by Elizabeth Chadwick, guest blogger and author of The Greatest Knight
I’d like to say many thanks for inviting me to be your guest blogger. I’m really pleased to be here!
Whenever I go out on the road and give talks about historical fiction, certain questions are asked on a regular basis, so I thought I’d write my own Q and A session!
Q. Have you always written?
A. I have been telling myself stories verbally since I can remember but I only started writing them down from being fourteen when I was inspired by a TV drama about the Tudors. I wrote an entire 500 page novel longhand and realised in the writing that it was what I wanted to do for a living.
Q. Did it take you a long time to find a publisher?
A. I plucked up the courage to send my first attempt out when I was 17. It was returned to me with a “thanks but no thanks,” but I wasn’t put off. It was part of who I was and whether I was published or not, I was still going to carry on writing. Throughout the rest of my teens and twenties, I continued to write novels, send them off and have them rejected, but I persevered. If you really want something, you don’t give up that easily. I finally got the call in my early thirties as a stay at home mother with two small children. I had my desk in their playroom and used to sneak moments to write in between looking after my boys.
Q. How long does it take you to write a novel?
A. My contracts are fifteen months. This gives me time to research the books, write them, and also do all the extra bits and pieces that are part of a writer’s career these days such as websites, Facebook, Twitter and of course guest blog posts! It also gives me time for my family and for going out on tour to meet the readers in person.
Q. What’s a typical working day?
A. Well I don’t rise at the crack of dawn unless forced. 8.30 to 9am feels about right. While drinking the morning mug of tea, I’ll check the morning’s e-mails, Facebook and Twitter to see what’s come in overnight. I’ll answer the most pressing ones and sort the others into ‘to deal with’ and ‘delete’. Around 10am I’ll start writing. I take a coffee break and check the e-mails again after a couple of hours. Then more writing up to late lunch about 2pm. Back to the writing unless I have to do domestic stuff such as the grocery shop or get my hair cut etc. I break off between 5 and 8 for family time, and then it’s back to work. When writing a first draft I aim for 1500 words a day. Once I finish my word count, it’s on to blogging, networking and answering reader e-mails. Then to bed with a book around 1am and read until around 2. I definitely work better at night!
Q. What attracted you to write about the Middle Ages and what led you to William Marshal, star of The Greatest Knight?
A. After I’d written my Tudor story, I fell in love with a knight on a children’s TV programme called Thibaud, le Chevalier Blanc, and he set me to writing my own medieval story. I knew nothing about the Medieval times when I set out to write my story, so I had to start researching and the more I researched, the more interested I became in the period and the more I wanted to write about it. I came across William Marshal whilst researching one of my earlier novels and realised that his story simply had to be told. What a man! The fourth son of a minor baron who became a champion jouster, married a great heiress, and went on one day not only to rule England, but to save the country from disaster. He outlived four kings in his lifetime. The Greatest Knight covers the first part of his life story. A second stand alone novel, The Scarlet Lion, covers his struggles with the ever notoriouis King John.
Q.Would you like to have lived in those times?
A. I would absolutely love to go back for annual holidays and in different seasons to see what it was like, but I am afraid I am too much a creature of the 21st century. I think we give Medieval folk far less credit than is their due for their skill and resilience, and some of the beautiful things they crafted such as textiles and leatherwork, but I also know that I would miss flushing toilets, hot water at the turn of a tap….and chocolate. Especially chocolate. William Marshal was known to love his food, but also be discerning about it. I wonder what he would think if handed a bar of chocolate to try!
About the Author
Elizabeth Chadwick lives near Nottingham with her husband and two sons. She is the author of 17 historical novels, including Lords of the White Castle, Shadows and Strongholds, A Place Beyond Courage, The Scarlet Lion, the Winter Mantle, and the Falcons of Montebard, four of which have been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Awards. Much of her research is carried out as a member of Regia Anglorum, an early medieval re-enactment society with the emphasis on accurately re-creating the past. She won a Betty Trask Award for The Wild Hunt, her first novel.
Giveaway: Elizabeth Chadwick and Sourcebooks are sponsoring a giveaway of 1 copy of The Greatest Knight for US and Canada only readers. Enter by leaving relevant comments. One entry per comment; multiple entries allowed. Ends: September 28th, 2009.
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