First of all, a big thank you to Rachel for inviting me onto her Random Reads.
Rachel suggested that some of her readers might be interested in the way I've linked three of my contemporary family dramas to historical periods. That probably sounds a bit weird - I'll explain!
Two and a half years ago, when watching the TV series The Tudors, it occurred to me what a fabulous story the tale of Henry VIII and his six wives actually is, and I considered how the wives, in particular, might translate into the present. As I mulled it over, I saw the enigmatic Anne Boleyn as a gorgeous, raven haired PR girl, desired by many, the flighty young Catherine Howard as a pretty teenager who'd fallen into the seedy world of lap dancing, and so on. About eight months later I published Kings and Queens, about property developer Harry Lanchester and the six women in his life.
Although the story mirrors that of Henry and his wives, it's essentially a modern day drama that can be read without knowledge of or interest in history. Happily, it was well received by Tudor buffs and contemporary romantic suspense lovers, alike; a relief! In February last year I published the sequel, Last Child, about Harry's children. This corresponds to the story of Henry VIII's offspring: Edward, Mary and Queen Elizabeth 1st.
Back in the 16th century, Mary married King Philip of Spain for political reasons. She fell in hopeless unrequited love with him, suffered two phantom pregnancies, and then he broke her heart—I couldn't wait to get my key-tapping fingers on that storyline! Enter philandering fortune-seeker Phil Castillo, who Isabella (Mary) meets in a Spanish bar.
Last Child got a couple of lovely accolades at the end of 2015: Best Family Saga on one book blog, and runner up in Best Contemporary Fiction on another.
After this, I became interested in the Wars of the Roses. I began to plot out The House of York ... and soon discovered I'd bitten off far more than I could chew. The Wars of the Roses is a massive subject (it's hard to remember who is on what side when!), with far too many main characters for one novel, so this book is inspired by historical events and characters, rather than closely following them. It begins with widowed, working class single mum Lisa Grey meeting rich, successful Elias York—and his brother Richard, my modern day version of the infamous Richard III.
With all three novels I found myself thinking, again and again, about how human nature and emotion doesn't change. All that differs is the circumstances. It was fun considering how each historical character would fare today; a very popular character has been Erin Lanchester, my Queen Elizabeth 1st—an independent, intelligent young lady who vows never to rely on a man for ANYTHING!
Thank you for stopping by to read this, and another big thank you to Rachel :)
About Terry Tyler
Terry Tyler has 11 books on Amazon, in the vague genre of contemporary women's fiction, which includes family saga, romantic suspense, with a bit of mystery and light romance here and there. Her next publication will be 'Bestseller' (working title), a novella about three writers.
Terry is a regular reviewer for Rosie Amber's Book Review Blog, is an active Twitter user and wishes she had 36 hours in every day to read and write all the books she wants to. She loves history, the countryside, winter and Netflix, and lives in the north east of England with her husband.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerryTyler4
Blog: http://www.terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/
You are very welcome Terry. It has been a pleasure to have you on Rachel's Random Reads, The way you link the historical stories to the modern day sounds very clever.
Rachel suggested that some of her readers might be interested in the way I've linked three of my contemporary family dramas to historical periods. That probably sounds a bit weird - I'll explain!
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Although the story mirrors that of Henry and his wives, it's essentially a modern day drama that can be read without knowledge of or interest in history. Happily, it was well received by Tudor buffs and contemporary romantic suspense lovers, alike; a relief! In February last year I published the sequel, Last Child, about Harry's children. This corresponds to the story of Henry VIII's offspring: Edward, Mary and Queen Elizabeth 1st.
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Last Child got a couple of lovely accolades at the end of 2015: Best Family Saga on one book blog, and runner up in Best Contemporary Fiction on another.
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| Amazon UK |
With all three novels I found myself thinking, again and again, about how human nature and emotion doesn't change. All that differs is the circumstances. It was fun considering how each historical character would fare today; a very popular character has been Erin Lanchester, my Queen Elizabeth 1st—an independent, intelligent young lady who vows never to rely on a man for ANYTHING!
Thank you for stopping by to read this, and another big thank you to Rachel :)
About Terry Tyler
Terry is a regular reviewer for Rosie Amber's Book Review Blog, is an active Twitter user and wishes she had 36 hours in every day to read and write all the books she wants to. She loves history, the countryside, winter and Netflix, and lives in the north east of England with her husband.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerryTyler4
Blog: http://www.terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/
You are very welcome Terry. It has been a pleasure to have you on Rachel's Random Reads, The way you link the historical stories to the modern day sounds very clever.
A great reminder of the thought behind Terry's writing, I've read all three of these books and didn't want them to end.
ReplyDeleteWhat intrigues and frankly awes me about these books is the way each main character has a distinctive voice that lets you into their own motivations, concerns, and emotions. It's an incredible achievement, and makes for ridiculously fun reads. I can't really recommend one over another, because each one I read seemed to be the best one yet!
ReplyDeleteThree fabulous books - whenever I read one of Terry's books I wish I'd thought of it myself!
ReplyDeleteAmazing stories, I love them all.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read these books by Terry but may give them a go.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your interest, Tanya :)
DeleteTanya, even if you are not interested in the historical parallels, these are terrific stories about human strengths and weaknesses, and very complicated relationships. Very very compelling, they are!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Val, Cathy, Alison, Rosie and Barb for your kind words - and thank you RACHEL for inviting me onto the blog and presenting this post so well! x
DeleteThe Wars of the Roses still confuses me and I have to tell people about it! Great inspiration for your work though, love hearing the story behind it.
ReplyDeleteExtreme Housewifery
Thanks, Laura! I know, I know - getting the continuity right for a novel based on it was a nightmare. I'd written 30K words before I realised that I had far too many characters and sub plots, and it just wasn't going to happen. :)
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