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The Dressmaker’s Secret – puts the history into historical romance
If you are after a well-written historical romance, then this could be the book for you. Set in Regency Italy and England in the years from 1819, it is a story about a mother and daughter, Sarah and Emilia. Sarah is on the run from her past in England, and from her...
Who remembers Shorthand?
Pepys wrote his famous diary in shorthand, and I wanted to try to get a feel for the way it might have been translated. Pepys used a method that was common at the time, invented by Thomas Shelton. Shelton taught his system for speed writing over a period of thirty...
10 tips for Editing Historical Fiction – No 9 Change
Change. It sounds obvious, doesn't it, that in a novel things need to change; that to keep a reader interested the characters must change. In reality is is a more complex process than that. As the character changes, then so does everything and everyone the character...
The Troubadour Quartet by Jean Gill #recommended #HistFic
The first book Song at Dawn is set in the Narbonne in the 12th Century and is the story of Estela who starts the book on the run and hiding in a ditch, but soon is rescued and taken to the Court of Queen Alienor, (Eleanor of Aquitaine), who recognises her...
The Ancient Secrets of Welsh Gold #history #Wales
Welcome to author Jean Gill to inspire us with the ancient secrets of Welsh gold. The Ancient Secrets of Welsh Gold In 1824, a gold treasure hoard came to light, found in the South Wales estate of Dolaucothi. The exquisite jewellery included wheel designs on chains...
Shopping with Elisabeth Pepys in Restoration London
Through the diary of Samuel Pepys, we get a remarkable insight into the City of London in the seventeenth century. Here, amongst Samuel Pepys’ political exploits, and his reports of the Navy, the King and the Court, we can also get a picture of where and how...
Got Ghosts! – A Halloween haunted manor #history #ghosts
I'm delighted to welcome fellow Westmorland Writer and pal, Fiona Glass to tell us about her new book, 'Got Ghosts?' Live in Cumbria? You can find the Westmorland Writers here on Facebook. Over to Fiona! It's history, Jim, but not as we know it You may wonder what I'm...
Historical Fiction – Halloween winter reads #HistFic
The Dark Side of Magic Sunday morning, and outside there is what my mother used to call a 'mizzle', which is a cross between rain and mist. Autumn is already here and after a hectic time launching Pleasing Mr Pepys, I've finally got the time to write reviews for some...
The writer who does not write his own book
Two things came to my notice this week. The first was an email from another writer. Please buy my book now, he said, if you're going to, because I'm withdrawing it from sale. Why, I wondered? It was quite a successful book. Well, the reason, he said, is that another...
Publication Day for Pleasing Mr Pepys – Read an extract!
Publication Day Pleasing Mr Pepys I’m delighted to announce that Pleasing Mr Pepys is out today with Accent Press. In years gone by, when there were far less books produced, and all of them physical copies, publishing a book was a much more unique and celebrated...
More than one way to tell a story – The Girl and the Glim
This week sees the launch of not just one, but two books in my family. First to launch this week is 'The Girl and The Glim' - a graphic novella, by Doig and Swift to be launched at the Thought Bubble Festival in Leeds this weekend. Here's a page from the book, which...
Carol McGrath’s ‘The Woman in the Shadows’ – Review
Carol McGrath’s new novel is a wonderful insight into the world of the Tudor merchant class. Elizabeth Williams, a widow who has inherited her husband’s cloth business, meets Thomas Cromwell, at her late husband's funeral. She remembers him as a childhood friend, and...
10 tips for Editing Historical Fiction no.8 ‘Suddenly’
It must be a month ago that I started thinking about writing a blog post on the difficulties of writing about sudden events, which was something highlighted by Hilary Mantel in her Reith Lectures. In the meantime I’ve been on holiday in walking in Wales, and with...
This Deceitful light by Jemahl Evans #HistFic
Having read The Last Roundhead, I didn't think Jemahl Evans could produce a better book, but This Deceitful Light is a tour-de-force. His character Blandford 'Sugar' Candy sits right up there with Rose Tremain's Merivel as one of the great creations of a seventeenth...
Launch Day for Hostage to the Revolution by Diane Scott Lewis #18thC
I'm delighted to welcome Diane Scott Lewis today as she launches her latest book. Diane and I met a few years ago at the Historical Novel Conference in St Petersburg, Florida. Here's Diane to talk about how she was inspired to write Hostage to the Revolution. A few...