Joanna Courtney – Joanna Courtney

Break out the tartan – it’s Burn’s Night!

Joanna Courtney — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 14:28:13 +0000

Break out the tartan, stab a haggis and pour yourself a wee dram – this weekend it’s time to celebrate all things Scottish. I’m not sure why poor St Andrew got booted down the calendar in favour of Rabbie Burns (St Patrick gets all the Irish glory after all!) but if nothing else we have to…

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Finding the festive child inside. Or, why we need Christmas books!

Joanna Courtney — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 10:22:31 +0000

My little Mary Little kids are so brilliantly seasonal, aren’t they? Not in that they only ripen at a certain point in the year – on the contrary a toddler can bring a tantrum to fruition at any time of the year, day or indeed night – but in that they…

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The Forgotten Queens of 1066 – Capturing the female side of history

Joanna Courtney — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 10:18:26 +0000

The Battle of Hastings is surely one of the most rollocking male historical events out there? Crammed full of blood and gore, swords and shields, Williams and Harolds, it is a gloriously testosterone-fuelled drama. And yet is this the full story? Is there not, indeed, half of it missing? Where were all the women…

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Did Lady Macbeth wear knickers?

Joanna Courtney — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 09:58:39 +0000

The intimacies of writing historical fiction My main aim when writing historical novels is to drop the reader into the world of my characters – to send them there to touch and taste and see and smell the places where they lived. For me, the true fascination in delving into the past is not in…

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Is This a Lie I see Before me?

Joanna Courtney — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 09:30:39 +0000

I'm delighted to feature in the Daily Express talking about the real Lady Macbeth. Click here to read the full article.

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The Real Lady Macbeth

Joanna Courtney — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 10:29:35 +0000

The real Lady Macbeth Cold, ruthless, deadly, the myth of Lady Macbeth looms large. But behind the villainous portrait stands a real woman. Blood Queen is her story and here is a little bit about how I came to tell it. Pilgrims in Rome I love a good Shakespeare play and I’m especially partial…

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The Girlie Side of the Normans…

Joanna Courtney — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 09:50:23 +0000

Me seeking out the softer side of Duke William - where better to start than in a nice French restaurant! Searching for the girlie side of the Normans.... The Normans don’t get a great press in history. They generally go down as Vikings without the sex appeal – dour, straight-laced, humourless warriors who liked to…

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Fab historical writers – Justin Hill

Joanna Courtney — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 10:04:11 +0000

For this, the last in my Spring series of 'fab historical writers' features, I'm delighted to welcome Justin Hill to my blog. I met Justin several times last year at various spirited battle re-enactments around the 900th anniversary of 1066. His latest novel Viking Fire is about Harald Hardrada, hero of my own novel The…

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Fab historical writers – Alison Morton

Joanna Courtney — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 06:51:54 +0000

Today I'm delighted to welcome Alison Morton to my blog and to launch the blog tour of her new novel RETALIO which comes out next week (see below for a GIVEAWAY of a signed copy). I first met Alison when she joined our little group of historical writers putting together 1066 Turned Upside Down. It was…

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