I talked with historical fiction author Tony Riches about his latest book, Bess – Tudor Gentlewoman. Forced to choose between loyalty and love, duty and desire, this is the story of Bess Raleigh, one of the last true Elizabethans. What attracted you to writing about this period of history, Tony, and why Bess? After the…
Author: Tracey Warr
Author of historical novels and books on contemporary art.
Medieval Poisons and Magic
I’m deep into writing Book 2 in the Trobairitz Sleuth series of medieval murder mysteries. I’ve been researching medieval poisonings in the British Library and medieval magic via Medievalists.net. My recent post on the poisons research is on Substack: https://traceywarr.substack.com/p/the-poison-tree You can read about Book 1 in the Trobairitz Sleuth series on Tony Riches’ Blog:…
A Medieval Heroine in Cardiff
My trilogy of novels on Nest ferch Rhys has just arrived in stock at Book Space bookshop in Cardiff. Book Space opened last year. The owner, Lily Baron, lived in the Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris for a while (see my post https://shepherd.com/best-books/in-idiosyncratic-bookshops-and-lovely-libraries), worked in a bookshop in Bristol, and built the Book Space…
Female Lords: Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou
I’ve started posting a new series on medieval Occitan female lords on France’s Splendid Centuries. Here’s my first one on Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou. She wasn’t originally Occitan, coming from Anjou in the north, but she married with a series of Occitan lords and was regent for a couple of sons in the south. She was…
New Book Review – Women in History
A new review of Love’s Knife just published on Amazon emphasises the focus on women in history in my novel: ‘Warr skillfully immerses readers in the vibrant yet unforgiving world of a female troubadour, shedding light on a chapter of history where women’s stories are often overlooked. Through rich detail and keen historical awareness, she…
Rings and Revenants
I’m 30,000 words into writing my latest medieval murder mystery novel, which is taking me and my characters into the Pyrenees at the end of the 11th century. I’m having fun researching and writing with medieval seals, jewellery, portable altars, the salt trade, and revenants (that one’s a touch grim – reanimated corpses). Sign up…
Historical people in historical fiction
Fellow novelist, Helena Schrader, asked me to send a guest blogpost on writing fiction about real historical people. My post is published today: http://schradershistoricalfiction.blogspot.com/2025/02/historical-figures-in-historical_01619643537.html The cover image shows Henry I, king of England, who appears in my trilogy of novels focused on Nest ferch Rhys: Daughter of the Last King (pictured below), The Drowned Court…
The History of La Guepia
I’ve been posting a series on Facebook on the history of my home village in southwest France. La Guepia Part 1: An Overview La Guepia Part 2: The Albigensian Crusades and the Cathars La Guepia Part 3: The Hundred Years War La Guepia Part 4: The 16th-Century War of Religions
Murder in the Family
I’ve just posted on murders in the family of Almodis de La Marche on my Substack, Trobairitz Sleuth.
Just Meandering January
The latest issue of my quarterly newsletter is just out. https://justmeandering.substack.com
Tracey Warr Writing 