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Showing posts from January, 2022

#HistFicThursdays - Gothic Horror - The Curse of Heatherwell House

  The Curse of Heatherwell House (Working Title) came from a slightly different place than many of the other stories in this collection. When I decided that I was going to put together a collection of short stories with the theme of Gothic Horror, I quizzed Clemency on what would scare her. She said “zombies”. Not the easiest thing to work with for Gothic Horror – give me a ghost any day. Here are some thoughts about how I went about creating The Curse of Heatherwell House … Once I had spoken to Clem about the things she finds scary – and discovered which of my back catalogue she found the creepiest – I started to get an idea for a story. It involved a vicar (obviously the younger son of a wealthy family, as all these Gothic vicars seem to be) who took over gravedigging responsibilities because the rest of his parish were too sick to do it. I was pleased with the premise – and perhaps it will turn into another story. Watch this space… But there was one major sticking problem: whils...
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#HistFicThursdays - Indecent - Darcy Burke - Excerpt

  This HistFic Thursday, I am delighted to be teaming up with Goddess Fish Promotions in hosting Darcy Burke and her enthralling historical romance, Indecent . Let's meet her book: If Bennet St. James, the Viscount Glastonbury, doesn’t find a bride with a sizeable dowry, he’ll be in the poorhouse along with his interminable number of female relatives—all of whom he loves but are a drain on the negative fortune his father left when he died of a broken pocketbook. Desperate, he hatches a scheme to snare an heiress only to be foiled by a most vexing and alluring—and unfortunately equally destitute—paid companion. Lady’s companion Prudence Lancaster is single-minded about finding her mother and filling in the missing pieces of her life. But a villainous viscount interrupts her plans, and his surprising charm and understanding tempts her in the most indecent ways. Soon, she’s dreaming of the future instead of wallowing in the past. But when Bennet shares a dark secret, her hopes are das...
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#HistFicThursdays - Raid of the Wolves (Ormstunga Saga, Book 2) - Donovan Cook

Today, I'm delighted to introduce you to Donovan Cook and his book Raid of the Wolves . This is the second book in the Ormstunga Saga, and was published in November 2021 (the first book Son of Anger , came out 2020) and is already bagging great reviews. Let's meet the book... The only thing that kept him going were the voices of his ancestors, screaming for blood... Ulf and his shield brothers are sent on a raid against an old enemy — Francia, a mighty kingdom to the south, now ravaged by civil war. During the perilous sea voyage, Ulf can only focus on one thing. He demands closure: to find the man who slaughtered his family — Griml. A hidden enemy stalks Ulf and his warriors through Francia, striking mercilessly when they least expect it. Soon the hunters become the hunted. The Norse warriors must make the ultimate choice between defying the king or angering the gods. Both could end in fury. But there is another threat lurking in the shadows. One that Ulf could never anticipat...
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#HistFicThursdays - Writing Battles

 By the very nature of the books I write, whether medieval, Jacobite, or regency, there are invariably battles to recount. A lot of historical fiction features wars of some kind because it's often in these times of trial and conflict that we can see the very best and the very worst of humanity. Writing battles is a daunting prospect. After all, most of us writers have never been in a battle, and certainly not one which used the type of warfare with existed 200, 500, or 1000 years ago. Re-enactments and handling artefacts are great for getting an idea of the weight of weapons, the blindspots of armour, the power of a charge, but these events are full of people who have all gathered for the same purpose. This means (thankfully, I should add!) that there is not that driving fear and recklessness which must have been present in those forays. But this is where you as the writer come in. No one enters the field of combat without some reason for - or belief in - what they are doing. Mass ...
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#HistFicThursdays - Horrible Histories 1

This Christmas holiday, we have found ourselves wandering around the house randomly singing snatches of songs from the genius that is Horrible Histories. This series of books-turned-TV-programmes is something which, until recently, I was never really interested in. I wasn't violently opposed to them, but I was exactly the wrong age for when they came out. My sister had and read all the books, even the special editions. And then - the best part of twenty years later! - another sister began to introduce us to some of the songs from the programme. Still less than 100% convinced, it was pointed out to me that there was a song for every period in history. This sounded like a throwing down of the gauntlet, but they did indeed manage to find me the song fitting for my current project. Here it is: Since then, I've become something of a convert to the musical antics which were in the series and there hasn't been a day in the last month when I haven't woken up randomly singing a ...
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