Best keep out of his way, or he’d start her day with name calling, older brother insults, Skinny Lizzie, or Twiggy Tizzie, them being the most polite, and go on to ranting about sisters who didn't do their duty or their proper share. Not the best way to start a day’s toil being on the rough end of a Cawthra temper storm. She grabbed her woollen hat, gloves, and scarf, flung her heavy work shawl over her homespun jacket and slid quickly out of the back door.

This short extract is very revealing. The bullying brother, the cold weather, the hard work, and clothes that were homemade, by cloth woven by themselves, painting vividly the divide between the farming community and the local gentry. The book is narrated throughout in the Yorkshire dialect, but not so heavily as to be unreadable. At times I was unsure if it was Tizzie narrating the story, or was it her thoughts. I even considered that it was the person relating the past events, but there are many moments of which that person would not have been aware. Eventually, therefore, I decided it was a way of keeping the story firmly set within the bounds of Yorkshire, especially as there were many dialectal words used throughout, not only in the narration, but, of course, in the speech of the characters.

The characters are well formed. I could imagine them clearly in my mind’s eye: how they looked, how they dressed, how their voices sounded, and their mannerisms. These traits Lindsay has cleverly woven into the story without the descriptions being obvious and intrusive, rendering a gentle assimilation of the characters into the readers psyche, if you will.

I love language, and dialectal language particularly. I did find that I had to look up some of the dialectal words as their meanings were not evident to me. This was easily done with the help of a good dictionary. For example, Hagman Heigh was easy enough, Hogmanay, but shippon and lanthorns I had to look up. They mean cattle shed, and lanthorns is an archaic spelling for lanterns. Two more words, which I found completely baffling, were thole and snecked. Thole is archaic Scottish and means ensure without complaint, and snecked means latch on a door or window – (opened or closed). I read them out loud and loved how they sounded. Using language in this way adds layers to a story that would otherwise have been missing, and the story lacking because of it. It also adds authenticity to the characters.

I quickly began to have a great admiration for Tizzie, not only in she as a person, but in what she is able to achieve throughout her working day. Then there is her unequivocal love for Agnes, the daughter that she would never have, and here we are quickly brought to understand that Agnes is her driving force, a driving force which carries the story forward.

Although the story starts slowly at first, it gradually builds into an ever increasing battle of dilemmas, taking the reader on such a ride, that the bucolic scene of milking cows and the quintessential dairy maid ideal, with buckets of milk hanging around her neck on a yoke, are quickly dashed. The harsh and often brutal reality of life on a farm in the late 19^th century, entwined with the habitual cruelty that Tizzie and her niece, Agnes, have to endure is heart-breaking. Will Tizzie and Agnes ever have a better life to enjoy? Will brother Jack and sister-in-law Maggie ever appreciate all the hard work that Tizzie does? Or will their lives just get harsher? There are so many questions needing answers as the story progresses.

In conclusion, I would have to say that Lindsay’s unique style of prose has the subtlety of being able to manipulate the reader into the belief that they themselves could actually help Tizzie and Agnes. Whether it is the continued use of the Yorkshire dialect, or whether it is the undeniable investment the reader gives to the characters, I am not sure. What I would say is this: whichever it is, or maybe it’s both, Lindsay succeeds in such a way that on finishing the book I was surprised to find that I was, in fact, still in the twenty-first century, and not back in the nineteenth century, so wrapped up was I in the story.

If you would like a chance to win a FREE COPY of Tizzie, simply comment below OR at this review's Facebook thread, located here.

*********

About P.D.R. Lindsay (from her Amazon biography)

P.D.R. Lindsay

Born in Ireland, brought up in Yorkshire, educated in England, Canada and New Zealand, writer P.D.R. Lindsay is also Mrs. Salmon, Ms. Lindsay-Salmon, and even for eight years in Japan, Professor Lindsay-Salmon.

So many facets to my life have made for a lively and interesting existence. Certainly all those different roles and the places around the world where I have lived filled my head with stories. Stories I can now tell. 

Home is beautiful Otago Province in New Zealand. A place of peace and space, most conducive to writing. 

My stories are mainly contemporary, but my novels are historical, because what I want to write about is clearer seen at a distance. Readers would not sympathise with a modern hero or heroine in the situations I put them in, but seen at a distance my main characters are more understandable. The people of 17th century England, 19th century England or New Zealand or India have much to say to us today. 

P.D.R. Lindsay can be found on Twitter and her website.

*********

Louise E. Rule is author of Future Confronted.

Louise E. Rule Interviews Carol McGrath

First of all I would like to welcome Carol McGrath, author of The Handfasted Wife, The Swan-Daughter, and soon to be released, The Betrothed Sister.

Carol McGrath

A big welcome to The Review, Carol, thank you for joining me for this interview about your book, The Swan-Daughter.

How important was it for you, Carol, to have The Swan-Daughter, a stand-alone novel, considering that it is the middle book of a trilogy, the first book being The Handfasted Wife, and the last being The Betrothed Daughter?

The books are stand alone because they each tell individual stories concerning three different noble women. The novels have different focuses. The Handfasted Wife is about what happened to Harold’s wife and children during and after 1066. The Swan-Daughter is a true story of elopement and its consequences. The Betrothed Sister is about exile and a glittering marriage for King Harold’s elder daughter, Gita (Thea) with a great Kiev prince – a few battles too. They can indeed be read as individual stories although they possess an over-arching theme – a particular family’s destiny – that of the Godwins. They were a family which had either hoped to be or were chosen to form a new ruling dynasty after the death of Edward the Confessor. The stories in this series are told from the perspectives of three women, Harold’s handfasted wife and two daughters’ perspectives. How did they survive the regime change in 1066? What happened next? These were questions I answered in the context of three novels. Each is a different and thrilling survival story.

Gunnhild Godwinsdatter, as a woman, and from a woman’s perspective, comes across as having an extremely strong character once her husband, Count Alan of Richmond, is not around. How easy or difficult was it for you to create her, bring her to life, as you have done, given that there is so little that is actually known about her?

I think the events of 1066 threw many English women on their own resources. Gunnhild was King Harold’s younger daughter. Research indicated that she was nine at the time of the Norman Conquest and at the time she was a royal inmate of Wilton Abbey, there to be educated as had many other royal women before her. It is fact that Gunnhild eloped (there are letters from the Archbishop of Canterbury and Gunnhild surviving that indicate the elopement and a later relationship with his brother). Therefore, I considered that it is possible to portray her as a strong, independent personality, thrown on her own resources, particularly by 1075 when the novel opens, because her aunt had died. I knew also that she would be constricted in how her emotions could play out because of the religious and social conventions of the period. Gunnhild could have inherited her mother’s lands. Certainly, Alan, as recorded history indicates, acquired most of these. I portrayed her as naïve to begin with, a noble girl, deprived of and longing for lovely things to the extent that she will thwart convention and suffer for her actions. I portrayed her as maturing through the story. I have no idea what the real Gunnhild was like but I tried to make her plausible.

You say, Carol, in your Author Notes, that you had imagined that Gunnhild favoured calligraphy and drawing, rather than embroidery. That is extremely interesting, more especially as all three require a particular dexterity to perform, and a good eye for detail. So please could you tell our readers why you think she preferred these particular pastimes over embroidery?

I thought rather than Gunnhild being depicted as an embroiderer I would make her artistic and interested in writing. Women in earlier centuries had been monastery (nunnery) calligraphers so I revisited this notion. As a consequence, the Gunnhild I have imagined is artistic. She has a highly educated aunt in the widow of Edward the Confessor, the patron of Wilton Abbey, a woman revered for her intellect at the time. This is recorded fact. Aunt Edith was a renowned embroiderer. There was an embroidery school at Wilton; both Wilton and Winchester were noted for their calligraphy also. In fact there is an overlap in the two because the Bayeux Tapestry designs owe much to 11^th century English manuscript work. Now, Gunnhild would be overshadowed by Aunt Edith’s stunning legacy as the best embroiderer in England if she was an embroiderer as well! Thus my Gunnhild has a latent talent of her own which is, of course, calligraphy. I do not suggest this was the real Gunnhild, but then, how would we actually know how the real Gunnhild passed her time, what she really thought or said?

Research is both an important and an absorbing part of writing an historical novel. How do you go about your research, Carol? Do you, for example, gather all your research together before you begin writing, or do you research as you go?

The historical world the Godwin women inhabit needs to be based in sound historical research in both primary and secondary sources. By this I mean archaeology, chronicle, books, museums, as well as art and poetry from that era. 

I conduct most of my research in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, in museums of all kinds, at re-enactments, in poetry from the period, stories rooted in the period, before I begin the novel. I have different notebooks for different aspects of research. I log every source’s details carefully, including page numbers as well in case I need to revisit them. It is an academic approach and disciplined. After a few months I have dropped into my novel’s world. Only then can I inhabit my characters. By the time I begin to write, I have absorbed the story’s alien landscape and its real and invented people. I have another A4 notebook in which I plan the novel. I also record character information, both invented and researched, in a notebook or two. I jot down phrases and relevant ideas for scenes, as they come to me. And I am old-fashioned as I do enjoy a mix of pencil and paper and computer files for information.

I can see that your cover design is very important to you, Carol. The Swan-Daughter has a beautiful resonance for me. There is a symbolism with the bulrushes, and with the two swans. The bulrushes are symbolic of how to live a humble life and about obeying the Church, as mentioned in Job 8:11: Can the rush be green without moisture. The swans are symbolic of love and loyalty, strength, grace and beauty. The colour of the font exactly matches the colour of the bills of the swans, and it creates a cohesiveness that can only draw the eye. Could you explain to our readers, therefore, how you went about designing your cover, and what it was you wanted to convey with just the viewing of it?

The cover is an illustration that can be viewed in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is The Swans and the Irises by Walter Crane. I loved the illustration and suggested it for the cover. I agree with the symbolism suggested in the question. When I discovered this picture, it was only the swans and what they stand for that occurred to me. Accent, my publisher, acquired the right to use it and designed the cover.

Questions that I always like to ask, Carol, are about an author’s writing routine. Could you tell us a little about your writing routine, please? For example, do you write at a particular time of the day, in a particular place? Do you work in a library, or at home, or both? Also, the editing, and proofreading processes are as equally important as the actual writing. How, then, do you go about these tasks, Carol?

I work best in the mornings and try to write most days. I write a scene and revisit it the next day before I write the next scene. It is good for continuity. There is a narrative plan to it, but this develops as I write. I have the novel’s beginning, middle and end before I start. I write chronologically through from beginning to end. Editing is absolutely crucial. It takes months. I go through the first draft three times thoroughly editing, thinking does the scene matter, is the character consistent, is each word the right word, or does a sentence, or even paragraph, sit in the right place within a chapter? Then, groan and joy both, there are three more edits with my editor, the manuscript going back and forth. It is wonderful to see it improve through this process to become the swan rather than the ugly duckling.

Is there anything else that you would like to add, Carol?

At the end of it all I do hope readers enjoy these stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them. And now they can listen to the first novel in the series as well, as it is available on audio. Hopefully The Swan-Daughter will follow. 

And finally, thank you, Paula and Louise for reading and reviewing my novels and for this interview.

 It's been a real pleasure chatting with you, Carol, and thank you for joining me for this interview.

************

Other books in the Daughters of  Hastings Trilogy by Carol McGrath

 

************

Carol can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and on her website you will find many more social media links to Carol.

Guest Post by February's Book of the Month winner, Blythe Gifford.

Blythe Gifford kindly shares with us 
a post previously posted in 
"Unusual Histories" in 2013

Blythe Gifford
(Author photo by Jennifer Girard)

The King and The Pricker: Witch Hunting in Scotland

While the English "witch finder" Matthew Hopkins and the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials may be more familiar to many readers, some of the most horrific witch hunts of the 16th-17th centuries took place in Scotland. Several waves of witch hunting washed through the country over a period of roughly 200 years, resulting in a total of some 1,500 deaths, compared to perhaps 1,000 in England. Other estimates are that Scotland, with a quarter of England's population, executed three times the number of witches as England did.

There is much speculation and little certainty about exactly why that is so. I'll withhold theories, but today, I'd like to focus on two peculiarly Scottish contributions to the history of witch hunting: first, the direct involvement of the king and second, the phenomenon known as the "witch pricker."

Portrait of the Scottish King James VI
Painted by Nicholas Hilliard

The Scottish King James VI (son of Mary, Queen of Scots and later crowned as England's King James I), was obsessed with witchcraft, so much so that he authored an eighty page treatise on the subject, Daemonologie, in 1597. Although witchcraft in Scotland had been illegal and punishable by death since 1563, the persecution of witches did not really take hold until the king made it a personal crusade. (Among his "contributions" to the cause was to authorize torture.)

Why was he so obsessed? Because he was, for a time, convinced he had been a victim of witchcraft. During a visit to Denmark, home of his future bride, Ann of Denmark, he is said to have been exposed to a theory of witchcraft not yet prevalent in Scotland, one that focused on demonic compacts and groups of witches working together in league with Satan. This idea must have weighed on his mind as several rough sea crossings nearly prevented Anne and James from returning to Scotland alive. The Danish admiral blamed witches for working black magic against the royal couple. The king must have believed him, for soon persecutions in both countries began, and the accused included nobles of the Scottish court.

The title page of King James I's
Daemonologie in Forme of a Dialogue

Across a multi-year period, from 1590-93, the investigation culminated with the execution of
around 70 witches in North Berwick. The king took a personal interest in the trials, and even in the torture of some of the women. And interestingly, the charges included treason as well as witchcraft, indicating that the king believed he had personally been a target and the crime not only a religious, but a civil one. His subsequent authorship of the Daemonologie placed him firmly on the side of those who argued that rational men could, and should, believe that such evil existed, insisting it was possible for witches to "rayse stromes and tempestes in the aire, either upon land or sea, though not universally; but in such a particular place and prescribed bunds as God will permitte them so to trouble."

After he became England's king in 1601 and moved south, his views moderated significantly. Arguments as to why included the greater skepticism of the English and may also include his experience with Anne Gunter, a young woman who accused others of witchcraft and later confessed that she had made it all up.

A footnote for those who know "the Scottish play": The three witches in Macbeth are thought to have been modeled on some passages of the Daemonologie, as an attempt by Shakespeare to please England's new King James I.

No such moderation of views occurred in the Scotland he left behind. Witch hunts continued sporadically, with the largest wave in 1661-62. And the methods of witch hunting in Scotland were more brutal than those in England. Some claimed it was because of differences in the legal system, but the torture routinely practiced in Scotland was gruesome.

Which brings me to the other particularly Scottish contribution to mass witch hunts: the "witch pricker."

These finders-for-hire traveled the country, paid to search for witches and paid better when they found one. And while the methods of the English "witch finders" such as Matthew Hopkins were grim enough, the witch pricker had a particular slant on things.

The theory was that each witch would have a witch's mark, given to her by the Devil. The witch pricker examined the suspected witch (overwhelmingly, though not exclusively, a female) for the mark. (The theory was that Satan, in essence, seduced the women, so the mark would often be found near her most private parts.) This mark was supposed to be insensitive to pain, so that when jabbed with a sharp, brass prick, the witch would not flinch or cry out or bleed. If the point of the prick disappeared into the mark and the witch did not cry out, the witch pricker had then proven the suspect's guilt.

Witch-pricking needles

The descriptions of these processes, often witnessed by a crowd of observers, are chilling. More chilling, however, was the discovery that at least some of these pricks were designed with retractable points. In other words, to an observer, it looked as if the pin penetrated the skin and came out without so much as blood on it. In reality, the witch pricker had a perfect scam going. How many women were put to death because of this ruse, we don't know. When, finally, one of the most notorious prickers, one John Kincaid, was exposed, it marked a turning point in Scotland. Witches were still hunted and tried, but torture had to be authorized by point in Scotland. Witches were still hunted and tried, but torture had to be authorized by national councils instead of simply conducted by local authorities in the grip of fear and frenzy.

These "stranger than fiction" facts haunted me as I developed The Witch Finder. And while my characters are not identifiable historical figures, they do, I hope, carry the truth of that time and its lessons.

************

Blythe Gifford was hailed as "New and Noteworthy" in "Unusual Historicals" on 20th February 2015, as a direct result of her being the winner of The Review's February Book of the Month.

************

The Witch Finder is an independently published book.

************

About Blythe Gifford 

After many years in public relations, advertising and marketing, Blythe Gifford started writing seriously after a corporate layoff. Ten years and one layoff later, she became an overnight success when she sold her first book to the Harlequin Historical line. Since then, she has published ten books, primarily set in England and on the Scottish Borders, most revolving around real historical figures and events. Whispers at Court will be released in June, 2015. For more information, visit www.blythegifford.com.

************

Louise E. Rule Interviews February's Book of the Month Winner - Blythe Gifford

WELCOME TO 

BLYTHE GIFFORD

FEBRUARY'S WINNER OF 

THE REVIEW'S BOOK OF THE MONTH

Blythe Gifford

After many years in public relations, advertising, and marketing, Blythe Gifford started writing seriously after a corporate layoff. Ten years and one layoff later, she became an overnight success when she sold her Romance Writiers of America Golden Heart Finalist (unpublished) manuscript to the Harlequin Historical line. 

She has since published historical romances set in medieval England, Flanders, and on the Scottish Borders, most incorporating real historical events and characters. The Chicago Tribune has called her work "the perfect balance between history and romance." Her eleventh book, Whispers at Court, will be released in June 2015.

Thank you for joining me today, Blythe, and for agreeing to be interviewed about your indie published book, The Witch Finder, which I have chosen as February's winner of  The Review's Book of the Month.

You have written many books, Blythe, so could you tell our readers what the hook was that made you want to write about the fascinating subject of witch finders, especially as The Witch Finder is quite different from your other books?

There are several answers embedded in this question.  First, yes, this book is darker, more intense, and includes more of the “gritty” side of history than my other books.  But all my work is rooted in real historical events and people and this book remains an historical romance, as my other books are. 

As to what drew me, when I looked at my original notes on this project, I discovered I first noodled on this idea before I was even published, originally thinking to set it during the Inquisition. That means it was in my subconscious for ten years before I started writing. 

There’s a famous maxim on the importance of conflict in romance, attributed to multi-million selling author Sandra Brown:  “If your heroine is an arsonist, your hero better be a fire fighter.” I could think of no conflict stronger than that of a suspected witch and a witch finder. For me as a writer, the story combines several elements that intrigue me and turn up in much of my work: women and sexuality (that’s one!), religion, and politics. Although the last two are traditionally taboo, in an historical context, you can’t reflect the world as it was if you ignore them. One reason I write romance is that it makes the woman central to the story. In other genres, that is sometimes difficult to do.

Reading your book re-awakened an interest in the history of witch hunts in both the UK and in the USA, so could you let our readers know how you went about your own research for The Witch Finder?

Sometimes I think research is my favourite part of the process! I started broadly, originally thinking the story would be set in England, where the “Witchfinder General” Matthew Hopkins reigned for more than three years, ostensibly responsible for the deaths of 300 “witches.” But I discovered that some of the most virulent witch hunting episodes occurred in Scotland, specifically in the Scottish Lowlands, where I had already set a book. In fact, the number of witches tried in Scotland far exceeded the number tried in England, so I gravitated to that era and location, though I kept England in my sights during the process.

Sinclair - Satan's World 1685

The Scottish witch hunts have attracted quite a bit of scholarship, and my shelves now overflow. Particularly helpful were Enemies of God by Christina Larner and The Scottish Witch Hunts in Context by Julian Goodare.  There is also an extensive archive/database online via the University of Edinburgh, here. To give Google Books credit, they have now digitized many original sources that used to require travel to distant libraries to access. My Google bookshelf on this issue alone tops 200 items.

But witch hunting is a subject that seems to attract sensationalist and speculative commentary, so I had to be cautious about my sources, both in print and online.

One of the trickiest parts of the research, interestingly, was not the witch hunts themselves. It was the political situation. The story is set in the immediate aftermath of the transition from the Cromwellian government to the restoration of the monarchy in England and Scotland. It’s a brief and specific moment in time and trying to nail down certain political and religious realities of those months caused me many months of frustration. These could not be glossed over because they were crucial to accurately portray who conducted the investigations and how they proceeded.

The Witch Trials

In addition, as always, trying to get enough of a handle on clothes, food, and housing so that you can walk around in the characters’ world is a challenge. Yet this is crucial if I am to immerse the reader in the world. I always write with a map and a calendar close at hand. The calendar was particularly important for this story, for it is paced more like a thriller, with the key action taking place over about ten days.

By the way, the Salem, Massachusetts (US) witch hunt took place about 30 years after this. I did not extend my research to the US except to re-read The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s amazing play.

Your characters are extremely interesting, and complex: Margret, for example, comes across as a very independent woman whose character is driven to protect her mother. It is Margret’s character that, for me, drives the story. How did you go about developing her?

One of the things I always say is that all my books are autobiographical, but not necessarily in the way you imagine. This one was a bit more direct. My mother died the year before I started the manuscript and the last couple of years of her life, our roles were reversed, much as Margret’s and her mother’s. My mother was not as impaired as Margret’s, my road certainly not as hard. But during those years, I had a constant sense of worry and frustration and helplessness that I translated to the page. I’m glad it brought her alive for you.

The character of Alexander Kincaid, on the other hand, is an enigma. What was your process for developing his complexities, which I found quite absorbing?

Making Alexander believable and relatable for the modern reader was one of my hardest tasks. Though it is true that “good people” in various times past believe things we now see as heinous, I felt I could not have an educated hero committed to destroying witches without giving him a very good motivation. That meant having a “witch” destroy someone he loved, at once proof and emotional justification.

That setup was the writer’s craft brain at work. But the unfolding of his deeper motivations and inner doubts came from the magic of writing the story itself. I thought of him as a man in search of justice, almost like a knight fighting a dragon. That allowed him to be believably open to change.

When writing, do you have a particular routine? For example, do you always write at a certain time of day, in a certain place?

I am a creature of habit because habit will keep you at the keyboard more effectively than willpower. After morning coffee and routine, I put on a playlist of music I develop for each book. This includes something rousing and atmospheric to start, followed by appropriate period music and/or soundtracks. Like Pavlov’s dog, when I hear it, my hands automatically go to the keyboard. (I’m listening to my soundtrack for this book as I write these answers.) I’ve also had a signature candle scent, for this book, a dark cedar/bergamot/amber mix.

When I began, I was strictly a morning writer, but I’ve trained myself to work morning and afternoon. Usually, a writing stretch is one and a half to two hours. While I have forced myself to write when I travel on (non-writing) business, I’m most productive in my office, at my desktop, surrounded by my research books and all my files.

Some authors write longhand and then transcribe their manuscript to the laptop. How do you write your novels, Blythe? 

I’m a draft writer, but for the most part, wedded to the keyboard. The first draft is about 100 pages of the “good stuff,” that is, the scenes that form the core of the story.  Sometimes, here and further along, I’ll scribble on a large drawing pad some of the themes or images and the drawing can unlock some connections the conscious mind has missed.  There’s been research before this, but the research continues throughout the process.  Interestingly, my opening scene rarely changes substantively.

How I write

The second draft creates more of a beginning, middle, and end. Well, that sounds more organized than it is. The point here is to create more words.  Eventually, I discover the story. All the way along, I’ll print out and edit with scribbles in the margin. I even cut and paste entire scenes into different places. I write short, so even at the end of this stage, I’m 40-50 pages shy of where I need to be.

The third draft is where it becomes a book. I mean that literally. Suddenly, the thing snaps into place. Everything tightens. (Which means I lose words and have to expand again.) Now each word matters.  (Before, it was just get something down!) I have ‘aha’ moments about the characters. The plot. Everything. And while I say “Draft Three,” the fact is that by the time the manuscript is ready for the editor, I’ve reviewed each page at least ten times. Draft Three can actually be Four or Five.  Or Six…

Editing and proof reading are the two most important tasks after the manuscript has been completed. Would you like to share how you go about these tasks?

Traditionally, I’ve been able to rely on my wonderful editor at Harlequin for these things, but when Harlequin passed on this book, I had to assemble my own team. I used a total of four editors--two for overview of the story and two for copy/proof work. It was very important to me to do it right, since indie publishing sometimes has a reputation for skipping those steps. That said, I probably don’t need four the next time! Part of it is finding people you gel with. There are online communities of self-published authors who are happy to recommend good people. Two of my four editors formerly worked at traditional publishing houses and such professionals are now available for freelance work.

As you are an indie author, Blythe, would you recommend it to other authors, and would-be authors, and could you tell our readers why you decided to be an indie author?

I decided to publish The Witch Finder myself after Harlequin rejected the book because I think it’s some of the best work I’ve done. I also thought it would be a learning experience in the brave new publishing world we live in. The reviews, like yours, and being a finalist in last year’s Bookseller’s Best competition, have validated my belief that the book was worth sending into the world.

Technically, I’m still a “hybrid,” publishing in both camps.  Secrets at Court was released by Harlequin last year and Whispers at Court will be out from them in June. Both of those are set in the court of Edward III of England and take place around the weddings of Edward’s son and daughter, respectively.

My advice? Be sure you understand the time and the breadth of skills demanded, many of which are entrepreneurial, not creative. I had to set up accounts with the retailers, find a cover artist, develop a cover, hire a formatter to translate the computer file properly for e-and print versions. And now there is a need to adjust pricing for VAT [value added tax] changes. Not to mention your own accounting for taxes!  It is like starting a small business.

More, in my experience, indie publishing favors the “predictably prolific.” Those who are making a good living as indies are releasing five to nine “projects” a year, usually in a genre fiction series. I would also caution that the landscape, even the royalty rates, can be expected to change. Change is inevitable throughout the publishing world these days. 

One of the biggest challenges for any writer, particularly an indie one, is getting the word out. How can people ever find your book among the millions now published every year?  So I am so grateful to you for shining this spotlight on The Witch Finder. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm and support!

Thank you so much for a most interesting interview Blythe, and congratulations on winning February's Book of the Month Award. So well deserved.

Blythe Gifford can be found at her website, her Facebook page, Twitter, and Pintrest.