On the anniversary of the Battle of Sandwich, Catherine Hanley tells all about England’s first great naval victory. When we think of battles at sea between England and France, our minds tend to be drawn to the Georgian era and the victories of Nelson’s navy. But it is a little-known fact that the first great […]
Responsible Research
Peter Tonkin on the joys and responsibilities of researching historical fiction. Since bringing the 30-novel Mariner series of action adventures to a close and retiring from full-time teaching, I have been working on two parallel series of historical novels. One is a sequence of murder-mysteries set in Elizabethan England and the other is a series […]
Discovering Elizabeth Mortimer
Anne O’Brien brings us a tale of ambition, treachery and betrayal in the reign of King Henry IV. Elizabeth Mortimer was one of the powerful medieval Mortimer family that dominated the Welsh Marches where I now live. It is difficult to ignore them round here if you have an interest in medieval history. I am surrounded […]
Losing the Plot
Robyn Young on her new novel, Court of Wolves, and its difficult path to publication. Over the thirteen years I’ve been in this business, I’ve spoken to many writers about their methods and while no two authors tackle a novel in quite the same way, there’s clearly a spectrum – at the opposite ends of […]
What Lies Beneath..?
To celebrate National Underwear Day on 5 August, Karen Bowman journeys through 300 years of unmentionables. So…5 August 2018 is National Underwear Day… a full 24 hours to contemplate how undergarments down the centuries have pushed, pulled and bullied our bodies into an altered state of reality, if not always being able to shape our […]
How to Write a Historical Debut: A Cautionary Tale
HWA Debut Crown judge, Ben Fergusson, gives an inside view on what makes or breaks a historical
What’s Hot in Historical Fiction?
Literary agent, Kate Burke, explains current market trends in historical fiction. Historical fiction has always had a strong presence in the book market and, in an increasingly competitive climate for fiction, it is encouraging to have seen significant sales this year for established writers (Philippa Gregory, Robert Harris, Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, John […]
How do you research historical fiction?
Our resident agony aunt, Dr Darwin, answers a common question – how do you research historical fiction? Dear Dr Darwin, Everyone says “research till your eyes bleed” – you did in your post about cultural appropriation – but when I Google, all I can find is the information I know already, repeated in a million […]