News and thoughts

A place for the author to share information and thoughts about his forthcoming or past projects

Yes, I am currently writing a new novel. While I’m not prepared to disclose too much about it yet, I have written about 20,000 words of a novel I expect to be about 70k to 80K when completed, so a pretty standard modern novel. It has a three act structure and is written from the first person singular POV, so not especially groundbreaking in that regard. It’s a book I’m writing for my pleasure, and I wont be done until I’m no longer enjoying it. But, probably, it’ll be out early in 2027. Email me for more information. Speaking of which, this new novel, I might make it available only for persons who ask, and possibly for free in an eBook format. Just thoughts. There’s also been a lot spoken about AI these days, and I want to be clear that absolutely none of the book will be written by AI. But, that said, I am using AI to do some research. I am open to discussing that with anyone who has questions.

The Origin of My New Novel – August 1, 2025

A few years ago I began looking at novels written in the early 1900’s thinking to compliment the First World War trilogy I had previously written, and I immediately discovered the many terrific action-adventure stories written about the French Foreign Legion set in the tumultuous areas of northern Africa of that time period. While I was drawn to the format, I did not want to write anything pro-colonialist or anti-Muslim – biases which are deeply embedded in many of the stories written in that time period. Instead I wanted to write a novel based on the hard facts we now know, that colonialism was doom to failure, that generations of war would follow, that good guys were not all good, but the bad guys were also not so good. Research on that time period turned out to be pretty difficult. Much of the primary source materials are written in French, for example. I also knew that I wanted to include Muslim characters but I didn’t think I could do so without a basic understanding of the practice of Islam. And then I had to figure out what drew me to the era and what events were relevant to the novel I wanted to write. It took me several years to prepare to begin writing, but I think all that preparation shows in the final result.

Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad is my attempt to tell a story that reflects the amazing place and time of those classic pulp fiction stories but with the benefit of what we know now about what would happen there, treating all the characters and their beliefs with respect, and based on the actual events that occurred in that region. In the story, the lives of four protagonists become entwined: A mature Foreign Legionnaire who has made a home for himself in the harsh life of France’s desert fortresses; the young Arab son of the Sharif that leads the tribes in the western Sahara fighting to protect their families; an ambitious American archeologist in charge of the excavations at Carthage; and a young Swedish widow in Fez who adopts Islam in order to earn a place for herself in the community there. Each of them suffers a crisis which isolates them – death, betrayal, murder and the struggle with one’s weaknesses – and it is only through the chance intersection of their lives that they become bound to each other and come to influence a world that stands on the brink of vanishing. It’s is a novel about loss and alienation and the fragile, often transitory bonds that tie people together. The story, I hope, reflects something of a world of ancient mysteries that was erased forever.

Using a Sensitivity Reader – August 15, 2025

Historical fiction is a genre that sits at the intersection of art and responsibility. By blending fact with imagination, authors bring the past to life for readers who may rely on fictional accounts as much as history books for their understanding of the past. This creative license carries an ethical duty: The way groups of people, cultures, and histories are depicted can either deepen empathy or perpetuate stereotypes. As I approached writing my new novel, Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, a novel about northern Africa and a time period fraught with colonialism and anti-Muslim bias, I felt the need to actively combat and counteract such problematic elements, even though they were commonplace in traditional adventure fiction such as the French Foreign Legion stories I was trying to reinvent. That meant that I needed to do my research, approach the past with open eyes, and be historically accurate. But let’s be honest: As a mature white guy in the good old U.S. of A., what I wanted to write and what I could write could easily be wrong or misinterpreted. Even honest mistakes could deep-six my novel and open me justifiably to criticism. So, yeah, I hired a sensitivity reader.

A sensitivity reader is someone with lived experience or deep cultural knowledge who can review a manuscript for potentially inaccurate, reductive, or harmful portrayals. Their role is not censorship but guidance—pointing out moments where a character’s speech, an author’s description, or a scene’s implications might reinforce biases or distort historical realities. For the historical fiction writer, whose work often crosses cultural, linguistic, and racial boundaries, sensitivity readers can act as invaluable allies.

I think a sensitivity reader serves three essential roles: First, he or she helps ensure accuracy of cultural representation. Second, sensitivity readers highlight the ethics of power and perspective. Sensitivity readers can suggest ways to restore balance to a story by noting where perspectives are missing, by challenging assumptions and by prompting an author to broaden the scope of representation to avoid one-sided storytelling. And, third, sensitivity readers provide insight into language and anachronism. Authors face a tension: how to capture the prejudices of a historical period without normalizing them for modern audiences. A sensitivity reader can help weigh whether certain provocative racial or gendered language serves a legitimate historical purpose or whether it crosses into gratuitous harm.

Critics sometimes argue that sensitivity readers compromise artistic freedom, yet in practice, the role of a reader is collaborative, not restrictive. Just as a fact-checker improves accuracy, or an editor improves clarity, a sensitivity reader improves ethical and cultural depth. Ultimately, the novelist remains free to decide what to revise. The difference is that decisions are informed rather than blind.

In my particular case, I decided to hire a practicing Muslim who is an English language educator to review my book and give me her feedback. There were things I hadn’t seen or intended that were pointed out to me, but I had done a much better job writing than I had feared. I incorporated every single change that was suggested to me. Does that make me immune to criticism? Certainly not. But I feel that, at least on a very basic level, I have tried to write a story that is balanced, sensitive, respectful, and accurate, and I greatly appreciate the assistance I had with that.

Why I Write Historical Fiction – September 1, 2025

I’m a big fan of people expressing themselves artistically, be it through writing, drawing, sculpting, singing, dancing, cooking or what-have-you, and I think it’s a great way for people to process and express their personal experiences. I like to write, and while I don’t aspire to be the next James Patterson or Ernest Hemingway, I do want to write stories that I (and hopefully others) enjoy reading. Given the state of our world right now and the really huge societal changes taking place, I don’t find our current environment to be too fun, and I’m not even going to pretend I can understand it all. I do enjoy reading fantasy fiction, but I especially like to look back to periods in the past and see in them something relatable and still relevant to us today. Having a “historical” lens allows the events of the past to be held, to a certain extent, at arm’s length so that we can see them better, a bit more objectively, and as a filter through which we can evaluate our own contemporary experiences.

In addition to liking the historical fiction genre empirically, I find that historical research is for me part of the fun of writing. I enjoy finding sources, learning the facts, delving into places, and coming to see what it would be like to actually be there. I seem to be drawn to the period before World War Two when different cultures and people were no longer as isolated and were beginning to converge and confront each other for the first time. But even then there was enough unknown that the world still contained mysteries and magic. Things could happen which were incredible. Also, part of my research has been to re-discover some of the excellent books which were written during that era but have been forgotten, to use as models and inspiration. My new novel, Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, for example, was inspired by the classic French Foreign Legion pulp fiction genre which was hugely popular in the 1920’s to 1940’s. It’s also a genre fraught with cultural biases and prejudices, and I’ve tried to reinvent the adventure while leaving those problematic issues in the past. It’s a novel rich in history, detail, and human struggle, and I hope it one that will immerse readers in a world of peril, resilience, and discovery.

Coming on October 1 – Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad – September 5, 2025

Here is a late 19th–early 20th century illustrated print from a French periodical (likely Le Petit Journal), depicting the French Foreign Legion in battle against Moroccan tribesmen during the French colonial conquest of Morocco:

My Preface to A Soldier of the Legion – September 10, 2025

I was very pleased to write a preface to a new edition from Edwardian Press of the classic A Soldier of the Legion by C.N. & A.M. Williamson (originally published in 1914). Here’s an excerpt: “In the literary imagination of the early twentieth century, few institutions carried the aura of romance, mystery, and contradiction quite like the French Foreign Legion. Founded in 1831 as a corps of soldiers composed largely of foreigners (and later also by Frenchmen displaced by the Franco-Prussian War), the Foreign Legion quickly became a legend in both Europe and beyond. It was a place of refuge for men running from the law, from broken fortunes and broken hearts, and from personal disgrace; it was also, paradoxically, a site of almost fanatical discipline, where anonymity was exchanged for brotherhood, and where service in the harshest colonial outposts promised both punishment, personal redemption, and usually a death with honor. Into this charged cultural space C.N. and A.M. Williamson placed their 1914 novel “A Soldier of the Legion”. At its heart, the book is not only a love story with betrayal and personal discovery, but also a meditation on what the Legion meant — as symbol and reality — to a generation caught between the glamour of empire and the disillusionments of modernity. Adding to the allure of this novel, moreover, is the surprising authorship of the novel. … Most readers today won’t recall “C. N. and A. M. Williamson”, but it was the pen name of one highly successful American-English author in the early twentieth century. While Mr. Charles Norris (“C.N.”) Williamson was given credit as co-author of their many works, it was in fact his wife, Alice Muriel (“A.M.”) Williamson who wrote the books. It was much later, following the success of their many novels, that C.N. was finally able to acknowledged his wife’s sole authorship. While we still do not know whether P.C. Wren, author of the famous Foreign Legion adventure novel “Beau Geste”, ever served in the Foreign Legion, we can be quite certain that Ms. A.M. Williamson never did. So is her depiction of the Legion entirely a fantasy, or was it based on memoirs she read or interviews she conducted with those who had served. Regardless, the fictional Legion is the one that people wanted to read. The novel stands as a prototype of the coming tidal wave of Foreign Legion adventure fiction found in popular pulp magazines published up until the 1950’s.”

Wonderful 5-Star review for Tamanrasset – September 25, 2025

Really wonderful and generous review for my forthcoming novel Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad from fellow author Grant Leishman. Thanks so much! See the review at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/tamanrasset

French Foreign Legion, for real – September 29, 2025

Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad now available in hardcover – October 3, 2025

TAMANRASSET is a novel set at the beginning of the 20th Century on the fringes of the Sahara desert, before airplanes or telephones, when there were no maps of the desert, when the people living on the edges of the Sahara did not know what was out there, and when France and Great Britain were only the most recent world powers trying to exploit the region. There, the lives of four protagonists become entwined: A mature Foreign Legionnaire who has made his home in the harsh life of France’s desert fortresses; the young Arab son of the Sharif that leads the tribes in the western Sahara fighting to protect his family; an ambitious American archeologist in charge of the excavations at Carthage; and a young Swedish widow in Fez who adopts Islam in order to earn a place in the community there. Each of them suffers a crisis of alienation, and it is only through the chance intersection of their lives that they become bound together and come to influence a world that stands on the brink of vanishing forever. Like my prior novels, a trilogy of World War I adventures which were inspired by early espionage fiction, TAMANRASSET reinvents the classic pulp fiction adventures of the French Foreign Legion while telling a new story that takes place against a backdrop of real historical events in Morocco and Algeria in the years 1900 to 1908. For readers of Ken Follett, Bernard Cornwell, and Philippa Gregory, this is a novel about loss and isolation and the fragile often transitory bonds that bring people together. Available at Amazon at https://a.co/d/cDlOXpc or at Lulu (better quality printing) at https://www.lulu.com/shop/edward-parr/tamanrasset/hardcover/product-nv784mv.html or order at your favorite bookstore with ISBN 9798999644619.

Interview by Lisa Haselton – October 7, 2025

Nice interview on my book tour today with Lisa Haselton on her excellent blog. Thanks so much for having me! https://lisahaselton.com/2025/10/07/interview-with-historical-novelist-edward-parr/

What Kind of Writer Am I? – November 1, 2025

To look at the novels I’ve written so far, both my new novel Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad and my earlier works, I’d say my historical fiction writing has the following qualities:

First, my writing is “Historically Immersive.” I try to make a time and place come alive with a lot of accurate detail. You might even say that I’m part documentarian. My approach is what I like to call “boots on the ground,” a common military cliche meaning to deploy combat troops into a country. I mean it to convey the idea that the characters I’ve invented are “deployed” into a real situation, where the things that happened in the past are actually happening in the story to them so that we as readers can get a sense of what it was like to be there and understand how the events unfolded and why decisions were made. I definitely lean more towards authenticity and accuracy rather than romantic abstraction. My prose is heavily descriptive with attention to sensory detail: sounds and smells in the marketplace, shapes and colors of architecture, details of the uniforms of the soldiers. I favor concrete imagery that grounds the narrative in lived experience.

Second, I like to write stories that have an “Epic Scope.” Whether it’s the sweep of the First World War or a story that spans northern Africa over an eight-year period, I enjoy long-form stories that have an immersive feel and allow the reader to see how things evolved over time. On a large canvas, individual lives both influence and are swept along by historical forces. In Tamanrasset, the story takes place against a backdrop of events that occurred in Morocco and Algiers over an eight year period, roughly 1900 to 1908, a time when France, already the established colonial power in Algeria, began to move into Morocco and Westernize a culture that had dominated the region for a centuries.

Third, I’m a “Polyphonic Narrator.” I like to write third person perspective from multiple points of view to allow different voices and vantage points into the events taking place. This is particularly important in Tamanrasset, a story that has an ensemble of four lead characters, some with wildly divergent views. Some scenes are written from two distinct points of view, such as the opening chapters’ attack by local tribesmen on the French Foreign Legionnaires in the western Sahara which is seen from the POV of the Legionnaires and then from the POV of the attacking Doui-Menia tribesmen. This suggests that history is layered and contested, not reducible to one perspective.

Fourth, I’m an “Antique Stylist.” Both the diction and lexicon I use when writing, as well as the story forms, formats, and motifs, intentionally adopt an older, Edwardian or late-Victorian cadence, echoing period travelogues and adventure novels. This is intended to give my writing a sort of historical veneer but also marks me as someone deliberately aligning with classical literary traditions and antique literature rather than a contemporary minimalist one.

Finally, while I’d say it’s difficult to extrapolate from two works (my new novel Tamanrasset and my earlier series Kingdoms Fall) I’d say that my writing shows an interest in periods of societal transformation, the collapse of empires, the fragility of humanity, and the conflict and convergence of cultures. I absolutely reject the Hollywood movie script story structure and prefer stories that leave me asking questions rather than sell me on some rigid view of the world. All of this comes together in my new novel Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, in which the lives of four protagonists become entwined: A mature Foreign Legionnaire who has made his home in the harsh life of France’s desert fortresses; a young Arab son of the Sharif that leads the tribes in the western Sahara fighting to protect their families; an ambitious American archeologist in charge of the excavations at Carthage; and a young Swedish widow in Fez who adopts Islam in order to earn a place there. Each of them suffers a crisis which isolates them from their community – death, betrayal, the struggle with one’s weaknesses – and it is only through the chance intersection of their lives that they become bound to each other and come to influence a world that is vanishing. It’s is a novel about loss and alienation and the fragile, often transitory bonds that tie people together. The story, I hope, reflects something of a world that is now gone forever, a nearly barren world of ancient mysteries.

The World of Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad – December 2, 2025

Imagine you live in a small village on the edge of the Sahara. It is hot during the day and freezing at night. Behind you lies sandstone mountains which are gradually being eroded; in front of you, as far as you can see, lies a flat hard-packed plain of dirt and sand which is blown towards you inch by inch as the years pass. The rainy season waters come and go, only enough to keep the date palm groves alive and to grow enough silage in the spring to feed a few goats and camels. There are no maps, and the desert before you is a vast unknown. There’s no way to know what is out there or what may come in the morning out of the rising Sun – a group of Tuareg raiders, a Berber caravan carrying dates and salt, or the evil spirit of a djinn. It is said that great treasures are hidden in the desert, but only a fool would try to look for them. Those who enter the vast wasteland almost never return. You have no control over your fate; all is predestined. All you can do is pray and fast. You pray with your family five times a day; it becomes the foundation of your life. Recently, Westerners, mostly Christians, have come in greater numbers to your village. They have brought soldiers who try to stop the bandits and thieves, but the soldiers create as many problems as they solve. The Sultan allows them to come because he says we should be more like the Westerners. It is clear that they have weapons and medicines we do not, but they have no appreciation for the mysteries of the Sahara and will surely die there after they march off with their mules and guns. It is difficult to feel any remorse for their loss. Step into the Maghreb at the dawn of the 20th century, a place where empires clash, cultures intertwine, and the Sahara looms as both battleground and mystery. In Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, you’ll march with Legionnaires through wastelands, explore the streets of Fez with a grieving widow, ride with tribesmen resisting foreign conquest, and search for lost treasures with an expert archeologist. If you love sweeping historical epics that bring forgotten frontiers to life, this journey across North Africa will captivate and challenge you in equal measure.

Paintings by Gustave Achille Guillaumet – December 7, 2025

Why I Write Historical Fiction – December 17, 2025

I’m a big fan of people expressing themselves artistically, be it through writing, drawing, sculpting, singing, dancing, cooking or what-have-you, and I think it’s a great way for people to process and express their personal experiences. I like to write, and while I don’t aspire to be the next James Patterson or Ernest Hemingway, I do want to write stories that I (and hopefully others) will enjoy reading. Given the state of our world right now and the really huge societal changes taking place, I don’t find our current environment to be too fun, and I’m not even going to pretend I can understand it all. I do enjoy reading fantasy fiction, but I especially like to look back to periods in the past and see in them something relatable and still relevant to us today. Having a “historical” lens allows the events of the past to be held, to a certain extent, at arm’s length so that we can see them better, a bit more objectively, and as a filter through which we can evaluate our own contemporary experiences.

In addition to liking the historical fiction genre empirically, I find that historical research is for me part of the fun of writing. I enjoy finding sources, learning the facts, delving into places, and coming to see what it would be like to actually be there. I seem to be drawn to the period before World War Two when different cultures and people were no longer as isolated and were beginning to converge and confront each other for the first time. But even then there was enough unknown that the world still contained mysteries and magic. Things could happen which were incredible. Also, part of my research has been to re-discover some of the excellent books which were written during that era but have been forgotten, to use as models and inspiration. My new novel, Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, for example, was inspired by the classic French Foreign Legion pulp fiction genre which was hugely popular in the 1920’s to 1940’s. It’s also a genre fraught with cultural biases and prejudices, and I’ve tried to reinvent the adventure while leaving those problematic issues in the past. It’s a novel rich in history, detail, and human struggle, and I hope it one that will immerse readers in a world of peril, resilience, and discovery.

The eBook and Hardcover editions are now available; audiobook coming soon, and paperback in Spring 2026. Thanks!

Writing – March 2, 2026

Now that my book tour is completed and the paperback of “Tamanrasset” has been released and its text has been updated with all the typos I care to find corrected, I can say that, yes, I am writing something new. It is set in the 1840’s and 1850’s and it will take place mostly in Baltimore! I’ll release more information as the book progresses, but I’m certain this one will take far less time to write than my last work.