Luke's London

I am in the process of adding a page to my website called "Luke's London" to show how the city would have looked in the time period of The Tudor Enigma series
.

This blog is a sneak preview and I decided to concentrate on just a couple of the photographs that will be on the web page.

London Bridge: Many people confuse this with Tower Bridge, but in Tudor times, the latter did not exist. London Bridge was the only bridge over the river until Kingston Bridge almost 15 miles upstream 
and not far from Hampton Court Palace.

Some of the buildings on the bridge were 7 storeys in height and included shops and houses. As more buildings were added, the bridge supports had to be strengthened and broadened. One effect was that the waters passing through the arches was very turbulent and made "shooting the bridge" very hazardous. It was not unusual for people to disembark at one side of the bridge and get back on the boat at the other.  At the same time, the strengthening of the starlings slowed the water flow under the bridge, something that helped the river to freeze. Henry VIII is known to have travelled downriver by sleigh on the frozen Thames and Elizabeth I also played "shooting at marks"- a form of archery - on the ice.

Tyburn Tree: Close to what is now the site of the monument called Marble Arch, is the location of the infamous Tyburn gallows. There is a plaque set into the ground at the actual site. Here felons were hanged, or if they were low-born traitors, hanged, drawn and quartered. A hanging brought out huge crowds . Houses close to the site would rent out rooms with windows overlooking the gallows. If the felon met a "good" end, he was praised.
In the case of traitors, the hangman might be paid to allow the felon to hang until he was dead before cutting him down and disembowelling him.

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Bringing history to life: the Outer Green of Hampton Court Palace

I write crime fantasy set in an alternate Tudor universe. Those of you who have read this blog before will know how Luke Ballard came into being but I needed a location and believable society in which to put my unassuming apothecary.

Hampton Court Palace is the most complete Tudor palace in England and, although I hate to admit it, that is in part due to William III who sliced through the Tudor building and adding what developed into the Georgian part. I am sure that, left as it was, it is likely the whole building would have been
destroyed by the Victorians. They were big on "improvements".

Once I became hooked by the Tudors in general and Anne Boleyn in particular, it was one of my main aims in life to visit the palace in which she and Henry VIII spent some of their happiest times. For me, Hampton Court has always been Anne's palace. Little wonder that the instant I stepped inside it, I felt I had come home.

For anyone who wants to know how the Tudor privy apartments were arranged, I can only recommend Simon Thurley's enormous book Hampton Court. Over the past years, it has become my bible for all things relating to this wonderful palace.

The Outer Green today is mainly lawn, but it also houses the ticket office and one of the palace shops as well as maintenance buildings. In Tudor times, it was a village outside the inner palace but inside the outer walls. Here were the Houses of Offices Without The Base Court and included a Great Bakehouse, a Privy Bakehouse a Poultry Office with its own Scalding House, a Knife House and a Woodyard. Just outside the main gate - now the Trophy Gate - was a Timber Yard occupying the space to what is now the approach to Hampton Court Bridge.

Henry made many improvements to Cardinal Wolsey's original palace, including building new apartments and offices. Bricks for these works were made on-site and at any one time there would be 250 workmen from all over the south of England working on the buildings.

Can you imagine the stink from the brick kilns mixing with the stench of the scalding house and the smell from the woodyard. The noise of these activities would also mix with the shouts of the young bloods practising in the Tiltyard. This area is now occupied by the Tiltyard restaurant and the palace car park. A perfect place for my apothecary to have his shop.

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Court of Conspiracy is available here:

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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. 

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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

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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