Follow That Trebuchet
Last week I was on a lovely writers' retreat in the Lake District, and found some time to take a couple of trips to investigate the beautiful surrounding area. So obviously I had to go see some medieval ruins. The best sort of ruins. And though it was grey and wet and very, very muddy,…
As is traditional, I'm making this post in a very timely fashion; a mere three month after this year's Worldcon has concluded. Well done, me. In case you don't know what Worldcon is, it is a yearly science-fiction convention, and every year it takes place in a different city around the world. And this year…
Lighthouses are awesome. They are such pure buildings, all noble and humanitarian, meant to protect and guide. They are beacons of hope, literally, metaphorically. When France and Britain were at war (again) at the end of the 17th century a French privateer took engineer Henry Winstanley prisoner while he was working on the first lighthouse…
Continue reading ➞ The Five Best Lighthouses of All the Lighthouses
On January 31st 1953 the United Kingdom experienced one of its deadliest maritime disasters when the Princess Victoria attempted to make the crossing from her home port of Stranraer in Scotland, to Larne in Northern Ireland. It's a short route, less than 45 miles, and a pleasant journey in good weather, but this crossing was…
Some lovely news yesterday, when I discovered I was nominated for a Scribe Award! These awards are for writing , I was nominated for my Doctor Who audio, Peake Season. It's a Fourth Doctor tale featuring Mervyn Peake as his temporary companion after the Doctor mistakes him for JRR Tolkien. (Yes, it's meant to be…
Continue reading ➞ Scribe Award Nomination and SDCC and Uncanny Magazine, hurrah!
Yesterday I listened to the Braveheart episode of the Best Pick podcast, and delighted in hearing their thoughts on a film which, if nothing else, has provided many people with a fine historical education of the period as they read about all the things it got wrong (personal favourite, the lack of a bridge at…
Continue reading ➞ Robert the Bruce and the Murder of John Comyn
As we all know from, um, watching movies and stuff, timeliness is for losers. Thus, despite being released on International Women's Day, it's only now that I write this blog post on the ridiculously gorgeous anthology Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely, in which I have a story, 'Little…
1 – If Meryt-Neith had a man's name she'd be regarded as a pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt (ruling circa 3000 BCE) and the world's first know queen regnant. But since she has a women's name many historians don't consider there to be enough evidence to say with reasonable certainty that she…
Ah, good Tuesday, readers. I type to you today in, if anything, even more of a snit at Peter Capaldi and his inability to be two people. You see, I didn't watch the finale of last years' Musketeers, because then there would be no more Cardinal Capaldieu and I'd be sad. However, with the second…
This post is all Boudicca's fault. When reading lists of great female military leaders, Boudicca keeps appearing on them. And when these are usually lists of no more than ten people, I get a wee bit judgey at that. It's not that Boudicca isn't an iconic figure. She is. She, in righteous anger, raised a…
Continue reading ➞ Ten Great Military Leaders, Probably Cranky Ones
Lizbeth Myles 