I do hope that all my readers are staying well. I imagine that, like me, many of you are feeling hemmed in by the worries and restrictions of this time. …
A light in the darkness
A week of isolation (in the broadest sense, as I am sharing the property with 3 teenagers, a dog, 4 chickens – and even, occasionally, my doctor husband) is already …
Hopefully not a thousand and one nights in lockdown
Distraction. It can be good, it can be bad. We probably all know a bit about distraction on social media. When I’ve spent too long scrolling through Twitter or Facebook, I …
Reading through Lockdown
Who knows when our lives will feel ‘normal’ again? I suspect that there are certain things we will never, ever take for granted in the future. A drink with friends …
Bad Guys Make Good Plots
Recently I was asked to contribute a guest post to the fabulous ‘History Girls’ Blog. This is a group of best-selling writers of historical content, fiction, non-fiction, for children and …
The Cartography of Leaving
It was early December 2018, and I was in Shrewsbury Library filling a rare empty half-hour between appointments. I often gravitate to a particular reading room in that library – …
The Historical Novel Society reviews ‘All the Winding World’
I don’t know if all writers are like me, but when I send a book off for review I immediately assume that the reviewer is going to hate it, even …
Countryfile – Highlights of Shropshire – follow in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims
The following is an article I was asked to write for Countryfile Online – a lovely magazine reflecting the interests of the BBC Television Programme. It was a great pleasure …
A ship leaves port – the launch of ‘All the Winding World’
At the very beginning of writing ‘All the Winding World’, I knew there would be maritime elements in the story. So I popped down to my old University town, Southampton. …
Waiting for ‘All the Winding World’
As I write this, 500 copies of my second novel are in transit, due to arrive at my house on a pallet sometime tomorrow. I think this must feel a …