adventure

Why it is important to choose your dining companions with care

My sister shared an interesting little story with me about a well-travelled man who decided to drop in on a tribe of cannibals – not my first choice of people I’d like to have dinner with, let me tell you. Apparently, the first major hurdle in getting to Cannibal Land was to find someone to …

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Why the 17th century? A declaration of love

If one is going to be financially successful as a writer of historical fiction, one should write about the Tudors. Or about Rome – or medieval England. Maybe even Regency (especially when thinking Romance). Somehow, the 17th century exists in a bubble of obscurity, trapped between the great drama of the 16th century and the …

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Roma Nova – a place to visit in your head

Recently, Alison Morton released the fourth book in her Roma Nova series, Aurelia. Interestingly, this the fourth book is actually the first book as it details events that are already in the past when the first book in the series opens. Confusing? Not really. Book four simply moves fifty odd years backwards in time. Plus …

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Mother Nature gives – and takes

The first song I learnt to play on the piano was America the Beautiful. So what, some of you may think, having no interest whatsoever in my musical development – but bear with me, okay? I probably need to rephrase that first sentence: the first song I learnt to play two-handed was America the Beautiful …

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Number seven sees the light of day!

On November 1, the seventh book in The Graham Saga was published. Seven books.. Each book is around 120 000 words, and I’d calculate I have re-written more or less every word at least thrice as I’ve edited and hones, added and detracted. So seven books is the equivalent of 2 500 000 words – …

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Hotting up my life

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 …

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Ripping through the veils of time

Admit it. Of course you’ve fantasized about travelling through time. What? Is that a “no”? Can’t hear you honey, so I’m going to assume all of you, dear people, are nodding. Okay, so most of you smile somewhat at all this time travelling stuff, being quite content to remain exactly where you are – well, …

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The road under our feet

We’ve spent Christmas out in the country – our first ever Christmas with just us and the surrounding forest. With the exception of the faint lights from the house on the opposite side of the lake, we have been utterly alone – well, as alone as one can be in a family of six plus …

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