Crowvus Book Blog

Today's #HistFicThursdays blog is a fantastic guest post from  Apple Gidley ,   as part of her  Coffee Pot Book Club  tour! Read on to find out about her treasure hunt of research and how she used it to bring her new book, Annie's Day , to life. But first, let's meet the book... Blurb War took everything. Love never had a chance. Until now. As an Australian Army nurse, Annie endures the brutalities of World War II in Singapore and New Guinea. Later, seeking a change, she accepts a job with a British diplomatic family in Berlin, only to find herself caught up in the upheaval of the Blockade. Through it all, and despite the support of friends, the death of a man she barely knew leaves a wound that refuses to heal, threatening her to a life without love. Years later, Annie is still haunted by what she’d lost—and what might have been. Her days are quiet, but her memories are loud. When a dying man’s fear forces her to confront her own doubts, she forms an unexpected frie...

 This week is Book Week Scotland, and this month is NaNoWriMo. This makes it a very busy time of year! For me as a writer, these two things have something in common: taking liberties with histories! One of my favourite books by a Scottish author is Kidnapped . If you didn't love roguish characters before reading this (I always have done!) this book will change your mind, and you'll really be rooting for Alan Breck Stewart by the end. It's a book for all ages, and can be read on several levels. But, although I loved this book, it taught me one very important thing about historical fiction: it doesn't have to be accurate. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact Robert Louis Stevenson knew the history, but still decided to change it - blatantly change it, too, since the dedication makes reference to it in the first paragraph! I still love the book, though. It is a brilliant adventure through the countryside I know and love. This NaNoWriMo, I'm attempting to write an...

It's #HistFicThursdays again, and this week I'm delighted to be sharing a guest post from  Renee Yancy ,   as part of her  Coffee Pot Book Club  tour. A little over 100 years later, we are once more in a pandemic. Find out about the inspiration and backdrop Renee used for More Precious Than Gold  in her guest post below. But first, let's meet the book.. Blurb A young woman refuses to become a pawn in her grandmother’s revenge scheme and forgoes a life of wealth and royalty to pursue a nursing career as America enters WWI and the Pandemic Flu of 1918 wreaks havoc in New York City. More Precious Than Gold  is available via Amazon UK - Amazon US - Amazon CA - Barnes & Noble - Kobo - Apple Books Guest Post The Pandemic Flu of 1918 affected not just the lives of Bellevue nurses but nearly the entire world. The administration of Bellevue Hospital gave their student nurses the option of going home while the deadly Pandemic Flu of 1918 raged through New Yo...

The pen is mightier than the sword, so it’s said. One man who proves this statement to be true was William Shakespeare. He remains to this day one of the most quoted writers in the world and his insults have become legendary. There are scores of books of them, and countless internet generators for them. But his insults, some of which work better than others in the modern world, are not the only things he used as weapons. As the song says, there are countless things we say because he strung them together and tucked them into our cultural knowledge. Phrases like “wild goose chase” and “love is blind” are so ingrained in our minds we use them without stopping to think where they came from and only a little bit more about who came up with them. Along with this power, comes the supreme act of propaganda. Here, we see the truth in that statement, for we see the pen is truly mightier than the sword. Shakespeare rewrote – or, is some cases, just wrote – history. There are lines from his plays ...