historical fiction

Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime

March 6, 2026 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:-

Many thanks to Wendy H Jones and Lynsey Adams (Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog) for images for this interview. Many thanks to the other authors in the anthology for their author head shots. Other images created in Book Brush using their images or Pixabay ones.

It is with great pleasure I welcome back Wendy H Jones to Chandler’s Ford Today. As part of a book tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog, I quiz Wendy about the latest book to come from Wendy’s publishing company, Scott and Lawson – A Right Cozy Historical Crime. This volume is part of a series of Right Cozy crime books (the others so far are A Right Cozy Christmas Crime and A Right Cozy Culinary Crime).

Tags: A Right Cozy Historical Crime, anthology, author interview, creative writing, crime fiction, historical fiction, history in story form, mixing fictional genres, Scott and Lawson Publishing, short stories, Wendy H Jones

Author Interview – Introducing Penny Rogers and Amelie At The Window

November 7, 2025 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-

Many thanks to Penny Rogers and Bridge House Publishing for supplying book cover and author shots. Other images created in Book Brush using images from them or from Pixabay using their photos. One image from a past Bridge House Publishing celebration event was taken by me, Allison Symes.

It is always a joy to welcome fellow authors to Chandler’s Ford Today, especially when they are fellow Bridge House Publishing writers. Penny Dale, who writes as Penny Rogers, is someone I have often chatted to at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event held annually in December.

Penny has had many stories in The Best of CafeLit anthologies. Indeed she and I have had our work in the same books but it is a great joy to congratulate Penny on her forthcoming book, Amelie at the Window.

The title story started life as a short story but other stories about Amelie’s life emerged in response to popular demand and this led to the book being written. It is written in two halves as a collection of short stories about the people who lived in a fictional small town in France in 1914 and again in 1924. So much happened in those ten years.

Tags: am reading, am writing, Amelie At The Window, author interview, book launch, Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, flash fiction, historical fiction, marketing, new book, Penny Rogers, short stories, writing tips

Author Interview: Introducing John Puzey – Captive Audience

October 24, 2025 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-

Many thanks to John Puzey and Richard Hardie of Authors Reach Limited for supplying book and author shots. Other images created in Book Brush using their images or Pixabay photos. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the picture of John Puzey at the Hiltingbury Book Fair in 2023.

It is a great pleasure to welcome John Puzey to Chandler’s Ford Today, as a local author and a member of The Chameleon Theatre Company.

John has recently been published by Authors Reach Limited (which local author and publisher, Richard Hardie, is behind) with his book, Captive Audience. John has recently held an author talk at Chandler’s Ford Library and launched his book on Facebook.
For more on what John writes, check out his website

Tags: acting, author interview, Authors Reach Limited, Captive Audience, creative writing, historical fiction, historical non-fiction, John Puzey, Richard Hardie, The Chameleons, World War Two, writing, writing tips

History and Stories

May 30, 2025 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One image taken by me, Allison Symes, at The Hilt Book Fair.

History is full of stories, which is one reason I love it. Of course, history is said to be written by the winners. There is truth in that but every so often someone will come along and come up with alternatives to the “orthodox” version. Josephine Tey did this in fiction regarding Richard III with her marvellous The Daughter of Time, which The Richard III Society credits as being a major reason for many people joining them.

[Read more…] about History and Stories

Tags: am reading, am writing, Annette Carson, historical fiction, historical non-fiction, history, Josephine Tey, Philippa Langley, Sharon Penman, social history, technological history, telling details, The Daughter of Time, The Maligned King, The Princes in the Tower, The Sunne in Splendour, using history in stories, writing advice

Author Interview: Val Penny and Historical Short Stories – The Ring

May 23, 2025 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-

Many thanks to Lynsey Adams from Reading Between the Lines Vlog and Val Penny for supplying author and book cover shots. Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes.

It is with great pleasure I welcome back Val Penny, author of the DI Hunter Wilson/Edinburgh Crime Mysteries and the Jane Renwick Thrillers, to Chandler’s Ford Today with something different from what she normally writes.

This time Val has a short story with a historical aspect to it included in an anthology. This must be as close as it can get to be the total opposite for the crime novels she is best known for. Naturally there is a fabulous reason for Val doing this. The anthology, called The Ring, is going to be a charity one and the money raised will be going to that excellent cause, The Reading Agency.

Tags: anthologies, charity anthology, creative writing, historical fiction, historical short stories, The Reading Agency, The Ring, using an object in fiction, Val Penny

History – Fact and Fiction

April 19, 2024 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-

Images created via Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Some images directly from Pixabay. My book cover image from Chapeltown Books.

Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure and privilege of presenting to an online history group a PowerPoint on Josephine Tey (author of The Daughter of Time) and Philippa Langley (co-author, with Michael Jones, of The Search for Richard III: The King’s Grave, and, more recently, The Princes in the Tower, where she is sole author).

Tags: Agent ZigZag, am reading, am writing, Ben Macintyre. Operation Mincemeat. Double Cross, checking research, historical fiction, historical non-fiction, history, Josephine Tey, making history interesting, Philippa Langley. The Princes in the Tower. historical flash fiction, research, The Daughter of Time

History in Stories

May 12, 2023 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One image from the CFT archives.

The Coronation of King Charles III is the latest chapter in the story of kings and queens throughout our history. It was that thought which made me think of this topic for this week’s post. History turns up in fiction, as well as in non-fiction.

[Read more…] about History in Stories

Tags: am reading, am writing, cosy crime, historical fiction, history in other genres, history in stories, telling details. sagas, writing research

historical fiction

Image Credits:-

Many thanks to Wendy H Jones and Lynsey Adams (Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog) for images for this interview. Many thanks to the other authors in the anthology for their author head shots. Other images created in Book Brush using their images or Pixabay ones.

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Image Credits:-

Many thanks to Penny Rogers and Bridge House Publishing for supplying book cover and author shots. Other images created in Book Brush using images from them or from Pixabay using their photos. One image from a past Bridge House Publishing celebration event was taken by me, Allison Symes.

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Image Credits:-

Many thanks to John Puzey and Richard Hardie of Authors Reach Limited for supplying book and author shots. Other images created in Book Brush using their images or Pixabay photos. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the picture of John Puzey at the Hiltingbury Book Fair in 2023.

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Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One image taken by me, Allison Symes, at The Hilt Book Fair.

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Image Credits:-

Many thanks to Lynsey Adams from Reading Between the Lines Vlog and Val Penny for supplying author and book cover shots. Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes.

Share this:

Image Credits:-

Images created via Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Some images directly from Pixabay. My book cover image from Chapeltown Books.

Share this:

Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One image from the CFT archives.

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