Author of Historical Fiction and Mysteries
I have confessed on this blog to being conservative when it comes to my historical fiction: I prefer it realistic and serious, no fantasy, parody, alternative histories, etc. Then I came across a synopsis of The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer. The setting of the novel – medieval Siena – had me sit up... Continue Reading →
Guest blog by Lesley McDowell I first became interested in the real-life figure of Isabella Baxter Booth when I read what her friend, Mary Shelley, wrote about her in 1823: I have now renewed my acquaintance with the friend of my girlish days – she has been ill a long time, even disturbed in her... Continue Reading →
Guest blog by Christy Nicholas In Misfortune of Time, book #6 in The Druid’s Brooch series, the main character is Étaín, a grandmother who lives in 11th century Ireland in the shadow of a massive Christian abbey. Her husband is a priest, enamored of piety and asceticism, and she must hide her pagan magic in... Continue Reading →
Guest Post by DM Denton Read Escaping Ziegfeld by DM Denton and Help Rescue Animals My beautiful and talented maternal grandmother died long before I was born. She was a classically trained pianist, receiving “her entire musical education” at the Illinois College of Music, which was established in 1900. There, she “made an extensive study... Continue Reading →
Guest blog by Donna Gawell In the Shadow of Salem is the story of an infamous Puritan, Mehitabel Braybrooke. Her life didn’t start out well, and history books and town records have not been kind. Mehitabel was an illegitimate child of a servant and a prosperous landowner, Richard Braybrooke. Both parents were whipped for the... Continue Reading →
Guest blog by Carmen Radtke As Queen Victoria’s empire grew and with it the wealth of the nation (mainly of the upper class), the colonies became a beacon of hope for the poor as well as the struggling middle class. In the 1850s and 1860s, New Zealand offered land for farming, and the former convict-colony... Continue Reading →
Guest blog by Marilyn Pemberton In The Jewel Garden, Hannah, a fictional character, tells of her relationship with Mary De Morgan (1850-1907), a real-life Victorian writer. De Morgan came from an illustrious family: her father was an eminent mathematician and her mother a renowned spiritualist and social reformer. Her brother William made beautiful tiles, which... Continue Reading →
Anchoresses were medieval women who chose to pursue a particularly demanding form of monastic life, namely complete isolation from the world. Once enclosed, they would typically live out their lives in a small cell, servants delivering their food and the priest hearing their confession being the only people with whom they would have contact. So... Continue Reading →
Guest post by Mandy Haggith The first of a trilogy of historical novels, The Walrus Mutterer is set in the Iron Age and inspired by a real person, Pytheas of Massalia, who is credited with being the first Mediterranean to discover Britain. In 320 BC he undertook an extraordinary voyage, circumnavigating Britain and travelling north... Continue Reading →
Guest blog by Pippa Brush Chappell One of the first questions my non-fiction-reading partner always asks about a movie or a book is, 'is it a true story?' It used to really wind me up, but now that I’m trying to write a 'true story,' I find myself having to engage with what that actually... Continue Reading →
P.K. Adams 