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…
Tag: Nest ferch Rhys
Nest ferch Rhys
Video interview with me by Ellie Daniels on researching my latest historical novel, The Anarchy, is here. We discuss the story of Nest ferch Rhys, the heroine of my story, and how I set about researching early medieval Welsh history. I drew on the scant primary sources on Nest – Brut y Tywysogion (Chronicle of…
The Anarchy – video interview
Just posted – a video interview with me on writing The Anarchy with editor Ellie Daniel. We discussed castles in Wales, the little-known women of early medieval history, research for historical fiction, and the character of King Henry I. My latest newsletter is now available. If you are not already on my mailing list you…
The Anarchy
History offers so many fascinating true stories for a historical novelist to wind in with the fiction. I have just completed revisions to the manuscript of my final novel in the Conquest series on the life of the 12th century Welsh princess, Nest ferch Rhys. Some of the true bits in the new novel, The Anarchy, include…
Author’s Inspiration
My post on writing historical fiction, and especially the Conquest trilogy, is published today on Mary Anne Yarde’s Blogpost. (Image above is Fontevraud Abbey, which is where part of the second book, The Drowned Court, is set.)
History Questions
My new historical novel, The Drowned Court, is published next week and a guest post by me on writing the novel is up today on Tony Riches’ blog, The Writing Desk. ‘I approach writing all my novels by asking questions that I have, after researching the historical evidence.’ The questions that drove my writing in…
As the drawbridge came down, I ventured in
Publication Day for my new historical novel, The Drowned Court, is approaching. The novel continues the story of Nest ferch Rhys and King Henry I in 12th century Wales, England and Normandy. A review of the first book in the trilogy, Daughter of the Last King: ‘As the…
A Norman feminist?
King Henry I was the third Norman king of England, after his father, William the Conqueror, and his older brother, William II. Henry reigned in England and most of Wales for 35 years, keeping a peace there, but he struggled with frequent outbreaks of rebellion in Normandy, where he was Duke from 1106. It is…
Medieval Wales
Above is an artist’s impression of the Welsh fort at Carew that preceded the Norman stone castle occupying the site today. The sketch is based on findings from archaeology digs in the 1990s. The stone cross at the entrance to the site, inscribed with the name of the 11th century king Maredudd ap Edwin, is…
Posts from a Castle – Carew (Part 2)
In yesterday’s post, I recounted the early story of the royal Welsh fort at Carew and the coming of the Normans, telling the story of Nest ferch Rhys, the daughter of the last Welsh king in south west Wales, and Gerald FitzWalter, the minor Norman lord who held Pembroke and Carew at the end of…
