1) What are you
working on?
I’m working on three things at the
moment. First is I’m putting the
finishing touches to the second in the Conquest Trilogy, the first of which, Shieldwall, which tells the story of the young Earl Godwin, was a Sunday Times Book of the Year.
This book tells the tale
of Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway who won the Battle of Fulford Gate, and lost the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a week later. Harald has been a
really fun character to write. He’s
bold, brash, ballsy, and he’s done it all.
At
the other end of the time scale I’m in the 41st Millenium….! I’ve been working with The Black Library on
and off for a number of years now, and have been given a really exciting
opportunity to take one of their Imperial Guard characters, Usarkar E. Creed. In my mind he’s something of a mix between Churchill
and Zhukov… I’m starting off with a set of three longish short stories, the
first is almost done, and will be starting the others soon. These short stories are a really freshener: I'm enjoying having shorter projects I can deliver in a month or so, and get them out into the world. It's a pleasant contrast to the slowness of novels, and traditional publishing.
I can't talk about the third thing I’m working on... but I can tell you that it is to write two novels for an Oscar winning
film. Delighted to be selected, and in some ways its familiar
territory which is great to be playing around on. More soon! ;-)
Many popular histories retell the Norman myths, and often fiction writers take that and embroider it.
My Conquest Series is trying to set down in fiction what ‘probably’ happened around the events of 1066. I’ve started my tale back in the reign of Ethelred the Unready, circa 990s, and am tracing the story forward.
I’ve chosen this because what happens in 1066 seems directly a result of Knut’s conquest of England in 1016. Also the Conquest Series is centered around the battle itself, not necessarily any particular characters, who may or may not appear in other novels.
Other than that – what can I say? My novels are kick-ass reads, full of great characters, and loaded with history. What could be better than that?
I was giving a talk to school kids this morning, talking about stories and how they fill our lives, and I got a bit choked up a couple of times and had to take deep breaths. I think it’s because writing, stories, and being able to write are deeply personal to me. I’ve wanted to write since I was ten years old, and had just put down The Lord of the Rings, and was smitten by Tolkien’s ability to construct an entirely new world with myths, and histories and languages and all.
I always thought that being a writer would be a long hard slog, but perhaps I’m reaping the benefits now. I know what I am doing much better than I did when I had first started, and I’m starting to write stories quicker, and better as well, I hope.
As I said, I've never been busier, and loving it. I get to make a living out of this, honest?!
I’m not sure yet I
have a process, and how I approach a short story of 10,000 words is quite
different to how I approach a novel. But
generally I’m not a planner, though planning, or perhaps sketching out a story
is something I’m learning to do more and more and still keep the level of creativity I enjoy.
But generally I’m an over-writer. I have a good editorial eye, and cut back furiously. For example, the first draft of the short story I’ve just finished was about 14,000 words long to get a really zinging 10,000 word story.
With my last novel, Shieldwall, I probably wrote at least 250,000 words to get a 112,000 word novel.
I wish there was a faster, quicker, more direct line from the first line of a story to the end, but I haven’t found it yet. Sketching stories out before hand does help, but still the process is two fold: creating and then editing.
The Tour Continues!
Look out for these authors next Monday, 28th April.
Ben Kane
Ben Kane was born in Kenya and raised
there and in Ireland. He qualified from university as a veterinary surgeon.
After several years of practice, he took off around the world, indulging a
passion for travel. Seven continents and more than 65 countries later, he
settled down, for a while at least. In 2001/2, he naïvely decided to write
bestselling Roman novels, a plan which came to fruition after several years of
working 90 hour weeks as a veterinarian and a writer. He now lives in North
Somerset with his wife and family, where he has sensibly given up veterinary
medicine to write full time.
Ben is currently walking in Roman Legionary garb, for charity... support him here
Edoardo Albert is, on paper, an exotic
creature: Italian, Sinhala and Tamil by birth, he grew up in London among the
children of immigrants (it was only when he went to university that he got to
know any English people). His proudest writing achievement was reducing a
reader to helpless, hysterical laughter. Unfortunately, it was a lonely-hearts
ad. He’s writing volumes two and three of The Northumbrian Thrones, a
biography of Alfred the Great with osteoarchaeologist Dr Katie Tucker and a
spiritual hisory of London. He is quite busy.
www.edoardoalbert.com
Edwin: High King of Britain out now.Northumbria: the Lost Kingdom out now.Professor Tolkien of Oxford out now.Ibn Sina: A Concise Life out now.
Carol McGrath
My
passion has always been reading and writing historical fiction. I live in
Oxfordshire where I taught History until I took an MA in Creative Writing at
The Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University Belfast, and an Mphil at Royal
Holloway. My debut novel, The Handfasted Wife, is first in a trilogy about the
royal women of 1066. The Swan-Daughter will be published in July. So, for now,
no more teaching except for creative writing!
Follow me on Twitter @carolmcgrath
