This Friday 18 September 2026, Tiffany Black’s exhibition There is no Map opens at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain in Cordes sur Ciel, 81170, France. The exhibition runs until 1 November 2026. I’ve written the preface for the exhibition catalogue and here’s an extract from my text: Tiffany Black’s exhibition presents the viewer with an extraordinary boat sculpture and paintings evoking the journeys and experiences of many generations in the pastel region around Cordes sur Ciel.

In the latest issue of Historical Novels Review, Frances Spufford in an interview says, he tries to find details when writing his novels, 'the kind that go straight to the reader's senses. The ones that tell you what it was like being a body in a particular time and a place.' Spufford's alternative history novel Cahokia Jazz was one of my favourites reads last year.

Lovely recommendation for Daughter of the Last King on Bookbub today from David Poyer: 'I usually don't read novels about 11th-century Welsh princesses, but I think Warr is as good a writer as Bernard Cornwell! And it's a series!' You can see details on the book here and read more about the Welsh princess and the story here in my recent Substack post.

The HNS 2026 conference in photos. Friday and Saturday: First column: The Great Hall, Maynooth Castle; Kerbstone at Newgrange Passage Tomb; Almost the whole group on the Newgrange and Knowth excursion; Me presenting on Vikings and Normans in Ireland; Aidan K. Morrissey talking about archaeology and fiction. Second column: Terence Dooley telling the tragic story of Hermione, Duchess of Leinster; the Conference Bookshop: Laura Morelli presenting on stories in art; and John Banville with delegate, Rose de Guzman.

The Historical Novel Society 2026 conference just took place in Maynooth, Ireland with 250 delegates and a wealth of fantastic presentations. I was one of the organisers, presented a paper on Vikings and Normans in Ireland, and led an excursion to the Knowth and Newgrange passage tombs. A summary of the conference is on my substack. Knowth Passage Tombs Kerbstone at Knowth

More from my trip to Maynooth, Ireland.

I've just started a short series of daily posts from the Historical Novel Society 2026 conference taking place in Maynooth, Ireland.

My interview with Miranda Miller is posted on the Historical Novel Society website today. Miranda's novel, The Fairy Visions of Richard Dadd, has been reissued to coincide with an exhibition of Dadd’s paintings at the Royal Academy in London until 25 October 2026. His work, The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke, is in the permanent collection of Tate Britain. …

I am heading off to Ireland next week to present a paper in the HNS 2026 conference organised by the Historical Novel Society. I will be talking about how sixteen of the Norman invaders of Ireland in 1169 were the sons and grandsons of Nest ferch Rhys, the heroine of my Conquest novels. Her son, Maurice FitzGerald, built the first Norman castle in Maynooth, where the conference is taking place.

Another post from me on Romanesque sculpture in France on my Substack today.

My post on the recent British Archaeological Association Romanesque conference in Toulouse is up on my Substack:

Thank you, kind reader! Hearing from readers is one of the best parts of being a writer. I like seeing where my books get to and where they are being read. Do send me other photos if you are a reader of one of my books and have one to share.

Brief interview with me on writing the opening for a historical novel here:

A little out of season ... but this flash fiction of mine has just been published by Vine Leaves Press.

The latest issue of my quarterly newsletter is out today.

I have just experienced a major flood where I live in southwest France. Catch my latest post on Trobairitz Sleuth on medieval and contemporary flooding:

An article on the pros and cons of writing competitions by me and Rebekah Simmers has just been published in the February issue of Historical Novels Review magazine. You can read it online. We are the coordinators for the HNS 2026 First Chapters Competition, which announces its category shortlists on 1 March.

The programme for the Historical Novel Society 2026 conference in Maynooth, Ireland is now available: I will be presenting on Saturday 22 August at 10.10 on Transforming Sources into Fiction. Four of my historical novels have links to Ireland. Dublin was established by Vikings. The Viking Hostage focuses on the 10th century Viking occupation of the Welsh islands off the Pembrokeshire coast.

The next Historical Novel Society conference is taking place in Ireland in August 2026. It's on the Maynooth Campus, an hour's trainride from Dublin. John Banville, Vaseem Khan, and Martina Devlin are among the conference speakers. Excursions include the prehistoric necropolis at Newgrange. If you are a histfic writer, publisher, or reader don't miss out. Early Bird booking is open now until 1 March.

The latest post on my Trobairitz Sleuth research blog is about attitudes to twin births in the Middle Ages. I'm writing about a woman who bore two sets of twins and who may have been a twin herself.

We are past Halloween and Bonfire Night, and thoughts and the season are turning towards Christmas. Christmas was the longest holiday of the year in the medieval period described in my novels and the winter is a great time to cosy up with a book. If you have a historical fiction fan on your Christmas shopping list and you are in Wales, you could search out my books at:

Got someone on your Christmas list who is into history and historical fiction, medieval murders, medieval ladies in Wales, France, Spain? Look no further. My Christmas Bookshop makes those Christmas presents easy. You can order a beautiful hardback or an unputdownable paperback and get it sent anywhere in the UK or the US direct from the printer (production in UK or the US cuts down postage too).

If you happen to live anywhere near St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, I'm giving a talk on my self-publishing on Wednesday 19 November 8pm I reissued my backlist of five historical novels in 2023 and published a new sixth novel in 2024. It's been a steep learning curve and a rewarding undertaking. £5 guest entry for non-members You can find the details here.

The latest issue of my newsletter is available with news on author events, audio books, bookshops, writing competitions and work in progress.

I've just posted on Castelloza, the 13th-century trobairitz (female troubadour). It's interesting what different interpretations there are of her work. I've been posting for the last year on the Facebook group, France's Splendid Centuries. Check them out for more posts on French history.