It’s been a while since I did a blog post about the world or setting of my novels, so this time I thought I’d talk about Edwin of Deira. Deira was an east Yorkshire kingdom. It was originally a Brittonic Celtic kingdom, that was then taken over by the Angles sometime in the 5th century. Edwin became renowned in this
‘Finding You’ is the third book of the author I’ve read. It follows ‘The Vintage Bookshop of Memories’ and the novella ‘Christmas at the Vintage Bookshop of Memories’. You can check out all three books here. Both of Holland’s previous books are romance dramas, whereas here she delves brilliantly into a mystery. Laura is a young woman from Manchester living
This week on the blog, I’m thinking about antagonists. Why are they needed? What makes a good antagonist? Do they have to be the villain, or even a character in your novel? It’s a topic I’ve been thinking about for a couple of weeks. Mainly since I’ve started plotting, researching and writing what I hope to be the 4th novel
This week on the blog, I’m reviewing the complete edition of ‘I, Richard Plantagenet’ by J.P. Reedman. It’s been a while since my last historical fiction read and I was not disappointed by diving into this one. This edition actually contains two novels, ‘I, Richard Plantagenet: Loyaulte me Lie’ and ‘I, Richard Plantagenet: Tante le Desiree’. Both books explore the
This short story was originally published this blog post in September 2018. It was in response to the #TurtleWriters image prompt below, but it didn’t transfer to my new site. I thought I would edit it and re-post it. Thanks again to @RosettaYorke and @HillBillyHorror for the prompt! Warning that this short story is a horror. There’s nothing gory about
This week on the blog, I thought I’d discuss points of view (POV). This is probably one of Obi Wan Kenobi’s most famous quotes, talking to Luke Skywalker about *that* particular spoiler. It’s a fascinating example of how much storytelling can differ, depending on who is telling it. So, what are the different types of POV and how might you
Today’s blog will talk about the real history of Rheged, where my historical fiction series is based. I originally posted this back in 2018, but it didn’t transfer when I set up this new website. When I first wrote it my second novel was in the process of publication and I had just started work on the third. The week
I first came across this book after seeing a Christmas-themed trailer on social media (also made by this talented author). Fantasy is a genre I’m falling more and more in love with and I knew this would be the perfect novel to curl up with for the start of 2021. Meet Matthew, a 12-year-old boy, a quick-witted ‘ordinary’ hero that
Happy New Year all! For my first blog post of 2021, it seems fitting to talk about the goals I want to set for this year. Yesterday I sat down and scribbled a few ideas for what I’d like to achieve by the end of 2021. Here’s hoping I can get this all done! 1. Proofread my 3rd historical fiction
Way back at the start of 2020, I set my goals for the year in this blog post. This is probably my last blog post before 2021 so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on how many goals I met! Here were my goals: 1. Finish first round of edits of my historical fiction novel I