A conversation with
Historical Fiction author, Chris Bishop.
It is with
the greatest of please I welcome the fabulous Chris Bishop back onto the blog. Chris,
could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi, Mary, it is great to be back. For your readers
who may not know who I am, my name is Chris Bishop and I’m an author with a
particular interest in historical fiction.
My principal work includes a series entitled The Shadow of the Raven which is set at the time of Alfred the
Great.
After a successful career as a Chartered
Surveyor, I retired to fulfil my lifelong ambition to write a novel, combining
that with my interest in Anglo Saxon history which started when I first read Hereward
the Wake at school.
The first book in my series (Blood
and Destiny) was published in 2017 and the second, (The
Warrior with the Pierced Heart) in July this year. The third part (The Final Reckoning) will
be published in the Spring 2019.
My other interests include travel, windsurfing
and fly fishing – perhaps even one day combining all three on a beautiful
tropical beach, sailing when it’s windy and fishing when it’s not… (If only!)
Windsurfing
and fly fishing as the same time? I think I would pay to watch that!! What
inspired you to write your series?
That’s actually a very good question as the
inspiration for the first book, Blood
and Destiny, was really very strange.
I was writing a short ghost story for a literary competition which was
not a genre I’d ever attempted before.
My plot centred on a group of archaeologists who’d discovered the grave
of a boy in a very remote and lonely place.
As the story developed, it became clear to me that the boy had his own
tale to tell. His ‘ghost’ then seemed to
hijack the story, pushing me into all sorts of places I’d not intended to go
and inducing all manner of twists and turns along the way. The upside was that pretty soon his whole
story came gushing out like… well, like all good stories should!
The strange thing was that when I started to
research the era in detail (Anglo Saxon England), I found that so much of what
I’d jotted down fitted the perceived historical facts like a glove. Then, when I gave my ghost a name, (actually,
I gave him two but you’ll have to read the book to find out why) he seemed to
come to life and I realised that I was no longer writing a short story, I was
writing a novel. Little did I realise
then that it was actually the first part of a trilogy which followed the story
of my ‘ghost’s’ life through what was a very turbulent time and also a key
turning point in English history.
There is more about this uncanny experience in
my blog entitled Ghost
Writer – The Hand that Guides the Pen.
That is an
amazing story. It is wonderful how writing a short-story can lead on to bigger
things. What were the challenges you faced in researching this period of
history?
For me, the greatest challenge in writing about
the so called ‘Dark Ages’ was establishing fact from fiction – not to mention
folklore and legends! So much of what we
think is fact has been distorted by intervening generations for both political
and cultural reasons. There are also few
contemporary first-hand accounts of what actually happened – and even fewer
which can be regarded as unbiased. After
all, history is written by the victor, not the vanquished and propaganda and fake
news are nothing new.
Tell me
about it! Researching the Dark Ages is notoriously difficult. There are many
books about the Anglo Saxon era. Can you tell us three things that set your
novels apart?
As a relatively new author, that’s a difficult
one for me to answer. The reviews often
refer to the fact that my novels are fast paced, include a lot of interesting detail
and make the reader feel they’re actually there. I hope all that’s true as my love of creative
writing combined with my lifelong interest in Anglo Saxon history compels me to
entertain as well as inform.
Can you tell us what you are currently working
on?
I’m currently completing Book Three in the
series (The Final Reckoning) which should be published in the spring
next year. I’m also researching the
possibility of a fourth book though that may be the start of second series, albeit
still set in Anglo Saxon England.
In the meantime, I’m working on a number of
blogs and articles which you can view
on my website
and where you can also sign up for my mailing list.
My Blogs include:
GHOST
WRITER – THE HAND THAT GUIDES THE PEN – the story behind the
origin of the series
SO,
DID ALFRED REALLY BURN THE CAKES? – a discussion about the
folklore surrounding Alfred the Great and an attempt to determine how much of
it is true
ALFRED
AND THE VIKINGS – Alfred’s Troubled
Realm is the first in a four part series based on my research which looks at
some of the lesser known facts of this key turning point in English
History. Part two – Who Were the Dreaded
Vikings will be posted shortly.
Please sign up to my mailing list HERE to learn more
about my work and details of other blogs which I hope you will find of interest
Chris Bishop is the author of The Shadow of The Raven Series which is
set in Anglo Saxon England at the time of Alfred the Great.
Book 1 Blood and
Destiny
and Book 2 The Warrior
with the Pierced Heart are out now in paperback and ebook.
Book 3 The Final
Reckoning will be published spring 2019
Find out more at
Very intrigued by the ghostly character who took over your story, Chris! I will now have to read your books and discover where he took you.
ReplyDeleteSuch a pleasure talking to you, Chris!
ReplyDelete