The Kraals of Ulundi - David Ebsworth - Author Interview

Today I am very pleased to welcome author David Ebsworth to the blog, with an interview as part of his blog tour. David's new novel is The Kraals of Ulundi: A Novel of the Zulu War.

Welcome to the blog David!

Hello Lindsay, and thanks for hosting this stop on the tour. It’s great to be here.

Please could you tell us a bit about your new book The Kraals of Ulundi: A Novel of the Zulu War?

Yes, of course. It’s set in 1879 and tells the story of the unprovoked invasion of Zululand in a South African land-grab that British history likes to call the Anglo-Zulu War. Kraals picks up the story from the perspective of three main characters – the Zulu warrior, Shaba; the English Lieutenant, Jahleel Brenton Carey; and the renegade trader, William McTeague.

How do you decide what you want to write about next - do you look to periods in history or places that particularly interest you and build a story from there?

Well, basically, I like to write stories that, really, I wish somebody else had written for me to read but which, for one reason or another, don’t yet exist. So yes, they’re usually “little known” periods that intrigue me.

What was the inspiration for this new novel?

In the middle of the Zulu War, the British forces were joined by an unusual observer, the French Prince Imperial, Louis Napoleon. He fell into an ambush and tragically died there. It was a story that I’d known for a long time but hadn’t been covered, so far as I could tell, in any work of fiction. So I decided to use this incident as the catalyst around which my three main characters are linked. In addition, I knew that the 50^th anniversary of the iconic movie, Zulu, was coming up and I realized, in addition, that there are no novels covering the six months of the conflict that took place after the incidents depicted in the film – the defence of Rorke’s Drift. So I like to say that Kraals picks up the story of the Zulu War where Michael Caine left off.

Do you plan extensively in advance when you write, in terms of plot and character, or do you have just an outline/main idea and then see where the words take you?

No, I don’t plan the plot itself very extensively at all. I normally lay out the bones of the actual historical events, then work a fair bit on outlines for my main characters, with lots of personal detail and background behaviour drivers. Then I really just let them loose and see where their personalities (rather than the words) take them.

How long do you spend writing a novel from start to finish, and does it vary depending on the subject matter?

Last week I finished the first full draft of my fourth novel (about the Battle of waterloo, but from the perspective of two French women) which I started last October. That’s pretty standard for me. 8-9 months for the working draft. Then it will stand for a month before I begin re-writing. During that month, I normally visit the locations to check them out and get the feeling or colour of the settings, and allow my “ideal reader” (my wife, Ann) to have a sneak preview and give me her always critically constructive opinion of the plot. Then I edit, rewrite and polish, until I’m happy with the finished version. The whole process, start to finish, takes me a year.

Do you find the novel-writing process addictive - is it hard to stop once you get going, and how do you find editing and revising your work?

Very addictive indeed! After I retired, I was looking for something that would challenge me and retain my work ethic, producing something useful but without all the stresses and strains. Novel-writing has given me exactly that, though I still write almost every day of the year. I think you have to write every day just to keep the plot flowing and get to the end – even if you’ve got limited daily free time to play with. The same applies to editing and revising. I always follow Stephen King’s advice and cut at least 10% of my first draft. That way, you keep your work tight.

Can you recommend some of your own favourite authors and/or novels please?

That’s a tough one. Without thinking about it too much, one of my earliest historical fiction influences (fifty years ago) was Rosemary Sutcliff, and particularly her brilliant Sword at Sunset. Then Dickens, I think, and Great Expectations. But my two all-time favourites must have been, first, Patrick O’Brian (with his Master and Commander, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin series), and then Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mister Ripley, Ripley’s Game, etc). I’m somewhat ashamed to say that I identify closely with Tom Ripley and I simply adore anti-heroes.

Would you recommend the self-published route having done this yourself?

I’d recommend self-publishing with a few health warnings, I think.  My first novel, The Jacobites’ Apprentice, was critically acclaimed by lots of lovely folk, including the Historical Novel Society, but was never going to be commercially viable enough for a traditional publisher to pick it up. So self-publishing was the obvious option. The intelligent thing would have been to simply self-publish as an eBook but, sadly, vanity kicked in and I decided to go for a print version also. There’s nothing quite like holding a ‘real’ copy of your book for the first time – but that costs money. Especially if you want it to look good. And you’re not likely to make enough sales to get your money back from the publication of one book alone. That’s true. Just look at the statistics for how many copies are sold by most first-time authors. A few hundred, if you’re lucky. So I wrote a second (The Assassin’s Mark, a Spanish Civil War thriller). More investment but better returns. Because guess what? The people who liked Assassins went off and bought Jacobites too. So then I found myself running a small business. As an authorpreneur. Spending almost as much time marketing as writing. The third book (The Kraals of Ulundi) has almost helped me to break even. And the fourth one, due to publish later this year as The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour, will see me making a small profit. Successful friends in the business tell me that, after book number five, it’s all plain sailing. Well, we’ll see! But at least I’m in control of the whole process rather than being at the whim of an agent/publisher. Because your excellent question has another side to it. What happens if you’re phenomenally lucky to be offered a traditional deal? The vast majority of first-timers get paid pathetically small advances by publishers. Most first-timers make buttons in royalties. And most publishers will do little or nothing by way of marketing to help you get your work on bookstore shelves. So self-publishing? Yes, go for it! And if you want to test the water, be sensible and produce an eBook first. You can always go for the print version once you’ve tested the market.

But hey, thanks for the interview, Lindsay. And if any of your readers want to know more, I’m happy to pick up any questions or comments.

Author Links ~ find David on twitter @EbsworthDavid

About the novel ~

1879 – the British army has suffered one of the worst defeats in its history at the hands of the Zulu King Cetshwayo. Now the British seek revenge and a second invasion of Zululand is about to take place.

Within the Zulu regiments charged with repelling the assault is Shaba kaNdabuko − driven by ambition to share the glory of battle, to bring honour and cattle to his family.

Meanwhile, new British soldiers are shipped out to replace those lost in the military disasters, and among them is Lieutenant Jahleel Carey, likewise also hoping that adventure will bring him a change of fortune.

But there are also always those on the sidelines of conflict, profiteers like renegade trader William McTeague.

Three men, three women, will be brought together by one of the Zulu War’s strangest episodes, and their destinies will be changed forever.

Elizabeth Fremantle - Author Q&A

Today I am delighted to share with you all a lovely author Q&A with historical fiction writer Elizabeth Fremantle. Elizabeth is the author of Queen's Gambit, recently published in paperback in the UK by Penguin.

I've read some wonderful reviews from other bloggers and reviewers of this novel, and it has been sitting on my TBR pile far too long, so I hope I can manage to read it soon.

If you're interesting in reading more, I recommend the author's website - link here.

Elizabeth Fremantle is also on twitter here @LizFremantle

Author Q&A with Elizabeth Fremantle

Can you tell us about your latest book?

Queen’s Gambit is tale of love, tragedy and politics. It tells the story of Henry VIII’s last Queen, Katherine Parr. Set in the turbulent and dangerous Tudor court at a time of great change we see how Katherine has to tread a political knife-edge to survive. Her loyal maid Dot offers a below stairs perspective on the machinations of the court giving a sense of what life was like for ordinary women during those uncertain and perilous times.

What kind of research did you do for your latest novel?

I spent months and months with my nose between the pages of books. Initially my research focused on primary sources, the surviving letters and contemporary texts (like Parr’s two books) and the biographies of Katherine Parr. I also read biographies of all the other main figures that appear in the novel, as well as histories focusing on the sixteenth century in general and social histories. Contemporary plays and poetry as well as etiquette books and cookbooks, were another source of information. I am lucky enough to live close to some extraordinary Tudor buildings, Hampton Court being one. It was there that Katherine married Henry and I spent days wandering about there absorbing the atmosphere. It was the Hampton Court kitchens that provided the inspiration for Dot’s character. They are vast, a collection of buildings almost as expansive as the palace above, and seeing them allowed me to imagine all the thousands of forgotten people whose hard graft kept the world of the court turning. Another conduit to the past is portraiture. Katherine Parr’s time was the moment in history when painting came off the church walls and became secular. Holbein was the court painter for much of that time and his work, even his rough sketches, are so brimming with life they give the impression of actually confronting people from the past.

Are there any authors who have inspired you?

So many: for sheer stylistic brilliance I love Stephan Zweig. His novel Beware of Pity is possibly my favourite book. It was criticised in its time for being too conventional – it was published at the height of modernism – but for me it holds a subtle experimentation that takes second place to the story, enhancing it but never subsuming it. I have long been a fan of Sarah Waters for her ingenious plotting and Rose Tremain for her humour. Elizabeth Bowen and Rosamund Lehmann, who though completely different from me as authors, have taught me much about how to tell a story with elegance; then there are the classics: Conrad, Fitzgerald, Hardy, Flaubert – I could go on and on.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

The whole process has been a great joy but I suppose the moment when having scrapped a whole draft and begun to rewrite from the beginning, I felt my characters really come alive and story begin to find its shape. But also all the research reading, coming upon new nuggets of information, is an enduring pleasure.

What sparked your interest of Women in History?

I have always been interested in the forgotten women behind the great men of history. When studying for my degree in English I explored the work of the early female writers of the Renaissance. These writings (and there are more of them than you’d think) allow us access to women’s voices from a past from which they have been largely erased. I wanted to give them a voice for the twenty first century.

What drew you to Katherine Parr specifically?

I was always attracted to the label of ‘survivor’ that was applied to Katherine Parr, and she was one of those women writers I mention above. She was one of the first women to write an original work in the English language – her style is intimate and lyrical and made a great impression on me. She wrote two books, the second was a highly controversial political text and was written at great personal risk which made me think there was more to her than met the eye. She had always been touted as the dull wife who nursed Henry through his dotage and was eclipsed by her more glamorous predecessors. But her books and letters spoke of another woman altogether and I wanted to show that intelligent, vibrant, daring woman and set the record straight about Katherine Parr.

Which of Henry VIII’s wives do you like the least?

Probably Jane Seymour. She didn’t live long enough to really show her colours and seems a very pale, ghost-like creature. Though she must have had something going for her to have snagged Henry at the height of his powers.

What were your favourite books as a child?

I tended to read the books I enjoyed over and over again – I loved Jean Plaidy’s historical fiction, which I read voraciously and happily she was incredibly prolific, writing three novels a year under her different pseudonyms so it was almost impossible to run out of her work. A favourite series was the Narnia books as well as Laura Ingles-Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie novels, which I read until they fell apart. I can’t forget Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals, which was sheer escapist joy.

Which book particularly inspired you to write?

No one single book – any of those I have already mentioned and many more, but if I had to pin down a single text I would probably say reading The Great Gatsby as a teenager and seeing how he got so much narrative into such a short space – the cleverness of his writing and the way he invoked emotion – that made me want to tell stories.

What have you read recently?

Rose Tremain’s Merivel – hilariously clever; Hilary Mantel’s Bring up the Bodies – darkly thrilling; Andrew Millar’s Pure – visceral; Rachel Joyce’s Perfect – poignant; Helen Walsh’s The Lemon grove – steamy; Jane Thynne’s Black Roses – intriguing; Nell Leyshon’s The Colour of Milk – exquisitely narrated; Leanda de Lisle’s Tudor: The Family Story; a brilliant broad brush-stroke view of England’s most dysfunctional family and Linda Norton’s Crown of Thistles – meticulously researched history of Mary Queen of Scots. And then of course there’s my research reading…

What books are next on the reading pile?

As I’m nearing the end of the first draft of my third Tudor novel I will be starting to research the next one in earnest. I have a huge pile of books about the early Stuart period, focusing in particular on Arbella Stuart and poet Aemelia Lanyer who will be my next heroines. I hope to get in some reading for pleasure and will probably turn to some of the Bailey’s prize longlist: I bought Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers recently and I’m drawn to Evie Wyld’s All the Birds, Singing.

What are you working on next? (If you can tell us of course!)

My third (as yet un-named) Tudor novel is about Lady Penelope Rich, the sister of the Earl of Essex. She was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth and not only a beauty who inspired great poetry but was a shrewd political operator as well as a free spirit who lived openly with her lover at a time when such things simply were not done. She was embroiled in her brother’s disastrous coup against the queen. It is set in the dying days of the Elizabeth’s reign, a time when Shakespeare, Donne and Sidney were writing plays and poetry that still resonates today and Ralegh and Drake were opening the world and changing it forever.

When can we be expecting your next title?

Sisters of Treason, which tells the heart-rending story of the two younger sisters of the tragic Lady Jane Grey, is coming out in May. Beginning in the aftermath of Jane’s execution, the sisters’ Tudor blood has become more a curse than a blessing. Queen Mary’s succession is by no means stable; many covet the crown, and some say the Grey sisters have a better claim to the throne than the queen.  Neither sister is well suited to a dangerous life at court.  Flirtatious Lady Catherine, thought to be the true heir, cannot control her compulsion to love and be loved, and clever Lady Mary is burdened with a crooked spine and a tiny stature. For either girl to marry without royal permission would be a potentially fatal political act, perceived as a treasonous grab for the throne.

I have woven the Grey girls’ story in with that of painter Levina Teerlinc who helps them negotiate the perilous terrain of the court. But when Mary’s hot-headed sister Elizabeth inherits the crown, life at court becomes increasingly treacherous for the Grey sisters. 

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About 'Queen's Gambit'...

DIVORCED, BEHEADED, DIED, DIVORCED, BEHEADED, SURVIVED…
The court of henry VIII is rife with intrigue, rivalries and romance – and none are better placed to understand this than the women at its heart.

Katherine Parr, Widowed for the second time aged thirty-one, is obliged to return to court, but, suspicious of the aging king and those who surround him, she does so with reluctance. Nevertheless, when she finds  herself caught up in a passionate affair with the dashing and seductive Thomas Seymour, she believes she might finally be able to marry for love. But her presence at court has attracted the attentions of another.
Captivated by her honesty and intelligence, Henry Tudor has his own plans for Katherine and no one is in the position to refuse a proposal from the king. So with her charismatic lover dispatched to the continent, Katherine must accept the hand of the ailing egotistical monarch and become Henry's sixth wife - and yet she has still not quite given up on love.

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About Sisters of Treason

Two young girls tread dangerously close to the throne after their sister, the deposed queen, Lady Jane Grey, is executed.

Lady Catherine and Lady Mary are reeling after their elder sister, the seventeen-year-old Lady Jane Grey, is brutally executed. Their Tudor blood is now more a curse than a blessing. Queen Mary’s succession is by no means stable; many covet the crown, and some say the Grey sisters have a better claim to the throne than the queen.      

Neither sister is well suited to a dangerous life at court.  Flirtatious Lady Catherine, thought to be the true heir, cannot control her compulsion to love and be loved, and clever Lady Mary has a crooked spine and a tiny stature when physical attributes are thought to reflect moral character.  For either girl to marry without royal permission would be a potentially fatal political act, perceived as a treasonous grab for the throne.  

 It is the royal portrait painter, Levina Teerlinc, who helps the girls survive these troubled times. She becomes their mentor and confidante; with her painter’s observation she is able to see more at court than the sisters, who are watched closely.  But when the hot-headed Elizabeth inherits the crown, life at court becomes increasingly treacherous for the Grey sisters.  Ultimately each young woman must decide how far she dares to go to defy her Queen and risk her life for love.