BY AVELLINA BALESTRI
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
I’m a working class lad from the English Midlands, though I spent much of my youth in Devon. I’ve been a journalist for over fifty years, penning lots of books and magazine articles about Britain and hiking. I read for a degree in literature and history. I’ve always written fiction, but in recent years decided to concentrate on novel writing. I’ve written one pure historical series – four novels featuring the Robin Hood legend, but I also write historical crime: The William Quest books, set in Victorian England, and the Sean Miller thrillers, set in the 1930s.
I’ve also continued to write books and articles about the British countryside, hiking and Land Rights issues. I’m married to Anne Bainbridge who writes traditional English detective stories.
What first inspired you to start writing?
I just always have. I never set out to be a writer (actually, I wanted to be an actor as a child, doing Shakespeare plays – a great love of mine.) I penned my first book at seven – a fiction about The Alamo. Probably because I’d seen the John Wayne movie! As I grew older I loathed the thought of joining the rat-race, so set up as a freelance. This has given me the freedom to spend a lot of time exploring the country on foot.
How did you first become interested in history, and what are your favorite time periods?
Like writing, the interest has always been there, probably influenced by my father who took a great interest in the past. I started out fascinated by the English Civil War period and the time of the Wars of the Roses. At university I read for my degree in Victorian history, which inspired several of my books. I’m old enough to have known a number of men and women who were alive when Victoria was on the throne. I’m also interested in the two World Wars (my father was a veteran of the Normany Landings in 1944). Another interest of mine is archaeology and Anglo-Saxon and Viking history.
What started you on the journey of historical fiction writing in particular?
It came quite late! I used to write contemporary fiction once upon a time, but I’ve headed back into the past because I’m not over-fond of the 21st century. Lovely too to write of a world before cell-phones etc. And it is fascinating to try and imagine myself into all those previous times. The wonderful thing about British history is you can walk the countryside and even the town and city streets and see much of what the Victorians and even earlier generations would have seen, read the books they would have read and listen to the music they might have heard. Hear the church bells ringing across our countryside and you are hearing a sound someone may well have heard five hundred years ago.
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of working within the historical fiction genre?
I don’t think there are any downsides really. It’s a wonderful escape from the irritations of the modern world.
How have you chosen which historical characters to feature in your books, and what made their stories resonate with you?
There are actually very few real historical characters in my books. I feature Lord Palmerson (home secretary and sometime Prime Minister) in my William Quest books, Churchill gets a mention in the Sean Miller stories. There were more in the Robin Hood novels. I wanted to bring in Count (later prince and king) John and Richard the Lionheart. I’ve never much liked that King Richard and I’ve always thought John has had a bad press, so I dealt with him more sympathetically than is usual. I think the important thing for writers to remember is that folk in history were humans and not just figureheads, with all the same feelings, emotions, weaknesses that we all share.
What is your process in terms of research and bringing historical characters to life?
With the Victorian books it was easy as I’d spent three years of my degree studying their period. With the Robin Hood books I hadn’t really studied that period since school, so I did an awful lot of reading. I’ve spent a lot of time living rough over the years, and once spent most of a year living in an English woodland, which might have given me a feeling about how medieval outlaws survived.
What is your method to integrate fictional characters and situations into the historical setting?
The difficulty is resisting projecting our modern mores on people in the past. We are now, they were then! They were the same as us. Like us they had issues they were passionate about. Some thrived but the majority had a tough life. Actually, that is still true. With the Victorians it’s easy to find accounts from people at all ends of the spectrum. Only when you’ve read right across their societies can you write about them with fairness.
If you had the chance to convey a message to your favorite historical characters, what would it be?
I’d love them to report back on some of those historical mysteries we don’t know the answers too.
What do you find more enjoyable/difficult: First drafts or editing/rewriting?
To be honest – probably because of my background in journalism – I only do one draft. I edit as I go, though I change very little – perhaps a word, a sentence. At the end I have a couple of read-throughs, them my wife reads it and points out any flaws. My belief is that the first fruits of the mind are often the best, and a second draft is never quite as fresh. When I read various versions of novels by favourite authors of mine, such as Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy, I find their early versions are miuch better than the later revisions.
How have you gone about publicizing yourself and your works?
I never actually did a lot to start with. We just put the books out there and – by some miracle – they started to sell without any help at all. We did run a blog for a while on mystery writing – it’s called Gaslight Crime and is archived on WordPress. And I occasionally do a John Bainbridge Writer blog on the same platform.
What are some of the main themes/morals you would like readers to take away from your works?
I usually take the part of the underdog in society. I hope that people note the need for compassion, honesty and decency. That the human race would do better if we all cared a lot more about each other. Although I often write about violent people and times, I loathe violence and always try to show its consequences. I try to make my characters appreciate the effects of what they do – and I hope the readers get that message. I hope the books entertain, but I’d like to think they leave thoughts in the minds of readers.
What is some advice you would give aspiring authors, especially those focusing on the historical fiction genre?
Read and read and read again! Get the period in your head until you know it backwards. Read accounts of what was happening not just from the points of view of the famous in history, but the obscure as well. For instance, if you are writing about the Napoleonic Wars, don’t just read up about Napoleon and Wellington, but also about the soldiers on both sides who shivered in the rain the night before the Battle of Waterloo. If you are writing about the landed gentry look at the often miserable lives their servants had, the long hours they had to work and the restrictions on their freedom. Then, having done that, start to write… Most of the research you’ve done you’ll never use, but it’s there in your head and will help you picture that world as you pen the words. Above all, NEVER parachute in historical detail just because you’ve found it out! Only put in what’s relevant to the story and characters.
Plug your socials, published works, and current projects!
At the moment, I’m working on the next William Quest novel, set mostly in London in 1854 – hopefully it will be out in the Spring.
My blogs are:
johnbainbridgewriter.wordpress.com
countryways569333284.wordpress.com
The novels:
The Chronicles of Robin Hood
Loxley
Wolfshead
Villain
Legend
The William Quest Adventures
The Shadow of William Quest
Deadly Quest
Dark Shadow
Gibbet Hill
The Sean Miller Books
Balmoral Kill
Dangerous Game
Fellowship & Fairydust 