Today I'm honoured to join Mieneke van der Salm, the award-nominated Fantastical Librarian. Check out her web pages for a wide selection of reviews and author interviews, and this link for a chance to win a copy of VITA BREVIS wherever you live. If I'd realised Mieneke was also a real librarian, I'd have tidied … Continue reading Monday on the blog tour – A Fantastical Librarian
The pleasure of being a guest
I've had the pleasure of being a guest twice this week - first on a virtual trip across to Alison Morton's blog, where I was sharing a few mental meanderings about historical truth and donkey poo. Alison is the author of the Roma Nova series, set in a world where the Roman Empire hasn't fallen … Continue reading The pleasure of being a guest
Blog tour: My writing process
Thanks to Judi Moore, multi-talented author of “Is death really necessary?” for inviting me to join the blog tour that hunts out the answers to four questions. Mercifully, "Is death really necessary?" isn't one of them. Judi’s answers can be found here. Mine are below. I'm charged with handing on the baton, and have contacted … Continue reading Blog tour: My writing process
Can I try that question again, please?
One of the perils of combining a haphazard approach to research with a terrible memory is that I often recall useful things that I read a long time ago, but it's impossible to quote them because I no longer know where they were. Worse, I sometimes wonder whether they really existed or whether I made … Continue reading Can I try that question again, please?
And the winner is…
Thank you to everyone who took time to read the Blog Hop post, and especially to people who joined in and kept me entertained with some great comments and questions. Congratulations to Russ, whose name was first out of the 'hat' to win a copy of the Ruso book of his choice. Russ, my email … Continue reading And the winner is…
My Next Big Thing
And now, a change of pace. First, a big thank-you to Caroline Davies, who tagged me for “My next big thing” longer ago than I care to admit. It’s a set of questions that one writer passes to another, giving each of us a chance to blather (sorry, tell the world) about our own current … Continue reading My Next Big Thing
How not to give the game away – in Czech
One of the challenges of writing a crime novel is to slip in enough clues to keep the reader - and the sleuth - guessing, while not giving away so much that there are no surprises at the end. I never really know whether I've got the balance right until someone else reads it. Husband, … Continue reading How not to give the game away – in Czech
Greenbelt, and the strange passing of time
I've been trying to think of something clever and entertaining to say about the Greenbelt Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse, but it was just... too big. Too exhuberant. Too thought-provoking, and too gloriously diverse to pull together in a few words. (Which is a poor show for someone who calls herself a writer, I know.) At … Continue reading Greenbelt, and the strange passing of time
Words and pictures
Huge thanks to Hasan Niyazi over at the Three Pipe Problem, who's created this lovely graphic showing the different book titles: Thanks also to Juliette Harrison, who's just posted my recent chat with Hasan over at her PopClassics blog. If you haven't seen either of these before, Juliette's is a lively review of the use of … Continue reading Words and pictures
“Doctor in the Castra”
I've always been impressed - overawed, indeed - by writers who can talk. Margaret Atwood. Ian Rankin. The sort of person they invite onto Radio Four. Numerous other authors with whom I've shared panels. Good grief, if they can all talk that well, why do they go to the bother of sitting down and typing … Continue reading “Doctor in the Castra”
Ruth Downie 