I’ve written creatively for most of my adult life, but it wasn’t until our children had grown up and flown the nest, several years ago, that creative writing and, especially, writing historical fiction, took centre stage in my life.
Now, I can’t imagine not spending most of my days writing in one form or another!
The novel I wrote for my PhD, The Nature of Things, is also demanding to be published, and I am eager too to see it “out there”. Maybe this year, with my new Riverdown imprint, I can make it happen…
I write an occasional post for The History Girls blog, mostly about the history of the Meon Valley, where “Meonbridge” is located, or about writing historical fiction. I also write (not very regular) posts for my own blog, which are also often about the business of writing historical fiction, but sometimes just about something completely unrelated to writing that happens to have fascinated me. Do have a look at those – you might well find something of interest!
I have written two of a series of short stories/novellas about Meonbridge characters, which are free to those who join “Team Meonbridge”, though I might well publish them eventually. The two stories currently available for Team members are: Maiden’s Chance and Maiden’s Hap. I have recently embarked on a third story.
If you’re interested in my background, after a first degree in Classics and English, I began working life as a computer programmer, in those days a very new profession. It was fun for a few years, but I left to become a school careers officer in Dorset.
But it was when I discovered technical authoring that I knew I’d found my vocation. I spent the next few decades writing and editing all sorts of material, some fascinating, some dull, for a wide variety of clients, including software companies, banks, an international hotel group, medical instrument manufacturers and the Government.
I have a Masters in Creative Writing from Portsmouth University, and a PhD from the University of Southampton. What became Fortune’s Wheel was originally drafted during the Masters. For the PhD, I wrote another historical novel, The Nature of Things, also set in the 14th century, but covering the entire century. It is as yet unpublished, though I will get round to it in due course! However, my thesis, Authenticity and alterity: Evoking the fourteenth century in fiction, is available at http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/383484/.
Carolyn Hughes 