How do you write a historical heist? The ingredients, TL Mogford decided, were the same in all periods: target, tech and team. But it was while he was working in an Italian kitchen that he found the spark that led to his latest novel: the fact that saffron is worth its weight in gold. And […]
Why one author changed the genre she writes in
What makes an author change the kind of books they write? Even when they’re well known and successful for the genre they’re writing in? Lizzie Lane, best known for her saga series, explains why she took a jump into the unknown with a new book set 2,000 years earlier, during the time of the Roman […]
It’s never too late! How trying and trying (and trying again) made me a published author
Fiza Saeed McLynn looks back on how she finally became a published author when her debut novel, The Midnight Carousel, came out after years of trying and trying again to get an agent. It’s never too late, she says, and offers the tips for first-time authors she learned from her experience. Way back in April […]
Serious play: the fiction-writer’s balancing act
Researching historical fiction is serious work, as Jem Poster, novelist and professor of Creative Writing, says. But to write engaging, inventive novels is a kind of playing, a balancing act between imagination and facts. His new book aims to guide authors towards writing quality fiction through this kind of serious play. It’s arguable that historical […]
Historia interview: David Gilman
David Gilman’s new novel, Rage of Swords, is the latest in his Master of War series and sees Thomas Blackstone in action in Italy. David tells Historia about the ideas and research behind his book, as well as offering advice for authors — and choosing a delightfully unexpected item he’d like to have beside his […]
The Prompts You Need to Help You Write the Book You Want to Write by Jem Poster and Sarah Burton
How can you take your writing to the next level? In this follow-up to their acclaimed handbook The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write, Sarah Burton and Jem Poster offer exercises and practical advice designed to set aspiring authors of fiction on their way to creating compelling short […]
Show, don’t tell, Write what you know: do they work for historical fiction?
How useful is advice like ‘Show, don’t tell’ and ‘Write what you know’ for authors in general and writers of historical fiction in particular? Jem Poster, who’s an author and an emeritus professor of Creative Writing, takes a closer look. Whatever genre they work in, good fiction writers know better than to give unqualified assent […]
Feisty Victorian women
Were Victorian women feisty? As Jem Poster says, they wouldn’t have recognised the word, but they’d have known the attitude. Some were feisty enough to become detectives – like Eliza Mace, the fictional protagonist of his new book. Reviewers of our co-written historical detective mystery, Eliza Mace, have repeatedly described the book’s titular heroine as […]