Deborah Swift's Blog, page 30

Cabinet of Curio-stories – Miniature Scottish Coffins

In 1836, five young Scottish boys were out hunting for rabbits on the slopes of Arthur’s Seat, a hill in the centre of Edinburgh. After chasing a rabbit into a small cave, they saw something jammed into a crevice in the crag. It was the first of no less than seventeen miniature coffins – each […]

Historical Fiction: Virtue no 5 – The Absence of Media

  Depending on which era you are writing in, you will find that less media existed, than does now. First there was the voice, then writing, then printing, then the telephone, then computing and finally – Lord help us – the internet. Instant messaging means writers of contemporary fiction simply cannot escape the ever-present difficulty […]

Cabinet of Curio-stories – the Lost Ruskin Daguerrotypes

I have just visited Brantwood, the Lakeland bolt-hole of Victorian giant of arts and literature, John Ruskin. Whilst I was there, I came upon this fascinating story.��When Ruskin died in 1900, he was largely-forgotten figure, having suffered from bouts of mental illnesss, brought on, it���s said by a sense of powerlessness to change the industrial […]

Writing a Historical Fiction Trilogy for Teens

Lady of the Highway, the third book in my highway series for teens (and adults!) has just been released by Endeavour Press, so I thought I’d share with you some of the highs and lows of writing a historical fiction trilogy, and in particular a teen trilogy. There are very few teen books that are […]

Cabinet of Curio-stories – stunning secret behind a Tudor painting

  Imagine that you are an art dealer in Swinging Sixties London – 1962 to be precise. You manage to buy a bargain — an atmospheric early oil painting of the Tower of Babel, and intrigued, you decide to look on the back to see if you can find out more about this unsigned painting. […]

Historical Fiction – Virtue no 4 – old crafts and writing

One of the��virtues about writing historical novels is that it can give you an insight into crafts of the past. In her article in the Historical Novels Review, Tracy Chevalier talks about her willingness to learn these skills hands-on when she is researching her books. In ���The Lady and the Unicorn��� I found a tapestry […]

Historical Fiction – 1930’s Egypt and 1950’s Malaya

Kate Furnivall’s Shadow on the Nile is a rip-roaring adventure full of the dry dust of Egypt.��From the beginning, we are drawn into Jessie’s world as she searches for her missing brothers – the one who was taken as a child, and the one who is missing in Egypt. Her determination to follow the ‘Sherlock […]

Cabinet of Curio-stories – Birth and Death, A Renaissance Gimmel Ring

This ‘gimmel’ ring was made in Germany in 1631. This type of ring has multiple circlets that fit like puzzle pieces.��The word ‘gimmel’ comes from the Latin word gemelli, meaning twins, and often signified two connected eternity rings denoting a couple’s permanent joining in marriage. This type of ring was popular during the Renaissance, but […]

Historical Fiction – 7 Virtues. No 3 – The Past Does Not Exist

This might seem like a rather existentialist title, especially as in one sense we a brought to look at the past every time we read a newspaper or trawl online for yesterday’s sports scores. But in this article on a new theory of time, Jonathan O Callaghan says that ���When you ask people, ���Tell me […]

Historical Fiction : Recommended reads set in the Spanish Civil War & Colonial India

Andalusia 1938 During the Spanish Civil War,  Professor Pinzon and his young grandson are taken hostage by Republican soldiers and imprisoned in an old church. The church is built upon an even more ancient Moorish site, and so begins a dual narrative, set in medieval Andaluz and in 20th century Spain – two interlinked tragic […]