Angus Donald

Kelmarsh – my favourite Festival of History

AngusD — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:58:41 +0000

My favourite time of year is fast approaching – mid-July. You might think that’s because the paperback of King’s Man is coming out then (July 5th) or because Warlord (Book 4 of the Outlaw Chronicles) is published that month too (July 19th) – and you’d be partially right – but I’m also pretty damn excited about going to The Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall, in Northhamptonshire, on Saturday July 14th.

I’m on a panel at 11.40am chaired by Robyn Young with two other historical novelists talking about Heroes from History. I’m going to be talking about Richard the Lionheart, who is a major character in three of my novels, and I think is one of the most fascinating characters in the medieval world. I’ll be doing a full blog about him shortly, as a sort of warm-up for my speech at Kelmarsh, so I won’t say anything more about the man just now.

But even if you don’t want to hear me droning on about the Lionheart, I urge you to come to Kelmarsh anyway – it is a wonderful festival for anyone who is even the slightest bit interested in history. Thousands of re-enactors turn up in authentic dress and put on dramatic shows from time periods ranging from the Romans to the Second World War. Last year I wandered round a terrific reconstruction of a WW1 trench with actors playing the part of the Tommies. If you like the English Civil War, there are usually a few Sealed Knot types doing reconstructions of the great battles of the 17th century. This year, I know that a gang of hardcore Norman knights are going to be doing their thing at Kelmarsh. There is something for everyone, no matter which is your preferred era.

But I like it mostly because it is one great big party for history buffs. So come along, hear me talk, buy a copy of Warlord and get me to sign it, have a couple of beers and watch a dramatic reconstruction of a long-ago battle. That’s pretty much my idea of heaven!

Mocked by new technology once again

AngusD — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:30:24 +0000

Hi everyone,

Sorry I’ve been so slack at blogging recently but the new baby and books 4 and 5 have been keeping me really busy. Anyway, I have a little news to impart to you today. I can’t swear to this, and it might not work, and all sorts of things could go wrong, but it looks as if my American readers can actually download a Kindle version of King’s Man in the USA. Here’s the link: http://amzn.to/IexfYI

Ever since King’s Man came out as a hardback in the UK – July 2011 – I have been getting messages from across the pond asking when the third book would be available as an e-book over there. I’ve been replying apologetically and saying that it wasn’t available as a Kindle or whatever and wouldn’t be available until the American version of King’s Man came out in November 2012. It turns out that I may have been wrong; both the English and the US versions of King’s Man are listed on Amazon.com – and I guess elsewhere. And while the US version isn’t available, the English one is. So if you can put up with me spelling colour, honour and favour with a U and woollen with two Ls, you can download my third book and get stuck in. My apologies, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. (By the way, if the download doesn’t work, can someone let me know, pronto!)

I must confess I’m an idiot about new technology – yes, I Tweet, I occasionally blog, I have a Facebook page and all that – but I have a very uneasy relationship with all things electronic. Let me tell you a little story: about ten years ago I found myself in Afghanistan working as a freelance reporter covering the Battle of Tora Bora. It was December 2001; Osama bin Laden was hiding in deep caves in the Tora Bora mountains and we, and the local troops of Northern Alliance, were trying to find the bastard. There was a lot of confused fighting in some very tough terrain – and, to be honest, it was exhausting and scary as hell. Every day I would drive four hours up to the battlefield, run around trying to find out what was happening, dodge the occasional bullet and mortar round, and then come back to a half-built hotel in Jalallabad and file a story for an English newspaper. In case you think that was luxurious, my room was a concrete box with no windows, and I slept on the floor with an arctic wind whistling through the place and nothing between me and the concrete except a thin sleeping bag. I didn’t do much sleeping anyway – I was wired up on adrenaline, burning all sorts of mental reserves all day and most of the night, and here’s the thing: every time I touched a laptop, it made a fizzing noise and died on me. I killed my own laptop, just by touching it, and a friend’s who lent me his, too. I don’t know the physics of this, or the medical side either, but I do know that the human body contains electricity – and I think in my hyped-up, war-zone-wired state I must have been fizzing with it. I think that I was short-circuting the laptops. Might be wrong but none of my collegues would let me use their machines in case I was right. So instead of emailing the paper, I had to dictate my stories to the news desk in London over a satellite phone – ad libbed, off the top of my head. And that is quite hard, believe me.

So I didn’t produce my finest written work in Afghanistan, but on the other hand I didn’t come home in a bodybag. So that’s OK. However, it did give me a deep distrust of technology, and though I’m typing this on my big old iMac at home right now. I still have a sneeking fear that my machine will blow up before I get to post this blog. Better post now, just to be sure . . .

Dates for your diaries: summer 2012

AngusD — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:12:50 +0000

Hi y’all

I’ve just been sorting out my diary for this summer and I’m already finding it surprisingly full. It’s mostly filled with research trips and family stuff but I’m surprised it’s so unusually chocka because I had deliberately decided that I wouldn’t do loads of publicity for the Outlaw Chronicles this year. Last year was manic-busy with me running around the country visiting medieval festivals, selling books and meeting readers all summer, and while it was loads of fun, it proved to be rather expensive and time-consuming, too. But, most importantly, I found it really hard to get back into the mental word-zone at my desk between weekend publicity jamborees.

So this year I told myself that I’d concentrate on the writing – which is, after all, my real job – and only do the minimum of marketing. If the books are good enough, they will sell themselves, right? Hmm, well maybe, but anyway I’m still not doing much book-flogging this year, what with the new baby an’ all, but there ARE a few events that I’m going to attend if you want to swing by, say hello and get a book or two signed.

These are:

June 16th: Talk at the Norfolk branch of The Richard III Society. Yes, that’s right, the Richard the Third Society (tho’ I’m going to be talking about Richard the Lionheart). Contact the secretary at annmarie@talktalk.net if you want to attend.

July 14th: Kelmarsh Hall, Festival of History, Northhamptonshire – I’m on a historical novelists’ panel talking about heroes (Richard I again) with Robyn Young and James Aicheson.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/events/foh-2012/

September 29th: Historical Novelists’ Society Conference in Greenwich, London. http://www.hns-conference.org.uk/ I’m on panel with Bernard Cornwall in the morning, talking about combat in the age of the blade, and another panel on boys’ versus girls’ historical fiction in the afternoon. Will be signing books in two sessions morning and afternoon.

I’m also supposed to be doing a local book signing, probably in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, probably in late July – but that has yet to be confirmed.

I’ll add any more dates/events to the list if they materialize. Now I’ve got to get back to my real job!

P.S. I nearly forgot to mention the two most important dates for your diaries: July 5th, King’s Man comes out in paperback; and July 19th Warlord is published in hardback. Bye for now.

In your local bookshop: King’s Man & Warlord

AngusD — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:42:38 +0000

As you may already know, last year my publisher wisely decided that the Outlaw Chronicles should be available henceforth as hardbacks – and so in July 2011 my first UK hardback – King’s Man – came out. And this July (2012), the paperback version is being published, and that’s how it’s going to go from now on, the hardback preceding the paperback by a year, and two of my books coming out in the UK each summer.

Just to make that clear, this summer will see the publication of King’s Man (paperback) on July 5th; and Warlord (hardback) on July 19th – and just so that you will know what to look for, here are the two covers. Enjoy!

Paperback version of King's Man

And here is Warlord . . .

Hardback version of Book 4

Very un-PC and nothing to do with Robin Hood

AngusD — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:04:30 +0000

OK, sorry about this but I got sent this as an email and it made me smile on a raw March day. Hope you enjoy it: it has nothing to do with Robin Hood or my books or anything really. Just a little un-PC amusement. Don’t take it too seriously, and don’t give me any grief about it if you are Italian, German, French or Australian or whatever.

It’s a joke, OK?

ALERTS TO THREATS IN EUROPE

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in the
Middle East and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon,
though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A
Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the Blitz in 1940
when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from
“Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a
“Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish
Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get
the Bastards.” They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they
have been used on the front line of the British Army for the past 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror
alert level from “Run” to “Hide”. The only two higher levels in France are
“Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire
that destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the
country’s military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to
“Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat
Operations” and “Change Sides”. The Germans have increased their alert
state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching
Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose”.

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat
they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.
These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy
can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to
“She’ll be right, mate”. Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I
think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is
canceled.” So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final
escalation level.

A final thought – “Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting
aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC!”

A new member of Clan Donald

AngusD — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:38:53 +0000

My wife Mary gave birth on Sunday (February 12th) to a healthy 3.14kg (six-and-a-half pound) boy. We are calling him Robert David Hilary Donald – known as Robin. Not, actually, after my character Robin Hood: it’s a family name; my grandfather and uncle were both named Robin. Anyway, both are OK after a tough birth. Here’s a couple of pics:

Audio books: listen to the voice of Robin Hood

AngusD — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:55:29 +0000

This is just a quickie post as I’m literally running out the door. A couple of people have asked me about audio versions of my books – and the answer is yes, you can get them as CDs. Outlaw and Holy Warrior are already available from iTunes and Audible.co.uk. I think Amazon have them, too. And King’s Man is coming out as an audio book in July 2012 at the same time as the paperback version. OK, gotta run now . . .

A few little bits of King’s Man business . . .

AngusD — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:45:47 +0000

As some of you might have noticed, the hardback version of King’s Man has been unavailable from Amazon since before Christmas. For several weeks now, I have been ranting and raving and sending acidic emails trying to get Amazon to list the hardback so that people can buy it. Can’t tell you how frustrating that has been. But a phone call from my publisher yesterday has completely soothed me: it’s not that Amazon are refusing to stock King’s Man in hardback. It’s that they have sold out, and the publisher doesn’t have any more printed copies either. I had thought that not very many people had wanted the book and it turns out that its scarcity is a result of its popularity. I’m well chuffed, I can tell you.

But if you do want a hardback copy of King’s Man, you probably won’t share my delight. I can suggest two things: either you email me – I still have half a dozen copies of the hardback in my garage and I can send you a signed one (for a reasonable price, plus p&p) or you can click on “paperback” on the Amazon page and get one of the trade paperback versions of the book. These are bigger than normal paperbacks but contain the same story. So there you are.

Talking of paperbacks . . . I now have the definitive date for the mass-market paperback release of King’s Man. This is the normal size one that will be, hopefully, in all the supermarkets from July 5th onwards. And the hardback version of Warlord will come out a couple of weeks later on July 19th. And I might as well tell all my American readers that King’s Man is coming out in the US in November – the 3rd, I think.

Here is the cover of the US version which they sent me yesterday; I’d love to hear what you all think:

Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Justin Bieber to star in 100 billion-dollar movie of Robin Hood

AngusD — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:18:50 +0000

OK, you got me. That is an outrageous lie. I was thinking the other day about a seminar I went to a few years ago when I worked at The Times when they were telling us how to write headlines for online articles and, basically, they said you should always put the names of stars in the title (and large sums of money). That way, claimed the experts, when people are browsing the net they will be attracted to your site by the double-whammy glamour of celebs and buckets of cash. Sorry, low trick, I know. But there is some justification in running these guys’ names in the headline: I quite often get asked who should play Robin Hood and Alan Dale if they ever (you never know, fingers crossed!) make a movie of one of my books.

It’s quite a tough one, actually. Who should be the heroes of the Outlaw Chronicles? I like Johnny Depp enormously, and Jude Law seems like a nice chap, too (I met him briefly before Christmas) and he’s a first-class actor. I don’t really know much about Justin Bieber, except that he’s insanely popular with the young ‘uns, although he seems a bit thick; actually, as dumb as a lump of cheddar – sorry, Beliebers, but there it is!

So who should it be? Who do you think should play Alan? And who would be a convincingly ruthless Robin Hood? Email me and let me know!

Other news

King’s Man will shortly be available as an Audio book, hooray! – and while the hardback is listed as unavailable on Amazon (some sort of glitch that they can’t seem to fix) I have copies of the book at home which I will sign, wrap-up and send to you at a very reasonable price, if you really want one. Contact me if you want a copy, and we’ll make some suitable arrangement.

Some bits of news for you

AngusD — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:57:47 +0000

It’s going to be a rather eventful year for me, I think.

I’ve just heard that King’s Man is being published in the USA on 13 November 2012 – which seems like a long way in the future but I expect the time will pass quickly. Back in good old Blighty, King’s Man is coming out in paperback in July and the same month Warlord will be published in hardback. So three of my books are coming out in English in a year.

Added to that, the German version of Holy Warrior is due to come out in March 2012, and the Spanish version of King’s Man will also be published in that month.

In other domestic news, my wife is expecting our second child in mid-February.

That’s all for now. I’ll post more updates as I get them.