The Long Road to Hastings....

It took Harold Godwinson 17 days from hearing of William's landing to march south and face a battle. Embarrassingly, it's taken me a week or so longer to get a synopsis put together. I blame Real LIfe TM - but finally done and sent off and can't wait to get stuck in. There's some really fabulous material here: great choices for the characters, complex and interesting situations - and unlike Shieldwall - there's a lot of not battle action, which I know will please a lot of people. (Heh - I didn't get to write history...!) And I'm sitting at my desk, and I find myself in early Autumn, which is the best time to start a novel. Can't wait to get stuck in. Am going to spend a couple of days letting a head of steam build, go through index cards and pick out good bits, and then set off with a Harold Godwinson as he sets out in life. He's only a young lad in a cloak and kirtle, sitting whittling a stick and dreaming big dreams: and I bet if you told him he'd end up being Earl of Wessex and King of England, and die in the most famous battle in Christendom, when I bet he'd be pretty happy with that. And if anyone is curious about the appeal of Shieldwall to an Asian audience, then here's Peter Gordon in the Asian Review of Books...