Goosey, Goosey, Gander

Monday, 4 November 2019, 7:35.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Uh, oh. I’ve just been goosed. Have very dare you? Goosey goosey gander, Whither shall I wander? Upstairs and downstairs And in my lady’s chamber. There I met an old man Who wouldn’t say his prayers, So I took him by his left leg And threw him down the stairs Nursery rhyme first “recorded” in […]

Weave a Garland of my Vows

Thursday, 20 June 2019, 16:48.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I wrote a novel. Indie Published. Needs must when….Oh. Said that one already :o) There is a story behind the story… And a story behind the image used as my cover. Who was this woman that Velasquez painted? WEAVE A GARLAND OF MY VOWS It was a deliberate GB misquote from a Richard […]

Roxelana

Wednesday, 19 June 2019, 15:35.Reading time 2 minutes.

I can’t quite work this one out. From Dorothy Dunnett – Pawn in Frankincense: From NC: 1. Where did Roksolana come from, the famous wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent 2. Roksolana achieved the execution of Ibrahim Pasha in order to protect her native Italy from the Turkish invasion. Thus […]

Roxelana Sultana

Thursday, 11 April 2019, 6:34.Reading time 1 minute.

I’m still on the Dorothy Dunnett vibe. Out of the six Lymond Chronicles, Pawn in Frankincense is my favourite. It’s partly why I know a bit about the Ottoman Empire and Constantinople. Lymond is causing havoc around the Mediterranean, especially in the court of Suleiman the Magnificent and his powerful wife, Roxelana. I was delighted […]

Dorothy Dunnett – What DID she know?

Wednesday, 10 April 2019, 15:34.Reading time 1 minute.

Respect is not a word I use lightly, or very often but the one-and-only-historical-fiction writer that I give Respect to is Dorothy Dunnett. If you don’t know her vast body of work, then this will mean nothing. If you do – you will not like what I’m about to say! What did DD actually know? […]

The Only Thing…In Full

Tuesday, 14 August 2018, 15:58.Reading time 17 minutes.

The one and only thing you will ever need to write a novel is….

Historical Fiction: Research & Writing – Episode 2

Sunday, 5 August 2018, 15:10.Reading time 6 minutes.

Let’s start this episode with Writing.

The physical act of typing/writing words on the screen/page.

Historical Fiction: Research & Writing – Episode 1

Saturday, 4 August 2018, 7:48.Reading time 8 minutes.

My own personal views on the subject.

Researching and writing Historical Fiction, for me, is truly worthwhile and life-affirming.

The Ravens of Dinefwr is the first in a series of novels-in-progress set in the early 12th century. It follows the dispossessed members of the South Wales House of Dinefwr from their origins in Deheubarth to the centre of the known world, Jerusalem. Come and be my fellow Far-Farer. Come travelling and unravelling with me through Wales, Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Russia, Constantinople, Italy, the Balkans, the Holy Land. Come and Far-Fare through every degree on my 12th century compass.