Sorting out your Romans from your Visigoths, Carolingians et al.

Doing a bit of research into the post-Roman world, I came across Chris Wickham’s The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000. It’s brilliant!

From the first page, I was enthralled. Now, I’m a self-confessed Roman nut and intrigued by that mysterious time in Europe after the mid-400s AD until the […]

A good paranormal romantic thriller

I’ve just read Jayne Ann Krentz’s Sizzle and Burn which I found on the local library shelves by accident.

The female protagonist, Raine, is cut in a different mould to many other heroines – she’s tall, intelligent and independent, but her character avoids suffering from ‘goodgirlitis’. Love interest Zack Jones is tough, sel-assured and […]

Helpful books

I think I’m getting the hang of this WordPress blog (Okay, I hear the experts and cynics laughing, but at least I’m trying…).

I’ve created a new page today called ‘Writing and publishing books’ which lists some of the books I’ve found useful so far in my novel writing. Just click at the top right […]

Writing buddies a.k.a. critique partners

With my writing buddy Denise at the RNA Conference

Update (April 2018) at the end

I enjoyed a ‘writerly’ evening with another novel writer, Denise Barnes who is also preparing her first fiction work. She’s already published a non-fiction book which can be seen at her site.

We swap hints and tips, recommend […]