Christina here, and today I’m waxing lyrical about a piece of furniture - the chaise longue, a perfect place for reading! I can’t remember when I first became aware of the existence of chaises longues, but it must have been when I was quite young. At that time, I didn’t even know it was a French expression as I hadn’t begun to study that language. But because Sweden had appointed a Frenchman as their king in the early 19th century (long story, but they invited one of Napoleon’s generals to become king and he accepted) there are a lot of... Continue reading

Free Clip Art, Wikimedia Commons Christina here and today I’m going to have a little rant. A while back, I read a trilogy with a hero I absolutely adored, but at the same time I couldn’t stand the heroine. I found her intensely annoying, not in any way worthy of the hero’s love and devotion, and so immature I wanted to slap her! I carried on reading the entire series because I wanted to know how things ended for the hero, and whether the heroine would redeem herself in the end, but I almost had to force myself. That’s not... Continue reading

Christina here and today it is my very great pleasure to have my friend and fellow UK author Sue Moorcroft as my guest – welcome to the Word Wenches, Sue! Thank you, Christina. It’s a pleasure to be here. Sue writes contemporary romance and her latest book, Under the Italian Sun, is out on Thursday this week. I had the great honour of reading an ARC and I can safely say it’s absolutely fabulous and the perfect spring/summer read! Please tell us a little bit about this story. Thank you so much for your kind comments! I’m delighted you enjoyed... Continue reading

Christina here with this month’s round-up of Wenchly book recommendations! The recent beautiful spring weather, and the fact that lockdown has been easing in many places, has meant that the Wenches have been able to go out and about a bit more, but we have still been doing quite a lot of reading. Below we have another eclectic selection for you – from fantasy to romcom to Shakespeare (well, sort of) and more – and we hope that you will join in as always with your own recommendations! Anne: Two very different books have hit the spot for me this... Continue reading

(Paul Hermans Wikimedia Commons) Christina here. Do you believe in cryptids? According to the dictionary they are “an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the yeti”. There seem to be rather a lot of them, and although the degree of likelihood of them really existing varies hugely, they all have one thing in common – many people want to believe in them and enormous efforts go into finding them every year. I have to admit I follow these expeditions with great interest. By definition, being an author means having a rather vivid imagination, and for... Continue reading

Christina here. The hero of my latest book The Runes of Destiny is a Viking merchant who trades in all kinds of goods - whatever will make him the most profit. However, when I researched the type of things he would be likely to bring on a trip to Miklagarðr (Byzantium), I became fascinated by one in particular – amber. The more I read about it, the more I came to appreciate it, and I could well imagine how pleased a Viking woman would have been to receive such a gift – who wouldn’t be? It also seemed like the... Continue reading

Christina here. Before the pandemic, I think it’s fair to say that most of us were very aware of time and it was very important to us – even ruled our lives. We were setting alarms to get up in the morning, checking train or bus schedules to get to work by a certain time, having our lunch at a precise time, plus there were appointments to keep and tv programmes to watch. Being late was something we tried to avoid and we probably glanced at our watch (or the time display on our mobile) regularly, sometimes obsessively, during the... Continue reading

Kanji meaning tea Christina here. Despite being half British, I’ve never been much of a tea drinker. I don’t mind it, but it’s not my favourite beverage. It doesn’t work on me as a panacea or cure-all either, the way most British people seem to see it. If I have a cold or the weather is chilly and damp as now, however, I do occasionally enjoy a cup of Twinings English Breakfast with lots of milk and sugar. It’s cosy and yes, quite comforting. And we all take for granted how cheap and easy it is to buy it –... Continue reading

Christina here. Why Shoot a Butler? is the title of one of Georgette Heyer’s country house mysteries/crime stories. It kind of makes it sound as though a butler isn’t even worth shooting, which is a bit odd! Or maybe that’s just the slant my mind put on it and it wasn’t what the author meant? It did make me think though … I have just reread all Heyer’s mystery/crime books, and although most of them are ostensibly set during the 1930s (only the last one is after the war), the settings seemed to me almost identical to those of her... Continue reading

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Christina here. Have you all been busy making new year’s resolutions and starting the year as you mean to go on? Me – not so much. I think one can safely say I’m a “bah humbug” type person when it comes to new year’s resolutions. In short, I gave up on them years ago because I simply never stuck to them - not even for a week in some cases. So what was the point in making them? I just ended up spending money on expensive gym memberships I was never going to use or a bunch... Continue reading

Christina here. It’s been a strange year and Christmas is definitely going to be different, although I’m lucky enough to be able to celebrate it with my husband and two daughters. It’s making me think about the past, however, and I’m feeling a trifle nostalgic. The Christmases we had as children always seem so much more magical than anything we can have as adults, and it’s lovely to have those memories. So today I thought I’d share the kind of Christmas I had as a child:- It all began on the first Sunday of Advent – whichever Sunday was closest... Continue reading

Christina here – just a quick Sunday post to announce that the winner of a signed copy of The Runes of Destiny and a raven keyring is Jane Nelson! Thank you so much to everyone for your lovely comments! Continue reading

Christina here. Next week sees the publication of the second book in my Viking series – The Runes of Destiny. It is the story of Linnea, a twenty-first century woman who ends up travelling back in time to the Viking age. Here’s a short blurb:- “When helping out at an archaeological dig, Linnea uncovers an exquisite brooch, but blacks out after reading the runic inscription. She wakes up surrounded by men in Viking costume, who seem to take re-enactment very seriously. Lost and confused, she finds herself in the power of Hrafn, a Viking warrior who claims her as his... Continue reading

Many people will walk in and out of your life but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. Eleanor Roosevelt Me and my BFF We all need friends and there has seldom been a time when we’ve needed them more than we do right now. The pandemic has really shown us the value of true friends – mine have definitely kept me sane throughout the lockdown and without them it would have been easy to sink into lethargy and depression. With the days blurring into one another (my husband has taken to calling every day “Blursday”!), having a... Continue reading

“Love may not make the world go round, but I must admit that it makes the ride worthwhile.” Sir Sean Connery (1930-2020) As we mentioned in our recent newsletter, the Wenches were all very sad to learn about the loss of the wonderful actor Sir Sean Connery, the inspiration for many romantic heroes. We started to reminisce about our favourite memories of the roles he had played, and felt it would be a fitting tribute to this real-life Scottish hero if we shared them here:- Mary Jo – Sean Connery was one of the most charismatic and compelling actors ever,... Continue reading

Christina here and I’m continuing with the paranormal theme, even though Halloween is over. I love this time of year when the nights are getting longer and darker, and we (in the northern hemisphere) begin to light log fires and candles at night to dispel the gloom. It’s easy to imagine that the shadows around us are moving and there’s something, or someone, lurking in the corners, especially if you live in an old house. In other words – it’s the perfect time for ghostly tales! Do you believe in ghosts? Spirits or lost souls who remain on earth because... Continue reading

By Evan Bench, Paris-httpscommons.wikimedia.org Christina here. I’ve been reading a lot more than usual recently, not just on my Kindle but also trying to get through my TBR pile of physical books. It was getting ridiculous, although not quite as bad as the mess in this photo. Once I finish one, however, I have to find a space for it on my shelves and despite the fact that I have a LOT of bookshelves, this is getting increasingly difficult. That made me start thinking about what makes a book a keeper? This is probably a topic that’s been discussed before... Continue reading

Christina here. Authors are by nature inquisitive – some people might even say nosey – but that is a very necessary trait. We observe the people around us to get inspiration for characters, we listen in on conversations in cafés and on trains and buses to help create good dialogue, and we try to absorb all the details of the world around us and store them in our memories. Because you never know when it will come in useful, or what will spark the beginning of a story. It could be any or all of the above that suddenly results... Continue reading

Christina here and today I’ve got chocolate on my mind. Not just today, actually, but most days because I’m a complete chocoholic! But here’s the thing – I haven’t had a single piece for the last week. Not one tiny crumb! Unfortunately, this is necessary because my chocolate consumption had been going through the roof recently. What with being at home all the time during lockdown and not moving enough, drastic measures were called for. I did try cutting down at first, but found it was calling to me, and time after time I headed for the fridge without even... Continue reading

Christina here and as Nicola was telling you the other day, we had a lovely day out at the ruins of Goodrich Castle recently. I had never visited before and it was a fascinating place. What was more, it had so much in common with my favourite castle ruin nearby – Raglan. Both were established in the 11th century, both held by the Royalists during the English Civil War, then fell to the Parliamentarians in 1646 and were subsequently destroyed. A sad fate for such lovely places! I hope you will indulge our obsession for castle ruins a second time... Continue reading

Christina here – I was chatting to some of my writing friends via FaceTime the other day and for some reason we started reminiscing about our favourite childhood reads. We came up with one great title after another and I thought back to those exciting days when I would go off to the library to browse the children’s section – there was so much waiting for me to discover! What really struck me, however, was how similar my reading experiences and tastes had been to those of my two friends – all the Enid Blyton stories (especially the Famous Five... Continue reading