Writing Robin Hood

I’ve now written three out of the four Robin Hood novels in my Chronicles of Robin Hood series – the final novel will be out next year.

The three books so far are all available in paperback and on Kindle. Now here’s the deal, if you have a smartphone (free Kindle App) or Kindle, you can download the first volume Loxley for just 99 pence/cents until next Monday night. Just click on the link here to start reading for free and for ordering information. It’s FREE to read on Kindle Unlimited if you subscribe to Amazon Prime.

I’ve always wanted to write about Robin Hood. These books have been decades in the making – ever since, as a small boy, I used to watch Richard Greene as Robin Hood on television, then go outside with my longbow and relive the adventure I’d just seen. Then came the iconic Robin of Sherwood, with its innovative new take on the Robin Hood legend.

My Robin Hood is different from the television series. I’ve tried to root Robin in some sort of medieval reality. My Robin is basically a good man, but he’s what today we’d call a freedom fighter. He has a dark edge. And I think that’s important. People are rarely all good or bad. There’s light as well as shadow in most of us.

And I didn’t want to make the villains, completely villainous. My overlords – the Sheriff, Sir Guy of Gisborne and their associates are not out and out bad. I wanted them to be balanced individuals, even if our sympathies are not really with them.

Each book has an historical note on some aspect of the Robin Hood legend, whether it be the truth about the Robin Hood ballads, the setting – I chose Sherwood Forest – and other aspects of outlawry.

Now, I’ve been a professional writer for much of my working life, though mostly in magazines, non-fiction country books and historical mystery thrillers.

Not that I didn’t write fiction. I did and lots of it. But at last I’ve managed to pen the Robin Hood books I always wanted to write.

If you enjoy Robin Hood stories – or historical fiction generally – why not give them a go?

You can find a lot more of my thoughts about the Robin Hood legends on this blog. Just type Robin Hood into the search.