Rock, Paper, Swords!

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

HNS 2024! While we were at the Conference we conducted some roving interviews - in the grounds of Dartington Hall, or even in the White Hart pub! Check out the first three of them, collected here in one short bonus episode. They are also available on our YouTube channel is videos. AD Rhine are a pair of friends who write novels about the Trojan War. CC Humphreys is an actor, playwright and novelist. He's appeared in The Bill and Coronation St which will impress our fellow Brits! His books look superb too! Tracey Warr is a novelist and she also organised the Conference so we owe her a huge THANK YOU for inviting us and making all these interviews possible. 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

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.)

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/

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/

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/

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/

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/

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

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/

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

Support us 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 A classic episode from 2023 when our guest was Dr Joanne Ball! Joanne is a Roman archaeologist and battlefield archaeologist based at the University of Liverpool, with a PhD in Archaeology on the subject of Roman battlefield archaeology.  She is a regular contributor to several magazines focused on ancient history and was co-editor of Ancient World Magazine. And is soon to have published the Publius Quinctilius Varus: The Man Who Lost Three Roman Legions in the Teutoburg Disaster. Welcome to RPS, Joanne.

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/ 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

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/

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!