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#HistFicThursdays - Lost Landscapes - Ravenser Odd

 Be honest, who does not  love the stories of Atlantis or Brigadoon or any other disappearing and disappeared world? World mysteries have always fascinated me, wondering what people imagined from these lost communities and - even more so - what they wanted them to be and represent. The Destruction of Ravenser Odd I stumbled across the history of Ravenser Odd entirely by chance. But what a chance! Here was a setting for a story, one which was almost Biblical in its existence and destruction. Unlike Dunwich, which gradually succumbed to the sea, Ravenser Odd was swallowed in a very short space of time, the final straw coming in The Great Drowning of Men  on Saint Marcellus' Day 1362. As well as this, the town was in the Humber, an area with which I was very familiar, having lived in Barrow-upon-Humber for ten years and being an alumnus of Hull University. Could there be a better setting for a historical fiction tale which was to be laced with horror? Well, I didn't think so. The
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#HistFicThursdays - Things to Inspire - Artwork

 This month's #HistFicThursdays have been all art-inspired, so I'm sticking with that theme! A couple of months ago, the Things to Inspire blog was about sketches. Today's is about finished pieces of artwork!

Artwork has been an inspiration for millions of people across thousands of years. Just like a book, the finished product can (hopefully!) be an inspiration. Over the years, we've collected one or two pieces of old artworks, and these are a few...

Religious artwork has always been used as an inspiration and, historically, this was how the majority of people interacted with biblical stories.

This was a barn find - probably created for someone's own interest judging by the naive style of artwork. It looks like it might have been from a panelled wall at some point. I wonder what happened to the rest of the panels and what story they might show when they are all together...

Of course, not all artworks are paintings! Here is a scrimshaw of the Battle of Flamborough Head - the same battle which I'm currently writing about! Our family connections to this made it doubly attractive!

I'd love to know if you find an inspiration in these - or any other pieces of artwork. How important is artwork in your stories - to both the finished product and during the formative stages?

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