Castles, Christmas, and Books

We are past Halloween and Bonfire Night, and thoughts and the season are turning towards Christmas. Christmas was the longest holiday of the year in the medieval period described in my novels and the winter is a great time to cosy up with a book. If you have a historical fiction fan on your Christmas…

Browsing for Books

Over ten years ago, I stumbled across Meg Bogin’s book, The Female Troubadours, in the library of University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s where I was studying for an MA in Creative Writing. I was working on my first novel at the time, based on the real woman, Almodis de La Marche, the countess of…

Idiosyncratic Bookshops and Lovely Libraries

My bookshelf (above) has been published today on Shepherd.com, which is creating new and unique ways for readers to find amazing books. In this bookshelf post I write about the serendipity and synergy in what can be found through browsing (as opposed to purposeful searching). Idiosyncratic bookshops and lovely libraries bring unexpected twists to my…