I am a guest on Alison Morton’s writing blog today, talking about how living in France inspires and affects my writing.

‘I fell in love with the pace of village life, which gives me focus to write.’

‘My writing is inspired by material culture—objects in museums, archaeology, illustrated manuscripts—and by sensory experiences of places.’

‘I met the original Poldark, Robin Ellis, at my local bilingual literary festival, Festilitt, in Parisot and watched him giving a mediterranean cookery demonstration, sporting a Sex Pistols apron.’

Read the blog for more on rambling vines, how I came to live in France and how the experience turned me into a novelist writing about early medieval Europe. I also refer to my site research in France, including a trip to Lusignan to find out about Melusine (pictured above).

Alison Morton is the author of the Roma Nova thrillers. We met each other at the Charroux Literary Festival in France and at the Historical Novels Society conference.

Image opposite is a lavoir in France, a place for medieval laundry.