VIII in Amazon's Bestsellers Charts!

We are hugely excited in Templar Towers today - yesterday's 8 hours of VIII campaign and the Amazon deal has pushed Harriet Castor's VIII up to no. 1 in Amazon's Children's Bestsellers chart and no. 2 in the overall charts!

Mike McGrath, our Managing Director, was delighted with the one day campaign "VIII by H.M. Castor is a great middle grade piece of YA fiction and to get to his position is fantastic, especially as YA fiction is hardly ever chosen for the Amazon/Kindle Daily Deal".

Just in case you missed it, you can watch the trailer here: http://youtu.be/9ZrOs57rLKY

8 Actors who've played Henry VIII

In the eighth hour of our #8hoursofVIII day to celebrate Harriet Castor's VIII being available on Kindle for 99p we have picked some of our favourite Henry VIII actors:

Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors 

 









  


Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII and Young Bess

Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days

Robert Shaw in A Man for All Seasons 

 












Eric Bana in The Other Boleyn Girl

Keith Michell in the BBC miniseries, The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Ray Winstone in the TV series Henry VIII

Sid James in Carry on Henry

Which one do you think looks most convincing?

8 Questions with VIII's Editor

To celebrate H.M. Castor's VIII being selected as today's Kindle Daily Deal, we've asked our Fiction Editor, Helen Boyle, 8 questions about VIII

1. Who's your favourite character from VIII? 

Hands down the teenage Henry, or Hal as his friends called him. Charismatic, good-looking, a king - what's not to like? I sort of see him as Prince Harry in a previous incarnation!

2. Do you have a favourite scene?
The spooky appearances of the ghostly apparition literally made the hairs on my arms stand up when I first read them. Spine-chillingly brilliant. I also love the end scene, but we won't spoil it for new readers...

3. What is your favourite description in VIII?
I love Harriet's turn of phrase, it's so evocative and lyrical. One favourite is: My mother’s shadow stretches itself across the floor and runs straight up the wall, like spilt ink running the wrong way.

And another would be:  The sliver of moonlight winks, then disappears; wind whistles through gaps in the casement. Then a noise comes, outside in the passage. A door unlatching, opening. Soft footsteps – and urgent whispers.
I could go on and on – there are so many great descriptions in this book!

4. Who should play Henry in a movie adaptation?
Hmm, tricky one, I remember Harriet talking about Heath Ledger from A Knight's Tale as a sort of visual inspiration when she was writing the book, but he's no longer with us... For a teenage Hal, perhaps Josh Hutcherson (Peeta from The Hunger Games) has the right look, but would need to toughen up on personality... And for a young 20s/30s Henry, perhaps Michael Fassbender.

5. What is the most astonishing thing learnt from reading VIII?
I guess I hadn't ever really thought about the teenage Henry - we just know him from history as the fat, beardy bloke. So it was so interesting to explore, through Harriet's book, Henry's teenage years. And the fact that he became king aged just 17 – imagine how that must have felt?

6. Best moment on the publishing journey of VIII? 
Gosh... there have, and continue to be, loads. Seeing the powerful cover design for the first time. Having random people tweet about how much they love the book. Seeing the enthusiasm and passion of booksellers hand-selling the book to customers. Watching Harriet enthrall and inspire a group of teenagers at school events. Working with Bath Spa film students on producing a cinematic, eat-your-heart-out-The Tudors, trailer for the book. Talking with Harriet about the next book... Too many for me to pick.

7. How would you describe VIII in three words?
Gripping, haunting, fascinating.

8. What to read next after VIII?
Well, you could try Hilary Mantel, I hear she's quite good…! No – seriously – I think we're in something of a golden age of historical fiction and there's some brilliant YA titles out there – books by Mary Hooper, Theresa Breslin, Celia Rees, Mary Hoffman… the list goes on. BUT, most of all, I can't wait to read the first draft of Harriet's next book. We've just signed up to two volumes of a book called ‘Sisters of the Half Blood’, with volume one about Mary Tudor and volume two about Elizabeth I, with the Mary book due for publication in Autumn 2013. However, since we have to work so far in advance editorially, it means we'll get the first draft by Christmas – I can’t think of any better present Santa could bring us!

Pick up your Kindle copy of VIII for 99p (today only!) here: http://amzn.to/OWEntB 

HAYFEVER - stuck in the mud ... almost!

The Templar team turned out in force for this year's Hay Festival in the lovely town of Hay-on-Wye on the border of Wales and Hereford.  In the car with me (Jayne) this year were Emma Dodd and Kelly Gerrard - full of energy and wise-cracks and tucking into the Haribo emergency snacks, we made good time on Bank Holiday Tuesday.

Up bright and early on Wednesday morning - despite a low mist, there was none of the rain which had deluged down over the weekend before.   The Charlie and Bandit team were already in the Green Room and sampling coffee and cakes before their 11.30 am event - a graphic novel workshop.  Despite being in the Digital Tent, which had raked seating all the children and their parents (including Mariella Frostrupp and her brood) got down to some great drawing.

Emma and Kelly signing tent

A little later that afternoon the call went out for illustrators to help Korky Paul with his massive illustration marking 25 years of Winnie the Witch.  Emma and Kelly duly obliged!



Around lunch time a clutch of Duddles arrived and very excited they were too.  And that's just the children ....  Jonny's event that afternoon was a sell-out with around three quarters of the audience dressed as pirates.  Lots of ooo aaargh's in true pirate style accompanied Jonny's reading - and as ever, his roughly drawn pirate drew lots of laughs.

Ooooaaargh!

In the signing tent, Jonny had a dedicated helper - his daughter Daisy - giving out postcards to the children with books.






Harriet Castor and family had also arrived on Wednesday afternoon and were making the most of their first visit to the Festival.

Thursday was Emma's birthday and she celebrated with a glass of bubbly and not many 'bumps'.  Harriet's event was with William Osborne, who turned up in true Hay fashion (i.e. large black wellies).  It was tipping it down by now.  Again, a terrific audience - great questions and lots of interest in the Tudors and William's setting of Nazi Germany.



Harriet also had a little helper at the signing - her daughter Maud and a great job done by her too.













Setting off late Thursday afternoon - slight worry about getting the car out of the mud, weighed down as it was with crates of wine for the talent (Emma and Kelly) - we made it home safely.

Thanks again to Sophie and Rhodri for their great teamwork and another terrific Hay Fever programme.

VIII Blog Tour 26th September - 3rd October

So, how much do you think you know about the most infamous King of England? Well, if you haven't read VIII by H. M. Castor then you don't know the half of it! Prepare to enter the mind of Henry VIII and discover just why he turned from an ordinary, fun-loving boy into the cruel tyrant of his later years.

VIII
H. M. Castor

Destined for greatness; tormented by demons... VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is tormented by the ghosts of his family's violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII. The Tudors have always captured the popular imagination. In VIII, Henry is presented afresh for a new generation of teenage readers.

"Succeeds brilliantly in portraying the troubled soul of Henry from youth to old age." Bookseller Pod

"A real page-turner for older readers." Bookseller

Read an extract!


To welcome this fantastic historical novel onto our bookshelves, Harriet Castor will be making her way around eight blogs run by historical fiction lovers up and down the UK. Definitely not something to miss if you want to solve the enigma of Henry VIII, have a passion for historical fiction or just plain love a good story. Here's what you can expect:

26th September

First off, Harriet will be over at The Book Zone where she'll be talking about why Henry VIII as a character has such a timeless appeal and why his story is so relevant to the modern reader.

27th September

If that whets your appetite, there will be an exclusive extract from VIII at Daisy Chain Book Reviews along with a giveaway so make sure you enter to win the beautiful hardback of VIII.

28th September

On day three, Harriet will be at The Overflowing Library to drop off another brilliant guest post, talking about all her research for VIII with perhaps a sneak preview of the next project...

29th September

The first Q&A of the tour will be held over at A Little Sun Shy so don't miss the chance to find out all the juiciest gossip!

30th September

Find out why Elvis, Elton and Robert Downey Jr were essential to building Henry's character profile over at Floor To Ceiling Books - especially Robert Downey Jr!

1st October

Cheezyfeet Books will be hosting the next Q&A. What better way to celebrate publication day?

2nd October

You can find Harriet's final guest post over at A Dream of Books and she'll be talking about why villains make such good heroes. Embrace the baddy!

3rd October

It's the last stop but it definitely promises to be a goody over at The Book Bug who will be grilling Harriet in her final interview and posting a review just in case you need one more reason to grace your bookshelf with VIII.

~

H. M. Castor has been obsessed with the Tudors since primary school. She studied Tudor History at Cambridge University, and despite spending time after that doing a variety of jobs – including teaching English in Prague and working as a Benesh Movement Notator for the Royal Ballet – the Tudors have never lost their hold on
her.

H. M. Castor lives in Bristol with her husband and two daughters.

For more, check out Harriet's website or follow her on Twitter.