Alex Marchant's Blog, page 28
August 14, 2018
Four days to go…. #Bosworth2018
Preparations are well underway for the annual Bosworth Medieval Festival, taking place each year on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the fateful battle in 1485.
This year is a very special one for me as I will be attending with both published books – giving talks/readings and selling/signing at a stall in the Eagle Cabin. Another reason why it’s special is of course because this is the first year that a very different battle will take place.
At 11 am on both days, King Richard III will meet the challenge of pretender Henry Tudor – and for the first time in history will win the encounter.
How the organizers will arrange it is unknown to me. My guess is that, after more than 500 years of reflection, the Stanley brothers will make a different decision. Some will ask, how did it take them that long to come to the conclusion that their actions on that day in 1485 were wrong? Of course, William Stanley may often have thought that during what remained of his life – particularly as he stepped towards his death in 1495 at the hands of said Tudor.
Of course, another option is that the earl of Northumberland belatedly also realizes where his loyalties should lie. Maybe he also reflected on the mistakes he made on that day in August during the remaining few years of his life – perhaps also in those final seconds before he was killed by Yorkshire folk who may not have forgiven his inaction on that day four years before.
Whatever happens, there will be spectators there who will be cheering loudly for the King and the House of York – as they do every year, but generally without hope of a successful outcome.
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How might the past 533 years have been different had King Richard not been betrayed and instead claimed his victory on 22 August 1485?
mybook.to/TheKingsMan would have had a different conclusion. But, having said that, I wouldn’t have been compelled to write either book had Richard experienced the long and peaceful reign that should have been his destiny.
August 13, 2018
Reviews and the #IndieAuthor
My latest blog for AuthorsElectric, on the importance (and fear!) of reviews for independent authors:
https://authorselectric.blogspot.com/2018/08/reviews-and-their-purpose-alex-marchant.html
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August 12, 2018
“The Order of the White Boar”: A Discovered Diamond
Today has been quite a day! I awoke to the news that The Order of the White Boar has been chosen as a Discovered Diamond.
Founded by historical fiction author Helen Hollick, the aim of the Discovering Diamonds review website is “to showcase well-written historical fiction for readers to enjoy”. As the review team say, “we are fussy: we only publish reviews of the best books, so we also take note of correct presentation and formatting as well as the quality of writing – and when space and time are limited we may only select a few books a month to review . This will mean that if [a] book is selected to be reviewed then you know it is of an approved status.”
So you can imagine how chuffed I am! Particularly when you take a look at the quality of the other books that are reviewed on the site.
Senior submissions editor Nicky Galliers says “This delightful novel is aimed at younger readers but that should not put off older readers.” Duke Richard “is a rather attractive character and one can’t help but like him … There are more books to come and I shall certainly be reading them.”
To read the full review, please go to:
https://discoveringdiamonds.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-order-of-white-boar-alex-marchant.html
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July 31, 2018
Countdown to Bosworth begins (the festival, not the battle…)
Bosworth Medieval Festival have added an event: four Ricardian authors sharing two cabins! Do come along and join us! Don’t forget, early bird tickets are still available online
“Book Readings, Q+A’s and Book Signings.
Eagle Cabin
Alex Marchant – A Ricardian since her teenage years, Alex now lives and works in King Richard’s own county, not far from his beloved York and Middleham. She will be discussing her novel for ages 10+ The Order of the White Boar, & its sequel The King’s Man.
JP Reedman – Born in Canada J.P Reedman has lived in the UK for nearly 25 years. Her interests include folklore, anthropology and prehistoric archaeology, as well as The Wars of the Roses and other medieval eras. She will be discussing her books The Man Who Would be King, about Henry Stafford and I, Richard Plantagenet .
Marla Skidmore – Following the discovery of Richard III’s grave and the ensuing controversy about his reburial place, Marla speculated about what he would have made of all the fuss, if he were here. She was then challenged to write the story ‘How about a Richard in blue jeans?’ This resulted in her award winning novel Renaissance which she will be
Boar Cabin
Harry Tomkinson – An enthusiastic and passionate historian and a dedicated Richardian of many years standing Harry will be discussing his novel Treachery at Bosworth Field 1485.
A valid Bosworth Medieval Festival ticket is required for these talks.”
https://www.facebook.com/events/281335832632417/
July 28, 2018
‘The Heatwave’ – and a visit to Barnard Castle, one of King Richard’s favourite homes
It seems to have been quite a while since I last blogged – a combination of events coming rapidly one upon another (Barnard Castle, Middleham, Tewkesbury, a local school visit – then a much-needed holiday) leading me to be less at my desk than usual…. And then of course, there’s been the weather. Glorious, golden, sunny summer weather – even in Yorkshire.
Much of it has reminded me (and many others) of a summer in my far-distant youth – the summer of 1976. It became legendary very quickly in the UK. The year of ‘The Heatwave’ and ‘The Drought’ – you can almost hear the capital letters when people talk about it. It occurred before the majority of people had ever heard of global warming and climate change – and seemed to be a perhaps once in a lifetime event. At least here in the UK – where a typical summer might consist of a couple of weeks of sunshine interspersed among rather more days of rain and wind. Well, here in Yorkshire anyway.
Another summer that for a short time seemed to echo a little of what happened in 1976 was 2003, though the heatwave then was measured in a few brief weeks, not the months of the earlier one. But it was enough to prompt me to think about that time back in my childhood. And, together with a discovery on a holiday in France the previous year, it inspired my first novel for children, Time out of Time.
Time out of Time follows the adventures of Allie, an eleven-year-old girl who, during the long hot summer of 1976, moves with her family to an ancient, ramshackle house in the country, away from her friends and the familiar house in the suburbs which is all she’s ever known. To say she’s unhappy about the move would be an understatement. But gradually she’s drawn into discoveries about the house and its secret history – all against the backdrop of The Drought….
Not only the current heatwave in the UK, but also a realization about one of the themes of The Order of the White Boar has led me to revisit Time out of Time and think about whether I should be publishing it soon. Because I realized that both books (and another that I started in between the two of them) are very much about the transition that children in the UK make at about the age of eleven – from primary school to senior school.
At age eleven, I made that transition – and alone, without my friends, who were all going to different senior schools. I was nervous and worried about the change, and it took me a while to make new friends at my new school. Just like Allie – and like Matthew Wansford when he arrives at Middleham Castle in the summer of 1482. And while preparing a brief talk for some primary school leavers at Barnard Castle earlier this month, it occurred to me that each of my books so far addresses that change – and perhaps is me working through the issues of my own transition all those years ago.
So that was the talk I gave – about the transition that these children were about to face. And yes, they did say that they felt worried and nervous about it themselves. But I hope that when they took away and read their copies of The Order, the fact that Matthew finds fantastic new friends may have helped their nerves to settle, if only a little.
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July 10, 2018
Books for pupils – to celebrate their links with King Richard III
Kim Harding and her group had very kindly decided to donate a copy of ‘The Order of the White Boar’ to every primary school leaver in the town to celebrate King Richard’s links with the town, and asked me along to give a little talk to the children and present the books.
It was a lovely experience to be welcomed into the classrooms of these Year 6 pupils and see them fascinated by the story of King Richard that we told, and the reading from the book (the episode of the bolting horse, which you may remember if you’ve read it). And also to see their enthusiasm on receiving the books – and to try to answer as well as I could the fantastic questions they asked!
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After the Barnard Castle visit, it was on to Middleham Castle, where another 100+ children from four local schools were enjoying an education day about King Richard as part of the Festival. And once again I was there to present books donated by the Northern Dales Group, this time with the kind help of Fiona Reed.
I was put on the spot a little when His Grace King Richard himself (or perhaps it was his Friday stunt double?) introduced me, but once again it was lovely to see how delighted the children were who had been nominated to receive the books for their hard work, loyalty, dedication to friends, throughout the previous year (all of course aspects that King Richard himself, and the members of the Order, value highly).
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His Grace was kind enough to himself present the books to the children as you can see in the photographs kindly taken by Fiona and Debbie Hindhaugh.
The children were then treated to the story of how King Richard’s grave was found delivered with her usual verve by the inimitable Philippa Langley.
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All in all a great day – and a marvellous start to a memorable weekend.
Many thanks to Kim and her group for organizing and funding it all, and to the schools themselves and to Gill Savage and her team at the Castle.
Loyaulte me lie
Middleham Richard III Festival weekend
What a fantastic weekend at the Middleham Richard III Festival!
Thank you to the organizers for a terrific programme as ever. I sadly couldn’t attend the talks at the Key Centre but I gather they were interesting and challenging as usual. All the members of the public I spoke to seemed to be having a great time – whether they were Ricardians or not (or as I prefer to see them, not-yet-Ricardians 
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The weather couldn’t have been better – though I was very thankful for the shade of the gazebo that Marla Skidmore very kindly allowed me to share. Somehow I managed to keep my medieval ‘page’ costume on the whole time despite the searing heat – though I had to abandon the hose rather quickly and resort to the not very authentic unclad legs. Apologies to anyone who witnessed that! Particularly of course His Grace the King, who deigned to visit my stall, and was as ever very diplomatic in not mentioning it and in fact carefully looking away – though he would probably have been entitled to haul me off to be executed for the indiscretion!
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Thank you to everyone who came along to the stall and said hello – and for your very kind words about the books – and of course for parting with your cash to buy them! It was lovely to meet so many wonderful people, so interested in and knowledgeable about King Richard and his life.
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(The stall I shared with fellow Ricardian author Marla Skidmore, author of ‘Renaissance’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Renaissance-Marla-Skidmore/dp/1912183293/ , seen here with His Grace and various members of his retinue over the weekend.)
July 5, 2018
Joining the dots – and Indie Showcase Presents….
It’s a busy old time at the moment for this indie author.
There are times when I just wonder to myself why I don’t plan ahead a bit more. Is it because my head is so firmly set in the past – about 500 years in the past recently? Or is it perhaps just that I’m the world’s worst organizer – rarely proactive, unable to keep one plate spinning, let alone several, and totally unable to join the dots any more?
Take this summer, for instance. Did I check my diary when setting publication day for ‘The King’s Man’ and think ‘Hmm, is it wise to launch my sequel just a couple of weeks before the world’s biggest party kicks off in Russia?’ I mean the football World Cup, of course. And not just ‘any’ World Cup – but the one where ‘football comes home’ – to my spiritual international footballing home, that is – Russia. (To explain why is a very long story that I won’t bore you with here as it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Order of the White Boar, King Richard III, children’s books, indie authorship, or anything else relevant to this blog… I may, however, muse on it in a future piece…be warned!) (Whether the World Cup will ‘come home’ in any other, more Anglo-centric way remains to be seen – I’m writing this between the second round matches and the quarter-finals… I know much of my country is holding its breath at the moment.)
And then there are all the events I’m attending – several on days when crucial World Cup matches are happening. The first begins tomorrow – the Middleham Richard III Festival – the next at Tewkesbury Medieval Festival – on the weekend of the World Cup final itself. There have been times when I’ve asked myself – why didn’t I put off publishing ‘The King’s Man’ until next year…? Join the dots next time, Alex!
So if you attend any of the events over the next couple of weeks, please do come and say hello – and please forgive me if I’m looking a bit distracted… one or another of my teams may be about to win or lose on penalties!
Meanwhile, I’m honoured today to be featured on Richard Dee’s Indie Showcase Presents – along with Hawkwise’s Pilgrim the Peregrine of course. With many thanks to Richard for the opportunity 
https://richarddeescifi.co.uk/the-indie-showcase-presents-alex-marchant/
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June 28, 2018
Middleham #RichardIII Festival, 6-8th July
A packed programme of events is lined up for this year’s Middleham Celebrates Richard III Festival next weekend – and of course some cracking stalls in Castle Lane – including my own (with books also from Janet Reedman), and others for the Richard III Loyal Supporters, Sass Jane Morgan, Marla Skidmore, Joanne Larner and Susan Kokomo Lamb – a whole bevy of Ricardian authors to come along and chat to! Hope to see you there.
And I’m pleased to say that I’ll be in Middleham from early in the afternoon of Friday 6th July as King Richard himself will be presenting free copies of ‘The Order of the White Boar’ to local schoolchildren at the education day. These copies that have been very kindly donated by the Northern Dales Richard III Group (with many thanks to Kim Harding and her committee, who have also ensured that the King’s links with Barnard Castle have been similarly celebrated – every primary school leaver in that town will also receive a free copy).
The church service at St Mary’s & St Alkelda’s will also feature a tribute to the late Dr John Ashdown-Hill from Dr David and Wendy Johnson.
Loyaulte me lie
June 22, 2018
“A book full of action, heart, fire and hope.” Review of ‘The King’s Man’ #RichardIII
“A book full of action, heart, fire and hope. A cracking read, and I highly recommend it.”
So ends author Narrelle Harris’s fabulous review of The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man. You can read the review in full on Narrelle’s blog at:
http://www.narrellemharris.com/reviews/review-the-order-of-the-white-boar-by-alex-marchant/
Many thanks, Narrelle!
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Narrelle Harris with Pilgrim the Peregrine (and a couple of paperbacks) at the King Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester.
