The whole country has gone slightly Jubilee crazy, which is nice. If you like that sort of thing. It’s even spread to the shops with even the most innocuous items being repackaged with crowns a...
I’m not really caught up in the Jubilee excitement yet, which is a bit peculiar as I usually love that sort of thing. I’ve started eyeing up Jubilee mugs, tins and tea towels though so pe...
Christ Church, Spitalfields. So anyway, I went on the most amazing research trip to London last Friday. The plan was pretty simple – stay in the heart of my beloved Spitalfields and take photog...
One of the things that I love most about Bristol is its fine tradition of independent shops, restaurants and retailers. In fact the people of this fab city can get quite militant about maintaining in...
I’ve just had a pretty awesome couple of days in Bristol and the east end of London. I’ll be writing proper in depth posts about what I got up to but here’s a bit of a taster involv...
As regular readers of this blog will perhaps recall I absolutely loved Rebecca Dean’s book The Golden Prince but was rather less keen on Palace Circle, despite really wanting to love it. I̵...
Unbound is a really intriguing concept whereby writers can pitch projects to the public and amass paying supporters to fund it. This is a really great throwback to the days when wealthy subscribers w...
I didn’t do very well at sticking to Book Review Sunday so instead I am introducing Weekly Roundup At Some Point Over The Weekend or something. I’ll have to think of a more snappy title b...
Poor old Anne Boleyn. She lost the game and on this day, four hundred and seventy six years ago, she paid the price. Here’s a picture of me looking suitably mournful beside the plaque commemora...
I honestly love writing about Elizabeth of Bohemia and her children and am seriously considering writing a novel just about her when I’ve finished this current book about Henrietta Stuart and t...
My novel about Marie Antoinette, The Secret Diary of a Princess seems to have attracted a really nice faction of fans (hello!) and I get emails and comments pretty much every day asking if there will...
I’m writing about Princess Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate’s arrival in Paris today and as she really interests me, I thought I’d chat about her on here as well. Her name’...
“There is a time to stand on your dignity, but there is a time to abandon it in the interests of your safety. There is a time to smirk behind the hand of cards you have drawn, and there is a ti...
At last, my long ago pre-ordered copy of Bring up the Bodies has hit my Kindle and I’m going to stay up for a couple of hours to get stuck in. I honestly cannot wait to read this book. I’...
I’ve been quiet, haven’t I? I wish I had an excuse but I don’t really – I’ve just been busy working on my fourth novel, which is going very well indeed, thanks for askin...
Here’s another thing that I love love LOVE about writing historical fiction – those little serendipitous snippets of research that all come together in the most delicious bundle of WOW an...
I promised yesterday to tell you more about the dashing Lady d’Aubigny and so here you go. Lady d’Aubigny was another one of those glamorous russet haired Howard girls that pop up every n...
I’ll admit it, writing historical fiction CAN be a bit of a slog at times no matter how much you love the past in general and the topic you’ve latched onto in particular. However, there a...
I know that I said my book reviews were going to go up on Sundays but I was recovering from a seventh birthday party last Sunday and didn’t really feel able to do anything much other than weep,...
I talk a fair bit on here about stuff that reminds me of Marie Antoinette so it’s a rare pleasure to feature the genuine article thanks to the Ruby Lane online antique shop, which is based not ...
William Chiffinch (c.1602-1691) was Charles II’s Page and Keeper of the Closet, a role in which he became one of the King’s closest and most trusted servants – and yielded great power and influ...
A photo of me, looking rejected. As I approach my 10,000th book sale, which is apparently going to happen at some point in the next couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about writing, what...
It’s been a busy week here at Guillotine Towers so apologies to everyone waiting on emails, Facebook messages, reviews and stuff from me as I’m feeling completely overwhelmed right now. I...
I’m completely shattered for reasons which will quickly become apparent! In a nutshell, today was the once Six Year Old’s seventh birthday, which means that from now on he will be referre...
As pretty much anyone who reads this blog on even an irregular basis will already know, I’ve been a committed and occasionally committable Ripperologist for well over twenty years now and recen...
A group of history bloggers down the pub yesterday, discussing their stats and how to maximise SEO. It a source of absolute delight to me that history blogs seem to be springing up like mushrooms at ...
I am so excited about the upcoming release of Bring Up The Bodies, the sequel to Wolf Hall. I’ve pre-ordered my copy and as soon as it hits my Kindle at midnight on release day, I’m takin...
Ah, despite the fact that I don’t really write historical romances, it’s always a bit of a special event when my hero makes his first entrance – in this case at a Louvre ball where ...
No one does a black dress like Chanel. Let’s all swoon a bit over these gorgeous gowns from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. They are such a perfect ...
As you may or may not have realised from the general tone of my posts but I am a bit of a goth. Okay, very much a goth. I’m sorry. I don’t do the whole sitting around in graveyards drinki...
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