Kay Harker and Cole Hawlings Picture accessed via BBC There are few things more Christmassy than the opening few bars of the theme tune to The Box of Delights . In fact, the tune is based on Victor Hely-Hutchinson's Carol Symphony and had been used in radio adaptations of the same novel years earlier than the 1984 television series. Clearly, everyone already knew that you just couldn't improve on that sound to evoke the magic of Christmas which - for me and for many - is so wonderfully explored in John Masefield's story. As a viewer, one of the things I enjoy most about the television series of The Box of Delights is the acting. Child actors are precarious things: too sweet and they're almost unbearable to watch, not sweet enough and they're unbelievable. They must walk that fine line between the two, and it is a perilous one! Most young actors fall into the first category, where their on-screen presence is almost dangerously saccharine. Not so the child actors ...
#HistFicThursdays - Alternate Endings - Various Authors -~- PLUS: Vercingetorix: All the Greats Die Young
Today is very exciting! I'm pointing a spotlight on a great book, Alternate Endings . This book is enjoying a tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club at the moment, and I'm delighted to be hosting my fellow Historical Writers Forum authors on the Crowvus Book Blog. After the spotlight, you can have a read through my (very) short post about Vercingetorix, who features in my story. But first, let's meet the book... We all know the past is the past, but what if you could change history? We asked eight historical authors to set aside the facts and rewrite the history they love. The results couldn’t be more tantalizing. What if Julius Caesar never conquered Gaul? What if Arthur Tudor lived and his little brother never became King Henry VIII? What if Abigail Adams persuaded the Continental Congress in 1776 to give women the right to vote and to own property? Dive in to our collection of eight short stories as we explore the alternate endings of events set in ancient Rome, Britain, t...