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Why I Wrote... The Blood and the Ghost
By Alexander Rooksmoor. Quite often I have been inspired to write a short story or even a novel as a result of disliking how a story I have read or seen turns out. The Blood and The Ghost was stimulated by me watching all 5 seasons of the TV series The Last Kingdom (broadcast 2015-23). The series, based on the Saxon Stories novels by Bernard Cornwell, is set in Wessex between 866-878 CE, the eponymous ‘Last Kingdom’ not under Danish rule. My main prompt for an alternative
20 hours ago7 min read


Why I Wrote... Our Man On The Hill
By Matthew Kresal. “Where do your ideas come from?” That’s almost an inevitable question one receives after a stranger finds out you’re a published author. One that is almost always in the wake of, “What do you write?” It’s an understandable question and one that I’m sure in my younger (and unpublished) days I asked myself. Since being published, I’ve come to realize that like a magician revealing a trick, there’s a risk that answering takes some of the magic out of proceedin
Jan 212 min read


Why I Wrote... Funny Money
By John A. Hopkins Receiving my paperback copy of Atomic Secrets , my first AH novel, was a thrill. Whilst I had previously self-published a novel, this felt a bit different. Perhaps it was the engagement with the team at Sea Lion Press, the cover coming together, and a date for publishing versus me pressing the button on KDP. Whatever the reason, I opened the package and grinned like an idiot. Then I put it away – I had already read it hundreds of times, either all the way t
Dec 2, 20256 min read


Why I Wrote… Chamberlain Resigns, And Other Things That Did Not Happen
By Charles E.P. Murphy It was the internet’s fault. I’d been into history as a general interest since I was a kid, and alternate history was introduced to me through a barrage of sci-fi stories, most especially Sliders on BBC2. It was the internet that turned this mild interest in AH, “oh yeah that’s a fun source of stories”, into a bigger thing because the internet was where fanfiction writers had long written “What If Character X Was Like Y”, “What If Bad Guy Won”, “What
Nov 4, 20255 min read


Why I Wrote... The Endeavour Series
By Andy Cooke. The editor asked me to write a short article on “Why I wrote…” any of my SLP books. Naturally, I turned in an article on...
Oct 3, 202510 min read


Why I Wrote… In The Absence of Powder
By Alexander Rooksmoor Like a lot of children of my generation who were interested in history, I grew up with a fascination with the...
Sep 2, 20258 min read


Why I Wrote... Our Free And Happy Land
By Dr Charlton Cussans. A few years ago, I read a poem about South Africa which called the country “our free and happy land”. Well, I...
Aug 1, 20256 min read


Why I Edited... AlloAmericana
By Alexander Wallace. It is very odd for me to think that I have been a published author for three years – that is, someone who makes...
Jul 4, 20255 min read


Why I Wrote... Reid in Braid
By Ryan Fleming. The writing of Reid in Braid was ultimately inspired by seeing the 2003 German film Good Bye, Lenin! for the first...
Jun 3, 20257 min read


Why I Wrote... Against the Devil's Men
By Alexander Rooksmoor Sea Lion Press has published over a hundred alternate history books so far... but what leads an author to pick the...
May 6, 20258 min read


Why I Edited... Grapeshot and Guillotines
By Gary Oswald Philip K Dick is, in my humble opinion, possibly the greatest writer of speculative fiction short stories to have ever...
Apr 4, 20254 min read


Why I Wrote... Atomic Secrets
By John A. Hopkins I was incredibly excited when Sea Lion Press agreed to publish my first alternate history novel, Atomic Secrets. It...
Mar 4, 20256 min read


Why I Wrote... I Won't Go To Mars (or Dance in Strangers' Cars)
By Monroe S. Templeton Alternate history is a genre defined by a sense of regret. It is the genre where we look at the past, at decisions...
Feb 11, 202511 min read
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