For someone who was involved in the Thirty Years War a mere two years, Gustav Adolf left an oversized impression. But that was par for for course for a man who spent his life virtually racing from one unqualified success …

Major Player: Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden Read more »

One of the great joys of writing the Desolate Empire series has been fictionalizing real people. There are some huge benefits to this approach. I can turn about half of them into women and/or I can slander them egregiously. It’s …

Real Historical Figures Turned into Fantasy Characters Read more »

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, but now that I’m in the process of editing Valley of the Shadow, it’s time to start introducing some of the new characters and the historical figures they’re based …

Major Player: Christian IV of Denmark Read more »

The fantasy version of this guy wasn’t going to come into play until the second book, but he’s just too much fun to leave out. Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and Bishop of Halberstadt, was the same age as Frederick and …

Major Player: Christian of Brunswick Read more »

Since the majority of my main characters are based on historical figures, I thought I’d profile some of them, and then let you figure out who’s who. No, actually I’ll totally hit you over the head with the who’s who. …

Major Player: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Read more »