I posted earlier about book 5. Well, it’s really beckoning to me now. Called to Account, book 4 in the Sir Anthony Standen adventures, is published. Although I’ve got marketing things to do, like a radio interview which airs later this month, they say that nothing sells your book as well as the next book. So I want to get started on book 5. The book I spoke about in my previous post arrived yesterday. It is Louis XIII: The Making of a King, by Elizabeth Wirth Marvick. Amongst the praise on the back cover is: “Marvick is not only a great historian but also an experienced psychologist who makes a brilliant case history out of a historical record.” – K.R . Eisner, M.D.
I feel that the great bond between Maria and Louis, which developed in The Suggested Assassin, might be the course to take with book 5. I have read the preface and introduction so far. Marvick has researched all the available records concerning Louis, including the very detailed notebooks of his physician Jean Héroard. It is the childhood of Louis which is most interesting. It made him the man and king that he became. When we last met Louis he was nine years of age. Book 5 will probably start in 1613, so he will be twelve.
At present I don’t know what time period book 5 will cover. That will depend on several things. What events will I find that make a story? What period do those events cover? Are there other events elsewhere that would make a book? If there are, can Anthony or Antonio take those on, whilst Maria is with Louis?
Of course this is all conjecture until I’ve read Marvick’s book. I’ll keep you updated on how things are going, or at least I’ll try to. I won’t want to let too many spoilers slip out. I’m really looking forward to diving deep into the psychology of a key character.