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#HistFicThursdays - Gothic Horror - Eaves-Drip

 Well, we're so close to release day for Beneath A Darkening Sky , and I've celebrated this by becoming a member of the Horror Writers' Association ! I also had a set of author photos taken in a local graveyard, complete with an entire flock of sheep watching me as some previous visitor had left the gate open for them. So now, I'm faced with the decision of which story to share with you. We've been through a few for this blog series, and I'm left with three: Guidman Trowie (a tale set in Orkney and inspired by the unique folklore of the islands); Moonsong (a love song from a werewolf to the moon); and Eaves-Drip , which is the story I'm going to talk about in this blog.  It's no coincidence that these three stories have been left. Along with Ay Atomics , they're the short and (not-always-very-)sweet ones.  Eaves-Drip was written while we were on holiday in Perthshire one autumn, but it goes back to Lincolnshire, where I grew up.  Lincolnshire is ful...
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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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