In September 2022, I gave a talk at my local library about the research behind my novel Cold Blows the Wind and the reason I decided to tell Ellen Thompson and Harry Woods’s story as fiction rather than non-fiction. I am sharing the PowerPoint I used for the talk with narration added so those who … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind – Author Talk
Writing
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
Old words or new?
In historical fiction, the language a writer uses can immediately propel the reader into the past by means of rhythm, sentence structure and word choice. This can be done by trying to come close to the language used in surviving records and contemporary literature or to by taking a more modern approach. Though, even when … Continue reading Old words or new?
More Meandering through Cyberspace – June 2020
The world has changed since I last wrote of my meanderings through cyberspace. While our physical lives have been circumscribed, the wonderful world of the internet has opening up new vistas. So here are a few of the interesting places I've been over the last three months. Perhaps the machines will take over one day. … Continue reading More Meandering through Cyberspace – June 2020
An Interview with the Author!
This is my first 'real' interview - Richard Lowe interviews me about Forsaking All Other and writing in general. It is part of his Author Talk series where he interviews a range of authors about their books and their approaches to writing. Richard's website Fiction Master Class also contains a wealth of material for people … Continue reading An Interview with the Author!
Yay!
Well, I have finally done it. Last week I published my novel Forsaking All Other both as a paperback and an ebook. An historical novel with romantic elements, it is set in England in the mid-1580s and tells the story of a young woman's struggle to avoid an arranged marriage at a time when duty … Continue reading Yay!
Book Review – First Person by Richard Flanagan
First Person is a first person narrative set in the early 1990s in the depths of the ‘recession we had to have’. Kif Kehlmann, an aspiring writer, is struggling both financially and artistically. He lives in a rundown house in Hobart with his wife Suzy who is expecting twins, and their three year old daughter. … Continue reading Book Review – First Person by Richard Flanagan
the coven
I have been blogging for nearly two years now, twice a week over the last twelve months. Although I thoroughly enjoy it, I doubt that I will be able to manage to be so productive over the next couple of months as I will be busy making final edits and formatting my novel Forsaking All … Continue reading the coven
Assume Nothing
Recently I have read several books where historical implausibilities have just leapt off the page at me - female cooks in the Manor house of a substantial gentry family in the 1530s, characters attending a play several years before the playwright was even born, a twelve year old girl reading a banned book that was … Continue reading Assume Nothing
One Minute Book Review – Mothering Sunday – A Romance by Graham Swift
Traditionally Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent, a day when domestic servants were given the day off to visit their families. Jane Fairchild, the Niven family’s maid, is a foundling so has no mother to visit. This Mothering Sunday, the 30th of March 1924, is a light filled day that feels like summer … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Mothering Sunday – A Romance by Graham Swift
Catherine Meyrick 