For most of us, one of the delights of the holiday season is the yearly celebration of traditions, both personal family ones, and ones like holly, Christmas trees, carols, and decking the house with greenery that have been passed down for generations.  Which makes the holiday season the perfect time to delve into that time of tradition and pageantry, the medieval past, where brave and determined women defied the norms of their times to exercise power and influence. Beginning with the earliest, we have THE IRISH PRINCESS by Elizabeth Chadwick. War is the norm of the day, both in England, where Henry II has prevailed in the civil war between his mother Empress Mathilde and her cousin, Stephen of Blois, and in Ireland, where Diarmit, King of Leinster, is forced into English exile after losing his battle against the Irish High King.  Seeking support to recover his lost lands, Diarmit appeals to Henry, who is still sorting out how to control and reward those who fought for and against him. With Henry’s permission, he recruits Richard de Clare—later known as Strongbow—the former Earl of Pembroke who was stripped of his title for supporting Stephen.  In return for his fighting prowess,…

I write historical novels that tell the life stories of people who have actually lived, and whose bones are still physically on this earth. My career involves fleshing out those bones and bringing past lives and times back to life for readers of today. Who were these people? What were they like in life? What were their dreams, their aspirations, their stories? I am always aware that in such telling that my path involves extensive use of the imagination. From the first piece of dialogue, I am putting words in the mouths of my characters. I am writing scenes for them that sometimes never happened, sitting them down to dine on meals they never ate, and giving them thoughts that I think they may have had, but I don’t know for sure. Nevertheless, I am a storyteller trying to bring modern readers close to what happened back then and it is my duty to weave my tale with integrity and a care for the known historical facts and the people involved. I strongly believe that any author who is going to write about a person who actually lived, should do their level best to find out everything they can about…

Ever since writing my first novel (unpublished!) at the age of fifteen, I have had soundtracks to accompany the writing. The music tells the story in song and it evolves alongside the book, sometimes preceding the first draft, sometimes joining in along the way as the work progresses, but always presenting me at the finish with a fully formed musical score precisely fitted to the emotional resonances, major scenes and dramatic moments in the novel. I don’t listen to music in the background as I write, that would be far too distracting. Instead, I select likely tracks from my extensive PC music library and listen to them while I’m doing mundane tasks around the house, or while I’m cooking and baking, or at the gym. At these times my mind is free to wander and mull. I’ll know a suitable song when I hear it because I will get an immediate rush of adrenalin – a gut feeling that makes me know it’s perfect for a particular scene, moment or character in the novel. I will listen to the song over and over again while it becomes absorbed into my subconscious. When I come to write the scene to which…