On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club: Rebel’s Knot (Quest for Three Kingdoms) by Cryssa Bazos #AuthorInterview #HistoricalFiction #CoffeePotBookClub @CryssaBazos @maryanneyarde

 

Ireland 1652: In the desperate, final days of the English invasion of Ireland . . .

A fey young woman, Áine Callaghan, is the sole survivor of an attack by English marauders. When Irish soldier Niall O'Coneill discovers his own kin slaughtered in the same massacre, he vows to hunt down the men responsible. He takes Áine under his protection and together they reach the safety of an encampment held by the Irish forces in Tipperary. 

Hardly a safe haven, the camp is rife with danger and intrigue. Áine is a stranger with the old stories stirring on her tongue and rumours follow her everywhere. The English cut off support to the brigade, and a traitor undermines the Irish cause, turning Niall from hunter to hunted. 

When someone from Áine's past arrives, her secrets boil to the surface—and she must slay her demons once and for all.

As the web of violence and treachery grows, Áine and Niall find solace in each other's arms—but can their love survive long-buried secrets and the darkness of vengeance?

 

Trigger Warnings:

Violence, references to sexual/physical abuse.

What inspired you to start writing?

Thank you for inviting me to your blog, Jamie. I’ve been a bookworm all my life and even before I learned how to read, I remember making up my own stories about the illustrations in my picture books. Stories were around me, even when I played with my dolls. Barbie time did not involve an endless parade of costume changes. I gave them dramatic storylines with their suitors, Ken and GI Joe, who came courting.

There comes a time when readers transition from bookworm to writer, and for me that moment came following a long reading drought. After years of raising young children and working long hours in a demanding day job, I realized I couldn’t remember when I had last read for pleasure. When I changed jobs, I suddenly found time to catch up on my reading, and over the next year, I read voraciously, trying to fill a parched well. Then one day, I looked at my bookcase and wondered, “What do I want to read next?” A voice inside answered, “What I want is to write.” That was the start of this journey.

What was the hardest part about writing this book?

I had several challenges writing this novel. I never intended Rebel’s Knot to be a full-length novel; instead, it was to be a long short story that linked to my second novel, Severed Knot. As a result, I never knew my two main characters for long before I started writing their story. Normally, characters hang out with me and I get to know their quirks and who they are well before writing the first line. But in this case, I had to discover who Niall and Áine were at the same time as discovering the story. Áine, in particular, developed dramatically over many rewrites.

Another challenge was writing during COVID. Initially, I took full advantage of the lockdown to write, but when it became apparent that this wasn’t a onetime-and-done proposition, I found it harder to concentrate on writing and felt challenged, creatively. It wasn’t only the psychological space that I found myself in, but it was not being able to travel and visit the places that I was writing about. I never realized how reliant my writing process was on visiting the settings of my novels until I couldn’t.

Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

If you’ll allow me to cheat, I’m going to tell you about two. The heroine, Áine, is a survivor. She’s previously had a hard life and has survived abuse by those who should have protected her. Áine seized her courage and escaped a difficult situation to start a new life, successfully leaving her demons behind—or so she thought. At the beginning of the novel, her haven is completely upended and now she has to start again, only now she’s in the middle of war. Áine copes through stories; this helps her to make sense of her world and storytelling becomes a refuge for her. This is, of course, the magic of stories. They allow us to retreat into another, safer world and help us understand tragedy and loss.

The other character who means a great deal to me is the Irish wolfhound named Fionn. He’s the other main character’s companion and goes with him even into a battle. There’s nothing quite like the loyalty and love of a furry companion for keeping us human. We adopted a “COVID” kitty last year after not having a pet in the house for years. I forgot how much comfort they give and how they can make the difficult situation bearable.

If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

Such a fun question! Niall O’Coneill, my main character, could only be played by the Irish actor Eoin Macken, who played Gwaine in the Merlin series, in all his charismatic charm. He was my visual inspiration while I wrote Rebel’s Knot. As for my heroine, I Eleanor Tomlinson (who played Demelza in Poldark) would be perfect for Áine Callaghan. She would bring a mixture of vulnerability and steely strength to the role.  

What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

I hope readers learn about a chapter in history that hasn’t really been covered in historical fiction. The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland is a heartbreaking period during the War of the Three Kingdoms (also known as the English Civil War). It was a desperate time for a country plagued by civil war in the earlier years. When a centralized Irish military command broke apart, Irish brigades continued the resistance and employed guerrilla warfare tactics to defend their land against the invading English. 

I also hope that readers appreciate how difficult it was for the civilians in this conflict. So many people became displaced and had their homes and crops burned out. Innocent people were always the tragic victims of these conflicts. And loyalties often became compromised, leading to betrayal and intrigue.

And finally, I hope that after reading Rebel’s Knot, the reader will want to go back and catch up on the other novels in the series, Quest for the Three Kingdoms. Each one is a standalone story. 

Where to Buy

Pick up your copy of Rebel's Knot from your favourite online bookstore - HERE!

Cryssa Bazos 

Cryssa Bazos is an award-winning historical fiction author and a seventeenth century enthusiast. Her debut novel, Traitor's Knot is the Medalist winner of the 2017 New Apple Award for Historical Fiction, a finalist for the 2018 EPIC eBook Awards for Historical Romance. Her second novel, Severed Knot, is a B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree and a finalist for the 2019 Chaucer Award. A forthcoming third book in the standalone series, Rebel's Knot, was published November 2021.

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