Alison Morton | Alison Morton Author

Oxford - HNS Conference and a lot of rushing around

The 2016 Historical Novel Society in Oxford – fabulous speakers, sharp engaging talks, lively expert panels plus rampaging Saxons – a celebration of all things historical and fictional. This was the feast before us.

Battle of Fulford 1066 tapestry. (Click image for more info)

Many colleagues have written accounts which make compelling reading […]

Fenella Forster - Love me, love my character

Today is the start of a new, possibly disruptive series, ‘Love me, love my character’. I’m inviting authors and their characters to give us their separate views. Hopefully, we may get some unexpected results.

Fenella Forster (the writing name of Denise Barnes) writes sagas with a difference: all involve ‘voyages’, physical as well as emotional […]

Blenheim, forerunner to the HNS Conference

I’d never been to Blenheim, or Blenheim Palace as it’s more properly called. I knew it was the home of John and Sarah Churchill, the first (gifted and ambitious) Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, by having watched The First Churchills, an excellent BBC series made in 1969.

Built built between 1705 and circa 1722 in […]

Annelise Freisenbruch and the Rivals of the Republic

Today I’m delighted to welcome to my blog somebody whose writing I deeply admire. I bought ‘The First Ladies of Rome’, which explored the hidden history of women in Ancient Rome, as soon as I saw it in 2010. The author and today’s honoured guest, Annelise Freisenbruch, was born in Bermuda and studied Classics at […]

2016 HNS Conference Oxford - a quick interim post

I’ve been away at the Historical Novel Society Conference where I was coordinating the indie table, helping with registration and problem solving, plus running a panel on indie publishing. There will be a report – I promise – but in the meantime, here are some photos…

HNS16 gala dinner. Left to right: Christina […]