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The Georgian Bawdyhouse
When I was at sixth form, it became the tradition for members of my particular group of friends to be presented with a copy of the Penguin edition of Fanny Hill by John Cleland on their eighteenth...
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CSI: Whitechapel
There are some superb new books about the Whitechapel murders of 1888 this year, including Rob House’s Jack the Ripper and the Case for Scotland Yard’s Prime Suspect and Neil R. Storey’s The Dracula...
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Before and after…
Photo: Fotolia. I’m really REALLY pleased with how my new book covers have turned out and although I was a bit resistant to following the current trend for photo cover art, I’m glad that I took the...
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The Children of Green Knowe
‘Tolly lay awake in bed. There was so much to thinks about – the birds, the children, the floods, the stables where lovely Feste called for his master. It was a clear night with a full moon shining on...
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My writing year 2012
The end of the year is fast approaching (and if certain people are to be believed, the end of the world too) and I think it’s time to take stock of my progress as a writer over the last twelve months....
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Isabelle de Charrière – Belle de Zuylen
Portrait of Isabelle de Charrière, Quentin de la Tour, 1771. Photo: Musée Antoine Lécuyer, Saint-Quentin. As anyone who has read this blog will know, I am absolutely fascinated by the literary ladies...
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Let them not eat Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette, François Hubert, c1777-1784. Photo: National Portrait Gallery, London. One of the nicest things about having this blog is the fact that I get loads of emails every week from readers...
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A Humble Companion
Even though my interest tends more towards eighteenth century France, I still have a certain fondness for shenanigans across the Channel in my own rather less than sunny England and in particular the...
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To Marry an English Lord
As a writer of historical fiction, I have to admit that I am always being inspired by the history books that I read and am constantly adding to a massive list of possible subjects for future novels. I...
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The Agincourt Bride
I’ve been completely fascinated by Catherine de Valois ever since I was a very little girl and read my grandmother’s copy of Rosemary Hawley Jarman’s Crown in Candlelight, which was an occasionally...
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Sealed with a Kiss…
Jilly Cooper. I had to use this photo as I had this EXACT SAME jumper when I was growing up. Anyway, today’s post comes courtesy of one of my very best chums, Rachael from Tales from the Village, who...
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Etiquette and Espionage
It’s one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It’s quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School. Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her...
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Iniquity and woe
I’m in the middle of packing up several thousand books and a few other things ready to move house at the end of the week so as you can imagine, my writing mojo has packed up too and fled the building....
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Winter at Death’s Hotel
Oh gosh, I have been neglecting this blog, haven’t I? How have you all been? I’ve been moving house, which has been by turns triumphant and also hideous. Mostly hideous, to be honest. However, it’s...
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Coming soon…
I know that a lot of you will be pleased to hear that Blood Sisters, my original novel of POSH DOOM and aristocratic iniquity during the French Revolution will be available thanks to an exciting...
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Mary, Queen of Scots – an accidental tragedy
Mary, Queen of Scots, after Clouet, c1560. Photo: National Portrait Gallery, London. I really don’t know what I think about Mary, Queen of Scots as on one hand, I deeply appreciate the desperate and...
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A sight to gladden any author’s heart…
Apparently there is NOTHING ON EARTH quite so satisfying as being given a big box full of copies of your very own book, all pristine and new and waiting to be signed. Who knew? I’ve always said that...
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Minette – out soon!
To know her was to love her. Born in the very heart of the dangers of the English Civil War, smuggled out of the clutches of Parliament as a toddler and then raised in near penury in exile in France,...
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Minette is here!
To know her was to love her. Born in the very heart of the dangers of the English Civil War, smuggled out of the clutches of Parliament as a toddler and then raised in near penury in exile in France,...
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In Fine Style – the book
My much anticipated copy of In fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion arrived yesterday and naturally I couldn’t wait to share it with you all as I think quite a lot of you will be VERY...
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