Today in our special character interview we meet, Oswii – King Oswii from Cometh the Hour by Annie Whitehead.
1.
Introduce yourself and tell us where can we meet you?
My name is Oswii – King Oswii to be precise –
although you’ll meet me as a small boy quite near the beginning of Annie
Whitehead’s latest novel, Cometh the Hour
2.
Why are you in this book?
I’m the nemesis of the so-called hero. The author
seemed to think that Penda of Mercia was worthy of a novel, but she couldn’t
have written it without including me. I became a highly successful king
although it seems Penda had some kind of grudge against me. I can’t imagine
what that was. And no, before you ask, it’s nothing to do with trying to make
his kingdom subject to mine, or breaking oaths, or my attitude to my children.
3.
Would you describe yourself as a likeable person?
I must be. None of my wives had any complaints. All
right, a couple of them might have got upset when I left them alone to raise my
children, and if you asked my nephew he might accuse me of bullying him. Don’t
speak to the abbess Hild, either, because we’ve had a couple of run-ins. Dear
God, that woman can talk, and she doesn’t agree with me about anything. If I could silence her the way I silenced a
couple of others… oops, probably said too much there. But flick through the
book, and you’ll see that there’s never a dull moment when I’m in the scenes. I
don’t half liven things up. If fights, double-dealings and general stirring of
the political pot are your thing, then I’m your man.
4.
What would you say are your strengths and your weaknesses?
Well, it goes without saying that I’m a military
expert. Obviously I had a hard act to follow, my brother being the
oh-so-saintly Oswald. My biggest strength has to be my guile. I’m clever, you
see, cunning, in fact. I don’t always take the straight road, especially if I think
it might be blocked. No, I find ways, other means, to get what I want.
Weaknesses? Wouldn’t be much of a king if I had any of those, would I?
5.
Did your author portray you and your story correctly? If
not why?
She painted me as having quite a way with the women,
and she got that bit right. My current wife is a shrew, make no mistake, and
pious to the point of lunacy, but I can always manage to put a smile on her
face, if you know what I mean? As for the rest, well, I will hold my hand up to
one or two of the crimes that the author accused me of, but honestly, you
commit one or two tiny little murders and suddenly you get blamed for every
suspicious death. I was particularly proud of the way I er, shall we say,
persuaded, certain people to turn traitor, or accept my very generous bribes,
but she seemed to think it was a dishonest way to behave. Results, Lady, I got
results, and that’s what matters. Oh, and she accused me of being a bad father.
Bad father? When I produced so many children? Not my fault if I had to leave a
few of them behind along the way. Honestly, some people are just too judgmental
and sentimental.
You can meet Oswii in Cometh the Hour: In seventh century England, a vicious attack sets
in motion a war of attrition which will last for generations.
Four kings, connected by blood and marriage, vie for
the mantle of overlord. Three affect to rule with divine assistance. The
fourth, whose cousin and sister have been mistreated and whose friend has been
slaughtered, watches, and waits.
He is a pagan, he is a Mercian, and his name is
Penda.
By his side is a woman determined to escape her
brutal past. She aids his struggle against his treacherous brother and their
alliance founds a dynasty with the potential to end injustice and suppression,
if only they can continue to stand together…
A story that spans generations, and travels from
Sutton Hoo to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and back to the buried treasure of
Staffordshire, this is the first volume of the tales of the Iclingas, the family
who ruled Mercia, fighting to avenge their kin and to keep their people free.
Annie Whitehead is an author and historian,
and a member of the Royal Historical Society. Her first two novels are set in
tenth-century Mercia, chronicling the lives of Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians,
who ruled a country in all but name, and Earl Alvar, who served King Edgar and
his son Æthelred the Unready who were both embroiled in murderous scandals. She
won the inaugural HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition and To Be A Queen
was voted finalist in its category in the IAN (Independent Author Network) Book
of the Year 2017. All of her novels have received IndieBRAG Medallions and
Chill with a Book Readers’ Awards, with Alvar the Kingmaker also voted Chill’s
Book of the Month Award in Jan 2017. She is currently working on a history of
Mercia for Amberley Publishing, to be released in 2018.
Amazon Author
page: http://viewauthor.at/Annie-Whitehead
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALWhitehead63
Website: http://anniewhiteheadauthor.co.uk/
5 comments:
Thank you Pauline, for indulging Oswii today. He certainly thinks highly of himself, doesn't he?
Love and best wishes,
His exasperated author...
Very nice to meet King Oswii, until today I knew nothing about you. I can't say I am fond of you from what I have read, but I am sure you did what you did for the good of some.
I like Oswii - but then my chaps (Jesamiah and Arthur) think just as highly of themselves as well!
I like his phrase, '...a couple of tiny murders...". Summed up his attitude pretty good!
Great interview. Not all great characters are likable.
Thanks Helen and Eileen - I truly believe that Oswii thinks he's not as bad as I painted him, and his attitude is that killing is the same, on or off the battlefield. He would blame his childhood, if he were in the least bit sentimental, but he's not! I loved writing his scenes (but don't tell him!)
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