

About Me

Jon Byrne's Biography
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I am originally from London, but now live and work in Bavaria, Germany, as a freelance German-English translator, proofreader, and occasional lumberjack. It was when I was living in India that I wrote my first book, a fantasy novel. I then wrote two further fantasy novels, the last being a monster of nearly 200,000 words, none of which I ever attempted to publish. Since then I have sold two fantasy short stories to an American fantasy magazine.
All of this I consider to have been my apprenticeship but decided I would rather write historical fiction, having studied medieval history for over twenty years, and building up a comprehensive library of books. In my research, I have traveled to all of the locations mentioned in the book (East Anglia, Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, Riga and Latvia). 'Sword Brethren' is written as a standalone novel, although it is intended to be the first part of a series detailing the little-known crusade to the eastern Baltic in the 13th century.
'Sword Brethren' (formerly 'Brothers of the Sword') made it to the shortlist of the Yeovil Literary Prize 2022 and the longlist of the prestigious Grindstone International Novel Prize 2022.
I have finished the second book in the series: 'Soldiers of Christ' which I have submitted to my publisher and hope to receive a reply soon. I am currently writing 'Shield of Faith', the third book in the 'Northern Crusader Chronicles'.
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