Cheltenham Literature Festival 2024 - Local Voices: Paying in Blood

Alongside the big names, Cheltenham Literature Festival provides opportunities for local writers to discuss their books. I was delighted to be invited to speak about my debut historical crime novel Paying in Blood, and read sections in public for the first time  - a dream come true!

As well as sharing past experiences that inspired me to write in the first place, I talked about how the courage and resilience of the historical characters in the book inspired me to keep going, despite setbacks including breast cancer.

Sharpe Books published Paying in Blood in March 2024, and will publish two further Alexander Baxby mysteries next year.

Tudor Times - Religious Perspectives

 

I'm delighted that Tudor Times have published my guest article about conflicting religious perspectives - a challenging mix when Elizabeth became Queen!

Tudor Times | Conflicting Religious Perspectives 1517-1558 by Karen Haden

Heidi's Heroes Support

Yesterday, a Gloucestershire Radio reporter visited our Heidi's Heroes exercise class, at the start of Breast Cancer Awareness week.

The charity was launched in 2013 as an ongoing tribute to Heidi Wood, a former world championship swimmer from Cheltenham, who died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 51.

Heidi’s Heroes, Cheltenham-based charity (heidisheroes.co.uk)

After interviewing Heidi's daughter Millie, fitness instructor Kelly and resident physiotherapist  Rhidi, the reporter asked for contributions from those of us who had benefited from the group's support. With a couple of minutes warning, I said something like this ...

"At the start of 2021, whilst working as a consultant at GCHQ, I registered to run the Great South Run in Portsmouth on my 60th birthday, then had to pull out when diagnosed with breast cancer. Although previously capable and self-reliant, going through chemo I reached a point where I knew I needed outside help, especially as my Dad was dying from cancer at the same time.

After the main treatment, I continued to get as much as help as I could, initially from Maggies Centres and MacMillan Next Steps, then on-going support from Heidi's Heroes.

The fitness classes enabled me to recover physical fitness, but the emotional support has been invaluable too, meeting with other people who know what it's like.

As a result, I've run the Cheltenham 10K, left consultancy and published my first historical crime novel Paying in Blood. Next Wednesday I'll be speaking about it at Cheltenham Literature Festival.

None of this would not be possible if I had not regained sufficient strength through support from Heidi's Heroes."

Lou Kemp Interview

Lou Kemp had some great questions in her Celwyn Series interview

Check out her web-site at: Celwyn Series Link

Newsletter 17 Sept 2024

Karen Haden's debut novel Paying in Blood was published by Sharpe Books in March 2024.

How would you compare Paying in Blood to other styles of mysteries? 

Set in England, during the last years of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, Alexander Baxby’s quest to solve the mystery of a young woman’s suspicious death leads him into the murky world of Tudor politics and court rivalry.

More unusually, the novel shows their impact on ordinary people’s lives, as powerful statesmen and bishops exert increasing control through espionage, surveillance and limiting access to books. Baxby tells his story from gaol, so the precarious nature of early 17^th century life is never far-away.

Of all your characters, which is the most like your personality? 

Baxby shares character traits and life events with my late father and myself. Like many working in Defense and Security, we understood the need to keep secrets, even from closest family and friends, and the resulting tensions that can bring. I am glad to have retired from that environment to write.

Who is your favorite villain of all time and why?

Disney villains such as Cruella de Ville and Snow White’s wicked Queen remain strong favorites. Growing up, I was closer to my father than mother in a competitive home, which may explain my on-going fascination with the complexities of female malevolence and power.

Can a villain be sympathetic, or do good deeds to be redeemed?

In my childhood and whilst working as a consultant, I saw how minor differences can spiral into major conflict. Issues were rarely black and white. People with different perspectives often saw different parts of the whole.

As a result, my heroes and villains are more nuanced. Although courageous, loveable and loyal, Baxby has multiple weaknesses. Antagonist Archbishop Bancroft does what he deems necessary to protect national security, with lethal consequences.

Will there be a sequel to Paying in Blood, and if so, what will it focus on? 

The next Alexander Baxby mystery will be published in the autumn of 2024, in which his attempts to start a new life in Amsterdam will be shaken by a series of unexplained deaths. Suspecting Bancroft’s spy-network has spread beyond England’s coast, Baxby’s own life will be threatened as he pursues the truth.

                    Celywn Series Newsletter No 17 September 2024

Moving Between Cultures & Classes - CRA July 2024

Growing up in Portsmouth, I learned about the history of ordinary people from a young age. Although the excellent Mary Rose Museum was yet to be built, the sailors who conducted tours around HMS Victory recounted the horrors of floggings, weevil biscuits and anaesthetic-free surgery. Despite his elevated position in Trafalgar Square, Horatio Nelson came from lowly origins. His sailors were press-ganged from nearby Portsea streets, where my paternal grandparents grew up.

After joining the Marines and serving in both world wars, my grandfather could only find unskilled work. Struggling to feed his nine children, he sought apprenticeships for those who survived to adulthood, through which my father, the youngest, found relative prosperity in the Ministry of Defence.

As I learnt more about my family’s history, and ordinary people in previous centuries, I admired their bravery and resilience. When I started writing historical crime fiction, I wanted to include their everyday pre-occupations and aspirations, not just those of royalty and nobles at court.

From these strands, the fictitious young Alexander Baxby and his friends were ‘born’, in the Tudor/Stuart generations who lived through seismic change. With increased literacy and access to printed publications, many broke free from earlier constraints to find respectability and economic security in the emerging middle class.

In 1600, Baxby proves his potential by removing the soldier John Crackleton’s injured foot at the Battle of Nieuwpoort, enabling his patron Geoffrey to arrange for him to train as a physician in Lincoln. Having formed a close bond, Baxby vows to help Crackleton discover how his wife Catherine died in suspicious circumstances in the city.

As he starts his apprenticeship, the young man struggles to adapt to Lincoln life. He is incensed when wealthier locals will not answer his questions about Catherine. What are they hiding? What are they afraid of?

He grows increasingly nervous when called to a grisly murder scene, then more nervous still when Geoffrey introduces him to politics at court. But as he battles ‘demons’, within and without, Baxby never forgets his promise to his friend. His loyalties will be tested, but the mystery of Catherine’s death must be solved. 

Modern psychology diagnoses anxiety, post-traumatic stress and imposter syndromes now. Nevertheless, anyone who moves between cultures and classes, may recognise the challenges Baxby faced.

Read more about Karen and her books here

Paying in Blood - Launch Photos

 

I was VERY nervous about having a book launch for Paying in Blood. A friend told me hers was like attending her own funeral ahead of her death. She had clearly enjoyed the experience, moved by compliments from family and friends, but the engineer/pragmatist within me preferred a couple of good Amazon reviews.

However, when neighbours suggested a joint "Celebration of Creativity" event - with an opportunity for local artist Richard Williams to show his work, and others to bring items they had made - I relented. This sounded more fun for everyone involved. 

Highbury Church provided an excellent venue, with plenty of space and light. It was built in the 1930s, after the congregation sold their old roofless Victorian building in the centre of Cheltenham to Odeon cinemas.

Church Secretary Mary helped photocopy publicity. Another friend Jane Jones agreed to interview Richard and me. Helen, from the church Cr-afternoon group, arranged the displays. Others organised refreshments, moved furniture and provided music.

By the time I collected the helium balloons, I was enjoying myself. Sharing the load really helped.

It was great to be able to discuss the background to Paying in Blood, and vibrant Amsterdam in the early 1600s - the setting for Book 2. Also, to learn about Richard's art and see the beautiful things people had made, including items that had never been shown outside immediate family before.

On reflection, the book launch felt like a "rite of passage" - something I was privileged to share with lots of wonderful people. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.

                                                                                           

              

Photos with thanks to Zoe Haden and June Tremlett.

Starting to Write

People have asked how I came to write Paying in Blood - not an obvious path for a former STEM girl and engineering graduate. Although still uncovering more pointers from my distant past, my experiences whilst volunteering in a women's prison probably had the greatest impact.

Leading a weekly bible group in the prison, I saw how the participants connected with stories. Whether from the UK, Zimbabwe or Iran, those in full health, with mental illness, addictions or physical disease, a strong faith or primarily wanting an afternoon away from the wing, all related to the stories and characters, and wanted to talk about their own experiences as a result. The same was true when prison officers joined the group (accompanying young offenders), or even a male bishop on one occasion. Everyone had a story to tell.

Even more noticeable was the effect when those who had previously been imprisoned themselves, returned with outside groups. Their testimonies and stories carried more weight, knowing what it was like to be “dealt a poor hand” in life. One wrote his autobiography which also had a profound effect on several.

Meeting one woman greatly affected me. She lived in the same block of flats as one of my uncles in Portsmouth. If my father had not found faith and prosperity, through a church youth club and a dockyard apprenticeship scheme, could I have been in her shoes?

Later when illness curtailed my activities, I was disappointed to no longer be able to visit the prison, but slowly began to believe that I could tell stories myself, and learn to write – a big step for someone who had chosen Physics O Level at school rather than English Language.

The different threads in my own life (e.g. prison, apprenticeship, defence/security, belonging to a faith community) combined in a new way to create the first story about Alexander Baxby - an ambitious young man from humble origins who is caught between conflicting loyalties. I took a couple of longer breaks between consultancy contracts – one by choice and the other when I broke my ankle – and was very grateful for support and encouragement from many others, including college tutors who helped me understand the history of the first independent Baptists and Mayflower Pilgrims, many of whom were imprisoned themselves for their beliefs.

 Paying in Blood is free via Kindle Unlimited and to buy at www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CW6LKGK7

By Karen Haden (Instagram: @kjhaden, X/Twitter:@kjhaden,                          Blog: KarenHaden.blogspot.com)

(See Baptist Times  article at The Baptist Union of Great Britain : 'The different threads in my life gradually combined in a new way' )