Deborah Swift's Blog, page 25
January 15, 2018
Riding with the gauchos – Burke in the Land of Silver
I’m delighted to welcome Tom Williams to my blog today, to tell us all about riding with the gauchos, and his new book. Burke in the Land of Silver tells the story of the doomed British invasion of Argentina in 1806 and the role that may well have been played by real-life spy James Burke. There […]
December 7, 2017
The Dressmaker’s Secret – puts the history into historical romance
If you are after a well-written historical romance, then this could be the book for you. Set in Regency Italy and England in the years from 1819, it is a story about a mother and daughter, Sarah and Emilia. Sarah is on the run from her past in England, and from her violent husband, but Emilia […]
November 30, 2017
Who remembers Shorthand?
Pepys wrote his famous diary in shorthand, and I wanted to try to get a feel for the way it might have been translated. Pepys used a method that was common at the time, invented by Thomas Shelton. Shelton taught his system for speed writing over a period of thirty years, improving it from the stenography […]
November 14, 2017
10 tips for Editing Historical Fiction – No 9 Change
Change. It sounds obvious, doesn’t it, that in a novel things need to change; that to keep a reader interested the characters must change. In reality is is a more complex process than that. As the character changes, then so does everything and everyone the […]
November 13, 2017
The Troubadour Quartet by Jean Gill #recommended #HistFic
The first book Song at Dawn is set in the Narbonne in the 12th Century and is the story of Estela who starts the book on the run and hiding in a ditch, but soon is rescued and taken to the Court of Queen Alienor, (Eleanor of Aquitaine), who recognises her talent and extraordinary voice. From there she […]
November 11, 2017
The Ancient Secrets of Welsh Gold #history #Wales
Welcome to author Jean Gill to inpire us with the ancient secrets of Welsh gold. The Ancient Secrets of Welsh Gold In 1824, a gold treasure hoard came to light, found in the South Wales estate of Dolaucothi. The exquisite jewellery included wheel designs on chains and snake bracelets, and was dated as 1st-2nd Century, […]
October 26, 2017
Shopping with Elisabeth Pepys in Restoration London
Through the diary of Samuel Pepys, we get a remarkable insight into the City of London in the seventeenth century. Here, amongst Samuel Pepys’ political exploits, and his reports of the Navy, the King and the Court, we can also get a picture of where and how his wife Elisabeth shopped at the time. […]
October 24, 2017
Got Ghosts! – A Halloween haunted manor #history #ghosts
I’m delighted to welcome fellow Westmorland Writer and pal, Fiona Glass to tell us about her new book, ‘Got Ghosts?’ Live in Cumbria? You can find the Westmorland Writers here on Facebook. Over to Fiona! It’s history, Jim, but not as we know it You may wonder what I’m doing here on Deborah’s blog. Fair […]
October 22, 2017
Historical Fiction – Halloween winter reads #HistFic
The Dark Side of Magic Sunday morning, and outside there is what my mother used to call a ‘mizzle’, which is a cross between rain and mist. Autumn is already here and after a hectic time launching Pleasing Mr Pepys, I’ve finally got the time to write reviews for some of the books I’ve read, […]
October 5, 2017
The writer who does not write his own book
Two things came to my notice this week. The first was an email from another writer. Please buy my book now, he said, if you’re going to, because I’m withdrawing it from sale. Why, I wondered? It was quite a successful book. Well, the reason, he said, is that another multi-million selling author wants to […]
