When Sweden offers up days so warm you actually want to sit in the shade, it is a crime to spend time indoors. At most, we get like five or six such days a summer which is why I am sitting on our back porch tapping away (while glancing at the view) Tapping away . […]
Looking for the sloth within – my July newsletter Read More »
I have a special fondness for the Netherlands – I mean, what can one possibly dislike about a country that has given us Vermeer, Rembrandt and chocolate sprinkles on your bread and butter? I am also very, very fond of my Norwegian neighbours (except when they totally crush us in the cross-country skiing events) so
The Dutch Muse – a new release from Heidi Eljarbo Read More »
Anyone who is a frequent visitor to this blog knows I am a big fan of Alison Morton’s Roma Nova series – alternate history at its best, IMO. Since some years back, I am also a fan of her present-day dynamic duo, Mel and Jeff. With very different backgrounds, theirs is a story that does
Double Stakes – check out Alison Morton’s latest release Read More »
It has been quite some time since I indulged in my fascination with the Hapsburgs, this once so powerful family that controlled most of Catholic Europe and preferred to marry very close kin—which, eventually, led to disaster, at least for the Spanish Hapsburgs. But the Hapsburgs weren’t always an inbred dynasty on the brink of
Anna and Maria – Holy Roman Empresses that took their procreating duty seriously! Read More »
Today, Paula Lofting has popped by with a post about Swegn Godwinson. I can hear you go “Swegn? Wasn’t his name Harold Godwinson?” And yes, it was Harold Godwinson – and for those interested in HIM, check out Paula’s recent release Searching for the Last Anglo-Saxon King – but today’s protagonist is Harold’s older brother,
An Anglo-Saxon Bad Boy – guest post by Paula Lofting Read More »
Today, Christina Courtenay visits me with a guest post about Roman baths in Bath which ties into her latest release, Shadows in the Spring. Further down, you can read my review, but first, let’s get to grips with Christina’s guest post! Bath and the Roman baths Doing research for a story can be extremely enjoyable,
In November of the year 1700, that gallant warrior king Karl XII of Sweden, hastened to defend the city of Narva (in present day Estonia) from the besieging Russian army. The Great Northern War had kicked off some months earlier when an alliance between Denmark, Russia and Saxony/Poland had initiated an attack on Sweden’s Baltic
The enslaved child – of Lovisa von Burghausen and her travails in 18th century Russia Read More »
I have spent most of last week in bed—or on the sofa—feeling sorry for myself. Why? Because I have been struck down by a bad case of flu, with fever, cough and a blinding headache. Problem with headache is that it makes it impossible to read. Or watch TV. So instead, I’ve listened to pods,
In the fair month of May – my monthly newsletter Read More »
One of our great Swedish poets once wrote “Ingen maj en dager sprider som den klarnande april” which loosely translates as “no May day ever shines as brightly as the returning light in April”. I totally agree: April is the month of LIGHT up here in the north. We write the 6th of April today,
For me, the 70s is the period when everyone went wild and crazy about orange and brown, when surviving hippie movements segued into Hare Krishna groups and both men and women could be seen walking the streets in purple velour pants. Yup, I kid you not . . . And then there was the Bee-Gees,
Marching through the 70s – a personal recollection Read More »