Category Archives: The Writing Process
Author interview – Mercedes Rochelle
Mercedes Rochelle has just published The King’s Retribution, the second book, of her series set in the England of Richard II and I’m delighted to host the penultimate spot on her book’s blog tour. If you read A KING UNDER … Continue reading
Game of Thrones – A Review
N.B. Major – and I mean major! – Spoiler Alert!! Now that the dust and ash has settled – and there was a hell of a lot of ash to settle! – I feel I should put down a few … Continue reading
Storming the conventions of historical fiction
I came late to writing historical fiction – in fact late to writing altogether. History was what I knew best but there were a number of conventions associated with historical fiction that I did not like very much. The idea … Continue reading
The Harrogate Interview
I was delighted to be interviewed for the Review whilst I was at the fantastic Harrogate History Festival last month and I very much enjoyed talking to Sharon Bennett Connolly and Jayne Smith. You can find the interview at The … Continue reading
My Top Ten Book Covers for Historical Fiction
Currently, the last few tweaks are being made to the paperback cover for The Last Shroud, so covers are in my mind at the moment. Cover design is an important part of the publishing process and so – like most … Continue reading
Historical Fiction & Meaning
I’m a guest today on the Layered Pages blog, doing an interview with the fantastic Stephanie Hopkins. Find it at: http://ow.ly/Phrjx
A Funny Thing Happened at Foyles – I Came Out!
I’ve been busy of late, polishing up the first draft of The Last Shroud ready for the editor, doing some last minute research and also engaging in a fair bit of walking in Dorset and Yorkshire. Still, amongst all those … Continue reading
Historical Fiction Is A Dangerous Business…
I am a writer of historical fiction – there I’ve said it and I know that in doing so I’m asking for trouble. Why? Because historical fiction is a dangerous business. I should have written crime… or fantasy… or even … Continue reading
My Writer’s Shelfie
I was tagged last week by writer Elaine Moxon to produce a writer’s shelfie – and here it is! Rather than just post it as it is, I thought I would give some explanation about the contents of the “Shelfie”. … Continue reading
A Surfeit of Crises – Some Thoughts on Writing Fifteenth Century Historical Fiction
I love a good crisis because crises are vital in storytelling and in historical fiction in particular. Of course, they are pretty important in life as a whole, but in historical fiction a crisis provides very fertile ground for the … Continue reading
Dodging Arrows... a History Writer's Blog 