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 […]

September 10th, 2020 | Tags: , , , | Category: Authors, Characters, Guests, Research, Women's history | Leave a comment

Helen Hollick: Fact vs. fiction – the historical fiction writer's research dilemma

This week’s guest is one making a very welcome return. Helen Hollick is a multi-published author and indie advocate. She lives on a 13 acre 18th century farm in North Devon, with a variety of pets and her family. For over twenty years, she has delighted readers with stories of Arthur Pendragon, Saxon kings and […]

September 3rd, 2020 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Authors, Books, Guests, Research, Writing skills | 9 comments

Writing challenge Day 4: The setting for the new Roma Nova book

Ah, this one’s easy! I’ve written quite a lot on my Roma Nova blog about this as it’s the setting for nine previous books! So I’m going to cheat and repost the piece I wrote about what Roma Nova looks like…

Roma Nova an alpine country with lower lying valleys a few small towns […]

August 19th, 2020 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Alternate history, Books, New book, Research, Roma Nova, Setting, Writing challenge | Leave a comment

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. […]

December 12th, 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: Books, Guests, Research, Romans | Leave a comment

Characters in setting

Rounded, multi-layered characters are essential if you want people to be engaged in your story. Reading is an emotional trip and we want to gasp, shiver, feel rolls of warmth, resentment, sympathy, fear, loss, and triumph as we turn the pages.

Superwomen are fine in some contexts – we like a bit of pushing over […]

July 25th, 2019 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Books, Characters, Research, Setting, Writing skills | Leave a comment
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