Books and Banter: D. Lawrence-Young ~ guest post and his novel King John: Two Time Loser

TITLE: King John: Two Time Loser

RELEASE DATE: May 25, 2017

AUTHOR: D. Lawrence-Young

CATEGORIES: Historical Fiction/War Fiction/England

PAGE COUNT: 256

ISBN: 978-1544111346

IMPRINT: White Stag

BOOK PAGE: http://ravenswoodpublishing.com/bookpages/kingjohn.html

KEYWORDS: Historical, King John, King Henry II, France, King Louis VII, Civil War, England

ONE LINER:

Provocative portrait of how King John became ‘Bad’ and a despised womanizer and murderer and lost both his English and French kingdoms.

SYNOPSIS:

King John is the only English king known as ‘the Bad.’ However, was he really any worse than the other medieval kings? King John:Two-Time Loser, traces this king’s life and troubled reign from his childhood in France to his death nearly fifty years later in 1216.

As the fourth and youngest son of King Henry II, John is not expected to become king. He is contemptuously nicknamed ‘Lackland’ and is not trained for the monarchy. However, despite all odds, after big brother Richard dies in battle, John becomes King. Now he has to prove himself by being strong and standing up to his French overlord, Louis VII. Unfortunately he fails and also loses much of his French territory. In addition, John is accused of womanizing and of murdering his young nephew, Arthur - a potential rival to the throne. At home, John becomes embroiled in a nasty power-struggle with Pope Innocent III which causes England to be excommunicated.

Following these failures, the barons revolt and John is forced to agree to their demands spelled out in Magna Carta. Civil War then breaks out and John dies alone and unlamented knowing that he has lost both his English and French kingdoms.

Guest Post:

So far I have had seventeen historical novels published (eight by Ravenswood Publishing USA) and I must say that I really love the writing and researching aspects best of this endeavor. Although the actual job of writing is ‘lonely,’ I have nevertheless met many fascinating people in connection with my research and travelled to places that otherwise I would never have even thought of visiting. I also enjoy talking to people about my books: either to individuals or to groups such as in organized lectures. If by writing I can help my readers learn and appreciate more about the various aspects of the historical people and events that I have described, then I feel that investing all my efforts in my ‘lonely’ craft has not been a waste of time.

I first came up with the idea of writing about King John after I’d watched a production of Shakespeare’s play about this king. This play is not produced very often and to most people this much maligned king is usually associated with two major actions: being forced to add his seal to “Magna Carta” and the king who lost all of his royal treasure in the wagons that were carrying it over the flooded Wash area of eastern England.

AUTHOR BIO:

D. Lawrence-Young has been teaching and lecturing on drama, history and English for many years. He is happiest when researching Shakespeare, English and military history. He has written Communication in English, a best-selling English language textbook as well as a dozen other historical novels. These include three based on the life of Shakespeare.

He contributes regularly to Forum, a magazine for English language teachers and has also written several articles for Skirmish, a military history journal. He is a member of the local history club and is the Chairman of the Jerusalem Shakespeare Society. He is also a published (USA) and exhibited (UK and Jerusalem) photographer. He plays the clarinet (badly) and is married and has three children.

AUTHOR LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/authordlawrenceyoung
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4575990.David_Lawrence_Young
http://dly-books.weebly.com/