Summer is here – Dive into a book!

Man diving

Pick up a fabulous holiday read! Ten stories to lose yourself in. Whether your thing is medieval, Roman, Stuarts, Vikings, cosy crime, thriller, crime on the run or an alternative view of history, we have the perfect read for you. Click the pictures that intrigue you and plunge straight in. (Some even have special offers. […]

Elisabeth Storrs: Fables & Lies

I’m honoured and delighted to welcome Elisabeth Storrs to the blog today – a longstanding historical fiction writing friend. Elisabeth has a great love for history and myths. She is the award-winning author of A Tale of Ancient Rome trilogy which was endorsed by Ursula Le Guin, Kate Quinn and Ben Kane.

Now her […]

Deborah Swift: The Enemy's Wife

I’m delighted to welcome Deborah Swift back to the blog today – she’s so interesting! Deborah used to be a costume designer for the BBC before becoming a writer. Now she lives in an old English school house in a village full of 17th Century houses, near the glorious Lake District.

Deborah […]

Chapters – Entitled or just a number?

Is it better to put a title at the beginning of each chapter in your book or should you merely put a simple number? I’ve never used chapter titles when writing my own books although I’ve absorbed them when reading other books.

What do chapter titles do?

They can act as promises of what’s […]

Books enjoyed in 2025

Selection of books read 2025

As in previous years, reading books has given me enormous pleasure. Let’s be honest, I’ve been a voracious reader since I was five. This year, I published a new thriller, Double Stakes, the sequel to Double Identity and Double Pursuit plus participated in a number of events and sat down to draft the next […]