Blog
The Fascinating Facts about Smugglers by @HelenHollick
I'm delighted to welcome Helen Hollick to the blog today to tell us a little about her new book. Helen is a great champion of historical fiction, and now has turned her researcher's eye to bring us two great non-fiction books - one on Pirates, and the latest on...
Building Blocks of Historical Fiction – no.1 Balance
Each historical novel is different, and each requires attention to the balance of the book, depending on whether it is a thriller, a saga, a romance, or a portrait of a well-known figure. A recent historical novel I read was very heavy on the dialogue - and...
How a cemetery in Bodmin, Cornwall inspired the idea for a Time Travel novel
I'm delighted to introduce Diane Scott Lewis to talk about her new book, Beyond the Fall, and the visit that inspired it. A Cemetery in Bodmin, Cornwall inspired the idea for a Time Travel Over a decade ago my husband and I visited Cornwall, England so I could...
The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau
The Blue is a novel which wears its research lightly and moves at a cracking pace. Genevieve Planche is a strong-willed and adventurous character, who refuses to settle for the dull life of a porcelain painter and instead sets her sights on becoming a true artist....
The East India Company – The Palace of Lost Dreams
I'm delighted to welcome historical novelist Charlotte Betts today, to tell us the history of the East India Company. My review of Charlotte's most recent novel, The Palace of Lost Dreams is at the bottom of this article. THE EAST INDIA COMPANY The Company of...
Secrets of Historical Fiction versus Non-Fiction by Annie Whitehead
I'm delighted to welcome Annie Whitehead to my blog today. Annie is both a historical novelist and a historian, and here she lets us into her writing secrets. Over to Annie: September 15 2018 saw the publication of my first full-length nonfiction book. I’m incredibly...
Shades of Historical Fiction – finding the right tone
The website Writers Write gives us 155 words to describe a writer's tone. There are probably many more than this, as each writer's tone also conveys what we call 'voice'. Tone conveys your attitude towards your subject, your audience, and your personal perspective on...
Author update Summer 2018
My blog has been somewhat neglected for the last couple of months because I have become involved in two exciting new projects, at the same time as releasing my second book in the Pepys Trilogy. The Black Death I am collaborating with a group of historical fiction...
Historical Fiction – The Ending is in the Beginning
How many of you have found a book has been ruined by its ending? Me too. Turns out that in fact we are hard-wired to wait for that pay-off, that final few moments of the story when it gives us its meaning. Here's what a scientific experiment told us about endings: The...
Of Camels and Napoleon – Burke and The Bedouin
My guest today is Tom Williams When Deborah suggested I write about an object associated with Burke and the Bedouin (published by Endeavour Press), I really struggled to think of one. The story does feature the odd camel (there’s a clue on the cover) but I felt that...
In praise of the omnivorous reader
I have always been a voracious reader. I read anything and everything, and don't care about genre as long as the book is well-written and appeals to me. So since the advent of e-books I am baffled by the idea that readers want to read the same book over and over. I'm...
The Silsden Hoard: West Yorkshire’s Mysterious Treasure
by Katherine Clements One coin marks the first to go A second bodes the fall The third will seal a sinner’s fate The Devil take them all… So recites Mercy Booth, the protagonist of my latest novel, recalling an old folkloric rhyme, remembered from her childhood. The...
Fort Howe, protection during the American War of Independence.
I know I have many readers from Canada, so today I welcome Diane Parkinson to share her research for her new book 'On a Stormy Primeval Shore'. Over to Diane. In researching my novel set in New Brunswick, Canada, in the eighteenth century, I needed a fort for my...
Historical Fiction 10 Editing Tips: No 10 Feigning Accuracy
I've had a reader take me to task – rightly – over an incorrect detail of clothing worn by the hero of my books, the 16th-century Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, even while they seemed quite happy to accept the much more flagrant invention of turning him into a...
Riding with the gauchos – Burke in the Land of Silver
I'm delighted to welcome Tom Williams to my blog today, to tell us all about riding with the gauchos, and his new book. Burke in the Land of Silver tells the story of the doomed British invasion of Argentina in 1806 and the role that may well have been played by...