It took me a few weeks, but I finally finished my latest drawing project… A map of the Five Kingdoms and their neighbours!
Roman graffiti: the cute, the funny and the bawdy
If there’s anything I’ve learned during my historical research, it is that our age is really pretty prudish and uptight. Today’s illustration: the Romans. Thanks to the Vesuvius, we have some pretty good idea of Roman graffiti… and that really is something.
20 Medieval insults: From bedswerver to yaldson
A few days ago I realized that my characters were being woefully unimaginative with their insults – nothing more creative than “bastard” and “fool”. A shame, because Medieval insults can get a lot more creative! So for educative purposes (okay, okay, and for my own amusement too): here’s a helpful list on how to offend people […]
Writing romance: intimacy without sex
In romance writing, sex is often used to show intimacy or commitment. But what if you want your characters to be together while it doesn’t make sense for them to dive into bed (yet)? Or what if you don’t want to write sex at all? Thankfully, there are ways to show intimacy without sex!
Medieval dances: from couples to caroles
It’s one of the strange paradoxes of history that the most common things are often the things we know least about. After all, the more familiar something was to people in history, the less they wrote about it! Medieval dances are one of those things that have become largely obscure to us.
Writing sex scenes: 21 other words for “vagina”
The word vagina probably hasn’t been sexy since Ancient Roman times (when – surprise – it actually was a rather scandalous term). So if you’re a romance author who regularly features female characters doing naughty things, you’ll need to find some other words for “vagina” to use! Don’t worry, there’s enough to choose from.
The history of letters: why is “X” a symbol for kisses?
A quick and short fun fact in today’s blog! The use of X as a symbol for kisses looks very modern, but it’s a lot older than you might think. Already in the Middle Ages people were signing letters with an X – and not only love letters.
Writing sensory details: use all 13 senses in your scenes
You undoubtedly know the advice to include all five senses in your writing. After all, sensory details bring your scenes to life for your readers. But did you know there are more senses than just sight, sound, taste, smell and touch?
Writing sex scenes: 25 other words for “penis”
So. Let’s talk about dicks. If you’re a steamy romance writer, you probably won’t get around mentioning them every now and then (unless you’re writing f/f romance, of course!) The problem: nobody likes the word “penis”. It’s so clinical and – in my opinion – terribly unsexy. So what else are you supposed to call […]
Fainting and poisons: the Regency beauty ideal
Beauty is pain, they say. Regency women, unfortunately, were expected to take that saying very literally… Even though a “natural” look was theoretically all the rage, most women decided to help nature a hand. And in order to satisfy the Regency beauty ideal, pain or even slow poisoning were considered rather acceptable costs.