Walk a mile in my shoes: immersive research for historical fiction

Walk a mile in my shoes: immersive research for historical fiction

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

We all know how valuable research is for our writing, and don’t we just love the research! It’s so easy to get stuck into a book, visit a library, find just the right archive. But it’s also so easy to get sucked into the research, almost forgetting your original...
Five book marketing mistakes to avoid

Five book marketing mistakes to avoid

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

Marketing is not a dirty word. It is simply introducing people to your book. Nor does it require a six-figure budget and a legion of Mad Men type executives. Anything you do to tell people about your book is marketing. However, whoever said “There’s no...
What’s in a name? Character names and why they matter

What’s in a name? Character names and why they matter

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

Choosing the right names for your characters is crucial, not least when writing historical fiction. A character’s name, whether it be short and simple, or flamboyantly hyphenated, can convey a surprisingly large amount of information, and requires as much careful...
Top tips for writing a dual or multiple timeline novel

Top tips for writing a dual or multiple timeline novel

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

What are dual or multiple timeline novels?  Essentially, these are novels which contain two or more separate storylines that alternate, eventually converging in some way by the end. In dual timeline historical novels, past events are woven with contemporary events,...
From Saturnalia to Santa Claus: Christmases past to present

From Saturnalia to Santa Claus: Christmases past to present

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

Christmas in your story is a great way of marking time, bringing people together, and giving readers something to enjoy. But although Christmas seems unchanging, beware of assuming your characters will do the same as we do now. Christmas is a rich confection, added to...
Writing from multiple points of view

Writing from multiple points of view

Last updated Sep 5, 2024 | Blog

One of the joys of historical fiction is to provide insight into the motives and emotions of characters living through historical events. Story writers plunge into characters’ minds, exploring their thoughts, in a way that is impossible for historians. Many novels are...