Writing – 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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In praise of editors…

Joanna Courtney — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 15:49:43 +0000

I first started writing for the women’s magazines back in 1999. I still remember having my first story accepted for publication (yes, a bottle of bubbly was bought and probably cost almost as much as I was paid but, as discussed in my previous post, all successes must be celebrated). I felt fantastic - I…

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Joanna Courtney is born

Joanna Courtney — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 13:01:42 +0000

Yesterday I signed my contract with Pan Macmillan to publish my trilogy – The Queens of the Conquest – and in that moment Joanna Courtney was born. I went to bed and stared at the book I’m reading (the brilliant ‘The Secrets we Left Behind’ by Susan Elliot-Wright) and imagined my own in my hands.…

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