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#HistFicThursdays - Inspirational Series - The Box of Delights

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 ...
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Masterworks: The Ambassadress - Ronan Beckman - Interview

  Today is the fifth of a series on nine interviews I'm sharing on the Crowvus Book Blog. These are from the authors of the short stories included in the Masterworks anthology by the Historical Writers Forum. We're running through chronologically, some are video interviews, others are written.

Join Ronan Beckman as he talks about his inspiration and the real people involved in his brilliant story, The Ambassadress, on the video below...

Or you can watch the interview in YouTube here!

You can find The Ambassadress in the Masterworks anthology, which is available on #KindleUnlimited HERE!



Now, let's meet the author!

Ronan Beckman is an American educator who has lived in the UK for over 30 years. He has a wife and daughter at home, who he is immensely dependent upon for feedback and editing of his writing. His interest in history and genealogy helped to spark an interest in further developing the stories of some of the family he researched - resulting in his debut novel An Actress of Repute. Subsequently, he has become a bit obsessed with all things Georgian and Regency related. In addition to fiction based on historical biography, Ronan is working on editing the works of a coal miner who became a Member of Parliament, and gathering information for a planned biography of a French cartoonist who was the roommate and collaborator of a young Mark Twain.

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