Wary with Words

Saxon series blog

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:04:55 +0100

These short stories are about an Anglo Saxon housecarl named Sigeric. The housecarls were the professional bodyguard of Saxon Kings and I wanted to tell a story from there point of view.

22/10/2026 - Writing ‘Settled in truth’ came quite easy to me, it took me one evening as I knew in my own mind that I wanted to capture what Sigeric might have been thinking just after the battle and the devestation he might have been thinking. I also wanted to look at his next move and leaving England.

Settled in truth is fate - Number two in the Saxon series

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:04:55 +0100

Sigeric was panting hard, he was running through woods and out into meadows then back into ancient forests. He was losing track of time as the night arrived to cover the land. They had been running since leaving the field of battle, some of their number who were injured had to be left behind and, in the distance, they could hear the pounding of hooves and the screams of Saxons cut down as they fled. In the space of a few hours his whole world had changed. The events on Senlac Hill had changed his life and that of England forever. With King Harold gone there was nothing between the Normans and London.

The Iron Ridge - Number one in the Saxon series

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:04:55 +0100

07:00 14th October 1066 – Caldbec Hill, Hastings.

The air was cool and crisp but the sky was clear and the sun rose majestic to herald the new day as the army rose from its slumber. Sigeric stepped out from the tent he shared with his brother Godric, all around him his fellow housecarls were emerging from their tents, their movement quiet but determined. He lifted his iron helmet, settling it over his brow and adjusting the heavy nasal guard so it sat straight between his eyes. In his left hand he gripped his kite shield by the strap. Shaped in the new European fashion, it was longer than the standard round shields, offering better protection. In his right hand his Danish battleaxe hung low at his side, the cutting blade freshly sharpened overnight. A moment later Godric joined him, no words were spoken as the housecarls were unusually quiet, the forced march from the North and the battle of Stamford Bridge had sapped their strength. They now faced the deadliest cavalry in Western Europe – the Normans.

About

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 14:21:33 +0100

Welcome! I’m Jack Harding.

A bit about me..

I’m a budding fiction writer with a focus and passion for historical narratives and character-driven storytelling.

I live in Derbyshire, I’m married to Sophie and we have a baby daughter Amelia.

I work in the software industry and I’m a rating in the Royal Naval Reserve currently going through Phase Two training.

Creative Focus

My writing explores historical fiction, focusing on real events and sometimes twisting the ending for a different take on what could have happened. I focus on making complex historical settings feel human, and grounded as well as exploring events from different view points to give a 360 degree view of what’s happening.

A Bucket of Instant Sunshine

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 14:04:55 +0100

A look at the Cuban missile crisis and what could have happened from the perspective of the RAF

System Architecture

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This site is built to host my short stories as a static site deployment using AWS.

I specifically chose to cloud host and use AWS to gain real-world experience building on AWS to help my career progression.

Deployment Flow

Local Development: Code & content edited locally using Hugo.
Version Control: Pushed to GitHub repository main branch.
Automated CI/CD: GitHub Actions triggers, builds static assets with hugo --minify, syncs to Amazon S3, and invalidates CloudFront cache.
Global CDN: AWS CloudFront serves cached content over HTTPS with low latency.

Key Architectural Highlights

1. Edge Delivery & Content Distribution

Static Site Generator: Built using Hugo for rapid static page rendering and zero server runtime overhead.
Storage & CDN: Static assets are stored in a private AWS S3 bucket and distributed globally via AWS CloudFront edge locations for low-latency delivery.
SSL/TLS & DNS: SSL certificates managed via AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) and DNS routed through AWS Route 53.

2. Edge Security & Access Control

Origin Access Control (OAC): Direct S3 bucket access is blocked to the public; assets are strictly served through CloudFront.
Security Headers: Enforced edge security headers via CloudFront SecurityHeadersPolicy including:
- Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS)
- X-Frame-Options (Clickjacking protection)
- X-Content-Type-Options (MIME sniffing prevention)
- Content-Security-Policy (CSP)

3. Serverless Reader Feedback Pipeline

Decoupled API: Reader feedback forms submit payloads asynchronously to an AWS API Gateway REST endpoint (POST /feedback).
Event Execution: Triggers an isolated AWS Lambda function processing contact details and story titles.
Notification System: Routes validated reader messages directly to the author inbox using Amazon SES.

4. CI/CD Pipeline & Operational Governance

Automated Workflow: Pushes to main trigger a GitHub Actions pipeline that compiles Hugo assets, syncs output to S3, and invalidates the CloudFront cache (/*).
Cost Governance: Tracked via AWS Budgets alerts to maintain minimal operational overhead within the AWS Free Tier.