Carol Townend - Medieval Romance Author

A Tudor Cottage

2012-01-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

In the summer we visited this gorgeous Tudor cottage, tucked away in the English countryside. The main structure is Elizabethan. When it was built most of it was probably wattle and daub, the brick infils would have come later as did the lean-to extension which was likely to have been added a couple of hundred years after the main cottage was built.

Here is a picture of an inglenook fireplace. People would use them for cooking as well as for keeping warn, and it's likely a ham would have been hung up to smoke gently (near to, but not on the fire). Smoking was a great way to preserve meat in the days before fridges!

And here is a picture of a bread oven. This oven is on the right hand side of the inglenook. I am sure that if it was fired up, it would also make wonderful pizza.

(This is a version of blog originally posted on the eHarlequin website.)

Australian Anthology...

2012-01-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

I've just found the cover of the February 2012 Anthology, and am delighted to see it's Book of the Month:

And the Grand Prize-winner is...

2011-12-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Melissa from Texas who is the Grand Prize Winner of a Kindle Fire!

Our thanks to everyone who participated in our second Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway. It was a terrific way for us to enter in to the Holiday Spirit!

My Competition is Closed...

2011-12-14T01:02:00.000-08:00

The answer to the question was Katerina and there were 211 correct entries.

Congratulations to the three winners! The winners were randomly selected and I have emailed them to let them know. They are:

Main Prize - the costmetic bag and two signed paperbacks - Charlotte M
Runners-up - a signed paperback - Jean S and Grandmareads.

My thanks are due to everyone who took part!

In the meantime, the fun isn't over because today is Julia Justiss's day on the calendar. Either click on the image of the Holiday Calendar on the right to reach her site...or try one of the links below...

Julia Justiss

http://www.jeannielin.com/?p=4128

Holiday Giveaway!

2011-12-12T00:39:00.000-08:00

It's December 12th, and my giveaway opens at 9 am, UK time! It closes on Wednesday, December 14th at 9 am, UK time, so you have until then to enter. To be eligible there is one simple question to answer. I would also love it if you could 'Like' my new Facebook Author Page, but you don't have to do that to enter. The Facebook 'Like' button is on the right hand side of this blog.

Competition entries should go into 'Comments' below this post. Please include your email address, particularly if you are posting as 'Anon'! For your security, I will not publish your entry.

To enter please answer this simple question:
What is the first name of the heroine in Bound to the Barbarian, the first in the Palace Brides trilogy? (Don't forget to include your email address with your answer, so I can contact you, if you are a winner!) The winner and the two runners-up will be chosen randomly.

For a large part of Bound to the Barbarian, the heroine has to pretend to be someone else. She is a medieval heroine, of course, but that doesn't stop her using cosmetics to hide behind.

My main prize is therefore the small cosmetic bag above (the pen is there to show the scale!) plus two paperbacks from my backlist (provided I still have copies). Additionally, two runners-up will be sent one paperback from my back-list.

Grand Prize? If my day is chosen for the Grand Prize Draw, all correct entries will automatically be eligible to win the Kindle/Kindle Fire. For full rules, please click on the small calendar on the right hand side of this page.

Holiday Giveaway - Soon!

2011-12-09T01:57:00.000-08:00

My day is on Monday 12th, and my competition will be open until Wednesday December 14th, 9 am UK time! The first prize is a small cosmetic bag from Kew Gardens, and provided my stocks allow, the winner may also choose two of my recent paperbacks. Two runners up will also receive a paperback of their choice.

The competition doesn't end there though....there are daily prizes until December 22nd, and everyone who enters has a chance to win a Kindle/Kindle Fire - the actual prize depends on your location. The small image of the Calendar on the right takes you through to the rules, as does the button below.

Participating Authors:

November 29 - Michelle Willingham
November 30 - Elizabeth Rolls
December 1 - Charlene Sands
December 2 - Diane Gaston
December 3 - Annie Burrows
December 5 - Elaine Golden
December 6 - Barbara Monajem
December 7 - Michelle Styles
December 8 - Deborah Hale
December 9 - Marguerite Kaye
December 10 - Lynna Banning
December 12 - Carol Townend
December 13 - Blythe Gifford
December 14 - Julia Justiss
December 15 - Terri Brisbin
December 16 - Ann Lethbridge
December 17 - Bronwyn Scott
December 19 - Sarah Mallory
December 20 - Kate Bridges
December 21 - Amanda McCabe
December 22 - Jeannie Lin
December 23 - Grand Prize Drawing

Laon

2011-12-06T01:14:00.000-08:00

(Version of a blog originally posted on eHarlequin).

On our recent trip to France, my long-suffering driver needed a break just as we were heading past Laon on our way south. Medieval Laon is built on the top of a hill, and since there is a funicular that will take you to the top, we thought we would stop and try it out.

The medieval stonemasons who built Laon's Cathedral of Notre Dame were superb craftsmen. Here is a hippo gargoyle, after several centuries it is still realistic.

There has been a Bishop of Laon since the fifth century (Bishop Geneband), although the Cathedral wasn't built until much later, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. I have already mentioned the hill. The cathedral is at the top and legend has it that during the construction, a yoke of oxen were having difficulties getting a load of stone up the steep slope. A mysterious ox appeared to help. However, as soon as the wagon reached the top, this ox vanished. The carved oxen at the top of this tower commemorate this miracle. If you look closely you can see their horns are slightly whiter than the rest of the sculpture, which make me wonder if they might have been renovated recently. The Cathedral at Laon lost a couple of towers in the Revolution (originally there were seven), but it remains a work of art.

The figures below are standing by one of the Cathedral doorways. I was particularly struck by the knightly figure on the right. He has a halo, yet there is something very ruthless about him, there's a speared dragon at his feet. Do you think he might be St George? Or maybe he is St Michael and he has just overcome the Devil...

There are a couple more picture of Laon elsewhere on this blog, including one of the citadel taken from the funicular. Here's one taken in the square, adjacent to the Cathedral. I love the Romanesque arches.

Harlequin Historical Holiday Giveway...

2011-11-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

Win a Kindle Fire! The Harlequin Historical Authors Holiday Giveaway has started! In the spirit of an Advent calendar, the authors are giving away daily prizes and a Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire. Play every day for more chances to win.

On-line Calendar here!

The Rules:

Each participating author will have an activity planned on their website for their special day. You may be asked to comment on a blog, find an ornament, or visit a Facebook page. For each day you participate, your name will be entered into the Grand Prize drawing. At the end of the month on December 23, one day from the calendar will be randomly selected. One of the entrants from that day will then be randomly selected to win the Kindle. The more days you visit, the better your chances!

For international readers: THE PROMOTION IS OPEN TO U.S., UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WHERE A KINDLE MAY BE SHIPPED.

Official rules and eligibility

If the links on this Calendar don't work, please click here or on the Author's name in the list below it.

Participating Authors

November 29 - Michelle Willingham

November 30 - Elizabeth Rolls

December 1 - Charlene Sands

December 2 - Diane Gaston

December 3 - Annie Burrows

December 5 - Elaine Golden

December 6 - Barbara Monajem

December 7 - Michelle Styles

December 8 - Deborah Hale

December 9 - Marguerite Kaye

December 10 - Lynna Banning

December 12 - Carol Townend

December 13 - Blythe Gifford

December 14 - Julia Justiss

December 15 - Terri Brisbin

December 16 - Ann Lethbridge

December 17 - Bronwyn Scott

December 19 - Sarah Mallory

December 20 - Kate Bridges

December 21 - Amanda McCabe

December 22 - Jeannie Lin

December 23 - Grand Prize Drawing

Hagia Sophia...

2011-11-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

Getting the right angle to photograph a famous building like Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (medieval Constantinople) isn't easy on foot! I was sure we had a better shots than these, but here are the ones we did get. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered Hagia Sophia (the Church of Holy Wisdom) to be built in the 6th century after a previous church had been destroyed by rioters. This first picture was taken as we were waiting to go inside. There were lots of helpful guides wanting to show us around, but they listened when I explained that I like to dream, so we were left to our own devices. In the foreground is the ablutions fountain (used after the Byzantine period). The minarets were also added later, at the time when Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque.

This next picture shows the galleries inside, and gives an idea of the space, which is vast. From the floor to the top of the dome, Hagia Sophia is incredibly beautiful. The walls gleam with gold and are covered with mosaics in every colour of the rainbow. There are gorgeous tiles, on the floors, on the walls. Glass hanging lamps are suspended on chains from somewhere in the domes. I had been there years ago, and this time as soon as I walked in I knew the heroine (Princess Theodora) of Betrothed to the Barbarian had to be married there. Hagia Sophia is now a museum, and when it was used as a church, the building must have rung with the chanting of monks, the air would have been smoky with incense...

And here's another photgraph of the interior, showing the galleries from another angle. To the left of the picture there's a roundel with Islamic script on it, it comes from the time when Hagia Sophia was a mosque...

This last photograph show Hagia Sophia in the distance. We were waiting to catch a tram.

If you would like to see some better pictures of Hagia Sophia, there are some on Wikipedia. They are much sharper than mine, and prove that my photography could do with improvement! The visit was an inspiration, and lots of dreaming went on, both during and after the visit!

Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and the Gothic Novel

2011-11-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

This article was first published in Writing Magazine December 1998-January 1999. It has been scanned in and lightly revised. (Copyright: Carol Townend)

Northanger Abbey can be enjoyed without knowing the gothic genre but many of the author's ironic allusions would be missed. Northanger Abbey was probably the first novel Jane Austen completed but it was not published until after her death. Its bumpy ride reveals that getting a book published in Georgian England was no easier that it is today!

Jane Austen sold Northanger Abbey to Crosby and Sons in 1803, but instead of publishing it, Crosby simply hung onto it. Later in Austen's life, after her father had died and money was tight, she tried to take it to another publisher. Crosby threatened to sue and said that she could buy back the copyright for the sum he had originally paid her (£10). It was financial hardship, work on her next novel, and ultimately the illness which killed her, that combined to leave Northanger Abbey unpublished until 1818.

The now famous novel takes as its heroine the young Catherine Morland, a girl whose favourite hobby is reading, particularly gothic novels. The gothic genre, featuring wild, improbable stories often set in haunted, ruined castles, became fashionable in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The plots would usually feature a young and innocent heroine, who was likely to be an orphan and friendless, and a dark and secretive hero with more than a touch of the demon lover about him. As the plot thickened, the heroine would generally find herself under threat from villains of every stripe...

Northanger Abbey itself tells the story of Catherine, who leaves her parents to visit Bath with Mr and Mrs Allen. In Bath Catherine soon makes friends with Isabella Thorpe who shares her enthusiasm for reading, and the two are soon swapping reading lists. From the opening paragraph of Northanger Abbey, it is clear that Jane Austen expects her audience to be at least as well-read as her characters are and to have certain expectations about heroes and heroines:
    No one who has ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine. (Northanger Abbey: Ch 1)

This neatly sets up the whole of the novel, with Jane Austen telling us in one sentence that while she knows the rules that should govern any novel with romantic or gothic leanings, her tongue is firmly in her cheek.

Any doubts that the reader may harbour about this are firmly dispelled in the next chapter, when Catherine goes to her first ball. Since neither she nor Mrs Allen know many people in Bath, this proves to be a disappointment.   Many young men had seen Catherine but:
    Not one, however, started with rapturous wonder on beholding her, no whisper of eager inquiry ran around the room, nor was she called a divinity by anybody.   (Northanger Abbey: Ch 2)

Shortly after this, Catherine meets Henry Tilney, and his confident, teasing manner makes him easy to like. She hopes to meet him again in the Pump Room, but Henry Tilney is nowhere to be seen, nor is his name to be found in the Pump Room book.
    He must be gone from Bath. Yet he had not mentioned that his stay would be so short! This sort of mysteriousness, which is always so becoming in a hero, threw afresh grace in Catherine's imag-
ination around his person and manners, and increased her anxiety to know of him.

It is of course possible to enjoy Northanger Abbey without any knowledge of the gothic genre, but many of these ironic allusions would be missed. Catherine and Isabella single out one gothic novel for particular mention: The Mysteries of Udolpho by Mrs A Radcliffe (1794). The Mysteries of Udolpho feeds Catherine's overactive imagination and distorts many of her perceptions and responses. She is young and prone to misjudge people.

Here are Catherine's first stirrings of unease as she attempts to 'read' John Thorpe's character correctly. A feckless opportunist, John is in the habit of bending the truth to suit his ends. They are out driving and, for effect, Thorpe firsts alarms Catherine by saying that her brother's gig is so unsafe that he would not ride in it for two thousand pounds, and then in the next breath he says he'd be happy to drive to York and back in the same gig for five pounds.
     Catherine listened with astonishment; she knew not how to reconcile two such very different accounts of the same thing... (Northanger Abbey: Ch 9)

Thorpe drives on, boasting about various exploits and Jane Austen writes:
     Little as Catherine was in the habit of judging for herself, and unfixed as her general notions of what men ought to be, she could not entirely repress a doubt, while she bore with the effusions of his endless conceit, of his being altogether completely agreeable. (Northanger Abbey: Ch 9)

Catherine's naive outlook gradually matures with experience, and much of the irony and humour in the novel
comes from Austen's revelation of that change through the eyes of a sophisticated omniscient narrator, whose understanding of the ways of the world is far greater than the innocent Catherine's.

As an older, and altogether more worldly character, Henry Tilney is a natural foil for Catherine. Henry is aware of Catherine's imaginative tendencies, and when Catherine is taken to Northanger Abbey, his family home, he gently teases her, knowing that she is visualising the Abbey as a crumbling medieval pile and not the modernised and comfortable home he knows it to be:
     'But you must be aware that when a young lady is (by whatever means) introduced into a dwelling of this kind, she is always lodged apart from the rest of the family. While they snugly repair to their own end of the house, she is formally conducted by Dorothy, the ancient housekeeper, up a different staircase and along many gloomy passages, into an apartment never used since some cousin or kin died in it about twenty years before.'   (Northanger Abbey: Ch 20)

Both thrilled and alarmed by his teasing, and not quite knowing what to believe, Catherine enters Northanger Abbey where she learns that, with her mind stuffed full of the gothic, she still tends to misread people. Before Catherine Morland can reach the happy ending that is her heart's desire, she will have to learn to be a better reader in more senses than one.

The house in Winchester in which Jane Austen spent her last days.

Novels by Jane Austen:
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Mansfield Park (1814)
Emma (1816)
Northanger Abbey (published posthumously in 1818)
Persuasion (published posthumously in 1818)

Additional Works:
The Juvenilia of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, which includes Love and Freindship (sic)
Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon

There is a wealth of critical and biographical writing inspired by Jane Austen. Writers as diverse as Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov and Fay Weldon have examined her work, and an Austen fan might find these thought provoking:
Virginia Woolf s speculative essay in The Common Reader, First Series (The Hogarth Press, 1925). Woolf ponders on what Jane Austen would have written had she not 'died at the height of her powers'.
For those who enjoy intellectual analysis there is Nabokov's detailed criticism of Mansfield Park in his Lectures on Literature (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980).

And for those who like their commentary wrapped up in fiction, there is Fay Weldon's Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen. This is a marvellously witty and very readable explanation of the relevance of Austen's writing in today's society. Not only should it be required reading for any 'A'Level literature student reluctant to read Jane Austen but. for writers, the big bonus is that it also overflows with writerly wisdom from one of Britain's most popular contemporary novelists.

Finally two biographies:
Jane Austen by Claire Tomalin
Jane Austen: A Life by David Noakes

Copyright Carol Townend, 1998/9

US Cover...

2011-11-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

This is the US cover for Bound to the Barbarian, the first of the Palace Brides trilogy set in medieval Byzantium. It's very evocative and on the back (not shown) you can see the skyline of Constantinople.

Strawberry Hill Gothic...

2011-11-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

This blog about a recent visit to Strawberry Hill in Twickenham was originally posted on the eHarlequin website. The villa (the white section of building below) has recently underdone a major restoration and we were honoured to be given a guided tour by the chairman of the Stawberry Hill Trust. After being shown round we took tea in the Great Cloister - bottom left in this photograph.

Strawberry Hill was Horace Walpole's summer villa, built between 1748 and 1790. In it, Walpole's love of the medieval is made manifest in every wall and window. The next picture (below) shows you the house - or should it be castle? - as you approach it from the road...

I love the turret, it has a Norman look to it.

Above is what is called the 'Prior's Garden' complete with gothic arches. Stawberry Hill has recently been restored so you can see much of the building as Horace Walpole might have expected it to be seen. Walpole wanted visitors to Strawberry Hill to have a theatrical experience and the mood shifts dramatically as the tour progresses. There is one constant - Walpole's fascination with the medieval can be seen at every turn. Here a heraldic beast masquerades as a newel post on the stairs...

The ceiling of the library is rich with pictures of knights and heraldic devices...

And below is the most splendid room of all, the Gallery. The design for the ceiling is taken from a side aisle in Westminster Abbey, and the restoration team have restored it using real gold leaf. Wool and silk damask wallcoverings have been specially made to match the originals.

Strawberry Hill is exactly as you might imagine a small palace to be. But it is not just somewhere to enjoy looking at gothic revival. Horace Walpole was so inspired by his 'castle' that he wrote what has come to be seen as the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. He said that the novel was 'an attempt to blend the ancient and the modern.' A description which seems to fit the house too. Here's the library. The carved section at the top swings out to allow you to get at books on the high shelves.

Do you like the idea of a medieval romance that blends both the ancient and the modern? How much history do you like? Do you prefer your romances to be solidly grounded in history? How do you feel about time-shift romances?

Here's a link to the Strawberry Hill website.

Byzantine Trilogy update...

2011-10-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

...my editor has contacted me, and I am delighted that the third novel in my Palace Brides trilogy has been accepted. The title is Betrothed for the Barbarian. The title of the second novel has also been confirmed, it is Chained to the Barbarian.
The first of the Palace Brides, Bound to the Barbarian, is already out in the UK, it will be out in the US in February, 2012.
Chained to the Barbarian will be out in the UK and in the US in June, 2012.
Betrothed to the Barbarian will be published in August 2012, both in the UK and the US.

Novel submitted...

2011-10-10T04:22:00.000-07:00

This is a brief post to say that I have just submitted my third Byzantine romance. It is the final instalment in the Palace Brides trilogy set in eleventh century Byzantium.
Originally I had planned to write two Byzantine novels, but with luck there may be three (fingers crossed). The title of the second novel has still to be decided, I will post again when I know more. Bound to the Barbarian is the first in the trilogy, this is the UK cover. It will be out in the US in February with Harlequin Historicals, I haven't seen the US Cover yet.

Bound to the Barbarian - UK Cover

The Valens Aqueduct...

2011-09-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

...must have dominated a large part of medieval Constantinople, it's still impressive today and it's hard to believe how old it is. (Emperor Valens built it in the late 4th century AD!) The Valens Aqueduct brought fresh water into the heart of the City and piped water into many of the palaces and fountains.

This is how the Valens Aqueduct looked when we went on our research trip to Istanbul in the early spring of 2009.

According to my guide book, the Valens Aqueduct brought water from the Belgrade forest and mountains over 125 miles away. You can see how imposing it still is. In medieval times, it must have dominated a large part of the City, towering over the nearby houses and tenements. This wikipedia map of Medieval Constantinople (now Istanbul) shows the aqueduct as a blue line that runs across from the Fourth Hill to the Third Hill. (Like Rome, Constantinople/Istanbul has seven hills) I do love maps! They are enormously helpful when it comes to visualising the past.

But nothing beats actually seeing a place. I am not sure whether the cistern this aqueduct fed into would have resembled the Basilica Cistern, but seeing the Basilica Cistern and the Aqueduct did inspire a couple of important scenes in the Palace Brides trilogy.

Snapshot of the River Thames...

2011-09-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of the things we saw on a recent boat trip downriver from Kew Gardens to Westminster. This is the London Eye...

Above is a beach which has been made on the Southbank, it is complete with artists' beach huts and a half sunken boat! You can see more photos of the trip today at the Harlequin Historical Authors' Blog I was particularly pleased to find a carousel complete with a potted history of carousels...

Hidden Byzantium...

2011-08-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

The Basilica Cistern in Istanbul is an extraordinary feat of Byzantine engineering. It was begun in 532 by the Emperor Justinian, and the engineers used a site where there had been an even earlier cistern. The Basilica Cistern ensured the City (the Byzantine capital of Constantinople) and the Imperial Palace had a constant supply of fresh water. It has survived the ravages of time and conquest. Wandering about Istanbul near Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, it's hard to imagine the hidden cistern beneath your feet. It's vast! Here are some pictures my husband took on our visit to Istanbul. The first one shows some of the columns that support the roof. If they look classical in design, that's because they are classical, most of them being taken from earlier Roman buildings. (An early example of recycling.) It's cool in the cistern, and dark, and VERY quiet. The columns seem to march off into infinity, it's like stepping into the hall of a subterranean king.

Down there you have no idea that there is a thriving and bustling city overhead. The bases of some of the columns show heads that have come to us from Greek mythology. You can find the Medusa...

The day we visited, shoals of fish were gliding through the water, we kept seeing flashes of gold and black and white, eerie shadows constantly shifting. The Basilica Cistern is very inspiring, as soon as we went down the steps to see it, I knew that a scene in the second Palace Bride novel would have to be set there.

You can see the Basilica Cistern on this map of medieval Constantinople which shows part of the Great Palace. You can find the cistern towards the top of the map. Appologies for the blurriness of the image, I am not sure how to sharpen it.

A Byzantine Palanquin...

2011-08-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

Of course, this is a picture of a sedan chair not a palanquin. My husband and I stumbled across it in an English pub when we were on one of our week-end walks. I probably shouldn't have been on a walk at all, because the deadline for my WIP is at the end of the month, and there's still a lot to do.One of the the scenes that particularly needs work is a scene where my Byzantine princess is carried to her wedding in a palanquin. Could I find a picture of Byzantine Palanquin? You may guess not.
A walk was needed. Quite by chance we stumbled across this sedan chair in an inn. The painting on the sides are quite beautiful, I don't know if you can see, but there's a French look to them. And if you look closely you can see the metal loops at the bottom where the carrying bars would be placed.
There's a little more about how not to find a Byzantine palanquin and the mysteries of writing and research here on the Harlequin Historicals Author Blog

And if anyone has a picture of a real Byzantine palanquin, I would be very grateful!

By the way, the inn was the Crown at Chiddingfold, and I had mussels and chips for lunch...I LOVE mussels and chips.

Here's a close-up of the crown which attracted me in the first place, given my heroine is a Byzantine princess.

Knight on a Treadmill...

2011-07-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well, not this knight! We saw this armour at Bonaguil in France. Recent research by the University of Leeds looks into the effects of wearing heavy armour in battle. Some of the armour was so heavy (between 30kg and 50 kg in weight), it really affected the efficiency of the fighters. Outcomes of battles such as the Battle of Agincourt might have been different if the French had worn less armour. To see the knight on a treadmill and read the full BBC report, click here: BBC Report

Below is a picture of Bonaguil Chateau in Lot-et-Garonne.

The Romantic Novelists' Conference in Caerleon

2011-07-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

This was a wonderful week-end. There were so many great talks at times it was hard to choose which ones to attend. Fiona Harper generously gave us gold-dust; Liz Fielding's was so emotive it had me in tears...I could go on, but I'm not going to. The Conference has inspired me and I'm on fire to get back to my WIP. Many thanks to Jan Jones and Roger Sanderson for organising everything.

Knights and Ladies of the Garter...

2011-07-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is a version of a blog first posted on the Harlequin Historicals Author Blog about my visit to see the procession of the Knights (and Ladies) of the Garter in Windsor Castle last month. Sadly the pictures prove I am marginally better at research shots when my subject is static (like a castle) then when it is moving (like a horse and carriage).

For anyone interested in learning more about this most ancient order of English chivalry (founded in 1348 by Edward the Third) check out the British Monarchy website

A few weeks ago some friends said they had tickets to watch the Order of the Garter procession in Windsor Castle and would we care to join them...

The Order of the Garter is the oldest order of chivalry, founded in 1348. It honours those who have served the public in some way and it is the only honour which remains entirely in the Queen's gift.
You can see by my photo (above) that we went. It was a sunny day and there was enough wind to set the Royal Standard fluttering.

The following pictures show why I am NOT a photographer. I am OK when my subject is static, I can do the odd research shot, but I am not so good when my subject is moving. These Welsh Guards were lining the route the procession took from the dining room to St George's Chapel where the service took place.

You can tell they are Welsh Guards because of the leeks embroidered on their collars and on their shoulders. They also have white and green plumes in their bearskins and the buttons on their uniforms are in groups of five. The green screening behind the Guards seems to be concealing some renovation work being done at the Castle.

After the ceremony, the dignitaries left the Chapel in horse and carriage. I did see the Queen and quite a few other members of the Royal family (including Prince William and his new Duchess), but I was so excited about seeing them, most of the pictures are terrible! It turns out I wanted to see what was happening more than I wanted to take pictures...however, I got one reasonable horse and carriage shot in, it is of Countess Sophie of Wessex. Someone got in the way a little, sorry!

All this has left me with a great admiration of photographers who can take good shots of moving subjects.

Next time, I will stick to using my camera for research, taking pictures of castles is MUCH easier...

Beauty and the Beast...

2011-06-07T00:58:00.000-07:00

Today I have posted more pictures of Laon, particularly of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

You can find the other pictures by putting 'Laon' in the Search Box or by going over to the Harlequin Historicals author blog.

Laon and Bertha Big Foot

2011-05-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Like many medieval towns in France, Laon perches on a high outcrop. The car park was at the bottom and we chose to reach the main part of the old town the lazy way, we took the funicular. It was a little scary...

The next picture is of the Ardon Gate. Tradition has it that it's the gate through which the great medieval warrior Roland is said to have ridden on his way to do battle at Roncevaux in 778. He did so against the wishes of his uncle, Charlemagne, and had to flee the palace in secret.

In this military age, the battle became something of a myth. It was recorded in the eleventh century in the epic poem the Song of Roland.

Below the Ardon Gate is a spring-fed washhouse:

This is of a later date. (15th century, I think)

On the opposite side of Laon from the Ardon Gate, the view from the Saint Remy Rampart looks out over the forest of Samoussy. It's the legendary location for the conception of Charlemagne by Pepin le Bref and Berthe au Grand Pied. Medieval names are great, aren't they? I wonder if it's fair to translate those names as Pepin the Short and Bertha Big Foot...

Sketchbook in France...

2011-05-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

Recently, we spent 10 days in France. I took hundreds of photos and will gradually post some of them here. In the meantime, here is a peek into my husband's sketchbook. (The poor man drove nearly 2,000 miles on this trip.) Luckily he loves France, and likes to draw medieval buildings...

The first sketch is the gatehouse of the medieval ville bastide (fortified town) of Larressingle in the area of France know as the Gers. It lies in the south. The day we visited, swifts were screaming overhead and they have got into my husband's picture...

The second sketch was drawn in the Loire Valley, in the town of Beaugency. This little church, the church of St Etienne, was closed because of an exhibition. Luckily we got a peek inside and could see the barrel vaulted roof. It has clean, simple lines - very eleventh century.

And finally here is his sketch of the later Chapel of Thibault, close to our hotel.

I shall try and write more about France later...am busy with the next novel at the moment!

A Tudor use for Bluebells...

2011-05-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

Here is this year's showing of bluebells behind Queen Charlotte's Cottage in Kew Gardens, where the wood is a haze of blue. The bluebells have come out a little early this year, and by the time I write this, they may almost be over. It has been a dry spring. Looking up bluebells in my flower book, I found that bluebells are only native to the lands fringing the Atlantic, so they were unknown to early botanists in the Greek and Mediterranean world. The bluebell is native to Britain, but it's not mentioned much in early herbals because of the early herbalists modelling their work on classical writings.

Historically, the bluebell is more than merely ornamental. The bulb was used to make glue, and since the bulbs contain starch, they were used to help stiffen the ruffs of Elizabethans.
Tomorrow, technology permitting, I am blogging at the Harlequin Historical Author Blog speculating on what (other than bread) might have been cooked in a Tudor bread oven.

Royal Romance Writing Workshop

2011-04-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

My editor and I will be going to Fulham Library next week to give a Royal Romance Writing Workshop. Here is the link to Fulham Library - there's a map showing the location.
The workshop is on Tuesday 19th April, it starts at 5.00 pm and will end at approximately 7.30.
Bring pens and paper and lots of ideas - there will be work to do!

Her Banished Lord...

2011-04-01T02:24:00.000-07:00

UK Cover

Cover Blurb

Claimed by the Norman Count
Hugh Duclair, Count de Freyncourt, has been accused of sedition, stripped of his title and banished from all of King William's land. Proud and determined, Hugh vows to clear his name!
Childhood friend Lady Aude de Crevecoeur offers her help - but how far will she go? Should she risk her reputation and her life, or save her reputation and become Hugh's wife? Turbulent times call for passionate measures...

Excerpt

'Hugh, what are you doing?' She thumped her fist on his chest, scandalised. Hugh liked baiting her, but this was ridiculous.
    A large hand reached for her, it whispered across her cheek. Her hood was pushed back. They were kneeling facing each other. On her bed. Because of the lack of height Hugh had to stoop his head, and it brought his lips very close to hers.
    Despite the poor light, everything snapped into sharp focus. Hugh's eyes were very dark, his expression arrested.
    'Hugh?'
    She could hear their breathing; she could hear the mutter of voices in the hall and the soft hiss of rain in the mud outside. Time seemed to slow.
    His hand slid round the back of her neck and carefully, eyes never leaving hers, he brought her closer.
    'Hugh, you really should not have climbed in here.' Aude's thoughts raced. She was an umnarried lady and her reputation here in England was unsullied. It simply was not done for a lady to have a man in her bed - even though he was her brother's friend and it was perfectly innocent.
    Hugh smiled.

US Cover

Her Banished Lord is coming out in Italy as Il Conte Bandito! Her Banished Lord is the fifth and final novel in the Wessex Weddings mini-series that looks at events in England and France after the Norman Conquest. I love the new title. Il Conte Bandito has been given a great new cover too:

This is the Italian blurb:

Wessex, 1071

L'affascinante Conte Hugh Duclair, accusato di alto tradimento, viene privato dei suoi possedimenti e bandito dal regno di Re Guglielmo d'Inghilterra, ma con orgoglio e determinazione è pronto a tutto pur di far valere la propria innocenza. Un'amica d'infanzia, l'intrepida Aude de Crèvecoeur, non esita a offrirgli un valido aiuto, fino al punto di rischiare la reputazione. Unica soluzione potrebbe essere quella di sposarsi per salvare le apparenze. E magari finalmente coronare un amore che dura in segreto da anni.

Romance in Medieval Byzantium...

2011-03-17T03:58:00.000-07:00

This is a brief post to say that my second Byzantine romance has been accepted! I am over the moon. Ideas for the story jumped into my head whilst I was writing Bound to the Barbarian. Originally I had planned to write two Byzantine novels, but now it looks as though there may be three Palace Brides (fingers crossed). The title has not yet been decided, I will post again when I know.

Above is a plan of the Imperial Palace in Contantinople around the time of the novels. Seeing this plan really helped when envisioning the novels. (Source: Wikipedia)

Walk Near Basildon Park...

2011-03-15T03:07:00.000-07:00

At the week-end we got away to the country for a break. (I had been finishing my revisions and had got to the stage where a change of scene was necessary as I couldn't 'see' the manuscript any more). Basildon Park is where they shot part of the Keira Knightly/Matthew Macfadyen Pride and Prejudice (2005) so of course we had to go into the house too. It is a National Trust property and there's a small exhibition about the shooting of the film. This costume is on display.

And here is another view of the exterior of the house foregrounded by daffodils.

The country air seemed to do the trick, as I have sent the mansucript of another Byzantine novel (medieval) off to my editor. Fingers crossed!

Polo - Game for Princes, Warriors and...?

2011-02-01T00:08:00.000-08:00

Polo was played in medieval Byzantium, you can see the polo ground on the bottom right of the plan of the Great Palace.

In earlier centuries, polo wasn't just played in Byzantium. The beautiful wall painting above shows Tang Dynasty courtiers playing polo in 706 AD. It was found on the walls of a prince's tomb, which is a bit gloomy, but the players look so alive! This next one is a girl player. This is also an 8th century Tang Dynasty piece.

Recently, were were on a walk through several English villages in the Lambourne Valley - Great Shefford, East Garston, Eastbury. We saw hoofprints well before the horses. It had been raining, the track was muddy, but the prints hadn't been washed away. Perhaps because I had been thinking about polo ponies, I couldn't help notice the variation in the size of the hoofprints. It reminded me that medieval horses were often a good deal smaller than the horses we see today. And today, polo ponies are small.

In medieval Byzantium, polo was played by cavalry officers as a training exercise as much as for pleasure, though I am sure that many of the officers would be wagering on the outcome. In the capital of Constantinople polo matches could take place either in the grounds of the Imperial Palace where there was a polo field or even in the Hippodrome, where entertainments were put on for the citizens. Horses come in many different sizes, so their shoes obviously must be individually made. But what I had forgotten was that the shoes must also be fit for their particular task. In Eastbury we came across a disused forge, and nailed to the door were the shoes of some of the horses that had been shod there.These are racing shoes, and they are made in lightweight metal alloy, to help the horses speed along. They look nothing like the medieval horsehoes in heavy iron that you can see (below) in the Weald and Downland Museum.

Carousel in a Cafe...

2011-01-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

On a recent trip to Paris - part research, part pleasure - we came across this cafe in the Place du Tertre in Montmartre. There was a definite fairground atmosphere, here's the ceiling above our table...

This horse was dangling overhead, it must have been taken from a dismantled carousel. All very Bohemian!

Luckily we had faith that it wasn't going to fall, and we ate our lunch without mishap.

Twelfth Night Cake...

2011-01-04T04:36:00.000-08:00

Apparently the 4th January is the day for baking a Twelfth Night Cake. I've put the recipe for the most ENORMOUS cake here on the eHarlequin Historical Authors' Blog

Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar - Grand Prizewinner!

2010-12-23T10:35:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our Grand Prize Winner of a Kindle 3G and an assortment of Harlequin Historical ebooks...

The Grand Prizewinner is JEANNE M!

Watch your mailbox, Jeanne, you are about to receive a Kindle!

Many thanks to all our entrants for making this contest so much fun.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

The Harlequin Historical Authors

Garland in a Tudor Hall & Medieval Shopping...

2010-12-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

This is last year's Christmas Garland at Cotehele. It is made of flowers and is a real work of art. Sadly, we didn't get to Cornwall to see this year's garland, but I am posting last year's on the blog because you can see most of the hall and it's very evocative of many late medieval halls. A fire would be blazing in the huge fireplace, logs would spit and crackle. You can also see the displays of arms on the walls - they were decorated with sprays of leaves and berries. As were the doorways.

Below is a picture taken from the Weald and Downland Museum. The building on the left is a reconstructed market hall. In this area of the museum, the buildings have been laid out as (part of) a medieval street. Wooden shutters would close up the shops at night.

Today it's Ann Lethbridge's day on the Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar, so don't forget to check out her page!

Christmas Deliveries...

2010-12-16T01:04:00.000-08:00

This little van stands outside a tea shop near us. Below is a picture of some of the cakes in the shop window. I don't think the van is used any more, but I like to imagine it whizzing around doing the Christmas deliveries. (These pics were posted on eharlequin yesterday, they are so cheerful, I thought I would put them up here too).

Please could May Chan get in touch, so that I can make my Christmas delivery and send her her prize!

Happy Christmas!

And today - am editing this on the 19th now - it's Blythe Gifford's turn on the Advent Calendar...

Also, I understand there were internet problems yesterday with Georgina Devon's day, so do check out her site today, if you couldn't get through then.

My Competition has ended....

2010-12-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much to all the entrants, the response has been wonderful! Part of the point of this promotion was to attempt to engage with potential readers, and I appreciate your efforts. It's helpful to know why a book appeals and the themes that interest everyone.

Here are the two winners, drawn from the correct entries:

1 Deb H

2 May Chan

Congratulations Deb and May Chan! I have emailed Deb H for her mailing address, as her email was on the entry. May Chan, please could you let me have your address (click on the comments link to tell me, I won't publish your email address!)
Thanks so much, everyone!

And now it's December 15th, so it's Deb Hale's turn on the Advent Calendar! (I've just noticed, that's another Deb H - how weird!)

December 14th!

2010-12-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Carol Townend door opens on the Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar today!   Two entrants have the chance to win a signed copy of my medieval romance Her Banished Lord, plus their choice of one of the other Wessex Weddings stories. All correct entries will also have a chance at the Grand Prize of a Kindle 3G to be drawn on December 23rd.

For your chances to win, read this excerpt from Her Banished Lord and answer three questions.

Q 1: How old is the heroine?
Q 2: What is her brother's first name?
Q 3: If you win, which other Wessex Wedding story would you like me to send to you, and why?
         Details of these titles are here: The Novice Bride
                                                           An Honourable Rogue
                                                           His Captive Lady
                                                           Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord

Please post your answers using the comments link below. Good luck!

This competition closes for entries at midnight on December 14th, UK time.   Winners will be announced on this blog on December 15th!

On December 23rd, a random drawing from among all 22 authors' entries will determine the Grand Prize winner of a Kindle 3-G. Please see the official eligibility rules for this giveaway.

Happy Holidays from the Harlequin Historical Authors!

Goodreads Draw...

2010-12-11T01:18:00.000-08:00

The recent Goodreads draw for copies of Her Banished Lord has just ended - this is to let the winners know that I am posting their copies today. Please bear in mind that the books are being sent from the UK, and what with the Christmas post, they may take a little longer than usual!

Also, don't forget to click on Day 11 on the Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar where it's Joanne Rock's day...

The Winchester Christmas Market 2010...

2010-12-07T01:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures as promised. I'm also blogging today on eharlequin at eHarlequin Historical Author Blog where there are more photos. The Winchester Christmas Market is a wonderful place to do Christmas shoppping. As you can see, the stalls were set up in the square behind the Cathedral.

We found lots of presents and drank spicy mulled wine while watching the ice-skaters. Well, it was VERY cold! We also went into the Cathedral. There are angels on the ceiling:

And stars in the medieval floor tiles:

This is the crypt:

After the bustle of the market, it was lovely and peaceful in the Cathedral. There are underground rivers beneath Winchester, one runs very close to the Cathedral and features in Her Banished Lord.

On another note, today is Day 7 of the Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar - which means it's Barbara Monajem's day! Click on this link to visit her site: Barbara Monajem

The Winchester Christmas Fair...

2010-12-06T01:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas shopping at the Winchester Christmas Fair is great fun - we found some gorgeous presents and had a glass of mulled wine while watching the ice-skaters! Later we went inside the Cathedral and I found myself looking at images of angels, I have photos of some of them and will try and post them tomorrow. Am head down with the revisions today.

And it's day 6 of the Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar which means that Deb Marlowe's door opens. Visit her site for a chance at her prizes and to be put in the Grand Draw for a Kindle 3G!

Also don't forget the book giveaway at Goodreads for Her Banished Lord runs until December 11th.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Her Banished Lord

by Carol Townend

Giveaway ends December 11, 2010.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Door 5 Opens on the Advent Calendar...

2010-12-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

Today it's the day of Elizabeth Rolls, a copy of her book is the prize for one winner of the question on her website. (If you like animals, this one's for you!) The link is here: Elizabeth Rolls. Entry also gives you a chance at the Grand Prize of a Kindle 3G.

Medieval Romance Giveaway at Goodreads...

2010-11-30T01:12:00.000-08:00

To enter, please click on the link below:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Her Banished Lord

by Carol Townend

Giveaway ends December 11, 2010.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Follow the Harlequin Historical Authors' Advent Calendar - Prizes!

2010-11-28T01:45:00.000-08:00

Michelle Willingham, one of the Harlequin Historical Authors dreamed up the idea of a Harlequin Historical Advent Calendar. Jeannie Lin designed it and here it is!

On each day in December (up to the 22nd) one of the authors will be posting a giveaway/hunt on her web or blog. To participate, go to the author of the day, either click on the small calendar above or find separate links to each author below.

Competition Rules here

December 1st - Lynna Banning

December 2nd - Annie Burrows

December 3rd - Charlene Sands

December 4th - Jeannie Lin

December 5th- Elizabeth Rolls

December 6th- Deb Marlowe

December 7th -Barbara Monajem

December 8th - Terri Brisbin

December 9th- Diane Gaston

December 10th- Joanne Rock

December 11th- Emily May

December 12th - Blythe Gifford

December 13th- Cheryl St John

December 14th - Carol Townend

December 15th- Deborah Hale

December 16th - Amanda McCabe

December 17th- Michelle Willingham

December 18th - Georgina Devon

December 19th - Julia Justiss

December 20th - Michelle Styles

December 21st - Ann Lethbridge

December 22nd - Denise Lynn

December 23rd - Grand Prize Draw!

December 24th - Christmas Eve

December 25th - Christmas Day

The smaller calendar you will find at the very top of this blogsite during the month of December has live links to each author of the day

Have fun!

Notes: From December 1st you will find also the calendar here http://harlequinblog.com/2010/11/a-harlequin-historical-advent-calendar/, as well as on the individual author sites. Each day, click on the name of author assigned to that date on the calendar (the list is on this blog below the picture of the Calendar) to visit the host author's website. You can win prizes such as signed books, gift certificates, and holiday goodies.

You will be asked to complete a task, such as posting a blog comment, searching for a hidden ornament, or answering a question about an excerpt. Please check the author's web page for your instructions and to see what the daily prize is. You can enter once each day, at each of the twenty-two websites.
On December 23rd, a random drawing from among all 22 authors' entries will determine the grand prize winner of a Kindle 3-G. Please see the official eligibility rules for this giveaway.
Happy Holidays from the Harlequin Historical Authors!

Each participating author has an activity planned on their website for their special day. You may be asked to comment on a blog, find an ornament, or visit a Facebook page. For each day you participate, your name will be entered into the Grand Prize drawing. At the end of the month on December 23, one day from the calendar will be randomly selected. One of the entrants from that selected day will be randomly selected to win the Kindle. The more days you visit, the better your chances!

Bound to the Barbarian - Covers and Excerpt

2010-11-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

This widget shows the UK paperback of Bound to the Barbarian. Click on the browse button to read an excerpt. The US cover is at the bottom of the post.

Cover blurb

Palace Brides - Byzantine Beauties, Claimed by Warriors

Out of her depth and into his arms…

Sold into slavery, maidservant Katerina promised one day to repay the Princess who rescued her. Now that time has come, and Katerina must convince commanding warrior Ashfirth Saxon that she is her royal mistress.

Spending balmy days and long sultry nights with this man make Katerina’s task increasingly impossible. How long will she be able to keep up her deception? And how long before she finds herself willingly bedded by this proud barbarian?

Shorter Excerpt

She eyed him from under her lashes, her gaze skimming over him from the top of that dark head, down past those arresting blue eyes, past those high cheekbones and well-sculpted mouth, past that strong jaw...Goodness, he was a handsome man. She only had to look at him and her cheeks were on fire!

Impersonating the Princess had flung her deep into uncharted waters. She was utterly out of her depth here in more ways than one. Surely he could sense it? Her hand was shaking so much she was likely to tip wine over her gown. Does he know that I am quaking inside? Does he suspect that I am misleading him?

Will I be safe if he learns the truth?

A new thought caught her by surprise. For the first time in an age, Katerina was not sure she wanted to be safe.

If you'd like a glimpse into some of my research files, please click on the Byzantine Research label below this post.
And here is the US Cover (February 2012)

November evening light...

2010-11-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

Today the weather has been miserable, so I thought I would post a more cheery picture taken at the end of a walk last week-end instead. The sun was going down, the shadows were long, and the country near Box Hill (Surrey) was gorgeous. We had just walked to a nearby medieval church. (St Martha's-on-the-Hill). St Martha was the sister of Mary and Lazarus. Her church dates from the twelfth century and lies on the Pilgrim's Way.

Blogging at eHarlequin...and celebratory walk

2010-11-02T04:01:00.000-07:00

There is a brief blog on eHarlequin today... Harlequin Historicals Group Author Blog about a visit to the village of Hambleden and the church of St Mary's. This picture is the painted church ceiling above the choir, you can see Tudor roses. In medieval and Tudor times, most church interiors were brightly painted. The plain walls and wooden carvings we see today are much duller than they were originally.

The church font is said to be twelfth century, though it might be from the original Saxon church. My picture hasn't come out that well, you can just about make out the dove in the patterns on the side.

And the reason for the celebratory walk? I had just submitted a draft of my second Byzantine novel to my editor...

The River of Time...

2010-10-05T01:16:00.000-07:00

I am blogging today at eHarlequin about a visit to Cornwall. Here are some of the pictures I couldn't get on that blog! This one is oyster beds on the River Fal, you can see how wooded the riverbank is.

Below is Smugglers' Inn at Tolverne, where General Eisenhower planned the Normandy D Day landings.

This sign can be found on the way to the inn at the edge of the road.

And here are a couple of the 'ghost' cargo ships that are lying in the deep waters of the river, waiting out the recession.

The blog is about rivers and stories because Her Banished Lord is just released on eHarlequin. Her Banished Lord is a novel which opens with the help of the river at Jumieges in France, and it ends with the help of a river in Winchester...

New German Edition...

2010-09-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

Leaves on the Wind is being reissued by Cora as In den Handen der Normannen! It was originally published in the UK in 1990. The new edition is a duo with Elizabeth Henshall's, Verrat des Herzens. It is published on 5th October.

This is the new cover:

And because the changes in cover fashions are interesting, this is the original German cover (from 1991):

And this is the other German edition, (I think it's 1993).

Don't let the plot get in the way of the story...

2010-09-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

The Mills & Boon search for New Voices goes on! Here is a link to a page with great writing tips and interviews with some of the editors...
Romance is not dead.com, top tips

Toll-gate Reconstruction

2010-09-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Above is an early nineteenth century toll cottage. It is one of the Weald & Downland reconstructed buildings and there is a little more about it at eHarlequin today: http://community.eharlequin.com/content/toll-gate-reconstructed
I am going to try and get the picture of the toll charges to show here. (It wouldn't show on eharlequin because I can't downsize the photo, due to my email not working!)

Harlequin Historicals Author blog launched!

2010-09-08T02:42:00.000-07:00

The new blog for the Harlequin Historical line has gone live. Yesterday Deborah Hale posted and today Louise Allen is talking about elopement! Here's the link: Authors' Blog for Harlequin Historicals

Charlecote Park

2010-09-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken at the week-end when my husband and I escaped London for a walk near Charlecote Park. The weather was VERY changeable, at one moment pouring rain, and the next blazing sunshine. We got thoroughly soaked. Twice. Below is a picture of the gatehouse. The Lucy family (they came over with William the Conqueror) have owned the land since 1247. The gatehouse is not medieval though, like the main house, it's Tudor.

This is the garden (more of a terrace, really) overlooking the River Avon. I love the patterns the little box borders make with their heart-shaped infils of bright flowers.

And, since I am currrently interested in bread ovens, here is one in the main house. (Not medieval!) And below that is a picture of an old cooking range, I am not sure of the date of the range, but it looks Victorian.

We saw lots of fallow deer in the park on our walk and naturally, they weren't the least bothered by the rain. Most of the time they were too far away for any picture to come out properly but I was able to take this final one because there was a small stream between us and the deer. They knew they were safe. There is a story about William Shakespeare poaching deer from this park, but I don't think it's reliable...

Marriage of Medieval and Modern...

2010-08-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

Making Bread with wholemeal flour ground at the Lurgashall Mill
The first attempt worked, the loaf rose well and tasted lovely. (I am using modern technology - ie a bread machine.) However when we bought the flour, we were advised not to use 100% wholemeal, but to blend it with strong white flour. So the second loaf was made using two thirds wholemeal and one third strong white flour. This was not quite such a success. The dough rose, but fell back, and it has a big dint in the top!! Perhaps I should have put a Vitamin C tablet in; perhaps there wasn't enough salt. Since I am 'cheating' by using a bread machine, I am well aware that I am not really a loaf-kneader in the Anglo-Saxon sense! Will have another try at a loaf using blended flours, and if it doesn't come right, will revert to the 100% wholemeal. If anyone has any suggestions as to improve the blended loaf, please say...

Medieval Cottage

2010-08-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

This cottage can be seen at the Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton. It's a reconstruction of the remains of two cottages excavated in Hangleton. The cottages were probably built in the 13th Century and abandoned in the 15th. Inside, there is a main room with an open hearth, the smoke would wind up through the roof. There is also an inner room with an oven. It is a reminder that for most people, life in the early medieval period would be pretty basic. The cottage is made from flint; and the hearth in the main room consisted simply of clay tiles, laid on their sides and set into the centre of the floor. The cottagers would probably have sat round the fire on wooden stools.

The roof of this medieval cottage has been thatched with straw, but wooden shingles or turf might have been used. Or even broom or furze.

Below is the oven in the inner room, the whole room was little wider than the oven. I imagine that using an oven like this one must have taken some skill! Burning the cakes must have been all too easy...

Medieval Horseshoes and Her Banished Lord - the US Cover...

2010-08-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

This picture is of some of the oldest horseshoes in England. It was taken at the Weald & Downland Museum and I wish I had used something to show the scale. The oldest of the horseshoes, the one on the top left is thought to be 10th or 11th century and it is tiny. In fact all of the horseshoes in the medieval display looked very small in comparison to modern ones.

Below is the cover for the US Harlequin Direct edition of Her Banished Lord which will be available from the eHarlequin website. The official publication date is November 2010.

Weald & Downland Open Air Museum

2010-08-08T03:48:00.000-07:00

The buildings at the Weald & Downland are real historic buildings that have been rescued, taken to pieces and lovingly reconstructed. It's a wonderful museum, very evocative, with a thirteenth century cottage and a medieval hall. But it's not all medieval, there are Tudor kitchens where copper bowls are bubbling ready for laundry and gardens growing herbs and vegetables. One of my favourites is Lurgashall Watermill. The oldest part is probably 17th century, and it was a working mill until the 1930's. It still works! We bought some flour ground there to try out in my bread machine. As you stand in the mill watching the grindstones turn, the whole mill rattles and clacks. There were HUNDREDS of ducks outside, hoping for grain. This picture was taken when picnickers had lured most of the ducks up to the mill pond...

Here is the inside, this shows some of the workings on the spout floor where the finished grain pours into sacks:

And this one is from the next floor up - the stone floor. You can see the hopper where the grain goes into the grindstones. there's a bell which rings when it needs filling, because if the stones were to run dry, there's the risk of sparks which might cause a fire.

Mid-Write Crisis

2010-08-03T02:16:00.000-07:00

It's happened before and it will no doubt happen again, but that doesn't make it any easier. Had got the first half of the novel down (only early draft stage) and suddenly everything ground to a halt. Every time it knocks me for six. The rest of the novel is planned, but NO! it simply isn't going to work. Early drafts are very rough, and in order to continue I have to remind myself it is OK to write rubbish. The problem starts on the read-through. What is this mess I have spent months over? What am I doing? One solution is to go back to the beginning and polish the earlier parts. But I also know that before I do this I must have some idea of where the characters are going. It was all sketched out, but some characters have minds of their own. Which doesn't help with the mid-write crisis.

Search For New Voices

2010-07-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

Mills & Boon have launched a competition - they are searching for new voices for their lines. The website for further details is here: romanceisnotdead.com It's a Four Stage competition and the idea for Stage One is that you get writing Chapter One so it is ready to upload on the website by September 6th...Good luck!

Mills & Boon Talk on Page-turning Quality

2010-07-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

The RNA Conference at Greenwich was wonderful, to date I have been to three RNA Conferences and this was unquestionably the best so far. There were so many interesting talks and speakers, the only headache was picking out which of the talks to go to!

Here is a brief summary of one of the Mills & Boon talks.
Mills & Boon’s Executive Editor Tessa Shapcott introduced Sally Williamson and Carly Corcoran for their talk on:

Increasing Your Page-Turning Quality For a 21st Century Audience

Sally and Carly gave an overview of the Romantic Fiction Market. Key points are that 20.5% of fiction books bought retail are romantic fiction. Websites like Amazon mean readers have every book available at their fingertips. E-books are a large growth area, with more e-readers are being bought every day. You can now read on mobile phones, and then there is the Ipad – appealing new technology focussed on reading.

Five Basic Elements that women look for in Romantic Fiction…
Readers are busy, they need quick-fix entertainment that is easy to get hold of. They look for escapism – a complete other world, they want believable, empathetic characters to engage their emotions, and a fast-paced storyline. And, of course, a satisfying ending!

How is this achieved in Series Romance? With new twists on classic themes! Study the various series; each line has something different to offer readers. What emotional issues have you seen handled in new/interesting ways?

Examples of 21st Century emotional issues/themes…
• IVF/Designer baby eg Their Newborn Gift, by Nikki Logan
• Choice mum – freezing eggs, sperm donors
• Work/life balance
• Online dating/social networking
• Infidelity
• Heroine as boss or wealthier than hero
• Controversial health issue eg anorexia, or domestic abuse from both sides

Innovate, don’t imitate! Think about your latest story idea…does it fall into the cliché trap? How can you put a fresh spin on it?

The Heroine…
• Readers should want to walk in her shoes
• She is inspirational but relatable
• Her hopes and dreams/fears and insecurities should chime with readers
• She doesn’t have to be perfect – M & B heroines can have bad hair days!
• She can be the boss, or the PA, the surgeon or the nurse
• She is independent, and has strength of character
• She doesn’t need a man to rescue her – but he’ll make the journey more fun!

The Hero…
• He is successful and wealthy
• He is driven, he knows what – and who – he wants and how to get it!
• He has integrity and honour
• He answers only to himself!
• He is dangerously attractive
But he’s…
• Tameable
• Not a chauvinist – he encourages the heroine to spread her wings
• In touch with his emotions
• A family man – he’ll change the baby and pick the kids up from school!

A snappy opening chapter is vital. Know your hero and heroines and get them together ASAP; keep the focus on the developing romance. Give readers a tantalising taste of the emotional conflict and get the sparks of attraction flying! Backstory should be unfolded gradually. Use dialogue – let characters speak for themselves. Keep minor characters to a minimum and end on a climax – leave readers wanting more!

Three Things to Remember…
• Commercial awareness of the Romance market is crucial
• Women want the same in their romances, but presented in a new way
• Keep your finger on the pulse – innovate, don’t imitate!

1000 titles for Harlequin Historical!

2010-07-07T02:13:00.000-07:00

Linda Fildew, the Senior Editor for the historical line, talks about Harlequin and historical romance on the Harlequin Blog: http://harlequinblog.com/2010/07/1000-harlequin-historicals-decades-of-delicious-romance/#comments
Linda mentions that 2,000 years of history is covered by the line, and there are examples of some fabulous older covers!

New Medieval Castle in France!

2010-06-30T02:27:00.000-07:00

An architectural experiment is being undertaken deep in a forest in France. A new castle is being built - to precise medieval specifications. The castle, Chateau de Guedelon, is being constructed using only authentic materials, even the nails are made by hand, as they would have been at the time. Notwithstanding this, workers on the project felt that the castle had no 'soul' - to overcome this, they have invented a fictional feudal lord, Seigneur Guilbert.
A case of fiction bringing architecture to life?

More details about this project can be found here at:
BBC News: France's New Medieval Castle

Saxon Queen Eadgyth find confirmed...

2010-06-17T02:01:00.000-07:00

Science and history combine here to confirm the earliest find of an English royal. The bones of a Saxon Queen (she was grandaughter of the Saxon King of Wessex, King Alfred) have been found in Germany at Madgeburg Cathedral. She married Otto 1, the Holy Roman Emperor in 929. Queen Eadgyth died in 946 at about the age of 36. Testing of her bones has found that the Queen had drunk water in Wessex in her childhood, she had a good diet, eating a lot of fish (thus indicating her high status) and that she rode a lot. Horses were very expensive so that too is another indicator of her rank. The full details are here.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/10332975.stm

Blogging at the Pink Heart Society today...

2010-06-03T04:51:00.000-07:00

My current tbr pile is the topic at the Pink Heart Society today. Here's the link: http://www.pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com/

More about Her Banished Lord

2010-05-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

Characters really can dictate novels. Her Banished Lord is the fifth (and final) romance in the Wessex Weddings series and it is one of those novels I didn’t originally plan on writing. It was sparked by a scene in the previous novel, Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord. When Lady Aude de Crevecoeur walks into the Great Hall at Beaumont Castle, she is mourning her first fiancé. She has been betrothed to another lord with indecent haste - she does not dislike her new fiancé, but it is a political alliance and Aude has not been given the time she needs to complete her mourning.

As soon as Aude walked into that hall, she begged me to tell her story. In Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord, Aude doesn’t have much to say - she is all quiet dignity in that novel. She had her secrets though, and she wouldn't let me rest until I had unearthed them. She also had a bone to pick with me, she wanted her own happy ending. Aude was right, of course. It simply wasn't fair to give her so many fiancés and not find the love she wanted.

One reader has remarked that both the hero and heroine of this novel are Norman French – this was yet another thing I didn’t plan when I set out to write this book, but it felt right. The Wessex Weddings novels take place in England and France shortly after the Norman Conquest. The first novel is set in 1066 and each consecutive novel takes us further on in time, until with this book, Her Banished Lord, we reach 1071. By 1071 the Normans had a firm grip on England. What was left of the Anglo-Saxon nobility was being edged (or pushed) to the side. Thus my Norman heroine is able to come to claim her new lands in England, and see if she can make a life for herself there.

Cover Blurb:

Claimed by the Norman Count

Hugh Duclair, Count de Freyncourt, has been accused of sedition, stripped of his title and banished from all of King William's land. Proud and determined, Hugh vows to clear his name!

Childhood friend Lady Aude de Crevecoeur offers her help - but how far will she go? Should she risk her reputation and her life, or save her reputation and become Hugh's wife? Turbulent times call for passionate measures...

Photos from my research files:
Hugh and Aude's story begins in Normandy in Jumieges. The river Seine flows by Jumieges and it plays a dramatic part in temporarily reuniting them. Here is a view of the river at Jumieges - the next few pictures were taken in 2008 on a visit there.

And here is the Abbey. In the novel, Aude stays in a lodge in the Abbey...

Here, pigeons are flying round one of the bell-towers...

Lewis Carroll

2010-05-01T01:19:00.000-07:00

This article was first published in Writing Magazine in August-September 1998. As with the other articles, it has been lightly revised. Copyright Carol Townend.

Readers today coming to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871) for the first time might expect them to be merely quaint, old-fashioned Victorian children’s stories, but closer studies reveals them to be genuinely quirky - eccentric, fascinating and unforgettable. Lewis Carroll died a century ago having written two of the most extraordinary children’s books in the language. Today they are an industry with Macmillan (Carroll’s original publisher) producing full-colour editions, black and white editions, centenary editions, pop-up books, party books and so on. There is now a Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter. There are over seventy different versions of the Alice books in this country alone plus Alice Companions, Lewis Carroll biographies, play texts, parodies, a Latin edition, compilations of Carroll’s letters...

What was unusual about the books was that they were hailed as classics from the outset. Their success came as a surprise to all, not least to their author - the shy, bookish Oxford lecturer in Mathematics whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. (1832 - 1898). One of the reasons put forward to explain the success of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass was that unlike most children’s books of the period they did not set out to moralise. The tales of Alice were stories without strings and, in writing them, Carroll gave children permission to read for no other purpose than enjoyment. At a time when strict discipline went hand in hand with education and when learning by rote was a standard teaching method, Lewis Carroll’s delight in words and word-games for their own sake instantly attracted both adults and children alike.

Lewis Carroll, the retiring bachelor don, understood children and befriended many, particularly the daughters of his friends. He corresponded with these children regularly and his sympathetic understanding shines through the letters. Here, he writes to Agnes Hull on that bane of a child’s life, the subject of forgetting. Reading between the lines Agnes must be a less than perfect correspondent, but Carroll does not chastise her; instead he writes:
Christ Church, Oxford
December 10, 1877
My Dear Agnes,
At last I’ve succeeded in forgetting you!
It’s been a very hard job, but I took 6 ‘lessons in forgetting,’ at half-a-crown a lesson. After three lessons, I forgot my own name, and I forgot to go to the next lesson. So the Professor said I was getting on very well...
The Selected Letters: Papermac 1996
By reversing Agnes’s expectations regarding all that lessons imply (having knowledge drilled into her) Carroll gets his point across (‘Why haven’t you written to me?’) in a humorous way.

Each of the letters written to his young friends reveals a real relationship developed with a particular individual. There’s no preachy Victorian moralising and, more importantly, Carroll never talks down to his young friends. He uses language and word- play he knows they will appreciate, but without patronising them.

Here is another example showing the inventiveness of the imagination behind the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. This letter is addressed to Mary MacDonald, daughter of the writer George MacDonald whose most well-known work is the children’s story The Princess and the Goblin (1872).
Christ Church, Oxford
May 23, 1864
My Dear Child,
Its been so frightfully hot here that I’ve been almost too weak to hold a pen, and even if I had been able to, there was no ink - it had evaporated into a cloud of black steam, and in that state . it has been floating about the room, inking the walls and ceiling till they’re hardly fit to be seen: today it is cooler, and a little has come back into the ink-bottle in the form of black snow - there will soon be enough for me to write and order those photographs your Mamma wants.
From The Selected Letters of Lewis Carroll: Papermac 1996
‘Black Snow’ is another typical Carroll inversion. This letter was written after Alice in Wonderland had been told to Alice Liddell at the memorable river picnic, and before Carroll had developed his most topsy-turvy work Through the Looking-Glass. But the eccentric cast of mind and tendency to look at the world from odd angles is very much in evidence.

Children are naturally curious, and play - both physical and mental - is their way of learning about the world. With their freshness of vision children can appreciate a pun that will wring a groan from an adult who has heard it or something similar a million times before.
‘It sounds like a horse,’ Alice thought to herself And an extremely small voice, close to her ear said, ‘you might make a joke on that - something about ‘horse’ and ‘hoarse you know.’
From Through the Looking-Glass

In the Alice stories Lewis Carroll has taken his instinctive understanding, and fictionalised it. For example, he knows that children often feel incredibly small: they live in a land of giants (adults) and even confident children are liable to be overwhelmed by the power of their emotions. Carroll also knows that a child’s ego is just as liable to be inflated as it is to be deflated. After expanding and contracting a number of times Alice eventually finds herself (temporarily) at a convenient size, but she’s swimming in a pool of salt water:
However she soon made out that she was in the pool of tears which she had wept when she was nine feet high.
‘I wish I hadn’t cried so much!’ said Alice as she swam about, trying to find her way out. ‘I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears!’
From Through the Looking Glass
Children’s minds tend to be more flexible than adults since their perceptions are constantly changing and evolving as their physical size alters. The Alice stories show them the world from new, mind-expanding angles, and Alice’s high-speed size-changes not only echo the growing that the children are doing, they also open the mind to alternative ways of seeing and thinking.

In his Alice stories Carroll’s extraordinary imagination encourages children (and adults) to view the world with ‘eyes of wonder’. His viewpoint is individual and eccentric. Quirky rather than quaint, Lewis Carroll’s Alice books remain popular precisely because they value the innocent, creative eye of the child in us all.

Publications of interest:
Alice Adventures in Wonderland
Through the Looking-Glass
Several editions include the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel.
The Selected Letters of Lewis Carroll ed. by Morton N. Cohen: Papermac (1982). Dodgson wrote and received thousands of letters of which four thousand remain. They give many insights into his life and the genesis of the Alice stories.
Wordsworth publish The Complete Illustrated Lewis Carroll which includes verses, puzzles, acrostics and ‘other comic writings’ and Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations.
Alice with commentary:
The classic edition is Martin Gardner’s Annotated Alice - Penguin (1970)
For another slant on the text see The Alice Companion by Jo Elwyn Jones and J Francis Gladstone which posits intriguing origins for scenes like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party — Macmillan (1998).
Copyright Carol Townend

Preview of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Help! Converting Scanned Articles...

2010-04-28T03:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I could do this. But no. Admittedly, this is the first time I have tried since getting my new computer but now for some reason I can't seem to convert the scan to Word in order to edit it. If anyone has any suggestions they would be VERY welcome!
In the meantime, here is a picture of the Yorkshire Dales in April - as you can see on the day of our visit it was glorious...

Bound to the Barbarian

2010-04-22T02:03:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned working on a medieval romance set in 11th century Byzantium. It's called Bound to the Barbarian and tells the story of an Anglo-Saxon warrior who commands the Emperor's personal guard (the Varangian Guard) in Constantinople. I met my editor for lunch in Richmond, did a few more revisions for her, and I'm thrilled because last week it was accepted! It will be out first in the UK at the end of 2010.

Hopefully it will be the first of three in a mini series, the title and strap-line of which is:

Palace Brides

Beauties of Byzantium, Claimed by Warriors!

Below is a plan of the Imperial Palace in medieval Constantinople. At the bottom, by the blue section you can just about make out that the Boukoleon Palace must have had a marvellous view of the Sea of Marmara.

And here is a Byzantine lion which must be similar to the ones that decorated the quays in the Imperial Harbour, which adjoined the Boukoleon Palace...

I don't think the lions in the Imperial Harbour would have had their paws on a marker-stone though!

Finally, here's a picture of me standing in front of what is left of the Hippodrome in Istanbul. You can see lines of Roman brick in the stonework. The Hippodrome was the great arena used by Byzantines for staging public events such as theatre, chariot races, horse-racing, dancing and even executions...

A wonderful reconstruction of the Hippodrome in all its glory can be seen here. It gives some idea of the sheer size of it.

The Trouble with Sutton Hoo...

2010-04-12T02:55:00.000-07:00

The trouble with visiting Sutton Hoo is that is a little too inspiring. We have been here before and each time you go you notice something new. The helmet is the most dramatic of the finds, this picture is a replica of it.

It might have been a ceremonial helmet, but whatever its use, it would have been daunting to come face to face with someone wearing it! Below is a picture of the interior of the great ship as it might have looked with the warrior buried inside. There was no trace of any skeleton, which could have been dissolved by the acid in the soil, or perhaps the warrior was lost at sea. In the replica of the ship, you can see the warrior's helmet and his shield and weapons. There are gaming counters; cauldrons and buckets; a beaver bag with a lyre inside it, food, drinking cups, and eveb a whetstone topped by a beautiful stag finial....

Currently I'm working on a novel set in eleventh century Byzantium, and what struck me on this visit was the fact that some of the silver in these grave goods came from Constantinople. If this grave really did belong to Raedwald, trading with Byzantium was clearly going on - in the seventh century!

Perhaps one day, it might be interesting to write a novel set in those times too...

Mother and Child

2010-04-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

When we went for a walk near Oxford and came across this lamb sitting on top of its mum, I couldn't resist sneaking a picture. You really know spring is on the way when the fields fill with lambs.

Here's wishing we all get some sunshine over the Easter weekend!

Temple Church & Knights' Effigies

2010-03-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

Have been meaning to post for awhile, but it's been so busy, what with the RNA lunch last week - which was fabulous! - and then there have been revisions...there's been no time to draw breath! But here are some pictures of the knights' effigies in Temple Church.

Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar in the twelfth century. It is in the Inns of court near the River Thames in London and it's survived many changes, one of the most dramatic being a terrible bombing in the blitz. There's an unusual circular nave, which is where you can find the knights' effigies. One of them belongs to William Marshal, which made me think of Elizabeth Chadwick and her wonderful novel, The Greatest Knight.

Temple Church isn't always open to visitors so you have to pick your time for a visit. You can find out more about Temple Church, including opening times here: http://www.templechurch.com/

Orchids (& other things) in Kew Gardens

2010-02-20T07:21:00.000-08:00

The orchid display in the Princess of Wales conservatory...these are the first photos that I have taken with the camera and downloaded onto the computer.

This chap on the right might have escaped from one of the glass tanks, he was sitting out in the open only a foot away. He didn't seem bothered by anyone. Is he a chameleon? Wasn't sure.

Daphne Du Maurier - Themes & Obsessions

2010-02-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

Daphne Du Maurier's Desk

Photo taken at the Museum at Jamica Inn in Cornwall

Article First Published in Writing Magazine - October 1994
Copyright Carol Townend

This article has been scanned in and lightly revised. I have made another of those resolutions to try and get one on the blog every couple of months...

Themes and obsessions in Daphne Du Maurier’s work

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
This, the opening line of Rebecca is both haunting and elegiac, it sets the mood and tone for the whole novel. The dream-like, unreal quality does not let up until the last page, when the story turns back on itself and the reader is brought full circle by another dream in which the unnamed narrator sees the road to Manderley under a crimson sky.
    The Oxford Companion to English Literature devotes just six and a half lines to Dame Daphne Du Maurier (1906-1989) stating that many of her ‘popular novels and period romances, including her most famous Rebecca, are set in the West Country.’
This is a small entry for an author whose work has given pleasure to millions, and yet an entry which sums up precisely the difficulties Du Maurier felt she faced in gaining acceptance in the literary world.
    In her biography of Daphne Du Maurier, Margaret Forster points out that Du Maurier’s phenomenal success as a bestselling novelist earned her the tag ‘popular’, and the fact that many of her stories are romantic in the Wuthering Heights sense earned her the label ‘romantic’ with a capital R. Ironically, once Du Maurier had earned these tags, her credibility as a writer who had something serious to say was undermined, and literary recognition was slow in coming.
    Du Maurier’s narrative style is descriptive and fluent - easy to read but capable of conveying a powerful sense of atmosphere and menace.    Among her works are Don’t Look Now which was made into an eerie film starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, and The Birds - a short story that became a famous Hitchcock horror.
    The best known of her novels - Jamaica Inn; Rebecca; Frenchman’s Creek; The King’s General; The Scapegoat; The House on the Strand - are all atmospheric, and bristling with tension.
   Of her books, Rebecca has been the most successful, and an examination of its themes helps to understand why it has such a strong resonance for so many people. The themes are unusual, and not all of them are immediately accessible.
    The Rebecca Notebook published by Victor Gollancz, gives a chapter by chapter breakdown of Du Maurier’s workings on the plot of the novel, and in this Du Maurier explains that she wrote Rebecca partly to explore the emotion of jealousy. She was much affected by thoughts of a woman to whom her husband had once been engaged. Would she have been jealous if he had been married before?
    In Rebecca a gauche, inexperienced Cinderella of a girl meets an attractive widower, Maxim de Winter, and marries him, but there is much more to the novel than that. A brief exposition of the plot is needed here:
    The girl (the unnamed narrator from whose viewpoint the book is written, and who at the start of the book is a rich woman’s companion) has been told that de Winter is still grieving over the tragic death of his vivacious and beautiful first wife.
    When the narrator falls in love with de Winter, her self-image is so low that she thinks there is no hope for her, but to her astonishment de Winter proposes. They marry.
    The couple return to his famous ancestral home, Manderley, and there the ‘second Mrs de Winter’ finds herself haunted (not literally, but psychologically) by the ghostly presence of Maxim’s dead wife, Rebecca, and the sinister real presence of the grim housekeeper, Mrs Danvers.
    Superficially, Rebecca has all the ingredients of a gothic romance, of which Jane Eyre is a classic example. There is a dark, moody hero. There is a brooding old house crammed full of secrets on the edge of the rugged Cornish countryside and overlooking the sea. There are also mysterious undercurrents.
    The reader senses that nothing is as it seems, and that the shy, insecure narrator will be unable to cope with the drama and passion that her obsession with the first, dead, Mrs de Winter is sure to stir up.
    As the plot unfolds (and it is beautifully crafted with a couple of stunning twists towards the end) the innocent narrator grows in maturity and self- understanding as she begins to resolve the mystery surrounding Rebecca and her tragic death.
    Initially the narrator’s grasp of her own personality is tenuous. She tells us she is handicapped by a rather desperate gaucherie and filled with an intense desire to please. Her character is largely unformed. She is introverted and extremely susceptible to the will of others.
    Rebecca, by contrast, had been everything the narrator is not. Rebecca, the narrator tells herself, was beautiful. Rebecca was confident. Rebecca was clever; good at organising Manderley and a brilliant and witty hostess. Maxim adored her. The narrator’s inferiority complex runs wild, and she convinces herself that Rebecca must have been a saint.
    Criticism has been levelled at this novel because of the apparent weakness of the main character. But the second Mrs de Winter’s insecurity lies at the heart of the novel. It is vital the narrator should have a shy, introspective nature, otherwise she would not be intimidated and awed by the dead Rebecca.
    In classic gothic novels, the heroine’s life is often threatened physically, while in modern psychological novels, the danger often lurks within the character’s own psyche. Rebecca is a deft blend of the two. The threats to the second Mrs de Winter are real but by the end of the book she discovers that her own personality has been the cause of much of her torment.
    Psychologically Rebecca is perfectly crafted, showing how people are fascinated by those who are their opposites. The second Mrs de Winter is a thinker rather than a doer. She has a passive, introverted personality, and becomes obsessed with the first Mrs de Winter, an extrovert who was everything she was not, and apparently possessed those qualities the narrator covets for herself. Obsession, therefore, is another theme running through the book.
    Rebecca was published in 1938 - well after the great gothic novels of the 18th and 19th centuries - but the book prefigures later psychological thrillers.   The success of Rebecca, and other Du Maurier works with similar themes, has undoubtedly influenced the development of the psychological thriller.
    The idea of characters who become preoccupied with people who possess qualities that they themselves lack, ties in closely with another of Du Maurier’s favourite themes, and one which she tackles almost twenty years later in The Scapegoat. This time it is the need for a character to accept and reconcile opposing and paradoxical sides of his nature that lies at the core of the book.
    Novelists have to be good psychologists, otherwise their characters are not convincing. If the psychology is wrong, then the characters will not sit well in the novel, and we have a jigsaw puzzle where none of the pieces fit.   Du Maurier had an instinctive and acute understanding of psychology; so her characters’ motivations are convincing and her stories ring true.
    When a novelist chooses to write about themes similar to those they have tackled before they do not have to restrict themselves to similar plots - take a look at The Scapegoat.
    The main character in The Scapegoat is John, a responsible but rather lifeless individual who feels he has achieved nothing in life, he is depressed. He has no family, no ties, and feels cut off from his fellows. He meets the Comte Jean de Gué, a charming roué, who is his exact double, and is everything but responsible.
    Jean drugs John, and walks off, effectively stealing John’s life and catapulting him into a new life as Comte Jean de Gué.   The psychological profile of John echoes that of the second Mrs de Winter in that both feel insecure and inadequate.

Some biographies of Dame Daphne Du Maurier:
Margaret Forster: Daphne Du Maurier.
Flavia Leng: Daphne Du Maurier, A Daughter’s Memoir
Martyn Shalicross: The Private World of Daphne Du Maurier

Published in Writing Magazine October 1994
Copyright Carol Townend

View of Bodmin Moor from Jamaica Inn - November 2009

Blackthorn Winter - Cover, Blurb, Excerpt, Reviews

2010-02-05T02:25:00.000-08:00

Blackthorn Winter is the second of the Herevi Sagas. The decades-old feud between the De Ronciers and the Herevis is described in the earlier saga The Stone Rose.

Publisher: Headline
First published: 1993

Cover Blurb

The Breton castle of Huelgastel is not the easiest place to believe yourself the equal of any man, and though Arlette de Roncier tries her utmost to prove herself, the only way she will ever be a worthwhile offspring in her father Count Francois de Roncier's eyes is to make a favourable marriage. But marriage is not what Arlette wants - and especially not on the Count's terms.

In the nearby village of Locmariaquer, Raymond Herevi sits and waits, licking the wounds that de Roncer's men inflicted when they overran his father's manor. Raymond has lost his family and his heritage, and some of his good looks, to de Roncier's thugs and is determined on vengeance.

When Raymond arrives at Huelgastel, disguised as a would-be squire, Arlette immediately catches his eye. Her glossy red hair is a beacon that draws him across France to the Aquitaine where Arlette is to join her betrothed - a man more than three times her age. It seems the situation is ripe for Raymond to gain his revenge...

Warning: This novel has a bittersweet ending! It was inspired by a true story, that of Agnes of Essex. In 1163 Agnes’ father was disgraced and her fiancé, Aubrey de Vere, the first Earl of Oxford, rejected her. Agnes of Essex was shut up in a tower and at length the Church insisted that the marriage took place. Please see the comments box below!

Excerpts

Count Etienne drew himself up to his full height. 'Use what weapon you will girl. There will be no wedding between you and me. I've no use for you. I'll give you a day to pack your belongings. You can take your entourage back to Brittany.'
'I shall not go.'
'Indeed you will.'
The Count's face suffused, just like her father's did when he was angered. It made Arlette's heart quail.
'No, I won't,' she stood firm. She was used to standing firm in the face of a man's fury. . . 'I will be your wife. I will become Countess Favell. You have made a legal contract with me and, God help me, I'll make you honour it.'

.................................................................................................................................................................

A deep flush stole over Arlette's cheeks. 'You kiss very sweetly. I didn't know it could be so sweet to kiss a lover'
'We're not lovers,' Gwionn said.
She pushed his hand into the neck of her gown and placed it on her breast. Impossibly her expression was trusting, innocent and seductive all at once. Her breast was warm, a perfect handful. Barely Gwionn mastered the desire to press himself upon her.
'No. But we will be.'

Readers Write

‘I am a big fan of Elizabeth Chadwick and I think this book matches the storytelling talent of Chadwick. Loved it.’

The Stone Rose - Cover, Blurb, Excerpt, Reviews etc

2010-02-05T02:04:00.000-08:00

The first of the Herevi Sagas

Publisher: Headline
First published: 1992

Cover Blurb

Life at Sir Jean's St Clair's Breton manor is peaceful enough until he finally marries his concubine, Yolande Herevi, and a legal heir is born. Count Francois de Roncier cannot stomach this final insult from his mother's relatives, the Herevis - it seems he has not succeeeded in removing the threat to his estate and lands by merely exiling them - and he determines that this time St Clair and his family will be shown no mercy.

Young, beautiful and no longer as naive as she once was, Gwenn Herevi escapes from a bloody massacre to find herself beholden to the two soldiers of fortune she once thought her worst enemies...And set on a course that will reveal the secret of the Stone Rose - her grandmother's mysterious madonna.

Excerpt

Her eyes were dark as sloes. They were inviting. He let her keep his hands and cautiously dipped his head so his mouth found hers. It was the first time they had kissed as lovers and it was very sweet. Her lips were warm. They trembled beneath his, and while she did not fling herself at him, she did not draw back either. Her eyes were huge watching him and something in them made his insides melt. And then because the sight of her was threatening to make him lose control, Alan shut his eyes, fought down a desire to snatch her into his arms, and made his mouth explore hers slowly.

Reviews

'passionate and poignant'
- Lancashire Evening Post

'an absorbing story full of colour, vigour and romance'
- Birmingham Evening Post

'startlingly dramatic and compelling reading'
- Million

Readers Write

‘Rich in literary allusion.’

‘Gripped until the end.’

Inspiration for one of the scenes in The Stone Rose came from the village of Shere which has had its fair share of saints and sinners. The village stocks are sited outside the pub, and local miscreants might have been pelted with rotten eggs and old cabbages.

Unusually, in the case of the village of Shere, it's the saint who fascinates rather than the sinner...

Shere Church, St James's, housed an achoress in the fourteenth century. Her name was Christine Carpenter. Christine was enclosed in a cell built into the wall of the church in 1329. She was actually bricked in! It's hard to believe that someone would be voluntarily enclosed in this way. (Christine wasn't literally a saint, later on in her life she broke out of the cell and had to be forcibly re-enclosed, poor woman.) The picture below is the squint through which Christine would peer to watch Church services.

And this is the quatrefoil through which Christine received Holy Communion.

There was likely to have been an aperture in the outside wall of the Church through which Christine would have received her food and drink, though I very much doubt she would be able to see the fruit and vegetables growing in the villagers' field strips. She would have listened to pilgrims pleading for her to intercede for them, and she might perhaps have put in a plea or two of her own. She might have asked for apples, or plums, or bread baked from freshly ground wheat. In one account Christine escaped her cell several times and in the end was allowed her freedom. Learning about Christine Carpenter inspired one of the escape scenes in The Stone Rose.

Royal Russia - Cover etc

2010-02-05T01:46:00.000-08:00

(Blog file update)
Publisher: John Blake Publishing

Latest Publication: 2006 Hardback
(1st published GB 1995 Hardback Smith Gryphon)

Introduction:
Royal Russia brings you 140 photographs from the private albums of the Russian Imperial Family with a 5,000 word historical introduction by Carol Townend. Carol tells the tragic tale in a clear, lucid and authoritative style. All rare or previously unpublished, the photographs, some formal, some delightfully informal, portray the last years of the Imperial Family. Beginning with portraits of a life of great luxury enjoyed in palaces and on grand estates, the story ends with the brutal execution of almost everyone pictured.

The Foreword by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, himself a blood relation of the Romanov family, reads:

'I am pleased to endorse this accurate and well-researched little book. The interesting photographs, some never published before, combine with the text to provide a telling account of this poignant and moving period of Russian history.'

The section headings are as follows: A Doomed Dynasty, Star-crossed Lovers, The Children of Tragedy, Mystics and Bolsheviks, End of the Empire, The Ekaterinburg Massacre.

Leaves on the Wind - Cover, Blurb, Excerpt

2010-02-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

Publisher: Harlequin Mills and Boon

First published: 1990

Cover Blurb

Cyprus 1099 - the First Crusade had just ended, and Rannulf de Mandeville sought a ship to return him to his brother Hugo's estate in England.

At the harbour he idly watched a slave auction - and saw Judith Coverdale, the true Saxon heiress to Hugo's land, being sold to a House of Pleasure. The hatred that existed between Saxon and Norman at Mandeville Chase would rule out any future, but he could not leave her to her fate...

Excerpt

That first kiss had gone some way towards preparing Judith for the havoc Rannulf could create within her. His lips felt warm. The gentle pressure increased. This time she did not pull away. They were standing very close. His hands were firmly linked to hers, his lips were moving gently over her mouth but that was all. There was no other contact. Their bodies were not touching but the muscles in her stomach tensed, and a warm, sweet tide of feeling flooded her senses.

Readers Write

‘I can’t tell you how much I loved that book. It was one of the books that made me want to write…’

Sapphire in the Snow - Cover, Blurb, Excerpt

2010-02-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

Publisher: Harlequin Mills and Boon

First published: 1989

WINNER of the ROMANTIC NOVELISTS' ASSOCIATION NEW WRITERS' AWARD

Cover Blurb

Bullied out of her French convent to accompany her cousin, Lady Anne de Vidames, to her wedding in England to Aiden, Thegn of Lindsey, Beatrice is at first bemused, and then torn, by this twist in her fate.   Anne's escort, Baron Philip de Brionne, has no love for the Saxons, despite the edicts of William the Conqueror, and he precipitates a massacre!
Rescuing Edmund, Aiden's half-brother and newly Thegn on Aiden's death, Beatrice uses her nursing skills to good effect.   Except that when Edmund recovers enough to go into hiding, he takes Beatrice along too!

Excerpt

The kiss went wild. Her lips softened, parted for him. Gold fire ran along her veins. He'd set her alight. Every inch of her tingled where she had touched him . His mouth moved under hers, warm and tender. She pressed closer. She could feel the warmth of his chest through her gown and it made her breasts ache. Even the leg that was still half over him tingled too. Beatrice groaned and, soft and malleable as melting wax, she sagged against him.
    Edmund ran a hand down the length of her body. A frisson of delight rippled through her.
    How do you do that?' she gasped.

Readers Write

'Lovely - comes over beautifully. A real love story with gentleness.'

'I'm not a reader but I loved it. TV firmly off!'

'Couldn't put it down. Read to the end.'

'Stayed up until 3am to finish it.'

Shattered Vows - Cover, Blurb, Excerpt

2010-02-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon
First published: 1989

Cover Blurb

It was a moment out of time, for the miller's maid and the squire from the castle, as they dallied on May Day. It was unlikely they would ever meeet again. Rosamund Miller was to marry the stone-dresser, and Oliver de Warenne was hell-bent on winning his knight's spurs from his cousin, Sir Geoffrey Fitz Neal - and in the anarchy that was Stephen's reign, he had every chance. But when the miller asked Sir Geoffrey's permission for Rosamund to wed, the lord ignored the bride fine and demanded droit de seigneur. It was unheard of! No-one could remember when a lord had taken a bride's first night. Geoffrey's mischief caught Rosamund and Oliver in a chain of events that turned their world upside down.

Excerpt

She had tried to imagine this kiss. Some deep primitive instinct buried in the core of her had known Oliver's kiss would not be like anyone else's. Somehow she had known she would not shrink from the touch of Oliver's hands on her body.

But her wildest imaginings had not prepared her for reality. She had had no experience which had ever hinted that a kiss could be like this.

Readers Write

‘I have read it several times and have loved it…A wonderful novel, full of romance and humour – pure escapism for a wet afternoon.’

An Honourable Rogue - Reviews

2010-01-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

Reviews

'Carol Townend writes with apparent ease about a time in history that greatly intrigues me. A Top Pick.’
-Romance Reader at Heart

‘One outstanding read...I wanted to jump in the pages and just join them in their adventure’
- Coffee Time Romance

‘CataRomance awarded An Honourable Rogue 4.5 stars’
- CataRomance

The Novice Bride - Reviews

2010-01-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

(Blog file update)

'Historical romance at its mesmerizing best!'
- CataRomance.com

‘The tale that plays out in The Novice Bride is an utterly engaging one, and the author’s skill is so great that she effortlessly weaves the backdrop and central story together in such a way that the reader becomes enveloped in her historical world. I really didn’t want the story to end…In Cecily, the author has crafted a lovely and lovable heroine whose innocence and inherent goodness are her defining qualities…I defy anyone who reads this not to fall in love with her from the start. Carol Townend really puts across a feeling of what it was like to live in these harsh, violent times…it’s my favourite historical romance yet!’
- pinkheartsocietyreviews.blogspot.com

‘This is an exciting tale of the reality of conquest. We often hear about the Battle of Hastings and Harold’s death, but little is said of the period immediately following that time. This book brings reality to the story of a conquered people, their hopes, fears and rebellions, sometimes small, sometimes larger. I very much enjoyed this tender love story and look forward to reading more from an excellent writer. I award five roses.’
- REDROSESFORAUTHORS/Reviews

Romance Reader at Heart awarded The Novice Bride 4 roses

Coffee Time Romance awarded The Novice Bride 4 cups

Read the review from Historical Romance Writers:
historicalromancewriters.com

The Novice Bride - Cover, Blurb & Excerpt

2010-01-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

Cover Blurb

INNOCENT BRIDE,
CONQUERING HUSBAND!
As a novice, Lady Cecily of Fulford’s knowledge of men is non-existent. But when tragic news bids her home immediately, her only means of escape from the convent is to brazenly offer herself to the enemy…as a bride!
With her fate now in the hands of her husband, Sir Adam Wymark, she battles to protect her family. Suspicions and betrayal are rife, yet their convenient marriage offers Cecily much more than comfort in her knight’s arms…
Wessex Weddings
Normans and Saxons, conflict and desire!

Excerpt

'No dowry, eh?' he said softly, for her ears alone
   Cecily's heart thudded.
    'Be calm,' he murmured, and swiftly, so swiftly that Cecily had no notion of what he was about, he released her and reached up. Deftly unpinning her veil, he cast it aside.
    Stunned beyond movement, for no man had ever touched her clothing so intimately, Cecily swallowed and stood meek as a lamb while quick fingers reached behind her to release the tie of her wimple, and then that, too, followed her veil into a corner. Reaching past her neck, he found her plait and drew it forward, so that it draped over her shoulder.
    She had eyes only for the man in front of her, the man whose green eyes even now were caressing her hair. He no longer touched her anywhere, yet she could scarcely breathe.
    'No dowry,' he repeated softly, still gazing at her hair.   'But there is gold enough here for any man.'

More about The Novice Bride can be found here.

Alien Masquerading as a Tree...

2010-01-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here is an alien masquerading as a tree. It has found its way to Kew from Annie Burrows' website. You can read the full story of Annie's alien invasion here: http://annie-burrows.co.uk/News.aspx

The second picture is of the lake in Kew Gardens, frozen over. From which you may guess I was given a camera for Christmas, these are my first pictures. I stopped taking photos years ago, for two reasons. The first was that when taking a picture of a peacock on my honeymoon, I managed to cut its head off. My lovely husband has never let me forget this. The second reason is that my brother is a photographer. Intimidated? Me?

When I have finished the WIP I can see I shall have lots of fun (!?) learning all the features of the new camera. But at least I have made a start.

The Medieval Rooms & Happy New Year!

2009-12-29T10:21:00.000-08:00

This was a first visit to the new Medieval & Renaissance galleries at the V & A in London. The picture above is an twelfth century illumination of St Mark writing his gospel. It is done with watercolour on parchment with burnished gold, and if you look closely, you can see St Mark has a bookstand with what looks like barleytwist carving. He has laid out his writing things on his desk, the pen, ink, scraper etc

There was so much to see in the new rooms, it is on three floors. I couldn't take it all in in one visit, which gives me the perfect excuse to go back again. And again. Here is an angel who caught my husband's eye.

And here is a fragment of silk from Byzantium, with a griffin on it.

And here is wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Romantic Novel of the Year 2010 - Longlist!

2009-12-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

The longlist has been published on the RNA blog. This is it:

The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison - Alma Books
Passion by Louise Bagshawe - Headline Review
Beachcombing by Maggie Dana - Pan Macmillan
Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson - Avon (Harper Collins)
Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon - Hodder & Stoughton
A Single to Rome by Sarah Duncan - Headline Review
A Mother’s Hope by Katie Flynn - Arrow (Random Hse)
A Glimpse at Happiness by Jean Fullerton - Orion
10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love by Linda Green - Headline Review
Marriage and Other Games by Veronica Henry - Orion
The Glass Painter’s Daughter by Rachel Hore - Simon & Schuster
It’s the Little Things by Erica James - Orion
I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk - Harper
The Heart of the Night by Judith Lennox - Headline Review
The Italian Matchmaker by Santa Montefiore - Hodder & Stoughton
The Summer House by Mary Nichols - Allison & Busby
One Thing Led to Another by Katy Regan - Harper
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks - Little Brown (Sphere)
Last Christmas by Julia Williams - Avon (Harper Collins)
The Hidden Dance by Susan Wooldridge - Allison & Busby

It is quite a line up, I can see there's a lot of reading to get on with! The Award will be presented at the lunch to be held on March 16th. Full details can be seen on the RNA blog. The link is here: http://romanticnovelistsassociationblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-longlistthe-rna-romantic.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RomanticNovelistsAssociationBlog+%28Romantic+Novelists%27+Association+Blog%29

Christmas Post Party!

2009-12-16T03:06:00.000-08:00

There's a post party today on eHarlequin, here's the link to the historical page:
http://community.eharlequin.com/forums/cafe-social/chat-room/open-house-post-party-harlequin-historical-undone#comment-233567
There will be prizes...

Christmas at Cotehele and the Poor House

2009-12-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

Two blog posts have gone up today, and the topics could hardly contrast more!

The first is on the RNA blog. It shows some Christmassy pictures of the hall at Cotehele in Cornwall. We took them on a recent visit. http://romanticnovelistsassociationblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/carol-townend-brings-us-glimpse-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RomanticNovelistsAssociationBlog+%28Romantic+Novelists%27+Association+Blog%29

The fabulous Cotehele Christmas garland can be seen on the RNA blog...

The second post is published on the Historical Romance UK blog. Here's the link: http://historicalromanceuk.blogspot.com/2009/12/guest-blogger-carol-townend-echoes.html
This one concerns a letter found in a box of family papers. It give a tantalising glimpe of a family crisis, when a relation ended up in the Barton Poor House.

Medieval and Renaissance Galleries Reopen at the V & A!

2009-12-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

Today is the day the medieval and renaissance galleries re-open at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The V & A is an amazing resource. Whenever I get stuck with my writing, I like to go there and wander down the corridors in a dream, half thinking about the probem with the novel. There are so many images there that the museum usually comes up with an answer in visual form. I find myself standing in front of a mosaic, or some Italian plates, and if I think very hard, I can usually work out what the museum is trying to tell me!

I can't wait to see the new galleries. The details are here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/index.html

If it wasn't for the fact that we are just back after a few days in Cornwall (I have a fair bit of writing to catch up with) I would be down there in a trice!

Here is more about the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries: http://www.vam.ac.uk/futureplan/projects/med_ren/index.html

Chilli Harvest!

2009-11-16T01:23:00.000-08:00

Usually we grow tomatoes up against a south facing wall. This year Michelle Styles very kindly gave us some chilli plants, so we have been growing those instead. Since they are not under glass (and were planted out a bit late) I left them out as long as possible, hoping we wouldn't get a sharp frost. Cue wind, lots of it. Rain, ditto. It is November. They were blown over, and had to be picked. My husband did this arrangement on the kitchen table with them before they were bundled up in groups and hung on the Irish dresser. Already they are beginning to ripen. Now I need some chilli recipes. Lots of chilli recipes! I was wondering if you could put a chillis in a bottle of olive oil to make chilli oil? Anyone know?

Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord - Review!

2009-11-05T01:04:00.000-08:00

Jayne of Dear Author has written a review of Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord. Jayne gives it a B-. She says she has enjoyed a number of the other Wessex Weddings, and the fallen woman theme appealed. Like me, Jayne feels uneasy about lots of false medieval dialogue.
It is one of my ambitions to write a book which Dear Author rate as a B+! And after that, one day maybe a venture into A territory!
The link for the full review is below:
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/11/04/review-runaway-lady-conquering-lord-by-carol-townend/

Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord - Covers, Blurb, Excerpt and Reviews

2009-11-01T03:54:00.001-08:00

For UK readers the paperback and e-book have been released on the Mills and Boon website...
And for those in the US it is also published on eHarlequin and on Amazon as a Kindle book.

The US cover is different (see below), but the Cover Blurb is the same for both editions:
TAMING HIS RUNAWAY LADY!
Raised a lady, Emma of Fulford is a fallen woman
with a young son as proof. He is all she has in the
world, and now the boy’s brutal father has returned.
Desperate and afraid, she needs to escape, and fast,
so she approaches Sir Richard of Asculf. She begs
this honorable Norman knight for help—and offers
the only thing she has left...herself.
Honorable he may be, but Sir Richard is only
human and Lady Emma tempts his resolve. Can this
conquering knight tame his runaway lady and stop
her running for good?
Wessex Weddings
Normans and Saxons, conflict and desire

Excerpt

The sheer physical strength of the man was impressive - the wide shoulders, the muscled thighs - she had felt this for herself as he had carried her up those stairs.
    But there was more than mere strength here. Yes, it was most odd. It was there in his eyes... This evening Emma would swear she could put her life in his hands and rest easy.
   But this man is a Norman!
   Pointedly she made a show of looking about his bedchamber. It was furnished with royal extravagance. There were two braziers - comforting glimmers of heat. Adding more coals to one of them, Sir Richard waved her towards it.   'Warm yourself, my lady.'
    My lady.   Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. How long had it been since anyone had done her the courtesy of addressing her by her title?   But he would soon stop doing so once he learned about her son...

Reviews

Kimberly has published a review on the Coffee Time Romance web site.
She says: 'This is such a wonderful story. Filled with history, it holds adventure and romance. Emma is a strong female character who is willing to do whatever is necessary to keep her child safe from an abusive man. Sir Richard is certainly noble and generous, yet once he sees that needing someone is not a weakness, he grows into a much deeper character. While these two clash over their Saxon/Norman heritages, it only feeds the fire of desire between them. Ms. Townend has done a terrific job of bringing the eleventh century to life.'

You can read the full review here Coffee Time Romance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another review of Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord has been posted on The Romanorum. Here is a taster of what Karyn Gerrard has to say:

I was completely caught up in the story...How refreshing to read a medieval story without all the 'Knight speak', with the 'mayhaps' and 'ye's' thrown out. And the characterizations are strong, we are given generous access to Richard's inner most thoughts, his torturous nightmares of war, his growing affection for Emma.

He really is a wonderful hero. His sensitive handling of Emma's son, the affection he shows the boy, is endearing. He treats his servants with kindness, and the people living in the village and near his lands with respect.

And Emma, even though she is running from her former lover Judhael, she is no simpering, cowering miss. She has a real inner strength that Sir Richard cannot help but admire. She would do anything to protect her son.

I loved following them on their journey back to Sir Richard's Norman lands, sort of a medieval road trip. And the love story between them is rich, lush and passionate. Both very strong, believable, likable characters, which made this a keeper for me.

The full review is here: The Romanorum. The reviewer gives Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord 3 and a half stars out of 4.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Julie Bonello of CataRomance has this to say:

Full of colour, passion, intrigue, danger, adventure and atmosphere, Carol Townend’s Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord is another winner by this fabulous writer of historical romance who always writes with such confidence, verve, skill and panache. Whenever readers pick up a novel by Carol Townend, they are assured that they are going to be swept back in time and propelled into an exciting, compelling and wonderful evocative tale set in the Middle Ages and Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord continues Carol Townend’s tradition for writing densely written, high quality and wholly absorbing historical romance!

Wonderfully written, fabulously gripping and highly captivating, Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord is not to be missed!
Read the full review on CataRomance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the time of Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord there was a watermill by the bridge near Winchester city wall. (It was known as East Gate mill.) There has been a mill on the site ever since, though it is not the same mill! In the novel, my heroine, Emma, has fallen on hard times, she takes lodgings at the mill. This is the view of the river Itchen from the bridge by today's mill:

And this is the mill race. This shot was taken from inside today's mill, which was built in 1743 on the site of the derelict mill.

The mill was grinding when we visited and what with the rush of the water and the clanking of the workings, there was a terrific noise.

Finally the grain flowed down through the hopper and into a grain sack. We bought some flour to use in my bread machine.

For another example of an early mill see this one at the Weald and Downland Museum.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the course of Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord, the action shifts to France. Below are photographs of Honfleur in Normandy, where some scenes were visualised. The houses have a medieval look to them, but in Emma and Richard's time they would have been more primitive, and mostly wooden. However, today's buildings still help you imagine the port as it might have been...

Autumn, Sissinghurst & Chestnuts!

2009-10-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Autumn seems to bring out the hunter gatherer in me. Yesterday, my husband and I drove to Sissinghurst and had a walk in the woods. There are lots of sweet chestnut trees, and when we weren't slipping and sliding on the muddy clay paths (it had rained earlier) we noticed there were hundreds of chestnuts on the ground. They seem to be a couple of weeks behind the chestnuts in Kew, and those all got eaten by the bar-headed geese. So I went a bit mad and picked a bowlful. They are all for me, because my husband doesn't like them. After our walk we visited Vita Sackville-West's gardens which were stunning, even in October.

Mary Renault

2009-10-21T09:28:00.001-07:00

Breathing Life into Mythical Greece
Article first published in Writing Magazine in May 1995
Copyright Carol Townend

Mary Renault only visited Greece twice, yet eight of the novels she is best remembered for are set in Ancient Greece. They are the foundation of her reputation as a historical novelist. Renault breathed life into a mythic period of history, and her starting point was always a huge amount of research. Renault read Plato and Aristotle. She pondered on the philosophy of Socrates. She studied Greek myths and legends, drawing on Frazer’s Golden Bough and Robert Graves’ Greek Myths for inspiration concerning the ‘mother goddess’ that was at the root of her two Theseus books.
Yet detailed research alone is not enough to explain Renault’s brilliant portrayal of a lost world. Her portrayal is so convincing that some of her fans have claimed that Renault must have been a reincarnation of someone who had lived in those far off days. Setting this claim aside, it has to be admitted that Renault’s reconstruction of a vanished way of life does seem uncannily realistic. Her writing is clear and cool. Her style is spare and at times archaic (‘three and twenty’ for example). Many of her sentences are short and strong, purged of adjectives. Here, at the beginning of The King Must Die, the first of her Theseus books, Renault does some scene setting, drawing her readers into the Citadel of Troizen, so they can come to understand as well as she does the cast of mind and attitudes of her main character, Theseus.
Theseus narrates the story in the first person, and the book opens when he is still a child. Theseus’ mother, Chief Priestess of the Mother Dia and a king’s daughter, is dressing for a feast day, and we watch through her son’s eyes. Theseus does not mention his mother’s nakedness coyly, but so matter of factly that one realises that in Troizen there is nothing unusual in a young woman going about bare-breasted: She was just out ofher bath, and they were dropping a petticoat over her head. The seven-tiered flounces, sewn with gold drops and pendants, clinked and glittered as she shook them out. . . Her breasts were as smooth as milk, and the tips so rosy that she never painted them, though she was still wearing them bare, not being, at that time, much above three and twenty. They took her hair out of the crimping plates (it was darker than mine, about the colour of polished bronze) and began to comb it.
Meanwhile the House Barons assemble in the Great Hall: exchanging news and chaff and striking poses for the women. And Eurytos the charioteer was up already, standing still as an image in his short white tunic and leather greaves, his long hair bound in a club...
The word image in still as an image is particularly effective, as the reader is expecting the phrase to be finished with the clichéd still as a statue. ‘Image’ sets us firmly in the ancient world, as does the fact that the charioteer’s hair is bound in a ‘club’.
Renault goes on to demonstrate that the world Theseus has been brought up in is a male dominated one; a world where a woman can be cherished as his Royal priestess mother is cherished, but a world where a woman can also be booty, whose fate it is to be snatched up by the strongest warriors or won as a prize by the best athlete: Diokles. . . had on his gold snake arm-ring with crystal eyes, and his hair was bound with a purple ribbon. My grandfather had won his mother at Pylos, second prize in the chariot race, and had always valued her highly; she was the best embroideress in the Palace.
It is the apparently simple touch of making Diokles’ mother the second prize that drives home to the reader the position of most women in Troizen, that and the fact that Diokles’ mother was also prized for her embroidery. She is a commodity.
Theseus inhabits a world where the forces of nature are seen as characters, the Gods. The Gods never sleep, and they watch humankind from their home on Mount Olympus. In Troizen the ‘ever-living Zeus’ blasts tall oaks by hurling thunder-bolts at them. By the time one has read a couple of dozen pages of the novel, and come to the sacred oak grove, one knows what it feels like to think: the dryads who live there stare harder into one’s back than anywhere else. One can feel dryad eyes boring into one, just as Theseus can.
Mary Renault has been accused of not allowing her female characters the independence and freedom that she achieved in her own life. This was not because Renault did not support the feminist movement; it had far more to do with her desire to depict the ancient world as accurately as possible. This was more important to her than banging a drum for a feminist, or any other, cause.
In The King Must Die Theseus leaves his homeland and is crowned king in the city of Eleusis. Eleusis is a matriarchal society whose tradition is that their king is killed after one year’s reign in order to ensure the continuing fertility of the land. When Theseus first arrives in Eleusis, he finds to his horror that here it is the men who are second class citizens. The reader, having seen the male oriented way of life at Troizen where Theseus was brought up, can understand his shock and confusion, they share something of his revulsion. The reader wonders when and how Theseus will act to change traditions in Eleusis.
If Renault had not devoted the first section of the book to explaining Troizen and its mores carefully, the impact of the second, woman-dominated section of the book, and the reader’s understanding of Theseus and his plans to overthrow the regime, would have been severely limited.
Renault immersed herself in her period, making no attempt to dress her characters with modern views and attitudes to make them acceptable to twentieth century readers. It was a cruel, bloodthirsty world and she does not flinch from depicting it. In Eleusis, Theseus has to fight the outgoing king, who has reigned for a year and must die. Theseus feels no hatred towards the doomed king, and does not ‘want to be his executioner, but this is mortal combat — kill or be killed. Theseus carries out his unwanted task efficiently and without emotion, but as humanely as he can, given the circumstances: One could not save him. I put my knee in his backbone. Keeping him pinned, for he was not a man to give an inch to, I hooked my arms round his head, and pulled it back till I felt the neckbone straining. . . I jerked his head back hard and fast, and heard the snap of the neckbone.
Renault has been hailed as a cham pio of homosexual love. It is a thread which runs through many of her books, and is one which Renault tackled as openly and honestly as she tackled the position of women in ancient Greece. She is simply concerned to write the truth as she sees it. In The Persian Boy, Renault’s tender description of the way Alexander and Bagoas become lovers is very moving. Bagoas is teaching Alexander Persian, he aches for Alexander, but is terrified of making the first move. Bagoas is narrating, again in the first person: Presently he said, ‘You must tell me when I say the Persian wrongly. Don't be afraid to correct me, or I shall never learn.' I took a step towards him. My hair had fallen forwards over my shoulder He put up his hand and touched it. . I said softly, ‘My lord knows well that he only has to ask.’ Eros had gathered his net in the strong grip of a god, and pulled in his catch no longer to be defied. The hand that touched my hair slid under it; he said, ‘You are here under my protection. ‘ At this, without respect for the sacred person ofa king, I put both arms round his neck. That was the end of his pretences.
Such a short extract cannot hope to convey all the emotion that Renault built up in the preceding pages, but it does give a hint of her skill as a writer, and of her understanding of human nature. How did Renault achieve such a high level of realism in these novels? The biography of Mary Renault by David Sweetman (Pimlico) gives some clues.
Sweetman quotes Renault as saying ‘that the chief pleasure of writing historical novels lies in the continuing tension between the particular — what is individual to the person, the society, the time — and what is universal, and the constant interplay of one through the other.’ Renault thinks herself into the skins of her characters. She is able to do this because she knows her period inside out, and is not afraid to write realistically about customs and religious rites which seem alien and brutal by twentieth century standards.
As a final example, here is an extract from Fire From Heaven. Renault is describing the famous Athenian orator, Demosthenes, and sums his personal life up in a couple of sentences: There was no one at whose side he had locked shields in battle. And when he wanted love, it cost two drachmas. Renault could have said, Demosthenes was lonely and friendless, but the specific mention of the locked shields and love costing two drachmas gives the reader local colour and insight into Demosthenes’ character. It is also telling about the nature of Greek society at the time — a warrior society where loyalties and friendships were forged on the battlefield — where for all his fame as an orator, the puny Demosthenes was an outsider.
Renault has combined the wealth of knowledge gleaned from her research into historical detail, with her knowledge of universal human nature. Her deft blending of the two gives her work its uncanny, intuitive realism.
Writing Magazine May 1995
By Mary Renault
The Last of the Wine
The Praise Singer
The Theseus Legend:
The King Must Die
The Bull from the Sea
The Mask of Apollo
The Alexander Trilogy
Fire from Heaven
The Persian Boy
Funeral Games

Article first published in Writing Magazine, May 1995
Copyright Carol Townend

Adam and Eve in an Oxford Garden

2009-09-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

One of my husband's college friends, Rodney Munday, is a sculptor. This week-end we went to his show at their college, St Edmund Hall in Oxford. Adam and Eve were in the garden behind the library, which as you can see used to be a church (St Peter's in the Fields). It has gargoyles, Norman windows and blind arcading.

Here are Adam and Eve, note the apple...

Europa and the bull were in the garden in front of the library.

We managed to go up the old Saxon tower of St Michael's which is nearby - one of the oldest in the country (around 1040). The college gave us a fabulous dinner and then we went punting on the river on the Sunday morning. And, most miraculously, the weather behaved itself. Perfect.

Mills and Boon Reading Nights...

2009-09-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

Guilty pleasures book club has launched evenings for Mills & Boon readers in Soho. There will be monthly talks and discussions etc. Has anyone been to the first one? And does anyone know when the next one is taking place?

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/going-out/whats-new/mills-and-boon-night-launches-in-soho

More about 'The Novice Bride'...

2009-09-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

Interview on Unusual Historicals, 2 March 2008:

The heroine of this novel is a novice at the time of the Norman Conquest. How did you find her character?

Since I spent my schooldays in a convent in the wilds of Yorkshire, I suspect that some of the inspiration may have come from there. One of the main themes of the novel is innocence. This story needed a heroine who had very little experience of men and Cecily, having been sent to St Anne’s convent when very young, is a total innocent. That is her weakness, but also it is the source of her strength, and it is one of the things that attracts the hero to her. Cecily is no cipher. In the convent she finds it a struggle to follow the nuns’ Rule to the letter and she is often doing penance for her sins. Convent life was harsh, but then life was harsh for almost everyone in the eleventh century. What makes St Anne’s particularly hard for Cecily as a novice is that she does not have a true vocation. A life ordered by bells is not for her, and when the chance comes for her to leave the convent she seizes it, even though it means alienating the mother superior. I feel I should add that none of the sisters at my school resembled either Cecily or Mother Aethelflaeda – the characters sprang into my head fully formed when I was developing the novel!

The hero of this novel is Breton, not Norman. Did many Bretons come over with Duke William at the time of the conquest?

Yes, footsoldiers and knights came from all over France to offer Duke William their service before he left for England. (Brittany is the neighbouring duchy to Normandy.) The Breton cavalry was feared throughout Europe, it was famous for its wild charges and startling battle tactics – which sometimes included faking a retreat and then swirling round to bear down on the enemy when they were in disarray. The horsemanship of the Breton knights was second to none, and the hero’s name, Wymark – means ‘worthy of a horse’. Sir Adam was not born to his title, he earned it the hard way, by working his way up through the ranks.

Do you spend much time choosing your characters’ names?

It is a vital part of the research and character development. I love choosing names for my characters, both first and last names. People did not have surnames in the eleventh century as we do today, but they were often given second names to help distinguish them one from another. These last names might be earned as Adam’s was earned, thanks to his skills as a knight. Lady Cecily’s second name Fulford, simply refers to the name of her village, so place names were used too. I guess my own name of Townend must mean that at some time my ancestors must have lived in a house at the end of the town! Sometimes a person’s character might give them a name, such as Eadric the Wild or Alfred the Great. At other times names of occupation might be used, like Eustace the Monk, or Rosamund Miller. Over the centuries, some of our surnames have developed from these names. Proudfoot, Steward, Falco…names are intriguing. Of course the first name is equally important, it must have the right resonance for the character to ‘take’ on the page. As a writer, the novel just doesn’t start to come together properly until the names are right.

On the Cover Blurb it says Wessex Weddings - is this novel one of a series?

The Novice Bride is a stand-alone novel, but it is the first in a mini-series which looks at the effect of the Norman Conquest on various characters in both England and France. In Anglo-Saxon times Wessex, with the city of Winchester at its centre, was at the heart of England. The action in this novel mainly takes place in and around Winchester. The layout of the centre of Winchester - around the Cathedral - is much the same today as it was in the eleventh century. Of course there have been changes, but a visit to the museum just off the Cathedral Close points up the similarities. There is a scale model of Winchester in 1066 and you can see the street layout, exactly as it would have been in Cecily and Adam’s time. My husband took a picture of the model, which came in most useful when Cecily was running up and down the town, trying to hide from Adam. Here is a picture of another model at the Museum, of later in the eleventh century. You can see the Cathedral in the centre. Again the street layout is much the same, but this second model is useful because it shows the Norman castle that was built soon after the Conquest. (The brownish area at the bottom left.) You won’t be surprised if characters in other Wessex Weddings stories – such as An Honourable Rogue and His Captive Lady - find themselves passing through these streets…

Here is the cover for the Australian three book edition of The Novice Bride, An Honorable Rogue and His Captive Lady. The editors have chosen the cover that was used for the UK edition of His Captive Lady.

Wrapt Writer...

2009-08-08T01:36:00.001-07:00

Here to prove dedication to duty is a photo taken while I was doing revisions of the last ms. The outside of the house was being painted and so much dust was coming into the room that the computer had to be covered in plastic sheeting to protect it. The only way to get the job done was to crawl under the sheeting. Unfortunately it was very hot outside, and what with the heat generated by the computer under the sheeting, it wasn't a method that worked for long. Never mind worrying about the computer exploding or whatever computers do when they are overheating. I say nothing of overheated writers.

Australia!

2009-08-03T02:23:00.000-07:00

The Novice Bride (& friends) are going to Australia!
It was a lovely surprise. On the Mills & Boon Australian site http://www.millsandboon.com.au/
the 'next months titles' link takes you to a page which show that the first three books in the Wessex Weddings mini series are coming out in one volume! Haven't seen the cover yet, but An Honourable Rogue and His Captive Lady will be accompanying Novice Cecily on her travels.

And you may have guessed by the fact that I was trawling the Harlequin sites, I have sent off my revised ms (not for the first time, this one was tricky to get right) and was immediately gripped by a bout of Displacement Activity. Which only shows that it is time I Got On With the Next One!

Mervyn Peake, Writer and Artist

2009-07-23T08:43:00.001-07:00

The Writer as Artist
(Article first published in Writing Magazine, August-September 1996. Copyright Carol Townend)

The first book in Mervyn Peake’s gothic trilogy — Titus Groan was published in 1946, shortly after the close of the second world war. It was a time of penny-pinching and austerity and Peake’s highly detailed and complex fantasy succeeded because it provided readers with a much wanted escape into another world. Mervyn Peake was not only a novelist, he was an artist and poet too. As an official war artist he was one of the first to enter and record for posterity the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. He held exhibitions. He illustrated several books including Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island. He wrote poetry and plays. Both Titus Groan and Mr Pye were adapted for radio plays by the BBC.

The Gormenghast trilogy, according to the Penguin History of English Literature, is a ‘story of mythic intent, focusing on the artist and the curse that is also the creative power of imagination’. While writing it, Peake brought all his artistic talents to bear, and
a glance at the text proves that the draughtsman in him was never very far below the surface. His artist’s eye records everything in minute, obsessive detail. Peake’s highly artificial romance might not be to everyone’s taste, but a writer today can still learn from his work.

Here is a brief description of some pine cones the Earl of Groan has put on the floor of the library for his baby son, Titus, to play with: On the carpet in the lamplight lay scattered a score of fir cones, each one with its wooden petals undercut with the cast shadow of the petal above it. The picture in our minds is in sharp focus. Peake has clearly made studies of pine cones, and his observation of the dark shadows cast by the wooden petals conjures up the cones at a stroke. His description is written with the concentration of an artist drawing a still
life, and the emphasis on light and shade makes the detail on the library carpet leap into life.

Here is another extract from near the end of Titus Groan when the feud between Flay, the Earl’s manservant. and Swelter, the castle cook, has come to a bloody conclusion. The library has been destroyed by fire and is now occupied only by owls. The Earl has been driven mad. One of the Earl’s last orders to his servant Flay is that he should drag Swelter’s mountain of a
body to the library. Peake is using light and dark again, writing like a painter balancing tones to highlight and define his setting: The white silence was terrible. The moonlight like a hoar frost on the Tower of Flints. The shell of the library glimmered in the distance far down the long line of halls and pavilions, and of domed, forsaken structures. To their right the lit pine-woods were split with lines of midnight. Above their feet a few cones, like ivory carvings were scattered, anchored to the pale earth by their shadows.

This play on contrasts, this accentuating of light and dark, black and white, as for example in ‘the lit pine-woods were split with lines of midnight’, is evident throughout the trilogy.

Peake the narrator works in bold black ink, an ink particularly suited to the gothic nature of his epic. Peake’s use of contrast — or counterpoint — is not confined to the pages of Titus Groan. The world of Gormenghast is so complete, so eccentric a world, that readers cannot but be aware of the contrast between the fantasy world of the book, and the real world outside.

Peake’s trilogy can also be used to examine several methods of character presentation. First, narrator’s statement. This can be bald and simple, directing the way the reader sees a character. For example: Mrs Slagg was never very tactful.

Or the narrator’s statement can be longer and more detailed and complex, as in these caricatures: Who else is there of the direct blood-line? Only the vacant Aunts, Cora and Clarice, the identical twins and sisters of Sepulchrave. So limp of brain that for them to conceive an idea is to risk a haemorrhage. So limp of body that their purple dresses appear no more indicative of housing nerves and sinews than when they hang suspended from their hooks.

But surely this is telling, not showing, and writers are usually urged to show, not to tell? That is certainly true. Showing conveys information by allowing the reader to watch events unfold and to judge for themselves what they think about a character, while telling, where the author summarises past events or characters’ natures for the reader, is less direct. But telling does have its uses, as the last quote (from Gormenghast, the second book in Peake’s trilogy) proves. Peake is running through the main cast list to refresh the memories of those readers who have read the first book, and to give those readers who may not have read it the necessary background to enjoy Gormenghast.

Narrator’s statement therefore, despite being telling and not showing is useful if a fiction writer needs to fill in background information quickly and succinctly.

Description is another method of presenting characters, and Peake often sketches his character in with a line or two. Note how the artist in him never sleeps. We have: Sourdust was shocked. His mouth worked at the corners. His old, fissured face became a fantastic area of cross-hatching and his weak eyes grew desperate. Peake’s use of the phrase cross-hatching — the tone-creating technique used by artists — vividly conveys the wrinkles on the old man’s face.

And look at this: Barquentine raised his hot-looking, irritable eyes and dropped the cross-hatched corners of his mouth. Here the phrase cross-hatched corners shows readers a grouchy old man with a drooping mouth. Describing a part — face, hands, way of walking — can, of course, tell readers a lot about the whole.

Clothes are another example. They say a lot about a person and can be used very effectively to symbolise a character’s status or aspirations in the fictional world. Early in Titus Groan Peake gives us this description of Flay, the Earl’s manservant, coming to attend Titus’s christening: He was wearing his long black moth-eaten suit, but there had been some attempt on his part at getting rid of the major stains and clipping the more ragged edges of cuff and trouser into straight raw lines. Over and above these improvements he wore around his neck a heavy chain of brass... The negative dignity of the room threw him out in relief as a positive scarecrow.

Continually focusing on opposites, positive and negative, black and white, Peake’s writing conveys the starkness of his vision, undiluted. But he has not entirely banned colour from his palette: One of these narrow beams lit Fuchsia's forehead and shoulder, and another plucked a note of crimson from her dress.

A character’s actions can also be revealing. And with action it is important to distinguish between meaningful actions, like putting into effect a plan to commit arson, and actions which are mere movement, like the way Flay’s knees crack when he walks. An action must be significant, an event that carries the plot forward. Flay’s cracking knees are relevant, but they are part of the description that helps readers visualise him. Since they do not reveal anything about his purpose, his private goals and ambitions, or his hidden nature they are not seen as character-revealing action. Steerpike is a young kitchen boy at Gormenghast castle who has ambitions above his station, and seeks eagerly for an opportunity to better himself. As soon as the chance presents itself, Steerpike flees the kitchen: glancing around and finding that he was alone he had made for the door through which Mr Flay had passed and was soon racing down the passages turning left and right as he ran in a mad effort to reach the fresh air.
This is significant action. In this case, Steerpike’s determined dash from the kitchen is more than mere movement, it carries the plot along, and marks the beginning of Steerpike’s efforts to climb the social ladder.

Dialogue or speech is another way of presenting characters. Much later in Titus Groan, Steerpike has risen to a position of some trust in the Castle. Here, he engages Fuchsia the Earl’s daughter, in conversation. By now the reader knows that Steerpike is ruthlessly, dangerously intelligent, but they do not know how far he is prepared to go. Does Steerpike have feelings? Is he capable of kindness?

Steerpike paused to remove a stag-beetle from where it clung to the soft bark of a pine. Fuchsia went on slowly, wishing she were alone.
‘There should be no rich, no strong, no weak,’ said Steerpike methodically pulling the legs off the stag-beetle, one by one, as he spoke. ‘Equality is the great thing, equality is everything. He flung the mutilated insect away. ‘Do you agree, Lady Fuchsia?’ he said.
‘I don’t know anything about it, and I don’t care much.’
‘But don’t you think...’
And Steerpike continues talking, apparently oblivious of Fuchsia’s lack of interest. Nor is he conscious of the contradiction between the impression he is trying to convey — that of an intelligent liberal — and what he is doing to the stag-beetle. There is in Steerpike a terrible void, and by showing his callous destruction of the beetle while fine words are pouring out of his mouth, Peake builds up a picture of a man who might be capable of anything.

Another way to reveal character is to show their thoughts, and a second glance at the above extract shows how simply this can be done. Peake gives us Fuchsia’s reaction to Steerpike in a line: Fuchsia went on slowly, wishing she were alone.

A dedicated painter and draughtsman as well as a writer, Peake used the knowledge gleaned from his art to enrich his writing. What are your other interests or passions or areas of special knowledge? Do they give you a particular view of the world? Can you use your insight to enliven and colour your own writing?

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Peake’s well known gothic trilogy:
Titus Groan — 1946
Gormenghast — 1950
Titus Alone — 1959

Sadly the works that follow might be out of print, but they can be found in libraries and second-hand book- shops:
Mr Pye—1953
Poetry: The Glassblowers — 1950
The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb — 1962
A Book of Nonsense (published posthumously) — 1972
Selected Poems of Mervyn Peake — 1975

Writing Magazine Article, August-September 1995, copyright Carol Townend

Ignore the writer...

2009-07-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

Look at the scenery - Near Aira Force, July 2009. Picture taken before the RNA Conference.