I am a boring person. Hang on! What sort of self-depreciating nonsense is that? I am not boring, not at all. What I mean to say is that my life has certain tendencies towards the boring, conventional and predictable as it is. Not for me fast-paced adventures saving the Western civilisation from one or other
It has probably not escaped your notice that I’ve been doing a series pf posts about publishing, reading and writing. Today, I’m opening my doors wide to welcome Helen Hollick and Alison Morton, two very different ladies that have one characteristic in common: they are both equipped with enough driving force to create a gale.
I was trying to find some of my favourite historical posts on this blog (yes, I do have some posts I like more than others, despite having written them all myself) and found it all something of a trial, so I decided to do a little list: Anna’s own historical favourites: 1. Kristina Gyllenstierna –
Today, I thought we’d leave the comfort zone of history after the 1200’s (not that it is much of a comfort zone – not really: war, famine, Black death, religious persecution, witch trials…) and travel far back in history, to a time when the Greek city states were mostly at war with each other and
I was just informed that yet another of my books has won a B.R.A.G. Medallion! For those of you that have no idea what this means, Indiebrag is an organisation that has taken it upon themselves to provide some sort of quality stamp on self-published books – if a book is awarded a Medallion, it
Back in the 17th century, the French philosopher Descartes wrote “Cogito, ergo sum”, which is Latin for “I think, therefore I am.” He did a lot of thinking, this French man – and in particular, I suspect, as he lay on his deathbed in a freezing and unwelcoming Stockholm. His thoughts at the time would
For a brief period in history, Sweden was a colonial power. Well, if we’re going to be quite correct, that should be for TWO brief periods, one in the 17th century (very brief), one longer in the 18th-19th century (almost one hundred years). Let’s leave the latter period to the side for now and concentrate
Today, I woke to the sound of the cuckoo. Not the Swiss clock kind, but the real thing. Insistent creature, the cuckoo. On and on he went “cuck-oo”, “cuck-oo” (For once, the onomatopoeic name is a precise repetition of the sound made. In Swedish, we call a cuckoo a “gök”, pronounched “yuck”, so we obviously
Today, I thought I’d treat you to a short story – dedicated to Erin Davies – detailing the sad fates of Lieutenant Sixten Sparre and his paramour, tightrope dancer Elvira Madigan. The below takes place in July of 1889, in Denmark. It is a perfect summer day…. He took her by the hand when they left
One last time – of impossible love and its consequences Read More »
Talk about an obvious title… or maybe not: maybe some of you may think this is about body massage, about communicating your innermost feelings by touch. Not. This is about actually talking with your hands, and although I myself do not know how to do this, I am generally quite entranced when I watch someone