Gold and Silver for Novice Threads at the Coffee Pot Book Club Awards!

Good Morning!

It's Sunday 15th December 2024 and last night I found out that Novice Threads, Book 1 of my Silver Sampler Series, published in May 2020, had won two medals in The Coffee Pot Book Club Awards 2024.

One of the finest things about me entering a book competition is that once entered I tend to forget all about the entry and then the surprise is so huge when I find that my novel has been placed, or won an award! 

That's exactly what happened last night. I noticed a friend in Seattle had posted to Instagram that her book had won an award in the Coffee Pot Book Club Awards 2024 and it prompted me to go searching. To my absolute delight, I discovered that NOVICE THREADS had won a GOLD MEDAL in the Historical Women's Fiction Category and a SILVER MEDAL in the Enlightenment (1600s - 1800s) category.

The books in the competition are absolutely wonderful novels, some of which I've already read and others are still on my TBR pile on my always full Kindle. 

My thanks go top the team at The Coffee Pot Book Club for the time, effort, and expertise it takes to make the selections and to present the awards.

Now to get on with that writing of Books 2 & 3 of the Silver Sampler Series. 

Slainte! 

Prince Albert Memorial Museum Exeter

 Happy Thursday Greetings to you! 

A few weeks ago, I paid a very quick visit to the Prince Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter before I headed south to the Historical Novel Society Conference in Devon. 

pugio scabbard 

I was mostly interested in any Roman artefacts in their collections but found them quite limited. When speaking to a museum attendant, she told me there have been few remains uncovered from the Roman era to date around Exeter, and only some very messy digging under Exeter Cathedral might be the answer to increasing their artefact count. Exeter is like many cities in England where the Romans created forts or fortresses and subsequent peoples chose to use the same site on which to build their earliest Christian churches.

Over time, those early churches were replaced and some of them ended up being the most impressive Medieval buildings (architecturally speaking). There will be Roman remains to be found under Exeter Cathedral, undoubtedly, but it's unlikely any will ever be dug up to add to the museum collections since attitudes to how acquisitions are made have changed so much over the centuries.

Strigil

.

The strigil above actually came from a Kent find, but is displayed in the museum to show the visitor what one would have looked like. [Some fragments of iron and copper strigils were found in Exeter but not sufficient to put together a complete sample.] The cleansing process of adding oil to the body, then scraping it back off again - along with the dirt and debris accumulated on the skin  - is easy to imagine when admiring the strigil above.

I found some of the non-Roman collections fascinating, the Devon lace in particular. It is so intricately done.

Devon lace

It was a short visit but worth seeing. 

Slainte!

A wet Exeter!

 Happy Wednesday to you!

Prior to attending the Historical Novel Society Conference at Dartington Hall, Devon, I spent a few hours wandering around Exeter, having flown there from Edinburgh. 

Me under a very low archway-
St. Stephen;'s Bow.

I'd planned my trip so that I could spend the afternoon and evening in Exeter. I knew that Exeter Airport was pretty small, and that I could get a service bus to the city centre where my hotel was located, near a part of the old Roman wall. Unfortunately, for me, it was an extremely wet Thursday (September 5th 2024). Getting the bus was easy since they were timetabled about every half hour. Never having visited the city before, I asked the bus driver for a ticket to Exeter Cathedral since I knew that it was a short walk from there to my hotel. I'd looked at the bus route on a map and it seemed to go very close to the cathedral. I wasn't joking when I asked the driver if I'd recognise the cathedral. He told me I couldn't miss it.

Exeter Cathedral

That might have been true on a sunny day but since there was a relentless rainfall, and such a low cloud cover that I couldn't see the tops of three-storey buildings, it was impossible to see cathedral spires in the distance. The driver, to give him his due, stopped and paused at an impressive smallish church on a very busy but narrow street. No-one got off and nobody had pressed the 'bus stopping' signal. I did wonder if I was supposed to alight but the moment passed and the driver moved on. When I realrised I was in a bus only/pedestrianised area, with small shopping malls and lots of shops I got off in case I went even further away from my hotel destination.

Another impressive church near my hotel.

The 'map' route' I had in my head utterly failed me. I came to a junction and forged ahead. It was completely the wrong direction and by the time I did a full circle of the city centre, I was drenched. So drenched that after I checked into my hotel room even the contents of my pull-along suitcase were damp. 

Still, having fortified myself with an excellent late lunch and a large glass of very tasty (expensive) Malbec, and a set of dryish clothes, I went a-wandering. Not many photographs were taken outside since I couldn't see my phone for drips on my glasses and on my camera face. However, I was just in time to spend a very quick half hour inside Exeter Cathedral before it closed to tourists.

I don't visit the interiors of such places for religious reasons but I do for the architecture, and it certainly didn't disappoint. It boasts the longest, continuous medieval stone vault in the world. The whole interior is stunning and a testament to the many, maybe millions, of hours of labour put in to create it.

There are also the unexpected carvings that seem to defy any sort of kindness to man! Like this one above which depicts the martyrdom of St. Laurence who was tied to a gridiron in AD 258. Read the full description HERE

What I saw of Exeter makes me know that I'd love to see it again in sunshine! 

Shield bosses on the vaulted ceiling 


I also visited the Albert Museum the following morning...but I'll add that in another post. 

Slainte!

Historical Novel Society interview!

Good Morning!

Since being serious about becoming an author, back in 2011, I've been interviewed by many different sources. Some were for other author blog posts, and a few were for more widely visited sites.

I'm delighted to say that this week I've been  interviewed on the Historical Novel Society website, as part of a new series they've started for new book launches.

Though Novice Threads was launched in May 2024, I requested this interview as soon as I realised the possibility was there. Since it's a paid feature on the website, I have to consider the fee as part of my marketing strategy. To that end, I'll be keeping and eye out for any spike in book sales since I don't have any other particular promotions running this week.

You can catch the interview here: 

 https://historicalnovelsociety.org/launch-nancy-jardines-novice-threads/

Now to write more of Book 2. 

Slainte!

Roman Bath in Bath at last!

Hello. Happy Tuesday to you!

For such a long time I've intended to visit the City of Bath, mainly to visit Aquae Sulis-Minerva Baths, the Roman Baths. And I'm delighted to say that after the Historical Novelist Society Conference finished in Devon, I headed up to Bath for a couple of days before flying home.

The Great Bath

The weather wasn't kind since it rained for almost the whole 48 hours of my visit. That wasn't so good for taking photographs but I snatched some in between the drenching showers.

The Roman Baths are a sight to behold. It's quite amazing to realise that the Great Bath at Aquae Sulis Minerva was being constructed during the Vespasian era (AD/CE 70s)  when my fictional Garrigill Warrior clan are in action to thwart the domination of their Roman usurpers in northern Britannia.

I was absolutely ecstatic to get some of my own photographs of the statue of General Gnaeus Iulius Agricola. I've used a Wikimedia Commons image for years and I had the idea in my head that the statues (of notable figures e.g. Julius Caesar/ Roman Governors of Britannia) were all way above the Great Bath. That proved not to be the case! When the Victorians uncovered a lot of the Great Bath site they reconstructed the walls, building new pillars behind the partial remains of the originals. By the end of the 19th Century, the statues were added to the balustrade that topped the newly constructed walls. Therefore, the statues were all created using a current perception of what the body armour etc. might have been like. (The original wooden roof had fallen down in antiquity and covered the lead lined floor of the bath)

General Gnaeus Iulius Agricola

The whole Roman Baths complex is stuffed full of information for the tourist and it's quite a sinuous process moving from one area of the museum to another. I had pre-booked a ticket for the complex which included an Audio Guide, but had also booked a separate Guided Tour of 1 hour. That was a great combination because I was able to wander around the museum areas and get a feel for the site before the tour guide gave more detailed explanations, some not available on the Audio Guide.

The gilded bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva is stunning! Having been unearthed in the 1720s, finding the statue head was an indicator that there was something very worthwhile still to be uncovered nearby.

It's not clear if the Great Bath was used simultaneously by both male and female bathers, or if it was used on a timed sequence of male/ female only bathing. It's thought that they were probably available to anyone who could afford the entry fee. The booths/ niches on the outer edges were more for social or leisure interactions like chatting with friends or business clients, or for playing games.

The idea of spending a good few hours in a leisure spa like Aquae SulisMinerva in some way equates to the trend today for SPA packages. 

I drank some of the 'healing' water from the springs. It tasted okay, but sadly didn't ward off the cold that was clearly already brewing in me because it was full-blown when I arrived home a day after drinking it.

Though I've just mentioned that the Great Bath was opened towards the end of the Vespasian era, other parts of the complex came during later decades.

The additions during the Hadrianic era were smaller scale than the Great Bath but were clearly well laid out. It made me wonder if the women of Aquae SulisMinerva who frequented the baths preferred to be in separate areas, or if they felt that bathing together with males was a lost privilege. From what I've read of Hadrian, his edict that all bathing across the Empire be segregated suited his own preferences, but maybe not some of the women of the empire.

Bath architecture was also impressive. My hotel was very central which made walking around easy. There were plentiful choices of restaurants and what I ate was extremely tasty. 

I'd definitely go again because I didn't have time to do a 'Regency' focus and would like to visit more 'Jane Austen' sites in future. 

I'd totally recommend a visit to Bath! 

Slainthe! 

The HNS Conference at Dartington Hall

Happy Saturday to you! 

Dartington Hall, Devon

My Historical Novel Society Conference in Dartington Hall, Devon, England, was fantastic. One of the best things was matching up real-live people with the profile images of friends made on Facebook, and other social media outlets. Some looked just like their photo and others… maybe less so, but the fun was in attempting to figure them out without looking at their name badge (a godsend for me because I never remember names).

The conference speakers and panel authors did a great job from the most widely known in Bernard Cornwell, Diana Gabaldon and Ian Hall, to those for whom an HNS speaking task was a novelty.

Bernard Cornwell 

The venue was beautiful even in the relentless rain that fell every day from Friday through Sunday. The history of the Dartington Estate will be worth spending a little time on (when I get an opportunity) since it was not just our conference attendees who populated the area. The Dartington Estate is also popular with families, dog walkers, cyclists and general outdoorsy people who spend leisure time in the countryside.

It wasn't easy to get WIFI so my writing of the event is coming well after I'm home. (Also because I either acquired an unwelcome dose of Covid, or a very disgustingly heavy head cold which has floored me for a few days)

Ian Hall

I had no expectations of meeting Bernard Cornwell. I didn’t think I’d be speaking to Diana Gabaldon either but I had a brief opportunity on Friday when I was finding out where to register. While dodging the rain in the courtyard area, both of us hurrying in opposite directions, we traded a brief hello and how are you. Late afternoon on the Saturday, I was in the bar at a long table with some of my Historical Writers Forum Facebook Group when she came and sat down beside us. She must meet millions of people every year but I was able to say I’d briefly talked to her in Glasgow, at the Hunterian Museum/ Cloisters area last July 2023. It’s refreshing how easily she speaks to complete strangers.

There is a photo of the group, myself included, with Diana Gabaldon but as it's a closed Facebook group I don't have the use of it to share here. 

Diana Gabaldon and Chris Humphreys 

Over the conference days it was great to talk to people who aren't yet friends with me on social media and others with whom I made fleeting contact like the two lovely ladies from the US who realized I was a conference attendee from my Scottish Association of Writers tote bag. One of them noticed my tote bag as the train was pulling into Paignton Railway Station (I had travelled there from Exeter) and guessed I was attending the conference. She offered me a lift in the taxi she’d previously booked for the Premier Inn. We exchanged first names but no business cards  -  unfortunate since I now don't know who they were. I only saw them one other time during the conference, there being something upwards of 250 attendees (I think). 

My thanks go to all of the organisers. They did a sterling job using contingency plans since a lot of the catering was intended to be from an outside marquee which wasn't possible with the relentless rain that fell the whole weekend! 

It was all go and tiring, but well worth the effort of travelling so far south! Look out for more information on the sessions. 

Slainthe!

Off on a Historical Novelist Society Conference Adventure

Good Morning,

Dartington Hall - Wikimedia Commons

The sun isn't shining where I live but, since I'm off on an adventure which will lead me to the south coast of England, Aberdeenshire weather isn't what I'll experience in the coming days. I can tell you now that my smile is wide since I'm really looking forward to meeting up with lots of author colleagues that I only interact with online. It'll be wonderful to see some of them face--to-face for the first time and others to see them again in-the-flesh! 

This time the event is organised by the Historical Novel Society. The venue for this year's UK get together is Dartington Hall, Devon. However, my route to the venue will not be a direct one since I'm taking the opportunity to do a tiny bit of sightseeing both before and after the (mainly) 2- day event.

The first leg of my journey today will be down to Edinburgh, since it wasn't possible to get a flight directly from Aberdeen (my nearest airport) to Exeter (the nearest airport to the venue). Since my flight was initially supposed to be an early one at 06.20 hrs on Thursday 5th Sept., I booked a hotel airport for tonight. My scheduled flight will now not take off till 11.00 hrs but that's still okay since it's only a 1.5 hour flight time.

The weather report prediction isn't great for the south coast of England but I do hope it won't be snowy as it is in this image! All will be revealed. 

Look out for updates...

Slainthe!

RNA Conference 2024 at Royal Holloway College

My Monday Catch up!

Royal Holloway College

Having spent a fantastic 3.5 days at Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey, here are some of the research details I should probably have been posting before I went!

The college was bankrolled by the Victorian entrepreneur Thomas Holloway who made his fortune from the sales of pills, potions and patented medicines. During its conception, he sought ideas via public debate on how to spend a quarter of a million pounds on something philanthropic. It was his wife Jane who suggested that he should spend that lovely money on a college for women, quite a novel idea as it was still difficult for a woman to enter into any kind of full-time university studies during this era.

Thomas and Jane Holloway

Deciding to go with Jane's suggestion, Holloway later increased his financial commitment to half a million pounds, a ginormous sum in the late 1870s. Having acquired the land, the Mount Lee Estate covering some 135 acres, he commissioned the architect William Henry Crossland to make the project a reality.

Crossland set to and produced the most incredible edifice now named the Founders Building, designed as an original 600-bed building, the inspiration said to have come from the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France.

Chateau de Chambord - Wikimedia Commons

Founders Building - Royal Holloway College

The two images above are for comparison. My Holloway photo doesn't show the similarity of rounded towers and turrets that Crossland included, but you do see them more effectively in this photo below.

 

A Grade 1 listed building, the Founders Building acquired Royal status when Queen Victoria officially opened the building in 1886.

Queen Victoria in the interior Quadrangle

Around that time the Chapel was also completed. It’s not large but is highly opulent.

The Chapel - Royal Holloway College

It must have been such an incredibly exciting moment for its original 28 female students when they began their studies in October 1887.

The campus area is what I’d tactfully term lightly-managed woodland but that’s very appropriate in today’s ecologically-aware world. It would have been equally impressive in former years when it was created and probably more micro-manicured. There are tranquil little pond areas, and a wealth of different trees and shrubs all accessible via a winding series of interconnecting pathways. I found it slightly hard to decide what the whole estate might have been like, before the modern student halls of residence, lecture theatres, and teaching buildings were in situ, but I’m guessing just a lot more of the same that is seen today in the landscaped areas.

It took about fifteen minutes for the taxi to take me from Heathrow Airport to Royal Holloway College so, give or take that ‘Greater London’ is massive geographically, it’s a very convenient place for conference attendees who fly in to Heathrow from far-flung places. For me it was a flight of about 1.5 hours, so it was very easy to get to the venue.

All of our conference dining took place in the Dining Hall within the Founders Building - striking rooms with beautiful décor, especially the ‘atrium?’ which led out to the terraced area set above the interior quadrangle. The photo below is acquired from the RNA attendees Facebook page, a view of the Dining Hall during our Quiz Night last Friday. I'm at the table on the bottom right, quite clearly not having a clue of the answer to the set question! 

Dining Hall Royal Holloway College 

I had no opportunity to visit the Library which, I read, has a massive collection of fabulous books. However, I did have a very brief visit to the Picture Gallery for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Awards Ceremony. It’s a cliché to say my jaw dropped when I went along the aisle to take my seat! There’s a priceless collection in that incredible room. (The original two collection sources being  Holloway himself and a female artist named Christiana Herringham)

The Princes in the Tower- Millais

Princess Elizabeth in Prison at St. James
- Millais

There are some very famous paintings in the collection which I immediately recognised: Sir John Everett Millais' The Princes in the Tower (1878), William Powell Frith's The Railway Station (1862).  Edwin Long's Babylonian Marriage Market (1875). On seeing them, it brought back memories of my Art History topics when studying the Victorian Era during my Open University BA Degree back in 1987-1990. I was extremely disappointed that I couldn’t linger to admire the paintings after the Awards Ceremony but our presence was demanded outside in the quadrangle since the servers were ready with our special Barbeque food.

All in all, the choice of venue for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference for 2024 was an excellent one. I also thank the committee for the organisation of the whole weekend which was thoroughly enjoyable, convivial and…inspirational.

I must now get on with the writing of Book 2 of my Victorian Scotland series!

Slainte! 

Romantic Novelist Association Conference 2024!

Hello!

This coming weekend I'll be flying off to pastures new.

Going to a writers' conference isn't a novelty for me, since I've attended a number of Scottish Association of Writers Conferences, and I've also attended one of the UK Historical Novelist Society Conferences, all of which have been in Scotland. These were easy travel situations as I could drive to the venue.

However, The Romantic Novelist Association Conference is being held at Royal Holloway College (London University), Egham, about a 20 minute taxi ride from Heathrow Airport. Flying from Aberdeen, Scotland, to Heathrow makes sense even though it's years since I've been on a plane. 

Though going to the RNA Conference will be a first for me, I won't feel too much of a newbie since I'll be there with a number of my Scottish RNA author friends. There's a contingent of around 8 authors heading down so I'm very much looking forward to being with them. We meet regularly on Zoom sessions and make an effort to organise lunches at least a couple of times a year, the best venues for that being Edinburgh or Glasgow, easiest for most of us to get to.

Royal Holloway College

Unlike most of my fellow Scottish RNA author friends, I don't have the added stress of attending 1-2-1 interviews with industry personnel like Agents and Publishers. At the moment, I'm quite content being a member of Ocelot Press and self-publishing therefore not looking for either agent or publisher. It means I won't have to sneak away from any of the sessions I opt in to attending and can enjoy the full experience. 

Updates to follow about this fabulous old venue after I've been! 

Slainte!

Aboyne Highland Games 2024!

Hello again!

I'm off to the Aboyne Highland Games in Royal Deeside, Scotland, tomorrow- July 3rd 2024.

It's always an exciting venue to visit and though I tend to miss a lot of the events taking place across the field, since I'm in the FOCUS Craft marquee, the atmosphere is always so vibrant and lively.

I'll have a great stock with me of my novels and will be one of three authors who will be touting our books in the FOCUS marquee. Our genres don't overlap and I like not being a 'one alone' among the very varied crafts that will be around the whole 'craft village'.

It will be an honour to showcase my latest published novel- Novice Threads - but I'll also have special deals on my Celtic Fervour Series. When the grounds are inundated by oversees visitors they have a tendency to like my novels that harken back to the Scotland of nearly two thousand years ago when the Roman legions invaded Taexali territory (Aberdeenshire). 

The weather will hopefully hold out, the prediction being neither rainy nor too hot at about 20 Deg C. 

Till later...

Slainte!  

Novice Threads is on a special #1.99 deal across Amazon!

Hello! 

Novice Threads Kindle eBook is on a special 1.99 [£/$/Euros] deal across Amazon this weekend. All other Amazon territories should also have an equivalent reduction.

It's now approximately 2.5 months since the novel launched and the time has flown by. It currently has 57 ratings on Amazon UK and, with fingers crossed, hopefully that number will increase. Last I looked it was at 55 ratings on Amazon US, the bulk of the ratings and reviews 5*. (Just short of 50%)

If you've not yet read Novice Threads, Book 1 of my Silver Sampler Series, now is a great time to grab a cheaper copy.

Happy Reading!

Slainte! 

Was Malton Roman Fort also the Romano-British town named as Delgovicia?

Hello again and Happy Friday to you!

Malton Museum

My trip to Malton Museum Roman Festival last weekend was most enjoyable. The site for the festival was Orchard Fields, Malton. Orchard Fields is an undulating sloping site that for many visitors, or dog walkers, is a pleasant green space to spend time in. An archaeologist would probably see the site differently and would likely be able to assess where the ramparts of the Roman Fort of almost 2000 years ago would have been, without recourse to specialist equipment.

First used in the time of General Cerialis' Britannic governorship, Malton was initially a temporary camp of some 22 acres, built to shelter the advancing troops who flooded Brigantia around AD71/73. By AD 79, it's thought that it would have been under the governorship of Gnaeus Iulius Agricola that the first wooden fort of 8.5 acres was constructed and then some decades later the walls were laid in stone, the perimeter shape of the fort changing according to the amount of soldiers; horses and mules it had to give shelter to. Remnants of these walls were excavated in the 1920s by an archaeologist named Philip Corder who clarified that the fort was of a typical 'playing card' shape. Substantial coin evidence of the Caurausian era would point to the fort being used/ occupied for many decades, to at least the late 200s.

I've made many mentions in my Celtic Fervour Series of the military activities of both General Cerialis and General Agricola. And my main characters in the series are, of course, of Brigantian origins so I felt quite at home in Malton waxing lyrical to anyone who stopped by to listen and to buy my novels.

The site was well laid out with exhibitor off-loading available at the 'upper' main gate, after which I had to drive my car round the town streets to park at the bottom end of Orchard Fields which is quite a bumpy slope.

Terry Deary signing books almost all day! 

The 'Author' tent was set next to the 'Talk' tent where various people gave talks, myself included. Alongside me were two very busy tables. One inhabited by Kemps Books, the local bookstore in Malton; and the other was Terry Deary's signing table (Horrible Histories). Acquiring Terry to attend the festival was genius since it drew many families onto the festival site all day long. Three other authors were in our little area- Kate Cunningham (children's books); Nick Brown (military Roman fiction) and Clive Ashman (Roman fiction and non fiction).  

Danny Allsebrook (Caractacus); Fiona Trigg (Cartimandua)
Brigante me; and the other Brigante! 

There were many other stalls and activities to keep everyone happy all day long. Equestrian shows were further down the field in the arena area and Roman Re-enactors gave live demonstrations of various Roman crafts. And I was delighted to again meet my Brigante friends - Fiona Trigg, Danny Allsebrook and one more Brigante - having seen them at the York Eboracum Roman festival in 2022 and 2023. It was equally nice to touch base again with Graham Harris (Romans in York/ re-enactors) and a few of his re-enactor soldiers that I recognised from the Eboracum festivals. 

Kate Cunningham and I having a laugh! 

A very good day was had by all, I believe, if the happy kids were anything to go by. They were clutching multiple Terry Deary books all dutifully signed by said author. 

The day passed really quickly and afterwards I spent a lovely few hours out dining in Malton with Kate Cunningham and her wonderful family. 

It was a long way to drive but well worth it! And I also signed a few copies of my own novels! 

Slainte!