Putting Words in their Mouths – Writing historical fiction based on real lives

At the Springs, Mount Wellington c.1880 Last month I was invited by the writer, Jean M Roberts to contribute a post about my latest novel to her blog, The Book’s Delight. My post looks at the challenges I faced trying to write accurately and honestly about the characters of my novel and not treat them as … Continue reading Putting Words in their Mouths – Writing historical fiction based on real lives

Cold Blows the Wind – my newest novel

Well here it is, my latest novel—published last Thursday—Yay! Unlike my previous two novels which were set in the Elizabethan period and peopled by fictional characters, Cold Blows the Wind begins in Hobart Town, Tasmania in 1878 and follows a period in the lives of my paternal great-great grandparents Sarah Ellen Thompson and Henry Watkins … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind – my newest novel

One Minute Book Review – Wild Island by Jennifer Livett

Wild Island by Jennifer Livett is set, for the greater part, in Van Diemen’s Land in the 1830s, a time when, although it was primarily penal settlement, some were beginning to envisage a different future for the colony. The story is told through dual narratives, in the third person concentrating on Charles Booth, the Commandant … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Wild Island by Jennifer Livett