Be not a fliperous fleak nor a chitty-faced blore Writing a novel is hard. Writing a historical novel is another layer of hard because of the research required to build the world of the time you write in. I write in the 14th century, about Chaucer’s life and writing. A few years ago I had …
Read more “October 12, 2024 – Beware the dreaded historical anachronism”
The genesis for my upcoming novel The Storyteller’s War lies in research. We know quite a lot about Chaucer – certainly more than Shakespeare, who lived 200 hundred years later – because there are numerous records of the work Chaucer did over his nearly 40-year career with the crown. These records were compiled for the …
In 2019 I travelled to Tuscany to do research for The Storyteller’s Reputation, the first novel in the Storyteller series about Chaucer’s life and writing. Chaucer’s father John Chaucer imported Vernaccia wine from the area southwest of Florence for King Edward the Third. It was known as the wine of kings and popes, was mentioned …
Read more “April 15, 2024 – Well worth the wait (opening the Vernaccia)”
Attending the Kauai Writing Conference was a much needed shot in the arm of positivity and hope after a dark period. Partly because I was stressed and tired from work and needed some R&R. Partly because I was losing my motivation to write. Kauai, Hawaii I was on Oahu last November and came across a …
Wednesday/Thursday, June 7-8 I committed to attending the Historical Novel Society North America Conference back in February when three writers from my online historical fiction writing group at Creative Academy agreed to meet in person there. I’d seen two of them last fall at the Surrey International Writing Conference and found those in person connections …
Caught a morning flight from Barcelona to Stansted Airport and then the Express Train to Liverpool Station, then caught the Tube to Notting Hill and a hotel just north of Kensington Gardens. Which meant I had come home to where I had lived as a boy for three years (Battersea before that) a long time …
Returned the rental car but it was closed so left the keys under the back wheel and left a voice message – hopefully they understand it. Uber didn’t work for a ride to the train station (“No cars available”) so asked at a nearby fitness place if they could call a taxi. Laura patiently understood …
Tudela After an hour drive I reach Tudela which was fun, as I ended up following my nose and driving right into the old part of the town where the streets were narrowest and the rental car could barely squeeze between the walls. After a couple of close calls I parked and walked to the …
Made it to Burgos, the former capital of Castile. Arrived to a very nice apartment (care of Booking.com) right downtown. Lots of walking ensued. In Chaucer’s day, Burgos was the capital of Castile (Madrid eventually supplanted it as capital) and many, many Castilian kings and queens were crowned in Burgos Cathedral. It was here that …
Read more “May 20, 2023 – Naverre, Rioja and Castile, part 2”
Bordeaux to Pamplona via Donostia-San Sebastion The bus left Bordeaux just after 6am and drove south to Bayonne (just before the France-Spain border), then after a brief stop carried to Donostia-San Sebastion on the Atlantic Ocean. The dual name reflects the Basque culture and history in Spain, a heritage very much alive in the names, …
Read more “May 19, 2023 – Navarre, Rioja and Castile, part 1”