Category: History and Research
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Shaking Up the Sheikh Trope
One of the biggest challenges, for me, in writing historical romance, is trying to write a strong, independent heroine who sits believably within the historical context. If a genteel woman hasn’t inherited money, then trying to find a realistic way for her to earn her living is really quite difficult. There was no shortage of…
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Fave Cycles – No 1 Piering into History
I am an unashamed fair weather cyclist. Though I love my bike (which is a hybrid, not a superfast road bike) I’m not one of those enthusiasts who cycle in all weathers, and I suffer terribly from gradientitis – any suggestion of a hill then forget it. So this delightful flat out-and-back cycle to Blairmore…
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Walking in Treeve and Emily’s Cornish Footsteps
Bronwyn Scott and I have just finished our latest collaboration – a Christmas duet set in Cornwall, to be called Invitation to a Cornish Christmas. Our fictional fishing village of Porth Karrek is set on the South Coast of Cornwall, about four miles from the town of Penzance which would place it almost exactly on…
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What I’ve Been Reading
The first book in my new Marriage of Convenience quartet, Penniless Brides of Convenience, took me a LOT longer to write than planned. But you’re always saying that, I hear you cry. Don’t you ever learn from your mistakes? Well no, actually. I completely forgot the amount of effort it takes to create a new…
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What I’ve Been Reading
The first book in my new Marriage of Convenience quartet is mostly set in London, so my reading time in the last while has been indulgent fiction rather than research. And without planning it, I seem to have been focusing on series reads. I love a good old-fashioned detective story, and I love it even…
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Welcome to My Worlds
I have always been fascinated by the impressive architecture and ornate interiors of stately homes and grand public buildings. My pet hates however, are frustratingly roped-off rooms, or doors marked ‘private’. September Doors Open Days in the UK are a godsend for curious, well frankly nosy people like me, allowing the public to see behind…
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History or Heresy?
When I first started writing historical romances I admit I was something of a history purist, some might say zealot. Not for me lazy research, anachronistic names, objects or constructs, and as for committing the heinous crime of getting history plain wrong – I’d rather commit hari kari with a rolled-up copy of History Today.…
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What I’ve Been Reading
The last in my MATCHES MADE IN SCANDAL series, A SCANDALOUS WINTER WEDDING is set in London and Scotland which didn’t require me to do any research reading. So it’s been on to pastures new, history-wise for me, with some lovely gory books on body snatchers and resurrection men (of which more another time) and…
