Roman emperors – The good, the bad and ugly

Coins of Roman emperors

Hadrian is bearded – powerful in the spirit of the Greek god Hercules. Constantine the Great is clean shaven – a strong military leader. Vespasian is just Vespasian, Septimius Severus styles himself on his favourite god Serapis. (Author photo at the Yorkshire Museum)

At a rough count there were around a hundred Roman […]

All that sewing was worth it – the HNS Conference

Several hundred historical fiction fans gathered at Dartington Hall in Devon for a long weekend of indulging in their favourite topic.

Speakers included Bernard Cornwell, Diana Gabaldon, Kate Quinn, S G Mclean, Elizabeth Chadwick and many others including yours truly. The full programme is here.

Ruth Downie, Kate Quinn and I presented about the Romans […]

Military women – in war and fiction

An updated post Several years ago now, I posted on my writing blog about my OU studies in history and how I turned my MA dissertation into a self-published book: Military or Civilians?The curious anomaly of the German Women’s Auxiliary Services during the Second World War. This was my first venture into self-publishing when you […]