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Wednesday 11 February 2015

Historical Fiction Writer Debuts Novel


Guest blog by Elaine S Moxon

Writing as E S MoxonElaine is a historical fiction novelist and member of the Historical Novel Society. She loves history, languages and travel and when not writing Saxon Sagas, she can be found gardening, baking and walking the family chocolate Labrador. ‘Wulfsuna’ is her debut novel, published on 21st January 2015 via SilverWood Books, and the first in the ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series.

 “…two long ships sail for the east fens to honour their Warrior-Lord’s dream and reunite with lost kin. Soon after landing however, a murderous betrayal divides loyalties…Blood and brotherhood are tested to their deadly limits.”

Þy wæs sweart land.
This was a dark land. That’s part of a paragraph in Old English I use to open my novel ‘Wulfsuna’. Set in AD433, the Dark Ages, it is indeed a dark time both in terms of the lack of economic prosperity in Britain, as well as the little written detail that exists on the period. When my idea first came to me I had not chosen a date in which to set my historical fiction. All I had were two runic symbols for ‘Thor’ and ‘Tiw’ and a passing thought that they reminded me of a wolf’s head and a spear. The ‘Wolf Spear Saga’ series idea soon followed and I wrote a poem, to explain the legend to myself and explore it in Anglo-Saxon rhyme.



Finding a date in which to set ‘Wulfsuna’, and therefore build my literary landscape, came about after reading of the foederati and limitanei. These were Germanic mercenaries hired by Rome as added numbers in their armies, used to help patrol particularly difficult borders such as parts of Hadrian’s Wall and the Saxon shore forts on the southeast coast. When the Empire withdrew from Britain some of these men returned to Rome, but not all of them. Here were the beginnings of the Wolf Sons: young, ex-mercenaries now unemployed. Some could have married and forged lives on the isle, while single men may have wanted to return to Germania.

Once I began writing ‘Wulfsuna’ I realised there are equally few fictional books of this time, as there are historical written references. Whether writers shy away from the period due to lack of historical material, or because few real historical figures exist I do not know. What I do know is that mapping my interpretation of early 5th Century Britain has been immense fun. I hope readers have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!


“I really enjoyed this book even when unforeseen events shook me…those kinds of reader shaking events are what make a book a page turner, aren't they? A hearty recommendation and 5 stars...looking forward to the sequel.”
P Bennett, Amazon.co.uk

“The Wolf Sons will take you to a time and place cloaked in darkness and mystery and make it come alive…Recommended to all who want post Roman Britain and the peopling of that land to come alive. A great read!”
K Ingram, Amazon.com

Follow E S Moxon on twitter @word_seeker on blogger at elainemoxon.blogspot.co.uk
You can purchase the book here: silverwoodbooks.co.uk/product/9781781322734/wulfsuna