Gareth Williams's Blog

A Right Cozy Historical Crime

Blackmail by Degrees

More wonderful words

an appetite for some wonderful words

Critical friends - thank you

I am currently trying to finish editing two novels while writing a third. Needless to say, this can be a bit chaotic! I am really keen to...

The Richard Davey Chronicles will continue

I am just back from a lovely holiday with family and friends. One friend, a reader of my Richard Davey Chronicles, took me to task. At the end of Rescuing Richard, my eponymous hero is sailing for the United States of America with an unexpected companion. What is going to happen to him? You can't just leave it there!

Well, I had to agree. Selfishly, I have been concentrating on other projects, partly because each book in the series has sold less than its predecessor. A law of diminishing returns that can be rather discouraging for a novelist. Nevertheless, I was reminded of one simple fact about this series. I really enjoy writing about Richard's adventures two hundred years in the past.

If I am honest, I wrote Needing Napoleon, Serving Shaka and Rescuing Richard for myself. As I come to grips with the fact that the majority of readers may not share my enthusiasms, I am learning to be more philosophical. So, my next project will be to explore what happens to Richard once he crosses the Atlantic and to see whether he can find his way back to his wife and son in distant Zululand.

I hope this news is welcomed by fans of the series. I am certainly looking forward to embarking on some new adventures with Richard. I would love to hear from any readers about their feelings as Rescuing Richard came to an end. You just might prove the inspiration I need as I begin to plot the fourth book in the series - and search for an alliterative name that has, at least, a tenuous link to the subject matter!

The Watcher on the Wall - a free short story

William Shakespeare by John Taylor - commonly known as The Chandos Portrait

A year ago, I entered a competition for a short story inspired by a work of art. My story was chosen to appear in an anthology Masterworks: Historical Short fiction Inspired by Works of Art. The publishers had exclusive rights to the story for twelve months.

Well, time is up! So, for all of you who didn't read the anthology, I am making the story available for free on my website.

To whet your appetite here are a couple of extracts from Amazon reviews:

'... of all these excellent tales, the one that will stick in my memory is Gareth Williams' personification of the Shakespeare Chandos portrait. I was captivated by the humour, sarcasm and understanding, as the subject in the painting comments on visitors who have chosen to stop and contemplate him during his ... residence in London's National Portrait Gallery.'

'Gareth Williams' evocative piece written through the person of the Chandos portrait of Shakespeare was absolutely terrific and thought-provoking.'

All you need to do is click here or on the Short Stories tab at the top of the page to read it.

Cosy historical crime and a new baby in the family

I have been asked to contribute to an anthology of historical cosy crime short stories, which is quite exciting. Not too sure of deadlines or publication date yet but I have finished plotting it and produced a first draft. Still quite a lot of work left to see how watertight it is and whether there are the right number of clues and suspects - still, it's been fun taking on something completely outside my comfort zone.

Where is it set, you ask? Well, I don't want to give too much away - it is only a short story of 5,500 words. But I will say this - 1920.

I think the first book in this series of cosy crime anthologies will be out in time for the Christmas rush - I will keep you posted.

My other recent writing project was the shortest I have written - a children's book for my brand new grandniece. I entitled it Welcome to the World, Wild One and my wife Helen helped source the photo illustrations and format everything. I am delighted to say it went down well and I look forward to Adie's opinion once she learns to talk!

As I hang up my mountain gear for the season, having just completed four very snowy Munros in Glen Strathfarrar, my mind turns to other projects. I am heading to Milan to catch up with one of my oldest friends, and a valued beta reader, before getting ready for Christmas down in England with family and friends.

As far as books go, I have two which I have pretty much finished, although they need some editing. One is another departure, a contemporary tale set on the Isle of Skye but with the addition of a few mythical elements.

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024

I am just back from Dartington Hall in Devon where I spent three happy days immersed in the world of historical fiction. Keynote speakers were Bernard Cornwell, Diana Gabaldon and S.G. Maclean. There were great sessions on dialogue, research, inspiration and much more.

Writing is a solitary occupation so it is so nice to be reminded there are lots of us beavering away and that we share many of the same concerns. I particularly enjoyed chatting to fellow writers. On the final evening I was lucky enough to be sitting at a pub table with Diana Gabaldon, S.G. Maclean, Tracey Warr https://traceywarrwriting.com and V.E.H. Masters https://vehmasters.com

Clearly, Bernard and Diana need no introduction but I thought I would tell you about my other new friends!

V.E.H. Masters (Vicki) is a prizewinning writer of historical fiction set in sixteenth century Scotland and Europe. The Seton Chronicles comprise four books so far and start in 1546 when Scotland is under attack by Henry VIII but by the fourth instalment we find ourselves in Italy 1555 during the infamous Inquisition.

Tracey Warr writes about early medieval Europe and was kind enough to give me a copy of Daughter of the Last King featuring a 12th century Welsh princess caught up in a power struggle with the Normans. She is currently writing a series of medieval murder mysteries featuring a female troubadour in southern France. She also writes about art. Despite all of this, she found time to organise the HNS conference at Dartington Hall which was a triumph.

The next conference is to be held in Las Vegas... one can but dream!

Happy birthday, Napoleon!

As a gift to celebrate Napoleon’s recent birthday, Nat and Rachael from www.thebooktypesetters.com have very kindly given me a link to a flip book version of Needing Napoleon.

I hope you enjoy it! Just click on the cover below and why not share it with anyone you think might be interested?

I am also nearing the end of a contemporary novel set on an alternate Isle of Skye where eleven year old twins Cat and Duncan steal the Fairy Flag from Dunvegan Castle to summon help for the beleaguered island.

A trip up memory lane (well Chingford Mount)

I am just back from a trip down to England where I was visiting friends and family. One visit took me close to some very old haunts and I just couldn't resist...

My parents grew up and met in Chingford, north London (or Essex as they remember it!). My godparents came from Walthamstow.

There is a scene in my 'work in progress' - Murder at Vindolanda - where Grace goes for a run. I wrote it from memory using online maps and street views but I really wanted to check I had the feel of it right.

She runs past the old Stow dog track (the facade is still there) imagining she is racing against the giant black greyhound.

Well, it turns out my memory isn't bad but what a child thinks is a steep hill turns out to be no more than an incline (even if buses during the Second World War had to offload passengers to make it to the top).

My favourite park hadn't shrunk, the 70 + year old light railway still ran every Sunday in the summer (visited by Walt Disney 1952) but the swings had moved and the model yacht pond was nowhere to be found!

I discovered a lovely book exchange beside the railway - next time I visit, I hope to put a signed copy of Murder at Vindolanda in it.

Chingford Mount Cemetery is huge (the Kray twins are buried there) and some of the older graves need some restoration but it is still much visited and used. Many will disagree but I find gravestones comforting. They are chronicles of a place. And how the names have changed over the years - forenames and surnames!

My dear grandparents are long gone. My mother too. My father thinks the area looks tired and dirty. But I still see my childhood. A paper and string football in the back garden. The smell of fresh creosote on a fence. Wood shavings in the garage workshop. Trimmed box hedges and giant beds of rhubarb.

An indulgent little bit of time travel perhaps but as I always say, we are all time travellers, forwards a day at a time and backwards whenever we remember.

Murder at Vindolanda

I am recently back from volunteering at Vindolanda, an archeological site close to Hadrian's Wall. A series of nine forts were built on the site by the Romans, resulting in extraordinary conditions of preservation.

I was there partly to put the finishing touches to my latest novel Murder at Vindolanda - a Ghost Story in Three Parts. I also had great fun digging in the dirt with a great bunch of like-minded folk.

I asked the Director of Excavations to read a draft and he was kind enough to say 'this is very well written and I am sure you will get some lovely responses from readers'. This was kind of him as I have played fast and loose with some details to make my story work.

For example, the skeleton of a murdered child was found during the excavations of 2010. However, I chose to set the murder close to the end of Roman occupation rather than AD208-211 when civil war was raging across Britain.

So why a ghost story in three parts? Because I wanted to intertwine the child's life, the rediscovery of the fort by antiquarians and the discovery of the unusual burial beneath the floor of an accommodation block.

I wanted the stories to bleed together, or at least touch each other across the centuries. This sounded easy when I was planning things but proved trickier in execution. I hope to send the manuscript to agents this summer - so I will soon find out if I have done it well enough!

If you would like to see the sort of things discovered at Vindolanda, click on this link Vindolanda collection online | The Vindolanda Trust