Liz St. John: Meet the ancestors - The Lydiard Chronicles

I’m delighted to welcome to my blog historical fiction writer Elizabeth St.John who spends her time between California, England, and the past. To inform her writing, she’s tracked down family papers and residences from Nottingham Castle to Lydiard Park, and Castle Fonmon to the Tower of London.

Although the family has sold a few […]

Writing Challenge Day 5: What inspired the book I'm working on

That’s an easy one – the readers!

No, really! I wrote The Girl from the Market after a suggestion in the Roma Nova Enthusiasts’ Group. Legend had it (in the earlier Roma Nova novels) that in AD 370 Julia Bacausa was a tough and fiery woman and Apulius a strong Roman of the traditional […]

Writing Challenge Day 3: Introduce the main character(s) Julia and Apulius

Julia Bacausa

AD 370, Virunum, Roman Noricum

Julia Bacausa, passionate daughter of a local Celtic ruler, miserable and tense after a failed marriage and only half-divorced, can see no future life for herself.

Lucius Apulius, a bright young military tribune thrown out of a prestigious command that would have made his career. He’s […]

Historical mystery novelist Susan Grossey says 'knickers'

Today’s guest is Susan Grossey, the inventor of Constable Sam Plank, one of my favourite law enforcers. “I have been in love with words ever since I realised, at age three, that those squiggles on the page actually meant something,” she says. Susan edited the school newspaper and managed to do lots more reading and […]

Calm down, dear, it's only a novel!

Today I’m delighted to welcome writing friend Carol Cooper to the blog. She’s an author, family doctor, and medical journalist. After a string of health books, she turned to writing fiction. Her novel Hampstead Fever featured in a prestigious front-of-store promo in WH Smith travel bookstores. Carol lives in Hampstead and Cambridge and is working […]