Deborah Swift's Blog, page 29
August 24, 2016
Historical Fiction – Ten Editing Tools. No 1 – Light
The power of place and atmosphere is what drove me to first pick up my pen and try to write something set in the past. A useful editing tool to enliven your novel is to go through the draft and examine the quality of the light. Before the advent of artificial illumination, the lack […]
August 16, 2016
Historical Fiction – Virtue no 7 – Education, education, education
In considering the virtues of historical fiction, I’ve left the most obvious until last. As well as being a good story, historical fiction is educational. In fact most stories were told to us as children as if they were history, so the line between storytelling and history has always been blurred. We have all heard […]
August 14, 2016
Recommended Research – Eyewitness books on the Stuart Period
Just found this great little hardback book whilst browsing Carnforth Bookshop (which has more than 10,000 second hand books!). Also in this series by A F Scott are titles ‘The Plantagenet Age’, ‘The Tudor Age’ and ‘The Georgian Age.’ Compiled as a series of quotations, each book contains observations about every part of the lifestyle […]
August 3, 2016
Cabinet of Curio-stories – A 17th century ‘kicking’ lock
On the Sherborne Museum website is this gorgeous picture of a seventeenth century lock.��In 1654 diarist John Evelyn wrote that sophisticated lock mechanisms were ‘rare contrivances’��and regarded as technological marvels, ‘esteem’d a curiositie even among foraine princes’. In the days when there were no banks, a surprising number of strong boxes were made to […]
July 20, 2016
Historical Fiction – Seven Virtues. No 6: Servants and Masters
In my life today I have no servants living in my house. The work done by servants in previous centuries is now done by machines, or automation has rendered it unnecessary. ��For a historical fiction writer the presence of servants in the house is a massive opportunity for drama and for insight. In previous […]
Historical Fiction – Seven Virtues. No 5: Servants and Masters
In my life today I have no servants living in my house. The work done by servants in previous centuries is now done by machines, or automation has rendered it unnecessary. ��For a historical fiction writer the presence of servants in the house is a massive opportunity for drama and for insight. In previous […]
July 19, 2016
Magician John Dee and his strange friendship with Edward Kelley
Today I welcome guest blogger Elizabeth Ashworth, author of many historical novels and several books of non-fiction. Elizabeth’s new book��The Merlin’s Wife��tells the story of John Dee’s life from the point of view of his wife, Jane. Dee was the most famous magician in the reign of Elizabeth I. My review of the book follows��the […]
July 13, 2016
Cabinet of Curio-stories – Tiny Cathedral Windows that Sing
Up until the 17th century there were no real guitars��– the only instruments similar to a guitar were the lute and, in Spain, where my book ‘A Divided Inhritance ‘ is set, the vilhuela. In the early 17th century the Guitarra Morrisco became popular in Spain in the Moorish areas where what we know now […]
July 10, 2016
The Last Roundhead – the power of the written word in the 17th century
The Seventeenth Century was highly literate and the printing press really was a contemporary information superhighway. Jemahl Evans I’m delighted to welcome Jemahl Evans as my guest today. Jemahl is a fellow enthusiast of the era of the English Civil Wars and its aftermath, ��so I asked him what provoked his interest in this period. […]
July 6, 2016
5 Great WWII Historicals for Young Adults
World War II stories may hold a special appeal because this was a conflict that young people got swept up in ��� as refugees, Resistance fighters and youth soldiers ��� as dire circumstances forced them to behave like adults So says Kristin Hannah, best-selling author of The��Nightingale in this article in the��New York Times. […]
