Friday 9 June 2023

How a lifetime interest in the Tudors led to a fantasy series

When I was 14, I read Margaret Campbell Barnes’ “Murder Most Foul” about Anne Boleyn. I became so fascinated about her, I then read anything our village library had about her - not much - and ravaged the school library, too. 

When I was in my early 20s, my parents went to Warwick Castle, where Holbein’s pencil drawing of Anne was on display. My father was not given to flights of fancy, but said ‘That looks like our April’. When I got married and had an ‘Anne Boleyn beaded head-dress', then saw the photos, the pencil sketch did look a bit like me. 

So it was no surprise that years later, I decided to write a historical fantasy crime novel, set in a world where Anne was not executed but carried her 1534 pregnancy to term.  I then decided to go the whole hog and put a bit of magic in it, and Luke Ballard, elemancer, was born. It wasn’t until I visited Hampton Court Palace - on my wish list for over 30 years - that Luke found his home in the Outer Green apothecary shop.

The amount of intrigue flying around the court in the last days of Henry VIII’s life was the perfect setting for what would become the first book in the series. Needless to say, Anne Boleyn plays an important part in the plot. 

Thus, “Dangers of Destiny” was born.

You can  find out more about it here on my blog: https://authorapriltaylor.blogspot.com  

Dangers of Destiny is free to read on Kindle Unlimited, or £3.99 from Amazon.
You can find it here: 
https://mybook.to/aEYs


You can read more about April Taylor here:

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