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#HistFicThursday - Folk Music - The Spinners

 Today, in Caithness, the sun is shining and the air is clear. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog that, certain weathers and certain times of the year ignite certain music in me. And, on late winter days which are filled with sunshine, I am usually to be found singing the songs of The Spinners . Inevitably, I start humming different ones of their songs (and of course adapting them to be about Orlando and Jess) as I go around doing different things. But I remember almost all the words to them. I haven't heard a lot of them in years, but they are all there, rooted in my memory. It is truly fascinating to think about how these songs have passed through history. They are part of my own nostalgia, which is why crisp sunny mornings make me incapable of ignoring the temptation to sing them, but they are part of something much bigger. There are songs amongst them which are a newer step in the folk music movement. Songs like Silver in the Stubble are amongs...
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Masterworks: The Ambassadress - Ronan Beckman - Interview

  Today is the fifth of a series on nine interviews I'm sharing on the Crowvus Book Blog. These are from the authors of the short stories included in the Masterworks anthology by the Historical Writers Forum. We're running through chronologically, some are video interviews, others are written.

Join Ronan Beckman as he talks about his inspiration and the real people involved in his brilliant story, The Ambassadress, on the video below...

Or you can watch the interview in YouTube here!

You can find The Ambassadress in the Masterworks anthology, which is available on #KindleUnlimited HERE!



Now, let's meet the author!

Ronan Beckman is an American educator who has lived in the UK for over 30 years. He has a wife and daughter at home, who he is immensely dependent upon for feedback and editing of his writing. His interest in history and genealogy helped to spark an interest in further developing the stories of some of the family he researched - resulting in his debut novel An Actress of Repute. Subsequently, he has become a bit obsessed with all things Georgian and Regency related. In addition to fiction based on historical biography, Ronan is working on editing the works of a coal miner who became a Member of Parliament, and gathering information for a planned biography of a French cartoonist who was the roommate and collaborator of a young Mark Twain.

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