Meet Aurelia Mitela - a woman and a warrior

Aurelia Mitela, archetype Roma Novan, came to life when I was writing the first Roma Nova book, INCEPTIO. Then, she was the clever, experienced grandmother of Carina, the book’s heroine.

Let Carina tell you in her own words of her first impression of Aurelia: “She’d been so concerned for me, but not in a […]

Shining a light - women in historical fiction

My writing friend Helen Hollick, a powerhouse of fiction production and historical fiction champion, is hosting a month long blog tour featuring heroines in modern historical fiction. She’s enlisted nine others, including me, to take part. Each Tuesday, Helen will talk about one of her heroines and introduce two further ones.

Last week (6 October), […]

"What if" stories – historical fiction?

Historical fiction is a broad church; a re-telling real events, quasi-biographical fiction, romantic, adventure, fantastical and detective stories, tales from the cave to the 1960s and set in every country and social situation you can imagine. And within that mix are counter-factual, alternative history stories, the ‘what ifs’ which project a possible different timeline from […]