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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
July Giveaway!
We’ve a fantastic bundle of six books up for grabs this month, including the latest historical titles from the likes of Emily Hauser, Graham Hurley and Stephen Fry. Just follow the instructions below to enter. You’ve got four chances to win and can enter using any or all of the options: 1. Sign up to the Historia […]
Review: The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola
“It was the birds that woke her, their liquid voices trickling into her dreams.” An apt quote from a novel that does precisely that: trickles in and won’t let you go. Anna Mazzola’s second novel The Story Keeper is inspired by the West Ham vanishings: the unexplained disappearance of a number of children and young […]
HWA Crowns Longlists Announced!
Thirty six remarkable books will fight it out in the race for the 2018 HWA Crowns, as the longlists