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Guest Post: The Deserter: A Tale of the Foreign Legion by Wayne Turmel

  • Writer: Archaeolibrarian
    Archaeolibrarian
  • 6 hours ago
  • 4 min read

Book details:

Book Title: The Deserter- a Tale of the Foreign Legion

Series: n/a

Author Name: Wayne Turmel

Publication Date: January 15, 2026

Publisher: Achis Press

Pages: 295

Genre: Historical Fiction/ Adventure

Any Triggers: military violence, suicide, language

@wayne.turmel @thecoffeepotbookclub


@turmel.wayne @thecoffeepotbookclub

Algeria 1908.


Gil Vincente is a Boer War veteran, broken and adrift on the rough streets of Marseille. Desperate, he seeks discipline and renewed purpose in the unforgiving ranks of the French Foreign Legion. At first, he finds it, but not for long. When a treacherous soldier frames him for murder, it forces the new legionnaire to run for his life.


Now Gil must fight to clear his name while pursuing the real killer through the rugged Atlas Mountains. With the Legion on his heels and time running out, will he find justice or be forever branded a coward and deserter?

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How Sci-Fi Made Me a Better Historical Fiction Writer

 

Historical fiction readers are a picky bunch, God love’em. They demand good stories, rich characters, and they also want to learn a little something about the time period in question. Even if it’s a genre or era they read a lot about, if you can’t give them something new about General Lee’s camp or the material of Lady Uppercrust’s pinafore, they are unlikely to be satisfied.

 

Just a warning to writers. Get the facts right, especially guns and horses. For some reason, weapon enthusiasts and horse people are the most likely to hunt you down and tell you in great detail how you screwed up. But put in too many details and the non-obsessives out there will tap out.

 

This makes it hard on those of us just trying to tell good stories. We need to do all the stuff other authors do while having to get the facts straight and keep the story moving. This is a tricky balancing act.

 

Not to brag (okay a little. I’m proud of the book), but the kindest reviews of The Deserter talk about the details. They like the way you can almost feel your mouth go dry, or smell the bunkhouse (ick) or feel tallow sink into cuts on your hands as you prepare mule tack. (Just read the book, it’s a thing.) Many of my fellow writers ask how I get the details to be so evocative without sinking into a Tom Clancy technology porn data dump. The answer might surprise you.

 

I do not read a lot of Science Fiction. Much of it drives me crazy; I don’t understand most technology, and if a character name has two apostrophes in it, I’m out. But in my writers group I am forced to read all kinds of work, and I found a lesson in sci-fi that has really helped my historical writing: world building.

 

In science fiction you take people somewhere they’ve never been and trying to make them feel situated so the story can take place. It’s easy to either not explain enough, in which case the reader can be confused, or to data-dump details that no human can possibly remember a hundred pages later. The right amount of information, context and detail at the right time makes all the difference.

 

The same is true when writing history with one big exception. People know a lot about certain time periods. You can’t just give the Romans laser beams or the British East India Company oxen to ride. Even if most people aren’t overly familiar with the period, as in the case of the French Foreign Legion in Algeria, they know what the world was like in 1908, and most of us have met French people.

 

So you need to get the facts right. But how do you strike the right balance of detail and world-building?  The balance is fairly simple. You simply ask, “does the audience need to know this right now in order to understand the story?” That’s a surprisingly effective way to give them what they need. It’s also why a simple book has three boxes of research in my office- the author learns a lot that they never share with the reader. Buy me a beer sometime, I’ll be happy to tell you all about it.

 

The second, and maybe most important thing about historical world building is creating a sensory experience. Someone once told me that people have five senses, but we only write with one or two. Clearly we can visually describe something like a green car. But what does it sound like? Is the engine purring or is it chugging like it’s about to die? Does the interior smell like pine air freshener or week-old McDonalds?

 

Good science fiction gives us a world we may have never experienced, but can instantly understand. The same is true when writing history.

 

I hope that readers of The Deserter get a sense for what it’s like to be in the desert, or ride a mule, or get punched in the nose. When you read it let me know.


Wayne Turmel is a Canadian ex-pat now living and writing in Las Vegas.  He’s the author of seven novels, the latest is The Deserter – a Tale of the Foreign Legion. His short stories have earned critical acclaim, including nominations for the prestigious Pushcart Prize.


Turmel's longer works delve into the rich tapestries of history and the thrilling depths of urban fantasy, inviting readers into meticulously crafted worlds. At times humorous, sometimes dark but always with a careful eye for dialogue and detail.


He lives with his wife, The Duchess, and Mad Max, most manly of poodles.

 

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Tour hosted by: The Coffee Pot Book Club



 
 
 

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