History is a funny thing – a chance event can turn its course in a heartbeat. Turn left instead of right, and everything could have been different. What if on 28 June 1914 the man driving Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo had followed orders and not turned down a particular side street – where the Bosnian Serb assassin Princip was standing with his gun? Would World War I have even happened? And if it hadn’t, would World War II have followed?

Let’s go further back – to Tudor England. What if Henry VII’s eldest son Prince Arthur Tudor hadn’t caught a chill in 1502 and died? He would have become king in 1509, while his younger brother Henry would have remained the Duke of York for life. England would have had a different line of succession. No Queen Mary, no Queen Elizabeth. And who knows; maybe instead of Stuarts, Hannovarians, Saxe-Coburg Gothas and Windsors, England would still have Tudors on the throne to this day? Who knows.

But back to the original Tudors. if Arthur had acceded, it’s most likely that Anne Boleyn would have been just another noblewoman at Court, living – one assumes – to a ripe old age. Which got me thinking; such turns of fate can come at any time, in any form. A world of possibilities opening up for my story in the new Paper Lantern Writers anthology, Echoes of Small Things. Where to start?

I have decided to pick it up with the actual history; the one where poor Arthur did die in 1502 and his brother Henry did become king – and did indeed, marry Anne Boleyn. All as actually happened. Now – let’s do our ‘what if’ from there…

What if Henry never intended for Anne to die – but simply to be banished to a nunnery after the divorce? What small twist of fate could have led to her execution? This got me thinking; my imgination buzzing with possibuilities. We know Anne suggested to Henry Norris that he would have her if the King were to die – at a time when even talking of the death of the monarch was considered treason. But what if this had never come to light? Would Anne have only been banished?

A story started to build in my mind. Let’s suppose that this comment was overheard at the time it was said. By a spy for Henry’s ‘fixer’ Thomas Cromwell…

Step forward Ophelia Williams and Robert Wychwoode, my young adventurers from The Lawyer’s Legacy.

At the end of that book, they have faced deadly danger when they uncovered a rebellion against Henry VIII. Cromwell saw their potential as spies, and recruited them to his network of ‘intelligencers’. They were the perfect characters to carry this new story forward. With my imagination firing on all cylinders, I started to create a story where Cromwell needs a spy in Anne Boleyn’s household – and sees Ophelia as the perfect candidate. The result was The Spies’ Dilemma – my short story in the Paper Lantern Writers’ new anthology, Echoes of Small Things.

It was a lot of fun to write – Ophelia makes a great fiesty lead, with Robert finding he increasingly has to rely on her courage, resourcefulness and fighting spirit.

I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did putting it together.