Dancing Priest

Author and Novelist Glynn Young

Dancing King

A Reader Continues to Reread the “Dancing Priest” Stories

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Pastor Bill Grandi is continuing to reread the Dancing Priest stories. And he’s continuing to pull lessons. He’s finished reading the third book in the series, Dancing King, and he posted twice this week about what he’s reading.

On April 14, Bill discussed the question of “Why?”. People and organizations can tell you what they do, he writes, but they have difficulty explaining why they do what they do. He cites the example of Michael Kent-Hughes’ brother Henry, who becomes a Christian largely because his Mchael accepts him for having intrinsic value – that his worth came not from money, or power or position, but from being created as a child of God. Henry had never experienced that before.

On April 15, Bill cites a conversation between Michael and Jay Lanham, the young man Michael’s interviewing to be his director of communications. Jay tells Michael that what struck him about his sermons was that Michael didn’t communicate at people as an audience, but instead he talked with them as people. Again, this reflects Michael’s belief that people have intrinsic value, that they worth talking with.

I’ve often read and hear people speak of “communication to the masses.” If there’s an expression I can’t stand, that’s it. It’s elitist, since the speaker or writer never considers themselves to be a member of the “the masses.” It’s Marxist. And it’s ultimately dehumanizing, objectifying individual people as some large bloc of humanity that has to be communicated at, with talking points at the ready. 

Read Bill’s posts. And follow his blog, Living in the Shadow. He always has something worthwhile to talk with you about.

How I Learned About the Coronation

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There I was, doing what I do best in gift shops connected to major tourist sites, in this case the Tower of London. It was 2013, and I was looking through the books for sale. 

One caught my eye: Crown, Orb & Sceptre: The True Stories of English Coronations by David Hilliam. And the reason it caught my eye was that I’d begun to think about the third novel in my Dancing Priest series, my alternative history of the British royal family. And this would be the novel in which Michael Kent-Hughes would be crowned. 

But I didn’t know much about the specifics of the ceremony, other than it took place in Westminster Abbey and every monarch since Edward I had been crowned there. I bought the book at the gift shop, and it accompanied me home to the States. It was another six months before I read it. It had become part of the research for Dancing King.

It’s full of facts about coronations as well as gossipy tidbits. Charles I, the one who lost his head, was all of four feet, seven inches tall. His coronation was marred by several mishaps, seen later as omens. The worst might have neem an earthquake occurring just as the ceremony ended.

Richard III was crowned barefoot. Oliver Cromwell melted down most of the crown jewels. When George I was crowned in 1714, he couldn’t speak a lick of English (he was German with a British royal connection). Two kings were never crowned; can you name them? (Answer below.) Elizabeth II was advised over and over again not to televise the coronation ceremony; she didn’t listen. Instead, she followed the advice of her husband, who urged her to televise. 

For centuries, the coronation procession began at the Tower of London and ended at Westminster Abbey (with a couple of exceptions for plague years). That was eventually discontinued in the 17th century. I fastened on that fact, and I had Michael Kent-Hughes decide to bring that procession back, linking his own reign to that of the originals – and to allow more people to see the procession (it’s a longer route than the Buckingham Palace to the Abbey stretch) and to give a nod to the business community (the route goes through the City of London) and the theater community (it passes near the West End). 

But it was the coronation itself that was the most important information the book provided. When you see the old clips of Elizabeth II’s coronation, you’re struck by the pageantry, the spectacle, and all the visual details. This may have been why her advisors (including Winston Churchill) argued against television – a televised program can easily miss the point. Above all else, the coronation of the British monarch is a religious ceremony, filled with symbols throughout the rite.

King Edward’s throne with the Stone of Scone.

That’s where Crown, Orb & Sceptre really helped my research. It included the step-by-step ceremony for Elizabeth II’s coronation and explained what each part of the program and each of the symbols meant. The religious and specifically Christian elements fit perfectly with the faith of Michael Kent-Hughes in my story, and I followed the general outline laid out by the book.

Some years back, the prince of Wales who will be crowned Charles III this weekend said in an interview that he would like to be known as the “defender of the faiths,” as opposed to the traditional title of the monarch as “defender of the faith.” He was making a bow in the direction of the diversity of religions in Britain, but he was also unintentionally appointing himself as head of all of the faiths in the country, including Islam. More than a few people pointed that out, and the idea was forgotten.

Except in the case of Michael Kent-Hughes. In Dancing King, and before his coronation, he meets with a group of protestors, who (among other things) demand he demand that he recognize himself as “defender of the faiths.” He succinctly explains exactly what that would mean, much to the shock of the protestors.

If you happen to watch the coronation ceremony this Saturday, remember that each step, and each symbol, is filled with religious importance. Above all else, a British coronation is a religious ceremony. 

And the answer to what two kings were never crowned? The boy king likely murdered with his younger brother in the Tower of London on orders of Richard III, and Edward VIII, who gave up his throne to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson. 

Related:

Dancing King Stories: The Tower of London.

Dancing King Stories: The Coronation at Westminster Abbey.

My review of Crown, Orb & Sceptre by David Hilliam.

Ritual, not pageantry: Understanding the coronation – Francis Young at The Critic Magazine.

Top photograph: Westminster Abbey, where every British monarch since Edward I has been crowned.

Did “Dancing Prophet” Become Prophetic?

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In 2012, I had a conversation with my publisher about the future novels planned in the Dancing Priest series. Dancing Priest had been published in late 2011, and the publication of A Light Shining was imminent. I walked him through what I saw as the main subjects and themes of several additional books (another six, if I remember correctly, which eventually became another three). 

The fourth book was to focus on the conflict between Michael Kent-Hughes and the Church of England hierarchy, which would eventually lead to a reformation. The catalyst would be a child sexual abuse scandal, happening over decades and facilitated (as in, covered up) by the church. The inspiration for this was the scandal in the Roman Catholic Church; what I did was to transfer the Catholic scandal to the Church of England. Or so I thought.

Two weeks after that conversation, my publisher sent me an article that had just been published in Britain. It looked like the Church of England had its own, homegrown child abuse scandal, and didn’t need any fictional help from the Catholic church. 

Dancing Prophet, the fourth novel in the Dancing Priest series, was published in 2018. That year, more revelations were unfolding about the Church of England. In 2019, an independent inquiry was established to look at what had happened and why. Last week, the inquiry panel released its study. 

It sounded like the story line in Dancing Prophet. My wife says I need to stop writing about things that become true.

It gives me no particular joy that real events seem to follow several of the key events in the Dancing Priest stories. (Sometimes, the correlations aren’t horrific, like the DNA study made of Vikings that sounded a lot like what happens in Dancing Prince.) But it does seem uncanny at times. I don’t have the gift of prophecy, but I’ve asked myself, how do real events happen that mirror the stories I wrote in my five novels?

I don’t have a solid answer. I have an idea of what happens, and it has to do with the research I do for the stories and the work experience I’ve had.

The Dancing Priest novels are not historical novels in the strict sense. They’re not about the past. They are more futurehistorical novels, because they’re set in the soon-to-happen future. (One reviewer has called them alternative historical novels.) But they are based on considerable reading and research and first-hand experiences on visits to London and England.

The streets Sarah’s car has to take from Buckingham Palace to the Tate Britain (Dancing Prophet)? I’ve walked them. The visit Michael makes with the two boys to the Imperial War Museum and the Guards Museum Shop (Dancing Prince)? I’ve done both. Taking a train from King’s Cross Station (Dancing Prince)? Been there, done that. A tube ride from South Kensington to the Tower of London (Dancing King)? Yep. And the books I’ve read have ranged from Peter Ackroyd’s multi-volume History of England and a history of coronations to a domestic history of the British royal household and a history of the Church of England.

My work experience has also served as a resource. Working for two Fortune 500 companies, a Fortune 1000 company, a public institution, a newspaper, and my own business has taught me a lot about how organizations respond to crises. Almost by default, the initial response is self-protection. The ongoing response tends to be self-protection. And that response can put public relations people in very difficult positions. The fact that the Church of England responded to its child sex abuse crisis almost exactly like the Roman Catholic Church did is no surprise.

You don’t have to be a prophet when basic human nature never changes. 

Top photograph by Cajeo Zhang via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Dancing Prince Available for Pre-Order

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A mother’s last words, a father’s final message, and a strange painting: Michael Kent-Hughes faces personal tragedy, one that leads to long-lasting damage to the relationship with his youngest child, Prince Thomas. As the young boy grows to adulthood and the estrangement from his father continues, he finds his own way in life. But in the boy’s hands and heart will lie the future of the kingdom. Dancing Prince is the moving conclusion of the Dancing Priest series.

Dancing Prince, to be published about July 1, is now available for pre-order.

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What readers say about the Dancing Priest series

“At least a dozen times, I had to stop reading Dancing Priest for a moment to control the tears. The story is that gripping, that real.”

“I found myself not wanting Dancing Priest to end. There was so much imagery and amazing detail in the story. As an artist, I was amazed at how accurately he understood us.”

“In turns suspenseful and heartwarming, A Light Shining has all the qualities of those classic tales that stay with you for the long journey. These characters become friends and fellow sojourners, making their way into a reader’s heart and encouraging a deeper faith – one that has hands and feet. We all need such role models as Michael and Sarah Kent-Hughes.”

“Read A Light Shining any way you can: Kindle, Nook, paper. Be prepared to leave long blocks of time to read. Guaranteed. Be prepared to be captured with this story.”

“With Dancing King, it is such a joy to be back in this world, which is so well-rendered it could qualify as alternate history. And no one writes a crowd scene like Glynn Young.”

“Themes of redemption, restoration, courage, and community run deep through the lines of Dancing King. Once again, Glynn Young exceeds readers’ hopes, showing a main character in Michael Kent-Hughes who continues to mature in his faith and leadership

“In Dancing Prophet, Glynn Young continues to weave a great story with stirring characters and plot lines that anticipate the headlines. This book gives him a chance to give more backstory to some familiar characters while moving our principals, Michael and Sarah, forward into their new roles. I only wish book 5 was already out!”

“It’s 3 am but I just finished reading a wonderful book that I couldn’t put down, the fourth book in the Dancing Priest series by Glynn Young, entitled, Dancing Prophet. Wow, it lived up to the greatness of the prior three books.”

A World Changes

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“My world has changed, Zena,” Josh said. “I need to move out.” He paused. “And I want you to be my wife.”

Her eyes widened.

“My time in San Francisco with Michael and Sarah made me realize that you and I are more than just two people living together and sharing a bed,” he said. “We are a life together, and I want it to be an official life together, recognized by God and man.”

“Have you talked with Michael about this?” she said.

“No, I haven’t,” he said. “I haven’t talked with him about my finding faith, either. Although I think he suspects.”

“And now I’m truly stunned,” she said. “Stunned speechless.”

Photograph by A.L. via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“It’s his voice that’s remarkable.”

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“It’s Michael’s voice that’s remarkable,” said Father John. “He seems rather soft-spoken in everyday conversation, but his voice carries fully in the sanctuary. You can hear him as plainly in the back as the front, even without the microphone. It resonates with humility and sincerity. You hear him speak, and you know he believes what he says, you know you can trust what he says and that he speaks with authority. It’s a gift that very few ministers or speakers have.”