There’s no escaping Christmas now. The Christmas advertisements are out, the shops are full of Xmas products and the Christmas lights are everywhere. Everywhere including Seven Dials, where I was out last night to dance tango and stopped on my way to take this photo.
Cynical old curmudgeon as I am, I still really like the lights here. It’s lovely that they’ve made the Seven Dials sundial the centre of the illuminations. When Seven Dials was originally laid out in the early 1690s the Seven Dials column was put at the centre with all the roads in the development radiating out from it. It was originally seen as a desirable place to live but, as the city moved westward, Seven Dials was left behind. It became a notorious slum and the column was viewed by the authorities as a meeting place for gangs of rogues, so it was demolished. The existing column is an exact reproduction of the original, unveiled in 1989. It is London’s only column sundial.
Seven Dials is the setting for my book, Back Home. It is the end of a trilogy of books following the adventures of the (fictional) John Williamson and his travels to Borneo and India before returning to London in the mid-19th century. The books are very different to the Burke series and look at questions of Empire during a tumultuous time (including an account of the siege of Cawnpore during the Indian Mutiny/War of Independence). Although the stories all feature a lot of excitement and incident, they also ask more serious questions about the relationship between colonisers and colonised and how this reflected power relationships back in London. They’re not as much fun to read as the Burke series but, I like to think, more rewarding. The paperbacks are cheaper too, because I really want people to read them. I’m so fond of them that the first in the series, The White Rajah, is the only one of my books that you can buy in hardback. All three stories are standalone, although you will probably get more out of them if you read them in order. Perhaps, given the Christmas theme, you might consider The Williamson Papers as Xmas gifts. I’d love it if you did.
I’ve finally got to the end of the first draft of Burke and the War of 1812. I usually take the unfashionable approach of editing as I go, so there’s not a huge gap between finishing my first draft and having something that I feel ready to show to people, but this one has been an exception. I think there’s still quite a lot of work to do. For the moment, though, I am revelling in the fact that I don’t have to write the damn thing for a few days, so I can turn my mind to selling the books I’ve written already. This balancing of writing and selling is one I always find tricky. I love getting readers – that’s pretty much the point of writing – but I’m retired and I don’t have to do this for the money so putting in the hours that I need to promote the books is always a low priority. This pause in my writing gives me a good opportunity to do a little bit of selling. And it’s November: the month when book sales traditionally take off as writers all try to persuade you that books make ideal Christmas presents. They do. They really do!
Tales of Empire is just £2.99 in paperback and if you are on Amazon Prime you don’t even need to pay postage. It’s four short stories by four different authors, including me. It’s an ideal stocking filler.
All of my books are available in paperback. E-books have a lot going for them, but I must admit I don’t feel that they work as Christmas gifts. The James Burke series are my bestsellers and cost £9.50 or less. The most popular is Burke in the Peninsula, possibly because it appeals to Sharpe fans, But if you are giving them to somebody who has never read a James Burke book before, I suggest you start with the first one, Burke in the Land of Silver. It’s based quite closely on the life of the real James Burke and the British invasion of Argentina in 1806. Burke spied for the British ahead of the invasion and his story is a thrilling tale of derring-do and gives a fascinating insight into a little known British military adventure.
The White Rajah was my first attempt at historical fiction and (whisper it) still probably my favourite. It was never a great commercial success, though, which is why you can buy it in paperback for just £7.99.
Besides historical fiction, I also write contemporary fantasy books. My comic fantasy, Dark Magic is a novella and the paperback is only £4.99. There’s an audio book too, which I was giving away free for Halloween. If you’re interested, let me know in the comments and I’ll see if I’ve got any left.
As we draw closer to Christmas, I’ll be talking more about my books. If you don’t want to buy any of them, consider buying something by another independent or small press author. Nobody I know has proper marketing budgets and persuading people to buy books in a market dominated by a few very successful writers (or successful celebrities who have people write for them) is an uphill struggle. If you want new books by new authors, supporting their sales efforts really does make a huge difference.
I’m still utterly failing to finish my 1812 Burke book as life seems to be filling up with all sorts of other things. Last Friday I visited Sutton House in Hackney, a National Trust property described as the oldest private house in London. Built in the 16th century by Ralph Sadleir who worked for Thomas Cromwell at Henry VIII’s court, it has undergone many changes over the years. In the 18th century it was divided into two semi-detached houses, one of which became a school. Later the two halves were reunited as it was occupied by a church trust. Abandoned in the 20th century, it was briefly squatted before the National Trust started restoration work. The basic Tudor structure remains unchanged with some elements like the kitchens being taken back to their origins.
From outside, it just looks like an old, vaguely dilapidated house in the centre of Hackney. It’s a wonderful example of how in London we live alongside history without necessarily even being aware of it.
This is one of the original Tudor windows.
The beautiful linenfold panelling is a rare surviving example from the period.
Saturday I was out with fellow skaters celebrating Halloween on the streets of London.
We were out skating again on Sunday, so I got a reasonable number of miles under my belt over the weekend.
Tuesday I was at the Wellington Lecture in Southampton. Not an awful lot about Wellington but a gentle canter through the way that the events of June 1815 still resonated with the British Army in two World Wars. The Navy sometimes remembers his influence too, albeit through gritted teeth.
Thursday was more Halloween celebration, this time at tango.
Perhaps next week will produce some actual writing. I live in hope.
During covid (remember that?) one of my lockdown projects was to make an audiobook of my Urban Fantasy novella, Dark Magic. I was encouraged by a friend who is a professional voice actor but it was a very amateur effort, recorded under a desk with a duvet providing some basic soundproofing. The result was quite fun, but not really intended as a commercial exercise. Still, it’s available on Audible and Spotify and elsewhere. Spotify even sent me codes so I could give copies away but, because I wasn’t trying to actively promote it, I never did anything with them. I’ve got a lot left, gathering electronic dust in hyperspace.
But it’s coming up to Halloween and I’d like to give treats to anyone knocking on my virtual door. If you email me at tom (at) tomwilliamsauthor.co.uk, I’ll send you a code (until I run out). There’s no catch and I’ll not add you to a mailing list. (I once tried to run a mailing list but it seemed a lot of work for not much return.) There’s no warranty either. If the codes don’t work, that’s too bad (though I know some people have used them successfully).
If you like what you hear and you think you might enjoy the books, Dark Magic is available on Kindle and in paperback. You might also like to take a look at my Galbraith & Pole stories featuring the vampire detective Chief Inspector Pole.
Happy Halloween!
Header photos are from London’s Halloween skate. This year’s skate starts from Hyde Park Corner at 5.00pm on Saturday October 26th, weather permitting. Come and join the fun!
I’m so jealous of people who can just sit down and write. Back in the day, when I wrote books and reports for business, I could churn out words faster than most, but not a lot of imagination was required. Writing fiction, I find much harder work.
These blog posts fall somewhere between the two. They’re not as mechanical as much business prose but, although I am sometimes reminded that people will judge me on the quality of my writing, I’m not as worried about style as I am in my novels. Even so, they take a little while to write, especially if they have any historical information in them because I’ve learned that over the years that is always best to check details rather than rely on memory.
At the moment, I’m working on the next James Burke book, provisionally, if unimaginatively, called Burke and the War of 1812. I’m finding it more than usually challenging. Whilst by now I know enough about the Napoleonic wars not to have to keep checking every detail, the War of 1812 is new territory to me.
Not that long ago, I had no idea what the War of 1812 was. If that’s you too, it was a silly little scrap between Britain and the young United States of America notable, in this country at least, for the British burning down the White House. Most people in Britain tend to overlook it because there were other things going on in Europe at the time: Napoleon invading Russia for one.
Because it was quite a small war, there were few great strategic clashes of armies. Instead there was a fight here, a clash there, a naval engagement somewhere else. Pulling it all together into something that can be made a coherent adventure for one person has proved a challenge. In fact, it has proved impossible, so for much of the time James Burke and his trusty sidekick William Brown are operating independently from each other. This brings its own problems in writing as keeping track of them and having them meet up at crucial moments is not that straightforward. Which is why this week’s post is a short cri de coeur about the struggles of a historical novelist before I dive back into a world of Shawnee warriors, heroic colonials and (sorry American readers) dreadful Yankees.
At the current rate of progress, Burke and the War of 1812 should see the light of day early in 2025.
Featured photo: The Battle of Queenston Heights, 13 October 1812. Library and Archives Canada, 2895485
Tales of Empire is free on Kindle until Saturday 5 October. If you’re reading this after that, you will have to fork out a whole 99p. Here’s why you should grab a copy.
Tales of Empire is a book of four short stories showcasing the work of four very different but uniformly excellent historical fiction writers. (Well, three excellent writers plus me.)
The authors were asked to submit a story set anywhere from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the end of the century. Although they all write conventional historical fiction with no revisionist agenda, all four stories ended up challenging some of the more traditional approaches to Empire.
These are the authors and what they write about.
Antoine Vanner is the author of the Dawlish Chronicles, a series of novels (and the odd short story) about the adventures of Nicholas Dawlish who joins the Royal Navy in the second-half of the 19th century as the Navy is moving from wooden sailing vessels to the modern world of ironclad steamers. The stories show Dawlish developing from a very young man to a seasoned mariner, his own progress mirrored in the development of the ships that he sails in. Vanner is fascinated by the technology of naval warfare and his stories are full of solidly researched detail, but they are adventure stories too with Dawlish caught up in espionage and fighting alongside regular army forces as well as engaging in the sea battles that you would expect of a naval series.
Antoine’s contribution to this collection is a story about the Royal Navy’s attempt to suppress the slave trade and how difficult this could turn out to be in practice.
Jacqueline Reiter is a professional historian whose biography of John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, The Late Lord, is the definitive work on his life. The Late Lord is a joy to read and Reiter’s affection for, and understanding of, her subject shines through. A fictional account of a real episode in Pitt’s life is her contribution to this collection.
Penny Hampson writes mysteries set during the Regency. A Gentleman’s Promise is the first book in her Regency Gentlemen Series. She also enjoys writing contemporary mysteries with a hint of the paranormal, because where do ghosts come from but the past?
Her story looks at how social and technological change during the Regency led us from the world of the 18th century to the country we live in today.
Tom Williams (that’s me) writes the James Burke stories about a James Bond figure during the wars with France. The Burke stories have an enthusiastic following but the books he is most proud off are the John Williamson Papers which deal with more serious issues at the height of the Age of Empire. The first, The White Rajah is about the real-life James Brooke who became the absolute ruler of a chunk of Borneo in the mid-19th century. The novel looks at how his idealistic approach to government collided with the realities of the day. The short story is about a fictional tiger hunt that shows the kind of person he was and the effect his style of rule had on those around him. It was written after The White Rajah but it could well have been a chapter in that book. I hope it will encourage you to read the novel.
So there you go: four writers presenting their talents in the hope that you might read more of their work. And free. I do hope you pick up a copy. Here’s a link: mybook.to/TalesofEmpire
