What is the working title of your book?
A Dangerous Destiny: The first Luke Ballard mystery
Where did the idea come from for your book?
I wanted to marry my love for history with crime and just a bit of magic. Luke Ballard is an apothecary in the Outer Green of Hampton Court Palace. He is also an elemancer – a magician who uses the elements to perform magic for the good of mankind. Elemancers are helped by special dogs called greysprings, with the sight sense of greyhounds and the scent abilities of springer spaniels, or, as they were called in the 16th century, springing spaniels. In my Tudor universe, Anne Boleyn is still alive with her son now on the throne and she is also an elemancer, which encompasses the rumours that Anne was a witch but puts a new slant on them. The first tenet of elemancy is the balance and order of the universe, so to keep the balance, the enemies of elemancers are sunderers, who latch on to the desires and ambitions of men and use that energy to create strife. Sunderers also have dogs, called umbrans.
What genre does your book fall under?
I wish I knew. The shortest description is “crime fantasy set in an alternate Tudor universe.”
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Normally, it takes a few weeks of thinking round the theme and doing the research, but once I get down to it, the writing takes about 4 months.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I will say that I love the Hugh Corbett books by Paul Doherty for their evocation of the setting of the early 14th century, their historical accuracy and the diligent and logical way Hugh investigates each case, but there is no fantasy in them. I also enjoy James Oswald’s Inspector Maclean books because of the whiff of the paranormal, which is never permitted to get in the way of the investigation. I can’t compare the Luke Ballard books to anything I’ve read because of the marriage of genres.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always thought Anne Boleyn had a rough ride. My oft-uttered wish is that I could go back in time to tell Henry VIII that it is the man’s chromosomes that decide the sex of the baby. So I desperately wanted Anne Boleyn not to have been executed. The first thought for the series was the phrase “Henry’s black-eyed boy” which popped into my head sometime in 2007. From there I built a setting around the Tudor Hampton Court Palace. I decided that the child Anne miscarried in 1534 would, in my new universe, have been a son, called Henry after his father. The first book in the series, “A Duty of Evil” was written in 2009 and the second “A Taste for Treason” in 2011. At this point, I had them accepted by an agent who has worked her socks off trying to find an editor to take them. Since then, I have written and published 2 non-fiction books and a book of short stories. Then I thought that it would be interesting to discover the story of how Luke came to be an elemancer in the first place and that is the subject of “A Dangerous Destiny”. So, really, it is a prequel to the other books.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I do my best to pull in true historical events that took place in the years in which the stories are set melding them with elemancy as part of the plot by "adjusting" current investigation techniques and making them part of the magic. However, nothing is easy for Luke. Not only does he struggle against those in the court who will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions and squash anyone who gets in the way, he is also waging constant war against sunderers. His magic helps clarify things, but it doesn’t solve the mystery.
Which five writers will take over from you next week and tell us about their Next Big Thing?
Thanks to Robert, Alan, Harry, Betsy and James for carrying on the “chain”.
Robert DeMers • http://www.robertgdemersbooks.com/blogs.html
Alan Petersen • http://fictiveuniverse.com/
Harry "Hammer" Wigder • http://www.actionagainstviolence.com
Betsy A. Riley • http://brws.com/wordpress
James M. Copeland • http://www.jamesmcopelandbooks.com
Luke Ballard, Detective, Apothecary and Elemancer keeping the Tudors safe at Hampton Court Palace
An interesting and illuminating piece, April. Having read the first two manuscripts, I'm at a loss as to why they haven't been snapped up by a publisher. I guess, as is so often the case with truly individual work, they can't find the right pigeon hole and therefore flounder over where to place them. Instead of taking the risks they should, they continue to cling to the modern habit driven by the 'sure thing' and thus deprive readers of a series that will be very well-accepted, once someone has the vision to publish. I wish you well with this project, April and look forward to learning more of Luke and his fellow travellers through your brilliantly imagined parallel universe.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stuart, but some of the credit has to go to you for the breadth of your creativity in the fantasy trilogy, which showed me that there are no limits to the imagination: you just have to take a deep breath and jump in.
ReplyDelete"My Next Big Thing" and the questions are:
ReplyDelete1. What is the working title of your book? Blindsided
2. Where did the idea for your book come from? It was a culmination of several attempts at titling. The location of the term was found when I determined that the main character had been almost swept away and was…Blindsided…by a girl no less!
3. What genre does your book fall under? Mystery/Suspense
4. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I wouldn’t know. The book was started in 2006 and has wallowed around ever since. It has been edited and rewritten over two dozen times. It’s getting good!
5. What other books would you compare your book to within your genre? Mind you I would have to hold the book behind my back as I whispered the name…Angels Flight by Michael Connelly.
6. Who or What inspired you to write this book? I would have to say the love of writing made me attempt it. Getting it darn near perfect has been a work of love as well.
7. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? Knowing that the criminal got their just reward. There is a fit ending to the book.
8. Which five writers will take over from you next week and tell us about their Next Big Thing?
James, your post should be put on your blog. I would copy and paste it there if I were you. I shall look forward to reading Blindsided when it is finished.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you've built a whole world that is only just parallel to the real one. I'm sure the books will be snapped up by a publisher soon.
ReplyDeleteHi April,
ReplyDeleteI've accepted your challenge. :-) Here are my answers to "My Next Big Thing":
http://fictiveuniverse.com/on-writing/my-next-big-thing
Thanks for the invite to participate, it was fun!
Alan