Tony Hays: Profile of a Historical Writer

Tony Hays had many facets to his character. He was a talented English teacher with a hidden past in intelligence work. He was a world traveler, fluent in Arabic, who loved exploring different cultures but who felt most at home in his Tennessee cabin with the former puppy mill dogs he rescued.

Most of all, he preferred to be known as a writer.

Tony died suddenly in January of complications from diabetes while on vacation in Egypt from his job, which involved teaching English to Saudi airmen in Saudi Arabia for a U.S. defense contractor. He was 57. We had begun corresponding via email after I reviewed his sixth novel, The Beloved Dead, for my blog, and we became good friends over the last four years.

Tony’s interests in history were boundless. As he told me once, “I’m always on the lookout for a new time period.” During the 1990s, he documented current events as a journalist, winning a Tennessee Press Association award for his stories on narcotics trafficking. He was a recognized expert in local genealogy and history, including the 1862 Battle of Shiloh.

“My teens and early college years were spent writing ‘serious’ stories,” he revealed. “My twenties were spent writing Southern humor and mystery/espionage stories, some of which got published. It wasn’t until my thirties that I turned to novel writing and found my voice.” Tony was fascinated by unsolved mysteries and conspiracy theories, and most of his novels fit that category in some way. He sought out new angles on well-known people and events, yet presented them in a fashion that didn’t contradict recorded history.

Tony’s first two published novels, Murder on the Twelfth Night and Murder in the Latin Quarter (Bell Buckle Press, both 1993) were YA mysteries, he said, “designed to give high school students an entertaining introduction to Shakespeare.” Next came The Trouble with Patriots (Bridge Works, 2001), a “zany political satire” based on his experience teaching in Kuwait. His best known books are the Arthurian Mysteries, which include The Killing Way, The Divine Sacrifice, The Beloved Dead, and The Stolen Bride, all published in the US by Forge between 2009 and 2012. The first two were also published in the UK by Atlantic, under the name Anthony Hays.

His protagonist, Malgwyn ap Cuneglas, was created to show the traditional mythos from an outsider’s viewpoint. For me, Malgwyn fits so naturally into the Arthurian legends that it’s hard to believe he’s one author’s invention. A tough soldier who lost an arm fighting alongside Arthur against the Saxons, Malgwyn has a cynical outlook that makes him a good sleuth; he doesn’t initially trust Arthur or his vision for post-Roman Britain. Malgwyn’s a witty fellow, though, and his wry observations on life and religion inject humor into the stories. Tony’s Arthurian world is gritty and dark, filled with military threats and political infighting, but he doesn’t neglect his female characters, such as Ygerne, the intelligent woman Malgwyn loves, and Guinevere, a young woman whose passionate liaison with Arthur causes a scandal.

Regrettably, the series was halted when the critical acclaim it received didn’t translate into increased sales – not an unusual scenario for today’s writers. Despite this temporary setback, Tony pressed forward, writing a new novel he planned as the first in a series. Shakespeare No More delves into the mysteries surrounding the Bard’s death from the perspective of a Stratford constable, Simon Saddler, a former friend whom Shakespeare had betrayed. Set in early Jacobean times, it draws readers into the lives of Shakespeare’s family members and theatrical contemporaries, and into a London swirling with political intrigue. Tony was thrilled when the novel was picked up by Perseverance Press, a small press focusing on mysteries; it will appear this September.

Amid his busy teaching schedule and literary activities, Tony also generously gave back to organizations that supported him. He wrote many reviews for this magazine, interviewed authors for the HNS website, and mentored new writers at our conferences.

Throughout his later life, in his good-natured but persistent way, Tony continued to pursue new avenues for his writing, exploring new topics as well as e-publishing. His e-novella The Redemption Path (2014) continues Malgwyn’s story; he had planned to write many more novels. “I’ll never stop,” he wrote in one of our last email threads. “It’s not something I do, but as clichéd as it sounds, it’s who I am.”

Although he left this world too early, Tony’s adventurous spirit ensured that he led an exciting life, one experienced fully, with great curiosity, and with gratitude for the opportunities he had. For readers who have yet to be entertained by his books, he left a substantial written legacy that’s well worth discovering.

About the contributor: SARAH JOHNSON is HNR’s Book Reviews Editor.

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Published in Historical Novels Review  |  Issue 73, August 2015