A Newcastle-based author has penned a sequel in her much-acclaimed young adult Tudor romance series.
Natalie Murray, daughter of the revered SBS football commentator Les Murray, recently released Emmie and the Tudor Queen, the anticipated second instalment to the first book, Emmie and the Tudor King.
She described her series as “an alternate history star crossed romance, [that follows] a high school aged girl to the Tudor period with a fictional Tudor king on the throne as a new twist”.
She added the new book spends more time in the Tudor era and is “full of drama from beginning to end”.
A self-confessed ‘Tudorphile’, Murray’s fascination with 16th Century England inspired her to author a debut novel in 2019.
Her motivation for the series was to explore how it would be to plant yourself in the Tudor period, in a time more dangerous than the modern day.
The “high octane drama” and “stranger than fiction scenarios” of the time led her to wonder what those events would look like through modern eyes.
Despite the Tudor dynasty being fundamentally different to the modern day, Murray added there are some commonalities.
“The Tudor period was a difficult time for females – girls were destined to marry, expected to be homemakers, and few girls [were] literate unless they were high up [in the court life],” she said.
“But there would be [comparisons] in more fundamental capacities, of falling in love, finding their place in the world, their appearance, trying to beautify themselves to impress people, and having lasting relationships.”
Murray, who wrote her first story at the age of eight, urged budding authors to pursue their passion as often as possible.
“[Writing] is a way of exploring my inner self, how I feel about the world, the experiences I want to relive and things I yearn to discover” she said.
“If you want to pursue [writing] professionally, my advice would be read widely, read outside of your genre, read all sorts of different media, and practice, practice, practice.”
“It can be daunting to write a novel for the first time, [so] please keep going.
“It’s like running a marathon, don’t look back.”
Aside from her own work, Natalie’s coffee table is full of books to recommend.
“If you enjoy star-crossed romance like me, The Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paulina Simons stole my breath away,” she said.
“I’ve been reading lots of Madeline Miller, a wonderful writer of prose with engaging storylines.”
Emmie and the Tudor Queen is available in bookstores and online now.
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