Happy New Year from Paper Lantern Writers! We are happy to announce that PLW is beginning the year with seven new members! Over the next few weeks, each of them will be introduced here on our blog. It’s an exciting time for Paper Lantern Writers, and we’re happy you’re here to share it with us. Starting off the introductions is Jonathan Posner.
What would you like readers to know about you?
I am a historical fiction author based in Exeter, United Kingdom. I have two sons in their thirties; one is an architect and the other runs a merchandising company. Before I was able to focus full-time on writing, I had a 35 year career in various advertising and marketing companies.
Can you tell us what you’ve written?
I have written book and lyrics for three stage musicals plus a one-act play. My Tudor novels are The Witchfinder’s Well, The Alchemist’s Arms and The Sovereign’s Secret. A prequel called The Lawyer’s Legacy is due out in 2023. I have also written a Tudor spin-off called The Broken Sword.
Did you choose historical fiction or did it choose you?
I have long been fascinated by English history, so my historical fiction reading was often in the Tudor era. I also love to read fast-paced action adventure stories. So when I decided to write my own books, it was inevitable that these would be action adventures set in Tudor England!
Can you share three books on your night table right now?
I have just finished Unlocked: the Paper Lantern Writers anthology – which I did enjoy! Before that, The Winter Garden by Nicola Cornick – a time-shift novel around the Gunpowder plotter Robert Catesby. My next book to read is The Royal Assassin, A Kit Scarlett mystery set in the 1580s by Adele Jordan.
Is there a message in your novels that you want readers to grasp?
Enjoy! Be excited! Be desperate to know what happens next! See the Tudor world through the eyes of my characters!
Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I love the Flashman novels of George MacDonald Fraser – totally politically incorrect, but I have learned so much history of the 19th century from them, as they are very accurate historically! If I didn’t love the Tudor era a bit more, I might have written in the Victorian era instead.
What brings you great joy as a writer?
Great feedback from a reader – that they really enjoyed the book. One even told me they had to stay up very late to finish one of my books, as they couldn’t put it down! To know that my hours of head-scratching, researching, writing, re-writing and editing has worked, is priceless.
What was the inspiration for your most recent book?
I created a spymaster and lawyer called Robert Wychwoode in my first book, then included him in the other two books of the trilogy. I wondered how he became the man he did, and decided to explore his ‘back story’ as a boy in my new novella The Lawyer’s Legacy.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance? Garden?
I do all my own design work – covers, social media images, etc. After a lifetime in marketing, it’s amazing what design skills you pick up!
Jonathan has always been captivated by history, particularly the Tudor period, and has also been a lifelong fan of action-adventure novels. So when he decided to write a novel himself, it had to be the kind of adventure he loves to read; one with plenty of action, danger and suspense! And, of course, it had to be set in Tudor England, with a time-travelling heroine finding herself thrown into the deep-end of this fascinating historical era.
The result was The Witchfinder’s Well, published in 2015. Jonathan decided to end it on a cliffhanger, just to make sure there would be a sequel. This was published in 2019, as The Alchemist’s Arms. Never one to let a good idea go, Jonathan gave this second book a cliffhanger ending as well – thus paving the way for the third book in the trilogy, The Sovereign’s Secret, which was published in August 2022.
Justine Parker, the heroine of The Witchfinder’s Well, is also an avid reader of Tudor action-adventure; particularly a fictional series of books featuring a Tudor adventuress called Mary Fox. So it seemed a good idea for Jonathan to write these books in reality! The result is The Broken Sword – the first Mary Fox adventure. And this one ends on – you’ve guessed it – a cliffhanger, with more books about Mary’s adventures also planned.
Jonathan’s other works include a book of short stories called Once Upon an Ending, a one-act play called Private Eyes as well book and lyrics for three Musicals – Spirit of History which premiered in Windsor, Hot, Mean & Green, which premiered at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre in Woking, and A Fine Time for Wine, which also premiered in Windsor.
Jonathan is father to two adult sons and lives in Exeter. When not writing he is a regular presenter on Phonic FM radio, having previously hosted a weekly show on Marlow FM for over 13 years.
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Linda Ulleseit writes award-winning heritage fiction set in the United States. She is a member of Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Women Writing the West as well as a founding member of Paper Lantern Writers. Get in touch with her on Instagram (lulleseit) and Facebook (Linda Ulleseit or SHINE with Paper Lantern Writers).
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