Steven A. McKay's Blog, page 46

UK readers – WOLF’S HEAD on special offer!

If you’ve yet to try one of my books, the Kindle version of��Wolf’s Head, the first in The Forest Lord series, is just 99p for a short time. What are you waiting for, go on, fill yer boots! Anyone buying the Kindle version gets the audiobook at a greatly reduced rate too so it’s a nice deal all round.

Click to buy!

Kate Quinn “Lady of the Eternal City” Q&A

Today I’m pleased to introduce author Kate Quinn, who’s just released her new book,��Lady of the Eternal City (my review of it will appear on Monday so look out for it!).

National bestselling author Kate Quinn returns with the long-awaited fourth volume in the Empress of Rome series, an unforgettable new tale of the politics, power, and passion that defined ancient Rome.



Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife���s edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome���s brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix���s beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor���s latest obsession.

Empress and Emperor, father and son will spin in a deadly dance of passion, betrayal, conspiracy, and war. As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City . . .

Hi Kate, thanks for chatting with me today. First of all, it’s a huge��book! How long did it take you to write it?

Maybe a year? It’s all a blur. This was originally intended to be part and parcel of ���Empress of the Seven Hills,��� which covers the reign of Emperor Hadrian’s predecessor, Trajan. But I realized that there was no way so much history was going to fit in one book. Hadrian’s half of the history barely fit into this book.

The historical aspects are extremely impressive and are woven into the story with great skill so it doesn’t feel like a lecture. How much research did you have to do? What part of that did you enjoy the most?

I researched obsessively, Anthony Everitt’s superb biography of Hadrian being my primary Bible���I wore it to tatters like a child’s security blanket. Researching Hadrian’s reign was fun because of just how many dramatic real-life events happened to him: action-packed lion hunts, mysterious prophecies, assassination attempts, epic love affairs, nearly being struck by lightning while making sacrifice to the thunder god���I made none of those things up.

That brings me nicely to my next question: how much of the book is based on historical fact? Did you embellish much or add anything to make it a better story?

I flexed the ages of my younger characters to fit the story better���we have no birth date recorded for Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger, so I edged her birth up some years to suit the story, and I edged Marcus Aurelius back a bit to keep him more contemporary with her. Vix, my fictional Praetorian, is a composite of several real historical figures: Marcius Turbo whose incredible military career launched him from common legionary to Hadrian’s right-hand man, and his fellow Prefect who was fired for being ���overly intimate��� with Hadrian’s wife. What I did most often was fill in the spaces behind the (sometimes very sparse) facts. We know Empress Sabina was ���overly intimate��� with her Praetorian, but we don’t know what that meant or what really happened. Likewise, we know very little about the early years of Jewish rebel leader Simon Bar Kokhba. In both places, I let my imagination fill in the gaps.

Which character did you enjoy writing the most? Do you get attached to them and feel sad if anything bad happened?

I was very fond of Antinous, he of the beautiful face and the equally beautiful soul. He was a late addition to the book as a viewpoint character; I realized with the help of my critique partners that the story needed his voice, and I realized this about 6 weeks from my deadline. So I wrote all his scenes at once at a white heat, inserting them where they were needed, and his voice was warm and immediate in my head. Which hurt because from the very beginning, since I knew what was in store for the historical Antinous���and I grieved for him.

You did a good job with Hadrian who, at first, I thought was just going to be a complete loon but you gave him a lot of depth and it really made for a better read.

Thanks! Hadrian was a puzzling character, the most contradictory and frustrating historical figure I’ve ever researched. He’s like a handful of water to pin down; almost every character trait he had was bracketed by its direct opposite. He was a blood-lover with a merciful streak; a sybarite who loved roughing it; a religious cynic; a superstitious man of science; a military man and a classical scholar. I nearly tore out my hair trying to pinpoint his character, and I still have no idea if my version is any closer to the truth than anyone else’s!

I must admit I was a little surprised at the Romans’ negative attitude towards homosexuality, given their love of Greek culture with its iconic figures like Alexander the Great. Indeed, Hadrian’s relationship with Antinous seems to mirror that of Alexander and Hephaistion.

Roman sexual mores seems homophobia-free at first look, but that isn’t really the case. Two men could only bed down respectably if one of them was either a slave, or if of the same social class, a teenage boy. Once Antinous passed into his twenties (which I conjecture he did, since his statues all show a mature young man and not a weedy teenager) he would have been held up to public scorn for taking the woman’s role in a relationship, even if that relationship was with the Emperor. And Hadrian was condemned as well, because his passion for Antinous crossed the bounds of what was considered seemly. Roman manhood stressed the need for gravitas and emotional restraint���for an emperor to show such uninhibited public passion for a concubine (of either sex) was seen as an embarrassment.

I couldn’t help noticing Annia was quite similar to another character from recent literature whose name also starts and end with an ‘A’… Did you have that in mind at all when you were writing?

No, but the comparison delights me because I’m a huge ���Game of Thrones��� fan, and I love Arya Stark. It’s hard to find a way to make a historical heroine a badass, given all the constraints on female behavior, but with the craze during Hadrian’s reign for all things Greek, I found a way for Annia to be a runner like the famed women of Sparta.

I first read your work in A Day of Fire which was a quite exceptional book. Ben Kane was one of your co-authors on that ��� do you have any plans to visit Hadrian’s Wall in period correct Roman garb with Ben in any future Romani Walks of his?

I’d snap up the offer in a heartbeat, since I do my best thinking on long walks. But what is correct period Roman garb for a Roman girl walking the wall? I’m no marathoner like Annia, and if I travel in the period style of any of my Empresses, I’ll need a litter and six strapping litter-bearers.

Not sure if Ben, Anthony Riches and Russell Whitfield (the other authors that did the Romani Walk in aid of��M��decins Sans Fronti��res and Combat Stress) would be up for that to be honest!�� How is�� A Day of Fire ��doing though? I see it’s been shortlisted as one of the best indie books of 2014 in the forthcoming Historical Novel Society conference which must be a huge buzz for you.

It was! We’re all delighted. Thinking about doing another collaboration; we’ll see what happens.

What’s next for you? More historical fiction? Do you have any plans to try a different genre or a completely different time period?

I’ve already done a two-book branch-out into Renaissance Italy, with a duology about the Borgia family. I’ve got other ideas, maybe even something 20th century, but nothing’s certain yet!

Brilliant answers, thank you again for this Kate.

Now, check back here on Monday for my review of��Lady of the Eternal City. In the meantime, you can find out more (or buy it!) here:

Buy LADY OF THE ETERNAL CITY

Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Indiebound | Books A Million | Book Depository

The WOLF’S HEAD Jackson Rhoads!

You all know I’m a huge heavy metal fan and I love my collection of Jackson��guitars so…Say hello to the Jackson “WOLF’S HEAD” Rhoads! 24 frets, Bill Lawrence USA 500XL bridge pickup (think Dimebag Darrell from Pantera) and neck-through construction. This thing is as sharp as the arrows on my book covers and almost��as deadly!

I commissioned the guys at morevisual.me (my cover designers) to produce the decal for this and it looks great!

I haven’t recorded anything with this guitar yet, but if you want to hear an Iron Maiden-influenced song of mine, I used “Nocturnal Fire” as the soundtrack for��The Wolf and the Raven trailer here:

Audiobook for just ��1.99 today only!

The Wolf and the Raven audiobook is in Audible UK’s Daily Deal promotion and is just ��1.99 until midnight today so….what are you waiting for?! ��Click the pic to get your copy!

If you’ve already heard it, please don’t forget to leave a review on Audible and/or Amazon, every good review really does help. :-)

Medieval outlaws (other than Robin Hood!)

Here’s a short piece I did for the English Historical Fiction Authors website, take a look! I even manage to mention Judge Dredd and Batman… ;-)

http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/medieval-outlaws.html

Review of W&R by San Francisco Book Review

Very nice review of The Wolf and the Raven. It’s a little bit different to the usual reviews, I enjoyed reading it! ��I will be doing an interview with them too (an actual recorded interview you can listen to) so watch out for that.

Take a look at the review here:

“The important point is that this is a story that can and will be enjoyed by all ages, as all good myths (did I say myths?) should.” -SF Book Review

Rise of the Wolf extract

Just a quick update: the next book is more than half finished and I’m hoping to get more time to write now so things can really start to kick on and I can get Rise of the Wolf out within the next few months. In the meantime, here’s a little (un-edited!) snippet featuring the jovial Friar Tuck who’s in a spot of bother:

���What can I do for you, my son?��� he asked, smiling deferentially at the little man. ���A blessing? Do you seek��� ���

���Enough, priest,��� the robber growled, sidling over and standing to look up at the palfrey whose ears were back as it sensed something was wrong. ���We need no blessings in Sherwood. What we need is silver and gold. And food. And judging by the belly you’re carrying around on you, you’ve got enough of everything to share with me and my mates here.��� He raised the sword he carried, unusually, in his left hand, brandishing it menacingly, and Tuck noticed the man was missing more than one finger from his right hand. Punishment for being caught stealing before perhaps, although that method of justice had ��� mostly ��� been done away with years earlier.

Dangerous, but hopefully stupid.

The friar looked back across his shoulder to see a tall young man holding a longbow aimed directly at him. His hands were steady, but the expression on his face was one of distaste. Not at the clergyman, no…the big man’s eyes flicked to his leader for a moment and Tuck knew the youngster wasn’t happy to be here doing this.

���Aye, he’s got you covered, old man,��� the robber leader grinned, showing a mouthful of surprisingly complete teeth. ���And the rest of us’ll split you wide open ��� priest or not ��� if you don’t hand over what you’ve got. Including that nice horse.���

There was little point denying he was carrying money, Tuck thought. The robbers would know he’d need coin to pay for food and board as he travelled.

���Will you let me be on my way if I give you what I have?��� he asked in a trembling voice, moving towards the small man and fumbling in his cassock. As he reached the robber, he smiled, remembering a similar scene a couple of years earlier when he’d first met Robin and the men.

���Here you go, have the lot!���

The two big robbers further back on the road stood in stunned silence for a moment as their leader collapsed in front of them. Tuck had whipped his cudgel up and into the jaw of the robber, then, as the man stumbled backwards, the friar brought it round in an arc into the side of the man’s neck, sending him flying across the road senseless.

Before anyone could react, Tuck jumped forward, ramming the cudgel into the man on the left’s face, feeling teeth crunch as his target reeled back and landed on his backside with a howl of pain.

By now it was obvious this was no normal priest and the final swordsman struck out with the battered old blade he carried.

Tuck had been fast when he was young, but now…he twisted sideways, lashing out with his own weapon which connected with the back of his opponent’s skull sending the man crashing to the hard earth of the road. He let out a breath of relief as he realised his flesh was unbroken ��� the robber’s blade had only torn his cassock.

The friar glanced back to the bowman and was relieved to see the youngster staring at the scene before him, mouth open in surprise, bowstring not quite fully drawn. Still with one eye on the archer, Tuck moved over to the man with the wounded mouth and kicked out at the side of his head, hard enough to send the man reeling.

���Where are you from, son?���

Look out for��Rise of the Wolf,��coming soon!

The Holy Lance review

The Holy Lance

by Andrew Latham

As I’ve noted before, (in my��Day of Fire review) being an author has its perks. Sometimes I’m asked to review books before they’re available to buy and it’s really nice to ��read something before anyone else gets to see it. Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science and reader of my own historical novels asked if I’d take a look at his debut The Holy Lance and, if I liked it, share my thoughts and maybe provide a strap-line for the cover.*

Now, it’s very flattering to be asked to critique someone’s work but sometimes it’s poor and it’s a chore to even finish it, never mind come up with an excuse not to review it. I’d rather not say anything than be hurtful after all.

I’m glad to report that, thankfully, Andrew Latham’s The Holy Lance didn’t need any excuses ��� it’s a damn good read!

A historical fiction adventure very much in the mould of Cornwell, Scarrow, Robyn Young et al, the book centres around a Templar Knight’s quest to retrieve a prized artefact: the titular holy lance. Michael Fitz Alan is an entertaining character, with all the leadership and martial qualities you hope for in a novel like this. Indeed, his violent exploits are often extremely visceral, with much blood spilled as he battles through the Holy Land on this, the first part of his quest.

The battle scenes really do stand out, being superbly written and bringing the action to vivid life in the reader’s imagination, but there’s more to the tale than just violence. Like Lord of the Rings, The Sword of Shannara or Bernard Cornwell’s 1356 our hero is after a powerful artefact that will turn the tide of war in his favour. Yes, it’s a theme that’s been explored many, many times over the years, but that’s because it’s a good theme!

The author doesn’t make everything as black-and-white as Tolkien’s hobbits vs orcs though. This isn’t a straight-forward tale of good versus evil ��� it’s sympathetic to both sides in the conflict which makes for a realistic and satisfying read.

Latham’s scholarship shines through in every page ��� indeed, I was writing my own Knight Hospitaller novella at the same time as I read this and I freely admit I learned a lot. Not only is it a great tale, you know the history has been thoroughly researched and, as in any top-class histfic title, it makes the book that much more enjoyable. It’s a balancing act between too much and not enough scholarship in this genre and The Holy Lance straddles the tightrope with ease.

Andrew Latham

If I have a criticism it’s the fact that the chapters are quite long, with the first being almost 10,000 words. Obviously, this is a matter of personal taste, but I like a short, punchy first chapter that starts things off with a bang and drags the reader in by the short and curlies, whether they like it or not. The Holy Lance doesn’t have that and, I have to be honest, I feared the worst when it took me so long to finish the first few pages. It could easily put readers off which would be a real shame as things picked up after that and I was relieved to find myself really enjoying the story.

I’m probably not the best person to ask for a review if you’re on a timetable as I don’t have much time to read these days, but I finished this in just a few days and am very much looking forward to the next one. Which will probably be strange for Professor Latham to read, given this one isn’t even out yet!

Histfic fans will really enjoy this and I’m proud to have been one of the first people to read it. The future promises much for Andrew Latham…be sure you’re there when his first novel hit’s the shelves on March 24th this year.

Pre-order your hardback copy here (UK)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Holy-Lance-English-Templars/dp/1910282413

or here (US)

http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Lance-English-Templars/dp/1910282413

Find out more at Andrew’s website:

http://www.aalatham.com/

*�����Violent and visceral���. meticulously researched��� superbly plotted���. The Holy Lance is historical fiction at its best!���

Scottish Daily Record piece

This is the third time I’ve been in the Daily Record which has a circulation of about a quarter of a million a day according to Wikipedia. Thanks to them (particularly Shari Low who is also an author and hosts that section of the newspaper) for featuring me!

Hollywood interest in my books?!

I’ve never told any of you about this before but…a few months ago I was contacted by one of the biggest film production companies in the world, asking about the rights for The Wolf and the Raven. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited in my life. You can probably imagine the ������ signs flashing before my eyes as I imagined the possibilities, not to mention the idea of some of the best film-makers in the world working on MY book!

I exchanged a couple of emails with them and they said they’d get back to me once the producer finished the book but I’ve never heard anything since so I guess that’s it.

The thing is, it was a seriously major player in Hollywood – they’ve made some of the most iconic movies in the past 30 or 40 years. I could not believe it when I was reading their email to me, it was surreal.

Obviously it’s come to nothing but who knows, maybe one day they’ll come back to me… :-)

In the meantime – who would YOU choose to play the characters in my novels? Here’s a page one of my readers set up, take a look and have some fun with it!

http://iflist.com/stories/wolfsheadtheforestlordbook1?r=1418553647#