Medieval woman was constantly reminded of God’s will and his divine justice. In fact everyone was, men, women and children. The notion of heaven and hell was very real, so real that, throughout the Middle Ages, churches contained wall paintings reminding the people, rich and poor, of Heaven’s blessings and Hell’s terrors. Women during this period were classified according to … Read More
Sarah Bower on The Art of Writing
A big thank you to Carol McGrath for inviting me to join this blog hop and for hosting my post. So, relay baton in hand, here I go… What are you working on at the moment? I’m lucky enough to be writer in residence in the English Department of Lingnan University in Hong Kong until June. While I do have … Read More
The Swan-Daughter and the Art of Writing
Justin Hill has invited me to take part in a WIP (work in progress) Blog Tour. Justin is an award winning travel writer and early medieval expert. His book Shield Wall, set in the years before 1066, is a must read if you like this era. Shield Wall was highly praised by The Times and was included in a Sunday … Read More
April 2014
The first week of April involved traveling. I rent a house in Greece for the summer months near Kardamyli and Stoupa in the Greek Mani. The area is inspirational. It is also my personal writing retreat situated close to where the famous travel writer Paddy Leigh Fermor had his beautiful home. This house features in the movie Before Midnight. My … Read More
A Visit to The British Museum
The Viking Exhibition at the British Museum is a must see for anyone interested in or who, like myself, is researching the era. It is huge. At the moment the exhibition is inundated with visitors but even so it is still possible to enjoy all of the displays. My particular research interest is focused on early medieval Denmark and Russia. … Read More
March 2014
We are half way through March, almost. So far, I have had a busy month researching medieval Kiev in The Slavonic Studies Department in Oxford. I was fortunate enough to be able to read The Russian Primary Chronicle which is the best primary source relevant to this period. I have tweeted about it, enthused about this subject on facebook and … Read More
February
On this page I try to update my news monthly. So…this month began for me with a visit to Kennington Library where I gave a talk on how the Bayeux Tapestry influenced my writing of The Handfasted Wife. The talk developed into a discussion of how to read the scenes in The Bayeux Tapestry and its hidden messages. If you … Read More
Viking Ships
Last week I was in Iceland and whilst there took the opportunity to collect information about Viking ships for my third novel in The Daughters of Hastings Trilogy, The Betrothed Sister. It is my work in progress. The Swan-Daughter will be published this summer by Accent Press. By studying Viking ships and early medieval Iceland I was, in a general … Read More
Lost in Romance
On a recent trip to India I re-read M.M.Kaye’s The Far Pavilions, a beautiful novel of romance and chivalry set in Afghanistan and Rajasthan during the 19th century. It was my fourth trip to India and this time I was visiting neither of these places but, rather, Hyderabad in the Deccan region. Hyderabad was once India’s most beautiful city. Indeed, … Read More
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