Walking Worcester with my Imaginary Friends

The 3rd September marked the 364th anniversary of the Battle of Worcester, the defining event of the Guardians of the Crown series which begins with the battle itself (BY THE SWORD).

Worcester Cathedral

My family has had a long, long association with Worcester, most notably boasting a High Sheriff of Worcester (my great grandfather) and a well respected MP and County Councillor (my grandfather) and my father served under the colours of the now defunct Worcestershire Regiment. 

In May this year I returned (or, in a sense, went home) - on a canal boat (a whole other story!). My last visit to Worcester had been some twenty plus years ago when I was researching a little story I was writing about the Battle of Worcester. That little story became BY THE SWORD... which flowed on to THE KING'S MAN and on to Book 3, EXILES' RETURN (which comes out next February). I wanted to write about a group of friends/comrades and what this seminal battle of the English Civil War meant to them and their families.

Our canal boat traverses the Sidbury Lock - The Commandery on the left

We moored our canal boat below the Sidbury Lock within spitting distance of The Commandery and the site of what was once the Sidbury Gate through the walls of the old city (now long since gone). Having an afternoon free, I abandoned my travelling companions and stepped down on to the tow path of the canal (which had not been there in 1651). They were waiting for me - Jonathan Thornton, Giles Longley, Kit Lovell and his brother Daniel, the Guardians of Crown, my companions from the past and they would be my guides for the afternoon.

AS outside The Commandery 

We began with The Commandery (that was its name long before the events of 1651). In its past it had been a merchant's house, a hospital and in 1651 became the Headquarters for Charles II.

(Jonathan) attended the meetings at the Commandery and concluded the house had been wrongly named. He saw precious little evidence of command taking place within its walls...In the endless councils that took place in the hall the young King found himself assailed from all sides by conflicting advice.  (BY THE SWORD)

From The Commandery we set off up the hill to Fort Royal where a royalist battery had been established to defend the approach to Worcester along the Sidbury road. I won't go into the details of the battle itself (I've written about it elsewhere...click HERE). Suffice to say that while the royalists held Fort Royal, Cromwell had taken Red Hill and Perry Hill. The king himself led an attack on Red Hill but was driven back to the city. Fort Royal fell, the royalist defenders slaughtered to a man and the guns turned on the city itself.

My American readers may be interested to know that it was on this hill that an oak tree was planted in commemoration of a visit by Thomas Jefferson who is quoted as reminding all Englishmen that it was at Worcester that the concept of Liberty was fought for... you can read his quote on the plaque below...

My companions led me back down the hill toward Sidbury Gate... 

The Parliament guns had been brought to bear on the gate, turning the retreat into

wholesale slaughter. Amidst the screaming of man and beast, the carnage of blood and guts and with shot pounding into the walls and the city, the King managed to get back through the gate. Jonathan followed through the confusion, scrambling over an overturned oxen cart to reach his King. (BY THE SWORD)

No trace of the gate or walls remain today (destroyed for the building of the canal in the 1760s), just one small plaque on a wall marks its existence. We turned into the city and down one of the last remaining authentic city streets - Friar Street (curse those 70s redevelopments!). Still lined with half timbered houses, it is only here one can still get a feeling for 17th century Worcester.

Wilmot pulled at Jonathan’s arm and they both ran up Friar Street, toward the King’s lodging. Jonathan took only one look back to see Giles, fighting like a virago, a small defence against the mass of red-coated soldiers who now flooded into the city from all gates except one: St Martin’s Gate stood close by the King’s lodging and remained as yet unbreached. (BY THE SWORD)

Friar Street

It was here in Friar Street that Jonathan, Giles, Kit and Daniel lodged in a house that may have looked a little like Greyfriars (now a National Trust property). Here they played cards on the night before the battle. 

Another evening at the Commandery had ended in bickering and Jonathan trudged wearily back up Friar Street to his billet ... In the downstairs parlour of the large, half-timbered house, Giles played cards with Kit Lovell, who had recently rejoined them. They were both fiendish card players, with a tendency to cheat, and Jonathan declined their invitation to join them.  (BY THE SWORD)

The parlour of Greyfriars where the Guardians played cards on the night before the battle... maybe...

Further up Friar Street we came to the building now known as The Charles II house (and rather ignomiously - a pie shop) which

had been the King's Lodgings and from which he escaped.

They found the King within his lodgings, watching uncomprehendingly as Buckingham burned papers on a hastily lit fire.

‘We must go, Your Majesty,’ Wilmot said.

The King looked up at his old friend and advisor. ‘Leslie will come,’ he insisted. ‘We will rally again.’

‘No, Your Majesty,’ Buckingham spoke. ‘It’s too late. Leslie has failed us, Hamilton is fallen. We must away while we still have breath in our bodies.’

The noise of the fighting, drawing closer up the street, brought the King to his feet. With the Parliament’s soldiers at the front door of the house, the King and his party left by the back. Taking the nearest horses they fled, at a hard gallop, through St Martin’s Gate, the gate that led the way to the north.  (BY THE SWORD)

Here we parted company,  my imaginary friends returning to the past, and I trudged back through the streets of Worcester to meet my real friends at the Worcester Porcelain museum (in what had been a thriving factory on my last visit).

ABOUT THE KING’S MAN

The second in a tantalising trilogy from award-winning author Alison Stuart, about warriors, the wounds they carry, and the women that help them heal.

London 1654: Kit Lovell is one of the King’s men, a disillusioned Royalist who passes his time cheating at cards, living off his wealthy and attractive mistress, and plotting the death of Oliver Cromwell.

Penniless and friendless, Thamsine Granville has lost everything.  Terrified, in pain, and alone, she hurls a piece of brick at the coach of Oliver Cromwell, and earns herself an immediate death sentence. Only the quick thinking of a stranger saves her.

Far from the bored, benevolent rescuer that he seems, Kit plunges Thamsine into his world of espionage and betrayal – a world that has no room for falling in love.

Torn between Thamsine and loyalty to his master and King, Kit’s carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. He must make one last desperate gamble – the cost of which might be his life.

Buy THE KING'S MAN on KOBO, NOOK, iBooks and AMAZON

(Australian readers can still buy THE KING’S MAN for just 99c on AMAZON AUSTRALIA and the first book in the series, BY THE SWORD is currently free)

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST:  

Click HERE (The prize is a kindle Ereader)

(And if you would like a smile, THE KING’S MAN is featured in an ABC Art Nation program called ‘My Secret Art Life’... Australian readers can view it on my website... click HERE)

Release Day for THE KING'S MAN: Meet Kit Lovell...

THE KING'S MAN releases today (8 September) - Book 2 in the Guardians of the Crown series.

It is now February 1654- three long years since the events that took place in Book 1 (BY THE SWORD).

In that story readers first met a friend of Jonathan Thornton’s, KIT LOVELL, in a filthy inn in Perth (Scotland).

(Jonathan) opened the door the tapster indicated. Two men sat at a rickety table playing cards; Giles Longley and another English officer, Kit Lovell. A half-dressed drab, no doubt picked out of the gutters of Perth, leaned on Lovell’s shoulder, apparently engaged in nibbling his ear. Another girl sprawled on Giles’ lap, twirling a lock of his hair in her fingers.

Giles had his back to the door so it was Kit who looked up, his eyes widening.

‘Jesus Christ!’ he swore.

Jonathan forced a wry smile. ‘Not quite.’

On the eve of the Battle of Worcester (3 September 1651), a card game takes place… in which the stakes are the lives of the men who must face battle the next day. They are joined by Kit’s young brother, Daniel…

Lovell cast his brother a glance that was at once both reproving and affectionate.

‘He followed me,’ Lovell replied. ‘His mother will hold me responsible if anything happens to him and, God knows, I fear her wrath more than Cromwell, but what could I do?’

‘This may be my last chance,’ the boy said returning his brother’s look with a furrowed brow.

‘Your last chance for what?’ Giles asked. ‘Getting yourself killed?’

‘My last chance to return the King to the throne where he belongs,’ Daniel said, his eyes shining with an idealism that had long since escaped Jonathan.

Lovell laid his cards down and fixed his brother with a hard look. ‘You don’t see do you?’ he said. ‘You’re the last of us with any hope. Look at us...’ He waved his hand at the men seated around the table. ‘If we lose this battle, what future do we have? But you...you can still make something of your life.’

The next day, battle is joined and the King’s cause is lost even before the fighting begins. In the midst of the battle we encounter Kit Lovell for the last time…

 'Daniel!’

Hearing Kit Lovell’s voice, Jonathan turned and saw his friend standing in the path of a Parliament trooper who bore down on him from behind with his sword upraised. Of Lovell’s brother there was no sign.

Summoning all his energy, Jonathan managed to reach Lovell and push him aside just as the trooper slashed down with his sword. The razor-sharp blade caught Jonathan across the back of his hand, slashing through the heavy leather of his glove.

Lovell regained his feet and clutched at Jonathan’s sleeve.

‘I can’t find Daniel.’

Before Jonathan could respond, the trooper turned, pulling his pistol from his belt. He fired and Kit crumpled to the ground

Seizing a primed pistol from a dead Scot at his feet, Jonathan fired. The trooper’s face exploded in mass of blood and the man toppled, screaming, from his horse.

Jonathan stooped down to see to Lovell, who had taken the pistol ball to the leg and now lay helpless on the trampled grass, grimacing in agony.

Giles grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the fallen man.

‘Thornton, there’s no time. We must find the King and get back to the city,’ Giles yelled above the noise.

‘Go,’ Lovell said between gritted teeth. ‘Save the King.’

So… Kit Lovell, the King's man, fell wounded at the Battle of Worcester. 

How did he survive and what brings him to London in 1654, at the height of Cromwell’s Protectorate?

The inveterate gambler, Kit is playing a dangerous game and the stakes are a life… He did not wager on falling in love...

Buy THE KING'S MAN on KOBO, NOOK, iBooks and AMAZON

To celebrate the launch of THE KING'S MAN, I will be running a RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST with the prize of a Kindle E-reader from now until the end of October. 

Enter HERE:  

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THE KING'S MAN - COVER REVEAL

THE KING'S MAN

AVAILABLE ON PRE-ORDER from AMAZON NOW

Book 2 in the Guardians of the Crown series'

To be released on September 8 - The King's Man (Guardians of the Crown Book 2)

You met him in BY THE SWORD... you saw him fall at the Battle of Worcester. What has happened to Kit Lovell in the intervening three years... and can he ever forgive himself?

London 1654: Kit Lovell is one of the King’s men, a disillusioned Royalist who passes his time cheating at cards, living off his wealthy and attractive mistress, and plotting the death of Oliver Cromwell.

Penniless and friendless, Thamsine Granville has lost everything.  Terrified, in pain, and alone, she hurls a piece of brick at the coach of Oliver Cromwell, and earns herself an immediate death sentence. Only the quick thinking of a stranger saves her.

Far from the bored, benevolent rescuer that he seems, Kit plunges Thamsine into his world of espionage and betrayal – a world that has no room for falling in love.

Torn between Thamsine and loyalty to his master and King, Kit’s carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. He must make one last desperate gamble – the cost of which might be his life. 

PREORDER NOW:

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THE GUARDIANS OF THE CROWN... a series set in the English Civil War about love, honour, betrayal and loyalty... view the trailer...

17th Century is the New Regency...

That's right, you heard it from me first! Forget your tons and your silly frilly fripperies, the seventeenth century in general and me in particular can give you REAL men... with long hair, high heels, powder and patches and... NO wait... that's the Restoration.

I am talking about the English Civil War... 

Can we even imagine what it must have been like to find yourself at war with your brother, your father, your best friend, the neighbours you have known all your life? Of course there has been civil wars throughout history and the American Civil War is still close in the memory, but that was a war fought more along geographic boundaries: north vs south. The English Civil War divided England on political, religious, moral and social divides.

And I love writing about it. Yes, I do... I don't just love writing about it, I have a PASSION for it.

That is why I am beyond excited that my Escape Publishing has picked up my two very first books:  BY THE SWORD (which won the 2008 Epic Award for best historical romance) and THE KING'S MAN (Runner up in the 2006 Emerald Award for unpublished manuscripts). These books have been sitting in my "back list" effectively since they were first published by a small US epublisher in 2007. This was after they had done the rounds of mainstream publishers... even to the point of acceptance by one major publisher, only to have it dashed by the marketing department who sneeringly declared that they could never market the English Civil War.

Hooray for the Ebook revolution... and that little ebook publisher. Unfortunately back in 2007 the ebook revolution was still at slings and arrows. No one had ebook readers, distribution was extremely limited and my books slid into oblivion. The rights reverted to me and yay... self publishing had been born... ebook readers were the norm and I was able to self publish these books.

But readers of both books will know that while they are stand alones (although loosely connected), there is something unfinished about them. Stories of two loyal adherants to the King in the dark years of the "Interregnum" while complete in themselves, always needed the Restoration to complete the story arc - the third book.

I have to confess to losing heart and so the third book remained unwritten...

NOW...here is the fabulous news. Not only is Escape Publishing reprinting my first two books but they have also commissioned the third book, tentatively titled EXILES' RETURN which will close the loop on the stories of the Thornton and Lovell families. All three books will come out in 2015 under the banner of the "Guardians" series. Yes that's right... I have a series!

The first two books have been completely revised and brought up to date... I have learned a thing or two about writing in the intervening years and I had great pleasure expunging all those unnecessary adverbs! 

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE EXCITING NEWS ABOUT "The Guardians".... and mark these dates in your diary (subject to the publisher of course!)

March 2015:  BY THE SWORD

August 2015:  THE KING'S MAN

December 2015:  EXILES' RETURN

For more information click HERE

And in the meantime if you are curious about why the 17th century will be the new Regency, explore CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART (my January release which is currently available from all good ebook retailers)

AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER BY 30 SEPTEMBER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A $10 AMAZON GIFT VOUCHER

For more information visit my WEBSITE or just the form on the right hand bar of this page.

Writers Corner - The Mind's Eye

The "Mind's Eye" is a phrase that refers  "to the human ability for visualization, i.e. for the experiencing of visual mental imagery; in other words, one's ability to "see" things with the mind." (thank you, Wikipedia!).


Good writing relies on the writers and readers imagination, on that big muscle between the ears. I was recently asked at a book talk who I had used as a model for the hero in THE KING'S MAN. The answer was no-one. When I write, I will give the characters height, build, eye colour, shape of face, hair colour and cut but anything more than that is up to the reader.  If you read the descriptions I have written of Kit Lovell, he could fit the profile of "any man". What I deliberately chose to do was leave the visualisation to the reader. If the reader wanted him to look like Hugh Jackman or Alex O'Louglin, they were free to do so and when we went around the room, every person had a different model in their "mind's eye" as they read the book.


As an aside:  Eye colour plays an important part in books but in reality I don't think we really notice the colour of people's eyes, unless they are striking in some way. At a recent writers retreat, as an exercise we had to write a description of the person sitting next to us. Despite the fact we were sitting just about on top of each other, I found myself squinting at my neighbour's eyes, having no idea what colour they were even though I have known her for years. How many descriptions do you read of the hero noticing the heroine's blue eyes from across the crowded drawing room or in one recent example I read - from the bottom of the garden? 


The phrase "lose yourself in a book" captures the work of a good writer if the reader can drop themselves into a world that is really their own imagination, fuelled only by written cues from the writer. 


Even illustrations don't really capture characters as the mind's eye visualises them. Many years ago, a two part excerpt of BY THE SWORD was published in a national magazine. You can imagine my excitement when an artist was commissioned to illustrate the story. I was going to see Jonathan and Kate brought to life!  This was the result. Yes, it is worth a giggle or two. Obviously the artist hadn't actually read the book. I ended up with a blonde hero and brunette heroine both dressed in clothes from the wrong period. They looked nothing at all like I had imagined them!

Illustration for BY THE SWORD...New Idea

Translation to film can be a bit dodgy too...ABC Arts Nation filmed a couple of scenes from THE KING'S MAN - on a very tight budget! If you would like another smile you can see the video on my website. Click Here (although just a warning for copyright reasons it may not work in all countries). 


There is a difference between the way men and women think and respond to the written word. I was recently reading an article about the rise of the erotica novel for the female audience (don't look at me...I can't write it!). The writer made the interesting point that women are reading erotica (or romotica) because the interest for them is in their own imaginations. Men on the other hand, prefer the visual stimulation of the image.


How many times have you gone to the movies to see a film translation of a favourite book and come out bitterly disappointed because the characters looked nothing like the characters in the book? 


Speaking from my own "mind's eye" I think the Harry Potter films and the Lord of the Rings trilogy captured the books and, most importantly, how I, the reader visualised the characters. A recent example where the film missed the book completely was Eagle of the Ninth, which I have adored since childhood. Channing Tatum as Marcus? Noooooo!


Alison

Hint of History - To Kill a King

Thank you to everyone who called past and downloaded THE KING'S MAN. I hope you enjoy the read and I hope you will find the time to leave a rating and/or review on KINDLE and/or GOODREADS .

So often truth is stranger than fiction, coincidence happens every day in real life but put it in fiction and it looks contrived and sometimes as a writer you come across real events and people that you couldn't have dreamed up in your wildest imagination.

Oliver Cromwell

This was the case when I was writing THE KING'S MAN. What began as a single paragraph in Antonia Fraser's excellent biography of Cromwell, became the basis for a whole story. In February 1654 Oliver Cromwell, on his way to dine with the Lord Mayor of London, in much state (and wearing a "musk" coloured suit) had his grand parade halted when a brick bat was thrown at his coach by a "Miss Granville". I never discovered who the real Miss Granville was or why she hurled a brick bat at Oliver Cromwell's coach but I had fun writing a story about her.


As I started to read more about the events of 1654, I uncovered a nest of plots against the life of Oliver Cromwell. 


In February, the same month as Miss Granville was hurling brickbats at the Lord Protector, a small group of disaffected royalists were meeting in the Ship Tavern in the Old Bailey, hatching a plot to seize Whitehall, St. James and the Tower and the guards about the city. Captain Dutton was dispatched to garner support from known Royalists in the country and it was decided Colonel Whiteley should go to France to get the support of the King in exile. An argument about payment of his expenses ensued with none of his co-conspirators willing to pay a farthing. One of their number (I won't say who) betrayed the plot to Thurloe and the conspirators were arrested at the Ship Inn. None of those concerned were ever brought to trial.


However during the course of examining the conspirators the existence of a more serious organisation, apparently holding the King's Commission, was revealed. Known as "The Sealed Knot", it had been formed some time in 1653. This was the only group of plotters who were to be any real threat to the Protectorate and when they eventually rose in 1655, were swiftly subdued. Charles II himself appeared to be ambivalent to much of the plotting. He did not believe that the assassination of Cromwell would necessarily result in his return to the throne and in that he was probably correct. At that time Cromwell was at the height of his power and he had able Lieutenants who would have stepped into his place. 


In May of 1654 another plot headed by John Gerard was hatched. The plan was to seize Cromwell as he travelled between Whitehall and Hampton Court. Fortunately for Cromwell, his ever efficient Secretary of State, John Thurloe (see my blog on John Thurloe on Hoydens and Firebrands) through his efficient penetration of such enterprises foiled the plot. The conspirators were tried, three were transported and two executed.


Implicated in "Gerard's Plot" (as it came to be known) was an absurd character, a French emissary sent by Cardinal Mazarin to aid the French Ambassador, Bordeaux, in diplomatic negotiations with the English. De Baas was a Gascon whose brother Charles adopted his mother's name D'Artagnan and was  the protoype of Dumas' hero (yes really!). De Baas was brash and overconfident and with little understanding of the English decided that Cromwell's regime was of no importance and could easily be overthrown.  His arrogance was manifest in his refusal to uncover his head in the presence of the Lord Protector and his assertion that the soldiers who supported the regime were "feeble and dissipated". His grounds for this assertion? The sentinels on duty wore "nightcaps under their hats". On the discovery of the plot the arrogant Frenchman was given three days to leave the country.


With such a bizarre cast of characters, THE KING'S MAN practically wrote itself. 

John Thurloe

One of my favourite characters remains John Thurloe. I own a rather fine print of him that hangs on my staircase. Someone recently asked me if I felt I was being true to John Thurloe in my books. I think the key to the man is in the famous words of Richard Cromwell who once  famously remarked “Thurloe has the ability to find the key to unlock wicked mens’ hearts”.  While the tactics my fictional Thurloe may employ are entirely figments of my own imagination, I think they are consistent with his modus operandi. He had the ability to exploit a man's weakness which he tries and fails with Jonathan Thornton in BY THE SWORD and succeeds with Kit Lovell in THE KING'S MAN.

Richard Lovelace and the Cavalier Poets

Over at Hoydens and Firebrands  this week I am writing about the most romantic of the cavalier poets, Richard Lovelace.

Richard gave everything, including his life, to the King's cause. I wonder how different it would have been for him if there had been no war and he had lived out his days on his estates in Kent, scribbling turgid, romantic verse that would have long since been forgotten. Sadly he is remembered for the tragedy of his life that allowed him to pen these beautiful verses:

To Lucasta, Going To The Wars

Tell me not (Sweet) I am unkind,

That from the nunnery

Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind

To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,

The first foe in the field;

And with a stronger faith embrace

A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such

As you too shall adore;

I could not love thee (Dear) so much,

Lov'd I not Honour more. 

And this beautiful version of To Althea from Prison by Fairport Convention.

Post Script:  Elements of Richard Lovelace were written into the character of Kit's friend, Fitzjames, in The King's Man. 

The Soundtrack to my Writing Life

Being a creature of habit (in other words a typical Capricorn) from an early age I developed a routine around the way I worked, of which music played a significant part. Back in the days of LPs (remember those large shiney black things?) I would never start a study session without Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture or Handel’s Water music. It would have been as unthinkable as not playing a couple of rounds of solitaire (with REAL cards) while I ate my lunch. 

More recently when I needed to concentrate at work drafting agreements or finalising complex meeting minutes, I would put my iPod on and listen to an eclectic selection of music in a playlist called “Music to Work To”. This included Celtic and Opera.

You may be rolling your eyes and  thinking “OCD” here, which I am not at all but when I have a goal to achieve I find music and routine helps to soothe the savage beast. Putting the music on (and occasionally lighting the oil burner)  seems to provide a clue to my scatty brain that we are here to WORK.

As I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that my published novels were both written to music. THE KING’S MAN with its dark undertones had behind it the music of Purcell. The music of Loreena McKennit  features strongly in my writing world, and her eastern influence is providing background to one of my current “WIPS” (work in progress) which is partially set in the Arab world of North Africa in the seventeenth century.

At the moment I am deep into rewrites of my post World War One novel and you would think that maybe something 1920s or a selection of the war poetry of  Wilfred Owen might be the kick start, but oddly it is a simple little ballad by a young singer called Christina Perri.  Her song “Arms” seems to perfectly capture the fear on the part of both my hero and heroine to allow themselves to fall in love. I am probably singlehandedly responsible for the number of You Tube hits Christina’s video is experiencing as  neither the CD nor the digital download seems to be available in Australia yet, but here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

Do you have a musical soundtrack to your writing, reading or working life?

My Secret Arts Life

Andy Warhol once said we are all entitled to our 15 minutes of fame but I don't think I quite understood what I had let myself in for when I was approached by the producer of "My Secret Arts Life", a segment of ABC Arts Nation, to see if I would be interested in appearing. He explained that the segment was looking at people with busy full time jobs who had secret passions for artistic pursuits. For example an eye surgeon who did ballet...and, yes, a senior executive (in a fire service) who wrote romantic fiction would be perfect!

It could have been awful. Writers of romantic fiction are used to being held up to ridicule as latter day Barbara Cartlands or bored housewifes in fluffy slippers. It is one thing to bear that burden in your writerly guise but quite another to carry it over into the real world where, yes I am, a senior executive in a very male industry! I should have had more confidence in my work mates, after all the first question I was asked when I went for my interview was where my books were available. Still...

I tried very hard not to think about it and put off the dread date till as late as I could possibly make it, only to have it brought forward on me. They would need at least a couple of hours at my workplace and would then film me at home. As luck would have it, the date and time we chose for the filming at work coincided with a rally by our friendly neighbourhood union which would culminate in a noisy gathering outside my window. The last thing we needed was a film crew pushing its way through ranks of annoyed workers! It was agreed to delay the filming session to the afternoon.

I had envisaged a discreet hand held camera and maybe one other person, not a film crew consisting of the producer, the camera man and the sound man, all hoisting huge amounts of gear! All very disruptive to a work place. So under the bright lights, I held imaginary conversations with my PA (who was choking with laughter in the outer office), checked files and stared intently into the computer screen (OK - my job really isn't that interesting!). Bemused work colleagues got dragged into my office for instanteous meetings, one of my fellow Directors had to quickly don a uniform for a one on one interview (which sadly wasn't used) and the afternoon receptionist had to bid me good morning (no less than 3 takes). It all culminated in a visit to the Fire Station (downstairs - I work above the shop!). Two charming, but  amused young firefighters were commissioned to show me over the Mk5 pumper truck (I do love those big red trucks).

It was with some relief we adjourned to home (thankfully the cleaning lady had been!), for the interview, the book reading and more filming of me typing on my computer. My dear friend, Anne Gracie, came along for moral support and DH arrived home in the middle of it all. Having declared he wanted no part of it, he found himself dragged into the filming and acquitted himself with all the aplomb of a true hero. Admittedly he did announce on national television that while I am a romantic person who loves flowers, he himself would never buy me flowers because he'd hate to think he was manipulating my emotions. Any wonder I write romance???

I was told the piece would go to air on May 9 and would include a re-enactment of part of the first chapter of THE KING'S MAN. While we all long to see our work on film, I cringed inwardly at that prospect.

Last weekend we went camping with friends and just by sheer chance I checked my telephone to see a SMS from the producer telling me it would be going to air that afternoon at 5.30pm! Stupidly we had forgotten to pack a TV but our friends came to the rescue. Their new car, they told me, had TV reception so at 5.30pm 8 of us crowded into the car to watch ARTS NATION.  The five hours of filming had been reduced to 5 minutes and the result was respectful of both myself as a writer but also of romantic fiction. Even the re-enactment worked (and can I please have the actor for Kit in the full screen version???).

Unfortunately while it is available on the internet, for copyright reasons (apparently) it is not viewable outside Australia, so my vain hope of the snippet being picked up by some bored Hollywood producer anxiously searching for new ideas, has been scotched and I have had my few minutes of Andy Warhol fame!

Watching Arts Nation on a 6" TV screen while camping!

BREAKING NEWS:  Both THE KING'S MAN and BY THE SWORD will be re-released shortly as electronic books only. Watch this space....

HEROES - Pt 2

Alison Stuart Interviews – Kit Lovell, hero of THE KING’S MAN


AS: It’s 1654, England has been under the rule of Oliver Cromwell for the last three years, and things are looking pretty grim for the supporters of the late Charles Stuart and his son, currently in exile in France. I have with me one of the King’s most loyal supporters, Christopher Lovell.
KL: Please call me Kit, everyone does.
AS: I believe things have been tough for your family since the defeat of the royalist cause, Kit?
KL: They certainly have, Alison. My father and I took the royalist side in the wars of 1642-1648. Father died in the defence of our home and I went into exile. Most of the estate has been sold off and my step mother and my sister live in the ruins of the family home. I send them what money I can make off gambling and …other means, whenever I can but I’m afraid I’ve not been very much help to my family.
AS: I thought you had a brother?
KL: I don’t wish to talk about Daniel. He was lost at the battle of Worcester in September 1651. Stupid young fool thought he would follow in my footsteps. Not particularly worthy footsteps to follow in! My step mother blames me of course…
AS: So what have you been up to since the battle of Worcester?
KL: Oh, I spent an uncomfortable few months as a prisoner but managed to escape. Since then I’ve drifted between Paris and London, trying to make whatever money I can to keep body and soul together and a decent pair of boots on my feet.
AS: I hear you have something of a reputation with the ladies?
KL: Now don’t believe everything you hear, Alison. It’s true I have managed to land a wealthy widow as a mistress who keeps me in the manner to which I am accustomed and obligingly gives me the time I need for my other occupation.
AS: Which is?
KL: Cards and, oh yes, planning the overthrow of Cromwell’s regime and the restoration of the King.
AS: Any success?
KL: Well, I’m very good at cards but every plot to overthrow Cromwell is foiled by that master of spies, John Thurloe. Cromwell picked a wily man as his Secretary of State. Trouble is it’s hard to know who’s in Thurloe’s pay and who can be trusted these days! Even the most loyal of the King’s men may have good cause to turn coat. Let’s talk about women…that’s my favourite subject…
AS: You told us about your mistress, do you have any other women in your life?
KL: I take it you are referring to that infuriating music teacher, Thamsine Granville? I rue the day I ever saved her life!
AS: What happened?
KL: The stupid girl had just lobbed a piece of rock at the Cromwell’s coach. If she’d been caught…well I shudder to think what would have become of her.
AS: Why would she have done such a thing?
KL: Thamsine is like me, the flotsam of war. Her family also paid a price for supporting the King. In her case she found herself thrown out of her home and living off the streets of London. If I hadn’t saved her that day she would have been forced into prostitution just to keep herself alive. Now I’m stuck with her.
AS: What do you mean?
KL: Look, my life is… complicated. I’ve got a job to do and she’s a distraction I don’t need distractions. I’ve got the girl a job at an inn, what more does she want?
AS: You, perhaps?
KL: I don’t want romantic attachments, Alison. Anyone who gets involved with me is just going to get hurt. I use people for my own ends and she may find she’s no different.
AS: What do you mean you “use people”?
KL: Is that the time? I really must get going. The plotters are meeting at the Ship Inn and I’m expected. Perhaps I will see you there?
Read Kit and Thamsine’s story in THE KING’S MAN by Alison Stuart
For more information on the period, how the story came to be written and to read an excerpt go to http://www.alisonstuart.com

HEROES - Pt 1

The Australian Romance Readers Convention (ARRC09) is coming up next month and I will be appearing on a panel with Stephanie Laurens, Anna Campbell, Sara Bennett and Kinley Macgregor...wow...that's pretty august company! I will be the quiet one on the end!

The topic of the Panel is "What's so great about rakes and assorted historical heroes?" It should be a lot of fun.

I don't write about rakes... not sure I could if I tried. My heroes are men with pasts, dark secrets that make them the way they are.

So in honour of ARRC and the panel, I am repeating an early blog I did which is a "Character Interview" with the hero of BY THE SWORD, Jonathan Thornton. I will post an interview with the hero of THE KING'S MAN in the next day or so.

I hope you enjoy them! (They were a lot of fun to write)

Interview with Sir Jonathan Thornton Bt. at Seven Ways Hall, Worcestershire.
JT: Are we on?
AS: Let me adjust that microphone…going live…
AS: Sir Jonathan Thornton, welcome. It’s 1660 and London is buzzing with the news that the King is to be restored to the throne. As a loyal supporter of the royalist cause how do you feel about that?
JT : Well, delighted, of course. It’s been a hard time for those of us who remained loyal to the King.
AS: In what way?
JT: Our estates have been subject to heavy fines and the continual threat of sequestration. As an outlaw, had I inherited Seven Ways on my grandfather’s death, the entire estate would have been forfeit.
AS: But didn’t your grandfather find a solution to that problem?
JT: He did. The old fox left it to my young cousin, Tom Ashley, but even the Ashley family’s parliamentary connections couldn’t entirely prevent the privations of the last few years. Of course, my marriage to his mother didn’t help much either.
AS: There were those of us who were surprised at your decision to settle down with Kate. You had, how can I put it, a wild youth?
JT: I can’t deny that I was the cause of my parent’s despair on more than one occasion. My mother , god rest her, never recovered from that troop of Parliamentary horse trampling her garden and ruining her orchard. Of course I look back now and regret that I never really made peace with my parents before they died.
AS: Any other regrets?
JT: Of course I have regrets. I’ve always had a tendency to act with my heart rather than my head and people I care about have got hurt in the process, badly hurt. Thank heavens for the wisdom of age and the love of a good woman to knock some sense into me.
AS: I presume you are talking about Kate?
JT: Of course.
AS: And how did you meet Kate?
JT: She was working in the garden at Seven Ways. I’ll never forget it. She wore an old, shabby gown and a battered straw hat. I thought I’d never seen a woman look quite so lovely. At the time I had a price on my head and no intention of falling in love. That’s what I mean about my heart ruling the head. Talk about a doomed relationship.
AS: But you managed to overcome the problems?
JT: We did, but our happiness came at a price. If you have a little time to spare, let me tell you the story….
Read Jonathan and Kate’s story in BY THE SWORD by Alison Stuart
For more information on the period, how the story came to be written and to read an excerpt go to http://www.alisonstuart.com