R.J. Connor's Blog, page 3

Prequel not Sequel

     Thirty thousand words into the sequel of Mercenary, I realised the direction the novel was going in was not quite the same as that of the previous novel. Captive, set a few years after the first, does continue the underlying themes, but takes place in a whole new setting.
     Mercenary though heavily billed as a medieval novel, really takes place at the very end of the late middle ages, during the renaissance period. I therefore like to think of it as a late great tale of medieval chivalry, that is losing its way in a modern world.     The two sequels that I had planned for Mercenary will be written and will be published. But as they take place in the early modern, and I say that lightly because the exact years in which these time periods pass over is very ambiguous. Though it is generally considered to be during the age of discovery and that of a young fellow named Christopher Columbus, who is mentioned in my book.      For this reason, I have decided to begin work on a prequel, which is already well underway. I had always intended to write my series the 'Longsword Saga' in reverse chronology. Taking place at different intervals during the three hundred year feud between the Longswords and the Ashbournes. I intend to do this in three book blasts or trilogies, with the odd stand alone novel in between.     I am really keen to explore this feud more, to find out it's secrets, when did it begin and why? Along the way we will discover Richard's ancestors and delve deeper into the grit of the high middle ages, when medievalism was at his peak.     Having done a lot of research on the local area I am inspired to include several historic sites from the county of Hertfordshire. If you keep up to date on Facebook and my blog, you will be able to view photos on my live diary and articles on the sites themselves.     In the meantime, I'll leave you with this:
     'The crown outlawed him, the church condemned him and all for the love of a woman. I beseech you, why is it dark hearts such as yours should rise to power, when good men must falter in your wake? Tell me, or by the blood of christ, I hope you burn in hell. Where is Stephen?'
     The old man looked pale, as though a curse were upon him. 'I cannot tell you,' he whispered. 'He has not been seen since that frightful day in Langley. But I can tell you this, something changed in him, something fierce. He is no longer the boy we remember. I cannot tell you why, all I know is this. That on that day... A heretic was born!'

MERCENARY IS HERE!!!

     A lot has happened in a short space of time.
It has been a lengthy seven months since my last post. Back then I was an unpublished aspiring writer, discussing with you what the front cover of my book should look like. Now I sit before you (metaphorically speaking), a fully fledged published author.
     Mercenary was published 28th November 2014, just in time for Christmas and what you see above you is the finished article. I personally think it looks wonderful. The setting fits the story perfectly and the colour makes it stand out in a crowd.
     It has gone on sale, not just in the UK but the US as well, in both paperback and ebook formats. I have to say, I am very impressed with the effort my publishers at Top Hat have put in, to getting it off the ground and to making it available across two continents.
     If you follow me on Facebook & Twitter you will know that I had a number of signed copies available, one hundred to be precise. These are now gone and I would like to say a massive thankyou to all who purchased one. I'd like to name you but unfortunately there are too many of you to list.
     I have had the pleasure of being interviewed twice and the resulting articles appearing in magazines. There have also been some fantastic five star reviews left on Amazon & Goodreads. All in all the reception and feedback has been fantastic.
     For now though its back to work. Mercenary is merely the first stepping stone in what I hope will be a long and successful career as an author. I have many more books planned, several in this series and as much as I'd like them to, they won't write themselves.
      I will endeavour to bring you news of my next book as soon as I can. In the meantime please enjoy the site, subscribe to my blog and keep up the support.

RJC

Book Cover Competition - Winners

Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote in my Book Cover Competition. I must admit, not as many took part as I had hoped but every vote was important and had a genuine impact. It was also a great opportunity to commune and interact with some new faces and your comments were most welcome.

In case you missed my previous post announcing the winner, it was image 6 that received the most votes. I notified my publisher right after the poll closed and they have just got back to me with the proposed front cover pictured above. They are now working on the full jacket and I have also asked them to include a map, so it's all very exciting and coming on quite nicely.

As promised, I will be giving away free signed copies to a select few who voted for the winning image. These will be available to collect on the night of the book launch. Or as I've mentioned before, if you are unable to attend, these will be posted to you free of charge. The exact date is yet to be confirmed but will be later this summer. As soon as I have a definitive date, I will be in touch with the winning voters.

Which reminds me..
And the winners are:

Stu Spirn,
Karen F,
Joel Goodwin,
Mark S,
Shirleen Davies,
& Christina Copsey.

Once again, thank you to all who took part.

RJC.

And the winner is...

...image 6!
Thank you to everyone who voted and for all your helpful comments. More on this to follow shortly...

Cover Image Competition

As you are all aware, Mercenary is now in full production. The manuscript has been edited, copy edited, proof read and all the rest of it. Finally it is no longer a distant thought but a reality. In a little over 3 months Mercenary will be on bookshelves nationwide...
Which leads me to the fun part. The design team now have the manuscript and are currently working on the layout but the most important part they must consider, is of course, the front cover. They have just tasked me to find an image from Shutterstock that I believe would suit the cover best.
However after consulting friends and "soon to be fans" I am pleased to announce that I have made the decision to leave it entirely up to you! As an author I think it is important to build up a strong relationship with the audience and interacting with you, for me, is going to be one of the perks of the job!
So how will the competition work? I have complied a short-list of what I consider to be worthy choices. All you have to do is pick your favourite from the images below. To make your selection simply choose it in the poll to the top right of this post. If none of the images take your fancy, feel free to visit Shutterstock and select an image of your own. Then get back to me with the image number and your reasons for choosing it and I will take it on board for consideration.
The image that receives the most votes will be used for my book cover and selected at random from those who voted for it will be twelve lucky winners. If you win you will receive an invite to the book launch in London, and on top of that a free, signed copy of the book.
If for whatever reason you feel you would not be able to attend the event, due to travel reasons etc do not panic. Any winner who cannot attend the event will have their copy of Mercenary posted to them completely free of charge and should you wish it a Q&A session with me over Skype is available.
Please note when voting that the poll is simply for me to get a general consensus, it does not give me the name and details of each individual voter. So for a chance to win the prize, after you have voted please leave a comment that identifies your name and clearly states the image you have voted for.
In order to comment on here you may need to register with Google if you have not already done so, or alternatively you can leave your comment on any of my social media pages including Facebook and Twitter, the links to which are down the side of this page.
Any other queries about the competition, book, launch date or anything else, do not hesitate to contact me. In the meantime happy picking and best of luck!

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Mercenary Book Trailer

It has been a little while since my last blog post, but in my defence I must say it has been a very busy period. I have in that time been working very hard on Captive the sequel to Mercenary, but more importantly, I am pleased to announce, signed up with Top Hat Books, the Historical Fiction imprint at John Hunt Publishing. They have copy edited the Mercenary manuscript and together we are working hard to get it ready for publication, in what will hopefully be late spring this year. My days of late have seen me deep in this abyss that is editing, but this afternoon in a blatant attempt at open mutiny, I took some time off. In doing so I came across some music that I thought would do splendid for a book trailer. Against my better judgement and despite my rather poor skill in producing video's, I have come up with a trailer for my book. It will of course not be the trailer that is used when the time comes. But for a bit of fun and to wet the appetite, I have come up with this... See what you think and leave some comments. Thanks.

Medieval Torture

Whilst visiting Guadalest Castle in Spain I took the time to visit their Medieval Torture Museum. Four whole floors devoted to immense pain and the cruellest thought methods to make one suffer. It was unbelievable to think that so many ways of torture could ever be conceived let alone possible. In other words it was distressing not to mention frightening but the thing that hit me the most was the realism of it all. To see such items in the flesh really painted a vivid picture of what life was like in the Medieval age.

Unfortunately my camera's battery choose to die an unceremonious death by this point. Personally I prefer to think however, that he thought, "Bugger that, wake me up when this nightmare's over." Be that as it may I have managed to find pictures online of the four methods of torture that caught my eye the most, some of which I have no doubt will find their way, whether intended or not into future novels of mine.

The Saw

The Pictures are pretty self explanatory, but to confirm your actual thoughts, yes that is pretty much a two manned tree saw and yes they are cutting him between the legs right between the meat and two veg. As horrific as it sounds and no doubt actually was, it is made worse by the fact that the person was upside down. Not only was the bleeding less severe but it ran to the victim's head keeping them conscious and fully aware for a longer period of time. All in all it was pretty damn painful.
The Grill

Now this particular piece of apparatus was strikingly discomforting in the flesh. We all know that torture or even death by fire is extremely painful. I'm sure everyone has burnt themselves at least once in their lives and even on a minuscule level it is possible to imagine what full scale burns must be like. For centuries one of the most popular means of execution was to be burnt at the stake as was Joan of Arc. But if that wasn't bad enough imagine being tied down to a grill and cooked like a sausage at your local BBQ, terrifying thought.
Judas Cradle

The Judas Cradle, if there was ever one to make you wince it would be this one. The picture alone is enough to make you squint and pull a funny face but to see the beast in person was jaw dropping. This evil construction was created as a means for questioning, the victim would be held aloft using a metal belt which was lifted up by ropes while another rope stretched out his legs. The torturer would then drop the victim as gently or roughly as he desired onto the pinnacle of the pyramid which would puncture the anus. Cringe.
Impalement

Probably the most infamous was to be impaled by a stake, which is pretty gruesome and as the picture suggests, pretty graphic. There are many techniques and different methods as to how the actual impaling was performed. Some preferred to impale their victims through the abdomen from front to back or alternatively as the picture shows, up through the rectum and out through the mouth. Sometimes the victim was lowered onto a fixed stake but more often then not, it was hammered into place with a huge mallet , "Ouch!"
So there you have it, my four favourites from the house of horrors better known as the Medieval Torture Museum at the Castell De Guadalest. A must visit if you ever get the opportunity to go but do brace yourself upon arrival it really isn't for the feint at heart.

Which of the above curdled your blood the most? Don't forget to answer the poll! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hatuey

Despite basking in the Spanish summer sun I cannot help nor refrain myself from delving back into the pages of history and gaining an insight into a a time that plays a prominent role in my future novel; Captive.
In doing so I came across a very interesting character by the name of Hatuey. This native Taino Cacique, which means chief to you or I was from the Island of Hispaniola and was the only one brave enough to stand against the invading Europeans and single handedly led a rebellion against the Spanish Conquistadors.
After the Spaniards successful occupation of Hispaniola due mainly to the Taino peoples tolerance towards the Spanish on first arrival allowing them to slowly infiltrate the island, the Spanish decided to move on to the island of Cuba. 
Hatuey who during that time had developed a hatred for the Spanish who had so cruelly taken control of his homeland, preceded them by way of canoe with a small contingent of loyal warriors to warn the Cubans of the inevitable invasion that was to follow.
Yet despite his efforts the Cubans did not heed his warning nor succumb to his pleas and only a handful of them stood with him to fight. His only choice was to resort to guerrilla tactics and this he executed to superb effect. He was able to contain the Spanish to their fort on the coast at the town of Baracoa.
His time spent at war with the Spaniards although not enough to convince others to join him did at least fill the native population with a sense of guilt. He alone stood and achieved so much and with their help maybe just maybe they may have overcome them. However he was finally caught by the Spanish who wasted little time in tying him to a stake and burning him alive. 
And even then he defied them. In a final offer a priest asked Hatuey if he would accept Jesus and earn himself a place in Heaven. Upon being asked this question he himself replied with a question; "Is heaven the place where Spaniards go when they die?" he asked. "Of course", the priest answered, "Then I would sooner go to Hell!" Hatuey replied.
Despite his death his defiance would make him a martyr and stand as a long serving reminder to all peoples of the Americas yet unconquered to not bow down to their so called European masters and he remains to this day; Hatuey the first defier of colonialism in the new world and the first national hero of Cuba. 

The manuscript is complete!

Battle of Cintla

As you are no doubt aware from my Facebook and Twitter updates, I am currently researching into and writing about the Battle of Cintla for my novel; Captive. Whilst digging I found this little gem of a picture that may just wet you appetites for what is to come.

It is to many not a well documented battle but one that proved decisive for the Spanish Conquistadors, a victory against the strong Chontal Maya and their path to the Aztec empire would be open, but in defeat they would be expelled from the mainland altogether.

Hernan Cortés led the Spanish expedition into Tobasco in what is now a modern day Mexican state but back then it was independently ruled by a sub group of the once strong Maya Civilisation; the Chontal. They proved to be a thorn in the Spanish crown's side.

What you see before you is a skirmish or a mini battle if you like that took place before the main battle. It was fought between the Spanish as they tried to take over a village that lay on the bank of the Grijalva River from which they could then launch their conquest further into Mayan territory.

The Mayan warriors who stood four hundred strong put up a brief resistance against the Spanish who numbered in the region of five hundred before dispersing in fear of the Spanish guns which they perceived as thunder and their horses which they took as demons from hell.

After they had control of the village the Spanish marched on to the town of Cintla where they were greeted by five divisions of Mayan warriors each numbering eight thousand strong and so, five hundred brave Spanish troops stood against forty thousand Maya and that's when the battle truly begun...

To find out the rest of the story, please wait patiently for the publication of my second book; Captive.