I have just emerged from organising the Historical Novel Society UK 2024 conference at Dartington Hall in Devon. The conference had 250 delegates onsite and another 150 online. Speakers included Bernard Cornwell, Diana Gabaldon, Ian Mortimer, S.G. MacLean, Elizabeth Chadwick and Kate Quinn. The chairman of the society, Richard Lee, presented me with this replica…
Tag: historical fiction
A busy week: New book, historical fiction conference
Rebekah Simmers interviewed me about organising the HNS UK 2024 conference, which is taking place this weekend in Devon, UK (online tickets are available) and about the publication (yesterday) of my latest medieval novel – my sixth. http://hns2024.com/2024/09/02/conference-interview-tracey-warr/ What next? After the conference, I’m looking forward to a short period of being a slacker! Doing…
Book Launch Interview with the HNS
The cover image shows salt mounds at Aigues-Mortes. The medieval salt trade features in the novel.
Becoming Trobairitz
This week, The Occitan University was in my home village of Laguepie in southern France for its annual visit. The university consists of a packed week of Occitan language classes and workshops and events on Occitan culture, including cooking, dancing, music, history, literature, and radio. The week culminated in a magical street party of impromptu…
Tea and Female Lords
I was invited to talk about medieval Occitan female lords at a delightful tea party this week with 12 women who all live near me in southwest France. The sun dappled the table shaded by vines and wisteria, the teacups chinked delicately, the apple and rosemary cake melted on the tongue, wild flowers burgeoned and…
Treading the Ground: Researching for a Medieval Novel
I’ve just returned from a research trip to Narbonne, Carcassonne, Aigues-Mortes, and Conques. There’s nothing like treading the ground to inspire writing. I thought a photo-journal of the trip might be of interest for some of you. NARBONNE I am giving a couple of talks on medieval Occitan female lords over the next few months….
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…
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…
Occitan Female Lord – publication day!
Today is the publication day for Almodis: The Peaceweaver, my novel based on Almodis de La Marche, the 11th century countess of Toulouse and Barcelona. Almodis was a scandal, excommunicated, and one of the most powerful of a number of female lords in southern France and Catalonia in the early Middle Ages. She and her…
