I was really pleased to learn that the Historical Novel Society has reviewed my first novel, The Gisburn Witch. If you’d like to read their review, please follow the link:
It’s been an encouraging couple of months, with the readership of both The Gisburn Witch and its successor, A Woman Named Sellers, growing steadily. It’s been lovely to get feedback and reviews from readers concerning both novels. I love how so many people can read the same story but take so many different things from it. And of course, getting a review from the Historical Novel Society is the icing on the cake!
I’m conscious that since I released A Woman Named Sellers at the end of May, I have been pretty quiet. It has, of course, been the holiday time of year and I have been spending some time with my family. I’ve also been working hard on a couple of new writing projects, mainly focusing on a contemporary novel which I have called Ethersay, set in 2014 in the aftermath of the Scottish independence referendum.
Ethersay is a real challenge for me, a complete departure from anything I have done previously, both in terms of style and subject matter. It has been quite liberating to get to work on something which doesn’t require an incredible amount of academic research, but at the same time, it has been quite a daunting experience to write something conjured completely in my own imagination, characters who are entirely fictional, and an ending which is not at all guided by the constraints of historical fact. I’ve still a long way to go, but I am really enjoying writing this and excited to see the end result – when I get there!
For those who enjoy my historical writing – fear not, there will be more! I spent my holidays this year in the Cotswolds in England and passed the time doing one of my absolute favourite activities – visiting castles and stately homes. As it turns out, it wasn’t all just for good fun – some of these visits have lit a few sparks in my mind in terms of story ideas for historical novels to come, so watch this space!