As part of the Occitan University in Laguépie, France, I am giving a workshop and presentation: Workshop: Tracey Warr and Amandine Rey Be Your Own Troubadour Thursday 18 July and Friday 19 July 10am-12 noon Salle des Fetes, Laguépie 82250 60 euros, In French, English and Occitan Learn about troubadour vidas (introductory, often boasting, biographies), tensos (debate songs, usually between a man…
Chapter 7: The Red Dress
‘The sky was beginning to darken, and the fortified tower houses of the Toulouse nobility were stark, crenellated silhouettes all around the basilica close as Beatriz emerged from the sculpture workshop. Moving toward the path, she noticed a woman wearing a brilliant red dress, standing framed in the tall ground-floor window of one of the…
Small Acts of Literary Kindness
Today is the 7th birthday of the Book Fairies who annually coordinate acts of literary kindness around the world. Two of my books – one in French and one in English – will be hiding, waiting for you to find them, in the French village of Laguepie 82250 on Sunday 10th March. Clues to their whereabouts will…
Happy World Book Day!
My grandsons went to school this morning dressed as Harry Potter and Little Lamb – their current favourites. I am delighted that they are avid readers. Image: Shakespeare and Company Bookshop, Paris
Celebrating medieval women
It’s Women’s History Month. My novels celebrate real medieval women who receive slight (and misogynistic) mentions in medieval chronicles. I have tried to imagine my way into their lives and experiences from a few sentences in the historical record. The Viking Hostage is based on the true story of a French noblewoman kidnapped by Vikings…
Beyond the Writer’s Block
I used to think writer’s block was a nonsense, until my publisher went into liquidation and the COVID 19 pandemic disrupted my usual sense of momentum and planning for a couple of years. I went through a looo-oong period of writer’s block. I had written and published five historical novels and a lot of other…
New Novel
You can read the prologue to my new novel, Love’s Knife, as a free subscriber to my Substack. Starting this month, I will be posting a chapter a week for paying subscribers (who also receive their choice of a free paperback or ebook when it is completed). The novel is the first book in the Trobairitz Sleuth series….
Medieval Christmas
I’ve recently posted a series of three Medieval Christmas extracts from my novels, each accompanied by a medieval recipe. The Christmas medieval recipes to have a look at are dariole, wassail bowl, and Cawl. You can subscribe to my Substack free for occasional posts on medieval history and fiction. In the new year, I will…
Library Love
Hurroo! Hurrah! Very excited that my mum has just bought me a stay at Gladstone’s Library for my Christmas present. Just over the England/Wales border, Gladstone’s is the UK’s only residential library. I will be attending an event on deaf history. A character in my new novel is deaf – so I will value discussing…
Medieval Murder Mystery
New post on my Substack. Christmas Sale of medieval fiction books on my website at the ridiculous sale price of £5 a book or £10 for a trilogy.
