You might think when you’re tucking into a vindaloo on a Friday night washed down with a pint or two of lager that you’re taking on the hottest challenge that the Indian kitchen has to offer. Well, hot it may be. But Indian it ain’t. At least, not originally. And, for that matter, neither is…
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What’s Not Black and White…But Red All Over?
Jennie Rooney’s ‘Red Joan’, that’s what! I won’t be the first reader of Jennie Rooney’s ‘Red Joan’ to wish for a more…overt ending. But then I also won’t be the first to have been moved, before even halfway through the novel, to curiously Googling the true story it was inspired by. What Was The Inspiration? It’s…
The Great British Cuppa
Tea is a little leaf that we boil to death and then add milk and sugar to. It’s not important, is it? You would be surprised if I told you that, in the past, tea was responsible for crime, rebellion and war? Not bad for something that used to be advertised by a load of…
Caravaggio: A Very Modern Hero
Someone asked me why I chose to write a novel about Caravaggio (‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy’ is out now). Well, really I’d be mad not to. In all my art thrillers I’ve had strong characters, famous painters like Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya and Titian, but Caravaggio is somehow out there on his own. We all think we know his…
History And The City: Where are all the men?
‘History And The City’ is our brand new weekly feature, where Jenna and I will blog about all the historical things we get up to in our big city; London. We realised that even though we write so much about historical people, periods and places, we rarely give our own opinions on the topical stuff;…
Exclusive: Interview With Author, Deborah Swift
Deborah Swift is a novelist and poet. Passionate about reading and writing, Deborah was told as a child that she spent too much time with her “nose stuck in a book” – which, we agree, is not a bad thing! Writing from her home in the Lake District, Deborah draws inspiration from the stunning backdrop…
EXCLUSIVE: Anne O’Brien & The Forbidden Queen
Anne was born in Yorkshire, and now resides in the beautiful Welsh Marches of Herefordshire. After teaching for a number of years, Anne decided to leave the profession and chose to pursue her love of writing. Her first historical romance, A Regency, was published in 2005. Her latest work, ‘The Forbidden Queen’ centres on Katherine…
Who Really Started the Great Fire of London?
Before the ashes settled on the devastation that was London after the Great Fire in 1666, rumours spread like erm… fire about who had started it and why they felt the need to burn the hell out of the city!? Mid 17thC London was a suspicious place, with many goings on. We were in the middle of…
Krystyna Skarbek: Female Spy Extraordinaire.
It was the summer of 1952 and the British people to were shocked to the core. A report of the brutal murder of a woman in a Kensington hotel sparked a media frenzy, and quickly whipped the populace into a state of panic. The victim was a Polish beauty queen, named Krystyna Skarbek. Codename: Christine Glanville. …
The Cat that conquered Ancient Egypt
Throughout ancient history there have been many weapons that have changed forever the world in which the people of the time lived. So, which one would I write about? This required some serious consideration… The 420 feet long Hellenistic Warships were an early contender (7000 crew on board? That’s impressive), then I had to consider the…