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#HistFicThursdays - Quetzalcoatl by Ian Hunter - Author Inverview

  Today's #HistFicThursdays blog is an exciting interview with  Ian Hunter ,   as part of his  Yarde Book Promotion  tour! Read on to find out about his influences, inspirations, and the adventures which readers can expect to share in with  Quetzalcoatl . But first, let's meet the book... Blurb Jessie Mason lives with her nose in the pages of history. But she is discovering that the past is a dangerous place where she doesn't belong, and knowledge alone is not going to save her. Jessie’s life has become a series of terrible challenges. Now she must lead her friends in the hopeless task Grandfather set them: hunt down and destroy the Time Stones. But her leadership has already failed. Tip has left them and Abe has simply disappeared, while she and Kes are trapped in the heart of an ancient empire in turmoil. Thrust into a fractured, threatened Mexica nobility, Jessie is immersed in a way of life, fascinating and disturbing in equal measure, yet powerless bef...
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#HistFicThursdays - Take a Letter

Welcome back to the #HistFicThursdays blog, Writers and Readers! This year is already shaping up to be a fabulous one.

I am not one to make New Year Resolutions - they are inevitably broken by the end of January - but I am looking forward to getting more writing done this year. I'll be sharing my progress on these blogs, along with any fascinating research rabbit holes I happen to stumble across! I'm also delighted to be sharing a monthly post from fellow Crowvus author, Judith Crow, as she discusses her gothic horror short stories which will be released on 13th October 2025 - her first post will be here next week!

I am always happy to review historical fiction, but please remember I can only review physical copies as I do not possess an eReader, and my eyes are not up to reading a full book on the computer!

Currently, I am deciphering a set of 19th Century letters I got for Christmas. Will these ever make it into stories? Certainly! It is so wonderful to experience the true language with which these were written. As historical fiction writers, we tend to get a bit hung up on what words and phrases would have been used in various periods, but these letters are providing me with a few eye-opening moments in terms of language! I have already picked a few favourites amongst them: an actress politely refusing a play because it does not end happily ever after; a failing editor lamenting how badly his magazine is doing with over-the-top moroseness; a lawyer's patient response to someone who expected to be named as receiving more than they got in a will... The list goes on! I am researching as much as I can about the senders and recipients, but the frustrating beauty of everyday letters is that many of these people are now lost to history. These moments, which were so important to them, are now the only window we have onto their lives.

Of course, as a writer, this partial anonymity is priceless. But, as a historian, I can't help but question who they were, what their lives were, or - in the case of this letter - what on earth they are talking about!



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