So, back in the ninth century, having established himself as king of Wessex, Alfred the Great initiated a programme of education of his male aristocracy and oversaw the translation into Old English of a number of books he considered to be 'most necessary for men to know'. These were mainly religious, but also included Bede's A History of the ( Read more... )

So, over on twitter, I have a personal hashtag of #redwriter. I use it for those moments when I'm explicitly talking about my socialism, and sometimes when I realise that something in whatever I'm working on is bouncing off that. I do it, because I am of the age and type that agrees with the slogan 'Politics is life.' And it keeps me thinking, ( Read more... )

So, The Guardian has an interesting article today about forgotten writers. Literary Hero to ZeroBeing me, I am of course certain that I will be forgotten myself (without having ever reached the heights of minor recognition, let alone 'hero') apart perhaps for some of my academic pieces. And that's fine with me, too. Also being me, I've read at ( Read more... )

I have a guest today, the talented Kameron Hurley. Her novels were published to great critical acclaim by a small US press, and have now been picked up by a major house here in the UK as well as being republished in the US. She's a wonderful writer and it's a privilege to have her here today, talking about gender (on which her writing is ( Read more... )

Ten Reasons Why the Three Musketeers have girl cooties ( Read more... )

So two things I read last week have set me thinking. The first was this post on principles by Nancy Jane Moore at the Bookview Cafe website. The second was a question posed on twitter by kateelliott on twitter. Two proposals, two remarks -- 'the first thing a principle does is kill someone' 'do you self-censor and why/' -- that spoke straight to my core, to ( Read more... )

Today I have a guest blogger, the fabulous Morgan Keyes, talking about her new book (aimed at younger teens) Darkbeast. I've been a fan of hers for years: she writes with wit and charm and tremendous pace. And this new book is fabulous.
There's also a giveaway, for US readers only, sadly (due to postal problems). Anyway, over to Morgan.


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One of the things I'm liking about this summer is the number of books that I'm really looking forward to that are due out in July and August. And one of them is due out tomorrow: Thieftaker by D. B. Jackson, who is also the awesome David B Coe. I love David's books, and this new one looks even better than his previous ones ( Read more... )

So, a while back the wonderful deborahjross invited me to be in an anthology she was putting together of stories of fantastical swashbuckling romance. Of course, I leapt at the chance -- swords! swashbuckling! my favourite things -- all with the chance to work with Deborah, who is a fantastic writer and editor. The anthology is called The Feathered Edge and it ( Read more... )

The Four Musketeers has been borrowed 58 times in the last year. I find that obscurely pleasing. (This is in British public libraries). Welsh Kings is over 100, but it's a text book, so I find that less intriguing. It's good to know around 58 people wanted to know about the musketeers.