I've always been fascinated by industry and the world of work. I had a couple of other jobs before I settled on being a Technical Author, which I then pursued for thirty-plus years, and one of those earlier jobs was as a local education careers officer. The aspect of that job that I liked the …
Self-sufficiency then and now…
For today’s blog, I am reposting a piece I wrote for the History Girls blog in January. I have been musing recently on how, for the past, say, nine centuries or so, until perhaps the early or even middle of the 20th century, the communities in the Meon Valley were mostly self-sufficient, one way or another. …
Plotter or Pantster?
I first wrote this piece last year as a guest post for The Hazardous Hippo blog. Do hop over there – Neats has some interesting posts and does lots of fascinating interviews with authors. <<<>>> When I read of authors who simply sit down and start writing their novels, to “see where the story takes …
The treasures of Meon Valley churches
For today’s blog, I am reposting a piece I wrote for the History Girls blog last December, as another of my series about the history of the area of Hampshire where my “Meonbridge Chronicles” are set, the Meon Valley. I have only recently discovered the website of Hampshire History, which offers all sorts of fascinating snippets …
Fantasy and the mediaeval world
When I was writing my PhD thesis on authenticity in historical fiction (Authenticity and alterity: Evoking the fourteenth century in fiction), I had planned to include a section on the role of “fantasy” in the depiction of the Middle Ages, but I ran out of space (and time!) and had to leave it out. Nonetheless, …
The Domesday Village – East Meon
For today’s blog, I am reposting a piece I wrote for the History Girls blog back in November, continuing my series of posts about the area of Hampshire where my “Meonbridge Chronicles” are set, the Meon Valley. In my series of posts on some of the communities of the valley of the River Meon, I …
As the minutes ticked down to midnight…
As the minutes ticked down to midnight on New Year’s Eve, I was suddenly in floods of tears. They were dripping into my glass of bubbly… Was I sorry to see the end of 2017? Was I watching a weepy movie? Had I over-indulged my share of the bottle of champagne? No, none of those! …
