Spotlight: 1066 Turned Upside Down (Part 2)- Continuing the conversation

On my last blog post, I featured an exciting new speculative historical fiction anthology, 1066 Turned Upside Down. I had the opportunity to chat with many of the authors about what inspired them to create this anthology. If you missed Part 1, click here to read. Today for Part 2, we continue the conversation about their writing and the anthology. Without further ado, I present Annie Whitehead, Alison Morton, Richard Dee, Carol McGrath, Anna Belfrage, and Joanna Courtney. Helen Hollick, in Part I of this blog, Annie Whitehead speculated about post-Hastings Britain if Harold had been victorious. What are your thoughts about how England…

Spotlight: 1066 Turned Upside Down (Part 1)

August 15, 2016August 19, 2019 Categories: Author SpotlightsTags: 1066 Turned Upside Down · Alison Morton · Alternative history · Anna Belfrage · Annie Whitehead · Battle of Hastings · Carol McGrath · Helen Hollick · Joanna Courtney · Richard Dee14 Comments

Have you ever wondered ‘what if’ history turned out a little differently? What if John F. Kennedy wasn’t shot; what if Charles II had a legitimate heir? Historical fiction authors have a great deal of respect for what actually happened in history and will undertake years of research to ensure they get it right. But once in a while, it’s fun to let the imagination loose and contemplate an alternate reality. This is what an illustrious group of historical fiction authors did. In honour of the upcoming 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, when King Harold of England was defeated by William the…

Gone editing

June 25, 2016August 19, 2019 Categories: Creativity · NewsTags: Andrew Stanton · Clues to a great story · editing · NaNoWriMo · Ted Talks · Traitor's Knot · writing tips2 Comments

Or should that be gone to edit, or better yet, I am editing… Just to drop everyone a brief line, for the next month I will be on my own hero’s journey, deep in the land of edits and searching for the holy grail of polished manuscripts. In the meantime, for the writers and artists out there, I’d like to suggest some articles on writing to inspire your own journey: Storytelling makes us human examines how our creativity sets us apart. Don’t speak to Bob is a reminder to keep close and personal to your main character NaNoWriMo is the marathon of the…

A hat trick of exciting announcements

June 5, 2016August 19, 2019 Categories: NewsTags: Barbara Kyle · Battle of Worcester Society · Hearts Through History Romance Writers · Jenny Quinlan · Romance through the Ages · Royalist highwayman · Traitor's Knot · WCDR · Writers Community of Durham Region14 Comments

I’m so excited and pleased to announce not just one thrilling piece of news, but three! Drum roll…. Thrilling News #1: I have been invited to speak before the Battle of Worcester Society on September 1st on the subject of the Royalist Highwayman, Captain James Hind. Highwaymen, and especially 17th century highwaymen, have been a fascination for me for many years. It should come as no surprise that the hero in my ms Traitor’s Knot is a highwayman (you should have been surprised if he was not). To say that I’m thrilled to be included in the Battle of Worcester Society’s Civil War Nights for 2016…

The Loyal Comptons

May 30, 2016August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th centuryTags: Banbury · Colchester · Commission of Array · Compton · Compton Wynyates · Earl of Northampton · English Historical Fiction Authors · godly cavalier · Hopton Heath · Sealed Knot · Sir John Gell · Spencer Compton · Warwickshire3 Comments

The following article was originally written for the English Historical Fiction Authors blog and published February 2015. If you enjoy English history and haven’t visited the blog, check out the EHFA site here. The English Civil War was a time of divided loyalties, where brother fought against brother and neighbours faced each other on a bloody field. But there was one Royalist family that was united in their staunch loyalty to the King: The Comptons. The Comptons had estates in Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire, and Compton Wynyates, in Warwickshire. Spencer Compton was the 2nd Earl of Northampton, born in 1601 and educated at Cambridge. In 1622,…