Richard III Society event
The Richard III Society (NSW Branch) have invited Isolde to do an international Zoom chat about her Wars
Author's scrapbook
There’s a miscellany of articles here including some short stories and a section of writer’s aids and tips that new authors might find very useful. However, if you’re after something really light-hearted and utterly ficticious, there are several “letters that were never sent”, first published in the magazine of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society.
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Country Town
Winner of Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2024 Eve Pownall Award and Shortlisted for New South Wales Premier’s
The Lady and the Unicorn – Sapere Books
No one knows the identity of the woman spy that King Edward IV sent across to Calais with
The Lost Princes
How refreshing to hear about some new historical documents that have come to light concerning the fate of
Stories
These stories date back to when women’s magazines published short stories that were short enough to enjoy while drinking a cup of coffee. It’s a shame there’s not more outlet for them any more.
Heart of Gold was commissioned by Woman’s Weekly for a St Valentine’s Day issue and the other stories were published in Woman’s Day’s “Five minute Fiction”. As for inspiration, The Governor’s Wife came about after a visit to Queenscliffe in Victoria, Australia. As for The Jacaranda Tree, it is said that in the early decades of the twentieth century, two hospitals in Sydney gave tiny jacaranda seedlings to new mothers. Every jacaranda season, I wonder how many of these magnificent trees were linked to a newborn child or whether this is an urban myth.
Tea with a Stranger is set in early Colonial Australia. I spent a year sleuthing sedition in early colonial Australia when I was working as a research assistant so was pretty immersed in the convict era.
Tea with a stranger
Port Jackson, Australia, 1796 Robert hitched himself over the fence before the soldiers turned the corner, and landed
A loving matter
Georgiana Roe swiftly put up a gloved hand to check that her bonnet plume had not been blown
Heart of gold
A damsel in distress meets a chivalrous knight in this medieval tale, originally commissioned for St Valentine’s Day
The Governor’s Lady
IT should have been a perfect evening for Estelle, wife of the new Governor of the Colony of
The jacaranda tree
Bill helped Phyllis off the ferryboat to Fig Tree and onto the wharf. He’d thought about taking her
Articles
There’s a miscellany of articles here including some short stories and a section of writer’s aids and tips that new authors might find very useful. However, if you’re after something really light-hearted and utterly ficticious, there are several “letters that were never sent”, first published in the magazine of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society.
Encountering your hero and heroine’s descendants
When you write about historical people, it’s always a thrill to meet someone who is actually descended from
Malleus Maleficarum
In writing about a medieval clairvoyant in The Silver Bride, charges of witchcraft in Mistress to the Crown
Thornbury Castle
Just north of Bristol is the modest town of Thornbury, and for most users of the M5 motorway,
The Hastings heart brooch
Having written about William, Lord Hastings and Katherine Neville in THE GOLDEN WIDOWS, it was a delight to
The hard grind of writing historical novels
‘For herein may be seen … murder, hate, virtue, and sin.’ Was the term sentencing a man to
Where do Michelmas daisies come from?
I can remember the mauve Michaelmas daisies in my parents’ garden every autumn in the UK and thought
Katherine Neville’s world: Chewton Mendip
Katherine Neville, the young Yorkist widow in The Golden Widows, was originally from the Midlands, but when she
Duke of York slain
The story of The Golden Widows begins in early 1461 so to help set the atmosphere, here is
About the Golden Widows
In the winter of 1460–61, it would have been hard to predict who would triumph in the bloody
Power Poyntz, Iron Acton and Margaret Woodville
It’s amazing what comes of giving author talks. In April after giving a PowerPoint presentation on researching Mistress
An update on Mistress Shore, John Agard and Thomas Lynom
It’s really exciting to come across more information about Mistress Shore. Of course, it’s nowhere near as exciting
Mistress to the Crown
I thought it might be fun to imagine how a modern day reporter might handle the rumours about
Interview with Dorothy Dunnett
‘Ian Fleming was a friend of ours and he told me he was going to write a novel
Hugh Dispenser’s body found?
I was really very excited about this. Those of you who have read The Knight and the Rose
The case of the missing head
I thought you might be interested to hear about The Case of the Bishop’s Missing Head. Some years
Writers tips
Getting the historical research right is so important, even if most of gets to end up on the cutting room floor. Readers are pretty informed and they won’t take you seriously if you haven’t immersed yourself in the era that you are setting your novel. Don’t have a character riding into your scene if he was a prisoner in the Tower of London that week. The other mistake that new writers can make is putting in too much description to show that they have done their research. Remember that readers these days are very visually informed. Say ‘castle’ and their imaginations immediately conjure up something pretty credible. For the writer, sometimes, it’s just a little detail that works really well and gives that wonderful vivid touch. It might be something that shows you’ve been to the location.
The checklists for writers are worth a browse if you are pretty new to sending off your manuscript. There might be something you’ve forgotten, omitted or never considered.
Reference materials
How long is a piece of string? So many excellent history books abound, not to mention journal articles.
Historical fabrics
An earlier version of this list was handed out as part of my workshop Breathing Life into History,
Margery’s court apparel
The illustrations show what was worn by The Maiden and the Unicorn heroine, Margery Huddlestone.
Late Regency clothing
Some years ago one of my husband’s family in England inherited an escritoire, which is a writing desk
Checklist for manuscripts
If you are a new writer, you might find it worthwhile to browse through some of these lists
Medieval names
If you read a lot of history, it’s very jarring to find a fictional character in a historical
Test your research skills
Whether you are writing a historical novel or historical romance (or, like me, something between the two), getting
Humour
Hope you enjoy the items. Sometimes, it’s good to have some fun with history. There have been some real historic letters that used humour. The Duke of Wellington had a very dry wit especially when dealing with tiresome bureacracy.
When writing the dialogue for historical novels, it’s good to remember that from cave-dwelling days (trying here to think of a Neanderthal joke), people have always used humour. The English language has so many verbs for laughter. Banter, especially between male friends, punning, sarcasm, irony, the list goes on. Humour can break the ice, defuse a tense situation, act as a weapon or a defence. But, please, don’t use humour in your manuscript if you don’t find it easy.
A Yuletide round robin from Eleanor of Aquitaine
Mes Amis en Aquitaine, With this horrid pestilence going round, I’ve been spending a lot of time in
Bessie’s Christmas letter
In 1483, Princess Elizabeth, daughter of the late King Edward IV, found herself and her siblings suddenly declared
Richard III demands a say in his reburial
Richard III demands a say in his reburial Another document you won’t find in the UK’s National Archives