Alex Marchant's Blog, page 4
November 5, 2023
‘King in Waiting, Books 3 & 4’ – now available for pre-order!
Well, Amazon have been speedy! Now available for pre-order …
What really happened to the ‘Princes in the Tower’?
And does Matthew Wansford know the truth?
‘King in Waiting, Books 3 & 4 of The Order of the White Boar‘ – two best-selling books in one!
Pub. 21 November – pre-order ebook now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMPHXQBY
or https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CMPHXQBY
Only £3.99 or $4.99, and will be FREE to read on KindleUnlimited from publication date of 21 November. Also available in paperback from that date.
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at: author.to/AlexMarchant
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/alexmarchantauthor
Cover Reveal! King in Waiting – Books 3 & 4 of The Order of the White Boar
*COVER REVEAL*
What really happened to the ‘Princes in the Tower’?
Who was the ‘Dublin King’?
And does Matthew Wansford know the truth?
If you haven’t yet read Books 3 and 4 of The Order of the White Boar – King in Waiting and Sons of York – now’s your chance to read both together!
‘King in Waiting, Books 3 & 4 of The Order of the White Boar’ will soon be available for e-book pre-order on Amazon (publication date 21 November; also available in paperback). Meanwhile here’s the beautiful cover designed by Dee Morley of White Rabbit Arts at The Historical Fiction Company.
Many thanks to Dee for all her hard work to satisfy this rather fussy author! I hope you all agree that she’s captured the spirit of the book/s (for an adult audience, of course! The individual books with original covers will of course remain available to buy from all good stockists – ideal for younger readers…)
Watch this space for announcement of the preorder!
Update: Amazon have been super speedy today. The ebook can be pre-ordered at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMPHXQBY
or https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CMPHXQBY
Loyaulte me lie
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at: author.to/AlexMarchant
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/alexmarchantauthor
October 26, 2023
An evening with Susan Cooper…
This is going to be an exciting autumn for me!
Not only is there the long-awaited publication of Philippa Langley’s new book on The Princes in the Tower, the results of the eight-year-long Missing Princes project (17 November), alongside an accompanying Channel 4 documentary, but I’m about to finish my own (far longer, as it happens!) project with those lovely words ‘The End’, and also to announce a new release in a couple of weeks (watch this space!)
But before all that, tomorrow evening (Friday 27th) I will be attending a special event at the British Library in London.
As part of their Fantasy: Realms of Imagination season, my favourite author Susan Cooper will be appearing in conversation with fellow author Natalie Haynes. She will later be joined on stage by Simon McBurney and Robert MacFarlane, who were behind the recent BBC drama adaptation of my favourite book The Dark is Rising.
Anyone who has followed my blog for a while while know how important Susan and her work have been to me for many years. I’ve written more than one post about the subject (‘Tonight will be bad...’, ‘When is a Christmas book...’) So you can imagine just how excited I am to finally see her in person.
I just hope that if I get to meet her in person or ask a question from the audience, I don’t come over all daft and say something I regret. (I’m looking at you, Younger-Self-Meeting-Ian-Wright!) There is so much I’d like to say to her, but even if I got the chance, I’d probably end up like one of the shy 12-year-old readers I meet at events.
Still, I hope she receives as much pleasure from the admiration and respect emanating towards her from tomorrow’s audience as I do when chatting with those young readers (or older ones) who’ve enjoyed my books. As a writer I do so much of my work in isolation, it’s always fabulous to receive feedback, either at first hand or through reviews, etc. It may be rather different for a writer whose work has been acclaimed for many decades, but to be reminded of its relevance to so many must be welcome.
This will be an evening to add to many moments in my life when my favourite author and her wonderful books have played a part – from first finding the Dark is Rising sequence in the local library when I was eleven (and later discovering the fifth and final book The Silver on the Tree wouldn’t be published until the following year!), to buying all the books with my first pay packet in my first bookshop job, to discovering so many other people around the world also read TDIR in the days up to and around Christmas, to comfort provided by Over Sea, Under Stone in the first lockdown of the covid-19 pandemic (as in my ‘Porridge and Cream’ guest blog) and by Ghost Hawk in the dark days when covid finally caught up with my family.
And all of that’s not to mention the many ways in which she’s influenced my own writing. I may have cut out of the final draft the direct references to her books in my Time out of Time (including that dreadful moment when the librarian tells Allie she’ll have to wait a year for the final book!), but there are many others scattered throughout my work that are less obvious. That ‘Eureka!’ moment? Inspired by a scene in Over Sea, Under Stone. My depiction of snow can never be so sinister, nor indeed my insertion of rooks into a narrative, but look, and you may well find more touches that may be owed to Ms Cooper.
If I don’t get the chance tomorrow night, I would like here just to say ‘Thank you, Susan’, for everything. I doubt that, in years to come, any of my readers will see any of my books in quite the way I (and so many others) see hers, but still, I can hope!
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at: author.to/AlexMarchant
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/alexmarchantauthor
October 11, 2023
Two upcoming ‘big reveals’…
Facebook often (always!) asks what’s on my mind.
Today I answered: Far too much at the moment!
The truly incredible Pantheon, Rome – revealed on a recent visit…At least, far too much to be keeping up properly with social media, blogs, etc. So apologies to my followers and readers who may have been wondering where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, why I haven’t been keeping you up to date, etc. (I fondly imagine some of you may have been wondering that, anyway 
)
Bracciano Castle, Lazio – when I should have been at the Richard III Society AGM… Thank you, flight cancellation!I had a fantastic holiday in one of my favourite places – Italy – during which I was also trying to move on with various projects. News of them will emerge over the next few weeks, alongside what many of my Ricardian and history-loving friends may have also been waiting for for some time… mentioning only the name of Philippa Langley in relation to it…
So watch this space! Hopefully, you’ll be seeing the handwritten words ‘The End’ at some point very soon (with publication of the properly printed (and legible!) version some time next year) – plus a big reveal… albeit perhaps not as big as the one Philippa is getting ready for…
‘Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case’? That’s a mighty big reveal… Personally I can’t wait for the book’s publication and the accompanying Channel 4 documentary…
Only another month or so to wait…
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at: author.to/AlexMarchant
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
August 25, 2023
Middleham Castle, August Bank Holiday weekend
English bank holidays are legendarily prone to bad weather (see the climax of my Time out of Time, when the famous drought of 1976 comes to an end with thunderstorms and flooding at the start of the August bank holiday weekend – true story!)
But this bank holiday weekend I will be braving the weather forecast and heading cheerfully up to Middleham Castle as has become traditional since the opening up after the first lockdown in 2020.
On Sunday 27th and Monday 28th, I’ll be having a stall outside the castle, selling my own books and those of other authors, along with a number of Ricardian artworks by Made Marion Art, including a new watercolour of the castle itself.
I’ll look forward to seeing you there!
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at: author.to/AlexMarchant
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
August 22, 2023
100 Firsts: the LNER East Coast Line and me!
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may know that much of my early writing was done on train journeys. Occasionally (when I was very lucky) this was on the Eurostar from London on my way to visit a friend in Brussels, but most often on the journey down from Yorkshire to Surrey to visit family.
That began to change around the time The Order of the White Boar was published in 2017 (as mentioned in a blog post I wrote a few years ago about following King Richard III’s footsteps along the Great North Road: ‘Not Quite Route 66‘ for the Authors Electric Blog spot).
But by that time both The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man had been written and mostly edited, often on train journeys, together with Time out of Time (although that was only published later in 2021). Smaller portions of books 3 and 4 of my sequence about King Richard, King in Waiting and Sons of York, were penned on trains, but I can certainly pinpoint which parts: it’s often easy to remember exactly where you were when writing particular scenes. For example, a certain storm in the English Channel (Narrow Sea) was, by coincidence, written while beneath said sea travelling back from Brussels through the Channel Tunnel, and also on the subsequent journey back up to Yorkshire. It has to be said I fortunately escaped the sea-sickness that was to plague most of my characters during those scenes.
Recently, a random tweet response mentioning such journeys was picked up by LNER – the railway company which operates the British East Coast route (London to Edinburgh) – which is this year celebrating its centenary (albeit 100 years in different guises). And the company contacted me to ask if it could share my story as part of its celebrations – of 100 Firsts.
As their website says:
“From introducing the first ever cinema carriage in 1924, to breaking speed records with globally renowned locomotives such as Mallard, the East Coast Main Line has regularly made history.
This year is LNER’s 100th anniversary.
To mark the special occasion, we’ve created an exhibition that tells one hundred stories of pioneering innovation and cherished moments on the iconic line. Here you’ll discover remarkable and heart-warming tales from customers, colleagues and our history over the past century.”
I’m delighted to say my story is one of the ‘First Big Life Moments’, under ‘Writing Your First Book on Board’ – how a substantial part of my first published book(s) was written. You can find all the stories here: https://www.lner.co.uk/about-us/lner-100/100-firsts/
Also this year sees the centenary of the Flying Scotsman, which I was lucky enough to see and travel on in the spring on the heritage Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.
I’m no train buff, but I have to say they’ve been quite important in my life at various points. Not only because of writing, but because so many of my memorable moments have occurred on or near them. Maybe one day I’ll tell you about the five weeks spent travelling round Italy on them – or perhaps my rail journey right across Europe from west to east – passing through the Iron Curtain, and almost not being able to pass back … But that’s for another time…
Image of Soviet locomotive copyright: By Volkov Vitaly w:ru:Участник:Kneiphof (Волков Виталий Сергеевич) – uploaded by author, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103427
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at: author.to/AlexMarchant
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
22 August 1485…
On this day in 1485, a young King of England lost his life in battle
Remembering King Richard III and those who remained loyal and fell at his side
Loyaulte me lie
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at: author.to/AlexMarchant
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
June 29, 2023
Middleham Festival this weekend – with a special addition…
I’m just prepping for this weekend’s Middleham Celebrates Richard III Festival in Wensleydale, Yorkshire – Sat 1st & Sun 2nd July, 10 till 4
And not only do I have my own books and those of other Ricardian authors for sale, but this year I have some very special additions
Marion Moffatt of Made Marion Art has created three beautiful watercolours especially for us Ricardians, and I’ll have prints of all three (plus two originals) for sale on my stall
Why only two originals? I hear you ask
Well, that’s because the third will be the special prize in a raffle being held in the Castle throughout the weekend
For more details, head over to Made Marion’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mademarionart/
Marion can also be found on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MadeMarionArt
Make sure you bring plenty of pennies (or groats) along with you when you visit Middleham this weekend! (Those magic money cards also widely accepted – huge stone walls and weather conditions permitting….)
Other attractions are of course Amicorum living history in the castle itself, a 2pm talk on Saturday in the Key Centre by Richard III Society member Graham Mitchell on King Richard’s time in the north of England, and other authors in and around the castle, including Toni Mount, Joanne Larner, Alice Mitchell and Bridget Beauchamp.
Hope to see you there 
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at:
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
June 6, 2023
Upcoming events this summer!
I’ve at last finalized my schedule of events for this summer, including an exciting new festival for me – at Evesham in August!
As last year, I’ll be kicking off the summer at the amazing Barnet Medieval Festival, this coming weekend, 10-11th June. Easily accessible from London and its surroundings (and just off the A1 / M25), this has become a fabulous festival commemorating the 1471 Battle of Barnet, which is going from strength to strength. Full details can be found here.
As usual, I’ll be bringing not only my own books to sign and sell, but those of several other authors, including Annette Carson, Philippa Langley, Toni Mount, JP Reedman, Brian Wainwright, Joanne Larner, Bridget Beauchamp, Alice Mitchell, Maryann Benbow, and Larner & Lamb.
Next up is the annual Middleham Celebrates Richard III Festival 1-2 July, held in and around King Richard’s favourite castle in the north – Middleham in Wensleydale.
The Richard III Society and the Northern Dales Richard III Group will also be there, the latter with details of its ‘Windows for the King’ appeal – raising funds to install seven beautiful windows in St Mary’s parish church in Barnard Castle, endowed as a collegiate church by King Richard. Details of the appeal can be found here.
Meanwhile on the Saturday afternoon, at 2pm, in the Middleham Key Centre Graham Mitchell, chair of the Yorkshire Branch, will be giving an illustrated 70-mins lecture on ‘Richard, the Northern King’ The talk covers Richard’s family background, his alleged crimes, what may have happened to his nephews, and the ‘Real Richard’. Entry is free but donations would be appreciated.
On 23rd-24th July I’ll be selling and signing books at Shrewsbury Medieval Festival 22nd-23rd July. A little outside my usual time period, but it was a fabulous weekend last year. Full details can be found here.
Copyright: Warren Rae PhotographyThen, new to my summer comes the Evesham Medieval Festival on 5-6th August. Again, rather outside my usual time period, but I can’t wait to make my first visit to what promises to be a super event. Full details can be found here.
Copyright: Battle of Evesham FestivalAnd then later in August I’ll be wending my way to the Bosworth Medieval Medley on 20th-21st August… The usual festival is taking a break for a year to improve its format and accessibility, but promises to return bigger and better in 2024. Meanwhile, the Medieval Medley will offer all the usual medieval fun – but without the stress of a big battle at the end (much like my next book ). Full details (of the event, not my next book!) can be found here.
And watch out for me back at Middleham some time over the summer – it is, after all, almost impossible to keep me away! Hope to see you somewhere this summer
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at:
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
June 1, 2023
‘Songs of Emigration, Love and Revolution’
I’ve come to the conclusion, rather late in life perhaps, that I’ll never be a songwriter.
I think I’ve always known it. I love music, but I’ve never been even slightly musical. I love poetry, but have never been successful at it – or particularly been inspired to write it. I dabbled a little in my teens – because English lessons required it. I even used the results – one in ballad form, one free verse – in an early novel. It was a fantasy novel, in which songs often appeared in those I read, and I thought I might get away with it there – especially if I used them in a somewhat parodic manner. But I’ve never attempted it since.
Until today. My work-in-progress requires a song. A very specific one. Known in the 1790s in south-east Ireland. A catchy, memorable tune. Whistled, and then sung in 2020s Scotland. Connecting the two times and places – and two people.
The inspiration for ‘Coultry Tower’I thought initially about asking for help from an Irish singer-songwriter whose music I’ve loved for years. He’s from Wexford in south-east Ireland, where at least one of my characters hails from. He was immersed in music during his formative years – both traditional and more modern. Older tunes and historical references often appear in his work, although that has been mostly firmly contemporary. Until a recent album, which reimagined a number of traditional songs, and was subtitled ‘Songs of emigration, love and revolution’ (three things that, at least from the perspective of someone who isn’t Irish, appear hugely influential on Irish music over many years).
A little shy of asking, instead I did a little of my own research into the songs on the album. And I realized that I probably shouldn’t look for a single real song (I was highly unlikely to find one that fitted all my criteria perfectly), but rather create one that perhaps captures a little bit of several. After all, as a fiction writer that’s the sort of thing one can do (when not constrained by real historical events, at any rate. It has to be said that, after writing the first four books of The Order of the White Boar sequence that are very much constrained by having to stick to the known facts, it’s been great fun to be working on a contemporary novel where I can simply make stuff up if I want!)
My new book glances at the Irish rebellion against the British crown in 1798 – the heartland of which was in the south-east of the island – but no more than glances. The character from that time would not have known any of the songs of ‘revolution’ that were inspired by it and future events. No more would she have known of the heart-rending results of the Great Famine in the 1840s–1850s and the mass emigrations that followed – or the many songs of yearning and longing for home that came after. The characters in the 2020s would – at least those who know their history.
But, as I discovered, many of the songs inspired by these events were lyrics set to tunes written perhaps many years, or even centuries, before. Traditional songs that people across the country may have known and sung or heard sung by travelling musicians. Perhaps often songs of love – the last of those three elements of the album’s subtitle.
And one particular song from the album ended up being an ‘earworm’ for me for too many days to ignore. And, guess what? When I researched it, I found that this song of rebellion from the 1860s was not only based on an earlier such song from around the 1840s – but the tune they both use is ‘an old Irish air’. Bingo!
So I have the right tune for the character to whistle in the 1790s. Now for the lyrics to be sung to it in the 2020s…
Gentle reader, given my already-admitted inability to write lyrics, you will be relieved to hear that I will not be attempting to compose the entire song to include in my forthcoming novel (working title ‘Coultry Tower’, in case you’re interested). But a flavour of it is required. Just a line or two from a catchy chorus, based on that earworm, so it can be sung-along to … by people in the scene who aren’t terrified by hearing this tune across more than two centuries (those who are terrified won’t be taking part…). And, in a nod to the aforesaid singer-songwriter and the first song I ever heard by him, this is what I came up with:
‘And I know once more I’ll wander / Among the Wicklow Hills so green…’
As I said earlier, I’ll be sticking to the day job rather than taking up songwriting. But thanks for the inspiration, Pierce! Oh – and Happy Birthday!
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and a third in the sequence, King in Waiting, which continues the adventures of the young members of the Order in the following years. A fourth book, Sons of York, was published in June 2022 and offers a ‘plausible theory’ for the fate of the ‘Princes in the Tower’.
Alex is also editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by King Richard, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time, relating the adventures of Allie Turner through a doorway into history found under layers of old wallpaper at ancient Priory Farm.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at:
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17175168.Alex_Marchant
