Without doubt my greatest love, second maybe to writing novels, is reading books. During 2014 I read many great novels, a variety of genres and styles, some of which were published before 2014. Here I collect together a selection of my favourite reads of this year. The Vanishing Witch by Karen Maitland I admire Karen Maitland’s approach to the historical … Read More
Was Waterloo entirely a British Victory?
Waterloo is a much written about battle. My great, great grandfather’s regiment, The Scot’s Greys, fought at Waterloo. Author Tom Williams has written a guest blog about how he is researching the battle for his new novel in his historical adventure series His Majesty’s Confidential Agent. Tom’s novels are set against the meticulously researched background of the Napoleonic Wars. Burke, … Read More
Revisiting Battle Abbey 1066/ 2014
Early this month I revisited Battle Abbey for the first re enactment of the Battle of Hastings in several years. It was a superb event and it made me wonder why I am so fascinated by battles and why I am writing a trilogy about the noble women of the Norman Conquest and how they survived 1066. I studied both … Read More
St Nicholas, a Greek Byzantine Church at Chora
Many of the Byzantine churches in the Greek Mani were built during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. Over the past two years I have visited so many of these in villages in the Taygetos Mountains that I cannot even remember all their names. However, the icons and frescoes they contain are fascinating and tell familiar stories. It interests me … Read More
The Swan’s Song in Medieval Literature
Swans feature as an image in both The Handfasted Wife and in The Swan-Daughter, novels set at the time of The Norman Conquest of the eleventh century. Edith Swan-Neck, the protagonist of The Handfasted Wife allegedly possessed an elegant swan-like neck and white skin. This was considered a sign of great beauty during this period. Her daughter Gunnhild, the heroine … Read More
Legends and History- Tristram and Iseult and Robin Hood
The Swan-Daughter, the second novel in The Daughters of Hastings series was published in July as an e book by Accent Press and it will be published on 11th December as a paperback. The Swan-Daughter is the story of King Harold’s youngest daughter, Gunnhild. I write about her here. Her story is very romantic and like her mother, Edith Swan-Neck’s … Read More
Medieval Women, flowers, sex, motherhood
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
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