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 period for being a king of both Bernicia and Deira, which would then become the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Edwin was
‘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 homeless on the streets of London. She is on the run, alone and not knowing who to trust. After she meets
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 in my historical fiction series. My main character (MC)/protagonist, Imogen, is a different character from my first three books. After spending
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 it but it might not make for the ‘nicest’ reading! I stared at the ruins of the church, eerily stood in
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 decide which POV is best for telling your story? 1. First person POV This is one of the most common narrative
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 before Christmas I finished my second round of major edits on my 3rd historical fiction novel. As I’m now proofreading it
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 novel and get it ready for submission This is a big one. I’m setting myself a rather optimistic goal for my
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 actually met this goal all the way back in March, just in time to start prep for Camp NaNoWriMo in April
For this week on the blog, I thought it might be time for another post about the writing craft – this time talking about dialogue. What makes ‘good’ dialogue in writing? It can be a tricky balance of things to achieve. Aptly, the subject of dialogue sparks much debate. Should ‘said’ be used after most dialogue, or is mixing up better (eg muttered, murmured, replied, asked answered, etc)? How much should writers use ‘action beats’? These are lines describing an action
Yesterday, at about 10 past 5, I finally closed the lid of my laptop. I’d just finished my science fiction project for NaNoWriMo2020! I had actually ‘won’ by crossing the finish line with 50k much earlier in the day, but I was determined to also finish the project itself by the end of the day. Hence why this blog post which normally comes to you on a Monday is coming on a Tuesday – I just couldn’t face doing any more