Interview

Interview

I wrote in my last post about my interview on NBC House of Mystery. It is streaming now, click on House of Mystery. I didn’t realise how much I sound like Brains from Thunderbirds. Well, I was a little nervous. Maybe I’ll be more confident in the next interview. Sorry...

read more
Whippings

Whippings

I promised that I’d tell you about the whippings today. Louis was weaned when he was twenty-five months old. That was also when he first experienced a whipping. His father, Henri IV commanded Louis’s governess to, “…whip him every time he is stubborn, or does...

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Childhood Contradictions

Childhood Contradictions

I’m still reading Louis XIII, The Making of a King. It really delivers in terms of giving me insight into Louis’s character. I’ve found some shocking contradictions. The death of Henri II of France and all four of his childless sons, weighed over Henri IV. The vital...

read more
Jean Héroard

Jean Héroard

I’m now twelve pages into reading Louis XIII: The Making of a King, by Elizabeth Marvick. It’s part of my research for the next book. The fellow in the picture is Jean Héroard, the personal physician to the infant prince. I can’t say that I’m warming to Monsieur...

read more
Practice Makes Progress

Practice Makes Progress

Claire and I love Strictly Come Dancing. The professional dancer Katya Jones often says that practice makes progress. She doesn’t say that practice makes perfect, although that is the more common saying. I doubt that her celebrity partner this year, the footballer...

read more
Military Logistics

Military Logistics

It’s great news about the liberation of Kherson. As the Russian war machine began grinding to a halt, earlier in the year, I read something said by a general, I think. He said “amateurs talk about military strategy, professionals focus on logistics.” It rang true to...

read more
The Making of a King

The Making of a King

I posted earlier about book 5. Well, it’s really beckoning to me now. Called to Account, book 4 in the Sir Anthony Standen adventures, is published. Although I’ve got marketing things to do, like a radio interview which airs later this month, they say that nothing...

read more
The Northern Rebellion

The Northern Rebellion

The “on this day” site tells me that the Northern Rebellion started on 9th November in 1569. The rebels seized Durham on the 14th November. It depends what you mean by beginning. The persecution of Catholics had been going on throughout Elizabeth’s reign. Mary Queen...

read more
Interview

Interview

I wrote in my last post about my interview on NBC House of Mystery. It is streaming now, click on House of Mystery. I didn’t realise how much I sound like Brains from Thunderbirds. Well, I was a little nervous. Maybe I’ll be more confident in the next interview. Sorry...

read more
Whippings

Whippings

I promised that I’d tell you about the whippings today. Louis was weaned when he was twenty-five months old. That was also when he first experienced a whipping. His father, Henri IV commanded Louis’s governess to, “…whip him every time he is stubborn, or does...

read more
Childhood Contradictions

Childhood Contradictions

I’m still reading Louis XIII, The Making of a King. It really delivers in terms of giving me insight into Louis’s character. I’ve found some shocking contradictions. The death of Henri II of France and all four of his childless sons, weighed over Henri IV. The vital...

read more
Jean Héroard

Jean Héroard

I’m now twelve pages into reading Louis XIII: The Making of a King, by Elizabeth Marvick. It’s part of my research for the next book. The fellow in the picture is Jean Héroard, the personal physician to the infant prince. I can’t say that I’m warming to Monsieur...

read more
Practice Makes Progress

Practice Makes Progress

Claire and I love Strictly Come Dancing. The professional dancer Katya Jones often says that practice makes progress. She doesn’t say that practice makes perfect, although that is the more common saying. I doubt that her celebrity partner this year, the footballer...

read more
Military Logistics

Military Logistics

It’s great news about the liberation of Kherson. As the Russian war machine began grinding to a halt, earlier in the year, I read something said by a general, I think. He said “amateurs talk about military strategy, professionals focus on logistics.” It rang true to...

read more
The Making of a King

The Making of a King

I posted earlier about book 5. Well, it’s really beckoning to me now. Called to Account, book 4 in the Sir Anthony Standen adventures, is published. Although I’ve got marketing things to do, like a radio interview which airs later this month, they say that nothing...

read more
The Northern Rebellion

The Northern Rebellion

The “on this day” site tells me that the Northern Rebellion started on 9th November in 1569. The rebels seized Durham on the 14th November. It depends what you mean by beginning. The persecution of Catholics had been going on throughout Elizabeth’s reign. Mary Queen...

read more