Frances Owen

It was a great task, really inspiring

There she is at last.
The Venus. Her famous bottom like a blancmange served up for the men who gawp and drool, schoolboys in a tuck shop, while Mrs Pankhurst starves in prison.
Or a rump steak.
The gallery's quiet now.
I slip my meat cleaver from my leg o' mutton sleeve.
'Votes for Women!'
#WriteCBC

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The cell door slams.
Chill air. Flagstones curl her bare feet.
Distempered walls sweat damp in the window's narrow light.
She wraps her arms round her rough robe against shivering.
Mould and, faintly, urine sour her nose. That old smell.
Prayer's all that's left.
Sister Ann kneels, smiling
#WriteCBC

#WriteCBC task from @rachloudriscoll.bsky.social: Write a mini-scene where the setting is central. Is it friendly, hazardous, or a victim? Try to convey not just the place, but the importance of its role. That might mean bringing in conflict or raising a question that involves the setting.

Surviving Winter in the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net Winter was the most dangerous time of the medieval calendar year. So, how did medieval people cope?

Surviving Winter in the Middle Ages https://www.medievalists.net/2025/01/surviving-winter-middle-ages/ #winter #medievalsky #historysky

In case you missed it Cfp for the Defoe conference - as usual also accepting papers on topics related to Defoe and his times. #18thC www.defoesociety.org/conference/

Haha! Good sleuthing

My forthcoming novel features in @historia-hwa.bsky.social's list of novels for 2025 for January! Scroll down the link; #TheBalladofMaryKearney is the second cover you'll see www.historiamag.com/historical-b... #historicalfiction #writingcommunity #author Thank you, @francesowen.bsky.social

Thank you!
I'd never have got 'emrods'...

Happy New Year, lovely people!

That was outstanding. Thank you all!

The final JST #JacobiteStudies Virtual Workshop of the term is coming up on Tues, 26 Nov at 5pm UKT. We’ll be welcoming Stefano Baccolo and @f18cal.bsky.social to the digital dais to discuss their recent work on the courts of the Stuart heirs in exile after 1766.

jdb1745.net/events/jstwo...

And you!

Big shout out for @lizfremantle.bsky.social 2024 Gold Crown Award winner from the Historical Writers Association @francesowen.bsky.social #historicalfiction Read my #Bookreview of #Disobedient for the Historical Novel Society here: historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/diso...

Congratulations to @bridgetwalsh.bsky.social, debut Crown Winner 2024 Historical Writers Association! @francesowen.bsky.social #historicalfiction #Victorian #noir Read my #BookReview for the Historical Novel Society here: historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-...

Yes! Perfect!

YouTube video by Liam McGrath FINDING SARSFIELD PILOT

🚨#SarsfieldHomecoming Project🚨

First trailer of a TV documentary dedicated to the project and produced by Scratch Films for RTÉ! Filming began in September 2023 and will end… when the project ends! Very grateful to Liam McGrath for his interest in our work.

youtu.be/fEodMunCfrM

😆😆😆

£4m Archaeolink Prehistory Park on sale for £150k An abandoned former tourist attraction in Aberdeenshire, which has been derelict for 13 years, has been put on the market for less than 4% of its original cost.

What a shame. Our children had a wonderful day out at Archaolink when they were little. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A haunting piece about reconstructed prehistoric homes that have been abandoned and are themselves now becoming archaeology: 'Fragments of material culture ... are slowly becoming archaeology within the interior: this time we can witness the end of a prehistory.'

It's happening: my ERC Consolidator project 🪶#FEATHERS🪶is organising a 3-day international conference on early modern scribal culture & manuscript production at @unileiden.bsky.social on 7-9 May 2025. See Call for Papers (deadline for abstracts 20 Dec): student.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20...

Many new writers ask about #synopses.

Synopses are, by their nature, anti-novels and reduce the richest of plots. For the artificial purposes of submitting to an #agent, they’re crucial. Keep them brief, punchy, informative and don’t give the ending away or drain the lifeblood from the story
1/2

Scott Trust to examine investment to secure Observer deal with Tortoise Owner of Sunday title as well as Guardian will discuss providing funding after staff mount opposition

Acc to @financialtimes.com it appears that the Tortoise deal re The Observer might be subsidised by.................

................ the Scott Trust

www.ft.com/content/6045... (£)

Official photo from the @historia-hwa.bsky.social Crown Awards ceremony. I was there in my capacity as judge of the Nonfiction award. Here's the winner of that award, Henry Hemming, and the back of my head 😂

Bt I'd (now) know you anywhere!

Vinted is sooo addictive

I’ll link below to a piece which says every antagonist should be the hero of his/her own story. That’s great advice if you want to write a complex, interesting antagonist. Why do they think they’re right? What’s likeable about them? Who do they care about? What makes them cry?

19 November 1745: From Hexham, Field-Marshal Wade informed the Duke of Newcastle that advance parties of the Jacobites were moving to Penrith and that he would be forced to return to Newcastle due to severe weather, lack of supplies, insufficient forces, difficult terrain and sick soldiers.

18 November 1745: Lieutenant-Colonel James Durand sent his report of the fall of Carlisle to Lieutenant-General John Folliot. In the report, he blamed the Cumberland, Westmoreland and Carlisle militia for "having absolutely, to a man" refused to defend the place. RA CP/MAIN/7 f.44-44c.