Writers Archives | Lucienne Boyce

Judy the Obscure

I’ve just read Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade. I loved this book. It’s about a group of women whose lives and work …

Obiter Dicta and Other Pronouncements: Augustine Birrell and the Suffragettes

I recently came into possession of a literary curiosity, a copy of the first volume of The Collected Essays and Addresses of the Rt Hon Augustine Birrell, 1880-1920 published by …

Why not write about Sixth Century Britain? I said.

I’m delighted to welcome David Ebsworth to my blog. David Ebsworth is the pen name of writer, Dave McCall, a former negotiator and Regional Secretary for Britain’s Transport & General …

Fiction and the Historical Female

I’m delighted to welcome Helen Hollick, author of the fabulous Sea Witch Voyages series (pirates! white witches! adventure on the high seas!) onto the blog today. Helen discusses how she …

Writing Tough Heroines in a Different Way

Author Photo Rebecca Millar Photography I’m delighted to welcome self-confessed ‘Roman Nut’ Alison Morton to my blog today. Alison is the author of the stunning Roma Nova series – you …

Dickens and Chickens

On 17 April 1860, in fields near Farnborough, Charles Dickens joined an audience amongst whom were the Prince of Wales and the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, as well as a …

Harriette Wilson and John Murray: Surviving the Brutal Rejection

In July I wrote a blog about bad reviews and how they have always been an occupational hazard for writers. (July 2014, Dismal Trash: The Time-Honoured Art of the Bad …

Xena Warrior Princess v Patient Griselda: Feisty Heroines in Historical Fiction

I had a wonderful time at the Historical Novel Society Conference in London last weekend (5-7 September 2014). There were some great panels and workshops, and it was lovely to …

Dismal Trash: The Time-Honoured Art of the Bad Review

Every writer knows they run the risk of receiving a bad review. Often the temptation to answer back is strong. The accepted advice is “don’t”, and I think this is …

The Female Writer’s Apology; Or, Then and Now

In my eighteenth-century thriller, To The Fair Land, Ben Dearlove’s adventures start when he tries to find the anonymous author of a book about a voyage to the South Seas. …

Eating Oranges with Robert Graves

2014 is, as everyone must be aware by now, the anniversary of the start of the First World War, and so it seemed fitting that when I was in Mallorca …

Not Just William

How peculiar to discover Richmal Crompton (1890-1969) included in The Independent Forgotten Author’s series in an article dated 23 May 2010. William Brown has hardly been forgotten if the over …