Tracey Warr's Blog, page 2

Rings and Revenants

I’m 30,000 words into writing my latest medieval murder mystery novel, which is taking me and my characters into the Pyrenees at the end of the 11th century. I’m having fun researching and writing with medieval seals, jewellery, portable altars, the salt trade, and revenants (that one’s a touch grim – reanimated corpses). Sign up to my Trobairitz Sleuth substack for some detailed posts on these topics coming up soon.

Cover reveal for the new book is coming in a month or so. I’m hoping to publish this one, titled Salt’s Wound, in the autumn.

Looking forward to some research at the British Library next month, finding out more about the medieval kingdoms of Aragon and Leon-Castile and their rulers Sancho Ramirez and Alfonso VI.

Featured image: Pastoral Ring. Gilded silver, brass and stones. From the tomb of Archbishop Bernard de Fargues (1311-1341). Narbonne Cathedral Treasure.

Image below: Will of Count Raimond VII of Toulouse. Parchment and seven wax seals and cords, September 1249. Archives nationales de France, Toulouse.

Historical people in historical fiction

Fellow novelist, Helena Schrader, asked me to send a guest blogpost on writing fiction about real historical people. My post is published today:

http://schradershistoricalfiction.blogspot.com/2025/02/historical-figures-in-historical_01619643537.html

The cover image shows Henry I, king of England, who appears in my trilogy of novels focused on Nest ferch Rhys: Daughter of the Last King (pictured below), The Drowned Court and The Anarchy.

The History of La Guepia

I’ve been posting a series on Facebook on the history of my home village in southwest France.

La Guepia Part 1: An Overview

La Guepia Part 2: The Albigensian Crusades and the Cathars

La Guepia Part 3: The Hundred Years War

Murder in the Family

I’ve just posted on murders in the family of Almodis de La Marche on my Substack, Trobairitz Sleuth.

Just Meandering January

The latest issue of my quarterly newsletter is just out.

https://justmeandering.substack.com

Cathars and Castle

I have been researching and writing a series of posts on the local history of the village where I live in southwest France. You can read them here:

A Short History of La Guepia Part 1

An overview of the history of the area.

A History of La Guepia Part 2

Charting the Albigensian Crusade and the suppression of the Cathars, which led to the end of the Occitan nation.

and there are two more to come over the next few months on the Hundred Years War and the plague, and on Huguenot rebels.

The image shows La Guepia castle, which overlooks the confluence of the rivers Viaur and Aveyron.

If you are interested in Occitan medieval history you might also be interested in my post on the Occitan Female Lords

and in my novels focusing on Occitan medieval history:

The Viking Hostage

Almodis: The Peaceweaver

Love’s Knife

Christmas recipes and scenes

In case you missed these posts last year, I’m resharing. Each one has a Christmas scene from one of my novels and a medieval recipe. Happy Christmas!

https://traceywarr.substack.com/p/medieval-christmas

https://traceywarr.substack.com/p/medieval-christmas-2

https://traceywarr.substack.com/p/medieval-christmas-3

Father Christmas in Space

Read my History Writers Advent post on Christmas bells to find out about Father Christmas in space and the history of Christmas bells. Happy Christmas to you!

https://tonyriches.blogspot.com/2024/12/christmas-bells-special-guest-post-by.html

Advent Calendar for History Fans

I am participating in an online Advent Calendar with daily entries throughout December by history and historical fiction writers, led by author Tony Riches. Watch out for my contribution on Christmas Bells later this month.

Here are the first entries – what’s behind today’s door!:

1 December Tony Riches on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

2 December John Pilkington, author of A Reluctant Assassin

3 December Anna Belfrage, an excerpt with a whiff of cinnamon, saffron and mustard—important ingredients in a Swedish Christmas, as are the little folk

#HistoryWritersAdvent24

Curling up with a book at Christmas

It’s December! Deck the halls with boughs of holly. Tra la la la la, la la la la.

Curling up with a book in the winter holidays, perhaps in front of a logfire and the glinting Christmas tree, and/or in your Christmas jumper and socks, or with a glass of port – whatever appeals to you – is another of the familiar holiday tropes and one I enjoy myself. 

The ‘curling up with’ part of the equation evokes the idea of Immersing yourself in a story that is a respite from feasting and partying with family and friends, a withdrawal from here and now and an escape to elsewhere and elsewhen, with a cast of imaginary friends and foes.

Here are the opening lines of my novels to whet your appetites, in case one of them might appeal to you as your Christmas read.

Love’s Knife

A murder occurs in the castle wine cellar and Beatriz, a female troubadour, must solve the mystery.

‘The undercroft swam woozily back into view. His head was pounding. Huge, dark barrels stacked on their sides loomed around and above him.’

https://books2read.com/u/3JqAKE

The Viking Hostage

Three young women struggle with slavery, Viking raids, unwanted marriage, and the End of Time in the French Limousin and on a Welsh island at the end of the 10th century.

‘A list of items for sale was called out in the marketplace. I was described as one female Northchild, but my name is Sigrid Thorolfsdottir. I am for sale along with my brothers, Thorgils and Olafr, who stand either side, holding my hands.’

https://books2read.com/the-viking-hostage

Almodis the Peaceweaver

Almodis was a scandal in her lifetime. She was married three times and excommunicated. She was an Occitan female lord, active in politics and rule in Toulouse and then in Barcelona in the 11th century. She negotiated her way through a male-dominated world and created her own dynasty.

‘I stand on the precipice wrapped in bulky grey and silver furs. My eyes are trained, like a hawk at hunt, on the steep road snaking up the mountain toward me.’

https://books2read.com/Almodis

Daughter of the Last King

The first book in the Conquest trilogy centring on the turbulent life of the Welsh noblewoman Nest ferch Rhys during the Norman conquest of Wales at the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century.

‘I was on the beach at Llansteffan with my brother Goronwy, watching the sunlight winking on the water.’

https://books2read.com/Daughter-of-the-Last-King