📚💙 Inspiring author talk by @mhut25.bsky.social about The Mercy Step. Marcia's writing process is unusual: she dictates chapters to her phone on dog walks, edits & reads aloud to her writing group. Based on her childhood in 1960s Bradford #themercystep is shortlisted for @womensprize.bsky.social

Book Rreview 2026 10/n 📚💙 The Others by Seema Kalylil East Germany, 1989. Why some people are desperate to leave while others determined to stay. Indian medic Lolita is loved by Mozambican Armando & German Theo. But as the DDR crumbles all three face hard choices. carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

What’s involved in designing a book cover? 📚💙⏳ Come with me behind the scenes for the story of how the cover of my historical novel, Copperopolis, was created. My research, writing the brief and giving feedback on designs. Read full article here: carolyn-morgan.com/blog/writing...

Book review 2026 9/n 📚💙⏳ Blue Woman by @jonathanpage-bw.bsky.social When a female artist is obsessed by her art how do her loved ones react? What endures after her death? Beautiful prose depicts a long creative life in spare, economic brushstrokes. Full review: carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Book review 2026 8/n 📚💙 Rose & Renzo by @carolynmanc.bsky.social Can artistic connection survive political conflict? Ingenue & aspiring artist Rose is beguiled by Italian painter Renzo, but his secret past & mixed loyalties threaten to sever their burgeoning love. carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Book review 2026 7/n 📚💙 The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji Five Persian women from three generations of a wealthy but troubled family split between US and Iran, squabble over hidden secrets and uncertain futures. Read full review: carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

The news about the #artemis Nasa launch crew including a woman - Christina Koch, flight engineer - reminded me of the novel Atmosphere set in a very different decade (1980s) when female ASCANs were barely tolerated. Here is my book review 💙📚 carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Book review 2026 6/n 💙📚⏳📚 BABEL by R F Kuang What if British colonialism were supercharged by magic? Cantonese translator Robin realises his skills are exploited to oppress his compatriots. Desperate to overthrow the empire, his tactics grow ever more dangerous... carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Book reviews 2026 5/n 📚💙 The Women by Kristin Hannah Army nurse in Vietnam war endures an inferno of death, loss & heartbreak but takes pride in her skills. Back in US, traumatised and reviled by the public, she spirals down until fellow nurses help her find peace carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Marketing tips for authors from London Book Fair 📚💙 #authorcommunity #bookmarketing How to create social content & engage with readers without distracting from your writing or burning out. Why newsletters work and how to build an author brand. Full article here: carolyn-morgan.com/blog/writing...

Book reviews 2026 4/n 📚💙⏳📚 Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon Syracuse 412BC. Two hapless potters stage a Euripides play with Athenian PoWs, prompting tragic events that test their friendship to destruction. Black comedy narrated in contemporary Dublinese. carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Book reviews 2026 3/n 📚💙 Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid 1984. Catastrophe on the Space Station. Joan must talk sole survivor & fellow astronaut Vanessa through a safe return to Earth. Dramatic tale of pioneering women fighting for acceptance in macho NASA. carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Delighted that the opening of my second novel - The Sailor and the Suffragette - has been shortlisted by @histnovsoc.bsky.social in the Historical Adventure Category 📚💙 ⏳📚 Now I better get on with that second draft..

Book reviews 2026 2/n 📚💙 Pelican Girls by Julia Malye 1720. Three Frenchwomen are shipped to Louisiana as wives for settlers & separated. Navigating fevers, childbirth, abusive men & colonial wars, they learn to survive & find each other. Lyrical, dream-like prose. carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Researching my next novel in New Zealand. Inspiring day at Okains Bay museum. Colonial settler and traditional Māori buildings so atmospheric. 📚💙

My top 10 #historicalnovels of 2025 📚💙⏳📚 Ten historical novels I read in 2025 that I would heartily recommend to my bookish friends. Which of these have you read and enjoyed? carolyn-morgan.com/blog/reading...

Bookreviews 2026 1/n 📚💙 The Blackbirds of St Giles by Lila Cain 1782. Soldier & former slave Daniel fights to protect sister Pearl from Elias, criminal head of underground Rookery in St Giles. Corrupt aristos, pro fighters, fierce women & anti-slavery campaigners in Black Georgian London thriller.

2025 #bookreview 26/26 💙📚 ⏳📚 Dance of the Earth by @annamholmes.bsky.social In 1900s London & Europe, talented theatrical twins Nina & Walter seek paths to creativity & love, through ballet & music. A performer's life is precarious when WW1 halts Ballets Russes & severs cherished relationships.

My December #TBR so far 📚💙 Blackbirds of St Giles by Lila Cain (Black Georgian London) @kateagriffin.bsky.social @mhut25.bsky.social Pelican Girls by Julia Mayle (Frenchwomen shipped to New Orleans) Dance of the Earth by @annamholmes.bsky.social (Ballets Russes to WW1) Reviews in the New Year ⏳📚

2025 #bookreview 25/n 💙📚 ⏳📚 Crooked Cross by Sally Carson Munich, 1933. Lexa is engaged to Moritz but her brothers are unemployed. The Nazi party offers them work & purpose, but encourages hatred of Jews, so Moritz loses his job. Lexa is torn between her true love & her family with tragic results.

2025 #bookreview 24/n 💙📚 ⏳📚 The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller A doctor, a farmer plus their expectant wives are isolated in 1962's wintry countryside, where help is elusive & emotions spiral. Tension mounts in an authentic, constrained world where all struggle to escape the trauma of wartime.

2025 #bookreview 23/n 💙📚 The Cassatt Sisters by Lisa Groen Mary Cassatt joins the bohemian world of the Impressionists in Belle Epoque Paris. Driven to improve her art, she endures criticism and heartbreak to achieve critical success. Illustrated with paintings & the story behind their creation.

2025 #bookreview 22/n 💙📚 Snegurochka by @judithheneghan.bsky.social Ukraine 1991. Anxious expat wife & new mother Rachel, surrounded by unfamiliar language, culture & dark history fears for her baby's safety. Her husband's colleagues & neighbours all harbour deep secrets in a troubled, corrupt city

2025 #bookreview 21/n 💙📚⏳📚 A Theory in Vienna by Heidi Gallacher Vienna 1847: motherhood is a deadly minefield. Earnest medic Ignaz is desperate to know why. But his colleagues block his discoveries, driving him to despair. Vividly depicts a medical establishment opposed to change & tragic results.

2025 #bookreview 20/n 💙📚 Long Island by Colm Toibin Outmanoeuvred by her Italian American in-laws, Eilish visits her native Ireland, disrupts the fragile balance of a close-knit community & presents her first love Jim with a fateful choice. Gentle prose deepens the anguish of all three characters.

2025 #bookreview 19/n 💙📚 ⏳📚 James by Percival Everett Runaway slave James dodges danger along Mississippi & protects Huck Finn, encountering shocking racism & unexpected friendship. Amid darkness & despair, James remains resilient, but angry. Breathless action & a subtle dive into language as code

2025 #bookreview 18/n 💙📚 ⏳📚 The Painters Daughters by @emilyhowes.bsky.social Peggy Gainsborough fears losing her sister if her strange behaviour is discovered. Quirks of Bath society seen vividly through eyes of young girl, till marriage separates the sisters and a family secret brings catastrophe

2025 #bookreview 17/n 💙📚 ⏳📚 Sea of Poppies by @amitav.bsky.social Calcutta 1837. A French orphan, accidental sailor, deposed Raja, opium widow & boatman collide on former slave ship to Mauritius. Rollicking saga spiced with lascar lingo & colonial hubris amid the amoral collusion of opium trade

2025 #bookreview 16/n 💙📚 Slanting towards the sea by Lidija HIlje Tragic news for unfulfilled Ivona prompts her to divorce. Crisis for family estate brings chance of happiness but creates a painful emotional dilemma. Evokes tension as achingly beautiful Croatia emerges from war to uncertain future

2025 #bookreview 15/n 💙📚 The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden Holland 1961. Solitary Isabel seeks safety in her family home. Unwanted houseguest Eva unsettles her, stirs up buried emotions and traumatic memories. Closeted desire & suspense builds until a revelation upends everything Isabel believed.

2025 #bookreview 14/n 💙📚 There are rivers in the sky by @elifshafak.bsky.social Sweeping epic connects ancient Nineveh, Victorian Gilgamesh scholar, Yazidi girl & melancholy scientist through Rivers Thames & Tigris. Questions antiquities trade, water pollution & genocide amid intricate, lush prose

Inspiring talk by Elif Shafak 💙📚 Her roots in middle eastern oral storytelling with connection to nature & flowing time. Believes fiction brings us closer to reality & writers are the 'memory-keepers' of communities. Be curious readers, good listeners & turn emotions into writing #writingcommunity

2025 #bookreview 13/n 💙📚 Costanza by @rachelblackmore.bsky.social Time travel to sultry, oppressive 1630s Rome where egotistical Bernini entices naive yet spirited Costanza into a fateful affair. Sumptuous detail on clothes, customs & constraints on women. Satisfyingly, fiery Costanza rises again.

Feeling proud of myself for writing two new scenes in the last couple of days to tighten up my plot. Nice change from endless edits #writingcommunity 📚💙

Pacing, peril, plot twists and red herrings: how to deliver a thriller without misleading readers. Smart insights from @holly.bsky.social and Becca Day at @jerichowriters.bsky.social #lfow25 #booksky #writingcommunity

Inspiring session on alternative routes to publication: digital, self publishing or hybrid at London Festival of writing #lfow25 @jerichowriters.bsky.social #writingcommunity #booksky

Here at #LFOW25 with 300 other writers @jerichowriters.bsky.social #booksky

Looking forward to meeting other writers at the @jerichowriters.bsky.social London Festival of Writing this weekend. Let me know if you are going and I will look out for you. 💙📚 #writingcommunity jerichowriters.com/events/festi...

2025 #bookreview 12/n 💙📚 Cecily by @anniegarthwaite.bsky.social Wars of the Roses as a lethal game of chess, played by fierce Cecily, wife/advisor to Duke of York, who builds alliances, wrong-foots enemies, uses daughters as pawns, trains sons as knights & future kings amid 15thC cold, mud & gore.

Deep in the editing trenches reflecting on the wise advice from @judithheneghan.bsky.social who has read my first novel. In what passes for a heatwave in the UK, I'm enjoying the wintry and stormy scenes most. #writingcommunity 💙📚 #historicalfiction

2025 #bookreview 11/n 💙📚 Enlightenment by Sarah Perry Celestial comets & grumpy ghosts mix with strict religion in deepest Essex in a dreamy tale of rebellious Grace & melancholy, cerebral Thomas orbiting each other. Celebrates the sad beauty of unrequited love, in rich, observant, wry prose

Just submitted my query package for my agent 1-1s at @jerichowriters.bsky.social Festival of Writing later this month. Jangling with nerves, but also strangely looking forward to the feedback. #writingcommunity 💙📚 jerichowriters.com/events/festi...

Concise post about plotting a novel. Worth reading 📚💙 #writingcommunity

My next read has just arrived. Costanza by my friend @rachelblackmore.bsky.social who I met at an @arvonfoundation.bsky.social historical fiction course. Looking forward to being immersed in scorching scandal in the art world of c17th Rome 💙📚

Whilst reading about writing is the ultimate procrastination, I can highly recommend this book from @jerichowriters.bsky.social Comprehensive, with examples and summaries after every chapter, a practical handbook for planning and editing #writingcommunity 💙📚

Surprised (and delighted) to learn that my opening chapter was long listed in a Fiction Factory competition. Nice bit of motivation while deep in the editing gulag. 💙📚 #writingcommunity fiction-factory.biz/first-chapte...

Novel submission guidelines for @flyonthewallpress.bsky.social #writingcommunity

2025 #bookreview 10/n 💙📚 Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad Troubled British Palestinian Sonia plays Gertrude in West Bank production of Hamlet. Probes theatre as a political act, explores emotional trauma of diaspora Palestinians & those under Israeli occupation. Disturbing yet delicate & poignant.

In the editing trenches & inspired by Into the Woods by John Yorke. Rather than another painting by numbers template on which page to put your inciting incident, it explains why & how all narratives work #writingcommunity 📚💙 www.johnyorkestory.com/team/john-yo...

Can recommend Birdeye by @judithheneghan.bsky.social #booksky