Deborah Swift's Blog, page 30

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 […]

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. […]

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. […]

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 […]