Update for April 2023

Here in the northern hemisphere, spring should be well underway and walking around new places can be a more leisurely experience. Wherever you walk, signs of our past are never far away, mingling with the more modern. Sometimes they are obvious and sometimes the signs are more subtle, but the history is always there. I recently went to Bristol and among the modern buildings I came across the shell of a medieval church built originally by the Knights Templar. It has a leaning spire which arose during construction in the fourteenth century. They paused construction for a while but when it started up again, the lean increased. To be on the safe side the top is constructed from lighter materials. Whatever they did, those medieval builders knew what they were doing as centuries later, the tower still stands!

Mysteriously Medieval

Editing on book 2 of the mysteriously Medieval series is well underway. My editing process starts by simply reading through my work and leaving notes on what needs to be changed. often these notes are quite simple such as ‘rewrite’ by a paragraph. or ‘milk this’ is another common note as far too often in a first draft I’ve skipped through a dramatic moment and not done it justice. My first drafts are for the most part little more than a long, detailed set of instructions for my characters as we sort out the story. But it’s in the second draft that those clumsy, stilted paragraphs turn into novel. There’s still a long way to go after that but I usually find that the story does not substantially change after the completion of the second draft.

I have also started some preliminary research for what I am hoping to be Book 3 in this series. Although I do have another Devon story in mind, I want to broaden the reach of this series so the next Devon story can wait a while. Instead Book 3 will probably be set in Scotland.

Women of the Dark Ages

I like to have one book at the editing stage, one at the writing stage and one at the research stage. And so completing the first draft of the Mysteriously Medieval book meant that I could at last get started on another of my Women of The Dark Ages. When I took a break from that series in the summer of 2018 I intended to be back as soon as I had finished the Quest for New England books. But other ideas happened. However I always planned to write more and was delighted to learn about my latest woman Adela of Hamaland. No, don’t google her! Well, you can but I sometimes think the joy of reading novels about lesser-known figures is that you don’t know what is going to happen. This makes it a different experience from, for example, a book on Anne Boleyn where I don’t think many are surprised at the ending! But I will say that Adela is a fascinating and formidable woman and I think she could probably have eaten all my other women (and their menfolk) for breakfast! Even the spirited Judith of Flanders whose descendant she was. Even the powerful Empress Adelheid, who she presumably met. And presumably didn’t eat for breakfast… although I can’t imagine that Adelheid liked her very much!

The next in my Tales of the Wasteland series too is making progress, but for now it remains on a back-burner. I aim to add a few hundred words a few times a week, so it will be finished eventually!

April Bargains

Books make great gifts and so why not give one of these bargains instead of chocolate to a book lover this Easter. Or as well as chocolate. Chocolate and books are a great combination! As always, just click on the title for more information.

Fisher King 31st March – 7th AprilGod’s Maidservant – the story of Adrlaide of Italy 8th – 15th AprilTyrant Whelp 16th – 23rd AprilCourage of the Conquered 24th April – 1st May

April Fools Day

I hope no tricks were played on you this morning or if there were, that they were funny ones! If you’d like to hear about some medieval tricks, there are two in Kenneth’s Queen possibly based on true stories or more probably the stuff of legend. One is funny and distinctly fishy. The other more bloodthirsty,

Happy Easter

April 9th is Easter Sunday and however you celebrate it, if you celebrate it, I hope it is a good one. If nothing else, here in the UK it is a long weekend with two bank holidays so plenty of time for a good book or two!