Battle of Stamford Bridge - Prelude
BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE 1) PRELUDE In the wake of their triumphant conquest of Fulford, Hardrada and Tostig found themselves in...
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Threads to the Past
Welcome To My Dominion
Welcume To Min Cynedom
Here at Threads to The Past the focus is on writing and history, especially the Anglo-Saxon period, so Greetings, wesaþ hale, pull up a bench, pour yourself a cup of mead, and I'll tell you all about what we do here. I say we, because I have many characters who also run the show, in fact they do so more than I! Pesky lot! And no, I am not hearing things, but they definitely speak to my imagination and boss me about.
About Me
My name is Paula Lofting and I write historical novels set in the eleventh century in the years leading up to the Battle of Hastings. I also write historical non-fiction.
My first foray into the genre of non-fiction, Searching for the Last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson, England's Golden Warrior, has just been sent off to the publishers, Pen & Sword, and will be ready for publication in January 2025. My next project for them is about the little known, but courageous king of England, Edmund Ironside. I have also participated an essay for Iain Dale's Kings and Queens, 1200 years of English and British monarchs.
Coming Soon
Following on from the last book in the series, we see Wulfhere's family fall into lots of strife as the story of his and Helghi's bloodfeud spills over to affect more members of Wulfhere's family.
Book three, Wolf's Bane, will be available later this year.
Explore the captivating world of the Wolf series with my other titles:
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Sons of the Wolf
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Sons of the Wolf: The Wolf Banner
Available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Immerse yourself today!
Historical Fiction & Nonfiction
Historical non-fiction, as I have recently just found out, is a whole different ball game to writing fiction. It utilises similar skills to that of a fiction writer, but also requires a whole other bunch of writing abilities too, such as being able to reference sources correctly and appropriately. The idea is to present a narrative through an objective mindset, analysing the available evidence and coming to whatever conclusion you as a writer and historian believes is the most plausible. Sometimes this might involve having to piece together a narrative using conjecture when there are gaps in the historical facts. With fiction, writers often subjectify the facts to suit the tale they want to tell. When writing non-fiction, one has to try to be as objective as one can. Both can be as awkward as the other.
As an historical author who is interested in presenting fiction as close to the evidence as it can be, I have often wondered how can we know what life was really like for the people I write about. Writers can make up any fictional characters and story lines they wish, as long as they behave and look the way someone was likely to have done in that time. However, we need a backdrop for our story that reflects the era. It's like a play. Each character has a role to play within the context of the historical setting. But what of the scenery?
What sort of homes did they live in? Did they have paved streets? And then not just the scenery, what about the mechanisms that affect the people we are writing about. Would an arrow pierce a man’s armour? What was it like to fight in a shieldwall? What was it like to grind flour all day? What kind of people were the Anglo Saxons? These are just some of the questions I have thought about in my quest for authenticity. Then there are the historical characters which may or may not come into play. Is it possible to portray them authentically when there is so little written about their personalities? This is one of the hardest aspects of writing about historical characters. How do we get them 'right’ because whatever we write about a famous character, there will always be different opinions expressed from different readers.
It is my philosophy that to be successful at writing engaging, believable, authentic historical fiction, an author needs to familiarise themselves with the period they write. It is my desire to create an atmospheric environment that is an accurate representation of England in the eleventh century. To do this I use the following strategies.
Research
It goes without saying that it is imperative for writers of historical fiction to know their period of interest inside out. We can read widely, but if you only read fiction, you are simply getting another author's subjective ideas about what happened in that era. There are people who will read a book because it is on of their favourite periods of interest. Some don't mind as long as they get a jolly good yarn to enjoy. Readers of historical fiction are often the hardest to please. I would count myself in the former group, I believe that the real history is exciting enough, it doesn't need to be changed to make it more interesting or thrilling. However, I understand that for some writers it seems necessary to make their story work according to the work they are creating. In that case, I am happy to let the story be king, as long as any major changes are in the historical note.
Much of history is subjective, especially when it comes to writing fiction. For me it is as important to get the facts right as it would be for a non-fiction book. But what do you do if there are more than one version of an instant within the narrative you are trying to master. It can be tricky, but as long as its plausible it may be possible to write your own version. A good point to remember is that we are looking at events through the eyes of our fictional characters who may have certain biases we need to adhere to. Bernard Cornwell's Uhtred stories are a perfect example of this. You may have characters whose biases differ if you are writing in third person, and that means you would be showing the events from all sorts of prejudices.
But the key to getting your story as accurate as you can, is to research. Find out what primary sources are available to you and get as close to the known facts as you can. It doesn't stop there either, because often you have to look at the biases of the authors who wrote the sources, including how far after the events have occurred and decide whether you can call them accurate. The most important thing to remember, the story needs to be real, authentic, plausible and gripping if not exciting, and sometimes that may call for some twiddling. Now, if it is an important event in history that you are twiddling with, its always a good idea to leave a historical note in the back of your book to explain your reasons. Believe it or not, readers do appreciate it.
Living History
Now, this is where the meat and flesh are added to the story. Not only do writers of the past need to know what happened when, why and where, it is the need for detailed knowledge of the lives of the people that drive the narrative. Here in Threads to the Past, paper research and re-enactment are combined to present plausible and indisputable facts behind the lives of characters, both fictional and nonfictional.
Joining a re-enactment society has become the jewel in my research. I feel privileged to belong to Regia Anglorum, an Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman Dark Age society which has their own 10th century Saxon mead-hall which they built themselves. Through experimental archaeology and the joy of experiencing what it might have been like to live in the Middle Ages, an author/reenactor can learn the skill to create a truly authentic environment as a backdrop for their characters. Being able to experience what it's like to cook over an open fire, or sit drinking mead around an open hearth, in the evening with nothing but our stories, laughter and singing to entertain us, really enables me to add those little details that give the story a flavour of the times I write about. There is something really powerful about being in a smoke-filled long-hall with the sound of wolves howling from the wild wood sanctuary next door.
But the best parts come when you stand shoulder to shoulder with your fellow 'warriors' in the shieldwall. Before you, a snarling weapon-waving boar-snout of Norse fighters’ storm toward you. The ground trembles beneath your feet and when the impact hits you, there is a moment where you think to yourself, this is what it must have felt like!
Of course, though, it is only a smidgen of what it must have been like, but it is enough to stir the depths of your imagination.
I have found that these experiences have been invaluable to writing my first three novels, Sons of the Wolf, The Wolf Banner, and Wolf's Bane.
Author Bio
Paula was born in the ancient Saxon county of Middlesex in 1961. She grew up in Australia hearing stories from her dad of her homeland and its history. As a youngster she read books by Rosemary Sutcliff and Leon Garfield and her love of English history grew. At 16 her family decided to travel back to England and resettle. She was able to visit the places she'd dreamt about as a child, bringing the stories of her childhood to life. It wasn't until later in life that Paula realised her dream to write and publish her own books. Her debut historical novel Sons of the Wolf, was first published in 2012 and then revised and republished in 2016 along with the sequel, The Wolf Banner, in 2017. The third in the series, Wolf's Bane, will be ready for publishing later this year.
In this midst of all this, Paula has acquired contracts for nonfiction books with the prestigious Pen & Sword publishers. Searching for the Last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson is due to be published this coming January, and a biographic of King Edmund Ironside is also in the pipeline. She has also written a short essay about Edmund for Iain Dale's Kings and Queens, articles for historical magazines. When she is not writing, she is a psychiatric nurse, mother of three grown up kids and grandmother of two, and also re-enacts the Anglo-Saxon/Viking period with the awesome Regia Anglorum.
Blog
1066, was a pivotal year in our English history. Here on my website you will find blog posts that include the factors that influenced the events of that year, as well as studying the background to the Battles that occurred in this year, and brought the Anglo-Saxon English to their knees.
The information on this site has contributed to producing my Sons of the Wolf series which you can find out more about on the Book's page.
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