The Inspirations Behind, and the Process of, Writing an Alternate History Novel

 

I’ve been an avid reader of historical fiction for years but felt too daunted to write it myself. I’ve also read a great deal of history books over the years, and have liked to watch history documentaries since childhood, with my foremost interests being in the histories of England and of France.

 

What first inspired me to attempt writing a historical novel was a ten-part TV series called The White Queen, screened in 2013, which is set during England’s Wars of the Roses. These wars were a succession of battles between the Royal Houses of Lancaster and York that occurred in stages from 1455–87.

 

After watching The White Queen, I spent a year visiting websites and reading biographies relating to the Wars of the Roses, along with reading historical novels for inspiration. In 2014, I completed an online course via the University of Leicester entitled “England in the Time of Richard III”. The course featured texts, audio recordings, and videos about the lives of royalty and peasantry alike.

 

I learned of the course through The Richard III Society’s website, which is a great resource for people interested in the Wars of the Roses.

 

The more I read about the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the more I pondered on how differently events could’ve turned out. In reality, Yorkist King Richard III lost the battle to Lancastrian Henry Tudor, later crowned Henry VII; however, if Richard had listened to several warnings, he might’ve kept his crown, or at least lived to fight another day. For instance, on Richard’s final morning, it was reported that a Spanish mercenary warned him he’d no chance of winning the battle because those he trusted would betray him.

 

Richard answered: ‘God forbid that I yield one foot. This day I will perish as king or have the victory.’

 

I wondered what might’ve happened if Richard had acted on this and other warnings. Suppose he changed his mind at the last minute and withdrew – what then? He might’ve still lost but perhaps he could’ve fled and regrouped to fight again. These speculations inspired me to write an alternate history. Although it wouldn’t be history as we know it, I still had to be authentic, which meant lots of research.

 

Historical novels are also imperative, as a writer new to historical fiction needs to know how others in this genre operate. It’s important, however, to learn who’s the most reliable.

 

The author I most trust is Alison Weir. Her first book, Britain's Royal Families (1989), took twenty-two years to research and write before publication. She mainly writes historical biographies, of which I’ve read several, but she’s also a successful novelist. One of her novels proved to be a major influence for White Rose Blossoms.

 

Weir’s A Dangerous Inheritance (2012) features a twin narrative set in two periods, one being in the 1480s, in which the main character is Richard III’s illegitimate daughter Katherine Plantagenet, who became the Countess of Huntingdon. Also featured are Katherine’s brother Sir John of Gloucester, her husband Sir William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon, and her cousin Sir John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who was also Richard III’s named heir.

 

After finishing A Dangerous Inheritance in March 2014, I was intrigued by these fictionalised real people and wanted to make them lead characters in my own novel. I checked The Richard III Society’s info on Gloucester and Katherine. Little is known about them, but there’s enough material to create foundations for their characters. With many novels already written from Richard’s perspective, I wanted to focus on his illegitimate children and some of his ardent supporters who – in most novels that I’ve read – are rarely featured, if it all.

 

In White Rose Blossoms, the primary focus is on Gloucester and Katherine, followed by the Earl of Huntingdon. Next are four men who were loyal to Richard III, namely William Catesby, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Sir Francis Lovell, and Sir Robert Brackenbury. In reality, Ratcliffe and Brackenbury died on Bosworth Field, while Catesby was hanged a few days later. This being an alternate history, of course, means their destinies change with Richard’s.

 

In 2014, after a year’s worth of reading, I wrote down my initial ideas and beat them into a synopsis, which I subsequently expanded to create a novel outline. I aimed for an adventure story; fast paced but leaving episodes for suspense and contemplation, along with some mild humour where appropriate. Having revised the outline several times I started the novel in November 2014. After writing 22,000 words by March 2015, I broke off to read more biographies and historical fiction.

 

I didn’t return to this project until October 2016, when I revised the first 500 words several times over to take to a university seminar. This was at the start of my MA in English, which was predominantly made up of creative writing modules. The reaction from my creative writing professor and nine students wasn’t as positive as I’d hoped. The main criticism was of the dialogue, which was considered too archaic. For example, I used expressions like, “I will sally forth.”

 

One of my fellow students aptly summed up the problem with the dialogue: “Yes, you’re trying to evoke something historical, but using archaic speech is best avoided. It can create a disconnect with modern readers.”

 

When I later revised the dialogue, it flowed much better in its modernised form. At the time of this class, though, the amount of criticism deterred me, and I didn’t go back to my novel’s opening until our last seminar in December. This time, the response was much more encouraging. Everyone liked the modernised dialogue and the action scenes. The main criticism was that it felt too rushed. For example, our tutor said that in one particular sentence I’d summed up what should’ve been a lengthy paragraph.

 

The most positive element of this class was that for the first time in nearly two years I was inspired to continue writing White Rose Blossoms. To begin with, I concentrated on Chapters 1 and 2, which I intended to submit for an assignment called Start of a Novel. These chapters were graded 70%, which gave me confidence to revise three more chapters for my Creative Writing Portfolio, which was my biggest assignment. When this came back graded 75% – which in turn meant I’d passed my MA with a Distinction – I was determined to get on and finish the novel.

 

Of the two tutors who graded those three chapters, one stated in his comments that: “You brought me into alternative history and made it engaging, and kept my attention through a skilful mixture of threat and setting goals for characters to achieve. The characters were well individuated so I could understand and care for them.”

 

The other tutor at one point stated: “Both action and dialogue are effectively realised in the piece. The pursuit of the fleeing siblings is well handled, and the numerous fight scenes are very well described, conveying a real sense of drama and detail in the precise and sometimes shocking description, which never becomes repetitive.”

 

He finished by stating: “I very much enjoyed reading this piece, and the highest praise I can give for it is that, by the end of Chapter 5*, I was keen and excited to discover more about what will happen to Katherine and John as the narrative develops: I hope that I will have this opportunity in the future.”

 

*What were Chapters 3, 4, & 5 became 4, 5, & 6, as I subsequently wrote another chapter that was best placed after Chapter 2.

 

I continued writing in earnest from November 2017. I was lucky enough to have one of my favourite authors offer to read the manuscript the following year, by which time it was on its fifteenth draft. Deborah Swift, author of several historical novels set in the 1600s and a few set during World War II, gave me some constructive feedback. Below is an example of what she felt needed improvement:

 

“When writing crowd scenes or battle scenes always personalise them as much as possible. The reader needs to picture it and ‘another man’ or ‘several of them’ or ‘more soldiers’ or other vague terms don't enable the reader to visualise anything much or make the action fuller. ‘The man with blood in his eyes’ or ‘three huge men in black with their lances pointing straight at him’, although technically fewer people, give the impression of more. So, you could go through your battle/fight scenes and tighten them up a little with more specifics.”

 

Originally, I felt characters who hardly appear during the novel weren't worth remarking on. I felt 'another man', etc., would do; however, I incorporated Deborah's advice into my next draft, adding details where appropriate. In the subsequent draft to that, I realised how much more effective those small details are.

 

I was pleased to read these positive comments by Deborah:

 

“I found it to be extremely well-plotted and an interesting alternative take on the battle for the Tudor throne. I made one or two notes. In the patches where there are no notes, I was too caught up in the action to take them!”

 

“Katherine's poisoning and how they deal with Huntingdon & her pursuers is exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat.”

 

“The scene where Katherine's husband visits Nesta is well put together and gripping and I liked her as a character too. In fact, I liked all the female characters and their stories.” 

 

White Rose Blossoms was completed in October 2018 after nineteen drafts. I sent the opening chapters to fifty literary agents between then and May 2019. Frustratingly, nobody wanted to represent it. Most stated that it wasn’t “quite right for our list.” A couple made a few positive remarks, but – as one agent put it – although he read with interest and liked the premise, he didn’t feel he could sell it to a publisher.

 

In short, I believe the alternate approach was the problem. I see now how this small subgenre must be hard to market. I didn’t realise till after I’d submitted to all these agents that alternate history isn’t a subgenre of historical history, it’s a subgenre of science fiction. Therefore, from an agent’s perspective, it’s hard to know which audience is best to market it for. I noticed when visiting websites that most agents don’t accept science fiction, so that would’ve gone against me without me realising it at the time.

 

Come late May 2019, I decided to self-publish. It’s disappointing to have to resort to this method, but White Rose Blossoms has been such a labour of love that I’d rather go down this route than leave it buried in a laptop folder.

 

Below is a bibliography of texts I read or at least referred to during my research. I’ve missed off a few older texts that I found on Project Guttenberg, of which I couldn’t find the publishing details for.

 

Historical Fiction Set During the 1400s

 

Bowen, M. (1971) Dickon. London: Hodder & Stoughton

Doherty, P. (1997) The Rose Demon. London: Headline Book Publishing

Gregory, P. (2013) The Kingmaker’s Daughter. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2014) The King’s Curse. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2011) The Lady of the Rivers. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2010) The Red Queen. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2013) The White Princess. New York: Touchstone

Gregory, P. (2009) The White Queen. New York: Touchstone

Iggulden, C. (2015) Bloodline. Milton Keys: Penguin    

Iggulden, C. (2016) Ravenspur: Rise of the Tudors. Milton Keys: Penguin    

Iggulden, C. (2013) Stormbird. Milton Keys: Penguin  

Iggulden, C. (2014) Trinity. Milton Keys: Penguin

Plaidy, J. (1978) The Goldsmith’s Wife, 6th edition. London: Pan Books

Plaidy, J. (1990) The Reluctant Queen. London: MacMillan Publishing Company

Smith, A. E. (2006) A Rose for the Crown. New York: Touchstone

Smith, A. E. (2013) Royal Mistress. New York: Touchstone

Viney, J. (1975) King Richard’s Friend. London: Robert Hale Ltd.

Weir, A. (2012) A Dangerous Inheritance. London: Arrow Books

 

 

Non-fiction

 

Ashdown-Hill, J. (2013) The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book that Inspired the Dig, 3rd edition. Port Stroud: The History Press

Baldwin, D., Jones, M. & Gregory, P. (2013) The Women of the Cousins' War, 2nd edition. New York: Touchstone

Gravette, C. (1999) Bosworth 1485: The Last Charge of the Plantagenets. Oxford: Osprey Publishing

Gravette, C. (2001) English Medieval Knight 1400–1500. Oxford: Osprey Publishing

King, S. (2001) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. London: Hodder & Stoughton

Lukeman, N. (2010) The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile, 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Penn, T. (2012) The Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England, 2nd edition. Milton Keyes: Penguin

Schama, S. (2009) A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? 3000 BC–AD 1603, 2nd edition. London: The Bodley Head

Seward, D. (2007) A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses, 2nd edition. London: Robinson

Seward, D. (2010) The Last White Rose: Dynasty, Rebellion and Treason. The Secret Wars Against the Tudors. London: Constable

Skidmore, C. (2010) Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Tierney, T. (1998) Medieval Fashions. Ontario: General Publishing Company Ltd.

Weir, A. (2008) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, 3rd edition. London: Vintage

Weir, A. (2014) Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World. London: Vintage

Weir, A. (2009) Lancaster & York: The Wars of the Roses, 3rd edition. London: Vintage

Weir, A. (2008) The Princes in the Tower, 2nd edition. London: Vintage

Weir, A. (2010) Traitors of the Tower. London: Vintage

Wise, T. (1996) The Wars of the Roses, 14th edition. London: Osprey

Worsley, L. (2011) If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home. London: Faber & Faber