One of the problems – or, perhaps, the best things – about Gothic Horror is that it does tend to be sad. Usually, there are at least one or two characters who don’t deserve whatever is happening to them, or who have done something which is being punished in a way which does not in any way fit the crime. M.R. James’s writing is perhaps a constant reiteration of the old proverb, “curiosity killed the cat”, but curiosity in itself isn’t a bad thing; while Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula finds himself in the initial dangerous situation through no fault of his own. Perhaps the saddest story in this anthology is The Lady Who Dances in the Ashes , which was first published by Sley House in Tales of Sley House 2022 . Here is the story of a man who is facing professional and financial ruin as a result of suggesting that mental health patients can be treated in the community rather than institutionalised. He is one of the most sympathetic narrators you will find in the book, but he bad...
It's #HistFicThursdays, and I'm super-excited to be sharing a guest post from Micheál Cladáin, as part of his Coffee Pot Book Club tour. Find out about the care and attention to detail which Micheál incorporates into his writing, and how this inspired Hammer to come to life. But first, let's meet the book...
Blurb
Genonn's tired and dreams of a remote roundhouse in the Cuala Mountains.
However, sudden rebellion in Roman Britain destroys that dream because the Elder Council task him with delivering Lorg Mór, the hammer of the Gods, to the tribes across the straits of Pwll Ceris. Despite being torn between a waning sense of duty and his desire to become a hermit, Genonn finally agrees to help.
When his daughter follows him into danger, it tests his resolve. He wants to do everything he can to see her back to Druid Island and her mother. This new test of will means he is once again conflicted between duty and desire. Ultimately, his sense of duty wins; is it the right decision? Has he done the right thing by relegating his daughter’s safety below his commitment to the clans?
Hammer is available on #KindleUnlimited via this universal link.
Guest Post
There are two driving forces behind my depth of research: many years as an editor in the SW industry instilled a need for accuracy, and I am a perfectionist.
When I read historical novels with inaccurate information, it turns me off. I am not one who usually DNFs a book, but I make an exception when there is an abundance of inaccuracies. This persnicketiness on my part goes beyond historical fiction. I was reading a grimdark fantasy recently where the author had two warriors training with a ship’s oar, one swinging and the other avoiding the swing. In my callow youth, I rowed coxless eights. An oar for a coxless eight is at least thirteen feet long, weighs about 4 kilos, and is incredibly unwieldy. Imagine how much worse a ship’s oar would be: at least thirty feet long and weighing only God knows how much. When, a few pages later, the author had one of the warriors twiddling a battle axe between their fingers, the book hit the DNF pile.
So, it would be hypocritical of me to release inaccurate books, right?
Leaning on my years in IT, several tenets determine the quality of technical documentation, such as clarity, brevity, accuracy, consistency, and navigability. Most of these principles can be adopted when writing a novel. The accuracy tenet is one, which to achieve requires in-depth research.
How did I apply the accuracy tenet to Hammer?
The backdrop for Hammer is the Boudiccan rebellion. The book has two POVs: the main character, Genonn the druid, and Agricola, the Roman general famed for the subjugation of Northern Britain and Wales.
Genonn
I first introduced Genonn in an earlier novel (Milesian Daughter of War, August 2020). Genonn was a mythological druid I discovered when browsing a Celtic encyclopaedia. The entry contained little about him. That is, he was the son of a well-known druid, Cathbadh, and he was present at the Battle of Gairech (the culmination of the Cattle Raid of Cooley). Genonn had a small part in Daughter of War but took centre stage in my next novel, After Gairech, 2021.
Most of what we know about the druids comes from Roman writers. There is archaeological evidence of their existence, but a novelist needs more accurate information. My primary source has always been Julius Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico, transcribed as The Gallic Wars. I speak fluent Italian (described as vulgar Latin by the Ancient Romans), so I noticed some questionable translations early on in my research. As an aid to accuracy, I started reading the commentary in the original language.
Caesar provides plenty of juicy snippets for us authors. For instance, he describes druids as a strong political force, educators and priests. He wrote that the druids came from Britain and that much of their authority originated there. Tacitus later describes Mona (Anglesey) as the main druidic centre, with hundreds of archaeological sites supporting his belief. I used that information to create the druidic stronghold of Caer Leb and their influence over the Celtic clans of both Ireland and Britain.
I do not describe them as Celtic clans in my novels. Modern historians believe it to be a contemporary romantic interpretation of reality. This belief is despite Roman and Greek ancients describing them as a race. They also spoke the same proto-Celtic language, and there is evidence they originated in Northern Spain.
Caesar also claims the druids practised human sacrifices, which is backed-up by archaeological evidence.
Of course, there are other ways of researching the Ancient Celts. I took the following photo while visiting the Irish Heritage Centre in Wexford.
I used the photo to sketch the following picture of Genonn and the warrior Oengus holding the hammer. Part of my writing process includes building mood boards that hang behind my desk as a reminder of the setting.
Agricola
Tacitus and Cassius Dio are the two primary sources for what we know about the Boudiccan uprising and Agricola. I ignored Dio because he wrote over a hundred years after the fact and concentrated on the rebellion rather than Agricola. The uprising is a backdrop to my story, whereas Agricola is centre stage.
So, my primary sources were Agricola and Germania, The Life and Character of Julius Agricola and The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus. I also read The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius (the Folio edition, so not in Latin) for some insights into Nero, the emperor at the time of the uprising.
Tacitus was the son-in-law of Agricola, so he had access to first-hand accounts of what happened during the uprising and direct interaction with the man himself.
During the first draft edit, my editor pulled me up on aspects of Agricola’s character, like his treating the natives with honour and nervousness. I got these traits from how Tacitus described his father-in-law. As such, I could push back on my editor’s request to turn him into a Roman bad guy, much like the caricatures in the Asterix comics.
Reading Tacitus also gave me the premise for the story, Stephen King’s “what if” moment. Tacitus writes that Nero recalled Suetonius (not the same as the author of The Twelve Caesars, but the governor of Britannia, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, usually referred to as Suetonius). The recall was because Nero thought the governor caused the uprising. The emperor sent his freedman, Polyclitus, to investigate what happened and recalled the governor after the investigation.
While reading, I thought, “what if” Suetonius caused the uprising on purpose? The treatment of Boudica and her daughters and the financial persecution of the Iceni clan would indeed back up the theory. What reasons could he have? A failing career and the need to impress the Senate peaked up above the parapet, especially after the massacre of a cavalry turmae, comprising sons of the Equestrian Class.
So, there we are – a novel was born by my research.
Now, let's meet the author:
Micheál has been an author for many years. He studied Classics and developed a love of Greek and Roman culture through those studies. In particular, he loved their mythologies. As well as a classical education, bedtime stories consisted of tales read from a great tome of Greek Mythology, and Micheál was destined to become a storyteller from those times.
Thanks so much for hosting Micheál Cladáin today. A very interesting post. xx
ReplyDelete