Rock, Paper, Swords! Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay
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The Historical Action and Adventure Podcast - making history come alive!
Bestselling authors Matthew Harffy and Steven A. McKay chat about writing action and adventure stories, diving into some of the more quirky and unusual aspects of history, with a detour through music and its role in their process.
Each episode covers different exciting themes, often with brilliant guests who help shed light on what Matthew and Steven have decided to talk about that week.
Get bonus episodes and more by supporting the podcast on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
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Age of Sail author Katie Daysh joins us to talk about LEEWARD!!
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, she enjoys placing queer characters at the heart of the narrative. Her stories are often set on the sea and illuminate themes of friendship, loyalty and mental health issues. Her debut novel, Leeward, was published by Canelo in 2023, followed by The Devil to Pay in 2024.
Useful links:
https://www.katiedaysh.com/
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast and X https://twitter.com/rock_swords
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast -
Todd Kerns of SLASH & the Conspirators puts the ROCK in RPS!
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 producer. He is most noted for being the bass player and backup singer in “Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators”, and for being the front man of “The Age of Electric”. His latest album is with Heroes and Monsters and it ROCKS! Check this out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-KGpbcH8qU&ab_channel=FrontiersMusicsrl
While touring the world, playing to sold out audiences, he has had the opportunity to share the stage with some of rock's biggest names, including some of his own personal heroes including Slash, Lemmy, Alice Cooper, Duff McKagan, Fergie, Bill Murray, Sammy Hagar and many more.
Having played with so much rock royalty, that must make Todd “Rock Nobility” at the very least!
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Todd! -
American Civil War author Cody C. Engdahl joins us for an entertaining chat today!
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 armchair historian. He is the author of five historical novels. His latest is The Prussian Prince, a swashbuckling adventure that'll take you into the heart of the Austro-Prussian War and book 5 of the Long Century series.
Welcome to RPS, Cody!
Useful links: https://codycengdahl.wordpress.com/
https://www.techspot.com/news/102875-40000-ai-narrated-audiobooks-flood-audible-dividing-authors.html -
Historical research! What resources do we use for our own novels?
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 rockpaperswordspodcast@gmail.com -
Commissioning Editor Kit Nevile joins us today!
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.
In this episode we will try to find out what a commissioning editor actually does, what they look for in a new book, how he thinks the publishing business will change in coming years, how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact things, and lots more!
Welcome to RPS, Kit Nevile!
https://www.canelo.co/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast
X: x.com/rock_swords -
Giles Kristian, author of Arthurian, Viking and award winning thriller novels joins us today!
During the 90s Giles Kristian was lead singer of pop group Upside Down, achieving four top twenty hit records! As a singer-songwriter he lived and toured for two years in Europe and has made music videos all over the world.
Giles is half-Norwegian and his family history inspired him to write his first historical novels: the acclaimed and bestselling RAVEN Viking trilogy. For his next series, he drew on a long-held fascination with the English Civil War to chart the fortunes of a family divided by this brutal conflict in The Bleeding Land and Brothers’ Fury. Giles also co-wrote Wilbur Smith’s No.1 bestseller, Golden Lion. In The Rise of Sigurd novels he returned to the world of the Vikings. His Sunday Times bestseller, Lancelot, is currently in development for TV. He followed Lancelot with Camelot, and now, Where Blood Runs Cold is his debut contemporary thriller.
His latest book, ARTHUR, is out this June!
Welcome to Rock, Paper, Swords, Giles Kristian!
Customer Reviews
Fantastic Podcast
For fans of historical fiction or just history in general this podcast is fantastic. For those aspiring writers this podcast will provide you insight into the writers craft. I highly recommend this podcast. Keep up the great work Matthew and Steven!
Awesome Podcast!
Congratulations on the podcast, gentlemen! I’m a big fan of both of these authors and it’s great to hear them on the same podcast. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, you’ll love their work. They also have a very good sense of humor. It’s a pleasure to listen to their conversation. Cheers!
Great show!
Love love love this podcast series!