My Main Character

There is a bloghop going around about My Main Character and I have been tagged by Sue Johnson.

Court of Conspiracy  is the first book in the Tudor Enigma, so it is fitting to introduce my protagonist.

1. What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?
Luke Ballard is the unassuming apothecary in the Outer Green of Hampton Court Palace. He is entirely imaginary. When he is not out and about, he lives in a small comfortable room in the back of my mind. The background to the story is an alternate Tudor universe, where Anne Boleyn gave birth to Henry VIII's heir in 1534 and Henry IX is now on the throne with his formidable mother standing behind him.

2. When and where is the story set?
The action takes place mainly in Hampton Court Palace near London and its environs in 1550. There are a few scenes set in the Tower of London.

3. What should we know about him?
Luke has a secret. As well as being an apothecary, he is also an elemancer - a magician who uses the elements to cast spells for the good of all. He is self-contained, wary of women, having encountered one who destroyed his friendship with his childhood companion, a tragedy that renders him oblivious to feminine wiles. This is not helped by the fact that, at 6' tall with blonde curly hair, he is very handsome. The neighbourhood matrons want him for their daughters, the daughters just want him. But Luke has a steely determination to do what is right, which is why he charges his richer clients more so that he can treat the poor for free. He can be outspoken if he sees injustice and does not curry favour with the powerful.

4. What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
Queen Anne Boleyn, herself an elemancer, orders Luke to discover the traitors who are conspiring to kill her son. Shortly after, Luke finds a runaway highborn girl hiding in his apothecary shop. Matters are further complicated when he discovers that not only is Pippa an undiscovered elemancer, she also has a marked affinity with Henry IX, having been born on the same day. Has God sent her to Luke to aid him in his search for the traitors or have the traitors sent her hoping to destroy him and his investigation?

5. What is the personal goal of the character?
Luke knows that England will be thrown in chaos if Henry is killed. His primary goal is to find the traitors, but that gets mixed up by his personal feelings when an innocent is executed and people he cares about come under threat. His goal changes to righting wrongs first and saving the King second, except that Anne Boleyn will not countenance torn loyalties.

6. What is the working title for this novel and can we read more about it?
Court of Conspiracy was published by Carina Press on May 26th.

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Writers' Reveal

Some insights into my writing life.

1. What are you working on?

I am refining The Tudor Enigma series progression so that the story flows from book to book and writing book 4, working title “Illusions of Intrigue”.

This is at the same time as marketing book 1, Court of Conspiracy Published today by Carina Press and available from these sources:

Amazon.com  Amazon.co.uk Carina Press Barnes & Noble

2. What is happening round you while you write?

At this moment, a red cardigan requiring some repair sits on the end of my desk as a reminder not to forget it. Rufus, my golden retriever spends a lot of time under my desk and sighs or comes for a cuddle or both. The washing is on downstairs as is the dishwasher and I am conscious that I need to tidy and clean the sitting room and decide what’s for dinner. If the weather is kind, I retreat to the Plotting Shed, an altogether more peaceful place where there are fewer distractions, save looking at the flowers and listening to the birds.

3. Explain your research routine.

I don’t have a research routine as such. It depends on what needs finding and in what depth. By the time I begin writing, I know the major events in the book and will have researched them both by Internet and my own source of Tudor reference books. If I’m on the Internet, I will either do a basic “fast and dirty” search and scan the results. If I find something that requires a deeper knowledge, I use Google Scholar. Although my books are set in an alternate Tudor universe, I am quite pedantic about recreating the world to be as authentic as possible. For political and state information, I usually go first to Alison Weir and David Starkey. For the day to day routines of domesticity, Alison Sim is unbeatable. I think I have all her books. Gervase Markham’s “The English Housewife” is another excellent source book.

4. Which comes first, plot strand, character, or…?

I’m writing a series, so my characters are already established although I like to add to the “family” when possible. My first thoughts will be the possible ramifications of a true event on my characters and then I play what-if? I’m always aware that my core characters must go through a learning process in each book and gain greater self-knowledge.

You can find April via these links. 

www.apriltaylorauthor.com

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From reality to fantasy

I see that Hampton Court Palace is hosting a "sleepover" for one night this weekend @ £100.00 per person. I am sad on two counts. Firstly that I don't have £100 at the moment and secondly because I am at the other end of the country and can't actually get there.

I have, as readers of this blog will know, always had an emotional link to the Tudor Hampton Court Palace, so I suppose I should be partly mollified to see that this sleepover is concentrating on the Georgian history of the building. How I would love to see the parts that we mere mortals don't get to see! I asked one of the state warders about the number of rooms out of bounds to the public. Her reply was that we get to see about one tenth of the place. High on my list would be Katherine of Aragon's chamber, which is where I believe Jane Seymour gave birth to Edward VI. I'd also love to explore the young prince's set of rooms, too. And I don't need to add that I wish William III had retained Henry's apartments. There is a staircase behind a door in the Georgian palace that is all that is left of the Tudor building in that section. I often wonder if it was the stairs that led down to Henry's wardrobe.

Henry's great passion was, of course, Anne Boleyn and together they stayed in Hampton Court as often as they could. I've always believed that Anne was framed by Thomas Cromwell, although she didn't help her cause by her behaviour to the King and everyone else. Thinking about her last months, I feel so very sorry for her. She must have been almost paralysed with fear after the final miscarriage, knowing that Henry's eye was straying and the high court officials hated her. I truly believe Henry VIII regretted executing his second wife. That is one of the reasons I resurrected her for The Tudor Enigma series.

The books are historical fantasy, set at Hampton Court, but in an alternate Tudor universe where Henry IX, Anne's son now reigns over England, helped by his beloved mother. The first book, published by Carina Press is out on 26th May in digital format. My hero is the local apothecary, who is also an elemancer - an elemental magician sworn to work for the good of all. Luke Ballard is ordered by Anne Boleyn to find out who is conspiring to kill her son, an order he dare not disobey but which causes him all manner of dangers.

The book is available for pre-order from these sources.

http://ebooks.carinapress.com/AEE18D5D-7ECA-4DD4-9E1F-78E98970009A/10/134/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=10971211

http://amzn.to/1eQ3bFl

http://amzn.to/1hFTxzo

http://bit.ly/QjCaic

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Interview with crime writer Lesley Cookman

I'm very happy to welcome Lesley Cookman to the Luke Ballard elemancer blog today.

Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed, Lesley. As a fan of the Libby Serjeant murder mysteries, I stand in awe of someone who is publishing her 13th book in the series. 

1.     Tell us a little about yourself, please.

I started writing for computer and business magazines when my older two children were small, after a varied career which included actor, model, air stewardess and recruitment consultant. I met my late husband while I was working for The Observer and he was working for EMI. Then we both had brainstorms and went self employed – he as a musician and me as a writer. The four children have all become musicians, and one is also a writer.

2.     Talk us through your writing process. Are you a pantser or a planner?

What usually happens is that I have a title and have to find something to fit! Then I’ll have a setting, or a situation, often suggested to me by my eldest son, whom I’m beginning to think I should pay, and I go on from there. I don’t start to make notes until I’m some way in and have to write down timelines or relationships. I frequently don’t know who the murderer is, and it’s likely to change right up until the last minute, so I’m always slightly doubtful when readers say “I knew who it was right from the beginning!” Lucky them. I didn’t.

3.     Tell us about your new book.

Murder In A Different Place is the thirteenth in the Libby Sarjeant Mystery Series, and in response to requests from readers, this time I’ve taken Libby and her gang away from home to the Isle of Wight, one of my all time favourite holiday destinations. Also in response to requests, we learn far more about her friend Harry and his background. 

You can find Murder in a Different Place here - http://amzn.to/1iAlZnd

4. How do you come up with your titles? 

They all have to have “Murder” in them, so we (publishers, sales director, children) come up with a phrase that looks good. As scientific as that.

5. Which books have had the most influence on you as a writer? 

Monica Edwards Romney Marsh series, and later Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Dorothy Sayers. Not Christie!

6. What advice would you give to other writers? 

Keep going – and read. Read as much as you can, particularly in your own genre so you learn what works and what doesn’t, how dialogue is written, what sort of pacing is necessary and how much description is allowable. I re-read a lot of my favourites – see above – and it’s surprising how things have changed. Back in “The Golden Age” of detective fiction you could have pages of description – no paragraphs and no dialogue. An editor would have a field day today!

Writing the book was the easy bit!

At last, and after much discussion with the fantastic Art Dept at Carina Press, I can reveal the cover for Court of Conspiracy. This being the first book in The Tudor Enigma series, everything about the process was new. I am so lucky to have the amazing Kerri Buckley as my editor. She is very supportive and has made the book ten times better than it was.

So, publication date is 26th May. Get your e-book readers charged and ready and save up $2.99.

England is the prize. The death of a young king is the price.

King Henry IX, son of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, holds the very balance of power in Europe in his adolescent hands. The nations of Catholic Europe view Protestant England as a bargaining ploy against their neighbors. Henry’s numerous enemies have cast greedy eyes on his crown and will stop at nothing to usurp the throne.

Luke Ballard, the unassuming apothecary  in the Outer Green of Hampton Court Palace is the Queen’s last hope. He treats the poor with balms and salves but is careful to protect his greater gifts. For Luke is also an elemancer with powerful abilities, one of the blessed few able to harness elemental powers for good. When Queen Anne commands him to hunt down the traitors, he knows he must obey.

Beset on all sides, Luke mobilizes his arsenal of magic and ingenuity to conquer the enemy. But as the stakes are raised in the uneven battle of good vs. evil, he knows this is only the first skirmish of a lifelong war. The welfare of the Tudors—and England—depend on him alone.

Book One of The Tudor Enigma

Hampton Court Palace - my favourite place...

... and an endless source of inspiration.

A close friend and I walk our dogs daily around the park or down to the sea. I tend to witter on about what I'm writing, how far I've got, plot difficulties and Hampton Court Palace. So it wasn't surprising that we decided to have a couple of days in London to visit my favourite place and where I feel so at home.

I am fortunate in my friends and even more fortunate that another of them lives 4 miles from the palace so we had a bed for the night and a fabulous dinner waiting for us at the end of the day.

When we walked into the Great Watching Chamber, we discovered "Katherine Parr" debating with her aunt about the marriage proposal she had just received from "Henry VIII". A thought provoking debate on the views of those times about what marriage really meant. Love didn't enter into the equation at all, but what Katherine could do to be a mother to Henry's children and the advancement of her family were very high on the list. At length, Katherine asked the spectators what we thought. Nobody seemed anxious to reply so I jumped in with my opinion that she would be a true helpmeet to the King in his difficult task of running the country. Encouraged by this, the discussion broadened into the personal - how would she put up with Henry's ulcerated leg and what about the wishes of her heart. She agreed to think on it. We began to disperse, but Katherine's aunt button-holed us and said that the King himself wished to consult with us in an hour on the matter.

Meeting Henry, even though I knew he was an actor, was quite scary. He explained that he needed us to talk to Katherine and persuade her that he loved her. I got landed with this bit along with two other ladies, one of whom had to say what a great mother she would make to Henry's children and the second how much he could advance her family. We all entered into this with gusto and I especially loved using the language of the period. Well into my stride, who should interrupt us but "Thomas Seymour" - the man Katherine really loved and who she would marry when Henry died. He was trying to persuade her to marry him instead of Henry. I loved this and immediately got into an argument with him about how he 'had ever been a schemer and spent most evenings in the tavern soused in drink'.

The final scene was when we were summoned to the Council Chamber where Henry asked Katherine to come and speak to him. He explained that he must be sure he had the people on his side in asking her to marry him. Katherine was brilliant and extremely emotional when she said yes. Thomas Seymour was the gentleman in attendance on Henry so he heard her decision and was suitably heartbroken.

I must pay a huge tribute to Hampton Court and Henry, Katherine and Thomas for making our day so memorable and enjoyable. I know my Tudor history quite well and I have always had a flair for the dramatic, so I just went with the flow. One of the other ladies paid me the tremendous compliment of saying that my involvement had helped make the day very special for her.

Needless to say, as we walked round, I pointed out to my friend the places in my Luke Ballard series, shortly to be published by Carina Press. Where my apothecary lives, where the secret passage between the palace and the Royal Mews begins, where the water gate is, the river path Luke often walks when he is troubled. There is a conduit under the palace and there was a water gate, but the rest lives in my imagination and on the page.

In between the scenes with the royal couple, we looked around the rest of the palace including the amazing kitchens and the suite that had been occupied by Cardinal Wolsey when he owned it and the Chapel Royal. I wished, as I always wish when I see this fantastic Tudor building, that we could still visit Henry VIII's apartments. His Great Watching Chamber is still there, but just imagine how incredible it would be to walk through his Presence Chamber and into his Privy Chamber. I would love to see the room where Jane Seymour gave birth to Edward VI. I believe there are around 1000 rooms in the palace and only about 100 of them are open to the public. Alas, most are too fragile to have so many feet tramping through them and, as always, the health and safety of the public cannot be compromised. So I have a Plan B. If the Luke Ballard books take off, I'm going to ask Hampton Court if I can join their re-enactment staff and move south.

Post Draft Blues

It's one of those moments you long for with a passion akin to little else. The moment when you have finished that first breathless headlong, don't stop to judge, romp through the first draft of the book. The moment when you can put 'END'. The only thing that has kept you going has been the mantra that you have to write something to edit it. That and the fact that you have a deadline with your editor.

What then? Then, you promise yourself, you will have a few days off. To catch up with the housework, or fetch out that embroidery you half remember starting, to go and see other humans and confirm that you and the dog are not the only beings on the planet. Anything but sit in front of the screen and sweat blood as you churn out those first all-important but usually rubbish words.

So that was me a week ago. The first draft of "Croaking of Ravens" was done. I determined I would have 7 days of doing precisely what I wanted to do, the things I dreamed of when I was tied to the keyboard in the 30,000-60,000 patch soggy slump. So, what have I done with this wonderful freedom? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I've had to fight the habit of finishing my breakfast coffee and walking up the stairs to my office. I've read several books, all the time feeling guilty that I wasn't pounding the keyboard. A week is a long time not to write. I've managed 5 rows of the back of the cardigan I started 2 years ago. Tried to listen to some audio books. Been trapped because my other half needed my car for the week. But would I have gone out if it had been available? Probably not.

The truth is I want to start the first edit. I'm bored although I haven't resorted to daytime television - probably because the telly room is in the basement and I would have to decide that I actually wanted to watch telly. Which I don't. Found the cross-stitch but not the threads, which is just as well because at 36 count linen, the light is nowhere enough to see properly. Even the dog has caught my mood and has had his naughty head on for every walk we've not enjoyed this week.

So, what to do about it. Today, I thought, I WILL do something. Until I saw the weather. I may be bored but I'm not stupid enough to get soaked and chilled. What are my choices, I wondered? And then it hit me. The whole thing about this week was that I should do what I wanted. I want to begin editing "Croaking of Ravens". So I will. Here we go again. Wish me luck.