#historicalfiction

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George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008) – author, historian, journalist, screenwriter – was born 100 years ago , 2 April, 1925

“His dedication to strongly researched stories, built firmly on a bedrock of historical fact, but always with an eye to the humour of a situation, was the core of what appealed to me”

Historical novelist Michael Jecks discusses MacDonald Fraser’s writing for the Royal Literary Fund:

1/5

@bookstodon

https://www.rlf.org.uk/showcase/not-a-serious-writer/

I did plotting for book 2 of my current WIP and no matter how hard I try the dynamic for this couple is so fluffy: 'I want to hold your hand as the entire world spits and curses us' type of vibe. It'll be a while but wow will this be a shift from my typical 'the love interest is also the villain' novels.

Question: Are other authors dragged around by the wills of their characters?

I'm a writer, which amounts to being a small business owner attempting to make a (meager) living off my writing. So once a week, I share one of my books in case it might resonate with some of you.

The Last Priestess of Malia is historical fiction: The people of Crete fight to save their culture and their values from the onslaught of foreign conquerors. I'll be honest, it's not light reading. But I think it's relevant for our times, perhaps painfully so.

Details and content warnings here: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/the-last-priestess-of-malia

A paperback copy of The Last Priestess of Malia by Laura Perry, standing upright in the middle of the image. The book cover includes a picture of a Minoan priestess standing outdoors with a temple in the distance. Surrounding the book is text connected to the book by arrows. The text reads, "Ancient Minoans, Historical Fiction, Matriarchal Culture, Pagan Rituals, Powerful Priestesses, Culture Clash, Sorry, No Happy Ending "You've Been Warned)."

replied to Assoc for Scottish Literature's status

replied to Assoc for Scottish Literature's status

“When Kleon heard the news from Capua he rose early one morning, being a literatus & unchained, crept to the room of his Master, stabbed him in the throat, mutilated that Master’s body even as his own had been mutilated; and so fled from Rome with a stained dagger in his sleeve and a copy of THE REPUBLIC of Plato hidden in his breast.”

Ian Campbell discusses the vivid realisation of a slave revolt in Mitchell’s SPARTACUS (1933)

5/9

https://asls.org.uk/james-leslie-mitchells-spartacus/

Book cover: James Leslie Mitchell SPARTACUS The cover is a stained red. The illustration, rendered in greys and black, shows a stylised ancient warrior wearing an angular, crested helmet

Hello, I'm new to Mastadon and looking to meet people interested in medieval Silk Road history, especially of women and non-western historical fiction.

To sort of give you an idea of the weird stuff I'm into, here's a post I did about stories written in the Medieval Silk Road that feature women and are available in English:

https://mariamalmasriauthor.wordpress.com/2025/02/05/stories-about-women-from-the-medieval-silk-road-and-available-in-english/

On this, anyone else into weird and obscure histories?