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Book Inspiration: Raglan Castle
Originally posted April 17, 2019 A velvety wash of twilight purple cloaked the skies from one horizon to the other as our train of horses and palanquins traversed the sloping causeway into Croilton Castle, the ancestral home of the barons of Cilgaron. Royal pennants snapped in the rising winds carrying the tang of the oncoming rains, the musky yet fresh scent of moist air enveloping us as we reached the great gate. I thanked the gods that we arrived to the safety of this bastion just ahead of the downpour. – The King’s Furies, chapter 37 There is no secret that my books feel more historical than fantasy despite the fantasy label.…
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Loving the Enemy: The Seeds of Revolution
Guest post by Dominic Fielder – originally published March 7, 2019 Jekyll and Hyde has been on the GCSE syllabus now for a few years. As much as I enjoy teaching about it, I find myself painfully aware of the brilliance of Robert Louis Stevenson’s prose and his rich vocabulary. Just occasionally I will try and slip ‘slatternly’ and ‘catholicity’ into everyday conversation but you must choose your moments! As the story reaches the final chapter, we at last read Jekyll’s account and begin to feel some sympathy for the man, a luxury never extended to Edward Hyde. Which made me think about the diet of war films and westerns…
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The Year the Swans Came
Originally posted March 5, 2019 Growing up amongst the ruins of war, four siblings use bridges and cobblestone walkways as a backdrop for their games. Pieter Bader, the eldest, wants to follow in the footsteps of his family, designers of mirrors for royalty since the 17th century, while Maidy, the youngest, dreams of becoming a writer. Her best friend Ruth, who lives next door, dreams of marrying Pieter, only for him to vanish from their lives late one night. Is his disappearance linked to the arrival of the swans, feared as cursed and birds of ill-fortune? What will happen when they return six years later, on the morning of Maidy’s sixteenth…
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Book Review: Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest
Originally posted January 11, 2019 The momentous events of 1066, the story of invasion, battle and conquest, are well known. But what of the women? Harold II of England had been with Edith Swanneck for twenty years but in 1066, in order to strengthen his hold on the throne, he married Ealdgyth, sister of two earls. William of Normandy’s Duchess, Matilda of Flanders, had supposedly only agreed to marry the Duke after he’d pulled her pigtails and thrown her in the mud. Harald Hardrada had two wives – apparently at the same time. So, who were these women? What was their real story? And what happened to them after 1066?…
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How Writers Are Like Pablo Picasso
Originally posted December 21, 2018 It’s not an unusual thing to want to become an immediate master at whatever we set our hand to. I think it’s just human nature. We shy away from the work and discipline necessary to develop the skills needed to become really great at something. When I was in college, I took up ballet. Yep, first time. I was 18, and no, I wasn’t any good. But the class gave me a half a credit, and there was no homework, so why not? When I was 28, I picked up a violin for the first time. No teacher, no lessons. Just me, a book, and…
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Investigating Forged Documents in the Fifteenth Century – A Scrivener’s Tale
By Toni Mount My amateur sleuth, Seb Foxley, being trained as a scribe and having a keen eye, has a knack for spotting forged documents in fifteenth-century London. In The Colour of Evil, Seb is called upon to check out some suspect documents for the Bishop of London. This is a side issue to add to our hero’s burden of things he must do but such things really did go on in medieval times. The monks at Westminster Abbey were notorious for making illicit changes to important documents or even forging new ones on old parchment to benefit themselves. As a novelist, as well as a writer of factual history…
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How best-selling author Stephen Lawhead gave me more work to do and other sundry things…
“What’s your theme?” I scrunched up my face, pursing my lips. “Um…” I paused, trying to find words. Wat-R-Werdz? I’m tongue-tied, not exactly sure how to answer. How does one put years’ worth of thought and consideration, writing, rewriting, and labor into a simple phrase? He probably thought I would answer “stuff and things”- my catch phrase for describing the thin1gs I don’t feel like writing. Like how to get characters from one room to the next in a chapter. The boring stuff. The tedious details that make up 75% of any book because characters can’t live in the exciting scenes in every moment. Sometimes they simply have to do…
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An Interview with Tovi, Son of Wulfhere
I know you’re quite busy at the moment, Tovi, so I really appreciate the fact that you’ve stopped by for a visit. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you in your first two books. In fact, you’ve become one of my favorite characters. But I’m suspecting a lot of people reading this interview right now won’t have read the books so won’t know who you are. I’d like to ask you a few questions to get to know you, if that’s alright? Gódne dæg, Stephanie. Thank you for letting me come and tell you and your readers about my world. First tell me about where you live. What your village…
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Fall 2020 Update – What in the World is Going On?
I know I’ve been quite on my blog and website for quite a while. Once I published my last book, The King’s Furies, I had the idea that I’d write a weekly or bi-weekly blog post to update readers on my progress to give a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into my writing life. But as I got further into those blog posts, I realized that I don’t really have anything particularly stimulating to write about. I wanted to give readers an inside scoop about the writing journey, but to be honest, it’s kind of boring most of the time. There are lots of memes out there like this, and…
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Book Review: A Time for Swords, by Matthew Harffy
Lindisfarne, AD793. The life of a novice monk will be changed forever when the Vikings attack in a new historical adventure from Matthew Harffy. There had been portents – famine, whirlwinds, lightning from clear skies, serpents seen flying through the air. But when the raiders came, no one was prepared. They came from the North, their dragon-prowed longships gliding out of the dawn mist as they descended on the kingdom’s most sacred site. It is 8th June AD793, and with the pillage of the monastery on Lindisfarne, the Viking Age has begun. While his fellow monks flee before the Norse onslaught, one young novice stands his ground. He has been taught…
