Blog | Alison Morton Author

Unpicking a legend by a legendary writer

Writing friend Helen Hollick is no stranger to this blog, nor to publishing. This week, she’s celebrating not only her 70th birthday, but also her 30th year of publishing books. (And I thought I was doing well with my 10th year!)

First accepted for traditional publication in 1993, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages. She has also branched out into the quick read novella, ‘cosy mystery’ genre with her Jan Christopher Murder Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her own, often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant.

Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She lives with her family in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon and occasionally gets time to write…

Today, we’re looking at Helen’s Pendragon trilogy and asking THAT question:

King Arthur? Was he, perhaps, in Brittany and France? Over to Helen!

Thirty years ago, one week after my 40^th birthday in April 1993, I was accepted by William Heinemann (now part of Random House UK) for the publication of my Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy. To say I was excited is an understatement.

The trilogy has gone through various editions since then, under my own ‘indie’ steam when I obtained the rights back in 2006, a German translation and traditionally published in the USA/Canada. To celebrate the 30 years, I decided to re-issue my own copyright editions with new, beautiful covers, designed by www.avalongraphics.org, and to hold an online party – so welcome to the celebration!

‘King’ Arthur is a different person to many different people, from a Medieval, Christian king to a small boy in a Disney cartoon. My Arthur is a ‘Dark Age’ battle-hardened warlord, his (fictional) existence is set in the Britain/England of the 450s-500s, a period of great upheaval, when ‘chivalry’ did not exist, bloody battles were fought and twenty-first century unacceptable behaviour was commonplace. ‘Then’ was a very different world to ‘now’.

Few historians are prepared to accept the dates and events listed in sources such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as entirely accurate. Rather, these records represent a broad – and biased – sweep of events. There are very few undeniable facts for this muddled era of British history. We know a little of what happened, occasionally where, but not precisely when. Even the early written records disagree with each other where dates are concerned.

If dates cannot be agreed upon, the matter of Arthur himself is even more debatable! There is much passion and heated disagreement concerning the various theories of his how, when, and where. Indeed, it has not even been established whether he ever existed outside the realm of the imagination. (He probably didn’t.)

In my trilogy, I set out to write a ‘what might have happened’ story, stripped of the post-Norman Conquest chivalric tales of knights in armour, the Holy Grail, round table, Lancelot – and even Merlin. Instead, I tried to make sense of the chaos that the withdrawal of Rome from Britain left behind, and the steady immigration of the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who took advantage of that void of chaos. I was determined to write something different to the Medieval stories – what, perhaps, could have been behind the Arthurian legend?

The late Geoffrey Ashe’s The Discovery of King Arthur put the idea of a campaign in Gaul (Brittany and France) into my mind. Not everyone agreed with his suggestion, but I am grateful for the inspiration.

Book 3, Shadow of the King follows his theory, in which he suggested Arthur could have been Riothamus, a war leader who did exist. We have several references to prove that fact, in particular, a letter to him from Sidonius Apollinaris, Bishop of Clermont Ferrand. Riothamus was King of the Britons, but does this mean the British or the Bretons, or both? Riothamus, like so many names of this period was a title meaning something like Supreme Leader. Today, the title Prince of Wales refers to Prince William, but could equally mean the notorious Prince Regent or the Welsh Llewelyn ap Gryffydd.

Was this overseas campaign the base for the later quest for the Holy Grail? For the story of ‘Arthur’ leaving his realm to go off somewhere, not to return for many years? I made full use of Ashe’s theory – including a wonderful three-weeks exploring Brittany and parts of France, using the places I visited as ideal scenes: Vézelay, Carnac…

Vézelay

It is fact that a great battle at Deols (Vicus Dolensis) was fought between ‘the British’ and the Goths. The British were slaughtered. Riothamus fled into Burgundy… and was never heard of again. Was he the man who then became the Arthur of legend?

Mr Ashe’s theory has been disputed, but I think it is as plausible as any alternative suggestions, and there is no evidence to prove Riothamus was not Arthur! Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn’t. It is up to the individual to decide.

Panorama of Avalon (Wikipedia CC Commons (Patrick 89))

Another place I visited, however, does give pause for thought: Avallon, a quaint, old town (worth a visit) in what was Burgundy, is a real place…

If Arthur truly lived, and if he was Riothamus?

Who knows?

Thank you, Helen, for a new perspective on King Arthur, probably a more realistic one. And I LOVE the possible connection to France!

_________________

Helen’s new, self-published, editions with beautiful covers designed by Cathy Helms of www.avalongraphics.org are, alas, only available outside of USA and Canada, where the same books are published by Sourcebooks Inc.

Where can you buy them?

THE PENDRAGON’s BANNER TRILOGY
New Editions available worldwide except USA/Canada: https://mybook.to/KingArthurTrilogy
US trilogy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074C38TXN
Canada trilogy:https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B074C38TXN

Connect with Helen
Website: https://helenhollick.net
All Helen’s books are available on Amazon: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
Subscribe to Helen’s Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/HelenHollick
Her Blog: https://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helen.hollick
Twitter: @HelenHollick https://twitter.com/HelenHollick

Follow Helen’s Celebration Tour https://www.helenhollick.net/

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series.Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, a new Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, is now out.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines and taste world the latest contemporary thriller Double Identity… Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. You’ll also be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.

A Writer’s Life in a Day?

The dream version

I spring out of bed at 6 a.m., go for a two-kilometre run, return for healthy breakfast of muesli and fruit, no caffeine. Shower, then ten minutes of calming yoga. Dress in relaxing linen separates and drift to my desk ready to start creating at 8 a.m.

The Muse visits and I type out a thousand perfect words before lunch which is a low calorie cheese and salad bowl with a healthy glass of carrot juice. I relax for twenty minutes on the terrace breathing in the fresh country air and gathering my thoughts for the next scene of my wonderful book. Two agents email me, fighting to offer me a five book deal and 100,000€ advance. I decide to leave it a week before I reply.

I return to my immaculately tidy desk and spend an hour reading a research book uninterrupted except by the blackbird chirruping outside my window. After another perfect two thousand words, I stop at 7pm and drink a modest glass of wine in the evening warmth. I go to bed at 10 pm for an uninterrupted night of deep sleep, content that the Muse will visit me again with the plot for the next book.

The real version

Aaaargh|!

Wake up. 6:30 am. Damn, I forgot to finish that guest post for today. So many notes I don’t know where to start. What will they expect? Will it be enough? Tea. Lean over and click the kettle on. Determine to read another half-hour’s worth of ‘duty book’ I said I would review. Maybe it’s me, but I just can’t get into it. Despite the beautiful writing, I have no sympathy for any of the characters – self-indulgent flaneurs, stereotypes or cardboard cut-outs. Pity – there’s a good story in there if it could be dug out of the dark pit it’s buried in.

Reach over and check social media on my iPhone. 100% more interesting. Oh, look a lovely RT from A Famous Person, lots of Likes for a photo of my garden. Spend half an hour interacting on Facebook re books, literary fiction, herbs, history, cats, Romans and weather, but see only three books sold overnight on Amazon. 😱

Tea drunk, I head for the shower. Scales or not? Damn. Despite two hours sweating in the garden yesterday, still the wrong side of the ‘You are fat’ figure according to all the health websites. Pull stomach in. No breakfast for me.

Coffee, downstairs to office. Pitiless ‘To do’ list – write own blog, finish guest posts, pitch others, order vitamins, send in tax return, phone doctor re back, check overnight misdemeanours on Facebook groups I admin, read emails, reply to Tweets, schedule a few more, read critique partner stuff, create new graphic to promote latest book, update website page about latest book, skim words of wisdom from other bloggers and so on.

Have mopped floor, emptied dishwasher, answered emails, written this blog post. Can I please have an hour to write my WIP now? Look at my desk strewn with papers – marketing plans, advert analyses, scribbled notes both illegible and unintelligible as I wrote them at 3 a.m. Look through email inbox before lunch. Where is all this spammy stuff coming from?

Lunch. We live in France. ‘Le déjeuner’ is sacrosanct, but only an hour at Château Morton.

Close all social media. Time to engage with the writing process. Ha! My first characters had been running around in my head for years so they were fully formed when I started to write the stories. Of course, I’ve been adding others over the years, so I must check how they’re interacting with the old stagers. Cue spreadsheet with ages and major events.

I have a vague outline of the plot; I know where it has to end, but the detail evolves as I tap on the keyboard. The characters’ quirks and interactions push the story along. Sometimes, they try to stage a coup and take over the show. Excuse me! Who is writing this book? After an hour of negotiation we agree on a compromise and I nudge them back into the story, promising death, agony or separation from their beloved if they don’t behave.

Ah! Tea…

After an hour of this bickering, I go for a tea break and decide I’ll do something calming like marketing. I used to be hot at this stuff, but everything has changed as it does in the book world, so now we’re into Amazon ads, BookBub deals and most ghastly of all, Facebook ads. At 6pm, I give up and go for a large glass of wine and a small supper.

Watch the news at eight, something vaguely history related on BBC4 (via satellite) or an episode of Star Trek or equivalent. Fall into bed at 11pm, read. Lights out at midnight.

Rinse and repeat.

Which of these does your day resemble? I have a fair idea of which I would bet on…

Forgetting your characters?

Surely not?

Picture me at a writers’ conference, a good two years before I published INCEPTIO, the first of the Roma Nova thrillers, in 2013. Full of enthusiasm, going to every class, talk, workshop and seminar followed by long nights in the bar discussing structure, characters, pitfalls, agents, heroes, failures and successes, I was exhausted by Sunday morning.

I shuffled up to the coffee machine, chose two slugs of espresso in one mug, dolloped a load of fruit in a bowl in hope of regaining lost vitamins and made my way to a table with a single figure. She was a multi-published author, somebody I respected, no, revered. When she invited me to sit, I felt honoured. But no way was I up to sparkling conversation.

As I munched on my fruit, the Experienced Author kindly asked me how things were going. Before I could answer, my rather more abstemious and thus more energetic friend plonked herself down at the table. She said we’d enjoyed the workshop on character, but was rather disturbed by the speaker saying it was easy to forget who was who in earlier books she’d written. That woke me up.

‘Surely, you wouldn’t forget one of your beautiful creations,’ I said, my fruit consumed.

‘Well, it does happen,’ replied Experienced Author.

We two newbies stared at her, our mouths not open, but silent. ‘After fifteen books, in three different genres, I can’t remember each character. They fall in love, struggle with tragedy, rebuild their fortunes, find happiness, and then you send them off to be published and as in life, you turn to new ones.’

Appalled at such cynicism, my friend and I exchanged what Georgette Heyer would have called ‘a speaking look’. Both of us were rock solid in the confident knowledge that this would never happen to either of us. Our profound knowledge and deep love of all our characters, principal and secondary, ensured they were graven on our souls. We politely finished our breakfast and took no notice of the little smile on the Experienced Author’s lips.

I slaved over my first book, INCEPTIO, going through manuscript assessments, beta readers, mentor and professional editors, and generally whipping it into shape for publication. Two years on from that breakfast chat with the Experienced Author I was even more involved with my characters, especially the two leads, Carina and Conrad. I could not only see them, I dreamed about them. I spoke about them at the launch of INCEPTIO and even infected my friends with them. Well, they queued up to buy the book in droves that night.

The following October, the second book I wrote in the Roma Nova series, PERFIDITAS, launched and if possible, my knowledge increased. I could do Mastermind on Carina and Conrad and probably the same on the elder stateswoman Aurelia who was then a secondary character. By the third book, SUCCESSIO, a year later, I was spreading the dramatis personae to include the next generation, so had to check the odd thing here and there.

With AURELIA, I took the main secondary character of the first three books back to her young womanhood in the late 1960s. Soon I was immersed in the pre-internet, rather sexist world. Carina and Conrad of the 21^st century were fading as I plunged into one of the darkest periods of Roma Nova’s history with a tale of crime and derring-do.

Then a reader asked me a question about a character in PERFIDITAS and I said ‘Who?’ She reminded me in a cold voice about who they were and added that the character was her favourite. Oh, crap! I bluffed through it, but that breakfast meeting in 2011 came immediately to mind. Five years on, I bowed to that Experienced Author in true humility.

The (humbling) remedy

I re-read the first three Roma Nova thrillers. It was the least I could do. Actually, I really enjoyed reconnecting with Carina, Conrad and all the other characters. Did I really write these thrillers? By the time I came to write INSURRECTIO, RETALIO and the two novellas, CARINA and NEXUS, I knew what I had to do. Series fans would never forgive me if I messed up on the continuity. As a reader, this kind of error shows me the writer doesn’t take a professional approach to their work.

The lesson learnt

When I went back to the Roma Nova origin story and was drafting JULIA PRIMA, the first foundation story set in the late fourth century, I re-read the whole series to date – six full-length novels, two novellas and a book of short stories. Confession time: i actually made notes of the text and context of whenever those distant ancestors were mentioned.

Spreadsheets for the characters, especially their ages, their relationships, events and pivotal decisions litter my Roma Nova documents folder on my computer. I have a time line grid (index) for each book so I have an easy reference for the actions and decisions in each book. Although mistakes happen and typos creep in despite the sets of eyes on the text, I know as a writer that I owe it to my readers to craft the books with care.

More than anything, I have abandoned hubris and now have a little more humility.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.

Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. You’ll also be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.

That inspiration thing...

Fortuna, Capitoline Museum, Rome (Author photo)

“What inspires you?” is a question I’m frequently asked in many guest posts, in podcast interviews, or at conferences.

The people asking are usually lovely – genuinely interested and keen to hear the answer. Perhaps they are writers themselves, or wish to make a connection on an artistic and creative level or want to know the answer to life, the universe and everything. That last one’s easy: 42. (Apologies to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.)

Let’s be serious. Well, for a moment.

I dread this question, not because I don’t want to reveal the secret identity of my silken-gowned muse, nor divulge her equally secret pearls of wisdom. Am I frightened she might run away, never to be seen again? No, I don’t want to let readers down with my answer.

I confess – I don’t know. *runs away and hides*

An inspiring thought or emotion can be anything and come from anywhere. For me, it’s like being ambushed. I often don’t have a clue until it drops into my head. When it does, it’s something shallow and mundane like being held on the phone in a queue, spotting a bargain or scoffing at a mistranslation at a tourist site.

Roman food strainer, 1st century AD, British Museum (Author photo)

I’m more likely to wonder how Roman women handled menstruation than how the battle of X was won, or how long it took to hand pierce the holes in a Roman kitchen sieve rather than how many nails were used in the Norman invasion ships. (Actually, the nail question is quite interesting…)

The Roma Nova books originated from a decades’ long fascination with Ancient Rome and women’s roles in the modern world but given it took more than thirty years to get the first words onto the computer screen (bypassing the typewriter), it can hardly be called a *moment* of inspiration. It was a slow-growing, but persistent, climbing plant.

Like all authors, whether they admit it or not, I drew on events, people and experiences from my life up to that moment. We are all shaped by these experiences and by our background and values.

There will always be a little bit of the author in her book however much any author claims to deny it. And if we don’t show that in our main character, we switch it into another prominent secondary character. We all live in our own little world at the centre of which is our own delightful/dreadful ego so any self-expression like writing is bound to reflect it.

The Mélisende books, Double Identity and Double Pursuit, for instance, based on a Franco-British intelligence operative were written after nine Roma Nova thrillers featuring tough and lively heroines. While there was a proportion of new information to research and absorb, I did have prior knowledge from my own life experience or from writing the Roma Nova thrillers:

tough, active heroine with heart – check
crime/adventure/thriller – check
France/French setting – check
European connection – check
armed forces – check
modern Rome – check
financial skulduggery – um, sort of, years ago, 25% check
African Sahel – nope (Research required)
gun-running – nope (Massive amounts of research required)

Perhaps inspiration for those two books was a mix of experience, wishful thinking, nostalgia and an itch to write something based in my part of France.

Inspiration for me is a formless cloud, wisps, really, wafting around in my mind with no fixed abode. It takes something to come along – a bad film, five words in an email from a Very Famous Author, idle attention to a television report of a coup – to get the cloud to clump and produce a bolt of lightning. Usually, it’s a little crackle at the back of the sky. Hopefully, not a damp squib.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.

Characters in setting

Rounded, multi-layered characters are essential if you want people to be engaged in your story. Reading is an emotional trip and we want to gasp, shiver, feel rolls of warmth, resentment, sympathy, fear, loss, and triumph as we turn the pages.

Superwomen are fine in some contexts – we like a bit of pushing over the edge of reality – but our heroines and heroes should make horrible mistakes, mis-judgements and stupid decisions, but also be aware, clever and cunning as appropriate. They are, after all, only human.

But equally important is to think about what formed those characters. Some characteristics are common across ages, locations and personality. Bad temper or a sweet disposition, a loving childhood or abusive environment can occur whether your character lives in Ancient Rome or the Moon Colony in 2175.

But what are the factors that make your character what they are in the place that they exist?

Looking at the large scale, most settings have a form of governance – autocratic, democratic or even none, which brings its own scope for conflict. Similarly, some sort of economic, social and political systems exist, whether feudal, industrial, agricultural, self-sufficient, colonial, revolutionary, egalitarian or something else. You don’t need to mention these as such, unless they impact directly on the plot, but you need to have it all worked out in your head.

On the personal level, most people are concerned with food, shelter, safety and income. On top of that, in no particular order, health, their family, the future for their children and a non-miserable old age and pain-free death. After that come more altruistic concerns like personal values, social good and social justice, the urge to explore, discover and invent.

The essential questions

Back to our characters… You probably know their role in the story, their motivation and their ultimate goal. But what do you know about their values, knowledge and experience of the world that formed them?

How do people make their living?
Where do they work?
How are they educated?
What kind of production is there? Artisans or big industry?
Is the government representative?
Is there a class/caste system, and is it flexible or structured? Overt or ‘understood’?
Are laws authoritarian, permissive or strict?
What’s the religious practice? Easy going or compulsory? Personal or collective?
What’s the crime level?
What’s growing in the fields? What animals are grazing?
What’s the food like?
What do people wear? Don’t forget boots, shoes, sandals or bare feet.
Are there markets, little shops, big chains?
What does the money look like? Is there banking, credit or pennies under the bed?
Are there muddy tracks or metalled roads? Are they safe?
Is transport horse and cart, steam engines, electric trains, aeroplanes, space rockets or hyperspace portals?
And what about ports, ships, navies, river transport, canoes and barges?
Do people travel or stay put?
Are there accepted codes of behaviour – speech, manners, obligations, red lines?
Is there law enforcement, robber bands, distrust in authority?

And the big question – who holds the power?

Quite a lot of this will depend on geography

Are there mountains, seas and rivers?
Does the countryside consist of plains, valleys forests?
Big cities or small towns, coastal or inland?
And don’t forget the weather… 😉

Make sure your characters act naturally within their world.

Characters don’t explain chunks of backstory to each other when they meet. Imagine explaining a third person’s entire life story to your best friend when you’re relaxing over a drink. All your friend/colleague wants are the bare facts of what that person has been doing to cause you to mention them. You can use letters, messages, instructions, photos, general dialogue, phone calls, TV, radio, internet, old friends as ways to bring the information in. This is what we do in our everyday real lives.

Your characters naturally accept where and when they live; this is their normality, so try to put yourself in their minds. The canny writer will be careful not to describe a world too obscure or alienating and will leave some hooks and common connections to our world, time and experience to maintain an element of familiarity. The trick is to make your book word plausible and authentic by keeping it consistent with and within that world. Otherwise, the reader may well click the book shut and delete it (or chuck it in the charity box).

Characters are what you make them in their role in the book, but they are also the product of their society, however mundane, otherwordly or othertimely that world might be.

Happy writing!