Two brothers lived next door to each other for decades and never spoke a word. When Norwegian artist Lars Elling was a boy, they were his grandfather and great-uncle, and he never learned why. Years later, that silence became his debut novel.

This week on Rock, Paper, Swords!, Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill talk to Lars about The Princes of Paupers Pond, a literary story of childhood adventure in the Norwegian forests, the bond between brothers, and the long shadow of decisions made before the First World War.

In this episode:

• The real “War of the Apples”, and how a feud over fallen fruit became a novel
• How a painter shut out by the pandemic started writing, 9am to 1pm, seven days a week
• Why Lars’s prose is so visual, and how painting shapes his storytelling
• Writing Norway from a wine farm in South Africa
• The sequel, Filip of Starholm, which sends a young artist to Sarajevo in 1991
• What gets lost, and what gets invented, when you turn family history into fiction

Before the interview, Matthew and Justin catch up on first drafts, proof edits, agents and rejections, Professor Tom Licence’s book on Harold II, and Matthew’s Roman novel Guardian of Rome: Incendium.

Perfect for fans of historical fiction, literary fiction, Nordic and Scandinavian stories, and anyone fascinated by the creative process.

Support the show on Patreon from as little as £1 a month, or join for free to catch every free episode and update. If you enjoy the episode, please leave a review and share it with a fellow reader.

Keywords: Lars Elling, The Princes of Paupers Pond, Norwegian novel, Nordic fiction, Scandinavian literature, historical fiction podcast, author interview, artist turned novelist, family secrets, pre-war Norway, writing podcast, Matthew Harffy, Justin Hill

Justin's just had his proofs back — and Matthew's grilling him about it. This week, Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill go deep on the editing process: the difference between developmental notes, line edits, copy edits and proofs, when to push back on an editor and when to just let it go, and the single most painful piece of editorial feedback Matthew's ever received (it nearly took out a main character in A Time for Swords). Plus: Justin's novel is out on submission and they talk candidly about the agonising wait, the myth of the big-money auction, and whether either of them would go back and re-edit an old book. And in the news: the Stamford Bridge 1066 Viking anthology is out now, and the A Century of Swords Kickstarter is still live.

🔗 Patreon: patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast📧 rockpaperswordspodcast@gmail.com

Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill are joined by Professor Ryan Lavelle (University of Winchester, historical advisor on The Last Kingdom and Assassin's Creed Valhalla) and wargames designer James Morris to talk Winchester Shieldwall — their Viking Age wargaming forum bringing together historians, writers and wargamers. They dig into the Battle of Maldon, the myths around the Viking shieldwall, and the battles they'd love to refight one day, from Clontarf to the siege of London.

Plus news on Matthew's new book deal, Stamford Bridge 1066: A Viking Anthology, and the A Century of Swords Kickstarter.

Winchester Shieldwall is on Saturday 21st November at the University of Winchester — tickets: https://store.winchester.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/faculty-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/school-of-humanities/winchester-shieldwall-a-wargaming-forum-on-viking-age-warfare

All our links: https://linktr.ee/rockpaperswords

Steven Savile returns to Rock, Paper, Swords! to talk about Chronicles: Medieval, the ambitious medieval sandbox game he's writing for Raw Power Games — and A Century of Swords, the 35-author historical fiction anthology launching alongside it on Kickstarter. Matthew and Justin (both contributing authors) dig into the game's Hundred Years' War setting, the anthology's scale, companion novels tied into the game itself, and what backers actually get for their pledge. Plus the usual writing updates and podcast news.

🔗 Steven Savile: https://stevensavile.com🔗 Chronicles: Medieval: https://www.rawpowergames.com/games/chronicles-medieval🔗 Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2231020/Chronicles_Medieval/🔗 A Century of Swords: https://centuryofswords.net

Support the podcast:🎙 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast☕ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/rockpaperswords🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/RockPaperSwords✉️ Get in touch: rockpaperswordspodcast@gmail.com

#HistoricalFiction #HundredYearsWar #ChroniclesMedieval #Kickstarter #HistFic

Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale returns to Rock, Paper, Swords! — this time with backup. He's joined by 90s action icon Jeff Speakman (The Perfect Weapon) and Chef-turned-director Joe Gatto to talk about Lost Echoes, The Movie: an indie feature adaptation of Lansdale's 2007 supernatural thriller, currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter.

Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill dig into the story behind the story — a man who can hear violence echoing in sounds from the past, the alcoholic martial arts mentor who helps him fight it, and why three creators walked away from the traditional studio system to make this film entirely on their own terms. Plus: Speakman's 20-years-in-the-making comeback role, Gatto's leap from private chef to feature director, and why "you can be a dead body in the movie" might be the best Kickstarter reward tier ever devised.

Kickstarter & guest links:

• Kickstarter — Lost Echoes, The Movie: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chefjoegatto/lost-echoes-the-movie
• Chef Joe Gatto — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefjoegatto/
• Joe R. Lansdale — Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoeRLansdale
• Jeff Speakman — Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Speakman5.0/

🎧 Support Rock, Paper, Swords! on Patreon: patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

All links: linktr.ee/RockPaperSwords

#LostEchoes #JoeLansdale #JeffSpeakman #IndieFilm #RockPaperSwords

A special, shorter bonus episode — and the final stop on our HNS 2026 Maynooth coverage. Recorded live at the Historical Novel Society's Maynooth conference, Matthew and Justin sit down with historical fiction author MJ Porter (aka Melissa) for the only long-form interview they recorded that weekend.

MJ talks ferry-only travel to Ireland, a nervy trip into the Newgrange passage tomb, St Kevin and Glendalough, her Saxon Mercia novels and her latest release about King Offa, what she's writing next, and a surprise same-day release of a Warhammer 40,000 novel. Enjoy this one — normal service resumes next episode!

Support the podcast: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

MJ Porter links

• Website: https://www.mjporterauthor.com
• Blog: https://mjporterauthor.blog
• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/coloursofunison

It's a bumper one this week! Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill spent the weekend of 21–23 August at the Historical Novel Society's 2026 conference in Maynooth, Ireland, and grabbed dozens of short, on-the-spot interviews with historical novelists between sessions, in corridors, and over conference dinners.

Across the episode you'll hear from Frances Donovan, Carolyn Morgan, Vaseem Khan, Kevin Connolly, Griff Hosker, Laura Morelli, Martin Lake, Aidan Morrissey, Lawrence O'Bryan, Anna Belfrage, Susan Nolen, Katherine Mezzacappa, Liz Harris, Naveen Sridhar, Krishor Sridhar, Alison Morton, Maybelle Wallis and Margaret Skea — covering everything from a copper-boom sea voyage around Cape Horn to alternate-history Rome, a Sumerian priestess-poet, and a keynote on James Bond and the end of the Raj.

Plus: Tolkien's Irish footsteps, the story behind Matthew and Justin's after-dinner speech, and why AI shouldn't get to write your stories.

🔗 Links: https://linktr.ee/rockpaperswords🔗 Patreon (bonus episodes, including the after-dinner speech): https://patreon.com/RockPaperSwordsPodcast

(A quick confession for patrons: We always read out the names of Patreon Producers and higher tiers, but in all of the excitement of editing, we forgot to include that in this episode. But that in no way lessens our gratitude to our Patreon Producers: Ben Maher, Andy Maxwell, Ben Fox, George Johnson, Matt Muller, and Tricia!

Our VIP, Bader Khrais!

And our Legend, Adam Turner!

Usual service will be resumed in subsequent episodes.)

#HistoricalFiction #HistFic #HNS2026 #HistoricalNovelSociety

Rock, Paper, Swords — the historical action and adventure podcast — welcomes explorer Thor Pedersen, author of The Impossible Journey.

In October 2013, 34-year-old Dane Thor Pedersen left home with one absurd rule: reach every country on Earth without ever boarding a plane. No flights, no shortcuts — just cargo ships, buses and trains, through 203 countries. What he thought would take four years took almost ten, including a two-year pandemic lockdown in Hong Kong with nine countries still to go. Along the way he crossed deserts under armed escort, talked his way through hundreds of checkpoints in Central Africa, served as a Red Cross Goodwill Ambassador, got engaged on the summit of Mount Kenya, and got married not once but three times (online, in Vanuatu, and finally at a Danish town hall) just to make the paperwork stick. In May 2023 he set foot in the Maldives and completed his mission — the only person in history to reach every country on Earth without flying — a journey he now tells in full in his memoir, The Impossible Journey: 10 Years. 203 Countries. No Flights.

In this episode, Thor talks to Matthew Harffy and Justin Hill about:

• The email from his father that started the whole obsession

• Why Central Africa "nearly broke his back" — corruption, checkpoints, and the surreal bureaucracy of getting a single visa

• Surviving the West African Ebola outbreak while travelling through the region

• How he financed a decade on the road — corporate sponsorship, crowdfunding, skipped meals, and a very unexpected job at a Danish seafarers' mission in Hong Kong

• Getting stuck in Hong Kong for two years during COVID-19, with the finish line agonisingly close

• The love story that ran alongside the adventure, including a proposal on Mount Kenya

• Turning a ten-year odyssey into a book: the "hero's journey" structure, what he left out, and the reader reactions that stuck with him

• The documentary film years in the making, and the small taste of it currently on BBC iPlayer

• Why he's not chasing "most travelled person" status, and what a possible second book — this time about hope — might look like

Also in this episode: Matthew and Justin catch up on summer writing projects, the perils of a multi-author historical anthology (the Battle of Stamford Bridge, 1066), a debate about AI-generated book covers, and the $2 million debut novel deal that collapsed over AI authorship questions.

About Thor Pedersen: Thor Pedersen (also known as Torbjørn C. Pedersen) is a Danish adventurer and the only person in history to have visited every country in the world without flying — a continuous, unbroken journey completed over nearly a decade. He served as a Red Cross Goodwill Ambassador throughout the project, "Once Upon a Saga," and is now a speaker and author. His memoir, The Impossible Journey, is out now in English and German, with a companion documentary film in the works. Learn more at thorpedersen.dk.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Thor Pedersen's website: thorpedersen.dk

• The Impossible Journey (book): Amazon UK

• BBC documentary feature: BBC iPlayer (search "The Impossible Journey")

• Counting Countries podcast, hosted by Ric Gazarian (mentioned by Thor)

Support the show: Get 80% off all Patreon tiers throughout August 2026 with code 80AUGUST26 — patreon.com/rockpaperswordspodcast. Send us your best email or social media comment and if we read it out on air, you'll win 6 months of free Producer-level Patreon access: rockpaperswordspodcast@gmail.com