Writing Blunders

Writing Blunders

I’m enjoying Julia Pardoe’s biography of Marie de Medici very much. Please don’t think that I’ve found any writing blunders in her work, it seems remarkably well researched. Readers of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures may be interested to know who officiated at...

read more
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Sir Isaac Newton wrote, in a letter to Robert Hooke, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Creative people constantly strive to produce something original, but we are inevitably influenced by what has gone before us. I have posted...

read more
Conflict and Timeframe

Conflict and Timeframe

I said in my last post that I would read my character sketches, tracing the connections and conflicts. It struck me this morning, that a key conflict is that between mother and son, Marie de Medici and Louis XIII. The conflict between Marie and Richelieu demands...

read more
Character Sketches, Book 5, and the European Union

Character Sketches, Book 5, and the European Union

I have just completed all the character sketches for the historical actors in Book 5 of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Scrivener is an excellent tool for assembling research, as well as plotting and writing. I discovered something interesting about Sully, Henri...

read more
Witches and Local Heroes

Witches and Local Heroes

I’ve just learnt a little more about witches. Last night Claire and I attended a talk by a local historian and author Tony McAleavy. He presented an excellent talk on John Aubrey, who was born in our parish. Aubrey wrote Brief Lives, which is probably his most well...

read more
Public Charging

Public Charging

I’ve posted recently about my EV range experience, and I used the public charging network for the first time yesterday. We were going to a family funeral in Wellingborough, Northampton. I calculated the round trip as 243 miles. Because my range at 80% charge is around...

read more
Research, Women, and Small Boats

Research, Women, and Small Boats

Writing historical fiction demands an immense amount of research. All writers must conduct research, but not all writers need to worry about whether potatoes had reached Europe yet. I enjoy researching my novels in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Today is...

read more
Windsor Castle, EV Range, Skoda Enyaq, and Speed

Windsor Castle, EV Range, Skoda Enyaq, and Speed

I haven’t written anything about my Skoda Enyaq for around a month. As yet, I still haven’t needed to use the public charging network. Claire and I went to visit Windsor Castle on Friday, and we took the Enyaq. We started off with it charged to 80%, and it was showing...

read more
World Book Day 2023

World Book Day 2023

Classic FM informed me that today, 2nd March 2023, is world book day. Perhaps as an author I should have known that. What is world book day anyway? UNESCO created world book day on 23rd April 1995, and it is now celebrated in over a hundred countries.  The Scotsman...

read more
Writing Blunders

Writing Blunders

I’m enjoying Julia Pardoe’s biography of Marie de Medici very much. Please don’t think that I’ve found any writing blunders in her work, it seems remarkably well researched. Readers of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures may be interested to know who officiated at...

read more
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Sir Isaac Newton wrote, in a letter to Robert Hooke, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Creative people constantly strive to produce something original, but we are inevitably influenced by what has gone before us. I have posted...

read more
Conflict and Timeframe

Conflict and Timeframe

I said in my last post that I would read my character sketches, tracing the connections and conflicts. It struck me this morning, that a key conflict is that between mother and son, Marie de Medici and Louis XIII. The conflict between Marie and Richelieu demands...

read more
Character Sketches, Book 5, and the European Union

Character Sketches, Book 5, and the European Union

I have just completed all the character sketches for the historical actors in Book 5 of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Scrivener is an excellent tool for assembling research, as well as plotting and writing. I discovered something interesting about Sully, Henri...

read more
Witches and Local Heroes

Witches and Local Heroes

I’ve just learnt a little more about witches. Last night Claire and I attended a talk by a local historian and author Tony McAleavy. He presented an excellent talk on John Aubrey, who was born in our parish. Aubrey wrote Brief Lives, which is probably his most well...

read more
Public Charging

Public Charging

I’ve posted recently about my EV range experience, and I used the public charging network for the first time yesterday. We were going to a family funeral in Wellingborough, Northampton. I calculated the round trip as 243 miles. Because my range at 80% charge is around...

read more
Research, Women, and Small Boats

Research, Women, and Small Boats

Writing historical fiction demands an immense amount of research. All writers must conduct research, but not all writers need to worry about whether potatoes had reached Europe yet. I enjoy researching my novels in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Today is...

read more
Windsor Castle, EV Range, Skoda Enyaq, and Speed

Windsor Castle, EV Range, Skoda Enyaq, and Speed

I haven’t written anything about my Skoda Enyaq for around a month. As yet, I still haven’t needed to use the public charging network. Claire and I went to visit Windsor Castle on Friday, and we took the Enyaq. We started off with it charged to 80%, and it was showing...

read more
World Book Day 2023

World Book Day 2023

Classic FM informed me that today, 2nd March 2023, is world book day. Perhaps as an author I should have known that. What is world book day anyway? UNESCO created world book day on 23rd April 1995, and it is now celebrated in over a hundred countries.  The Scotsman...

read more