Welcome to my blog!

If we were Tudor I would probably say something like ‘God keep you’ and kiss you. On the lips. People did a lot more kissing of strangers than we do and the air kiss doesn’t appear to have been invented then. (Neither had the toothbrush, though there were lots of ways to sweeten breath, like cloves and slices of lemon.)

But as we are NOT Tudor, a fact for which I am thankful almost every day, though sometimes I forget – hello, and thanks very much for visiting! Have you travelled far? Pull up a stool – no chairs, we’re not gentlefolk – and I’ll fetch you a cup of ale.

I’m a writer of historical fiction (you can read a bit more about my background in the ‘about me’ section) and I’ve started the blog up in the lead-up to the publication of my book, Five Wounds, as a place to share the inspiration and above all, the research, some of the fabulous and fascinating bits and pieces about Tudor life that exist in the background of the book. I’ll tell you a little bit more about the book itself in my next post.

I’ll also be blogging my work-in-progress (another YA historical, this time about Mary Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk and cousin to both Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard) and the research I’m doing for that.

Lastly, my blog is going to look at some wider themes: women’s history and feminism, as well as writing in general, especially histfic writing and starting out as a writer. I might also talk a little about crafts – I have a spinning wheel, and do plenty of non-Tudor things too, like patchwork and vintage dressmaking.

Now, here’s your ale and a handful of nuts. You don’t mind a horn beaker, I hope, it’s just you look like you’re used to silver. Shall I put another log on the fire? God’s wounds, that rushlight is flickering. I’ll trim the rush so it burns more brightly and then we’ll get started….