20 Questions with Amy Licence & Giveaway!

I am delighted to share with you my interview with historian Amy Licence!

Be sure to leave a comment after our Q&A, for your chance to win a copy of Elizabeth of York: Forgotten Tudor Queen, kindly donated by Amberley Publishing.

Conditions of Entry

For your chance to win a copy of ‘Elizabeth of York’, you must be subscribed to On the Tudor Trail’s newsletter (if you are not already, sign up on our homepage).

Then simply leave a comment after this post between now and 16 May 2014. Don’t forget to leave your name and a contact email.

This giveaway is open internationally.

One winner will be randomly selected and contacted by email shortly after the competition closes. Please ensure you’ve added natalie@onthetudortrail.com to your address book to avoid missing my email.

Good luck!

20 Questions with Amy Licence

1. When did you realise that you wanted to be an historian?

Being a writer came first. I decided I would be a writer when I was eight years old, but history was always part of my life, visiting castles and going on digs, so it’s not surprising that they came together eventually. I used to write stories and fictional histories about an imaginary world in my early teens then, when I was 16, I started writing historical biographies of real people.

2. What sparked your interest in fifteenth century England?

I think there are many fairy tales, with illustrations and details- the classic knight rescuing a princess from a castle tower type of story- that draw on a simulacra of medieval history, which we subtly absorb. I think my interest started there, very early, and was fuelled by visiting certain places. I was really drawn to the Tudors at first, then read about the fifteenth century and found that equally exciting. I was lucky to grow up with a number of historical places surviving around me, old churches, priories, halls, castles, which gave me a sense of the past. I used to walk round and imagine them coming to life.

3. Tell us about your latest book, Cecily Neville: Mother of Kings.

I really felt that Cecily’s story needed to be told. After the presentation of her in The White Queen, I wanted to look at her life from her perspective, rather than as a foil for another woman, or for a man. As the Yorkist matriarch, she was a key figure in so many important events and her life spanned most of the fifteenth century. She had been depicted in fiction and I felt it important that there was a book that dealt with the known facts, so people could go to that after having read the novels. Plus, I like a challenge.

4. Why is it important to study history?

For its own sake. Obviously there are lots of things we can learn from history and hopefully, not repeat the mistakes of the past, but I firmly believe that we should study it for the pure pleasure of finding out about the people and events for their intrinsic worth. I remember the absolute delight I felt as a child, reading about the details of domestic life in the past; that’s the primary reason, rather than any sense of duty or improvement.

5. What three new skills would you like to learn?

Patience. Perhaps a new foreign language. Can I have time travel?

6. What is your favourite holiday destination?

I am rather in love with Vienna; I spent a month there, a few years back, just sitting and writing in the Secession and Art Nouveau cafes frequented by some of my heroes, strolling in the parks and visiting museums and galleries. I would love to go back.

7. Name two items on your bucket list.

I’ve never actually thought about this; I’d like to visit the States and there are various historical places I want to see. I’d like to take my boys to Disney Land.

8. How do you balance writing and family life?

With help from my husband. I guess most of the decisions and problems we face are the same as any other working parents, although it is tricky working from home, as it means I’m always visible and interruptable. I wrote a piece about this for the New Statesman, inspired by Woolf’s “Room of One’s Own”, only I argued that these days, that room has to be virtual, or at least, inside your head. I asked a number of other working mums how they do it and it’s pretty much a juggling act for us all, but it’s worth it.

9. Describe a day in your life when you are writing. Do you follow any rituals?

The only ones I follow on an average day are the ones dictated by my boys, so I get them breakfast, then check my email etc while they’re busy. Otherwise it’s a question of seizing whatever opportunity I can and just writing. I don’t have any rituals or preliminaries, it’s a case of letting me get my fingers on the keyboard. Uninterrupted, I can write around  3-5,000 words a day but I rarely meet that target unless my husband takes them out for a stretch. When he’s at work, I might take the boys out or play with them in the afternoon, then try and get a bit more done once they’re asleep, if I’m still alert enough!

10. What does your writing space look like?

I write on our dining room table, so it has three big piles of books pushed to the right, overflowing from the book cases. I have a couple of glass paperweights on the mantelpiece beside me, plus a clock, scented candles, hand cream and lypsyl. Usually there are train tracks around me and toddlers rolling about on the floor.

11. Describe your perfect night out.

At the moment, I would just like some sleep.

12. What makes you smile?

My babies laughing.

13. What is something most people don’t know about you?

I’m equally as interested in Modernism as I am in the Medieval and Tudor era; my particular are Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group, Picasso and Cubism, and I have plans to write on both. I’ve also started a book called “Miss Modernist” about the lives of women at the vanguard of art 1864-1914, but it’s difficult to find the time to work on it, as I’m committed to my current project and switching back and forth between 1500 and 1900 makes me giddy.

14. What are a few of the books on your TBR list?

I’ve got a whole load of new books to read through at the moment; I’m currently reading Lacey Baldwin Smith’s book on Anne Boleyn and Nicola Shulman’s biography of Thomas Wyatt, as well as Chris Skidmore’s Bosworth. I’ve also got Mad Girl’s Love Song, a new biography of Sylvia Plath on my pile and Toby Clement’s new novel Kingmaker. Too many books, too little time.

15. Name five people you follow on Twitter.

@parisreview @whjm (Woman’s Hour’s Jenni Murray) @LeVostreGC (Chaucer doth tweet) @thewomensroomuk @HornimanWalrus (the stuffed walrus in the Horniman museum!)

16. What women in history do you most admire?

That’s tricky, as I can name women who I find interesting, but I’m not sure whether I have a full enough grasp of them to say they were admirable. Particularly in the fifteenth century, so little of their personality is evident to us, so while I may be fascinated by Cecily Neville or Anne Neville, it’s hard to interpret them in that way. Once we get into the sixteenth century though, it becomes easier. There are many things about Catherine of Aragon that I admire; she certainly was determined and focused, but I can also see that those qualities could be interpreted as stubbornness, or risking her daughter’s welfare. That’s probably a clash of modern versus Tudor values. I admire women who know what they want and strive to achieve it, without giving up.

17. Are you currently working on any new books?

At the moment, I’m working on Henry VIII’s women, the title is currently “In Bed with Henry VIII: The Women’s Stories.” I’m determined to tell this from the view of the wives and mistresses, focusing on the female experience, and not let it become a narrative of Henry’s life.

18. Do you have a favourite quote?

“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” Toni Morrison.

19. What tips do you have for overcoming writer’s block?

I’m afraid I don’t believe in writer’s block. If writers are serious, they have to treat it as a job and get on with it. If there’s nothing down on the page, there’s nothing to work with, you just have to get something down, so you can go back and revise or adapt it later. It’s very easy to procrastinate but this is just a barrier that has to be worked through. I do believe in letting ideas mellow and develop though and that there are days when sometimes writing does come easier, but there are always things to do to help, researching or re-reading and editing existing work. Only the act of writing gets writing done, you just have to get on with it.

20. What is the best advice you’ve been given?

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

Follow the rest of Amy’s virtual book tour:

Sunday 11 May, Tudor Book Blog will be hosting an extract from ‘Richard III: the Road to Leicester’.
Monday 12 May, http://tudorhistory.org/blog/ will host an extract from ‘Elizabeth of York’.