The novel I’m working on is set at the end of the 11th century in Toulouse (and moves into the Pyrenees and the Iberian kingdoms in the second part). Medieval Toulouse had floating water mills for milling flour, which I was curious to find out about. The title image shows the Floating Mill Museum in…
Author: Tracey Warr
Author of historical novels and books on contemporary art.
Black Saturday
Today is Holy Saturday or Black Saturday. I’ve set a scene in my new medieval novel during the Black Saturday night vigil in Toulouse’s Saint Etienne Cathedral. As an atheist myself, trying to imagine my way into the religious beliefs of my medieval characters is a major challenge. I asked my Catholic friend, Anne, to…
Planning a Novel 3: Sleuths Galore
I’ve been looking at other novelists’ sleuths – medieval or otherwise – as part of my current work on a series of medieval murder mysteries. The novel I am writing features a Catalan female troubadour and is set in 11thcentury Toulouse. Other sleuths I’ve been studying include Ellis Peter’s Cadfael, Donna Leon’s Brunetti, Lee Child’s…
Murder, lies and art
Currently researching for the medieval murder mystery I’m writing and discovering that the range of potential murderous motives at the end of the 11th century in the Toulouse/Pyrenees area are legion. The establishment of the lucrative pilgrim route to Compostela; the salt trade; papal policy over reform, reconquest in Spain and pressure on aristocratic consanguineous marriages,…
Medieval novel playlist
I’m currently undertaking NanoWriMo November – aiming to write 50,000 words of my new novel about a female troubadour (or trobairitz). NanoWriMo asked for a playlist for my novel so here it is: The working title for my novel, A Morsel of Love’s Bread, is taken from a line in the troubadour poem, ‘Ab la dolchor…
A Welshman’s Beard
This final week of the Blog Tour for my latest novel, The Anarchy, features a review from Jean M. Roberts on The Books Delight: ‘‘The writing is immersive and the pace crisp. The author has skillfully woven a mystery into the narrative. I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, especially those with an interest…
‘I love libraries and would be quite happy if I could just squat in one’
The Blog Tour continues for The Anarchy, my latest novel set in 12th century Wales and Normandy. This week there is an interview with me on B for Book Review in which I talk about where I write, how I write, whether I like the ‘bad’ or the ‘good’ characters best, and who I would…
Fictional Worlds
This is week 6 of the Blog Tour for my latest medieval novel, The Anarchy. MJ Porter asked me about the historical sources I drew on for my research. My guest post is here. I discuss how I use objects in museums, such as the medieval wedding ring pictured above. Its inscription reads, ‘I will…
Nun on the run
It’s week 3 of the blog tour for my latest medieval novel, The Anarchy. You can read an interview with me here. and read an extract here – a scene in which the heroine, Nest, asks King Henry for help protecting a nun who is on the run from Fontevraud Abbey. The schedule for more…
Tracey Warr Writing 