AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Peter McLean Talks Paved with Good Intentions

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview, where I’m joined by the brilliant Peter McLean to talk about his latest Fantasy novel, Paved with Good Intentions – which is out now in paperback from Arcadia Books. It’s always a pleasure to have Pete on the site, and I’ve absolutely loved reviewing and chatting to Pete about his War for the Rose Throne books, so when I found out he’d written a standalone novel set in the same world I knew I had to read it! Suffice it to say, I thought Paved with Good Intentions was fantastic, and a brilliant companion to the Rose Throne series. If you want to know more about what to expect from it though, we’ve got you covered with this interview.

First, here’s the publisher’s synopsis for Paved with Good Intentions:

Eline is a mother, a wife, and a survivor. But her life is about to change dramatically. Following an act of horrific – if righteous – vengeance, Eline is blackmailed into the service of the Queen’s Men. She knows it will be a hard life of violence and fear. But Eline will do what it takes to survive, and to protect her children…and if she’s lucky, she won’t die in the process.

But the Queen’s Men aren’t just asking her to risk herself. They’re asking her to risk everything she knows and loves. And if she fails…civil war and the deaths of everyone she loves will be just the beginning.

Sounds good, right? Over to Peter for more details…

ToW: Welcome back to Track of Words, and congratulations on Paved with Good Intentions – it’s another fantastic read, and I loved it! To kick things off, could you give us an overview of the new book, and what readers can expect from it?

Peter McLean: Hello, and thanks for having me! Paved with Good Intentions is a stand-alone novel set in the world of the Rose Throne, a year or so after the events of Priest of Crowns. It follows Eline, a new character in a new city, who is arrested for the murder of her abusive husband and finds herself, not hanged as she had expected, but instead drawn into the shadowy world of the Queen’s Men.

ToW: Without spoiling anything, can you introduce us to your protagonist Eline, and any other key characters who you think readers should know about?

PM: Eline is a mother in her mid-thirties, and an abused wife. After killing her abuser and being recruited by the Queen’s Men, she meets Nama, a young Alarian woman with a hidden talent. They become fast friends at their place of work, and Eline takes Nama under her wing as they navigate the new world they’ve found themselves in. There are a few familiar faces from earlier books if you know to look for them, too, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t.

ToW: For anyone who hasn’t read your War for the Rose Throne series, how would you describe the world in which all of these books are set?

PM: Drathburg and Ellinburg are a grubby, grotty version of Tudor England. Magic exists but is very rare and widely regarded as witchcraft, which is proscribed by the Temple and feared by the populace. In Dannsburg, the capital city, the setting is more Regency than Tudor, but of course the city is still healing the wounds inflicted on it in Priest of Crowns.

ToW: I was delighted when I heard you were writing a standalone novel set in this world. What is it about this setting and this sort of story that keeps you motivated to write more like this?

PM: I just love the setting, and the fact that I already have established lore and political structure, as well as background characters I can draw on when I need them. I’m used to writing franchise fiction (Warhammer, etc.) so having effectively created my own franchise setting gives me a wide open sandpit to play in.

ToW: Following on from that, how did you find telling a completely new story in this familiar world, compared to continuing an existing story like when you were writing the later Rose Throne novels? Did you find your writing process changing at all?

PM: I found it a hell of a lot easier, to be honest. The Rose Throne quartet is effectively all one long story told over four books, and keeping continuity and plot cohesion going over the space of several years writing and editing took a lot of work. I obviously built an extensive story bible in the process, and having that already there to refer to as I wrote Paved with Good Intentions took a lot of the heavy lifting away. Also, as this is a self-contained story in one volume I could start out needing to know only the beginning and the end, and figure out how we get to that end as I was writing it.

ToW: Getting back to Eline, in the book’s afterward you mention some particular cosplay photographs as inspiration for her aesthetic – was that the initial moment of inspiration, or did you already have some of her character and story by that point?

PM: The cosplay gave me the inspiration to write about a courtesan, yes, but not specifically Eline herself. Historical courtesans, especially the courtesans of Venice, often wielded immense political power and were involved in everything from espionage to assassination. What’s not to like? Eline herself though is every bullied, abused woman who has Had Enough Of It. When she finally realises she just doesn’t have to take this shit anymore, she finds her inner strength. And that, unleashed, is a terrifying thing. It felt good to take this broken soul and give her purpose, and ultimately her life back.

ToW: Unlike Tomas, Eline isn’t a soldier or a gangster, so has only recently found herself in a world of violence and immediate danger. What sort of different challenges or opportunities did you come across in terms of characterisation, and the kind of situations you could put her into?

PM: No Eline isn’t; she’s a wife and a mother. She could be anyone. Almost. The thing is, without spoilers, Eline herself has skills she doesn’t know about. There’s something that was so normalised in the culture she grew up in that she never gave it a second thought until, in a moment of crisis, instinct kicks in and she suddenly realises exactly what she can do. She’s also fortunate enough to find exactly the right mentor to help her hone those skills, and she’s a fast learner.

ToW: Both Tomas and Eline are characters with real hurt and damage at their core, albeit from different sources. Interestingly, it seemed to me that Eline grasped the reality of the Queen’s Men – and how she could use them – somewhat faster than Tomas did. What do you think the two of them would make of each other?

PM: The bottom line is, Eline, although barely educated, is a lot cleverer than Tomas. Tomas is brutal and a brilliant leader, but he can be slow on the uptake at times. Also, unlike Tomas, Eline isn’t blinded by misguided love. Quite the opposite in fact. What would they make of each other? Interesting question. Tomas would see Eline’s usefulness and immediately try to make use of her. The right woman for the right job, and so forth. Eline would almost certainly hate him on sight.

ToW: Inequality of wealth and power was always a theme in the Rose Throne books, but it’s perhaps a bit more prominent here given Eline’s roots. Was it a conscious decision to dig into this sort of theme in Paved with Good Intentions, or do you think it’s a natural consequence of telling this sort of story?

PM: It’s a major theme of history, and still is today. There will always be inequality and that’s not something I want to walk past. In this book in particular though, it’s an important part of the plot that Eline starts with absolutely nothing, little more than the clothes on her back, and through rigorous training and sheer necessity finds herself presenting as a glittering aristocrat. It’s all a false face, of course, and she never truly stops being common, but she becomes an exceptional actress.

ToW: While I can see this working great as a standalone, as someone familiar with the Rose Throne series I enjoyed the cameos and returning characters from previous books. How did you go about choosing who you were going to reintroduce?

PM: Well I made a decision early on that Tomas was absolutely not going to be in this book. This is Eline’s story, first and foremost, not his, and I didn’t want him trying to take over. It was a wrench not to include Anne, who was always my favourite character in Rose Throne, but again this had to be Eline’s story. As for the ones I did include, I felt it helped make this book fit more easily into the Rose Throne world but without it being important whether the reader already knows them or not.

ToW: Lastly, there’s a note at the start of the book which seems to suggest that this might be just the first in a set of standalone stories exploring different aspects of the Queen’s Men. Can we expect more then, in the future?

PM: Ah yes, the Black Book of the House of Law. I’d like that, but that’s a conversation I need to have with my agent and publisher before I can make any promises. I do have another character whose story I’d like to tell…

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Peter McLean was born near London in 1972, the son of a bank manager and an English teacher. He went to school in the shadow of Norwich Cathedral where he spent most of his time making up stories.

He has since grown up a bit, if not a lot, and spent 25 years working in corporate IT. He is married to Diane and is still making up stories.

He is the author of the War for the Rose Throne series, beginning with Priest of Bones.

Check out Peter’s website for more information.

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Thanks as always to Peter for taking the time to chat to me, and for another fabulous novel! If you haven’t already, do check out all of my reviews and author interviews for the War for the Rose Throne series.

Paved with Good Intentions is out now from Arcadia Books. Check out the link below to order your copy*:

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