The ponderous travellers: Les éléphants
This week, I smiled when I heard on the news that the zoo in Dublin, Ireland, has found a novel way to cool its elephants:
Author: Hannah
A fatal beauty? Beware the Siren
There is the heat of Love, the pulsing rush of Longing, the lover’s whisper, irresistible — magic to make the sanest man go mad. –
Tale as old as time: romance and the core plots of literature
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 1:9 Originality
Calypso and Odysseus: a tale of love, or bewitchment?
‘What brings a beautiful girl to such a deserted place on this enchanting night? … You look like the ocean nymph, Calypso, waiting for Odysseus
Inspired by Helios, the Greek sun god
This sandy-hued island of eternal azure skies, ever-changing blue sea, beaming sunshine and ancient stone temples… Welcome to Helios, the setting for my novel Aphrodite’s
Summer, beautiful summer – as depicted in my novels
‘Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.’ So wrote English novelist Henry
Do we need time and space to write – or should we write anyway?
Picture the scene. You have decided to write a novel. You take yourself off to a little cottage overlooking the sea. It’s quiet; there are
On keeping a diary – but keeping it private
The best piece of advice I was given as a child is this: If you want to be a writer, then write. It is obvious,
Hero or villain? A matter of perspective – and choice
In my novel Aphrodite’s Tears, the heroine, Oriel, comes to work on the Greek island of Helios. Her new boss is Damianos (Damian) Lekkas, the
‘To travel is to live’ (and, for me, to write)
‘How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.’ So wrote Henry David Thoreau. When I was
An ancient treasure trail… to the lost city of Helice?
‘Tell me,’ says Damian, the hero of my latest book Aphrodite’s Tears, ‘how did you become so keen on archaeology?’ ‘My father used to tell
Andromeda: the original damsel in distress
For my latest novel Aphrodite’s Tears, I took inspiration from the stories of the Ancient Greeks. Interwoven within the narrative you’ll find reference to plenty
Whatever happened to courtship?
Recently, Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series, took to Twitter to answer a fan’s question: ‘Is there a difference between a romance novel and
After the ‘happy-ever-after’? Why sequels aren’t my style
To date, I have published six novels: three standalones and a trilogy. The trilogy follows three generations of families, but essentially each novel can stand
Prometheus: the Titan who endured
I have always been interested in mythology. The Greek myths, which inspired my new book Aphrodite’s Tears, were written thousands of years ago by wise
The Ancient Greek myths of Delos
A maze of dry, meandering paths led them across the island. On either side crumbling stone temples, toppled columns and the remains of statues told
Facing the sunshine: why I write romance, not crime
A story reported widely in the British press last week caught my eye: ‘Crime pays,’ read the headline in the Telegraph; ‘thrillers and detective novels
Taking inspiration from the Labyrinth of Greek mythology
‘Tell me about this house. It seems enormous, a real labyrinth…’ So says Oriel, the heroine of my new novel Aphrodite’s Tears, with regard to
A heroine with the passion (and fate?) of Antigone
For my latest novel, Aphrodite’s Tears, I took inspiration from the classic stories of Greek mythology. I grew up with these stories, told to me
The enduring wisdom of Jane Eyre
Recently, the editors at Bookish.com published an article compiling favourite romance novel heroines as chosen by romance authors (http://www.bookish.com/articles/favorite-romance-heroines/). The heroines in the list were
Falling in love: A choice to fly perilously close to the sun?
In my new novel, Aphrodite’s Tears, the heroine Oriel is struggling to maintain a professional distance from her new employer, Damian, with whom, years ago,
A heroine cursed by ‘Mati’ – the evil eye
In my new novel, Aphrodite’s Tears, the heroine Oriel has come to stay on the small Greek island of Helios in order to carry out
‘She’ fell in love: On writing romance in the third person
One of the most fundamental choices a novelist faces before setting pen to paper is whether to narrate the book in the first or third
Five spectacular open-air theatres worldwide
I love going to the theatre. When I sit in my seat, listening to the orchestra tune up, looking around at all the grandeur of
‘Finding your tribe’ (rather than robots) in bookstores
A recent news headline in The Bookseller caught my eye: ‘Bookshops staffed with robots to open in Beijing’. With a heavy heart, I clicked the
A passion for archaeology: ‘to walk where ancient feet have trod’
In my new novel, Aphrodite’s Tears, set in the 1970s, the heroine Oriel is an archaeologist who has been hired to work on a subsea
Books in the news: from the neglected to the treasured
‘Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.’ So said author Emilie Buchwald. Recently, though, it was reported in the press that just
Don’t look back! A lesson from Orpheus and Eurydice of Greek mythology
I find inspiration for my writing from all kinds of sources. For Burning Embers, I was inspired by the poetry of French poet Leconte de
Fidelity: an essential ingredient for romantic love?
The modern concept of romantic love owes much to the roman of medieval times: a story told in one of the Romance languages (Italian, French,
Meet the fathers of philosophy: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Did you know that to this day, much of the Western way of thinking is derived from the philosophical explorations of three men of Ancient