Jane Davis's Counterfeit Self

What a pleasure it is to welcome the talented Jane Davis back as my Thursday guest! Jane is the author of seven novels. Her debut, Half-truths and White Lies, won the Daily Mail First Novel Award and was described by Joanne Harris as ‘A story of secrets, lies, grief and, ultimately, redemption, charmingly handled by […]

Ruth Downie - Love me, love my character

Today, I’m delighted to welcome Ruth Downie back to the Roma Nova writing world. She’s talked before about historic truth and donkey poo, and wrote a poignant account ‘from below’ at the court of Boudica as part of A Year of Ravens. Of course, Roma Novans know her as the name on the endorsement for […]

Triskele Lit Fest - friendly and with fizz!

STOP PRESS: video added below!

The historical fiction panel, left to right Jane Davis (chair) Orna Ross, Radhika Swarup, J D Smith and me (see video of session below!)

Scarcely recovered from the Historical Novel Society Conference, I was back on the plane ten days later en route to a rainy London and […]

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 […]

How to set up and run an author exhibition stand

Each year I set up my stall and sell my books at the Marché de Noël at Terves. Not only do happy customers go away clutching copies of one or several Roma Nova books, but I’ve had the pleasure of chatting about writing, books, feminism, adventures, history, Rome, publishing, the holidays, travel – you name […]