How did you become a writer? I began writing magazine articles and became a regular contributor to several publications, before writing my first non-fiction book, which became a best-seller in the US. This encouraged me to write my first historical novel, Queen Sacrifice, where the narrative follows every move in the famous queen sacrifice chess game.

Who were your writing influences? My greatest influence is the late Hilary Mantel, with her brilliant Wolf Hall series, and her use of first person present tense to create a sense of immediacy. I also read On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King, and learned how to bring the world of the Tudors to life from C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake series.

When and where do you write? I treated myself to an oak writing desk – but most of my writing is done on my MacBook Pro. I like to research in the summer, visiting actual locations and tracking down primary sources, then I write every day through autumn and winter, and send the manuscript to my editor in the spring. This enables me to write a book a year, and I’m now working on my fourteenth novel.

What are you working on now? I’m currently writing the fifth book in my Elizabethan series. This series concludes the story of the Tudors, and views Queen Elizabeth through the eyes of three of her favourite men and three of her ladies. The last three books also introduce the Stuarts, with the arrival of King James and Queen Anne of Denmark.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? I find the secret to never having writer’s block is to sit down and write – and if the first draft needs developing, at least you have something to work with.     

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received? Write the book you would like to read. Write for yourself, and don’t worry about what others might say.

What’s your advice to new writers? If you can make the time to write just one page a day, that’s a book a year. It’s also a good idea to think in terms of a series, as if readers enjoy the first book, they are likely to buy them all.

Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of best-selling historical fiction. Best known for his Tudor trilogy, he lives in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the history of the Tudors. For more information about Tony’s books please visit his website tonyriches.com and his popular blog, The Writing Desk and find him on  Facebook and Twitter @tonyriches.

Links:

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tony-Riches/e/B006UZWOXA

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Riches/e/B006UZWOXA

Website: https://www.tonyriches.com/

Writing blog: https://tonyriches.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyriches

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tonyriches.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyriches.author

Podcasts: https://tonyriches.podbean.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5604088.Tony_Riches