Rock, Paper, Swords! - the Historical Action and Adventure Podcast (Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay)

Matthew and Steven have spent the morning watching the first two episodes of Amazon's new show based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - RINGS OF POWER. In this special bonus episode they talk about their first impressions of this highly anticipated (and vilified by people who've never even seen it) new show.

Is the casting any good? What about the music? How does it look? Can it compare to the Peter Jackson movies? What the hell is a 'harfoot'? 

IS IT ACTUALLY ANY GOOD? 

And we also address the burning question so many people had when the trailers started to appear: Is it ruined by being too "woke"?!

Join us on Rock, Paper, Swords! to find out the answer to these questions, and much more. And don't forget, we'll be back again next week with another episode as usual. 

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!

In this episode we chat with Jane Johnson. Novelist, editor, even publisher of the likes of George RR Martin, Raymond E. Feist, and Tolkien! She also worked on the Lord of the Rings movies. A really interesting guest we're sure you'll agree! https://www.janejohnsonbooks.com/

Join us on Patreon for monthly bonus episodes, a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel, and more perks. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Find out more about the Historical Novel Society (and become a member) here - https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

HNS 2024!

The last of our roving interviews, we have three brilliant authors for you here, give the episode a listen and check out their work!

Patricia Bracewell

Elizabeth R Andersen

Jan Foster

Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes, and a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel: How we sold over 750,000 books! ⁠patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠

We've both just started work on our new books. Join us to hear about the process. Research, challenges, pressures, deadlines, and, of course, fun! You probably already know that Steven's writing about Alfred the Great and the Vikings, but listen to find out what new historical period Matthew is venturing into...

The King Alfred coin - https://twitter.com/SA_McKay/status/1641745580954189827?s=20

That's right! We interview one of THE best loved historical fiction authors of the past twenty years today - Simon Scarrow! Join us as we chat about his writing, his upcoming musical (yep, you read that right), Romans, and loads more.

First ever image on the internet - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Horribles_Cernettes

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page.

⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠⁠

Today Matthew interviews Steven and they discuss Sword of the Saxons, book 2 in the Alfred the Great trilogy.

Vikings, great battles, Athelney, and, most importantly, did Alfred burn the cakes?! Find out in this episode and be sure to buy the book HERE.

Useful links:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/908155.Douglas_Jackson

https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

 We’re on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X @rock_swords

You can find out more about our books on www.matthewharffy.com and www.stevenamckay.com/

Douglas Jackson traded his role as assistant editor at The Scotsman for a full-time writing career in 2009. With novels published under his real name and the pen name James Douglas, Jackson has carved out a niche in historical fiction. His debut, "Caligula" (2008), weaves a tale of intrigue in the court of the famously mad emperor, followed by "Claudius" (2009) and the long-running Gaius Valerius Verrens series, starting with "Hero of Rome" (2010).

His latest novel is Blood Roses, a thrilling crime novel set against the backdrop of 1939 Warsaw and the beginning of the Second World War.

Welcome to RPS, Douglas Jackson!

Thanks to our Patreon Producer, Luke Gauci!

Something of an unplanned episode today. We were supposed to be interviewing someone but they didn't turn up! Since we still needed an episode we decided to go ahead and discuss researching the locations in our books, including some of our favourite trips to those places. As this was completely unscripted and we'd not prepared for it we do go off on tangents here and there, but we hope you find something useful or at least entertaining in our chat!

We've rearranged the Zoom call with the guest who didn't appear so look out for that in a future episode (if he shows up!)...

Remember you can get bonus episodes and other nice perks by becoming one of our patrons. Join up at the link below:

patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Please support us on Patreon!

Incredibly, we managed to get an interview with the legendary Tull frontman (Steven's favourite band in case you didn't hear him mention it on every previous episode...)!

Ian talked with us about the brand new, rocking Jethro Tull albumRökFlöte,Norse mythology,Vladimir Putin appearing at a Tull meet-and-greet, the time journalists demanded details ofhis upcoming gender reassignment surgery, Broadsword 40th Anniversary boxset details,Under Wraps getting REAL drums, how he's a"bit of a fan" of Motörhead despite the umlauts, bands likeMötley Crüe using backing tapes on stage instead of playing completely live, how performing helps his asthma (not COPD!),how work is going on the NEXT album and its planned release date, and how he's a cranky old guy like Morrissey these days!

We were told we'd get, at most, 45 minutes with Ian but we ended up chatting for over 80 minutes and it was just brilliant. We think you'll enjoy this episode. Give it a listen and check out RökFlöte, it's superb!

Thank you listeners for your support in 2024. We've had an AMAZING year, topped off by our time at the HNS Conference, and it's all thanks to your support. Cheers, and here's to a great 2025 for us all.

If you enjoy the show and feel like you could support us for as little as £1 a month, check us out on Patreon and get bonus episodes and other great perks! patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

THE EMPEROR'S SWORD is out next week, 25th April 2024, so we thought we'd remind you of this chat we had with him...

Another fantastic guest this week, as Christian (also known as Miles) Cameron joins Steven and Matthew to chat about his books, research, re-enactments, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, being a member of US Intelligence, and loads more! Some great chat and brilliant anecdotes in this one, you must check it out, Christian was a superb guest!

Christian's website - https://christiancameronauthor.com/

Matthew and Steven discuss the music they listen to while writing and just enjoy in general. Rock, classical, black metal, it's all over the place here! Join us to find out how music affects our writing process... 

Even includes a song Matthew recorded a few years ago with a band - it's awesome, you need to hear it! The band can be found here: https://purplefishband1.weebly.com/  The track is called "Sail On" and was written by Roger Marsh and Matthew Harffy.

ENSLAVED - Below The Lights full album: https://youtu.be/z6rA6pXi53g

BATHORY - Hammerheart full album: https://youtu.be/dvCHHYwGjfY

OPETH - "Black Rose Immortal": https://youtu.be/XLkSFOvhyeI

WINTERFYLLETH - "The Shepherd": https://youtu.be/bsAIkI7llBI

CRAFT - White Noise and Black Metal full album: https://youtu.be/MiCLnDDZ4w0

Listen to the end to make sure you hear THEIR cover version of our theme song, and also OUR cover of their theme song!

Our guests today are Chris Morrison and Jane Secker from the Copyright Waffle podcast which is dedicated to “Decoding copyright and bringing you enlightenment”. 

As well as hosting their podcast, Jane and Chris are also the authors of the book Copyright and E-learning: A guide for practitioners.

Chris is Copyright and Licensing Specialist at Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. Jane is Programme Director for the MA in Academic Practice and Senior Lecturer in Educational Development at the City University of London.

You’re probably wondering why we’ve invited experts in copyright  onto a podcast about historical action and adventure but, if you remember, we did an episode recently about the rise of Artificial Intelligence and how it was beginning to affect writers in particular. So, hopefully our guests today can shed some light on this issue and maybe even set our minds at ease. Or not! Let’s find out!

Dan Jones is a bestselling historian, TV presenter and award-winning journalist. His books, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide, include THE PLANTAGENETS, THE TEMPLARS, THE HOLLOW CROWN. His book CRUSADERS was published in autumn 2019. He co-authored the Sunday Times bestseller THE COLOUR OF TIME and THE WORLD AFLAME, published in March 2020, with Marina Amaral.

Dan has also written and presented numerous TV series including 'Secrets of Great British Castles' (Netflix, Channel 5), 'Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets' and 'London: 2000 Years of History'.

Most recently Dan's historical fiction debut, ESSEX DOGS, the first installment in a trilogy set during the Hundred Years War, was published by Head of Zeus on 15 September 2022.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Dan Jones!

***This episode was our most streamed during 2023!***

Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network” (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick), “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” and “The Diamond Eye.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Her newest novel, The Briar Club, tells a powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era. It is out in July 2024. 

Kate is one of the headline speakers at this year’s Historical Novel Society Conference in Devon, UK and we are both looking forward to meeting her in person in September, but until then, welcome to RPS, Kate Quinn.

Useful links: https://www.katequinnauthor.com/

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If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, and other cool perks including a FREE copy of the book we wrote together, check out our patreon page: ⁠  / rockpaperswordspodcast   Another episode and another musician who truly puts the ROCK in Rock, Paper, Swords! Todd "Dammit" Kerns is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is most noted for being the bass player and backup singer in “Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators”, and for being the front man of “The Age of Electric”. His latest album is with Heroes and Monsters and it ROCKS! Check this out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-KGpbcH8qU&ab_channel=FrontiersMusicsrl

While touring the world, playing to sold out audiences, he has had the opportunity to share the stage with some of rock's biggest names, including some of his own personal heroes including Slash, Lemmy, Alice Cooper, Duff McKagan, Fergie, Bill Murray, Sammy Hagar and many more.

Having played with so much rock royalty, that must make Todd “Rock Nobility” at the very least!

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Todd!

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!

In this episode we had a chance to sit down with Elizabeth Chadwick for a quick chat. Her new novel The Royal Rebel is out now, be sure to check it out! https://elizabethchadwick.com/

Join us on Patreon for monthly bonus episodes, a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel, and more perks. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Find out more about the Historical Novel Society (and become a member) here - https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

Slaine from 2000AD. Sherlock Holmes. Dr Who. Primeval. Stargate. Return of the Jedi. Ghost-writing for genuine legends of the rap and hip-hop scene.... Our guest today is probably the most prolific and best-selling author you've never heard of! And he also writes for games, including the major Xbox/Playstation hit, Battlefield 3!  

Not only that, he used to write the odd story for classic "top-shelf" magazines like Fiesta and Escort, and no, those were NOT about 80's motor cars, they were FAR sexier than an RS2000 or XR2...  

Join us today, as we chat with Steven Savile!

Since last week's interview with Carol McGrath had some audio issues that forced us to shorten it somewhat we thought we'd put out this little bonus episode as a bit of fun - a freebie if you will! We read out some funny or just odd reviews of our own books. This was something Steven suggested because he thought it would be a right laugh but, in fact, as we started putting together the material for the episode it became clear reading 1 star reviews of our stuff wasn't as hilarious as we'd expected - it was actually a bit depressing! So this is a short bonus rather than a full length episode. Enjoy! ;-)

We'll have a regular episode next week as usual, and we'll be discussing what we use to research our novels. Books, websites, podcasts....Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode, and please do leave a 5 star rating if you enjoy what we're doing!

Support us on Patreon from as little as £1 per month: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Today’s guest is Edoardo Albert. Edoardo is a British writer of Italian and Sri Lankan descent. He writes about Britain in the early medieval period (between the Romans leaving and the Normans arriving), the 40th millennium in the Warhammer universe, and lots of other things besides. He has written several novels and also his fair share of non-fiction, so there is a lot for us to talk about.

Welcome to RPS, Edoardo!

https://edoardoalbert.com/

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Matthew Harffy has a brand new Western novella out NOW, and it's a prequel to his novel DARK FRONTIER. Buy it on Amazon, but first give this episode a listen, it's a good laugh.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Dies-But-Once-Frontier-ebook/dp/B0DYJV6KF1

Just a very short message to wish our listeners all the best for the coming year. Thank you ALL for joining us in 2022, hope to see you again in 2023! 

www.matthewharffy.com

www.stevenamckay.com

We're now on Patreon! Get bonus episodes and other cool perks by signing up here: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

It’s been ages since we recorded an episode and today for the first time in months it's just the two of us. We’re going to talk about planning and writing novels with particular focus on the tools we use, the processes we follow, and what seems to work for us!

Gone are the days when pen and paper, or a simple typewriter (remember Tipp-Ex?!) were the only tools available to aspiring authors. Nowadays there's all sorts of things available to help turn your ideas into a bestselling novel.

Steven is old school, so he's been using Libre Office Writer/Microsoft Word and paper notebooks exclusively since he first started writing novels a decade ago. Matthew is much more into the tech side of things, using software packages like Scrivener, Aeon Timeline, and Scapple.

Will Matthew be able to persuade Steven to adopt these fancy new tools, including a £200 electronic notebook, or will Steven refuse to "fix what ain't broke"? Join us to find out!

LINKS

Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

Aeon Timeline - https://timeline.app/

Scapple - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple/overview

Remarkable 2 - https://remarkable.com/store/remarkable-2

Matthew and Steven take a look back at Peter Jackson's trilogy of Lord of the Rings films. Find out what they love about the movies and what they don't like quite as much.

Other non-Tolkien penned books mentioned in this episode:

The Sword of Shannara - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15575.The_Sword_of_Shannara

Journeys of Frodo - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/938210.Journeys_of_Frodo

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!

MJ Porter has written around 60 books in the past decade. Yes, sixty! And they're good too! Hear us chat with her in this new episode we recorded at the HNS Conference. We spent a bit of time with her while we were there and she was great company. https://mjporterauthor.blog/

Join us on Patreon for monthly bonus episodes, a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel, and more perks. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Find out more about the Historical Novel Society (and become a member) here - https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

Shauna Lawless burst onto the fantasy scene in 2022 with her debut The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, the first book of the Gael Song series, which was nominated for Best Fantasy Debut by the British Fantasy Society and went on to win The FanFiAddicts Award for Best Traditional Debut.

The sequel, The Words of Kings and Prophets was released in September 2023. 

The final book, The Land of the Living and the Dead, will be published in September 2024.

Welcome to RPS, Shauna. 

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Useful links: https://shaunalawless.com/

Welcome to the second part of our "roving interviews" series from the Historical Novel Society Conference 2024. In this episode we speak with Michael Jecks, Christopher M. Cevasco, Kelly Urgan, and Victoria Hopkins.

Apologies for the audio, we hope you enjoy the interviews! Find out more about our guests at the links below.

⁠MICHAEL JECKS⁠

⁠CHRISTOPHER M. CEVASCO⁠

⁠KELLY URGAN⁠

⁠VICTORIA HOPKINS⁠

Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes, and a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel: How we sold over 750,000 books! ⁠patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠

Please support us on Patreon from as little as £1 per month and get access to bonus episodes and more great perks! patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Another BONUS EPISODE this week, as Matthew and Steven got to chat with their literary hero, Bernard Cornwell.

We found out some big news about his forthcoming book, Sharpe's Command, talked about his love of acting, The Last Kingdom series, the King Arthur books and new TV show, Merlin's 'magic', and even picked up some great writing tips.

We loved speaking with the man who inspired us both to write and we're sure you'll enjoy listening to him!

Bernard mentioned that he had been reading the Pacific War Trilogy by Ian W. Toll and recommended them to anyone interested in that history. The trilogy is made up of:

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 

Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945

Bernard's website - https://www.bernardcornwell.net/

The Last Kingdom - https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80074249

Matthew and Steven chat with Irish author Tim Hodkinson.

Includes a rather amusing anecdote about one of the extras in Game of Thrones!

Find out more about Tim's books - Vikings, Templars and more - here: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/tim-hodkinson/

Main theme music for the intro and outro was written, recorded and copyrighted by Steven A. McKay and Matthew Harffy.

Background music:

Langhus Burning 

Ben Kane will need little introduction to many of our listeners, but here goes anyway. Ben is a historical fiction novelist, best known for his books set in the ancient world, particularly the Roman empire. His series include The Forgotten Legion, Spartacus, and the Hannibal series of books. 

In 2013, Ben along with fellow novelists Anthony Riches and Russell Whitfield - walked the entire length of Hadrian's Wall for charity, wearing full Roman military kit. Then in 2014, they walked again in, but this time in Italy, raising over £26,500. A film was made of their walk, entitled The Road to Rome with Sir Ian McKellen providing the voiceover.

More recently, Ben has diversified into the medieval period with a trilogy of novels about Richard the Lionheart. His new book, published on 25th May 2023 is, Napoleon’s Spy and marks a further time shift into the early 19th century.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Ben!

We are delighted to have another musician on today’s episode. Gregory Spawton is the founder of progressive rock band, Big Big Train.

Big Big Train have released 14 studio albums and several live performances too.

Big Big Train have been named Prog magazine’s Band of the Year on numerous occasions as well as winning Prog’s Album Of The Year awards several times. Their most recent album, Welcome To The Planet, was released on 28 January 2022.

Gregory is also now a publisher. Formed in 2019, Kingmaker is a book publisher dedicated to the rock music sector. It is run by Gregory and Prog magazine journalist/Big Big Train manager Nick Shilton.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Gregory!

https://www.bigbigtrain.com/

If you enjoy the show please support us on Patreon from as little as £1 per month: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast ELIZABETH FREMANTLE is an award winning author of historical fiction. Her most recent novel, DISOBEDIENT, about the Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi, won the HWA Gold Crown 2024. Her first novel, QUEEN'S GAMBIT, about Tudor Queen Katherine Parr, was adapted as the major motion picture FIREBRAND, starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law. She has written several other novels set in the Tudor period and, as E.C. Fremantle, a pair of  historical thrillers.

Welcome, Liz, to RPS! Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords

Researching is a huge part of a historical fiction author's life. In this episode we discuss what we use to embed ourselves in our chosen time periods.

Support us on one of our 3 tiers on Patreon - patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast If you're an author or publisher and would like to sponsor one of our episodes, please get in touch. You can find us on social media or email us at rockpaperswordspodcast@gmail.com

Clive Mantle starred as Little John in the 80s classic series Robin of Sherwood. You might well also have seen him as Great Jon Umber in Game of Thrones, Simon Horton in The Vicar of Dibley and Mike Barratt in Casualty. He has also narrated over 180 audio books, and voiced animated characters, including Gator in Thomas the Tank Engine.

As if that wasn’t enough, Clive is also an award winning author. 'The Treasure at the Top of the World', the first in the Freddie Malone series of books, was released in 2018 and won the People’s Book Prize 2019.

Welcome to RPS, Clive!

If you're a fan of Robin Hood/ Robin of Sherwood become one of our Top Fans or Producers over on Patreon to get access to our bonus episodes, one of which is all about RoS!

patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

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Today we're going to cover a couple of subjects. One that will be of use to all aspiring writers and anyone who is interested in the mechanics of writing a page-turner. The other will be interesting to anyone who would like to see behind the scenes of the production of a high-end computer game. In this case, HOOD, the game Steven worked on a few years ago. I’ve always loved games, so I am looking forward to learning more about the process of its creation.

Hood - Outlaws and Legends

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'Tis true, we are now on Patreon! Head on over to the link below and join us! In return you'll get bonus episodes (one is already available, as we discuss David Gemmell's classic novel Legend) and more fun perks. Go on, you know it makes sense...

Become a Top Fan or a Producer today, and help us keep the show going, and growing, in 2024 and beyond!

patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Thank you,

Steven and Matthew

Michael Jecks is renowned for his historical mysteries. With a focus on medieval England, his extensive body of work includes multiple series, such as the immensely popular "Knights Templar Mysteries" and "Medieval West Country Mysteries." Jecks' novels, intricately woven against historical backdrops, delve into the lives of knights, nobles, and common folk, offering readers a compelling journey through the complexities of the past. 

His newest book is ONE LAST DANCE BEFORE I DIE in which the detective protagonist is thrust into the dangerous underworld of arms-dealers, drugs and prostitutes in 1920s Shanghai.

Welcome to RPS, Michael Jecks!

https://www.michaeljecks.co.uk/

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page.

https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast And if you enjoy the podcast, please leave us a 5 star review wherever you can online and share our posts on Facebook, X, and so on to help us get the word out there

Our guest today is Nicholas Morton.

Nicholas is an associate professor at Nottingham Trent University. He is the author or editor of nine books, including The Field of Blood and several other books about the Crusades and medieval Europe and the Near East. His latest book is The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East. The book tells the story of how the Mongol Empire upended the geopolitics of the Near East, reshaping the balance of world power and transforming the region forever.

Welcome to RPS, Nic!

We recently posted on Twitter and Facebook asking for listener questions. Today we're going to answer some of those questions and they really provoked some interesting responses from Matthew and Steven! We’ll be answering more in a future episode and it might well become a regular thing, so if you have any questions you’d like us to answer, post them in our social media.

We checked after the recording, and the last Aurochs was killed in the 17th century! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs

The second of our episodes where we answer questions sent in by listeners. Some great ones again here, really got us thinking and we both enjoyed it! If you have any more for us, please do send them via Facebook, Twitter or our websites. 

Next week we'll have a longer episode with another AMAZING guest (the one and only IAN ROSS!), but we'll do more episodes answering your questions if we get enough of them.

www.matthewharffy.com

www.stevenamckay.com

Our guest today is Angus Donald, author of the Outlaw Chronicles, about a medieval gangster called Robin Hood, a 17th-century series about an unusual but rather brilliant chap called Holcroft Blood. And writing as Angus Macallan, he has also tried his hand at fantasy with the Gates of Stone.

His most recent novels are in the Fire Born series, set in 8th century Europe. Book four in the series, King of the North is published by Canelo on 28th September. 

Welcome to RPS, Angus.

http://angusdonaldbooks.com/

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Welcome to the RPS Xmas Special 2024! We take a look at some of the best seasonal books like Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol", movies like Lethal Weapon (!), and all the classic music we enjoy at this time of year. Like "Wassail The Night Away"! We also discuss the possibility of us collaborating on a Christmas novella TOGETHER in 2025...

It's a fun, if slightly rambling and disjointed episode, but hey, it's Christmas. God bless us, everyone.

The History Quill Convention 2025

https://thehistoryquill.com/convention-2025/

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David Gilman has worked as a firefighter, professional photographer, he was a soldier in the Parachute Regiment’s Reconnaissance Platoon and a Marketing Manager for an international publishing company in South Africa. From 2000 until 2009 he was principal writer on the TV series A Touch Of Frost. 

His MASTER OF WAR series follows the fortunes of Thomas Blackstone, a village stonemason in England sent to fight with King Edward’s army as an archer against the French in the 14th century in the 100 years war.

David is also the author of two standalone novels for adults, The Last Horseman, set during the Boer War and Night Flight to Paris, a WW2 novel that pits a reluctant hero against the Nazi forces in Paris in 1943.

The Englishman is a new thriller series introducing Dan Raglan, a contemporary knight errant who served in the French Foreign Legion. The second book in the series, Betrayal, published in 2022, was followed by Resurrection, in 2023.

His DANGER ZONE YA adventure series, featuring plucky hero Max Gordon. THE DEVIL’S BREATH won the prestigious French award, Le Prix Polar Jeunesse, was shortlisted for the Manchester Book Award and the Spellbinding Award, nominated for the Carnegie Medal, and picked for the UK government’s recommended reading list for boys. It was also shortlisted for the 2010-2011 Isinglass Teen Read Award in New Hampshire, USA.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, David!

Today we are chatting with bestselling author Carol McGrath. She's written books like The Handfasted Wife and Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England. We had a good long discussion with Carol but there were some audio issues which forced us to cut down the episode. Hopefully you still enjoy the interview!

To make up for the slightly shorter episode, we'll be dropping an extra BONUS episode next week in which we read out some dodgy reviews of our own books, so look out for that, it's just a bit of fun...

Carol McGrath - Following a first degree in English and History, Carol McGrath completed an MA in Creative Writing from The Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University Belfast, followed by an MPhil in English from University of London

The Handfasted Wife, first in a trilogy about the royal women of 1066 was shortlisted for the RoNAS in 2014. The Swan-Daughter and The Betrothed Sister complete this highly acclaimed trilogy.

https://carolcmcgrath.co.uk/

Today, as the Christmas season is upon us we are doing something a bit different. Rock, Paper, Swords is joining forces with our friends from the Slice of Medieval Podcast to bring you a special episode, where we will look back on the year that is drawing to a close and forward to the year ahead.

If you enjoy this episode please leave a five star rating wherever you listened!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR LISTENERS!

Links - A Slice of Medieval

Shakin' Stevens interview mentioned

Our brand new festive rock song - "Christmas is Coming" - stream it free HERE!

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page.

⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠⁠ Today Steven interviews Matthew Harffy about his brand new book - Dark Frontier! This is a real change for Matthew as the novel is a western, his first ever. So we chat cowboys, the problem of realism/racism, research, movies, and more.

Check it out, and be sure to buy your copy of DARK FRONTIER!

Buy now: https://mybook.to/HarffyDarkFrontier

Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing acclaimed author, C.J. Box.

C.J. Box is an award-winning, multi-million selling author, best known for his compelling mysteries set against the rugged landscapes of Wyoming.

With over two dozen novels to his name, Box is most celebrated for his Joe Pickett series, featuring the dedicated and morally-driven game warden. He’s also an Executive Producer on Paramount+’s Joe Pickett series, and an EP on ABC’s Big Sky, which was based on his Cassie Dewell novels.

Infusing his narratives with authentic details, drawing on his passion for wildlife, nature, and the complexities of rural life, his novels transcend traditional genre boundaries, appealing to both mystery enthusiasts and fans of gripping action tales.

Join us today as we explore his creative process, the dynamic characters that populate his novels, and the unique elements that make his stories unforgettable. Welcome, C.J. Box!

Useful links:

https://www.cjbox.net/

Our first episode! Find out who we are and what our plans are for this new podcast. As the title suggests, we'll be looking at action and adventure from the perspective of historical fiction authors, but we'll also be diving into more general writing questions and, of course, there'll be a little talk about rock music and how it helps us be creative.

Please SUBSCRIBE, and join Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay every fortnight for chat, tips, and interviews with some of your favourite authors.

To join in with our giveaway, share our Rock, Paper, Swords! pages on social media and let us know you've done so before the end of July 2022 to be in with a chance of winning the signed books! Links below:

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Twitter page - https://twitter.com/rock_swords

Our guest today is Darren Hardy, manager of the UK Author and Editorial Programmes at Amazon. Before that Darren was UK Manager for Kindle Direct Publishing. With nearly 20 years working at Amazon, Darren is the perfect person to answer all our questions about what goes on behind the scenes at KDP and what new and exciting plans Amazon has for the future.

Join us today as we chat about things like:

The Kindle Storyteller Award - how to enter, and what you can win (20 grand!)

The "magic formula" for understanding Amazon's algorithms (there isn't one!)

Amazon's new book categories and how to use them best

Amazon's charts

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it might affect KDP in future be it for "writing" nonsensical books, or affecting the charts

Paperback printing

And a load more!

If you have a question that we didn't ask Darren please post it here, or on our social media pages and we'll pass them on!

https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and Twitter @rock_swords If you're an indie author, you need to listen to this one!

Author Robyn Young (who also writes modern thrillers as Erin Young) joins Matthew and Steven to discuss writing, pen-names, research and much more, including the forthcoming TV show based on her novel The Fields. 

Robyn's website - https://robynyoung.com/

Simon Turney, aka S.J.A. Turney, hails from Yorkshire, England. His passion for history shines through in his more than 50 novels, where meticulous research meets immersive storytelling. From ancient Rome, to medieval Europe, Turney's versatile body of work brings the past to life with vivid characters and compelling narratives.

In his latest novel, Caracalla, the fourth and final novel in the Damned Emperors series. Simon is back in Rome, this time in the 2nd century where the rivalry between two brothers threatens to tear the empire apart.

Welcome to RPS, Simon Turney!

https://simonturney.com/

Remember you can now support us on Patreon and get some nice perks like bonus episodes every month! Check it out and please consider helping us keep the show growing in 2024 and beyond!

patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Our guest today is Jason Kingsley, an incredibly successful businessman and a technologist who is also obsessed with the past. He is CEO of Rebellion Developments, game developers responsible for such games as Alien Vs Predator and the hugely popular Sniper Elite. Rebellion Publishing purchased 2000AD in 2000, and publishes comics featuring some amazing characters such as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Roy of the Rovers, and Slaine.

In 2017 Jason started a medieval history YouTube channel called Modern History TV, along with his brother Chris Kingsley, and senior producer Brian Jenkins, under the banner of Rebellion Productions. The YouTube channel has over three quarters of a million subscribers and provides a wealth of information. He also hosts the podcast, Future Imperfect.

In 2012, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for service to the economy. 

Jason has a brand new book due out on July 18th 2023, Leading the Rebellion: Questing to Succeed in Work and Life

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Chief Judge Kingsley! ;-)

IAN ROSS is the author of the “Twilight of Empire” series, six historical novels set in the early 4th century AD, the era of the Roman emperor Constantine.

The first of the series, “War at the Edge of the World”, was published in the UK in 2015, and the sixth, “Triumph in Dust", in 2019. His books have subsequently been published in the USA, Australia, Spain and Italy.

His forthcoming novel, “Battle Song”, the first of a trilogy set in medieval England, will be published by Hodder & Stoughton on March 30th 2023.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Ian Ross!

On today’s episode we’re going to talk about the first thing that most readers see before they’ve read a single word of a book. The old adage goes that one should never judge a book by its cover, but we all know that the majority of people do just that.

A great cover can get a prospective reader to take a chance on a new author, and a bad cover can put people off, even though the story might be amazing.

We’ll take a look at some of the things that make covers work and also talk about our own journey with the covers to our books and the decisions we’ve taken.

NOTES

Steven’s cover designers, More Visual - https://bookartwork.com/historical/

The first cover for The Abbey of Death - https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1757691654257875&set=a.146569898703400

Blog post about creating the axe for Wolf of Wessex - https://bernicia-chronicles.blogspot.com/2019/06/art-imitating-art-birth-of-axe.html

Original The Serpent Sword cover - https://bernicia-chronicles.blogspot.com/2015/02/potential-cover-reveal-serpent-sword.html

Lots of great quotes/tips in this article: https://nybookeditors.com/2016/10/create-standout-book-cover-beginners/

Tools:

https://www.canva.com/create/book-covers/

https://www.fotor.com/design/book-cover

https://www.visme.co/book-cover-maker/

https://www.adobe.com/express/create/cover/book

Support us on Patreon from as little as £1 per month for great perks: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Today we thought we’d take a look at other literary genres that fans of historical fiction particularly enjoy, and why it might be the case. Now, we haven’t completed a scientific study or even conducted a poll on readers’ habits so this is just our thoughts and opinions. Feel free to chime in here or on social media and let us know what you think!

Useful links: 

https://www.literature-map.com/

Robert Silverberg - The Second Trip - just 99p on Kindle UK! Please note, I didn’t remember the plot when I mentioned it in the episode - I read it more than 30 years ago - but apparently there’s graphic sexual assault scenes so be aware of that if thinking of reading it.

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast 

Our guest today is Ethan Bale, author of The Swords of the White Rose series.

Book 1, Hawker and the King's Jewel came out last year and the follow up, The Lost Prince, has just been published.

Ethan Bale (Clifford Beal), is a former defence journalist. Despite writing about modern military technology for much of his career, he was always passionate about history, particularly the Renaissance and early modern Europe. 

Over the years he has been flung about in military aircraft, trained in 17th century rapier, fired flintlock pistols, messed about in boats, and ridden both horses and motorcycles. These days he is usually found wielding a pen and not a sword.

Welcome to RPS, Ethan!

Alex Gough is an author of Roman historical adventures. The Carbo Chronicles, including Watchmen of Rome and Bandits of Rome, was written as a result of a lifelong obsession with ancient Rome, and the culmination of a lot of research into the underclasses of the time. He has also written a collection of adventures following Carbo and other characters from Watchmen of Rome, where you can learn more about their rich lives.

Alex loves our theme song so much that he recorded a cool tribute to it which you can find at the end of the episode.

If you're a musician and want to record your own cover version, send it to us and we'll use it in a future episode (unless it's really, REALLY bad lol)!

Another bonus episode! We chat about the brand new FULL theme song and how it came about, and we also have a couple of pretty BIG announcements, so tune in, and don't drop out!

https://www.canelo.co/news/2023-02-22-canelo-set-to-publish-a-great-series-by-steven-a-mckay/

Last year we released a festive rock song called "Christmas is Coming" (you can find the normal version AND an acoustic version on streaming services) and we had so much fun that we decided to do it again this year.

"Wassail The Night Away" is our best song yet! We hope you all love it and it helps make Christmas 2024 the best one ever. Find it on all major streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes, YouTube etc and add it to your winter playlists!

Support us on Patreon! Our Top Fans and Producers got to hear "Wassail The Night Away" days ago and you too can get bonus content by supporting us and helping us with our running costs from as little as £1 per month!

patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

A very short introduction to Rock, Paper, Swords! Join us on July 1st 2022 for our first full episode.

Our guest today is Eric Schumacher.

Eric Schumacher is the author of six Amazon best-selling novels and one novella set in the Viking Age. By day, he is a brand storyteller and PR consultant for early stage video game and tech companies. By night, he wanders into the past, using known history and ancient tales to create stories about people living in turbulent times.

His fascination with the past, coupled with a love of writing, led him to write Hakon’s Saga, a Viking historical fiction series set in 10th-century Norway.

His latest series is about the notorious Viking, Olaf Tryggvason. The first novel in Olaf’s Saga, Forged by Iron, was published in the spring of 2020. The third novel, Wolves of Wagria, was released in November of 2022. A fourth book is in the works.

Welcome to RPS, Eric.

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page.

⁠https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠

Katie Daysh is an author from the Isle of Wight who loves to explore unheard voices in fiction. In her historical fiction, she enjoys placing queer characters at the heart of the narrative. Her stories are often set on the sea and illuminate themes of friendship, loyalty and mental health issues. Her debut novel, Leeward, was published by Canelo in 2023, followed by The Devil to Pay in 2024.

Useful links:

https://www.katiedaysh.com/

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Something a little different today - we have no guests for a change! Instead, Steven interviews Matthew about his brand new book A DAY OF RECKONING, the third in his A Time for Swords series, which came out yesterday. It's a fun episode covering various aspects of the writing/publishing process, and Matthew even tells us the title of his NEXT book (the Western he's been talking about for ages, it's finished)!

Give it a listen, and make sure you buy A Day of Reckoning...

Today's fantastic guest is Theodore Brun, author of The Wanderer Chronicles. He has a brand new book out NOW called A SAVAGE MOON, which Matthew read and endorsed thusly: 'A fever dream of dark lusts and an ancient evil. A Savage Moon drips with passion, betrayal, loyalty and loss. A wonderful book!'

We spoke about his work and his life in general, discovering his life is often as exciting as his books, so make sure you give it a listen.

Note - Steven tested positive for COVID just a couple of days after recording this, and you can hear it in his voice so that's why he says even less than usual in this episode!

Theo's website - https://www.theodorebrun.com

Matthew and Steven discuss a handful of action and adventure books (including some of their own!) and how their very first lines/paragraphs draw the reader in.

Bernard Cornwell's The Lords of the North 

David Gemmell's The Swords of Night and Day

Steven A. McKay's Lucia and Rise of the Wolf

Matthew Harffy's The Serpent Sword and The Wolf of Wessex

Theme music, "Rock, Paper, Swords" © Steven A. McKay and Matthew Harffy.

Background music in this episode:

"Ambient Sinister"

"Towards the Mountains"

"Where The Brave May Live Forever"

Our guest today is Paul Finch. Paul Finch is an English author and scriptwriter. He has a diverse and very successful career, from the popular TV programme The Bill, to horror and fantasy stories and films, Doctor Who spin-off stories and the incredibly successful gritty crime series of DS Mark Heck Heckenberg novels, with over 1 MILLION book sales!

Paul’s latest pivot has been to move into the historical fiction genre, writing under the name P.W. Finch. USURPER, set in the cataclysmic year of 1066, was published earlier this year. 

Welcome to RPS, Paul.

Just a very quick message to wish our listeners and readers a very merry Christmas for 2023, and best wishes for 2024. Check it out!

Don't forget we have a brand new ACOUSTIC version of our song "Christmas is Coming" available on all streaming outlets like Spotify, iTunes, YouTube Music etc so please give it a listen and share with your friends and enemies!

Have a good one!

Steven and Matthew

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!

David Gilman has been on the show before but we got to sit down with him in person for this interview. David is a superb writer and a genuinely lovely guy and any time we get to spend with him is always a privilege. His latest book To Kill A King is out now! https://davidgilman.com/

Join us on Patreon for monthly bonus episodes, a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel, and more perks. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Find out more about the Historical Novel Society (and become a member) here - https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

In which we chat about anachronisms in historical fiction (food related ones) and general points of interest in the historical culinary field. And then we discuss weapons, including spears, swords, and seaxs. And Steven exclusively reveals the title of his next Warrior Druid of Britain novel!

To join in with our giveaway, share our Rock, Paper, Swords! pages on social media and let us know you've done so before the end of July 2022 to be in with a chance of winning the signed books! Links below:

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Twitter page - https://twitter.com/rock_swords

Stephen Lawhead's Taliesin - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/73906.Taliesin

Lindybeige Youtube video "Spears are better than swords" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLLv8E2pWdk&ab_channel=Lindybeige

Skallagrim Youtube video "The Spear - Weapon of Kings? Or just a pointy stick?" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVQbSl9vXwA&ab_channel=Skallagrim

Scholagladiatoria Youtube video - "Where did they put spears when not fighting?" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2dHETK96jE&ab_channel=scholagladiatoria

Art imitating art: The birth of an axe. Blog post about the making of Dunston's axe that appears on the cover of Wolf of Wessex - http://bernicia-chronicles.blogspot.com/2019/06/art-imitating-art-birth-of-axe.html

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!

Bernard Cornwell has been on the show before but this is the first time we've actually met him in person. He's our historical fiction hero so you can imagine how hyped we were to sit and chat with him about Sharpe, and what's next for his writing with perhaps some HUGE news if you're a fan of Uhtred and The Last Kingdom... He'd only just delivered the keynote speech at the conference then signed a TON of books for people so we were very grateful that he took some time to speak with us again. A true inspiration to us all. https://www.bernardcornwell.net/

Join us on Patreon for monthly bonus episodes, a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel, and more perks. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Find out more about the Historical Novel Society (and become a member) here - https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a FREE copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page here - https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

D. V. Bishop is the author of the award-winning Cesare Aldo historical thrillers set in Renaissance Florence.

The Aldo novels have won the Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger and the NZ Booklovers Prize, been shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, and longlisted for many more awards.

The newest novel is A Divine Fury and is published on 20th June 2024! https://dvbishop.com/

David was also the editor of the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000AD at one point - that's right, he was literally Tharg. Thrill power overload in this episode!

This episode is sponsored by Paul Bernardi's brand new historical thriller Blood Feud. Please check it out HERE!

On today's episode we're talking about what IS "historical fiction". It's a genre that seems to encapsulate so many other genres, crime, thrillers, action and adventure… but what actually makes a story historical fiction?

The Historical Novel Society defines the genre as works "written at least fifty years after the events described". Do you agree with that? What about alternative history? What about novels that were written as contemporary fiction but are now hundreds of years old? What about fiction set in a time SO remote that it's essentially speculative? We discuss these points and more!

Take a listen to this fascinating topic and please let us know what you think constitutes "historical fiction".

Useful links:

Support us on one of our 3 tiers on Patreon - patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_fiction

If you're an author or publisher and would like to sponsor one of our episodes, please get in touch. You can find us on social media or email us at rockpaperswordspodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, and other cool perks, check out our patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Born and raised in Detroit, now living in Nashville, Tennessee, Cody C. Engdahl describes himself as a practitioner of the Southern Gentlemanly Arts, an amateur fiddler, cook, whiskey connoisseur, and armchair historian. He is the author of five historical novels. His latest is The Prussian Prince, a swashbuckling adventure that'll take you into the heart of the Austro-Prussian War and book 5 of the Long Century series.

Welcome to RPS, Cody!

Useful links: https://codycengdahl.wordpress.com/

https://www.techspot.com/news/102875-40000-ai-narrated-audiobooks-flood-audible-dividing-authors.html

Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, is a hot topic at the moment. Perhaps the HOTTEST topic. It is cropping up in the news every day and there are predictions that it will take our jobs away or even take over the world! It probably isn’t quite as dire as those predictions would have us believe, but there is no doubt that AI generated text and images are here to stay, not to mention many other uses that we haven’t even foreseen yet. There will be impacts on our daily lives and creatives are especially worried about their livelihoods as computers become more and more adept at doing what only humans could do till now.

We’re not experts on the subject and it is a HUGE subject, but we thought we’d have a quick chat about what AI can do now, what it might be able to do in the future and some of the complex issues arising as a result of this new technology.

Cover image was created by AI from directions Matthew gave it. It's supposed to be Beobrand from his Bernicia Chronicles lmao!

Farming, historical fiction, and, of course, music are all discussed in this exciting new episode. Check it out and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE and give us a 5 star rating if you're enjoying what we're doing!

Links to websites/software mentioned:

Byzantium 1200: http://www.byzantium1200.com/

The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of The Roman World: https://orbis.stanford.edu/

Aeon Timeline: https://timeline.app/

Please support us on Patreon from as little as £1 per month and get bonus episodes including exclusive updates on the creation of our 2025 Xmas novella: patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

We're republishing this classic episode as we'll be doing a panel with Giles and Patricia Bracewell on February 8th with the HISTORY QUILL CONVENTION.

During the 90s Giles Kristian was lead singer of pop group Upside Down, achieving four top twenty hit records! As a singer-songwriter he lived and toured for two years in Europe and has made music videos all over the world.

Giles is half-Norwegian and his family history inspired him to write his first historical novels: the acclaimed and bestselling RAVEN Viking trilogy. For his next series, he drew on a long-held fascination with the English Civil War to chart the fortunes of a family divided by this brutal conflict in The Bleeding Land and Brothers’ Fury. Giles also co-wrote Wilbur Smith’s No.1 bestseller, Golden Lion. In The Rise of Sigurd novels he returned to the world of the Vikings. His Sunday Times bestseller, Lancelot, is currently in development for TV. He followed Lancelot with Camelot, and now, Where Blood Runs Cold is his debut contemporary thriller.

His latest book, ARTHUR, came out in June 2024.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Giles Kristian!

Christmas a humbug?! Join the boys as they look at all sorts of winter traditions, ancient and modern, from Saturnalia shenanigans to Yule logs to "old" movies.

If you like Christmas stories, check out Steven's brand new novelette, The Pedlar's Promise, 

and Matthew has a new novel out too, Forest of Foes!

Burning a Yule log - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw3unDRU6Eg&ab_channel=CountryDirtKid

Christmas Past podcast  

Total Christmas podcast  (from which I stole the terrible joke....)

Santa or Father Christmas had been pictured with a red coat on hundreds of years before Coca-Cola, but the modern image of Santa is clearly based on the 1930's Coke adverts IMO (Steven).

HNS Conference 2024!

Kate Quinn, Alison Morton, and Ruth Downie dressed in Roman garb and delivered a superb talk at the Conference. We grabbed them for a quick interview in the grounds of Dartington Hall which we can share with you now.

(Please forgive the audio, we were talking to them outside using little handheld microphones.)

Matthew Harffy has a new book out on December 5th called Shadows of the Slain. We chat about it in this episode, and you can buy it at the link below!

Buy the book: https://mybook.to/ShadowsOfTheSlain

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords 

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Our guest today is the prolific author of historical fiction, Griff Hosker. It seems to me that Griff writes faster than many people read. He has written series of action-packed books covering everything from the Vikings to the Second World War and everything in between. He is a constant presence on Amazon lists and social media, and I for one am often in awe at the quantity of books he puts out and the number of steadfast fans he has garnered over the years. It is great to finally meet and have a chance to put some questions to him, perhaps finding out how he does it (and maybe some tips on how to sell almost 2 MILLION books like he has)!

Welcome to RPS, Griff!

This is a super short episode just to give listeners an update on how we're planning on moving forward with the podcast. Matthew's latest book, "Forest of Foes", gets a paperback release, and Steven has also just made a brand new MODERN DAY short story available for pre-order, called "Have You Seen This?" so we discuss those a little bit too.

Enjoy, and we really hope you liked the latest episode with Robin Warder of The Trail Went Cold podcast. Look out for our next episode on June 23rd which features an interview with bestselling historical author ALEX GOUGH!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? buy link (FREE with Kindle Unlimited!)

FOREST OF FOES paperback buy link (also FREE with Kindle Unlimited!)

KING OF WESSEX is out today! You can now buy the whole trilogy in paperback or on Kindle . Steven is really excited to see what people think of the way the story ends ... 

UK LINK

USA LINK

TRIGGER WARNING! At 13:16 there's a VERY creepy answerphone message, listener discretion advised, don't listen alone in the dark... Today’s guest Robin Warder has written articles for various websites including Cracked.com, but he’s most well known for his excellent podcast The Trail Went Cold which is a true crime podcast he’s been doing since 2016, publishing more than 300 episodes in that time.

You may be wondering what this has to do with "historical action and adventure" but readers of Steven's Forest Lord novellas Faces of Darkness and Sworn to God will know they were based on true stories - true stories covered in episodes of The Trail Went Cold! We chat about those in this episode, and much more. This is something a little different and we really hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Robin!

Trail Went Cold episode 18, Cindy James (Faces of Darkness inspiration) - https://www.trailwentcold.com/2016/10/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-18-cindy-james/

Trail Went Cold 159 (Sworn to God inspiration) - https://www.trailwentcold.com/2020/01/29/the-trail-went-cold-episode-159-charles-southern/

Robin's articles on Cracked.com (brilliant stuff this!) - https://www.cracked.com/members/Robinwarder

Today we have a special guest who we think will be of particular interest, especially to aspiring writers. Kit Nevile is a Commissioning Editor at publishers Canelo. He is particularly interested in thrillers, horror, and action/adventure books, and just so happens to be Steven’s editor! Before working at Canelo he was at Persephone Books and Whitefox publishing services, both in an editorial role.

In this episode we will try to find out what a commissioning editor actually does, what they look for in a new book, how he thinks the publishing business will change in coming years, how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact things, and lots more!

Welcome to RPS, Kit Nevile!

https://www.canelo.co/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast 

X: x.com/rock_swords

Matthew and Steven are chatting this week with Jean Gill. The interview covered a lot of really interesting subjects so we're sure you'll enjoy the episode! Look out for our Christmas special next, and then we'll have our first interview with a musician early in 2023, with lots more fantastic guests lined up for the coming year!

LINKS to things mentioned in the chat:

Here is the jet ski guy on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mfroos

This was also nice: https://youtu.be/00dGeSzoLdg

I'm assuming you've found the Draken Harald Hårfagre channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XORSpUUy0lQ

This was useful too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NGQF_xbOTA

website jeangill.com
Youtube
The Making of a Knife Named Silk-Splitter https://youtu.be/GnHwwXuLGqo

Viking music:
Eolya: the Hávamál Album
Danheim https://youtu.be/KvyGq05xSkc https://youtu.be/st-ZjwCy4uo

Dr Jackson Crawford  https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford

The voyage of the Sea Stallion https://youtu.be/Q8jhnrNHk3g

Books to read

Secrets of the Viking Navigators - Leif K Karlsen
Fantasy novel - The World Breaker's Requiem - Luke Tarzian

The annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #SPFBO8
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2022/05/spfbo-8-self-published-fantasy-blog-off.html

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!

I don't think Diana Gabaldon needs much of an introduction! We were lucky enough to sit down with her at the conference for an interview. Author of the Outlander novels which have also been made into the HUGELY successful Starz TV show, Diana was funny, friendly, generous with her time, and gave us probably the best answer EVER to the question, "What do you listen to when you write?" Do NOT miss this interview! We talked about her planned novel Red Ant's Head, how her lead female character guided her to create the Outlander series, and, of course, Dwarf Metal! https://www.dianagabaldon.com/

Windrose - "Diggy Diggy Hole" -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34CZjsEI1yU

Join us on Patreon for monthly bonus episodes, a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel, and more perks. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Find out more about the Historical Novel Society (and become a member) here - https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

The boys discuss the history of Hallowe'en! Includes some chat on Steven's spooky novella Knight of the Cross, and Matthew's short tale, Kin of Cain. Sleep paralysis, black eyed kids, folklore, Beowulf, pumpkin and turnip carving, and loads more... Turn out the lights and lock the doors for this fun look at everyone's favourite spooky night of the year!

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive BONUS EPISODES every month, a FREE copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page.

⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠⁠⁠

We've been invited to cover the 2024 Historical Novel Society conference this year as the official roving podcasters! Bernard Cornwell, Diana Gabaldon, Kate Quinn, and loads more huge names in historical fiction will be there and we can't wait to bring you all the news and gossip from the event. Find out more in this short bonus episode!

You can also find out more at the HNS website -

https://hns2024.com/

Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!

Welcome to the first in the series of interviews we conducted with the authors and guests at the HNS Conference at Dartington Hall this year. Keep an eye on our podcast feed AND our YouTube channel for more in the coming days from the likes of Bernard Cornwell, David Gilman, MJ Porter, and Diana Gabaldon.

Historian Dr Ian Mortimer spoke to us in this episode just before delivering the after dinner speech at the conference. We chatted about his books (like the Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England), music to write battles to, and an interesting tip on how to feel close to the period you're writing about. https://www.ianmortimer.com/

Join us on Patreon for monthly bonus episodes, a FREE copy of our book Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel, and more perks. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Find out more about the Historical Novel Society (and become a member) here - https://historicalnovelsociety.org/

Yes, Matthew and Steven have written a non-fiction book together! It's called Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel and it comes out on Thursday April 25th 2024. You can pre-order it now, and it will also be available to read with Kindle Unlimited. Check it out at the links here - https://mybook.to/RPSTipsForWriting

The book will also be FREE to our Patreon TOP FANS and PRODUCERS so if you'd like to sign up, head over to Patreon now and check out our tiers:

patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

Whether you're a novice or a veteran of the writing world, Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel is an indispensable companion for every author's journey. Pre-order your copy now!

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Matthew and Steven chat this week with a musician for a change! Dr Mark Deeks is a choirmaster, as well as the piano player for one of Steven's favourite black metal bands, Winterfylleth, and also has his own "monastic doom metal" project called Ard. Ard put out a concept album which is kind of a historical novel in musical form so we were really happy to get Mark on the podcast and discuss a broad range of topics. 

Mark also gives piano lessons online HERE

Ard Bandcamp page

Winterfylleth Bandcamp page

Ard Lindisfarne Mead bundles

Youtube video of Winterfylleth performing "The Hallowing of Heirdom", one of their most beautiful songs. 

Theme music by Steven and Matthew. The short piece of music at the outro is Steven's attempt at doom metal!

https://mybook.to/HereticPriory Steven's new winter novella is out today! Well, it's actually TWO stories in one collection - The Heretic of Haltemprice Priory is the main story, a novella that sees Tuck, Will and Little John joining forces again to investigate some eldritch happenings at a medieval priory just before Xmas. The second tale, The Christmas Hunt, features Tuck and John searching for Will who's gone missing after chasing some thieves off his farm during a snowstorm on Xmas Eve.

Find out a little bit more about the stories in this bonus episode and please do buy the new book here: https://mybook.to/HereticPriory

Support us on Patreon from as little as £1 per month: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

A. D. Rhine is the pseudonym of Ashlee Cowles and Danielle Stinson. Ashlee holds graduate degrees in medieval history from the University of St. Andrews and theological studies from Duke University. Danielle holds a master of arts in law and diplomacy from Tufts University. Their novels Horses of Fire & Daughters of Bronze, is an epic retelling of the Trojan War, the story they have always dreamt of writing together.

We met Ashlee and Danielle in Devon at the HNS Conference in September last year. We had a great chat over coffee, but knew we had to get them back on the podcast for a longer discussion of their collaborative writing process and their books.

Welcome back to RPS A. D. Rhine.

Take the "What's your ancient archetype" quiz here - https://www.adrhine.com/

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Peter Gibbons is an author based in Kildare, Ireland. He completed a Law Degree in Liverpool University before embarking on a career in the Insurance Industry.

After many years working in the UK & Ireland he decided to follow his dreams and wrote his debut novel, Viking Blood and Blade.

After smashing into the independently published historical fiction scene in 2021, he had his second series picked up by a publisher and went on to win the prestigious Kindle Storyteller Award in 2022.

Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Peter!

Support us on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠

We're thrilled to welcome a true writing legend to the podcast today, and one of my favourite authors! With a career spanning over four decades, Joe R. Lansdale is the award-winning author of more than 50 novels and countless short stories, spanning horror, crime, westerns, and more. His unique voice, dark humor, and vivid storytelling have earned him fans all over the world, TV series and film adaptations of his work, and numerous accolades, such as the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and eleven Bram Stoker Awards!

Most recently he has published Sugar on the Bones, the latest in the extremely popular Hap and Leonard series, and the movie of his novel, The Thicket, starring Peter Dinklage, Juliette Lewis and James Hetfield has just been released. In October he has a collection of stories coming out entitled: In the Mad Mountains: Stories inspired by H. P. Lovecraft.

Welcome to RPS, Joe R. Lansdale.

Useful links: https://www.joerlansdale.com/ 

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords 

Justin Hill has skilfully crafted bestselling stories that traverse a diverse range of settings, from the captivating landscapes of China to the tumultuous epochs of the Early Middle Ages, to the nightmare, war-torn future of the universe of Warhammer 40k. 

He is the recipient of several prestigious literary accolades, including the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask, and Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prizes, and his works have earned acclaim from publications such as the Sunday Times, Washington Post, and The Times, where his books have been celebrated as notable additions to their annual lists.

Welcome to RPS, Justin Hill!

Useful links:

https://www.justinhillauthor.com/

We’re on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X @rock_swords

SUPPORT us on Patreon!

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Dr Ian Mortimer is best known as the Sunday Times-bestselling author of the four Time Traveller's Guides - to Medieval England, Elizabethan England, Restoration Britain and Regency Britain - as well as four critically acclaimed medieval biographies, a prize-winning novel and several other titles. His books have been translated into sixteen languages. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He has been described by The Times as 'the most remarkable medieval historian of our time'. He lives in Devon, where Steven and I met him recently at the Historical Novel Society Conference. We had a lovely chat with him there and you can listen to that episode or even watch the video on our YouTube channel. But we didn’t have time for a full episode and there were so many more questions we wanted to ask, so we are delighted to have Ian back on the podcast.

Welcome back to RPS, Ian!

Useful links: https://www.ianmortimer.com/

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Jane Johnson is from Cornwall and has worked in the book industry for 30 years as a bookseller, publisher and writer. For many years she was responsible for publishing the works of JRR Tolkien, and later worked on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, spending months in New Zealand with cast and crew (she wrote the official visual companions to the films). The authors she publishes include George R.R. Martin, Dean Koontz, Robin Hobb, Mark Lawrence and Raymond E Feist.

While she was in Morocco in 2005 to research The Tenth Gift she met her soon-to-be husband, a Berber tribesman from a village in the Anti-Atlas Mountains. Returning home, she gave up her office job in London, sold her flat and shipped the contents to Morocco and they were married later that year. They now split their time between Cornwall and Morocco, and Jane still works remotely as a Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins.

We met Jane in Dartington Hall at the HNS Conference back in September and you can listen to that short episode (and watch the video on our Youtube channel), but when we read her CV, we knew we had to get her back for a full episode.

Welcome back to RPS, Jane Johnson!

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords 

It's a first for us here at RPS - an album review! Well, ROCK, paper, swords, right? There's two very good reasons for us doing this review (even putting aside the fact Steven is Tull's biggest fan):

1 - We were sent advance copies of the album, so it's only fair we did our best to listen to it and get an honest review out before the album is released. So here it is!

2 - Ian Anderson is hopefully going to be a guest on this very podcast, to chat about his career and RökFlöte in particular. It's an album based on Norse/Viking mythology/religion so it is absolutely perfect for us to review and discuss, given both Matthew and Steven are writing/have written books about the Vikings. Truly a match made in Valhalla!

We hope you enjoy this bonus episode and check out the album when it's released on the 21st of April. It's FANTASTIC as you'll hear in our review. You can pre-order it here:

https://jethrotullband.lnk.to/RokFlote

Huge thanks to Inside Out Records, Ian Anderson, and The Publicity Connection for the review copies of the album!

Stay tuned for our regular episode this Friday, as historical novelist and screenwriter David Gilman is our guest. You don't want to miss it...

Matthew interviews Steven about his new book, THE HEATHEN HORDE, which came out on October 26th 2023! Viking raiders, Alfred the Great, and the usual fun chat - it's all in here so give it a listen and please spread the word.

Buy the book here - https://mybook.to/HeathenHorde

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to our channel and leave a 5 star review if you can!