Best Matthew Harffy Podcasts (2023)

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Not just Genghis Khan. The Mongol Invasion - Nicholas Morton interview! 53:24

5d ago53:24

53:24

Our guest today is Nicholas Morton. Nicholas is an associate professor at Nottingham Trent University. He is the author or editor of nine books, including The Field of Blood and several other books about the Crusades and medieval Europe and the Near East. His latest book is The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East. Th…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Amazon KDP head Darren Hardy. Indie authors check this out! 52:47

14d ago52:47

52:47

Our guest today is Darren Hardy, manager of the UK Author and Editorial Programmes at Amazon. Before that Darren was UK Manager for Kindle Direct Publishing. With nearly 20 years working at Amazon, Darren is the perfect person to answer all our questions about what goes on behind the scenes at KDP and what new and exciting plans Amazon has for the …

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Matt Lewis - we talk with the host of GONE MEDIEVAL! 1:00:26

19d ago1:00:26

1:00:26

Our guest today is Matt Lewis. Matt is an author and historian of the medieval period, with a particular interest in the Wars of the Roses and Richard III. He has written biographies of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry III, Richard Duke of York, and Richard III, as well as accounts of The Anarchy, the Wars of the Roses, and Rebellion in the…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Alfred the Great, Vikings, and The Heathen Horde! Steven talks his new book. 46:07

1M ago46:07

46:07

Matthew interviews Steven about his new book, THE HEATHEN HORDE, which came out on October 26th 2023! Viking raiders, Alfred the Great, and the usual fun chat - it's all in here so give it a listen and please spread the word. Buy the book here - https://mybook.to/HeathenHorde Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to our channel and leave a 5 star review if you…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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A Savage Moon! We chat with Theodore Brun about Vikings & other good stuff 1:03:35

2M ago1:03:35

1:03:35

Today's fantastic guest is Theodore Brun, author of The Wanderer Chronicles. He has a brand new book out NOW called A SAVAGE MOON, which Matthew read and endorsed thusly: 'A fever dream of dark lusts and an ancient evil. A Savage Moon drips with passion, betrayal, loyalty and loss. A wonderful book!' We spoke about his work and his life in general,…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Matthew Harffy! A Day Of Reckoning & EXCLUSIVE REVEAL of his next book's title! 54:23

2M ago54:23

54:23

Something a little different today - we have no guests for a change! Instead, Steven interviews Matthew about his brand new book A DAY OF RECKONING, the third in his A Time for Swords series, which came out yesterday. It's a fun episode covering various aspects of the writing/publishing process, and Matthew even tells us the title of his NEXT book …

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Angus Donald - Vikings, Robin Hood, and lots more! 1:10:56

3M ago1:10:56

1:10:56

Our guest today is Angus Donald, author of the Outlaw Chronicles, about a medieval gangster called Robin Hood, a 17th-century series about an unusual but rather brilliant chap called Holcroft Blood. And writing as Angus Macallan, he has also tried his hand at fantasy with the Gates of Stone. His most recent novels are in the Fire Born series, set i…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Paul Finch - 1066, crime writing, being in a "shieldwall" & Black Sabbath! 1:03:35

3M ago1:03:35

1:03:35

Our guest today is Paul Finch. Paul Finch is an English author and scriptwriter. He has a diverse and very successful career, from the popular TV programme The Bill, to horror and fantasy stories and films, Doctor Who spin-off stories and the incredibly successful gritty crime series of DS Mark Heck Heckenberg novels, with over 1 MILLION book sales…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Dr Joanne Ball, Roman/battlefield archaeologist! 1:03:40

4M ago1:03:40

1:03:40

Our guest today is Dr Joanne Ball. Joanne is a Roman archaeologist and battlefield archaeologist based at the University of Liverpool, with a PhD in Archaeology on the subject of Roman battlefield archaeology. She is a regular contributor to several magazines focused on ancient history and was co-editor of Ancient World Magazine. And is soon to hav…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Ethan Bale/Clifford Beal - The medieval action adventure author joins us today! 1:10:56

4M ago1:10:56

1:10:56

Our guest today is Ethan Bale, author of The Swords of the White Rose series. Book 1, Hawker and the King's Jewel came out last year and the follow up, The Lost Prince, has just been published. Ethan Bale (Clifford Beal), is a former defence journalist. Despite writing about modern military technology for much of his career, he was always passionat…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Jason Kingsley OBE - Modern History TV & Rebellion - Judge Dredd, 2000AD, Sniper Elite & more! 1:10:46

5M ago1:10:46

1:10:46

Our guest today is Jason Kingsley, an incredibly successful businessman and a technologist who is also obsessed with the past. He is CEO of Rebellion Developments, game developers responsible for such games as Alien Vs Predator and the hugely popular Sniper Elite. Rebellion Publishing purchased 2000AD in 2000, and publishes comics featuring some am…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Alex Gough - Carbo Chronicles, ancient Rome, swearing in historical novels, music and loads more! 1:05:56

5M ago1:05:56

1:05:56

Alex Gough is an author of Roman historical adventures. The Carbo Chronicles, including Watchmen of Rome and Bandits of Rome, was written as a result of a lifelong obsession with ancient Rome, and the culmination of a lot of research into the underclasses of the time. He has also written a collection of adventures following Carbo and other characte…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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A couple of announcements! 5:59

6M ago5:59

5:59

This is a super short episode just to give listeners an update on how we're planning on moving forward with the podcast. Matthew's latest book, "Forest of Foes", gets a paperback release, and Steven has also just made a brand new MODERN DAY short story available for pre-order, called "Have You Seen This?" so we discuss those a little bit too. Enjoy…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Robin Warder/The Trail Went Cold - true crime inspiration for historical fiction tales! 50:54

6M ago50:54

50:54

TRIGGER WARNING! At 13:16 there's a VERY creepy answerphone message, listener discretion advised, don't listen alone in the dark...Today’s guest Robin Warder has written articles for various websites including Cracked.com, but he’s most well known for his excellent podcast The Trail Went Cold which is a true crime podcast he’s been doing since 2016…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the impact it might have on writers, artists, and creatives in general. Scary stuff! Or is it...? Includes an AI-written song! 54:57

6M ago54:57

54:57

Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, is a hot topic at the moment. Perhaps the HOTTEST topic. It is cropping up in the news every day and there are predictions that it will take our jobs away or even take over the world! It probably isn’t quite as dire as those predictions would have us believe, but there is no doubt that AI generated text and…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Ben Kane! Rome, Spartacus, medieval/ Richard the Lionheart, now Vikings in Ireland! 1:09:45

6M ago1:09:45

1:09:45

Ben Kane will need little introduction to many of our listeners, but here goes anyway. Ben is a historical fiction novelist, best known for his books set in the ancient world, particularly the Roman empire. His series include The Forgotten Legion, Spartacus, and the Hannibal series of books. In 2013, Ben along with fellow novelists Anthony Riches a…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Viking Blood & Blade, and Kindle Storyteller WINNER Peter Gibbons chats to us today! 1:03:59

7M ago1:03:59

1:03:59

Peter Gibbons is an author based in Kildare, Ireland. He completed a Law Degree in Liverpool University before embarking on a career in the Insurance Industry. After many years working in the UK & Ireland he decided to follow his dreams and wrote his debut novel, Viking Blood and Blade. After smashing into the independently published historical fic…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson talks Norse/Viking mythology and his new album - RökFlöte! 1:25:32

7M ago1:25:32

1:25:32

Incredibly, we managed to get an interview with the legendary Tull frontman (Steven's favourite band in case you didn't hear him mention it on every previous episode...)! Ian talked with us about the brand new, rocking Jethro Tull album RökFlöte, Norse mythology, Vladimir Putin appearing at a Tull meet-and-greet, the time journalists demanded detai…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Book covers! What makes a great cover ? Also, Steven's new book's COVER REVEAL is today! 59:21

7M ago59:21

59:21

On today’s episode we’re going to talk about the first thing that most readers see before they’ve read a single word of a book. The old adage goes that one should never judge a book by its cover, but we all know that the majority of people do just that. A great cover can get a prospective reader to take a chance on a new author, and a bad cover can…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Todd Kerns, bassist for SLASH joins us today! 1:22:30

7M ago1:22:30

1:22:30

Another episode and another musician guest. Todd Kerns (aka Todd "Dammit" Kerns) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is most noted for being the bass player and backup singer in “Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators”, and for being the front man of “The Age of Electric”. His latest album is with Heroes and…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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David Gilman, author of the Master of War series, chats with us today! 58:34

7M ago58:34

58:34

David Gilman has worked as a firefighter, professional photographer, he was a soldier in the Parachute Regiment’s Reconnaissance Platoon and a Marketing Manager for an international publishing company in South Africa. From 2000 until 2009 he was principal writer on the TV series A Touch Of Frost. His MASTER OF WAR series follows the fortunes of Tho…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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VIKINGS! Jethro Tull - RökFlöte album review. 53:15

8M ago53:15

53:15

It's a first for us here at RPS - an album review! Well, ROCK, paper, swords, right? There's two very good reasons for us doing this review (even putting aside the fact Steven is Tull's biggest fan): 1 - We were sent advance copies of the album, so it's only fair we did our best to listen to it and get an honest review out before the album is relea…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Starting our new books! What are they about? - Episode 30 34:29

8M ago34:29

34:29

We've both just started work on our new books. Join us to hear about the process. Research, challenges, pressures, deadlines, and, of course, fun! You probably already know that Steven's writing about Alfred the Great and the Vikings, but listen to find out what new historical period Matthew is venturing into... The King Alfred coin - https://twitt…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Big Big Train bassist/songwriter Gregory Spawton interview! 1:10:05

8M ago1:10:05

1:10:05

We are delighted to have another musician on today’s episode. Gregory Spawton is the founder of progressive rock band, Big Big Train. Big Big Train have released 14 studio albums and several live performances too. Big Big Train have been named Prog magazine’s Band of the Year on numerous occasions as well as winning Prog’s Album Of The Year awards …

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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IAN ROSS - The Twilight of Empire author joins us today! 1:10:39

8M ago1:10:39

1:10:39

IAN ROSS is the author of the “Twilight of Empire” series, six historical novels set in the early 4th century AD, the era of the Roman emperor Constantine. The first of the series, “War at the Edge of the World”, was published in the UK in 2015, and the sixth, “Triumph in Dust", in 2019. His books have subsequently been published in the USA, Austra…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Listener Questions PART 2! 29:37

8M ago29:37

29:37

The second of our episodes where we answer questions sent in by listeners. Some great ones again here, really got us thinking and we both enjoyed it! If you have any more for us, please do send them via Facebook, Twitter or our websites. Next week we'll have a longer episode with another AMAZING guest (the one and only IAN ROSS!), but we'll do more…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Giles Kristian, author of Viking and award winning thriller novels joins us today! 1:13:21

9M ago1:13:21

1:13:21

During the 90s Giles Kristian was lead singer of pop group Upside Down, achieving four top twenty hit records! As a singer-songwriter he lived and toured for two years in Europe and has made music videos all over the world. Giles is half-Norwegian and his family history inspired him to write his first historical novels: the acclaimed and bestsellin…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Listener questions PART 1! 38:14

9M ago38:14

38:14

We recently posted on Twitter and Facebook asking for listener questions. Today we're going to answer some of those questions and they really provoked some interesting responses from Matthew and Steven! We’ll be answering more in a future episode and it might well become a regular thing, so if you have any questions you’d like us to answer, post th…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Some news and big announcements! 23:21

9M ago23:21

23:21

Another bonus episode! We chat about the brand new FULL theme song and how it came about, and we also have a couple of pretty BIG announcements, so tune in, and don't drop out! https://www.canelo.co/news/2023-02-22-canelo-set-to-publish-a-great-series-by-steven-a-mckay/

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Rock, Paper, Swords FULL THEME SONG! 3:56

9M ago3:56

3:56

So many people have told us they really enjoy the short intro/outro music we recorded for the podcast so...We've written a full four minute theme song complete with daft cheesy lyrics, full-on rock vocals, and searing guitar solos (two of the buggers!). It's just a bit of fun, we hope you like it... Look out for another bonus episode tomorrow with …

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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TV historian & novelist DAN JONES joins us today! 2023 top episode! 1:06:00

9M ago1:06:00

1:06:00

Dan Jones is a bestselling historian, TV presenter and award-winning journalist. His books, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide, include THE PLANTAGENETS, THE TEMPLARS, THE HOLLOW CROWN. His book CRUSADERS was published in autumn 2019. He co-authored the Sunday Times bestseller THE COLOUR OF TIME and THE WORLD AFLAME, published in …

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Dr Who, Star Wars, 2000AD, hip-hop author, and games designer Steven Savile! 1:14:53

10M ago1:14:53

1:14:53

Slaine from 2000AD. Sherlock Holmes. Dr Who. Primeval. Stargate. Return of the Jedi. Ghost-writing for genuine legends of the rap and hip-hop scene.... Our guest today is probably the most prolific and best-selling author you've never heard of! And he also writes for games, including the major Xbox/Playstation hit, Battlefield 3! Not only that, he …

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Simon Scarrow! We chat to the legend! 1:10:12

10M ago1:10:12

1:10:12

That's right! We interview one of THE best loved historical fiction authors of the past twenty years today - Simon Scarrow! Join us as we chat about his writing, his upcoming musical (yep, you read that right), Romans, and loads more. First ever image on the internet - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Horribles_Cernettes…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Dr Mark Deeks of metal bands Winterfylleth and Ard! 56:58

11M ago56:58

56:58

Matthew and Steven chat this week with a musician for a change! Dr Mark Deeks is a choirmaster, as well as the piano player for one of Steven's favourite black metal bands, Winterfylleth, and also has his own "monastic doom metal" project called Ard. Ard put out a concept album which is kind of a historical novel in musical form so we were really h…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Happy New Year 2023 from Rock, Paper, Swords! 1:32

11M ago1:32

1:32

Just a very short message to wish our listeners all the best for the coming year. Thank you ALL for joining us in 2022, hope to see you again in 2023! www.matthewharffy.com www.stevenamckay.com

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Christian/Miles Cameron interview! 1:09:17

11M ago1:09:17

1:09:17

Another fantastic guest this week, as Christian (also known as Miles) Cameron joins Steven and Matthew to chat about his books, research, re-enactments, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, being a member of US Intelligence, and loads more! Christian's website - https://christiancameronauthor.com/

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Christmas Special 2022! Merry Xmas one and all! 1:10:19

12M ago1:10:19

1:10:19

Christmas a humbug?! Join the boys as they look at all sorts of winter traditions, ancient and modern, from Saturnalia shenanigans to Yule logs to "old" movies. If you like Christmas stories, check out Steven's brand new novelette, The Pedlar's Promise, and Matthew has a new novel out too, Forest of Foes! Burning a Yule log - https://www.youtube.co…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Jean Gill, author of The Ring Breaker! 1:18:20

1y ago1:18:20

1:18:20

Matthew and Steven are chatting this week with Jean Gill. The interview covered a lot of really interesting subjects so we're sure you'll enjoy the episode! Look out for our Christmas special next, and then we'll have our first interview with a musician early in 2023, with lots more fantastic guests lined up for the coming year! LINKS to things men…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Historical research! What resources do we use for our own novels? 1:06:55

1y ago1:06:55

1:06:55

Matthew just makes it all up as he goes along.

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BONUS Episode - Funny (and not so funny!) Amazon reviews of our books 26:04

1y ago26:04

26:04

Since last week's interview with Carol McGrath had some audio issues that forced us to shorten it somewhat we thought we'd put out this little bonus episode as a bit of fun - a freebie if you will! We read out some funny or just odd reviews of our own books. This was something Steven suggested because he thought it would be a right laugh but, in fa…

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Carol McGrath, author of The Handfasted Wife! 37:25

1y ago37:25

37:25

Today we are chatting with bestselling author Carol McGrath. She's written books like The Handfasted Wife and Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England. We had a good long discussion with Carol but there were some audio issues which forced us to cut down the episode. Hopefully you still enjoy the interview! To make up for the slightly shorter episode, we'…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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It's Hallowe'en! Join us to get in the spooky spirit... 1:08:04

1y ago1:08:04

1:08:04

The boys discuss the history of Hallowe'en! Includes some chat on Steven's spooky novella Knight of the Cross, and Matthew's short tale, Kin of Cain. Sleep paralysis, black eyed kids, folklore, Beowulf, pumpkin and turnip carving, and loads more... Turn out the lights and lock the doors for this fun look at everyone's favourite spooky night of the …

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Interview with Prue Batten 1:00:18

1y ago1:00:18

1:00:18

Farming, historical fiction, and, of course, music are all discussed in this exciting new episode. Check it out and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE and give us a 5 star rating if you're enjoying what we're doing! Links to websites/software mentioned: Byzantium 1200: http://www.byzantium1200.com/ The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of The Roman World: h…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Music and the power it holds.... 1:04:34

1y ago1:04:34

1:04:34

Matthew and Steven discuss the music they listen to while writing and just enjoy in general. Rock, classical, black metal, it's all over the place here! Join us to find out how music affects our writing process... Even includes a song Matthew recorded a few years ago with a band - it's awesome, you need to hear it! The band can be found here: https…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Bernard Cornwell, the Godfather of historical fiction! 56:18

1y ago56:18

56:18

Another BONUS EPISODE this week, as Matthew and Steven got to chat with their literary hero, Bernard Cornwell, for this episode of the podcast. We found out some big news about his forthcoming book, Sharpe's Command, talked about his love of acting, The Last Kingdom series, the King Arthur books and new TV show, Merlin's 'magic', and even picked up…

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Viking author Tim Hodkinson interview! 1:19:20

1y ago1:19:20

1:19:20

Matthew and Steven chat with Irish author Tim Hodkinson. Includes a rather amusing anecdote about one of the extras in Game of Thrones! Find out more about Tim's books - Vikings, Templars and more - here: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/tim-hodkinson/ Main theme music for the intro and outro was written, recorded and copyrighted by Steven A. McK…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Rings of Power Episodes 1 and 2 and a review! BONUS EPISODE! 53:35

1+ y ago53:35

53:35

Matthew and Steven have spent the morning watching the first two episodes of Amazon's new show based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - RINGS OF POWER. In this special bonus episode they talk about their first impressions of this highly anticipated (and vilified by people who've never even seen it) new show. Is the casting any good? What about the mu…

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Rock, Paper, Swords!

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Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies! Any good? 1:18:54

1+ y ago1:18:54

1:18:54

Matthew and Steven take a look back at Peter Jackson's trilogy of Lord of the Rings films. Find out what they love about the movies and what they don't like quite as much. Other non-Tolkien penned books mentioned in this episode: The Sword of Shannara - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15575.The_Sword_of_Shannara Journeys of Frodo - https://www.…

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Robyn / Erin Young, author of The Fields interview! 1:16:05

1+ y ago1:16:05

1:16:05

Author Robyn Young (who also writes modern thrillers as Erin Young) joins Matthew and Steven to discuss writing, pen-names, research and much more, including the forthcoming TV show based on her novel The Fields. Robyn's website - https://robynyoung.com/

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Great beginnings in novels 53:46

1+ y ago53:46

53:46

Matthew and Steven discuss a handful of action and adventure books (including some of their own!) and how their very first lines/paragraphs draw the reader in. Bernard Cornwell's The Lords of the North David Gemmell's The Swords of Night and Day Steven A. McKay's Lucia and Rise of the Wolf Matthew Harffy's The Serpent Sword and The Wolf of Wessex T…

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