Paul Fraser Collard's Blog, page 2
April 9, 2014
Blog tour day 3 - Parmenion Books
The Inspiration for Jack Lark
The idea for my colourful protagonist, Jack Lark, began to emerge when I read the excellent history of the British soldier in the age of Brown Bess called Redcoat written by the peerless historian, Richard Holmes. I had started to read Redcoat as a part of my research for the novel that would eventually become The Scarlet Thief. At the time I was not sure who my protagonist would be but I knew I needed to create a character that was very different from the crop of young officers featuring in similar fiction being written by other authors. There was one chapter in Redcoat that really stood out. It was called “Epaulette Gentry” and it stated that many of the young men, who purchased their commissions in the army, and most especially those buying their rank in the regular line infantry regiments, did not hail from the highest echelons of Victorian society. In fact many came from rather ordinary backgrounds and their newly purchased commission was very much their only evidence of respectability.
This fascinating chapter led me to recall a BBC TV series that I had watched in my teens called The Monocled Mutineer, which was based on the life of a rogue called Percy Toplis. Percy hailed from a northern mining town but he found his place in history during the turmoil of the First World War when he turned a childhood ability to mimic others into a life of crime and debauchery as he masqueraded as a British officer. Percy’s exploits allowed him to live a life very different to the one being experienced by his fellow soldiers and it inspired me to attempt to create an imposter of my own.
Identity theft in the nineteenth century was really very much easier than it is today. People tended to be judged on appearances and so a young gentleman who was dressed correctly who both spoke and acted properly would be readily accepted into the society of other officers who, thanks to Richard Holmes, we know were not perhaps quite the upper-class popinjays of popular perception. So the idea for Jack was born and I started to conjure up the circumstances that would allow Jack to be able to become an officer.
Of course, the life of an imposter can only go on for so long. At some point, being found out becomes almost inevitable and Jack cannot rely on an endless stream of convenient identities falling into his lap to allow him to thrive in his new life. Yet he is a resourceful fellow and I reckon he will find a way to survive as he struggles to find a place where he truly belongs. I can see him turn up in all manner of places during the events that shaped our modern world. Jack has a varied and thrilling life ahead and I for one cannot wait to see how it turns out in the end.
The idea for my colourful protagonist, Jack Lark, began to emerge when I read the excellent history of the British soldier in the age of Brown Bess called Redcoat written by the peerless historian, Richard Holmes. I had started to read Redcoat as a part of my research for the novel that would eventually become The Scarlet Thief. At the time I was not sure who my protagonist would be but I knew I needed to create a character that was very different from the crop of young officers featuring in similar fiction being written by other authors. There was one chapter in Redcoat that really stood out. It was called “Epaulette Gentry” and it stated that many of the young men, who purchased their commissions in the army, and most especially those buying their rank in the regular line infantry regiments, did not hail from the highest echelons of Victorian society. In fact many came from rather ordinary backgrounds and their newly purchased commission was very much their only evidence of respectability.
This fascinating chapter led me to recall a BBC TV series that I had watched in my teens called The Monocled Mutineer, which was based on the life of a rogue called Percy Toplis. Percy hailed from a northern mining town but he found his place in history during the turmoil of the First World War when he turned a childhood ability to mimic others into a life of crime and debauchery as he masqueraded as a British officer. Percy’s exploits allowed him to live a life very different to the one being experienced by his fellow soldiers and it inspired me to attempt to create an imposter of my own.
Identity theft in the nineteenth century was really very much easier than it is today. People tended to be judged on appearances and so a young gentleman who was dressed correctly who both spoke and acted properly would be readily accepted into the society of other officers who, thanks to Richard Holmes, we know were not perhaps quite the upper-class popinjays of popular perception. So the idea for Jack was born and I started to conjure up the circumstances that would allow Jack to be able to become an officer.
Of course, the life of an imposter can only go on for so long. At some point, being found out becomes almost inevitable and Jack cannot rely on an endless stream of convenient identities falling into his lap to allow him to thrive in his new life. Yet he is a resourceful fellow and I reckon he will find a way to survive as he struggles to find a place where he truly belongs. I can see him turn up in all manner of places during the events that shaped our modern world. Jack has a varied and thrilling life ahead and I for one cannot wait to see how it turns out in the end.
April 8, 2014
Blog tour day 3 - Parmenion Books
The idea for my colourful protagonist, Jack Lark, began to emerge when I read the excellent history of the British soldier in the age of Brown Bess called Redcoat written by the peerless historian, Richard Holmes. I had started to read Redcoat as a part of my research for the novel that would eventually become The Scarlet Thief. At the time I was not sure who my protagonist would be but I knew I needed to create a character that was very different from the crop of young officers featuring in similar fiction being written by other authors. There was one chapter in Redcoat that really stood out. It was called “Epaulette Gentry” and it stated that many of the young men, who purchased their commissions in the army, and most especially those buying their rank in the regular line infantry regiments, did not hail from the highest echelons of Victorian society. In fact many came from rather ordinary backgrounds and their newly purchased commission was very much their only evidence of respectability.
This fascinating chapter led me to recall a BBC TV series that I had watched in my teens called The Monocled Mutineer, which was based on the life of a rogue called Percy Toplis. Percy hailed from a northern mining town but he found his place in history during the turmoil of the First World War when he turned a childhood ability to mimic others into a life of crime and debauchery as he masqueraded as a British officer. Percy’s exploits allowed him to live a life very different to the one being experienced by his fellow soldiers and it inspired me to attempt to create an imposter of my own.
Identity theft in the nineteenth century was really very much easier than it is today. People tended to be judged on appearances and so a young gentleman who was dressed correctly who both spoke and acted properly would be readily accepted into the society of other officers who, thanks to Richard Holmes, we know were not perhaps quite the upper-class popinjays of popular perception. So the idea for Jack was born and I started to conjure up the circumstances that would allow Jack to be able to become an officer.
Of course, the life of an imposter can only go on for so long. At some point, being found out becomes almost inevitable and Jack cannot rely on an endless stream of convenient identities falling into his lap to allow him to thrive in his new life. Yet he is a resourceful fellow and I reckon he will find a way to survive as he struggles to find a place where he truly belongs. I can see him turn up in all manner of places during the events that shaped our modern world. Jack has a varied and thrilling life ahead and I for one cannot wait to see how it turns out in the end.
This fascinating chapter led me to recall a BBC TV series that I had watched in my teens called The Monocled Mutineer, which was based on the life of a rogue called Percy Toplis. Percy hailed from a northern mining town but he found his place in history during the turmoil of the First World War when he turned a childhood ability to mimic others into a life of crime and debauchery as he masqueraded as a British officer. Percy’s exploits allowed him to live a life very different to the one being experienced by his fellow soldiers and it inspired me to attempt to create an imposter of my own.
Identity theft in the nineteenth century was really very much easier than it is today. People tended to be judged on appearances and so a young gentleman who was dressed correctly who both spoke and acted properly would be readily accepted into the society of other officers who, thanks to Richard Holmes, we know were not perhaps quite the upper-class popinjays of popular perception. So the idea for Jack was born and I started to conjure up the circumstances that would allow Jack to be able to become an officer.
Of course, the life of an imposter can only go on for so long. At some point, being found out becomes almost inevitable and Jack cannot rely on an endless stream of convenient identities falling into his lap to allow him to thrive in his new life. Yet he is a resourceful fellow and I reckon he will find a way to survive as he struggles to find a place where he truly belongs. I can see him turn up in all manner of places during the events that shaped our modern world. Jack has a varied and thrilling life ahead and I for one cannot wait to see how it turns out in the end.
Blog tour day 2 - Reading gives me wings
My Favourite Historical Novels
I have loved historical fiction for almost as long as I can remember. I can still vividly recall the first time I discovered a Sharpe novel and from that day on I have devoured every series I can lay my hands on. When I set out to write my own novel it never occurred to me even think of writing any other type of story. My first attempt, a distinctly mediocre effort set in the Peninsular War, may not have succeeded but my love for this genre was fully cemented
So here are my five favourite historical fiction series, the ones that inspire me to this day.
Bernard Cornwell
I read Sharpe’s Honour as an impressionable eleven year-old one summer holiday and I must have re-read every Sharpe novel a dozen times since. There is something in Bernard Cornwell’s writing that is utterly captivating. I am mesmerised by the pace of his stories and so completely enthralled by the wonderfully described action that I find it nearly impossible to put a Sharpe novel down once I have started it. For me the Sharpe novels represent the pinnacle of historical fiction. The best of the bunch to my mind is Sharpe’s Enemy, a book I have read so many times that my first copy fell apart. Bernard Cornwell is a masterful storyteller and to see his quote on the front of my books is without doubt one of the highlights of my life, let alone my writing career.
George McDonald Fraser
I did not discover the Flashman novels until I was well into my twenties. Quite how they passed me by I have no idea but I am rather glad that did as I was able to read the series in one go, one fabulous adventure after another. George McDonald Fraser’s work is an absolute joy and I do not think I have read another author who writes with such style. Flashman is a bold and inspiration creation that can never be replicated.
John Wilcox
Like the Flashman novels, I first read John Wilcox’s Fonthill novels when the series was well underway. I find John Wilcox’s novels tend to stick in my mind for a long time after I have read them and the quality of his work and his craft is worthy of a slower read that takes time to savour his skill. Not that these are slow-paced stories. The action comes thick and fast and in Fonthill and 352 Jenkins, Wilcox has created a double act that stands in fair comparison to Sharpe and Harper.
Christian Cameron
Christian Cameron’s work is a very new addition to my bookshelves. I read The Ill-Made Knight on the recommendation of Robin Carter (Parmenion Books) and I cannot remember ever being as captured by a story since I first discovered Sharpe. Simply put, Christian Cameron is one of the finest historical fiction writers working today. His books scream out in authenticity. Every last detail seems real and I cannot begin to comprehend the amount of research that must go into every story. I am now working my way through his Long War series and I have to say it has become rather hard to put down Christian Cameron’s work and even think about trying to write anything of my own as nothing feels like it is coming close to his level of quality.
Stephen E. Ambrose
Okay, so I am cheating here a little by talking about a historian rather than a writer of novels but I felt I had to mention Stephen Ambrose, as his work is a huge influence on my own. Stephen Ambrose is the historian behind a series of books that bring together the memories of men who fought in the Second World War. As a child of the seventies my childhood was dominated by the war fought by my grandfather’s generation. I grew up on a diet of Commando Comics, War Picture Libraries and films like The Longest Day and The Great Escape. But it was not until I discovered the work of Ambrose that I started to learn so much more about what it was like to actually be there.
Anyone who has watched Band of Brothers (based on one of Ambrose’s books) or Saving Private Ryan will understand me when I say that it was not until I saw these films alongside books like those produced by Ambrose that I started to understand something about the reality of the war. To my mind it does not matter than these works feature the soldiers of the Second World War. I imagine that the experience of war is really not so different be it is fought by an American paratrooper in 1944 or a British redcoat in 1854. There is a commonality in war that I can draw on to make my novels as hard-hitting and as real as I possibly can and I will always attempt to capture something of this in the battles and the action that I describe. It may not be to everyone’s taste but I think it is important not to pull any punches and to make my books as real as I possible can.
I have loved historical fiction for almost as long as I can remember. I can still vividly recall the first time I discovered a Sharpe novel and from that day on I have devoured every series I can lay my hands on. When I set out to write my own novel it never occurred to me even think of writing any other type of story. My first attempt, a distinctly mediocre effort set in the Peninsular War, may not have succeeded but my love for this genre was fully cemented
So here are my five favourite historical fiction series, the ones that inspire me to this day.
Bernard Cornwell
I read Sharpe’s Honour as an impressionable eleven year-old one summer holiday and I must have re-read every Sharpe novel a dozen times since. There is something in Bernard Cornwell’s writing that is utterly captivating. I am mesmerised by the pace of his stories and so completely enthralled by the wonderfully described action that I find it nearly impossible to put a Sharpe novel down once I have started it. For me the Sharpe novels represent the pinnacle of historical fiction. The best of the bunch to my mind is Sharpe’s Enemy, a book I have read so many times that my first copy fell apart. Bernard Cornwell is a masterful storyteller and to see his quote on the front of my books is without doubt one of the highlights of my life, let alone my writing career.
George McDonald Fraser
I did not discover the Flashman novels until I was well into my twenties. Quite how they passed me by I have no idea but I am rather glad that did as I was able to read the series in one go, one fabulous adventure after another. George McDonald Fraser’s work is an absolute joy and I do not think I have read another author who writes with such style. Flashman is a bold and inspiration creation that can never be replicated.
John Wilcox
Like the Flashman novels, I first read John Wilcox’s Fonthill novels when the series was well underway. I find John Wilcox’s novels tend to stick in my mind for a long time after I have read them and the quality of his work and his craft is worthy of a slower read that takes time to savour his skill. Not that these are slow-paced stories. The action comes thick and fast and in Fonthill and 352 Jenkins, Wilcox has created a double act that stands in fair comparison to Sharpe and Harper.
Christian Cameron
Christian Cameron’s work is a very new addition to my bookshelves. I read The Ill-Made Knight on the recommendation of Robin Carter (Parmenion Books) and I cannot remember ever being as captured by a story since I first discovered Sharpe. Simply put, Christian Cameron is one of the finest historical fiction writers working today. His books scream out in authenticity. Every last detail seems real and I cannot begin to comprehend the amount of research that must go into every story. I am now working my way through his Long War series and I have to say it has become rather hard to put down Christian Cameron’s work and even think about trying to write anything of my own as nothing feels like it is coming close to his level of quality.
Stephen E. Ambrose
Okay, so I am cheating here a little by talking about a historian rather than a writer of novels but I felt I had to mention Stephen Ambrose, as his work is a huge influence on my own. Stephen Ambrose is the historian behind a series of books that bring together the memories of men who fought in the Second World War. As a child of the seventies my childhood was dominated by the war fought by my grandfather’s generation. I grew up on a diet of Commando Comics, War Picture Libraries and films like The Longest Day and The Great Escape. But it was not until I discovered the work of Ambrose that I started to learn so much more about what it was like to actually be there.
Anyone who has watched Band of Brothers (based on one of Ambrose’s books) or Saving Private Ryan will understand me when I say that it was not until I saw these films alongside books like those produced by Ambrose that I started to understand something about the reality of the war. To my mind it does not matter than these works feature the soldiers of the Second World War. I imagine that the experience of war is really not so different be it is fought by an American paratrooper in 1944 or a British redcoat in 1854. There is a commonality in war that I can draw on to make my novels as hard-hitting and as real as I possibly can and I will always attempt to capture something of this in the battles and the action that I describe. It may not be to everyone’s taste but I think it is important not to pull any punches and to make my books as real as I possible can.
Blog tour day 1 - Our book reviews online
Introducing “The Maharajah’s General”
The Maharajah’s General is the second instalment in the Jack Lark series and sees Jack journey to the wilds of India as he seeks to find a new life for himself on the vibrant and colourful fringes of the Empire.
I knew from the very start that I wanted my series to feature a new setting in every novel. By doing this I could take my readers on a wonderful journey across the British Empire that was at the height of its powers in the middle of the nineteenth century. Jack had survived the slaughter that was the Battle of the Alma, the opening battle of the Crimean War, and so I cast my eye around to find a suitable home for a young rogue with ideas far above his station. It was tempting to leave him in the Crimea and let him find his way into the events that surrounded the siege of Sevastopol which could include the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade and the raw courage of the Thin Red Line. But I had to stay true to my concept and so I decided that, like many a young and ambitious Victorian officer, Jack would seek his fortune in India, the most charismatic and colourful jewel in the British Empire’s crown.
At this time the British government had handed the control of the entire country to East India Company, a mercantile company whose driving motivation was the creation of profit. Backed by politicians eager to see the boundaries of Empire pushed back as far as was possible, the EIC was able to adopt an aggressive series of policies to satiate their need for the acquisition of power. Prime amongst these policies was the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1848 that allowed the EIC to annex any independent kingdom where the ruler died without an heir.
When I first read of this policy I knew it would make for a dramatic and fascinating backdrop for a historical novel and so the central plot for the Maharajah’s General was put in place. Adding a ruthless British political officer to the mix along with a charismatic Maharajah, a beautiful Indian princess and a beguiling English rose and I had all the ingredients that I needed for Jack’s second story. When British ambition clashes with Indian pride, Jack faces some difficult choices that will test his loyalty to its very limits and, when political posturing turns to war, Jack will have to choose on which side he will fight. For there is no place to hide and when the two forces clash Jack has to take his place on the front line, his ambition to prove himself propelling him to the very heart of the action no matter where his personal feelings might take him.
I knew from the very start that I wanted my series to feature a new setting in every novel. By doing this I could take my readers on a wonderful journey across the British Empire that was at the height of its powers in the middle of the nineteenth century. Jack had survived the slaughter that was the Battle of the Alma, the opening battle of the Crimean War, and so I cast my eye around to find a suitable home for a young rogue with ideas far above his station. It was tempting to leave him in the Crimea and let him find his way into the events that surrounded the siege of Sevastopol which could include the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade and the raw courage of the Thin Red Line. But I had to stay true to my concept and so I decided that, like many a young and ambitious Victorian officer, Jack would seek his fortune in India, the most charismatic and colourful jewel in the British Empire’s crown.
At this time the British government had handed the control of the entire country to East India Company, a mercantile company whose driving motivation was the creation of profit. Backed by politicians eager to see the boundaries of Empire pushed back as far as was possible, the EIC was able to adopt an aggressive series of policies to satiate their need for the acquisition of power. Prime amongst these policies was the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1848 that allowed the EIC to annex any independent kingdom where the ruler died without an heir.
When I first read of this policy I knew it would make for a dramatic and fascinating backdrop for a historical novel and so the central plot for the Maharajah’s General was put in place. Adding a ruthless British political officer to the mix along with a charismatic Maharajah, a beautiful Indian princess and a beguiling English rose and I had all the ingredients that I needed for Jack’s second story. When British ambition clashes with Indian pride, Jack faces some difficult choices that will test his loyalty to its very limits and, when political posturing turns to war, Jack will have to choose on which side he will fight. For there is no place to hide and when the two forces clash Jack has to take his place on the front line, his ambition to prove himself propelling him to the very heart of the action no matter where his personal feelings might take him.
April 7, 2014
Blog tour day 1 - Our book reviews online
Introducing “The Maharajah’s General”
The Maharajah’s General is the second instalment in the Jack Lark series and sees Jack journey to the wilds of India as he seeks to find a new life for himself on the vibrant and colourful fringes of the Empire.
I knew from the very start that I wanted my series to feature a new setting in every novel. By doing this I could take my readers on a wonderful journey across the British Empire that was at the height of its powers in the middle of the nineteenth century. Jack had survived the slaughter that was the Battle of the Alma, the opening battle of the Crimean War, and so I cast my eye around to find a suitable home for a young rogue with ideas far above his station. It was tempting to leave him in the Crimea and let him find his way into the events that surrounded the siege of Sevastopol which could include the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade and the raw courage of the Thin Red Line. But I had to stay true to my concept and so I decided that, like many a young and ambitious Victorian officer, Jack would seek his fortune in India, the most charismatic and colourful jewel in the British Empire’s crown.
At this time the British government had handed the control of the entire country to East India Company, a mercantile company whose driving motivation was the creation of profit. Backed by politicians eager to see the boundaries of Empire pushed back as far as was possible, the EIC was able to adopt an aggressive series of policies to satiate their need for the acquisition of power. Prime amongst these policies was the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1848 that allowed the EIC to annex any independent kingdom where the ruler died without an heir.
When I first read of this policy I knew it would make for a dramatic and fascinating backdrop for a historical novel and so the central plot for the Maharajah’s General was put in place. Adding a ruthless British political officer to the mix along with a charismatic Maharajah, a beautiful Indian princess and a beguiling English rose and I had all the ingredients that I needed for Jack’s second story. When British ambition clashes with Indian pride, Jack faces some difficult choices that will test his loyalty to its very limits and, when political posturing turns to war, Jack will have to choose on which side he will fight. For there is no place to hide and when the two forces clash Jack has to take his place on the front line, his ambition to prove himself propelling him to the very heart of the action no matter where his personal feelings might take him.
I knew from the very start that I wanted my series to feature a new setting in every novel. By doing this I could take my readers on a wonderful journey across the British Empire that was at the height of its powers in the middle of the nineteenth century. Jack had survived the slaughter that was the Battle of the Alma, the opening battle of the Crimean War, and so I cast my eye around to find a suitable home for a young rogue with ideas far above his station. It was tempting to leave him in the Crimea and let him find his way into the events that surrounded the siege of Sevastopol which could include the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade and the raw courage of the Thin Red Line. But I had to stay true to my concept and so I decided that, like many a young and ambitious Victorian officer, Jack would seek his fortune in India, the most charismatic and colourful jewel in the British Empire’s crown.
At this time the British government had handed the control of the entire country to East India Company, a mercantile company whose driving motivation was the creation of profit. Backed by politicians eager to see the boundaries of Empire pushed back as far as was possible, the EIC was able to adopt an aggressive series of policies to satiate their need for the acquisition of power. Prime amongst these policies was the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1848 that allowed the EIC to annex any independent kingdom where the ruler died without an heir.
When I first read of this policy I knew it would make for a dramatic and fascinating backdrop for a historical novel and so the central plot for the Maharajah’s General was put in place. Adding a ruthless British political officer to the mix along with a charismatic Maharajah, a beautiful Indian princess and a beguiling English rose and I had all the ingredients that I needed for Jack’s second story. When British ambition clashes with Indian pride, Jack faces some difficult choices that will test his loyalty to its very limits and, when political posturing turns to war, Jack will have to choose on which side he will fight. For there is no place to hide and when the two forces clash Jack has to take his place on the front line, his ambition to prove himself propelling him to the very heart of the action no matter where his personal feelings might take him.
March 2, 2014
Writing
In case anyone should think I am slacking I thought I would share my current project list. As ever I am writing on my commute to and from work, and so time is tight, now more than ever. But I have lots on the go and plenty of new work on its way.
The Jack Lark series continues to grow. Jack Lark 3 is now safely in the hands of my editor. So far the feedback has been positive and with a fair wind it will be published later this year. I also have a first draft of Jack Lark 4 sitting safely on my laptop’s hard disc and I have begun to plot book 5! I absolutely love creating Jack’s adventures and I will do my best to keep setting each novel in a new and vibrant setting. One of the best bits of writing a story for Jack is working out how I can bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion whilst also dangling in the prospect of where he will go next. I have plans that will take him all over the Victorian Empire and, if all goes well, then I hope to share them with you all in the coming years.
I am also working on some Jack Lark short-stories. The first one is nearly done and it has been a real treat to create it. I have ideas for more so watch this space for news on how they develop.
But life would be dull without some new challenges! So I have begun work on a new series that begins with the war being fought in North Africa in 1942. The change of period has been fascinating and I have learnt so much in a short space of time. The first instalment in this series is now complete but it will need to go through a few more incarnations before it is ready to leave the hands of my agent.
So that is it! Lots going on and I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying my writing career. I will use this blog to post more information on all these projects as they develop.
The Jack Lark series continues to grow. Jack Lark 3 is now safely in the hands of my editor. So far the feedback has been positive and with a fair wind it will be published later this year. I also have a first draft of Jack Lark 4 sitting safely on my laptop’s hard disc and I have begun to plot book 5! I absolutely love creating Jack’s adventures and I will do my best to keep setting each novel in a new and vibrant setting. One of the best bits of writing a story for Jack is working out how I can bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion whilst also dangling in the prospect of where he will go next. I have plans that will take him all over the Victorian Empire and, if all goes well, then I hope to share them with you all in the coming years.
I am also working on some Jack Lark short-stories. The first one is nearly done and it has been a real treat to create it. I have ideas for more so watch this space for news on how they develop.
But life would be dull without some new challenges! So I have begun work on a new series that begins with the war being fought in North Africa in 1942. The change of period has been fascinating and I have learnt so much in a short space of time. The first instalment in this series is now complete but it will need to go through a few more incarnations before it is ready to leave the hands of my agent.
So that is it! Lots going on and I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying my writing career. I will use this blog to post more information on all these projects as they develop.
January 18, 2014
Tell me a story
(first appeared on WritingHistoricalNovels.com)
It may seem odd that I should bother to take the time to write a blog piece with such a title. I am, after all, attempting to write things of interest to other creative minds that are involved in the world of writing historical novels. But it was one of the first subject titles that came to my mind when I first thought of writing this series of blogs. I shall attempt to explain why.
Historical fiction is a hard genre to get right. Not only must we create wonderful stories with characters that can grab a reader’s attention and a plot that will leave them gasping for more, but we must do this against a historical background that we know intimately enough to bring to life in a reader’s mind.
This is no easy thing. Research can be overwhelming. It can consume you, the effort we out into discovering every detail of the past taking us longer than it takes to write the actual novel we are planning. Yet it has to be done. Research is crucial and details simply have to be correct. If we want to be taken seriously then we have to convince everyone that we know what we are talking about. We need to breathe life into the dusty, dry words of history, giving it a life force so that readers can not only see the world we are describing but they can smell it, hear it, feel it and, hardest of all to achieve, understand it.
But (you must have known that this was coming) there is a central tenet that we must never forget. We are writers not historians, entertainers not teachers. We are there to tell a story.
Now for a confession; I pillage the past. There, it is out in the open and I hope you are not too shocked. I take history and thrust my fictitious character, Jack Lark, into its midst, using his eyes to see the events of the past whilst taking him on a journey through what actually happened to real people. I do not do so lightly but I am trying to do one thing, and one thing only; I am trying to tell a story.
I like to think I am honest about my dreadful act of robbery. I will always include historical notes that should explain where I have deviated from the real history or whose stories I have stolen for my Jack to enjoy. I feel bad for using the past in such a way. This is why I could never write a novel around a real character from history. That would feel too impertinent. I feel that I would be claiming that I know what a real person felt, or said, or thought, when I am sure they alone know exactly what that might have been. But still I take the past and take it for my own use, and for that I always feel the need to apologise.
It has been said that I am a writer “who wears history lightly enough for the story he’s telling to blaze across the page”. Now this is a wonderful line that, to my mind, at least, has two meanings. A few people have read it and come up to pat me on the back to console me and to tell me to ignore the nasty man who wrote it. After all, I am a historical writer, and wearing history lightly may not be a good thing at all. However I take it as a great compliment (and I hope to goodness it was meant this way or I shall look a hopeless fool). I have set my stall out to write fast, pacy and punchy fiction. I want my story to blaze across the page. I long for nothing more than to set a reader alight with my passion, for my battle scenes to grab them around the throat and leave them gasping for air, for my characters to be so real that they leap off the page and into their mind.
I want this because I see my job as to tell a story. I shall try incredibly hard to get every last historical detail correct yet I shall never be a grand historian. My stories will run fast and hit hard, and if you enjoy that, well, then I am doing my job.
For I am a storyteller and I have no ambition to be anything more.
Historical fiction is a hard genre to get right. Not only must we create wonderful stories with characters that can grab a reader’s attention and a plot that will leave them gasping for more, but we must do this against a historical background that we know intimately enough to bring to life in a reader’s mind.
This is no easy thing. Research can be overwhelming. It can consume you, the effort we out into discovering every detail of the past taking us longer than it takes to write the actual novel we are planning. Yet it has to be done. Research is crucial and details simply have to be correct. If we want to be taken seriously then we have to convince everyone that we know what we are talking about. We need to breathe life into the dusty, dry words of history, giving it a life force so that readers can not only see the world we are describing but they can smell it, hear it, feel it and, hardest of all to achieve, understand it.
But (you must have known that this was coming) there is a central tenet that we must never forget. We are writers not historians, entertainers not teachers. We are there to tell a story.
Now for a confession; I pillage the past. There, it is out in the open and I hope you are not too shocked. I take history and thrust my fictitious character, Jack Lark, into its midst, using his eyes to see the events of the past whilst taking him on a journey through what actually happened to real people. I do not do so lightly but I am trying to do one thing, and one thing only; I am trying to tell a story.
I like to think I am honest about my dreadful act of robbery. I will always include historical notes that should explain where I have deviated from the real history or whose stories I have stolen for my Jack to enjoy. I feel bad for using the past in such a way. This is why I could never write a novel around a real character from history. That would feel too impertinent. I feel that I would be claiming that I know what a real person felt, or said, or thought, when I am sure they alone know exactly what that might have been. But still I take the past and take it for my own use, and for that I always feel the need to apologise.
It has been said that I am a writer “who wears history lightly enough for the story he’s telling to blaze across the page”. Now this is a wonderful line that, to my mind, at least, has two meanings. A few people have read it and come up to pat me on the back to console me and to tell me to ignore the nasty man who wrote it. After all, I am a historical writer, and wearing history lightly may not be a good thing at all. However I take it as a great compliment (and I hope to goodness it was meant this way or I shall look a hopeless fool). I have set my stall out to write fast, pacy and punchy fiction. I want my story to blaze across the page. I long for nothing more than to set a reader alight with my passion, for my battle scenes to grab them around the throat and leave them gasping for air, for my characters to be so real that they leap off the page and into their mind.
I want this because I see my job as to tell a story. I shall try incredibly hard to get every last historical detail correct yet I shall never be a grand historian. My stories will run fast and hit hard, and if you enjoy that, well, then I am doing my job.
For I am a storyteller and I have no ambition to be anything more.
Doing a Soldier’s Duty
(first appeared on HWA Galleria)
A Soldier’s DutyThe Light Division’s assault on the Great Redoubt
The Battle of the Alma, 20th September 1854
On 26th June 1857, Queen Victoria presented the first of her new medals for bravery. One of the sixty-two recipients of the Victoria Cross that day was a young Irishman called Luke O’Connor.
The wording of his citation is terse yet it is gripping nonetheless:
“O’Connor was one of the centre Serjeants at the Battle of the Alma, and advanced between the Officers, carrying the colours. When near the redoubt, Lieutenant Anstruther, who was carrying a colour, was mortally wounded, and he was shot in the breast at the same time, and fell; but, recovering himself, snatched up the colour from the ground, and continued to carry it till the end of the action, although urged by Captain Granville to relinquish it, and go to the rear, on account of his wound;”
The British army launched its attack on the Russian position overlooking the Alma River on 20th September 1854. They had landed nearly a week previously at the inauspiciously named Kalamita Bay, and, after wasting days in languid and inept preparation, the red-coated army was finally able to bring the enemy to battle. At their side were their French and Turkish allies. The allied army had been tasked with seizing the strategically vital Russian port of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula. The British commander, Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, had not taken long to decide his strategy and had flung his troops against the powerful defensive positions that made up the Russian centre and right.
Colour Sergeant Luke O’Connor and the rest of the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers were in the front rank of the assault. Alongside the 23rd were the other two battalions from Codrington’s Brigade, the 7th Fusiliers and the 33rd Foot. Codrington’s Brigade itself formed one half of the famous Light Division. It was no longer made up of the regiments that had won such renown in Wellington’s long campaign against the French, yet the men marching in its ranks were determined to live up to the reputation of their illustrious forebears
They came under fire the moment they began the long march across the open ground that led to the Alma River and the Great Redoubt, an enormous earthwork constructed on the slopes on the far side of the river to protect the Russian right flank. The Russian gunners had been given plenty of time to mark out the ranges and they now brought down a dreadful barrage onto the two-man deep line that advanced towards them. The 23rd could do nothing but march into the heavy fire, the men callously ignoring the pitiful cries as their mates were cut down, their bodies torn and mangled by the fast-moving enemy roundshot. Despite heavy casualties, the redcoats pressed on, first through the remains of a shattered vineyard, and then across the river itself.
Enemy skirmishers waited for them on the far side and their fire snatched men from the redcoats’ ranks as they emerged from the cover of the river’s banks, the air alive with the whip and crack of passing missiles. In the face of the heavy fire, and with their ranks disordered from the surge across the river, the redcoats paused.
Their officers would not let the attack falter. The companies were ordered to go forward, no matter how disrupted their ranks. The commander of the 7th Fusiliers, Lieutenant Colonel Lacy-Lea, ordered his men to “Never mind forming! Come on, men! Come on, anyhow.” Colour Sergeant O’Connor advanced with the rest of the 23rd, marching between the two young officers given the honour of carrying the regiment’s colours into battle.
The riflemen from Northcott’s Brigade led them forward. The thin screen of green-jacketed skirmishers drove off the remains of the enemy’s light troops, clearing the way for the advance. At this point, the three battalions of Codrington’s Brigade were joined by a fourth, the 19th Foot from Buller’s Brigade, which was supposed to be on their left flank but which had been drawn into the confusion of the river crossing. The precise two-man deep line in which the battalions had started the attack now resembled a knotted chain as the men lost all cohesion and bunched together into one amorphous mob.
To their front, the guns in the Great Redoubt remained silent. Yet, this was no reprieve. The Russian commander, His Serenity, Prince Alexander Sergeevich Menshikov, was alive to the threat to his right flank and he had despatched two battalions of the Kazansky Chasseurs Regiment to repel the thin line of red-coated attackers.
The British officers responded quickly, ordering the nearest men to form line, not caring whether they belonged to their own company, or indeed even to their own regiment. The line quickly emerged from out of the chaos. It resembled a flattened ‘u’ and it overlapped the front of the Russian column. O’Connor and the colour party took their place in the scratch line and were able to bear witness to the massive column bearing down on them.
Unlike the conscripts in the column, every redcoat could bring their weapon to bear. They were armed with the newest weapon in the British arsenal; the recently issued, pattern 1851 Minié Rifle. Unlike the muskets it had replaced, the Minié Rifle’s barrel was grooved, the channels in the metal gripping and spinning the heavy Minié ball as it was fired, greatly improving its accuracy. When it was fired, the Minié bullet deformed to better grip the rifling in the barrel and to seal in more of the cartridge’s explosive charge. The spinning ball was said to be accurate to six hundred yards, but the soldiers maintained it would penetrate a man at double that distance, pass through his knapsack and still have enough force to strike down men in the ranks behind. The Russian column was about to receive a brutal demonstration of the new weapon’s power.
The first British volley crashed out. From his position in the line O’Connor would have seen the dreadful destruction the bullets wrought on the enemy’s dense formation. The head of the column was butchered, the heavy bullets cutting through successive ranks, their victims’ bodies torn apart. The column stumbled to a halt, its path now blocked by a wall of ruined flesh. The Russian conscripts tried to return fire but the British line poured on successive volleys and the column broke. The redcoats went after them.
With the Russian column in retreat, the guns hidden in the Great Redoubt could finally open fire.
The enemy guns slung roundshot after roundshot into British ranks. Men were scythed from their feet, the fast-moving roundshot striking them down like skittles at the fair. Still the redcoats advanced, ignoring the fallen. The men unconsciously made the Russian gunners’ task easier as they instinctively bunched together, desperate to be close to another living being as they marched into the vicious barrage.
As the distance closed, the Russian gunners switched to canister, the vicious tin cans packed full with musket balls that spread fan-shaped wedges of death through the redcoats’ battered ranks. The battalions marched on into the fire, the men stoic and silent, but bending forward at the waist, as if marching into a fierce gale.
The 23rd’s colour party led the advance, the two huge silk flags drawing the battalion after them. As the redcoats closed on the redoubt the Russian gunners fired for the final time, gutting the leading ranks with a close range volley of canister. The eighteen-year-old officer carrying the Queen’s Colour, Lieutenant Anstruther, was hit. O’Connor ran forward to the officer’s side, his boots trampling on the heavy blue silk that was now stained black with Anstruther’s blood. Then O’Connor himself was hit in the chest. The force of the blow knocked him over but he refused to stay down. Ignoring his own wound, he got to his feet and snatched the fallen colour from the ground.
O’Connor rushed forward, braving the murderous fire. He was the first man to scramble up the face of the redoubt and he planted the Queen’s Colour on the top of parapet. The effect on the 23rd was instantaneous. They surged past, taking their bayonets against the Russian gunners even as they tried to escape and save the guns that had wrought such destruction on the advancing British troops. Within minutes the redcoats had captured the Great Redoubt.
The men of the Light Division had won a tremendous victory, capturing the key to the Russian right flank, despite the best efforts of enemy skirmishers, the attack of two huge infantry columns and the dreadful barrage of the Russian guns. O’Connor ignored the urgings of his officers and refused to place himself under medical care, He continued to carry the bloodied and torn Queen’s Colour for the rest of the day.
The men of Codrington’s Brigade would not be left to enjoy their victory. With their supports from the Guard’s Division still languishing on the far side of the Alma, the men from the Light Division were hung out to dry, the battered redcoats exhausted and exposed. The Russian General counterattacked and in the confusion an unknown officer identified the advancing Russian columns as being French. The enemy was allowed to close on the redoubt, forcing the remains of the Light Division to retreat.
Yet they had set the example, demonstrating that the modern British redcoat was just as tough as the men who had fought under Wellington. Raglan would soon get his victory, the Russian army routed from the field under the combined pressure of renewed attacks by both the British and the French armies.
O’Connor would also get his reward. He was gazetted to Ensign whilst in hospital after the battle and then he became the first solider to be awarded the newly commissioned Victoria Cross which was presented to him by the Queen herself in Hyde Park. When asked about his role in the battle, O’Conner stated that he “only did a soldier’s duty”.
As writers, we try to take the dry, dusty accounts of long forgotten battles and try to bring them to life with the exploits of our characters. Yet sometimes, despite our best efforts, it is the real stories, and the true heroes, who have the best tales.
Welcome to my blog
Welcome to my blog!The second year of my life as an author has begun and I thought it was about time I started a blog. I am not quite sure what will appear on these pages. There will be updates as my fledgling career stumbles along, and, with luck, I will have updates on when new novels are to be published. I plan to write a few pieces on new ideas and projects as they develop as well as information on appearances, signings and some festivals that I will be attending. I have also been asked to contribute some articles to various websites and I plan to include those here too.
I love to hear from readers so please look at the contacts page and get in touch. I promise to reply to every message I get.
Paul Fraser Collard
