First and foremost, I should thank Caroline Ridding and all the lovely folks at Boldwood Books for making this novel happen and giving it such care and attention. Caroline stepped in when I was just about to give up on the whole idea, so I guess it’s all her fault if it goes wrong. Also, thanks to author M J Porter for the introduction – it’s not what you know…
This was a new period for me to write in, so obviously research had to be done. Along the way, the works of Thomas Asbridge, Christopher Gravett, Dan Jones, Sean McGlynn and Mark Morris have all come in very handy. A special shout-out must go to Catherine Hanley, and her editor at Osprey, Kate Moore, for sending me a pre-release copy of her awesome book 1217: The Battles That Saved England. It was invaluable to the writing of this novel, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading more about the period (and thanks to Myke Cole for hooking us up).
And obviously thanks to you, the reader, for joining me at the start of this journey. I hope there will be many more adventures for Estienne Wace, and I’d love it if you could join us for the ride.
Best,
Richard Cullen