Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill are back with a packed episode: first, a candid catch-up on where their writing is at right now, and then a deep-dive listener Q&A that covers some of the biggest questions in historical fiction writing.
Matthew has just delivered his Roman novel to his publisher. He's also completed a short story for the forthcoming Stamford Bridge anthology (told from a woman's perspective, covering just a few hours of the battle's aftermath). And he has fresh news: his publisher wants more books!
Justin, meanwhile, has delivered his Stamford Bridge short story (after several extensions and a structural breakthrough involving flashbacks), received enthusiastic feedback from his agent on his new contemporary novel, and had his Games Workshop/Black Library pitch approved. It's all happening.
The Q&A is a wide-ranging conversation that will resonate with writers and readers alike. Listener Trish Smith fires off a series of brilliant questions: when do you know a story is finished? Do you listen to music when you write? Who do you write for? What does "killing your darlings" really mean? And can you write about something you've never experienced?
Listener questions from Matt Muller and Chris Hind take things further: how do you convey the scale of mass combat when your protagonist can only see six feet in any direction? What do authors consistently get wrong about fighting? What's the single best battle scene either of them has ever read? Is there a line between historical fiction and fantasy, and have either of them been tempted to cross it? Can a D&D campaign feed directly into a novel? And is there really an appetite for more Westerns, and if so, why won't publishers touch them?
It's a conversation about craft, perseverance, landscape, archetypes, and why Jack Reacher is basically a knight errant.
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