So
tell me about your new book, and why I should immediately rush out and buy it.
Sure!
Honor Among
Thieves is the first book in the Hope & Steel series. It takes place during 17th
Century France, a few decades after the Wars of Religion decimated the
countryside and a couple decades before the famed Musketeers were formed.
Under Henry IV’s reign, France was starting
to bounce back from those wars. The country was a little more stable
financially and life was returning to “normal.” But Henry also really hated the Hapsburgs and dreamed
of taking their dynasty down.
The decades of religious warfare also meant
there were a lot of soldiers without employment. Some lacked skills for
traditional working life; others just preferred to make their way with lead
shot and steel, so many turned to banditry to get by.
Hope
& Steel series is what happens when the
bubbling political climate of early-17th Century France meets the
harsh reality of a soldier’s post-fighting life. And all with a heavy dash of
swashbuckling adventure.
We follow Darion Delerue, a former soldier
turned highwayman, who has only two things of value—the hope in his heart and
the steel at his side. We also follow Jacquelyna Brocquart, a young
lady-in-waiting for the queen, who gets a rude awakening about the less than
glamorous life at court. After a heist on a royal ambassador goes wrong, both
Darion and Jacquelyna are thrown into a political plot to undermine the crown
which could send France straight back into civil war.
There’s plenty of political intrigue rooted
in historical events, intertwined with a fictional plot and fictional
characters. And there’s also plenty of swordplay for readers who, like me,
enjoy a little steel to warm their blood.
You've
been compared to Alexander Dumas. Who are your writing heroes?
I’m pretty sure
I pulled a Tom Cruise and started jumping on the couch when I originally read
that comparison. Dumas is definitely one of my favorites, so I was floored to
be considered in his company.
I think anyone
who gets into the historical adventure genre has read The Three Musketeers. It’s a classic that really helped define the
swashbuckler genre. For me, that story was very influential growing up.
I’m also a huge
fan of Rafael Sabatini. Captain Blood
and Scaramouche are some fantastic
swashbuckling reads. Sabatini really knows how to turn a phrase. I swear he’s
left none of the good lines for the rest of us poor authors.
I also love the Captain Alatriste series by Arturo
Pérez-Reverte. Arturo has taken the classic swashbuckling genre and has given
it a little more of a real world feel. A lot of time the
swashbuckling/adventure tales tend to have happy endings, but actions have
consequences in the Alatriste series. It’s fun and refreshing.
I really try to
merge the high adventure and political intrigue of Dumas with the witticism of
Sabatini and the realism of Pérez-Reverte. That’s what I’m aiming for in the Hope &
Steel series.
Are
you a swordsman who writes, or a writer who fences? And does it help?
Tough question!
I think I’m equal swordsman and writer. I’ve been a huge fan of the historical
adventure genre ever since I was a little lad. I used to watch reruns of Guy
William’s Zorro on the Disney Channel
every week. I must’ve dressed up as Zorro for Halloween for five straight years
as a kid. It was around this time that I also saw Disney’s Three Musketeers adaption with Tim Curry as Cardinal Richelieu. I
guess we can blame Disney for my swashbuckling obsession.
So swordplay is
what turned me on to reading and writing. But it wasn’t until college that I
started learning about swordplay. I
started taking foil fencing classes as well as stage combat classes, so I
learned both the practical and the entertainment aspects of swordplay. A little
later I discovered the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).
I enjoyed foil fencing, but being able to actually duel with folks in full
period garb while using full-length rapiers and daggers really sung to the side
of me that wanted to be d’Artagnan growing up.
Knowing
swordsmanship definitely helps when writing swashbucklers. Readers expect a
little sword play, and knowing what you’re talking about is a good thing. I’ve
read some pretty atrocious swordfights written by people who don’t really
understand how the sword works on even a bare basic level. Not that I really
want to read (or write) a super technical fight scene either. It still needs to
be entertaining and help further the story. There needs to be a balance between
the realism of two people trying to skewer themselves with sharpened steel with
the good ol’ fashion fun nature of what’s expected from the genre.
- my
weapon of choice is a 36” munitions quality cavalry backsword, Birmingham
steel. What’s yours?
I’m a big fan of
my 37” Spanish Bilbao rapier. I had it custom made by Darkwood Armories, based after the sword
Viggo Mortensen uses in the Alatriste
movie adaption. I use it when fencing. As soon as I picked it up, I knew I
had found my true blade. I do love me some backswords; I need one for my
collection.
I
also have a strong adoration for wheellock pistols. Those things are just works
of art – from the aesthetics to the mechanics.
What
are you writing at the moment?
I’m in between stories, you could say. I’m
plotting out the next Hope
& Steel novel and also world building for a possible fantasy
series. Some fans have been bugging me about when the next Jake
Hawking Adventure is coming out, so maybe I’ll add that to the
queue.
Like a lot of writers, I have more ideas
than time to do them all. Bah!
What
are your plans for the future?
Keep writing. Keep fencing. Keep costuming.
Creating historical costumes (especially 17th
Century) and cosplays is
a fun hobby of mine. It sort of ties into the writing and fencing.
While writing is fun because I’m creating something out of nothing, costuming
is fun because I’m making something tangible and with my hands. And
I get to look dashing as hell afterwards.
I’m also going
through Capoferro’s fencing manual and writing up my interpretations of that,
which can be read on my historical
research/SCA blog for folks who are interested in the technical
aspects of swordplay. My regular swashbuckling blogging can be found on my author blog.
...
and finally, the importantest question....
Roundhead
or Cavalier?
O0o0o0…. Tough
question!
When it comes to
fiction I usually like to root for the rebels. My protagonists tend to be
people who like to live outside the conventional norms of society. So you’d
think I’d side with the Roundheads. But I’m going to go against my own grain
and say Cavalier. And I’ll say it’s because I like The Tavern Knight by Sabatini. Sir Crispin Galliard (aka the Tavern
Knight) was a Cavalier.
I hope that’s
the right answer and that we don’t have to fight over it. Although, if we do,
I’ll go fetch my rapier! :D
Connect
with J.M. Aucoin!
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