English Civil War

Review of Rebel’s Knot – or “Wow, Ms Bazos does it again!”

Today, I am delighted to be hosting a stop on The Coffee Pot Book Club tour for Ms Bazos’ latest release, Rebel’s Knot. Some of you may recall that Cryssa Bazos has been my guest on this blog before, mainly because we share a passion for the 17th century – and LoTR! We also seem …

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Cryssa Bazos on tour – presenting Traitor’s Knot

Today I am more than happy to be hosting a stop on The Coffee Pot Book Club’s blog tour for Traitor’s Knot by Cryssa Bazos. I read this book some years ago, and I am happy to report that while Ms Bazos is relaunching the book under a new cover, the content remains unchanged. Fortunate, …

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Glory and gore – or how M.J. Logue contrasts blood and pain with tender love

As my final guest in my 17th century Glory and Gore extravaganza, I have the pleasure of welcoming M.J. Logue. You want gritty? You want quirky? You want books to cry over, laugh out loud at? You want depictions of battle, of death and loss that have your guts twisting in agony? You enjoy contrasting …

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Glory and Gore – how a TV show inspired Deborah’s life-long love affair with the 17th century

Today’s 17th century guest (no, no, no: not guest, enthusiast!) probably doesn’t remember, but Deborah Swift was one of the first people I met who wrote books set in the 17th century when I myself was about to publish my first book set in this tumultuous time. We both attended a Historical Novel Society conference, …

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Glory and Gore – meet Cryssa, a LoTR fan with a thing about Charles II

Today’s 17th century enthusiast and I have a lot in common. Like a fascination with LoTR (Lord of the Rings for those among you who do not share this affliction). In Cryssa’s case, this means she has a complete set of LoTR figurines – still in their original packaging. Her then young sons wanted to …

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Glory and Gore – how the lives of your long-dead kin inspired your writing

Today’s guest, Elizabeth St.John, is a lady who can trace her ancestry several centuries backwards in time. I am a tad jealous about that: while Liz’ ancestors were leaving their marks on the actual events of the time, mine are anonymous peeps who probably kept their heads down and concentrated on scraping together a meagre …

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The hand that held the axe that killed the king

I find it very improbable that there has ever been a little boy who looked up from his morning porridge and told his proud parents that when he grew up, he wanted to be an executioner. Nor do I think any parent would have been overly thrilled had their beloved son expressed such a desire. …

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Glory and Gore – how the meeting of a queen and an upcoming soldier inspired a novel

Today I am welcoming my fourth 17th century guest – no, no, no: enthusiast – to my blog. I bet many of you have already heard of Nicola Cornick and hopefully you’ve read a book or two by her as well. Her latest release is set in Tudor times, but she has the great taste …

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Dying for his king – or how a would-be Parliamentarian ended up a dead Royalist

There is a picture in the National Portrait Gallery that I have always been particularly fond of. Originally, I was drawn to it more because of the formal garden in the background than the sitters in the foreground (this was when I was thinking BIG when it came to garden design), but every time I’ve …

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Like a glowing star – meet Ms St.John and her new release!

I must admit to the sin of jealousy. Yup: lots and lots of jealousy, because today’s guest has such a wealth of recorded family history from which to be inspired when she sets out to write her historical novels. Having said that, what Elizabeth St. John does with all that family history is something akin …

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