Hi everyone, this week I’m listing my top 5 indie books of 2023. Happy New Year! I thought it would be a great way to kick off 2024 by looking back at my top 5 indie books of 2023. Here they are, in the order I read them! The Forever Cruise by Deborah Klee I really enjoyed this book. Deborah Klée’s unique novel focuses on retired people residing permanently on a cruise ship. The story follows 3 women – Alice, a
Hi everyone, today on the blog I’m excited to interview historical fiction author Karen Heenan. Without further ado, let’s get into the interview! Karen Heenan – Introductions Introduce yourself! Tell us who you are, where you are in the world and what you like to write. KH: My name is Karen Heenan, and I live in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, a little town directly outside Philadelphia. I write mostly historical fiction – at least, historical is all I’ve published to date. The other
This week on the blog, I’m reviewing Coming Closer by Karen Heenan. This is the second novel in her Depression era historical fiction series. I absolutely loved this book! You can find my review below, but first here’s the blurb to give you a glimpse: Coming Closer – the Blurb It’s hard to leave the past behind Recently widowed Ava has moved to Philadelphia, determined to start over. With her children and blossoming career as a dressmaker taking up all her
Hi everyone, this week I thought I’d update you on the author goals I set way back in January 2023. How I’m doing with them all, how many I’ve met or whether I’ve got any goals left to meet now we’ve hit September. 1. Publish my 3rd novel in my series Excitingly, just over two months ago, I hit this goal! My small press published The Reckoning of Rheged, back at the end of June. The publication process ended up being
When my husband and I went on holiday a couple of weeks ago to Northumberland, I didn’t realise it would become a research trip! Northumberland is a place I’ve always wanted to visit. I’ve mentioned visiting Cumbria a lot. Not just because of it is a stunning location, but because it is the modern-day equivalent of Rheged, the setting of much of my historical fiction series. Northumberland, then, is where much of the enemy kingdom, Bernicia, was based. A big battle
Hi everyone, today I’m giving you more of a glimpse of The Reckoning of Rheged, due to be published 29th June! You can check out the book trailer a bit later on too. The Reckoning of Rheged is the third novel in my Dark Ages historical fiction series. The series is set in the real historical kingdom of Rheged, which is the modern equivalent of Cumbria. (If you’re interested in more about the history, you can check out this blog post).
Hi everyone, this week no the blog, I’m reviewing Coming Apart by Karen Heenan. I actually read this book in October/November, but I wasn’t really blogging much then. However, I did read some amazing books last year (check out this blog post for my top 8 books of 2022!). So I thought I’d do a few blog review posts over the coming months. The Blurb Here’s the blurb to give you a flavour of the book: Ava has always been poor,
Hi everyone, today is the 5 year anniversary since The Boy from the Snow was first published! All the way back in August 2016, I thought I might try to get my book published. While researching options, I came across Olympia Publishers, a small press who seemed particularly interested in new and unknown authors. I remember hitting ‘send’ on their online form, thinking that I’d never know unless I tried. I wasn’t expecting to hear anything back, but first they wanted
Hi everyone, this week on the blog I’m talking about why so many writers and readers love historical fiction. What makes it such a popular genre? Why do writers love writing it? Last Friday, it was my turn to host #FriSalon, a weekly chat where we discuss writing topics. (I really recommend it, both for the great chats and the wonderful community. Fridays 4pm GMT/11am ET). On Friday we chatted through this very question – so I thought I’d do a
This week on the blog, I’m talking about the concept of monarchy in our stories. You can probably guess what has prompted my thinking on this! As a Brit, the last few days have been quite different as we mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and Charles III acceding the throne. I’m very aware of contentious views on social media, but however you feel about the monarchy, it is a historic moment for the UK. The end of one monarch,