Nothing quite like a French market

Goodies from the market

I’ve just got back from a morning at our local market. I say “local” but it’s reckoned to be the third largest/busiest in south west France. Both buyers and sellers travel hours to get here, even thugh it’s a small country town in the middle of France profonde.

The […]

Change and Transformation Reads for the New Year!

Stories are most exciting when they trigger change, or even better, transformation. But change can take many forms. Explore just how different in this special feast …

The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick

The boy – who became a man, The man – who became a king, The king – who became a legend.

Helen’s debut […]

Second-hand book stalls – author's friends?

Some authors don’t like second-hand book stalls, whether run as a businesses or for a charity fête. In fact, they hate them. The author gets no royalty nor secondary right nor anything. The books are toted around, exchanged or traded like a lump of former tree for a pound/euro/dollar or two – virtually free. I […]

Octavian and Bismarck – Visionaries of Empire

Today’s cracking guest post comes from Antoine Vanner – a regular guest here. His own adventurous life, his knowledge of human nature, his passion for nineteenth-century history and his understanding of what was the cutting-edge technology of that time, make him the ideal chronicler of the life of Nicholas Dawlish R.N.in eight volumes so far. […]

Can a song inspire a story?

Can music inspire a story? It seems so!

I’m taking part in the December StorySong short story fest organised by Discovering Diamonds Reviews’ organiser Helen Hollick.

Each day, there’s a new story and a chance to guess the song/music that inspired it. There have been some crackers so far!

Mine comes on 17 December, the […]