Crowvus Book Blog

When my pupils find out that I'm a writer, there is a general air of fascination for a while. They Google my books and ask if they can buy them on Amazon (they can, but - by and large - they don't) and want to know why I need to teach if I'm a published author.  The answer is simple, of course: when I'm doing well, I break even as an author, I never make actual money.  But recently I've realised that being an English teacher is something I would continue even if I had a sudden jackpot win on the lottery. I love my job. Take today for example: I got to teach Seamus Heaney's Digging to a group of S1s, held a mock trial for Dr Frankenstein with my S3s, read a chapter of The Graveyard Book with my S2s, and - perhaps best of all - began the analysis of M.R. James' A Warning to the Curious with my S4 class. Who wouldn't want that job? I think writers make great English teachers - and editors make even better ones! We are used to spotting little details here an...

 Happy Monday! This week, we'll be sticking with the Science Fiction theme from last week. If you'd like to read up on my top tips for writing Science Fiction, they can be found here . At school this week, we have the Caithness Science Festival show all sorts of great things for the children. Kids love it! Talented presenters come and share cool facts in fun ways, and the classes can have a go at some really awesome experiments, or meet some funky animals. I love science, and I get a buzz from seeing the children enjoy science too. This can link into fiction, too, where science fiction can ignite children's imaginations of possible futures and new inventions. Today, I'll be sharing some top tips for writing stories on other planets. This is not something I've done much, partly because I know I will get drawn into a rabbit hole of research because it's just so fun. When I'm not being an author, or a primary teacher, I am a student at the Open University, stud...

Middle Grade Genres: An Introduction Image by eightonesix on Freepik I used to think that middle grade was a genre in itself, partly due to the number of awards and competitions that have all the genres known to man for adult books, and only one category for middle grade. Middle Grade, however, is simply a suggested age range, much like the suggested ages on board games. The genre list is the same for children as it is for adults, although adapted to make it suitable. One genre that you won’t find in middle grade is Romance. For obvious reasons! That doesn’t mean, however, that romance is banned in middle grade, and I’ll be covering this more in February, for Valentine’s Day. It just means that it will be a very minor subplot. Every month throughout 2025,  I’ll be looking at different genres for middle grade. No, I’ve not covered everything because the possibilities are endless! This genre series will run on the second Monday of each month... The Schedule 10/2/25    ...

I know we’re nowhere near Halloween but, let’s be honest, every season is spooky season if you want it to be! So, I’m going to share some thoughts about one of my favourite genres to read and write: Gothic Horror. I first discovered it as a genre when I was a teenager being taught at home. Every week, Dad would take me and my sister to the local library and we would pick a book or two to read. One week, I picked an abridged version of Dracula . I loved it so much that I immediately graduated onto the full version, before moving on to The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe . There was something about these stories which completely immersed my imagination, and I think it was how setting is always an extra character in them. I read a piece a couple of weeks ago which was labelled as Gothic, but the setting wasn’t right. It didn’t jump out as one of the characters in the book which was twisting and turning as much as any of the humans (or not-quite-humans!) Whitby is rightly proud of it...

Siggy the Soccer Dog tells the story of a very ordinary sausage dog, who does extraordinary things in his dreams. This charming, very traditional, picturebook story takes the reader on a dreamy adventure in which Siggy is the hero of the hour in a football match. This is a very gentle tale which would make a wonderful bedtime story for any child who loves either football or dogs. There was only one part I wasn't 100% convinced by, and that was the football chant/song which was included, but then I've never been to a live football match and anyone who has  been might tell you that it captured the atmosphere perfectly. The composition of the book is stunning: it is like a work of art. The words dance across the page, accompanied by perfect illustration. I would have loved to be able to take a hard copy of the book into school for my class to enjoy. In summary, an utterly charming story and a book which reflects the magic of dreams. Blurb Siggy looks so cute as he twitches and tur...

This Christmas holiday, we have found ourselves wandering around the house randomly singing snatches of songs from the genius that is Horrible Histories. This series of books-turned-TV-programmes is something which, until recently, I was never really interested in. I wasn't violently opposed to them, but I was exactly the wrong age for when they came out. My sister had and read all the books, even the special editions. And then - the best part of twenty years later! - another sister began to introduce us to some of the songs from the programme. Still less than 100% convinced, it was pointed out to me that there was a song for every period in history. This sounded like a throwing down of the gauntlet, but they did indeed manage to find me the song fitting for my current project. Here it is: Since then, I've become something of a convert to the musical antics which were in the series and there hasn't been a day in the last month when I haven't woken up randomly singing a ...

One of the most incredible things about history is that, the older it gets, the more it resonates. It doesn't shrivel up like an old apple, or drop limbs and branches like an ancient tree, it just gets bigger. With every second which passes and every century which grows, history only piles up. Of course, there are aspects which fade, artefacts which succumb to erosion, but that's the archaeology not the history. I don't remember exactly what got me into writing historical fiction, but I do know I have always loved that my family are hoarders of antiquities. Ranging from the colossal millennia-old ammonite fossil my dad saved from the children who were chipping it to pieces, to the papers which define my own thirty-six year history, we have kept so much. It has it's downside - moving house this year has been a long, drawn-out process of about five times as many trips as a normal family move - but the richness it affords is second to none. But you don't have to come f...

One of the most problematic aspects of this genre is that, inevitably, we end up covering real people in some way, shape, or form. My books have included a range of real people, from kings to outlaws, prime ministers to military captains. It's not really possible to write a convincing historical fiction story without at least referencing someone who was a true historical figure, and with this comes a series of considerations which historical fiction writers have to address. My multiple-great-grandfather, William the Conqueror (pic: Man vyi) Firstly, in what way are you choosing to reference this character? It could be one of three things, and each of them have pros and cons attached: The real person is only mentioned. There is a pretty decent likelihood that your invented characters will know of the people who existed in the real world. This is a cunning way of setting a time and place for your story. The obvious one being a reference to a ruler and, unless you're writing with ...

Last weekend, historical writers around the globe came together for an online book fair. I've been a part of other virtual book fairs since Covid arrived on the scene, but this was the first genre-specific one I've done. #HistoryWritersDay was the brainchild of Simon ( @Books2Cover ). Despite its hashtag, the event was actually two days and, over those two days, I fell even deeper in love with the fantastic world of historical fiction and non-fiction writers. Writers and publishers were offering discounts, signed copies and giveaways, welcoming and including stalwarts as well as newbies to the many realms of history. As well as fabulous new friends, the weekend also provided a few sales along the way - most people buying The Year We Lived  which continues to be a mystery as well as an adventure for readers! And I'm looking forward to hearing the feedback and reviews from these sales, and making connections there too. The benefit of being a part of the Historical Fiction com...

 Did you ever play that game where you have to avoid the cracks on the pavement? The original version of it seems to be: Tread on a crack, break your back although we used the slightly milder version of: Step on a crack, marry a rat With hindsight, its more a cautionary piece of advice than a game, but it certainly was a fun game to play as a child, trying to gauge how many times to put your feet down on each flagstone. But the warning remains in place. Don't fall into or over the cracks... ...unless you're a historical fiction writer! At the moment, I'm writing a book for Sapere Books' Writing Competition . I have to admit, I originally recoiled from the idea of writing to someone else's brief, but I am putting together a submission for Brief 5 as a way of encouraging my sister to put in her entry for Brief 4! And I'm thoroughly enjoying the challenge. [It remains to be seen as to whether or not we submit our entries but, either way, I intend to take my charact...

Last Christmas (no, don't worry, I'm not about to burst into song!) one of my sisters got me a box file. Inside it, were a number of artefacts linking back to - or around - the year 1863, including letters, a death card, a penny and several other things. On the box was written the challenge: It was a little bit sneaky of her because, after the Crimean War, I had decided to put my family saga to rest. But, given that I loved those characters so much and - more to the point - so did she, I re-awoke them and gave them a chance at an alternative sort of adventure: espionage. This was a very different way of writing. In the past, I had collected things which linked in with my story ideas or completed books. Now, the challenge was to start with the objects and built up from there. And what a mixed box of goodies it was! Included in the box was this letter from the esteemed polymath, Henry Thompson, to his daughter. It showed a very different side of him to the one you read about. Thi...

 It's Thursday! So get ready for some harsh truths about writing and publishing. This week, we are talking about that divisive of all writing topics: writer's block! Writer's Block is when, for no explicable reason, a writer loses their productivity. Some writers believe that it exists, others are certain it does not. But, here's the harsh truth: writer's block does  exist. There are times when a writer struggles to write a single page. When people say it doesn't exist, what they usually mean is "you can do something about it". To say writer's block isn't real takes away from of the skill of an author. It is the author's skill to work through writer's block. So, here are a few ideas to help you work through this very real predicament: Just sit down and write. You might write a load of rubbish, but you're going to edit your book anyway, so don't worry! Get that chapter down and, by the time you've written a few hundred words,...

It's Saturday! And, it's not just any Saturday for me, today is the first day of the October holidays! Bear with me while I calm down a little... Right, I'm back. So...every Saturday, I will be posting a "Positively Weekend" blog, sharing the positive sides of publishing and writing. I'm also doing a Harsh Truth Thursday which does the opposite! Because, yes, there are both sides to the publishing coin. So today, to kick off the weekend, I'm sharing the 5 things I love most about indie publishing. Indie publishing is a publishing company that is smaller than the big-wigs of the industry. They use their company funds to publish books, and don't expect any money from the author. However, they don't always pay an advance. Crowvus is an independent publisher. We are a very small publishing company which is growing every year. Initially, there was a strange wibbly line between whether we classed as an indie publisher or self-publisher, but the more we d...

During my #AuthorOfTheWeek interview, I mentioned (amongst a lot  of other things) that the lockdown has challenged my focus with writing. I've begun several things which have been fated to end up on the back-burner or just completely discarded. My #AuthorOfTheWeek interview! The truth is, when all those other things I'm mentioned so far this week fail to inspire me, there's one last-ditch attempt I have of getting writing. And that rests with a very significant group of people: my characters. I have a terrible - but incredibly rewarding - habit of allowing my characters the gift of Free Will. Sometimes they resist, sometimes they run wild, and then on other occasions they actually dictate the next development. I have utmost respect for each one of them, goodies and baddies, men and women, human and inhuman. Why? Because when I've completely run out of steam, they're the ones who make the story their own. I've had some great feedback on my characters,...

So far this week I've shared with you some places and some things which have been a source of inspiration for me. Today, I'm going to share some people who have inspired me. Some of these people are not what I would call heroes, but are people whose stories have touched my own and, in some cases, whose work I hope to continue and honour with my own writings. I unashamedly have an obsessive nature. If I uncover a new person (usually someone from deep in the realms of history!) I want to know all I can about them. There have been several occasions when I've deviated from the research I was meant to be doing, and click through a series of links until I find myself researching someone who I have no idea how I even found them! The back button is very useful for this! One good example of this was when I was researching for a book which is coming out next year, called The Year We Lived , which is set just after the Norman conquest. Most of my characters who are erroneousl...

Last April I launched Beneath Black Clouds and White . It's a book of which I'm exceptionally proud for a number of reasons. Among them, is the fact that I researched and researched, not just dates and events, but the critical thinking of the time (1790s) and the classes involved. Being somewhat limited in my interests, I have also accumulated several items which - though many have virtually no monetary value at all - are invaluable to me. Letters written in the hand of a contemporary of my book... the weave of the parchment it was written on... you can't beat the chance to hold these objects in your hands and feel the history seeping through to you. As a countdown for last year's book launch, I shared a number of objects which I've collected. Most of them are a little later than  Beneath Black Clouds and White was set, several linking in to later books which I have written. Here are a handful, as well as an explanation of why I have and hold them... ...