Birth of a book

 

Where do authors get their ideas from? I can tell you about the initial concept for Loyalty in Conflict. And, to continue the birth analogy, this book has been a long time in the writing and went through several incarnations.

I am a Lincolnshire girl, born and bred and the events behind the 1470 Battle of Empingham, also known as Losecote Field, began quite close to where my paternal family have lived since before 1794.

The idea for the book took off when I discovered Sir Robert Welles, the leader of the Lincolnshire rebels, had a manor house about 2 miles from where I lived. I tramped the countryside, found where the long-gone manor had been but where the gates can still be glimpsed through the trees from the A16.

I could see my protagonist. Gideon Rooke, a stable boy, secretly intelligent beyond his station in life and with an affinity for horses. I was also fascinated by the Lancastrian/Yorkist dynamic in Lincolnshire. The county was, like many northern counties, staunchly Lancastrian, apart from Sir Thomas Burgh, builder and owner of Gainsborough Old Hall and Master of Horse to the Yorkist Edward IV. 

(If you have the chance, take a trip to Gainsborough Old Hall - see right - it is well worth a visit.) 

The inciting event for the story: Lord Richard Welles and his son, Sir Robert along with a band of cohorts attacked Gainsborough Old Hall, tried to burn it down and carried away as much of Burgh’s possessions as they could. Burgh complained to the king. Edward summoned the elder Welles to London to explain his actions.

The book opens with John Rooke, Gideon’s father, warning him that they are in danger because John has overheard Sir Robert planning rebellion. He makes his son promise that, should anything happen to him, Gideon must slip away, get to King Edward and tell him of the uprising.

But while Gideon promises his father he will do so, he thinks John is worrying about nothing. Until he almost trips over his father’s corpse. That begins the conflict Gideon feels, not only about his own vow to avenge his father, but also that, by fulfilling the promise he made to John, he is in conflict with his own loyalty between the houses of Lancaster and York.

Gideon’s story has been described by one reader as a breathless adventure with Gideon like a mediaeval Jason Bourne. That is the sort of comment guaranteed to make an author very happy.

You can find Loyalty in Conflict here:  https://bookgoodies.com/a/B09NJMG74S

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