Rock, Paper, Swords! - the Historical Action and Adventure Podcast

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page. ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠⁠ Today Steven interviews Matthew Harffy about his brand new book - Dark Frontier ! This is a real change for Matthew as the...

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page. patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Matthew and Steven chat this week with a musician for a change! Dr Mark Deeks is a choirmaster, as well as the piano player for one of Ste...

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, a free copy of our book, Tips on Writing, Publishing and Marketing your Book, and other cool perks, check out our Patreon page. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast⁠ Katie Daysh is an author from the Isle of Wight who loves to explore unheard voices in fiction. In her historical fiction, s...

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, and other cool perks including a FREE copy of the book we wrote together, check out our patreon page: ⁠  / rockpaperswordspodcast   Another episode and another musician who truly puts the ROCK in Rock, Paper, Swords! Todd "Dammit" Kerns is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and pr...

If you would like to help us with our running costs, and get exclusive bonus episodes every month, and other cool perks, check out our patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast Born and raised in Detroit, now living in Nashville, Tennessee, Cody C. Engdahl describes himself as a practitioner of the Southern Gentlemanly Arts, an amateur fiddler, cook, whiskey connoisseur, and arm...

Researching is a huge part of a historical fiction author's life. In this episode we discuss what we use to embed ourselves in our chosen time periods. Support us on one of our 3 tiers on Patreon - patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast If you're an author or publisher and would like to sponsor one of our episodes, please get in touch. You can find us on social media or email us at rockpapersw...

Today we have a special guest who we think will be of particular interest, especially to aspiring writers. Kit Nevile is a Commissioning Editor at publishers Canelo. He is particularly interested in thrillers, horror, and action/adventure books, and just so happens to be Steven’s editor! Before working at Canelo he was at Persephone Books and Whitefox publishing services, both in an editorial role...

This episode is sponsored by Paul Bernardi's brand new historical thriller Blood Feud. Please check it out HERE! On today's episode we're talking about what IS "historical fiction". It's a genre that seems to encapsulate so many other genres, crime, thrillers, action and adventure… but what actually makes a story historical fiction? The Historical Novel Society defines th...

THE EMPEROR'S SWORD is out next week, 25th April 2024, so we thought we'd remind you of this chat we had with him... Another fantastic guest this week, as Christian (also known as Miles) Cameron joins Steven and Matthew to chat about his books, research, re-enactments, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, being a member of US Intelligence, and loads more! Some great chat and brilliant anec...

Yes, Matthew and Steven have written a non-fiction book together! It's called Tips for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Novel and it comes out on Thursday April 25th 2024. You can pre-order it now, and it will also be available to read with Kindle Unlimited. Check it out at the links here - https://mybook.to/RPSTipsForWriting The book will also be FREE to our Patreon TOP FANS and PRODUCE...

Justin Hill has skilfully crafted bestselling stories that traverse a diverse range of settings, from the captivating landscapes of China to the tumultuous epochs of the Early Middle Ages, to the nightmare, war-torn future of the universe of Warhammer 40k.  He is the recipient of several prestigious literary accolades, including the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask, and Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prizes...

Simon Turney, aka S.J.A. Turney, hails from Yorkshire, England. His passion for history shines through in his more than 50 novels, where meticulous research meets immersive storytelling. From ancient Rome, to medieval Europe, Turney's versatile body of work brings the past to life with vivid characters and compelling narratives. In his latest novel, Caracalla , the fourth and final novel in th...

Useful links: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/908155.Douglas_Jackson https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast  We’re on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X @rock_swords You can find out more about our books on www.matthewharffy.com and www.stevenamckay.com/ Douglas Jackson traded his role as assistant editor at The Scotsman for a full-time writing career in...

Something of an unplanned episode today. We were supposed to be interviewing someone but they didn't turn up! Since we still needed an episode we decided to go ahead and discuss researching the locations in our books, including some of our favourite trips to those places. As this was completely unscripted and we'd not prepared for it we do go off on tangents here and there, but we hope you...

Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing acclaimed author, C.J. Box. C.J. Box is an award-winning, multi-million selling author, best known for his compelling mysteries set against the rugged landscapes of Wyoming. With over two dozen novels to his name, Box is most celebrated for his Joe Pickett series, featuring the dedicated and morally-driven game warden. He’s also an Executive Producer on...

'Tis true, we are now on Patreon! Head on over to the link below and join us! In return you'll get bonus episodes (one is already available, as we discuss David Gemmell's classic novel Legend ) and more fun perks. Go on, you know it makes sense... Become a Top Fan or a Producer today, and help us keep the show going, and growing , in 2024 and beyond! patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast...

We're now on Patreon! Get bonus episodes and other cool perks by signing up here: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast It’s been ages since we recorded an episode and today for the first time in months it's just the two of us. We’re going to talk about planning and writing novels with particular focus on the tools we use, the processes we follow, and what seems to work for us! Go...

Our guest today is the prolific author of historical fiction, Griff Hosker. It seems to me that Griff writes faster than many people read. He has written series of action-packed books covering everything from the Vikings to the Second World War and everything in between. He is a constant presence on Amazon lists and social media, and I for one am often in awe at the quantity of books he puts out a...

Matthew interviews Steven about his new book, THE HEATHEN HORDE , which came out on October 26th 2023! Viking raiders, Alfred the Great, and the usual fun chat - it's all in here so give it a listen and please spread the word. Buy the book here - https://mybook.to/HeathenHorde Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to our channel and leave a 5 star review if you can!

Listen to the end to make sure you hear THEIR cover version of our theme song, and also OUR cover of their theme song! Our guests today are Chris Morrison and Jane Secker from the Copyright Waffle podcast which is dedicated to “Decoding copyright and bringing you enlightenment”.  As well as hosting their podcast, Jane and Chris are also the authors of the book Copyright and E-learning: A guide for...

Our guest today is Eric Schumacher. Eric Schumacher is the author of six Amazon best-selling novels and one novella set in the Viking Age. By day, he is a brand storyteller and PR consultant for early stage video game and tech companies. By night, he wanders into the past, using known history and ancient tales to create stories about people living in turbulent times. His fascination with the past,...

Just a very quick message to wish our listeners and readers a very merry Christmas for 2023, and best wishes for 2024. Check it out! Don't forget we have a brand new ACOUSTIC version of our song "Christmas is Coming" available on all streaming outlets like Spotify, iTunes, YouTube Music etc so please give it a listen and share with your friends and enemies! Have a good one! Steven an...

Yes, we have a brand new festive rock song for all you lucky boys and girls. Stream it NOW for free on Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, iTunes and all major streaming services, just search for "Christmas is coming Rock Paper Swords". Give it a like , add it to your Christmas music playlists , and please do share with your friends on social media! Look out too for an acoustic...

Today, as the Christmas season is upon us we are doing something a bit different. Rock, Paper, Swords is joining forces with our friends from the Slice of Medieval Podcast to bring you a special episode, where we will look back on the year that is drawing to a close and forward to the year ahead. If you enjoy this episode please leave a five star rating wherever you listened! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A...

Our guest today is Nicholas Morton. Nicholas is an associate professor at Nottingham Trent University. He is the author or editor of nine books, including The Field of Blood and several other books about the Crusades and medieval Europe and the Near East. His latest book is The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East . The book tells the story of how the Mongol Empire u...