heroines | Alison Morton Author

Villains and writers –The author is not the character

Conflict is the lifeblood of any fiction whether it’s between characters, between a character and their conscience, between the character and their environment. Obstacles abound, fate seems inexorable, bad characters never seem to give up.

Character is shown via actions and dialogue which shine a light on their values and motivations. Caius Tellus in my […]

Helen Hollick: Writing the past

What happens when a historical fiction writer turns to crime? No, I’m not talked about me and the Mélisende crime thrillers, but Helen Hollick who has just published her third cozy crime. But she can’t shake off the historical fiction writer’s magic cloak. Her 1970s set series feature heroine Jan is the result.

Over […]

Elizabeth St. John, Elysabeth Scrope and the Princes in the Tower

I’m delighted to welcome historical novelist Elizabeth St.John to the blog especially as she is going to reveal a secret about one of the English crown’s biggest mysteries…

Elizabeth ’s critically acclaimed historical novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England’s kings and queens brings an intimately […]

Evie Hawtrey - From history to mystery

Evie Hawtrey – woman of mystery – describes herself as a Yank by birth but a sister-in-spirit to her fierce and feminist London detective, DI Nigella Parker. Evie splits her time between Washington DC, where she lives with her husband, and York, UK, where she enjoys living in history, lingering over teas, and knocking around […]

Embarrassed of Roma Nova catch-up

When I checked when I’d written my last post, I was horrified out of my socks. May! And it was a feature about my esteemed writing friend Jane Davis’s beautiful new book, Small Eden. It’s achingly well written – I will never be able to write such clever and evocative prose.

Since then, radio silence […]