Seven Sword-Swirling Suggestions for Historical Fiction

As part of the Indie Author Fair 2015 Showcase Magazine, here's my 2 cent's worth on writing in the historical fiction genre.

LONDON BOOK FAIR - FRINGE FESTIVAL

Friday 17 April saw London Book Fair’s first Fringe Festival.

Foyles, London’s biggest independent bookstore, opened its doors to the Alliance of Independent Authors, IndieReCon and IAF15, organised by Triskele Books. An exciting, educational and fun day:

Bestseller CJ Lyons

CJ Lyons opened the event by using the analogy of a blacksmith.

Forge your first book with love and care, then keep honing your craft. Engage with readers. Don’t try to sell a million. Write something a million people want to buy.





Debbie Young of the Alliance of Independent Authors chaired a discussion with panellists Peter Urpeth of Scottish based Creative Agency, Emergents; John Prebble of Arts Council of England Literature Relationship Manager and Nicola Solomon of the Society of Authors.

The theme was how to keep the cash coming in while you write. Grants, prizes, Public Lending Rights, mentoring schemes, partnerships with business development organisations and sponsorship are all potential sources of support for authors.



L-R: Peter Urpeth, John Prebble, Nicola Solomon and Debbie Young

Next up, Dan Holloway and Rohan Quine fired up the audience by speaking eloquently and poetically on diversity in literature.


Dan and Rohan



ALLi’s literary agent, Toby Mundy of TMA chaired a panel including Scott Beatty of Trajectory, book-scout Sharmaine Lovegrove of Dialogue Berlin & Fremantle Media, and Katie Donelan of BookBub to discuss how authors can sell more rights.




L-R: Sharmain Lovegrove, Scott Beatty, Katie Donelan and Toby Mundy





Porter Anderson introduced SELF-e. Authors everywhere can sign up to get their ebooks into US libraries.




L-R: Dr Alison Baverstock, Robert Caskie, Porter Anderson and Robin Cutler

Much talk centres on what self-publishing should learn from trade publishing. Rarely vice versa. Porter Anderson explored this key question with panellists Robert Caskie, Senior Agent at Peter Frazer Dunlop; Dr Alison Baverstock, Associate Professor, Department of Journalism and Publishing, Kingston University and Robin Cutler of Ingram Spark: how does self-publishing affect trade publishers, editors, agents and bookshops?

Debbie Young and Piers Alexander introduced the new #Authors4Bookstores campaign. All writers and readers love bookstores and want to see at least one on every high street. This new campaign encourages and enables indie authors and bookstores to form mutually beneficial, supportive relationships.

Last session of the day saw Joanna Penn grill a range of successful indie authors, Rachel Abbott, Steena Holmes, CJ Lyons, Mark McGuinness and Nick Stephenson on their tactics, breakthrough moments and advice.

Orna Ross & Porter Anderson wrapped up the conference with a look back at the last three years of ALLi (including a divergence of opinion on how to pronounce it) and hopes for the future.

You can access all this and more via IndieReCon – talks, tips, ideas, videos and vast amounts of resources to peruse at leisure.



The last part of the day was IAF15 @Foyles, organised by Triskele Books. Fifty authors with books, balloons, goodies, quizzes, wine, canapés and smiles welcomed browsers, bookclubbers, friends and readers. The atmosphere was happy, friendly, communal and everything an indie author fair should be.

The Indie Author Fair at Foyles

And we’re now planning the next one.

After a cup of tea.


Team Triskele

Best Indie Books Up for Grabs in our Rafflecopter Giveaway

Forty books up for grabs! On Friday 17 April, Triskele Books and Foyles Bookshop welcome a myriad of authors to the 2015 Indie Author Fair. Here’s your chance to sample what’s on offer! Whatever your taste, we’ve got something special for you. Entry is easy and free for a chance to win one of forty different ebooks, paperbacks or swag bag prizes. The Indie Author Fringe Festival, run by The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)/Indie ReCon, in association with The London Book Fair’s Book and Screen Week. a Rafflecopter giveaway

NO-CALORIE EASTER TREAT: A Time and a Place

Quick Reader's Quizz

Qu. 1

What does ‘Green Fairy’ mean to you?

A: Fauna in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty

B: Washing-up liquid

C: Absinthe


Image courtesy Creative Commons: The Green Fairy by Surian Soosay



Qu. 2


What does “black and white” make you think of?

A: Ebony and Ivory

B: 101 Dalmatians

C: The Specials


Image courtesy Creative Commons: The Specials by Chris Worden


Qu 3


The island across the Menai Strait in North Wales is called:

A: Tenby

B: Hornby

C: Anglesey


Image courtesy Creative Commons: Bioluminescence by Kris Williams

Qu 4
If society broke down and Wales went feral, what would you want in your pocket?

A: A gun

B: A rat

C: A ferret


Image courtesy Creative Commons: Roman inside a hat by schadenfreude

Qu 5

A woman’s place is:

A: In the kitchen, with a spatula

B: In the bedroom, with suspenders

C: In battle, with a sword


Image courtesy Creative Commons: Siria Palmira by Jose Javier Martin Espartosa

Qu 6


All’s fair in love and war. But when both collide, where does loyalty lie?

A: With your country, family and pride

B: With your lover and your heart

C: With yourself


Image courtesy Creative Commons: Suite Française by Eric Huybrechts

Qu 7


You uncover white-collar malpractice. Do you:

A: Turn a blind eye

B: Blow the whistle

C: Pull the trigger


Image courtesy Creative Commons: caution: itchy trigger finger by Flood G.



If you answered mainly C, I have just the thing. A Time & A Place – The Box Set.

Seven brilliant novels for less than the price of a large Easter egg, and calorie-free to boot!


Available for PRE-ORDER now exclusively from Amazon for a limited period, A Time & A Place will be officially released on Good Friday 3rd April 2015.

Praise for the Paperback

What do you prefer reading: e-books or paperbacks?
Read what we think on the Triskele blog today.

Indie Author Fair 2015

IAF is back for 2015 ... bigger, better and bang in the centre of London.

In partnership with The Alliance of Independent Authors, London Book Fair, Indie ReCon and Foyles Bookshop, Triskele Books are hosting the 2nd Indie Author Fair.

Read all about how you can attend here.

Flash 500 Fiction Competition Judge

When I was asked to judge the Flash 500 Fiction Fourth Quarter, 2014, little did I know the treat I was in for. A wide range of brilliantly-written short stories kept me reading late into the night.

My report: It is a great challenge to condense all the requirements of a good story – plot, pacing, dialogue and characterisation – into just 500 words, and firstly I want to say how much I enjoyed reading the twenty-five shortlisted stories, all of which met these criteria.

My congratulations to the authors of these excellent tales that made my task of choosing the winners extremely difficult. I read the shortlisted stories three times, over three different days, and selected my ten favourites. These ten I read three more times, and chose what were (for me) the best four.

Of course, my decision was, unavoidably, a little subjective, based not only on the criteria of good storytelling, but on my own personal taste. Another judge could easily have chosen four others, but for me, these four resonated the most.

These were the ones that evoked emotion: sadness, happiness, laughter, thoughtfulness. These were the stories I kept thinking about for days after I had read them.