AISFP 239 – M. Harold Page, Medieval Fantasy

Timothy C. Ward interviews M. Harold Page, author of Marshal versus the Assassins: A Foreworld SideQuest (The Foreworld Saga). On top of his contract work writing historical adventure stories for two different franchises, one of which relates to the Mongoliad, he also teaches German Longsword.

Discussed:

    • “Putting your body where your politics are,” as one facet of Medieval Fantasy that makes the genre so appealing to him.
    • Why taking up fencing is beneficial to fight scene writing as well as making contacts for writing gigs.
    • External validation for his writing dream by scoring an agent and writing contracts.

  • His other published work, The Sword is Mightier: Scholar Knight (Book I)
  • Lessons he’s learned working with Mark Teppo (listen to AISFP 179 – Mark Teppo) and the Foreworld universe – work backwards from the end, especially when writing historical fiction.
  • How he has tried to incorporate character growth into his strong adventures stories. Uses Richard III’s last charge at the Battle of Bosworth as an example of how to create character arcs out of what may seem like an action-focused story.
  • Advice for people who want to write Medieval Fantasy but neither longsword nor have a strong historical background.
  • Whether he prefers to use a historical event that is more known in research or lesser known for what he uses as setting for his stories. He discusses what period is easier to research, but then a different one that is more complicated.
  • Good books to use as research: Harold Lamb imprints.
  • Cliches to avoid when writing Medieval Fantasy: see the Middle Ages for what it was, not our time period placed into a Medieval setting.
  • Hubs for Medival Fantasy fans to congregate: Black Gate Magazine; Modern Medievalist ; Historical European Martial Arts; Dawn Duellists Society 
  • Viking Metal – Tyr. He wasn’t kidding.Tim’s SF Signal interview with Mike Stackpole

 

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Timothy C. Ward
Executive Producer

Timothy C. Ward has been podcasting since 2010, first as AudioTim, and now with AISFP. His first publication, Cornhusker: Demon Gene (A Short Story), is available on Kindle for $.99. He just turned in his novel to his editor, Joshua Essoe. Kaimerus is described as “Firefly crashes on Avatar and wakes up 28 Days Later.”

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Comments

  1. History according to Bob has a podcast series on William Marshall—a fantastic look at a fascinating man.

    Oh, and I second the recommendation of Lamb

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