Crowvus Book Blog

 I know I've posted a couple of times already about this object, but today I'm adding an extra slant to it, exploring the myths and stories of mirrors and the supernatural. If you would like to read about how I came by the mirror in the first place, have a look at this blog . I've wondered multiple times if this object was a great big hoax - certainly, there seems to be nothing about John and Ann anywhere - but it almost doesn't matter. The wood, the nails and the glass itself are all of a decent age, and there is no impossibility in the eyes of a writer. Recently, I was struck by how much light the stained and marked surface produces. One night, on a near-full moon, it was enough to throw a long stretch of light about twenty times its own size across the room. It must have seemed equally frightening and enthralling for people in the past, that this flat, cold surface could redirect not only light but heat. But mirrors were not readily available for many people until ve...

 Here's a little historical horror story, right in time for Hallowe'en. This is based on the macabre belief in the power of a Hand of Glory  and, while the story is fictitious, the events leading there were all true. My Mother’s Eyes to See, My Father’s Hand to Guide 1596 106 Egiptians (gypsies) were condemned to death in York. Only 9 were executed, the others able to prove their English birth. The magistrate forced the children of the condemned to watch. Cornella’s eyes welled with tears as she struggled against the hand on her shoulder. Far from being alone, scores of people stood before her, but every one of them was a stranger. She was standing on a high wall, the last in a line of youngsters. These children she did know. They were her fellow gypsy children. A second hand rested on her other shoulder, pinning her firmly in place. The people below her were gathered as though at a fair. They talked excitedly, eagerly awaiting the spectacle. Cornella felt the grip ...

 Today for #HistFicThursdays, I am to once again be teaming up with  The Coffee Pot Book Club , this time to share an excerpt from  Dirk Strasser 's fantastic new book  Conquist ! First of all, let's meet the book... Capitán Cristóbal de Varga’s drive for glory and gold in 1538 Peru leads him and his army of conquistadors into a New World that refuses to be conquered. He is a man torn by life-long obsessions and knows this is his last campaign. What he doesn’t know is that his Incan allies led by the princess Sarpay have their own furtive plans to make sure he never finds the golden city of Vilcabamba. He also doesn’t know that Héctor Valiente, the freed African slave he appointed as his lieutenant, has found a portal that will lead them all into a world that will challenge his deepest beliefs. And what he can’t possibly know is that this world will trap him in a war between two eternal enemies, leading him to question everything he has devoted his life to - his...

Macbeth Seeing the Ghost of Banquo by Théodore Chassériau  Following on from last week, I'm sticking with the topic of the supernatural and looking at the history of ghosts. I've lived in a few haunted houses over the years (you can find some of These Experiences here ), and I've found that there are few things which capture a peaked emotion or imagination quick like tales of the paranormal. So, for today's #HistFicThursdays blog, here's a story or two of real ghosts in history... Who knows, perhaps I'll be reading some of your books inspired by them in the not-too-distant future. According to historians, the oldest portrayal of a ghost is from a Babylonian tablet . As someone who loves studying stones (check out my book about the carved stones of Stempster here ), I love the vague promise of this image. According to those in the know, Babylonian ghosts existed because they suffered from a deficiency - in this case: company. Ghosts are exorcised by following the...

As a writer, you're increasingly told to show don't tell . It's one of those phrases which has infiltrated all lessons from the highest ranked authors to the little primary school child taking their first steps into writing. Ironically, there are now so many clichés in this particular idea that it is now becoming something of a cliché itself! But one particularly significant area of inspiration and writing when this works at its best is when we are dealing with the supernatural. By its very meaning, the supernatural transcends the laws of nature. It's our job as writers of historical fiction not only to convey that but - and this is a real biggie! - to acknowledge and accept that these beliefs were true. Belief in these ideas (which, at best, now get you labelled as quirky) was commonplace in history, and you need not look too far back to find them. According to surveys run ten years ago, 34% of people in the UK said they believed in ghosts, and 42% of people in the USA...