622:"Countdown to conquest. Today, one could be forgiven for thinking that Tony Blair's Labour government had invented spindoctoring. In her epic story, retelling the tide of events that led to the Norman Conquest, Helen Hollick shows us the truth. England 1044. The Godwine family is one of the most powerful families in England. As Earl Godwine's six sons start to reach maturity, so they are rewarded with power and influence. Harold Godwine, skilled at both the machinations of court and at fighting, has inherited all his father's diplomatic skills - but none of his lust for battle. In France, William, bastard son of a duke, is brought up at the court, but trained to be a soldier. Attractive and arrogant, he is an exciting leader, inspiring his men to ever greater victories.
614:"Local author Helen Hollick has achieved a miracle by making this reviewer sit still and silent for a whole weekend, stirring only to eat toast whilst devouring Helen's gripping book. And it's a damn big one at that, sweeping from England to France, from Wessex to Normandy, following the fortunes of Harold Godwine, Earl of Wessex and later King of England, and William, Duke of Normandy. Treachery, arrogance, lies and weakness contrast with courage, honesty, strength and of course, plenty of love interest to make you weep. Illegitimacy, fallen kings, plenty of hunting scenes and some great sea journeys and bloody battles; we follow the fortunes of the cast from 1044 right up to the Battle of Hastings itself, which is brilliantly recreated.
702:. If she can send me the information we can use to establish notability, I will be happy to add it to the story. I've also changed my vote to "Keep", basically on faith that we can get the right confirmation in the article (presumably from articles not on the Internet). I think if we do this that it would satisfy editors here, and I hope any administrator would extend this debate if need be, for a few days if that's what it takes to get it done.
344:. Her book "Come and Tell Me" was published by HarperCollins. I assume her books went out of print and that she started reissuing them herself, which shouldn't sway us one way or the other, frankly. Worthy authors will do the same thing. At this point I'm neutral on whether to keep or delete. I think that depends on some kind of independent recognition of her talent, doesn't it? At least some book reviews, I suppose.
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published, my
Arthurian Trilogy and Harold the King are re-published editions of out of print books published previously by William Heineman. I trust you are not going to penalise respected authors who wish to keep their books in print and who have no choice but to "self publish" when their mainstream books fall out of print! We do have a living to make, and our back lists are very important.
633:"This re-telling of the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 through the eyes of the men and women involved mixes together historical fact with plenty of personality. Hollick, whose previous novels were about Arthurian Britain, juxtaposes the stories of Harold and William as events conspire to produce the Norman Conquest.
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Following the battle, William's spindoctors justify the atrocities that have taken place and his claim to the throne. They advise him to build Battle Abbey as a penance, and ensure that all information comes from Norman sources. In this masterly and colourful recreation, Helen
Hollick weaves together
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Whether the events described actually happened this way is unimportant, that the reader feels instinctively that they could have happened this way is the sign of a superior novel. This is a fabulous read and one to be recommended unreservedly - even to committed "Williamites". If only all historical
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BookForce UK is my printer, I am published, now, by
Discovered Diamonds, which is the new, small independent mainstream branch of BookForce. You are confusing self publish with vanity publish. I have a full mainstream contract with this company. ONLY my latest novel "Sea Witch" is "technically" self
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Though still precociously young, his fame begins to spread. When events in
England take a dramatic and bloody turn, the Godwines are forced into exile. They must fight their way back into favour, and a power struggle ensues, which will eventually make Harold king. But William has already seen the
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Helen also provides at the end an explanation for some of her plot "changes" - for example, her Harold is not killed by the arrow in the eye at all, but is beheaded - on the grounds that as most of the information concerning the battle and
William's claim to the English throne comes from Norman
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I am about to go on my second lecture tour in the
Netherlands, (subject, Harold the King) I have been guest speaker on several occasions for the Historical Novel Society. I have written several articles for various magazines - I refer you to my articles etc on my web site.
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What is most inspiring about
Hollick is that she can produce such a mammoth book from a household where she is the only reader - both her husband and daughter suffering from severe dyslexia." Cliff Moore, Dorset Evening Echo - Weymouth - 28 Oct 2000
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COMMENT. I am Helen
Hollick. I am a respected and well known author of mainstream historical fiction. I do not know how to use this site, I trust I have not made any errors with this insertion. Until today I was unaware I had an entry here.
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the history of a powerful family of noblemen, with that of the aggressive bastard of
Normandy - culminating in the fierce and tragic battle which changed the course of England's history." Bolton Evening News, 21 Oct 2000.
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My novel A Hollow Crown remains in print with
William Heineman. My children's personal safety book Come and Tell Me is published by Happy Cat Books. This book was the official Home Office safety Book for ten years.
597:"Weaves together fact, legend and inspired imagination to create a world so real we can breathe the smoke of its fires and revel into Romano-British lust for life, love and honour" Historical Novels Review
455:. Self-publicity is something a little cleanup can handle. The article is short enough that a full re-write would be simple. In particular, the quotes from reviews need to be removed for copyright and
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but it's extremely short, not a full article. I'd change my mind if someone could point me to at least a couple of full-fledged articles about her somewhere, which I think would satisfy WP notability.
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680:. Hm, I'm willing to give it you the benefit of the doubt and I'll probably end up withdrawing the suggestion to delete once I have time to give this a more in-depth look. The articles
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purposes- it's kind of silly to base critical reception on a quote which the author decides to present on her website. It'd be much easier to have access to the full reviews. --
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After being contacted to review my delete vote since the introduction of some sources, I still think this is a valiant effort towards self-publicity. I affirm my vote. /
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The Historical Novel Society is an international highly acclaimed society. Your information regarding my books, I am afraid, is inaccurate and out of date.
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because I can't find book reviews that I can identify as from sources other than blogs, or other coverage besides the one TBC found. I did find
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She is NOT entirely self published. It took a little digging, but "Arrow/Childrens" is an imprint of RandomHouse in the UK, and according to
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The prod was contested several weeks ago with the comment "I disagree". So I'm bringing it here. I believe the subject doesn't satisfy
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604:"An epic tale... Helen Hollick has done her homework meticulously and her story gleams with convincing Dark Age detail." Ms. London
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591:"Helen Hollick joins the ranks of Rosemary Sutcliff, Mary Stewart and Marion Bradley with this splendid novel" Pendragon Magazine
291:. As TBC notes, things look self published. I can't find much in the way of reviews (and no reviews from publications of any type)
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Can agree with withdrawal in that, now, with the sources that have been presented, it can be cleaned up to conform with policy.
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Hollick's interpretation is bold, affecting and well worth fighting to defend." Publishers Weekly, November 11 1996
585:"A wonderful book...breathes new life into an ancient legend" Best selling Historical fiction author Sharon Penman
601:"A uniquely compelling novel which is bound to have a resounding and lasting impact on Arthurian fiction." Books
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Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a
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Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a
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I've just sent an email to Helen Hollick through www.helenhollick.net. A copy of the email is at my talk page
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534:, has been re-written and sourced well. Could use some more work, but certainly no longer warrants deletion.
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Due to the new sources and vote changes that borders WP:SNOW, I think we should keep and rewrite it instead.
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Yes, but I get the impression that the majority weren't "only" self-published. Minor point anyway.
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I am a member of the Society of Authors. I am co-script writer for a pre-production movie "1066"
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weakness which exists in England ... the Battle of Hastings is the terrible and bloody result.
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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below.
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or are provided in the article are just a list of books. The single substantial source was
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the notability of the author. Also, the majority of her books are only self-published (
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sources its veracity is questionable. Compelling stuff." SW Magazine, March 2001
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from a (minor?) historical fiction society detailing a visit with Ms. Hollick.
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have to be rewritten substantially for Knowledge (XXG) guidelines though. --
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a selection of reviews from my initial publication with William Heineman:
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fiction could be this good." Sara Wilson, Historical Novel Society, 2001.
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I too am chaging my vote to keep, now refs have been added it meets
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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate.
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293:Given the information below, I change to
247:BookForce UK is a self-publishing company
223:. Sources have been presented. I suggest
144:. Most of the sources that I found via
18:Knowledge (XXG):Articles for deletion
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405:(for reasons, see my comments below)
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731:Please do not modify it.
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221:Withdrawing nomination
649:www.helenhollick.net
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357:of her books were.--
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278:Alex43223
669:contribs
657:unsigned
445:Blaxthos
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355:majority
125:View log
704:Noroton
696:Comment
678:Comment
457:WP:NPOV
453:Comment
421:Noroton
388:Noroton
346:Noroton
322:Comment
186:protect
181:history
98:protect
93:history
686:Wafulz
505:Delete
492:addict
481:WP:BIO
461:Wafulz
429:delete
408:Delete
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146:Google
134:WP:BIO
102:delete
509:Telly
487:Telly
369:talk?
314:Wooyi
299:Hobit
261:talk?
241:. No
207:views
199:watch
195:links
119:views
111:watch
107:links
16:<
714:Keep
700:here
682:will
665:talk
532:KEEP
477:WP:V
403:KEEP
340:and
295:Keep
249:).--
227:. --
203:logs
177:talk
173:edit
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85:edit
52:Buck
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361:TBC
253:TBC
123:– (
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