• The Tom Walsingham Mysteries
  • Clara who?
  • Stories
  • Contact

Scribblings

~ Clara Giuliani, storyteller

Scribblings

Tag Archives: historical novel

Life as a mystery writer

08 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by la Clarina in Scribbling

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

historical novel, murder, research, stab wounds

Because I’m busy tweaking things, and filling gaps, and this sort of things in TW2*, yesterday I up and asked my mother’s physiotherapist what the best entry point would be for a stab wound in the back.

“I want it to quickly give the victim breathing trouble,” I explained – and, having spent half the morning poring over medical journals, even spouted that I probably wanted a bad case of tension pneumothorax… Continue reading →

“Go the way, vilain!”

03 Thursday Feb 2022

Posted by la Clarina in History, Stories

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British History Online, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, historical novel, primary sources, swashbuckling

After finishing Draft 0 last Monday, I’ve spent this past couple of days up to my chin in primary sources, thanks to the wonder that is British History Online. Continue reading →

A life like a novel

15 Thursday Jul 2021

Posted by la Clarina in Scribbling, Stories, Theatre

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Alexandre Dumas, historical novel, Théàtre Historique, The Three Musketeers

We all read The Three Musketeers as children, don’t we? And we play make-believe, and watch the movies (and the fact itself that they keep making more of them must mean something), and go on to read Twenty Years Later, and perhaps The Man in the Iron Mask – but this is already where “we” split into two camps, roughly speaking: those who leave behind Dumas as yet another childhood pleasure, and those who do not. Continue reading →

French museums and tarring brushes

11 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by la Clarina in History, Scribbling

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

France, historical novel, Montreuil-sur-Mer, museums, research, Road to Murder, writing

A few months ago, as I was working on Road to Murder, I found trouble in the form of a French town called Montreuil sur Mer.* Well, for various reasons, my sleuth Tom Walsingham finds himself spending a night there, much against his inclination, and I needed to have a good idea of the place for that… Continue reading →

Matthew Plampin’s Will and Tom

20 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by la Clarina in Books

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

historical novel, Matthew Plampin, Thomas Girtin, Will and Tom, William Turner

I remember picking up Matthew Plampin’s Will and Tom in the bookshop at the Tate Britain – and then putting it back, just as I’d put back half a dozen other hardbacks in the last day. In truth, after lugging many and many and many pounds of books across Europe over the years, I’ve learned, when I’m travelling, to only buy the ones that can’t conceivably be procured through the Net – either digitally or physically. So I jotted down the title in my notebook’s dedicated page, and in time the novel found its way to my Kindle. Then, for some reason, it took me a few years to get round to actually read it. If you have a To Read List of any length, you know how these things happen… Continue reading →

A Historical Novelist’s To-Do List

30 Saturday Sep 2017

Posted by la Clarina in History, Scribbling

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

historical novel, Lydia Kang, research, Writer Unboxed

I think I’ve told you already how Writer Unboxed is one of my favourite writerly sites. That’s mostly because it provides a wonderful mix of thought-provoking discussion and practical stuff, musings and resources, theory and exercises… All of it interesting and useful. Continue reading →

Giving Up on The Religion

13 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by la Clarina in Books

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Great Siege of Malta, historical novel, Mattias Tannhauser, Omnicompetent Hero, Pet peeves, The Religion, Tim Willocks

On the plane to Malta, I began reading Tim Willocks’ The Religion, one of a few Siege-themed novels I’d purchased in view of the journey. I rather liked the prologue, and my first glimpse of Grand Master La Valette and Sir Oliver Starkey, and the preparations for the siege.

If I  was tempted to raise an eyebrow at La Valette’s life-or-death insistence that they must have Tannhauser at all costs… well, he is the hero, after all, and he’s been a Janissary for part of his life – so he must be in the thick of things, and there is some sort of reason for it, right? Continue reading →

The Devil Is White

20 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by la Clarina in Books

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

David Palmer, historical novel, Historical Novel Review

TheDevilIsWhiteI’d never read anything by William Palmer – unti I got to review his novel The Devil Is White for the Historical Novel Review, some time ago.

And it was a surprise.

The story begins in 1792 England, with a bunch of entusiasts bent on founding their own colonial utopia on an island off the Western coast of Africa – a free, slaveless and democratic utopia, based on hard work, merit and honest interaction with the coastal tribes.

True, the coastal tribes happily thrive on the slave trade – but only for lack of proper morals, a state of things the settlers’ good example and conversion to Christianism are bound to change… Continue reading →

Titian’s Boatman, by Victoria Blake

09 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by la Clarina in Books

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

historical novel, multi-period novel, Titian, Titian's Boatman, Victoria Blake

I remember reading once that George Eliot wanted everything in Daniel Deronda “to be connected to everything else”.

Well, this is exactly what Titian’s Boatman feels like.

It may not look like it at first, when the reader is introduced to several characters in various places and various times. There is the eponymous boatman, plying his trade in a plague-ridden Venice in 1576, ferrying back and forth Titian’s last surviving son and plucky courtesan Tullia Buffo. Then, in present day London, there are actor Terry Jardine and Italian director Ludovico Zabarella, brought together by Shakespeare and personal loss. Lastly, there’s Cuban maid Aurora, carrying the weight of childhood trauma and widowhood – and finding consolation in a painting… Continue reading →

The Historical Novelist’s Dilemma

09 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by la Clarina in History, Scribbling, Stories

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

breaking the rules, historical accuracy, historical novel, history and story, writing

dilemma-676x305redI’m dithering…

Yes – it’s the novel. Again. But the fact is, you see, that there is this rather grim thing happening in June 1594 – historically happening, I mean. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, because while not directly involving my hero, it has two sets of ties to his circumstances – one practical (and historically documented), and one, shall we say, psychological… Continue reading →

← Older posts

Seek and Find

♠ THE TOM WALSINGHAM MYSTERIES

Available on Amazon
Available for preorder

The Copperfield Review’s first anthology – containing Gentleman in Velvet

Recent Posts

  • And… it’s out!
  • Countdown to the Road to Murder
  • Form and substance
  • Life as a mystery writer
  • Burning the midnight oil…

Popular Scribblings

  • Countdown to the Road to Murder
  • And... it's out!
  • Clara who?
  • The Tom Walsingham Mysteries
  • Burning the midnight oil...
  • Tales of the Mermaid Tavern

Categories

  • Books
  • Eccentricities
  • History
  • Lostintranslation
  • Poetry
  • Scribbling
  • Silents
  • Stories
  • Theatre
  • Things
  • Uncategorized

Enter your email address to get a messenger on horseback... er, an email will reach you by email when a new Scribbling is out.

Join 1,683 other followers

RSS Feeds

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

No Blog’s an Island

Sapere Books

 

IBA

International Bloggers' Association

I tweet on Twitter

And I pin on Pinterest

Senza Errori di Stumpa – my Italian blog

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Scribblings
    • Join 1,683 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Scribblings
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...