Anna Chant's Blog, page 4

Guest post on Devon and Cornwall Record Society

Come over to the Facebook page of Devon and Cornwall Record Society https://www.facebook.com/Devonandcornwallrecordsociety/posts/450927369668697

where I introduce my Arthurian historical fiction Tyrant Whelp http://mybook.to/TyrantWhelp as part of their fabulous series of historical fiction set in the equally fabulous counties of Devon and Cornwall.

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Teasers for Tyrant Whelp

I was going to introduce another set of characters, under the slightly irreverent title The Camelot Crew. But Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Morgaine, Gawain, Mordred – do they really need introducing?

So, instead, here are some teasers and things to look out for in Tyrant Whelp

There are seven saints in this book – will you spot them all?Arthurian motifs – the sword in the stone, the grail, the Lady of the Lake – they all feature in this taleA global catastrophe of epic proportions. The year 536 – The Worst Year to be AliveA certain character features in the book to witness the events so he can record them, leading to me writing this book where a certain character features in the book to witness etc.A terrifying encounter with a dog like creature – Do they meet the legendary and fearsome Wisht Hounds?Blood. Battles, murder – a lot of blood

And here’s a bonus teaser for anyone who has read my existing books. Will you spot the moment a character from one of my other books makes a cameo appearance in this one?

Coming soon!

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The Deer Tribe

Tyrant Whelp is now another step closer to completion. By this I mean I have completed another read through and am signing off on some more chapters. Around half of the chapters are now ready, so I am hopeful for a February publication!

Image by Donna Thomas from Pixabay

The people of the Deer Tribe reside around the mouth of the Oaken River (the Dart) where the woods are good for hunting deer, giving the people their name and have spread across the bay to the east of the river. Yes, these characters are from my home of Torbay!

View from Walls Hill, TorquayPhoto by Daisa TJ on Pexels.com

Brioc is the Under-King of the Oaken Valley. he has been under-king for four years at the start of the book, succeeding to his responsibilities aged just 16. Now aged 20 he is the same age as Custennin of Dumnonia and the two have long been friends.

Image by Petra Šolajová from Pixabay

When his father died many of the Elders of the Deer Tribe considered him too young to be their king. But Hedrock, one of the Elders, came to his support urging the others to give Brioc a chance. He remains Brioc’s closest advisor and is frequently left in charge of the Deer tribes when Brioc is away.

Along with his kingdom, Brioc also inherited the guardianship of his younger brother, Ruan who was only seven at the time. Eleven at the start of the book, he resents his older brother, pushing against his guidance. Brioc has made a success of ruling his realm, but in managing his brother he feels a failure with the boy growing up wild, insolent and lazy.

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

The death of Brioc’s mother soon after that of his father has left his realm without a queen. And to these people, particularly those who follow the old religion, the position of queen is important, for she will represent Domnu, the mother of all Dumnonii. Without a queen, Brioc’s kinswoman Meri is the highest ranking woman. And despite her youth of just fifteen years, she is held in high respect. But her position is temporary and all know she will one day lose it – on the day Brioc marries.

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The Moorland Folk

Tyrant Whelp is another step closer to publication, so let’s meet some more characters! The moors are one of the under-kingdoms of Dumnonia peopled by the Hawk tribes. The main female character, Deryn is one of them, residing on the moor her entire life until she is summoned to become the wife of Custennin of Dumnonia.

Image by marla66 from Pixabay

The moors are ruled over by Deryn’s father, Enyon. He is a prudent man who has ruled well for many years. He was once married to a wife he loved devotedly, but she died many years ago and he has remained unwed ever since. His devotion now is for his people and his young daughter. Although overwhelmed with pride when Deryn is chosen to be the wife of Custennin, a possible heir to all Dumnonia, it is tempered by fear for his only child, as he worries how she will fare married to the wild young prince.

Photo by Wellington Cunha on Pexels.com

Although Christianity has taken hold across much of Dumnonia, the old religion still flourishes on the moor. Brynna is the High Priestess of Bel, a prestigious position and she presides over the worship at the Tor of Bel. A woman of exceptional wisdom and compassion, she is revered by many.

School dress-up Dumnonii day

She is also a mother to a thirteen-year-old son named Belanger, a boy who has inherited his mother’s wisdom. Although raised by his mother at the Tor of Bel, at the start of the book he is residing at Enyon’s hill fort. Faced with the departure of his daughter and heir, it seems Enyon’s favour has alighted on this quiet, but intelligent boy.

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The Dumnonii Royal Family

Continuing to meet the characters of Tyrant Whelp we come to the family of Custennin of Dumnonia, the main male character.

Cado is based on a king who seems to have truly existed, although he is also a character from Arthurian legend. In Tyrant Whelp he is the father of Custennin and a half-brother of the famous High King Arthur. Aged over sixty years he has been king for a long time since the death of his father, King Gorlois. A popular and capable king, the main grief of his life is the death of his eldest son eighteen months before the story begins. At his age he is preoccupied with who might succeed him. Will it be Custennin, his wayward second son? Or one of his grandsons?

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

Aelwen is Cado’s second wife and Custennin’s mother. According to the records Custennin’s mother (unnamed) was an ‘unclean lioness’! And this has influenced how I have seen her. Arrogant and selfish, she is unpopular in Dumnonia and this casts doubts on how suitable Custennin can be for the kingship.

Markus and Rhys are Cado’s grandsons, the sons of Merchion his now deceased eldest son from his first marriage. Aged fifteen at the beginning of the story, Markus is not much younger than Custennin and believes his claim to be Cado’s heir is far stronger. Will he prevail?

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Deryn of the Moors

As Tyrant Whelp gets another step closer to publication, it’s time to introduce another character.

Deryn is the promised wife of the main male character Custennin. While the Kingdom of Dumnonia is ruled over by Custennin’s father, Cado, the realm is also divided into smaller regions each commanded by an under-king and/or queen. Although these people are subordinate to Cado, he is highly dependent on their support, giving them the potential to overthrow a king if enough of them are in agreement.

Dartmoor

Deryn’s father is one of the under-kings, commanding the people of the Hawk tribes who reside on the moors. Her mother died when Deyrn was young, leaving Deryn as the only child. Devoted to her father, she rarely leaves his side and has been raised with the possibility of one day succeeding to his moorland realm. But this changes when Cado suggests the possibility of her becoming queen to all Dumnonia through a marriage to his son.

Cado’s choice has alighted on Deryn for other reasons beyond the support of her powerful father. Sensible, courageous and assured she seems the perfect choice to balance his headstrong son.

But Deryn’s calm good sense conceals a strong romantic streak. Raised on the tales of the love between her parents, a devotion so strong that her father never remarried after her mother died, she hopes to achieve a similar happiness in her own marriage.

As she arrives in Isca for her nuptials, the handsome young Custennin awaiting her seems the embodiment of a dream and with him similarly taken with the attractive young woman, her future happiness is assured, isn’t it?

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2020 a year we will not forget, however hard we try.

While I love history and write about history, I have come to the conclusion that I don’t like living through history and, after this year, I am sure many would agree with me. Dominated by COVID-19 and Brexit, 2020 has been a difficult year.

Not that this year has been all bad and I have been fortunate enough not to have lost anyone to this horrible disease. With the schools shut, I enjoyed homeschooling my son, I managed a lovely holiday to Germany in the summer and we gained a new pet. Or kind of two new pets. During locked down we looked after a bearded dragon – Godzilla – for a school and got so attached to him he still comes home weekends and school holidays. And then we bought our own, my little baby Oggy. But however happy I could feel, the death toll reported each night on the news was a constant reminder of how fragile life is and how easily we could be plunged into tragedy. With vaccinations starting I still hardly dare hope my family can come through this unscathed.

But this is history. My grandchildren and great-grandchildren will one day study these days and so I have been keen to take photos documenting it, so I and my children will have sources to show them. And it will undoubtedly form the backdrop of historical novels of the future. Exhausted medical staff, drawn together through tragic nights, villains who exploit the virus to their own aims, young lovers forced to go months apart… the possibilities are endless.

Writing has been tricky this year. Partly because of having children at home with competition for time on the computer. But partly because of the subject matter of my next books – something I decided on back in the autumn of 2019 before we had heard of COVID.

It had long been a plan to write a Arthurian/histfic hybrid returning to the global disaster I first wrote about in The Girl from Brittia and this was the year I was going to do it. Tales of the Wasteland is going to be a series set in the decade after the great global cooling event of 536. And, yes, it includes a pandemic. Writing about a pandemic while living through one may have brought me closer to my characters, but it was also far too close to home with many parallels between the events I was writing and those unfolding on the news around me. It even changed the fate of a character as I just could not bear to write about losing a parent to the disease. Writing book one, Tyrant Whelp and the first draft of book two has at times been slow progress, but I hope to bring book one out very soon!

I admit to struggling to feel hope for 2021. COVID is still raging with the new cases and death toll as high as it has ever been in the UK. And with Brexit finally happening I remain desperately sad for the loss of my EU citizenship and my fears for what it will do to my country and my children’s future.

But it is always darkest just before dawn and are, perhaps, the first rays of a new post-COVID day peeping over the horizon? Vaccination is starting and in just a few weeks the USA will have a new president, maybe putting out of fashion the populist right wing government that has dominated both US and UK politics these last years.

A quote from Book Two of the Tales of the Wasteland sums up my own feelings.

Brioc half smiled. “Is there any hope?”

“There has to be,” Deryn replied. “Without hope we have nothing.”

So as we look to our own future, perhaps with hope, perhaps with trepidation, perhaps with a mixture of the two, all that remains now is to wish you:

A Happy New Year and every happiness for 2021!

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Custennin of Dumnonia

As Tyrant Whelp edges closer towards completion, it’s time to star introducing the characters.

At the start of the book Custennin is aged about 20 years. He is the only child from the second marriage of King Cado of Dumnonia and now the only surviving child since the death of his much older half-brother.

Custennin’s boyhood has been carefree. With his half-brother expected to inherit the kingdom, he has been a bit of a playboy prince whose passions have been wine, women and playing foolish jests. His mother Aelwen has indulged her son and even Cado, wise in most matters, has never restrained Custennin in his excesses.

But the death of his half-brother changes everything as now Cado must consider whether Custennin should be his heir. He is not the only possibility. His half-brother had two sons of his own, Markus and Rhys who are not much younger than Custennin and Markus particularly is keen on the idea of being king.

To be accepted as his father’s heir, Custennin needs the support of the powerful Dumnonii under-kings, men who Custennin has never bothered to impress. Determined to be succeeded by his son, Cado hatches a plan. He can gain the support of one of the most powerful of the udner-kings through a marriage with his daughter, Deryn of the Moors.

Custennin is not keen on the thought of marriage, but accepts that it will help smooth the path to power. He does not know Deryn well and considers his father’s assertions that she is ‘suitable’ to be a sign that she will be dull. But as he waits for his promised wife to arrive, is it possible he is in for a surprise?

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Tyrant Whelp

It’s been a long year, but as 2020 finally draws to a close, I’m ready to introduce my next book which is the first in a new series called Tales of the Wasteland. It’s long been a plan to return to the environmental catastrophe of 536 that I first wrote about in The Girl from Brittia, but this time to explore it fully. That book took place over a short timespan and dealt only with the initial disaster, that seemed to be resolving itself after eighteen months. In reality there were further problems a few years later causing problems across the world.

The first two books of this series are set in the West-Country of England, with much action taking place in my home county of Devon or the Kingdom of Dumnonia as it was then.

Book one: Tyrant Whelp

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From Camelot High King Arthur presides over a golden age…

Far to the west, in the Kingdom of Dumnonia Arthur’s older brother, the wise King Cado sits on the throne. For Cado’s son, Custennin the future looks bright. Leaving behind a disreputable youth, he is due to marry Deryn, the daughter of a powerful moorland king and expects to be named his father’s heir, ignoring the claims of his troublesome nephews.

Deryn too has every reason to be happy, delighting in her marriage from the moment she and Custennin first meet. And at their nuptials everyone is agreed – the golden age will continue.

But across Britannia a shadow is falling, shrouding the sun so winter returns in spring. While the priests of Christ exhort everyone to pray for deliverance, Arthur’s heathen sister, Morgaine makes a terrifying prophecy of death and betrayal.

Crops fail, starvation threatens and Saxon invaders, so long subdued by Arthur, march forth once again. And realising Morgaine’s most tragic visions, Britannia’s finest fall hurtling Custennin towards a positon greater than he ever anticipated.

With Britannia struggling for survival, bitter rivalries and fatal choices take their toll, extending the shadow not only across the realm, but twisting deep into Custennin’s heart. As he proclaims himself greater even than Arthur, a monk writes the words that will condemn him for all time…

Tyrant Whelp



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Coming in 2021!

Guest post on the blog of Tony Riches

Today I am guesting on the blog of historical fiction author, Tony Riches, where I talk about the Quest for New England trilogy and all things writing!

Take a look!

Tony Riches Blog