Historical Fiction with a French Flavour
At 11 am on this day in 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front. Ninety-nine years later, none of the combatants in that terrible war is alive, but the memories still echo down the years. In France, where I live, the smallest village has its war memorial. Often, several men with the same surname appear in the list: death cut a swathe through many families. Few were unaffected.
Continue reading “True Inspiration for Fiction #5: the Ghosts of World War I”
Jennifer C. Wilson kindly invited me to her blog today to talk about how France has inspired my new collection of short stories, French Collection.
Happy Sunday everyone! So, who is giving NaNoWriMo a go? One idea I heard at the last North Tyneside Writers’ Circle was that, if you don’t fancy giving a novel a go, you can try drafting a short story each day. With that in mind, my guest today is the lovely Vanessa Couchman, to tell us about her new collection of short stories, inspired by France. I’ll be reviewing this soon, but for now, it’s over to Vanessa, to tell us about the collection…
Stories Inspired by France
Thank you for inviting me again to your Sunday Sojourn spot, Jen.
France remains the world’s most popular tourist destination, with a staggering 82.6 million visitors in 2016. This is well ahead of the next-most popular countries, the U.S., China, Spain and Italy. It’s hardly surprising. France boasts wonderful and varied scenery, magnificent châteaux, picturesque towns and villages, stunning art and…
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I’m delighted to welcome historical novelist, Margaret Skea, to the blog today. She tells us how she started writing historical fiction – and suggests that it can be a good idea to challenge the rules and write about what you don’t know. You’ll also find a riveting extract from her latest novel, Katharina: Deliverance, about the wife of the Reformation-instigator, Martin Luther.
Continue reading “History People: Margaret Skea, writing about what you don’t know”
In most Western nations, the practice of backstreet abortion has virtually disappeared now that abortion has been legalised. I don’t intend to open a debate here about the moral issues, but rather to look at the historical background, especially in France.Continue reading “True Inspiration for Fiction #4: Angel Makers”
The plague first made an appearance in 1347-48, when a catastrophic and unstoppable pandemic swept through Western Europe. In four years, the population of 14th-century Europe plunged by an estimated 33-50% and its civilisation changed forever. The figures are debated, but as many as 150 million people may have died worldwide. The disease spread across France from the Port of Marseille and few places were unaffected.Continue reading “True Inspiration for Fiction #3: Plague!”
When people buy a book, their choice depends on many factors: recommendation, a favourite author, a catchy title, a genre they like and so on. The cover also has a big influence on book buying. For that reason, instead of exercising my minimal (no, zero) design skills on my forthcoming collection of short stories set in France, I commissioned a cover designer.Continue reading “Book Cover Design: the Story of French Collection”
Works of art can provide endless inspiration for fiction. The paintings alone, with everything they convey, would be muse enough. But sometimes the story behind the painting is just as enthralling. I have always loved Edgar Degas’ paintings and I was fascinated to learn the origins of ‘Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando’, which hangs in the National Gallery in London.
Continue reading “True Inspiration for Fiction #2: Edgar Degas’ Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando”
I’m delighted to welcome back my friend and fellow Crooked Cat author, Jennifer C. Wilson, who has some exciting news to share with you. Richard III fans will be in their element! And I can tell you it’s a great read. But I won’t steal Jen’s thunder.
Continue reading “See Richard III in a New Light with Jennifer C. Wilson”
“There, the night before we had been having a terrific battle and the morning after, there we were smoking their cigarettes and they smoking ours.” This was the slightly bemused verdict of a British Tommy on one of the most extraordinary and poignant events of World War I: the Christmas truce of 1914. Up and down the lines on the Western Front, men from both sides stepped from their trenches and laid aside their countries’ differences for a short time.
Continue reading “True Inspiration for Fiction #1: the Christmas Truce 1914”
To celebrate my 20 years in France, I’ve decided to publish a collection of a dozen of my short stories. They are all linked by being set in France, many of them in the southwest region, where I live. This part of France has rich and varied landscapes and a strong tradition of separatism and independence.Continue reading “Short Stories Inspired By #France”
Vanessa Couchman