Please give a warm Coffee Pot welcome to historical Fiction
author, Matthew Harffy. We are in
for a treat today, as Matthew is going to share with us his inspirations behind
his fabulous Bernicia Chronicles series…
Killer of Kings
(Book four of the Bernicia Chronicles)
AD 636. Anglo-Saxon
Britain. A gripping, action-packed historical thriller and the fourth
instalment in The Bernicia Chronicles. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell.
Beobrand has land, men
and riches. He should be content. And yet he cannot find peace until his
enemies are food for the ravens. But before Beobrand can embark on his
bloodfeud, King Oswald orders him southward, to escort holy men bearing sacred
relics.
When Penda of Mercia
marches a warhost into the southern kingdoms, Beobrand and his men are thrown
into the midst of the conflict. Beobrand soon finds himself fighting for his
life and his honour.
In the chaos that grips
the south, dark secrets are exposed, bringing into question much that Beobrand
had believed true. Can he unearth the answers and exact the vengeance he
craves? Or will the blood-price prove too high, even for a warrior of his
battle-fame and skill?
Author’s Inspiration
Inspiration can come in many different guises. I was
initially inspired to begin writing The Serpent Sword after watching a
documentary in 2001 about Anglo-Saxon graves being excavated by archaeologists
at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland.
The graves dated back to the seventh century and I learnt in
the documentary that Bamburgh Castle had been the seat of the kings of the
kingdom of Bernicia. Despite having lived in Northumberland as a child, I had
never heard of Bernicia before, nor did I know that Northumbria was for
centuries the most powerful kingdom of Britain.
I had always loved the craggy coastline of the north-east of
England with its cliffs, castles, beaches and seabirds, and I was intrigued to
discover this hidden past, a time between the Romans leaving these shores and
the coming of the Vikings at the end of the eighth century. It was centuries-long
period that I had never given much thought to. And so, one night all those
years ago, I started to write the opening scene of The Serpent Sword. Little
did I know then that it would take me more than a decade to complete the novel,
and the enormous amount of research that I would need to do.
The land of Northumbria itself is always an inspiration for
my writing. As a child I lived in a small village called Norham on the banks of
the Tweed. The cliffs, castles and islands dotting the slate-grey North Sea,
all serve to make the past spring to life. It is easy to imagine the men and
women of 1,400 years ago on those same windswept bluffs with the guillemots and
gannets wheeling and diving into the sea. They too would have seen the heads of
seals bobbing in the waves in the mouth of the river Tweed. The chill spray
from the breaking waves would have felt the same to our forebears as to us. I
find nature a great inspiration and a wonderful way to get close to the
characters from my books. In fact, I think the weather and nature almost become
another character in my writing.
As I have progressed in writing the Bernicia Chronicles
series I’ve come to realise that inspiration can come from any quarter.
Sometimes, as with the spark of inspiration for The Serpent Sword it can come
from something I’ve read or seen, or heard on the radio. At other times the
research itself can trigger a scene or even a whole novel.
I remember when I was close to completing the first draft of
The Serpent Sword, the news at the time in the United Kingdom was all about a
scandal of horsemeat being found in prepared foods. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in
the next chapter I wrote, the hungry characters ate the meat of one of their
fallen steeds.
Writing is a very sedentary pastime, and I try to keep
active, walking and cycling. I live near a canal and often cycle along the tow
path. Frequently, I see a heron standing as still as a statue on the other bank
of the canal. It is always on the same stretch of the canal and if it isn’t
there, I miss seeing it. In the second book of the series, The Cross and the Curse,
Beobrand walks the banks of the Tweed and finds quiet solace in the frequent company
of a lone heron on the opposite bank.
In the case of the latest book, Killer of Kings, inspiration
struck while I was researching book three of the Bernicia Chronicles, Blood and
Blade. I read in the Venerable Bede’s History of the English Church and People the
story of King Sigeberht of the East Anglians who renounced his kingship to
dedicate himself to the worship of Christ. However, when East Anglia was later
attacked by the Mercian King, Penda, Sigeberht’s people needed a leader and
would not accept that their erstwhile King was now a peace-loving Christian.
They forced him out onto the battlefield to confront the warlord from Mercia,
despite Sigeberht having put aside weapons and violence. I had never planned to
write a story based around this moment of history, but it tied in with the
timeline of the novels, and was just too interesting to ignore. I won’t give
away what happens though. For that you’ll have to go and look in the history
books or, better still, read Killer of Kings.
Links for Purchase
About the author
Matthew Harffy lived in Northumberland as a child and the
area had a great impact on him. The rugged terrain, ruined castles and rocky
coastline made it easy to imagine the past. Decades later, a documentary about
Northumbria's Golden Age sowed the kernel of an idea for a series of historical
fiction novels. The first of them is the action-packed tale of vengeance and
coming of age, THE SERPENT SWORD.
Matthew has worked in the IT industry, where he spent all
day writing and editing, just not the words that most interested him. Prior to
that he worked in Spain as an English teacher and translator. Matthew lives in
Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters.
Useful Links
Thank you for sharing your inspirations with us!! Great Post!
ReplyDeleteThank you and thanks for inviting me on to your blog. :-)
DeleteLove Matthew's books. A great interview!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephanie!
Delete