Rock, Paper, Swords!: Recent Episodes
Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay
The Historical Action and Adventure Podcast.
Bestselling authors Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay chat about writing action and adventure stories, diving into some of the more quirky and unusual aspects of history, with a detour through music and its role in their process.
Each episode covers different exciting themes, often with brilliant guests who help shed light on what Matthew and Steven have decided to talk about that week.
What did it really mean to face death in the Roman arena? đïž
In this episode of Rock, Paper, Swords!, hosts Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill talk with historian and bestselling author Dr Harry Sidebottom about his new nonfiction book, Those Who Are About To Die: Gladiators and the Roman Mind.
Drawing on archaeology, ancient texts, and years of research, Harry reveals the brutal truth behind the Roman obsession with violence â and what gladiatorial combat tells us about their society, politics, and psyche.
đ„ In this episode:
âïž Who the gladiators really were â and what drove them to fight.
đïž How Romeâs arenas shaped identity, power, and the idea of civilisation.
đ The difference between myth and reality in our understanding of gladiators.
đĄïž What modern audiences can learn from Romeâs fascination with death and spectacle.
If youâre fascinated by ancient Rome, gladiators, or the mindset of empire, this episode is essential listening.
đ Get the book Those Who Are About To Die here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/14768/9781529154009
đ All podcast links: https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwords
What happens when a medieval manuscripts scholar teams up with a bestselling thriller writer? You get The Tales of the Lawless Land â a gripping historical adventure series set in the chaos of the 14th century.
In this episode of Rock, Paper, Swords!, hosts Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill sit down with Beth and Boyd Morrison, the brotherâsister duo behind the swashbuckling adventures of Gerard Fox and Willa.
We talk about:
âïž Writing medieval action with thriller pacing
đ The impact of the Black Death & the Hundred Yearsâ War
âȘ Excommunication, faith, and survival in the Middle Ages
đ Researching manuscripts, relics, and real historical locations
đĄïž Why Gerard Fox is like a âmedieval Jack Reacherâ
If you love historical adventure, medieval history, or the thrill of Templar secrets, this oneâs for you.
đ§ Listen & subscribe everywhere: Rock, Paper, Swords Podcast Links
Support the podcast:
https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswordshttps://www.patreon.com/c/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
đ„ Meet Tacfarinas â the forgotten African rebel who defied Rome under Emperor Tiberius.âïž Archaeologist Dr Joanne Ball reveals how his guerrilla war shook the empire and rivals Arminius and Spartacus.https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsSupport us on Patreon:â â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastđș Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to â â https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswordsWas Tacfarinas Romeâs forgotten rebel? In this episode of Rock Paper Swords, hosts Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill are joined by Dr Joanne Ball (archaeologist, historian, and author of Tacfarinas: An African Rebel Against Rome).We explore the extraordinary story of Tacfarinas, a Numidian soldier-turned-rebel who defied the Roman Empire under Emperor Tiberius. From guerrilla warfare in North Africa to comparisons with figures like Arminius and Spartacus, Tacfarinas nearly destabilised Romeâs control of the region for nearly a decade.Dr Ball reveals how archaeology, ancient sources, and modern research bring his story to life â and how Rome underestimated this desert fighter again and again.đč Topics covered:Tacfarinas and his revolt against RomeRoman North Africa under TiberiusComparisons with Arminius, Verus, and SpartacusGuerrilla tactics vs Roman legionsFolk memory and the legacy of Tacfarinas todayIf you love Roman history, rebellions, and the untold stories of Romeâs enemies, this episode is for you.đ Guest: Dr Joanne Ball â archaeologist, Roman battlefield specialist, author of Tacfarinas: An African Rebel Against Romeđ Hosts: Matthew Harffy (Bernicia Chronicles) & Justin Hill (Shieldwall, Viking Fire)đ Subscribe for more on Rome, Vikings, medieval warfare, and historical fiction. Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes!#Tacfarinas #RomanHistory #AncientRome #JoanneBall #Arminius #Tiberius #Spartacus #RomanEmpire #NorthAfrica #RockPaperSwords
Author Simon Tolkien (grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien) joins the Rock, Paper, Swords! podcast to talk about his powerful historical novels, his research into the Spanish Civil War, and his work with Amazonâs Rings of Power.â
https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwords
Support us on Patreon:â â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
đș Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to â â https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswords
In this interview, Simon shares how he moved from courtroom thrillers to sweeping historical fiction, why the 1930s still matter today, and how his grandfatherâs influence shaped his own writing journey.
Highlights:
Writing The Palace at the End of the Sea & The Room of Lost Steps
Researching the Spanish Civil War and 1930s New York
Insights on J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, and the First World War
Simonâs involvement in Amazonâs Rings of Power
Why history, memory, and storytelling still resonate today
If you love history, Tolkien, or epic storytelling, donât miss this episode!
Buy the books from our bookshop.org store:đThe Palace at the End of the Sea - https://uk.bookshop.org/a/14768/9781662528644
đThe Room of Lost Steps - https://uk.bookshop.org/a/14768/9781662528668
SimonTolkien #SpanishCivilWar #Tolkien #LordOfTheRings #RingsOfPower #HistoricalFiction #Podcast
Our guest today is Angus Donald, author of the Outlaw Chronicles, about a medieval gangster called Robin Hood, a 17th-century series about an unusual but rather brilliant chap called Holcroft Blood. And writing as Angus Macallan, he has also tried his hand at fantasy with the Gates of Stone.
We previously had Angus on the podcast to talk about his Fire Born series, set in 8th century Europe. His newest book, out at the end of August, is Templar Traitor, the first in a trilogy based on the true story of an Englishman who fought with the Mongols on the side of Genghis Khan.
Welcome to RPS, Angus.
https://angusdonaldbooks.com/
Buy Templar Traitor from the RPS Bookshop (affiliate link): https://uk.bookshop.org/a/14768/9781835980903
Link Tree:â â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ â
Support us on Patreon:â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ â
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to â https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswordsâ
Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel: How we sold over 750,000 books!
â https://mybook.to/RPSTipsForWriting
Todayâs guest is author, J.C. Duncan. He is the author of The Last Viking Series of novels about Harald Hardrada and the The Light of the North saga, a historical fantasy series set in a world where the Vikings clash with Christian Crusaders. As well as writing, J.C. Duncan is also a bladesmith and there canât be much cooler than forging blades!
Justin of course had a novel about Harald Hardrada, so I think this is going to be a very interesting chat!
Welcome to RPS, J.C. Duncan.
https://jcduncan.co.uk/
https://lorescape.gg/get/
Link Tree:â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ
Support us on Patreon: â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswords
Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel: How we sold over 750,000 books!
https://mybook.to/RPSTipsForWriting
â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ
Support us on Patreon: â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswords
Adam Lofthouse is the author of action-packed historical fiction set in ancient Rome, such as The Path of Nemesis trilogy, and The Enemy of the Empire books. His latest series,
The Shadow of Rome, starts with Eagle and the Flame, which is out soon.
Welcome to RPS, Adam Lofthouse!
Buy Adam's books: https://www.adamlofthouse.com/
Other books mentioned:
The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy:https://amzn.eu/d/6B3ABys
24 Hours in Ancient Rome: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There by Dr Philip Matyszak: https://amzn.eu/d/5UI6O7o
Sex and Sexuality in Ancient Rome by L.J. Trafford: https://amzn.eu/d/9pX9Aew
Rock, Paper, Swords is three years old!
In this episode, Matthew and Steven take a look back at some of the highlights of the last three years and then turn to the future with a very big announcement!
Don't miss this one!
Link Tree:â â â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ â â
Support us on Patreon:â â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ â â
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading toâ â https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswords
Patricia Bracewell's website: https://www.patriciabracewell.com/
Link Tree:â â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ â
Support us on Patreon:â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ â
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading toâ â https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswords
Patricia Bracewell is the author of the Emma of Normandy trilogy, which started with her first novel, Shadow on the Crown and concluded with The Steel Beneath the Silk. She served as Writer in Residence at Gladstoneâs Library in Wales and has appeared at many Literary Festivals and writing conferences in the U.S. and the U.K.
We had the pleasure of meeting Patricia in Devon last year, so it is great to have a chance for a longer conversation now.
Welcome to RPS, Patricia!
Pete Brown's website: https://www.petebrown.net/
Link Tree:â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ
Support us on Patreon: â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to â buymeacoffee.com/rockpaperswords
Pete Brown is a British author, journalist, broadcaster and consultant specialising in food and drink, especially the fun parts like beer and cider. He writes for newspapers and magazines around the world and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4âs Food Programme. He was named British Beer Writer of the Year in 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2021, and Fortnum and Mason Online Drinks Writer of the Year in 2015. In 2020 he was named an âIndustry Legendâ at the Imbibe Hospitality Awards.
We chatted with him about alcohol brewing and drinking by the Babylonians, Romans, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, medieval folk, and more. It's a fascinating interview, don't miss it!
Welcome to RPS, Pete Brown!
M.J. Porter is an author of historical fiction and nonfiction. She has written about Anglo-Saxons and Vikings as well as three twentieth-century mysteries and Viking age/dragon themed fantasy.
She is a prolific hybrid author, with independently published and traditionally published books.
We met up with MJ at the HNS Conference last year for a quick chat, which you can listen to in a previous episode, but we knew we had to get her back on for a full episode. So welcome back to RPS, M.J. Porter.
https://www.mjporterauthor.com/
Link Tree:â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ
Support us on Patreon: â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to â buymeacoffee.com/rockpaperswords
Link Tree:â https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwordsâ
Support us on Patreon: â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to â buymeacoffee.com/rockpaperswords
Buy UPRISING, this week's sponsor from Paul Bernardi! Buy link for Paul Bernardi's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F38L728Z
We donât have a guest today, instead Steven and I are going to talk about something that has been in the news this week and its impact on history and how we perceive the finality of historical events. But before that weâre going to give you some updates on what weâve been up to and some changes to our Patreon.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g9ejy3gdvo
https://time.com/7274542/colossal-dire-wolf/
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/407781/these-fluffy-white-wolves-explain-everything-wrong-with-bringing-back-extinct-animals
Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwords
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
Buy us a beer and get a shoutout by heading to buymeacoffee.com/rockpaperswordsOur guest today has designed countless book covers, including all of Stevenâs independently published books! Oliver Bennett is a graphic designer and co-founder of MoreVisual, a graphic design and digital media company based in Leicester, England.
Founded in 2013, More Visual specialises in a wide range of graphic design services such as website design, logo design, and corporate identity design. You can find everything a writer might need on More Visualâs author portal: https://bookartwork.com/
Welcome to RPS, Oliver Bennett!
Support us on Patreon: â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ Hailing from Staffordshire, James Wright has been involved with the world of archaeology for over twenty years. Both Archaeologist and conservation stonemason, James combined both disciplines as Archaeological and Historic Buildings Assistant at Nottinghamshire County Council between 2004-2010, where he ran the Castles of Nottinghamshire Project. James then moved on to work as a buildings archaeologist and historic stone specialist for the Museum of London Archaeology until the autumn of 2016. He has worked in several areas of the heritage sector but his principle interest is buildings archaeology and he has experience of working on properties from the eleventh to twentieth century. In 2020, James began writing the Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog which investigates and debunks commonly believed and repeated stories about ancient buildings. This project has subsequently been picked up as a book option â Historic Building Mythbusting â by The History Press and will be released on 6 June 2024.
Welcome to RPS, James Wright.
Useful links: https://triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords
If you enjoy the show please leave us a 5 star review where you can, and spread the word!
Historical Novel Society Conference 2024!
I don't think Diana Gabaldon needs much of an introduction! We were lucky enough to sit down with her at the conference for an interview. Author of the Outlander novels which have also been made into the HUGELY successful Starz TV show, Diana was funny, friendly, generous with her time, and gave us probably the best answer EVER to the question, "What do you listen to when you write?" Do NOT miss this interview! We talked about her planned novel Red Ant's Head, how her lead female character guided her to create the Outlander series, and, of course, Dwarf Metal! https://www.dianagabaldon.com/
Windrose - "Diggy Diggy Hole" -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34CZjsEI1yU
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/
HNS 2024!
The last of our roving interviews, we have three brilliant authors for you here, give the episode a listen and check out their work!
Patricia Bracewell
Elizabeth R Andersen
Jan Foster
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! â patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
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.
â MICHAEL JECKSâ
â CHRISTOPHER M. CEVASCOâ
â KELLY URGANâ
â VICTORIA HOPKINSâ
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! â patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
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 wasnât 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 Peopleâs 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
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 Writersâ 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!
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.
â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ â
Today Matthew interviews Steven and they discuss Sword of the Saxons, book 2 in the Alfred the Great trilogy.
Vikings, great battles, Athelney, and, most importantly, did Alfred burn the cakes?! Find out in this episode and be sure to buy the book HERE.
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.
â â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ â â
We've been invited to cover the 2024 Historical Novel Society conference this year as the official roving podcasters! Bernard Cornwell, Diana Gabaldon, Kate Quinn, and loads more huge names in historical fiction will be there and we can't wait to bring you all the news and gossip from the event. Find out more in this short bonus episode!
You can also find out more at the HNS website -
https://hns2024.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.
â â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ â Today Steven interviews Matthew Harffy about his brand new book - Dark Frontier! This is a real change for Matthew as the novel is a western, his first ever. So we chat cowboys, the problem of realism/racism, research, movies, and more.
Check it out, and be sure to buy your copy of DARK FRONTIER!
Buy now: https://mybook.to/HarffyDarkFrontier
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.
â https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcastâ
Katie Daysh is an author from the Isle of Wight who loves to explore unheard voices in fiction. In her historical fiction, she enjoys placing queer characters at the heart of the narrative. Her stories are often set on the sea and illuminate themes of friendship, loyalty and mental health issues. Her debut novel, Leeward, was published by Canelo in 2023, followed by The Devil to Pay in 2024.
Useful links:
https://www.katiedaysh.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
This episode is sponsored by Paul Bernardi's brand new historical thriller Blood Feud. Please check it out HERE!
On today's episode we're talking about what IS "historical fiction". It's a genre that seems to encapsulate so many other genres, crime, thrillers, action and adventure⊠but what actually makes a story historical fiction?
The Historical Novel Society defines the genre as works "written at least fifty years after the events described". Do you agree with that? What about alternative history? What about novels that were written as contemporary fiction but are now hundreds of years old? What about fiction set in a time SO remote that it's essentially speculative? We discuss these points and more!
Take a listen to this fascinating topic and please let us know what you think constitutes "historical fiction".
Useful links:
Support us on one of our 3 tiers on Patreon - patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_fiction
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
Our guest today is Paul Finch. Paul Finch is an English author and scriptwriter. He has a diverse and very successful career, from the popular TV programme The Bill, to horror and fantasy stories and films, Doctor Who spin-off stories and the incredibly successful gritty crime series of DS Mark Heck Heckenberg novels, with over 1 MILLION book sales!
Paulâs latest pivot has been to move into the historical fiction genre, writing under the name P.W. Finch. USURPER, set in the cataclysmic year of 1066, was published earlier this year.Â
Welcome to RPS, Paul.
Our guest today is 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.Â
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.
Our guest today is Ethan Bale, author of The Swords of the White Rose series.
Book 1, Hawker and the King's Jewel came out last year and the follow up, The Lost Prince, has just been published.
Ethan Bale (Clifford Beal), is a former defence journalist. Despite writing about modern military technology for much of his career, he was always passionate about history, particularly the Renaissance and early modern Europe.Â
Over the years he has been flung about in military aircraft, trained in 17th century rapier, fired flintlock pistols, messed about in boats, and ridden both horses and motorcycles. These days he is usually found wielding a pen and not a sword.
Welcome to RPS, Ethan!
Our guest today is Darren Hardy, manager of the UK Author and Editorial Programmes at Amazon. Before that Darren was UK Manager for Kindle Direct Publishing. With nearly 20 years working at Amazon, Darren is the perfect person to answer all our questions about what goes on behind the scenes at KDP and what new and exciting plans Amazon has for the future.
Join us today as we chat about things like:
The Kindle Storyteller Award - how to enter, and what you can win (20 grand!)
The "magic formula" for understanding Amazon's algorithms (there isn't one!)
Amazon's new book categories and how to use them best
Amazon's charts
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it might affect KDP in future be it for "writing" nonsensical books, or affecting the charts
Paperback printing
And a load more!
If you have a question that we didn't ask Darren please post it here, or on our social media pages and we'll pass them on!
https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and Twitter @rock_swords
Our guest today is Jason Kingsley, an incredibly successful businessman and a technologist who is also obsessed with the past. He is CEO of Rebellion Developments, game developers responsible for such games as Alien Vs Predator and the hugely popular Sniper Elite. Rebellion Publishing purchased 2000AD in 2000, and publishes comics featuring some amazing characters such as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Roy of the Rovers, and Slaine.
In 2017 Jason started a medieval history YouTube channel called Modern History TV, along with his brother Chris Kingsley, and senior producer Brian Jenkins, under the banner of Rebellion Productions. The YouTube channel has over three quarters of a million subscribers and provides a wealth of information. He also hosts the podcast, Future Imperfect.
In 2012, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for service to the economy.Â
Jason has a brand new book due out on July 18th 2023, Leading the Rebellion: Questing to Succeed in Work and Life
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Chief Judge Kingsley! ;-)
Alex Gough is an author of Roman historical adventures. The Carbo Chronicles, including Watchmen of Rome and Bandits of Rome, was written as a result of a lifelong obsession with ancient Rome, and the culmination of a lot of research into the underclasses of the time. He has also written a collection of adventures following Carbo and other characters from Watchmen of Rome, where you can learn more about their rich lives.
Alex loves our theme song so much that he recorded a cool tribute to it which you can find at the end of the episode.
If you're a musician and want to record your own cover version, send it to us and we'll use it in a future episode (unless it's really, REALLY bad lol)!
This is a super short episode just to give listeners an update on how we're planning on moving forward with the podcast. Matthew's latest book, "Forest of Foes", gets a paperback release, and Steven has also just made a brand new MODERN DAY short story available for pre-order, called "Have You Seen This?" so we discuss those a little bit too.
Enjoy, and we really hope you liked the latest episode with Robin Warder of The Trail Went Cold podcast. Look out for our next episode on June 23rd which features an interview with bestselling historical author ALEX GOUGH!
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? buy link (FREE with Kindle Unlimited!)
FOREST OF FOES paperback buy link (also FREE with Kindle Unlimited!)
TRIGGER WARNING! At 13:16 there's a VERY creepy answerphone message, listener discretion advised, don't listen alone in the dark... Todayâs guest Robin Warder has written articles for various websites including Cracked.com, but heâs most well known for his excellent podcast The Trail Went Cold which is a true crime podcast heâs been doing since 2016, publishing more than 300 episodes in that time.
You may be wondering what this has to do with "historical action and adventure" but readers of Steven's Forest Lord novellas Faces of Darknessand Sworn to Godwill know they were based on true stories - true stories covered in episodes of The Trail Went Cold! We chat about those in this episode, and much more. This is something a little different and we really hope you enjoy it.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Robin!
Trail Went Cold episode 18, Cindy James (Faces of Darkness inspiration) - https://www.trailwentcold.com/2016/10/12/the-trail-went-cold-episode-18-cindy-james/
Trail Went Cold 159 (Sworn to God inspiration) - https://www.trailwentcold.com/2020/01/29/the-trail-went-cold-episode-159-charles-southern/
Robin's articles on Cracked.com (brilliant stuff this!) - https://www.cracked.com/members/Robinwarder
Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, is a hot topic at the moment. Perhaps the HOTTEST topic. It is cropping up in the news every day and there are predictions that it will take our jobs away or even take over the world! It probably isnât quite as dire as those predictions would have us believe, but there is no doubt that AI generated text and images are here to stay, not to mention many other uses that we havenât even foreseen yet. There will be impacts on our daily lives and creatives are especially worried about their livelihoods as computers become more and more adept at doing what only humans could do till now.
Weâre not experts on the subject and it is a HUGE subject, but we thought weâd have a quick chat about what AI can do now, what it might be able to do in the future and some of the complex issues arising as a result of this new technology.
Cover image was created by AI from directions Matthew gave it. It's supposed to be Beobrand from his Bernicia Chronicles lmao!
Ben Kane will need little introduction to many of our listeners, but here goes anyway. Ben is a historical fiction novelist, best known for his books set in the ancient world, particularly the Roman empire. His series include The Forgotten Legion, Spartacus, and the Hannibal series of books.Â
In 2013, Ben along with fellow novelists Anthony Riches and Russell Whitfield - walked the entire length of Hadrian's Wall for charity, wearing full Roman military kit. Then in 2014, they walked again in, but this time in Italy, raising over ÂŁ26,500. A film was made of their walk, entitled The Road to Rome with Sir Ian McKellen providing the voiceover.
More recently, Ben has diversified into the medieval period with a trilogy of novels about Richard the Lionheart. His new book, published on 25th May 2023 is, Napoleonâs Spy and marks a further time shift into the early 19th century.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Ben!
Peter Gibbons is an author based in Kildare, Ireland. He completed a Law Degree in Liverpool University before embarking on a career in the Insurance Industry.
After many years working in the UK & Ireland he decided to follow his dreams and wrote his debut novel, Viking Blood and Blade.
After smashing into the independently published historical fiction scene in 2021, he had his second series picked up by a publisher and went on to win the prestigious Kindle Storyteller Award in 2022.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Peter!
Incredibly, we managed to get an interview with the legendary Tull frontman (Steven's favourite band in case you didn't hear him mention it on every previous episode...)!
Ian talked with us about the brand new, rocking Jethro Tull album RökFlöte, Norse mythology, Vladimir Putin appearing at a Tull meet-and-greet, the time journalists demanded details of his upcoming gender reassignment surgery, Broadsword 40th Anniversary boxset details, Under Wraps getting REAL drums, how he's a "bit of a fan" of Motörhead despite the umlauts, bands like Mötley CrĂŒe using backing tapes on stage instead of playing completely live, how performing helps his asthma (not COPD!), how work is going on the NEXT album and its planned release date, and how he's a cranky old guy like Morrissey these days!
We were told we'd get, at most, 45 minutes with Ian but we ended up chatting for over 80 minutes and it was just brilliant. We think you'll enjoy this episode. Give it a listen and check out RökFlöte, it's superb!
On todayâs episode weâre going to talk about the first thing that most readers see before theyâve read a single word of a book. The old adage goes that one should never judge a book by its cover, but we all know that the majority of people do just that.
A great cover can get a prospective reader to take a chance on a new author, and a bad cover can put people off, even though the story might be amazing.
Weâll take a look at some of the things that make covers work and also talk about our own journey with the covers to our books and the decisions weâve taken.
NOTES
Stevenâs cover designers, More Visual - https://bookartwork.com/historical/
The first cover for The Abbey of Death - https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1757691654257875&set=a.146569898703400
Blog post about creating the axe for Wolf of Wessex - https://bernicia-chronicles.blogspot.com/2019/06/art-imitating-art-birth-of-axe.html
Original The Serpent Sword cover - https://bernicia-chronicles.blogspot.com/2015/02/potential-cover-reveal-serpent-sword.html
Lots of great quotes/tips in this article: https://nybookeditors.com/2016/10/create-standout-book-cover-beginners/
Tools:
https://www.canva.com/create/book-covers/
https://www.fotor.com/design/book-cover
https://www.visme.co/book-cover-maker/
https://www.adobe.com/express/create/cover/book
Another episode and another musician guest. Todd Kerns (aka Todd "Dammit" Kerns) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is most noted for being the bass player and backup singer in âSlash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspiratorsâ, and for being the front man of âThe Age of Electricâ. His latest album is with Heroes and Monsters and it ROCKS! Check this out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-KGpbcH8qU&ab_channel=FrontiersMusicsrl
While touring the world, playing to sold out audiences, he has had the opportunity to share the stage with some of rock's biggest names, including some of his own personal heroes including Slash, Lemmy, Alice Cooper, Duff McKagan, Fergie, Bill Murray, Sammy Hagar and many more.
Having played with so much rock royalty, that must make Todd âRock Nobilityâ at the very least!
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Todd!
David Gilman has worked as a firefighter, professional photographer, he was a soldier in the Parachute Regimentâs Reconnaissance Platoon and a Marketing Manager for an international publishing company in South Africa. From 2000 until 2009 he was principal writer on the TV series A Touch Of Frost.Â
His MASTER OF WAR series follows the fortunes of Thomas Blackstone, a village stonemason in England sent to fight with King Edwardâs army as an archer against the French in the 14th century in the 100 years war.
David is also the author of two standalone novels for adults, The Last Horseman, set during the Boer War and Night Flight to Paris, a WW2 novel that pits a reluctant hero against the Nazi forces in Paris in 1943.
The Englishman is a new thriller series introducing Dan Raglan, a contemporary knight errant who served in the French Foreign Legion. The second book in the series, Betrayal, published in 2022, was followed by Resurrection, in 2023.
His DANGER ZONE YA adventure series, featuring plucky hero Max Gordon. THE DEVILâS BREATH won the prestigious French award, Le Prix Polar Jeunesse, was shortlisted for the Manchester Book Award and the Spellbinding Award, nominated for the Carnegie Medal, and picked for the UK governmentâs recommended reading list for boys. It was also shortlisted for the 2010-2011 Isinglass Teen Read Award in New Hampshire, USA.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, David!
It's a first for us here at RPS - an album review! Well, ROCK, paper, swords, right? There's two very good reasons for us doing this review (even putting aside the fact Steven is Tull's biggest fan):
1 - We were sent advance copies of the album, so it's only fair we did our best to listen to it and get an honest review out before the album is released. So here it is!
2 - Ian Anderson is hopefully going to be a guest on this very podcast, to chat about his career and RökFlöte in particular. It's an album based on Norse/Viking mythology/religion so it is absolutely perfect for us to review and discuss, given both Matthew and Steven are writing/have written books about the Vikings. Truly a match made in Valhalla!
We hope you enjoy this bonus episode and check out the album when it's released on the 21st of April. It's FANTASTIC as you'll hear in our review. You can pre-order it here:
https://jethrotullband.lnk.to/RokFlote
Huge thanks to Inside Out Records, Ian Anderson, and The Publicity Connection for the review copies of the album!
Stay tuned for our regular episode this Friday, as historical novelist and screenwriter David Gilman is our guest. You don't want to miss it...
We've both just started work on our new books. Join us to hear about the process. Research, challenges, pressures, deadlines, and, of course, fun! You probably already know that Steven's writing about Alfred the Great and the Vikings, but listen to find out what new historical period Matthew is venturing into...
The King Alfred coin - https://twitter.com/SA_McKay/status/1641745580954189827?s=20
We are delighted to have another musician on todayâs episode. Gregory Spawton is the founder of progressive rock band, Big Big Train.
Big Big Train have released 14 studio albums and several live performances too.
Big Big Train have been named Prog magazineâs Band of the Year on numerous occasions as well as winning Progâs Album Of The Year awards several times. Their most recent album, Welcome To The Planet, was released on 28 January 2022.
Gregory is also now a publisher. Formed in 2019, Kingmaker is a book publisher dedicated to the rock music sector. It is run by Gregory and Prog magazine journalist/Big Big Train manager Nick Shilton.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Gregory!
https://www.bigbigtrain.com/
IAN ROSS is the author of the âTwilight of Empireâ series, six historical novels set in the early 4th century AD, the era of the Roman emperor Constantine.
The first of the series, âWar at the Edge of the Worldâ, was published in the UK in 2015, and the sixth, âTriumph in Dust", in 2019. His books have subsequently been published in the USA, Australia, Spain and Italy.
His forthcoming novel, âBattle Songâ, the first of a trilogy set in medieval England, will be published by Hodder & Stoughton on March 30th 2023.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Ian Ross!
The second of our episodes where we answer questions sent in by listeners. Some great ones again here, really got us thinking and we both enjoyed it! If you have any more for us, please do send them via Facebook, Twitter or our websites.Â
Next week we'll have a longer episode with another AMAZING guest (the one and only IAN ROSS!), but we'll do more episodes answering your questions if we get enough of them.
www.matthewharffy.com
www.stevenamckay.com
During the 90s Giles Kristian was lead singer of pop group Upside Down, achieving four top twenty hit records! As a singer-songwriter he lived and toured for two years in Europe and has made music videos all over the world.
Giles is half-Norwegian and his family history inspired him to write his first historical novels: the acclaimed and bestselling RAVEN Viking trilogy. For his next series, he drew on a long-held fascination with the English Civil War to chart the fortunes of a family divided by this brutal conflict in The Bleeding Land and Brothersâ Fury. Giles also co-wrote Wilbur Smithâs No.1 bestseller, Golden Lion. In The Rise of Sigurd novels he returned to the world of the Vikings. His Sunday Times bestseller, Lancelot, is currently in development for TV. He followed Lancelot with Camelot, and now, Where Blood Runs Cold is his debut contemporary thriller.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Giles Kristian!
We recently posted on Twitter and Facebook asking for listener questions. Today we're going to answer some of those questions and they really provoked some interesting responses from Matthew and Steven! Weâll be answering more in a future episode and it might well become a regular thing, so if you have any questions youâd like us to answer, post them in our social media.We checked after the recording, and the last Aurochs was killed in the 17th century! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs
Another bonus episode! We chat about the brand new FULL theme song and how it came about, and we also have a couple of pretty BIG announcements, so tune in, and don't drop out!
https://www.canelo.co/news/2023-02-22-canelo-set-to-publish-a-great-series-by-steven-a-mckay/
So many people have told us they really enjoy the short intro/outro music we recorded for the podcast so...We've written a full four minute theme song complete with daft cheesy lyrics, full-on rock vocals, and searing guitar solos (two of the buggers!). It's just a bit of fun, we hope you like it...
Look out for another bonus episode tomorrow with some news about the podcast!
Dio, Maiden, Queen,
And everything in between,
If you like your rock,
Come hear us talk,
And we'll keep it (mostly) clean
We chat about writing scenes,
And native British greens,
Adventure and action,
Get your book traction,
It's the podcast of your dreams
RPS chorus
History comes to life,
With a wicked Saxon knife,
Lord of the Rings,
And other things,
Enjoy it with your wife
From cowboys to ancient celts,
We'll tell you just how it smelt,
With special guests,
We're druid blessed,
We're gonna make faces melt!
Guitar solos
Chorus
Dan Jones is a bestselling historian, TV presenter and award-winning journalist. His books, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide, include THE PLANTAGENETS, THE TEMPLARS, THE HOLLOW CROWN. His book CRUSADERS was published in autumn 2019. He co-authored the Sunday Times bestseller THE COLOUR OF TIME and THE WORLD AFLAME, published in March 2020, with Marina Amaral.
Dan has also written and presented numerous TV series including 'Secrets of Great British Castles' (Netflix, Channel 5), 'Britainâs Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets' and 'London: 2000 Years of History'.
Most recently Dan's historical fiction debut, ESSEX DOGS, the first installment in a trilogy set during the Hundred Years War, was published by Head of Zeus on 15 September 2022.
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Dan Jones!
Slaine from 2000AD. Sherlock Holmes. Dr Who. Primeval. Stargate. Return of the Jedi. Ghost-writing for genuine legends of the rap and hip-hop scene.... Our guest today is probably the most prolific and best-selling author you've never heard of! And he also writes for games, including the major Xbox/Playstation hit, Battlefield 3! Â
Not only that, he used to write the odd story for classic "top-shelf" magazines like Fiesta and Escort, and no, those were NOT about 80's motor cars, they were FAR sexier than an RS2000 or XR2... Â
Join us today, as we chat with Steven Savile!
That's right! We interview one of THE best loved historical fiction authors of the past twenty years today - Simon Scarrow! Join us as we chat about his writing, his upcoming musical (yep, you read that right), Romans, and loads more.
First ever image on the internet - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Horribles_Cernettes
Matthew and Steven chat this week with a musician for a change! Dr Mark Deeks is a choirmaster, as well as the piano player for one of Steven's favourite black metal bands, Winterfylleth, and also has his own "monastic doom metal" project called Ard. Ard put out a concept album which is kind of a historical novel in musical form so we were really happy to get Mark on the podcast and discuss a broad range of topics.Â
Mark also gives piano lessons online HERE
Ard Bandcamp page
Winterfylleth Bandcamp page
Ard Lindisfarne Mead bundles
Youtube video of Winterfylleth performing "The Hallowing of Heirdom", one of their most beautiful songs.Â
Theme music by Steven and Matthew. The short piece of music at the outro is Steven's attempt at doom metal!
Just a very short message to wish our listeners all the best for the coming year. Thank you ALL for joining us in 2022, hope to see you again in 2023!Â
www.matthewharffy.com
www.stevenamckay.com
Another fantastic guest this week, as Christian (also known as Miles) Cameron joins Steven and Matthew to chat about his books, research, re-enactments, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, being a member of US Intelligence, and loads more!Â
Christian's website - https://christiancameronauthor.com/
Christmas a humbug?! Join the boys as they look at all sorts of winter traditions, ancient and modern, from Saturnalia shenanigans to Yule logs to "old" movies.
If you like Christmas stories, check out Steven's brand new novelette, The Pedlar's Promise,Â
and Matthew has a new novel out too, Forest of Foes!
Burning a Yule log - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw3unDRU6Eg&ab_channel=CountryDirtKid
Christmas Past podcast Â
Total Christmas podcast  (from which I stole the terrible joke....)
Santa or Father Christmas had been pictured with a red coat on hundreds of years before Coca-Cola, but the modern image of Santa is clearly based on the 1930's Coke adverts IMO (Steven).
Matthew and Steven are chatting this week with Jean Gill. The interview covered a lot of really interesting subjects so we're sure you'll enjoy the episode! Look out for our Christmas special next, and then we'll have our first interview with a musician early in 2023, with lots more fantastic guests lined up for the coming year!
LINKS to things mentioned in the chat:
Here is the jet ski guy on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mfroos
This was also nice: https://youtu.be/00dGeSzoLdg
I'm assuming you've found the Draken Harald HĂ„rfagre channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XORSpUUy0lQ
This was useful too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NGQF_xbOTA
website jeangill.com
Youtube
The Making of a Knife Named Silk-Splitter https://youtu.be/GnHwwXuLGqo
Viking music:
Eolya: the HĂĄvamĂĄl Album
Danheim https://youtu.be/KvyGq05xSkc https://youtu.be/st-ZjwCy4uo
Dr Jackson Crawford https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford
The voyage of the Sea Stallion https://youtu.be/Q8jhnrNHk3g
Books to read
Secrets of the Viking Navigators - Leif K Karlsen
Fantasy novel - The World Breaker's Requiem - Luke Tarzian
The annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #SPFBO8
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2022/05/spfbo-8-self-published-fantasy-blog-off.html
Since last week's interview with Carol McGrath had some audio issues that forced us to shorten it somewhat we thought we'd put out this little bonus episode as a bit of fun - a freebie if you will! We read out some funny or just odd reviews of our own books. This was something Steven suggested because he thought it would be a right laugh but, in fact, as we started putting together the material for the episode it became clear reading 1 star reviews of our stuff wasn't as hilarious as we'd expected - it was actually a bit depressing! So this is a short bonus rather than a full length episode. Enjoy! ;-)
We'll have a regular episode next week as usual, and we'll be discussing what we use to research our novels. Books, websites, podcasts....Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode, and please do leave a 5 star rating if you enjoy what we're doing!
Today we are chatting with bestselling author Carol McGrath. She's written books like The Handfasted Wife and Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England. We had a good long discussion with Carol but there were some audio issues which forced us to cut down the episode. Hopefully you still enjoy the interview!
To make up for the slightly shorter episode, we'll be dropping an extra BONUS episode next week in which we read out some dodgy reviews of our own books, so look out for that, it's just a bit of fun...
Carol McGrath - Following a first degree in English and History, Carol McGrath completed an MA in Creative Writing from The Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University Belfast, followed by an MPhil in English from University of London
The Handfasted Wife, first in a trilogy about the royal women of 1066 was shortlisted for the RoNAS in 2014. The Swan-Daughter and The Betrothed Sister complete this highly acclaimed trilogy.
https://carolcmcgrath.co.uk/
The boys discuss the history of Hallowe'en! Includes some chat on Steven's spooky novella Knight of the Cross, and Matthew's short tale, Kin of Cain. Sleep paralysis, black eyed kids, folklore, Beowulf, pumpkin and turnip carving, and loads more... Turn out the lights and lock the doors for this fun look at everyone's favourite spooky night of the year!
Matthew and Steven discuss the music they listen to while writing and just enjoy in general. Rock, classical, black metal, it's all over the place here! Join us to find out how music affects our writing process...Â
Even includes a song Matthew recorded a few years ago with a band - it's awesome, you need to hear it! The band can be found here: https://purplefishband1.weebly.com/ Â The track is called "Sail On" and was written by Roger Marsh and Matthew Harffy.
ENSLAVED - Below The Lights full album: https://youtu.be/z6rA6pXi53g
BATHORY - Hammerheart full album: https://youtu.be/dvCHHYwGjfY
OPETH - "Black Rose Immortal": https://youtu.be/XLkSFOvhyeI
WINTERFYLLETH - "The Shepherd": https://youtu.be/bsAIkI7llBI
CRAFT - White Noise and Black Metal full album: https://youtu.be/MiCLnDDZ4w0
Another BONUS EPISODE this week, as Matthew and Steven got to chat with their literary hero, Bernard Cornwell, for this episode of the podcast.
We found out some big news about his forthcoming book, Sharpe's Command, talked about his love of acting, The Last Kingdom series, the King Arthur books and new TV show, Merlin's 'magic', and even picked up some great writing tips.
We loved speaking with the man who inspired us both to write and we're sure you'll enjoy listening to him!
Bernard mentioned that he had been reading the Pacific War Trilogy by Ian W. Toll and recommended them to anyone interested in that history. The trilogy is made up of:
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944Â
Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945
Bernard's website - https://www.bernardcornwell.net/
The Last Kingdom - https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80074249
Matthew and Steven chat with Irish author Tim Hodkinson.
Includes a rather amusing anecdote about one of the extras in Game of Thrones!
Find out more about Tim's books - Vikings, Templars and more - here: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/tim-hodkinson/
Main theme music for the intro and outro was written, recorded and copyrighted by Steven A. McKay and Matthew Harffy.
Background music:
Langhus BurningÂ
Matthew and Steven have spent the morning watching the first two episodes of Amazon's new show based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - RINGS OF POWER. In this special bonus episode they talk about their first impressions of this highly anticipated (and vilified by people who've never even seen it) new show.
Is the casting any good? What about the music? How does it look? Can it compare to the Peter Jackson movies? What the hell is a 'harfoot'?Â
IS IT ACTUALLY ANY GOOD?Â
And we also address the burning question so many people had when the trailers started to appear: Is it ruined by being too "woke"?!
Join us on Rock, Paper, Swords! to find out the answer to these questions, and much more. And don't forget, we'll be back again next week with another episode as usual.Â
Matthew and Steven take a look back at Peter Jackson's trilogy of Lord of the Rings films. Find out what they love about the movies and what they don't like quite as much.
Other non-Tolkien penned books mentioned in this episode:
The Sword of Shannara - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15575.The_Sword_of_Shannara
Journeys of Frodo - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/938210.Journeys_of_Frodo
Author Robyn Young (who also writes modern thrillers as Erin Young) joins Matthew and Steven to discuss writing, pen-names, research and much more, including the forthcoming TV show based on her novel The Fields.Â
Matthew and Steven discuss a handful of action and adventure books (including some of their own!) and how their very first lines/paragraphs draw the reader in.
Bernard Cornwell's The Lords of the North
David Gemmell's The Swords of Night and Day
Steven A. McKay's Lucia and Rise of the Wolf
Matthew Harffy's The Serpent Swordand The Wolf of Wessex
Theme music, "Rock, Paper, Swords" © Steven A. McKay and Matthew Harffy.
Background music in this episode:
"Ambient Sinister"
"Towards the Mountains"
"Where The Brave May Live Forever"
In which we chat about anachronisms in historical fiction (food related ones) and general points of interest in the historical culinary field. And then we discuss weapons, including spears, swords, and seaxs. And Steven exclusively reveals the title of his next Warrior Druid of Britain novel!
To join in with our giveaway, share our Rock, Paper, Swords! pages on social media and let us know you've done so before the end of July 2022 to be in with a chance of winning the signed books! Links below:
Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
Twitter page - https://twitter.com/rock_swords
Stephen Lawhead's Taliesin - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/73906.Taliesin
Lindybeige Youtube video "Spears are better than swords" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLLv8E2pWdk&ab_channel=Lindybeige
Skallagrim Youtube video "The Spear - Weapon of Kings? Or just a pointy stick?" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVQbSl9vXwA&ab_channel=Skallagrim
Scholagladiatoria Youtube video - "Where did they put spears when not fighting?" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2dHETK96jE&ab_channel=scholagladiatoria
Art imitating art: The birth of an axe. Blog post about the making of Dunston's axe that appears on the cover of Wolf of Wessex - http://bernicia-chronicles.blogspot.com/2019/06/art-imitating-art-birth-of-axe.html
Our first episode! Find out who we are and what our plans are for this new podcast. As the title suggests, we'll be looking at action and adventure from the perspective of historical fiction authors, but we'll also be diving into more general writing questions and, of course, there'll be a little talk about rock music and how it helps us be creative.
Please SUBSCRIBE, and join Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay every fortnight for chat, tips, and interviews with some of your favourite authors.
To join in with our giveaway, share our Rock, Paper, Swords! pages on social media and let us know you've done so before the end of July 2022 to be in with a chance of winning the signed books! Links below:
Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
Twitter page - https://twitter.com/rock_swords
A very short introduction to Rock, Paper, Swords! Join us on July 1st 2022 for our first full episode.