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.

My latest France's Splendid Centuries post focuses on Emma of Limoges who was kidnapped by Vikings.

My latest research post on a visit to medieval reenactors:

Imagining a medieval fight

I’ve just posted the latest issue of my newsletter, Just Meandering, which includes: a cover reveal for my new novel, Salt’s Wound, coming out in November articles on my recent research on medieval poisoning and more news on bookshops stocking my novels in Wales an article on writing and gardening and news of an author event in the UK in November. If you aren’t on my newsletter mailing list yet, you can sign up here:

I talked with historical fiction author Tony Riches about his latest book, Bess – Tudor Gentlewoman. Forced to choose between loyalty and love, duty and desire, this is the story of Bess Raleigh, o…

I talked with historical fiction author Tony Riches about his latest book, Bess – Tudor Gentlewoman. Forced to choose between loyalty and love, duty and desire, this is the story of Bess Raleigh, o…

I talked with historical fiction author Tony Riches about his latest book, Bess – Tudor Gentlewoman. Forced to choose between loyalty and love, duty and desire, this is the story of Bess Raleigh, one of the last true Elizabethans. Buy the book What attracted you to writing about this period of history, Tony, and why Bess? After the success of my Tudor Trilogy I decided to tell the entire story of the Tudors, from Owen Tudor’s first meeting with Queen Catherine of Valois to the last days of Queen Elizabeth and the end of the dynasty.

I'm deep into writing Book 2 in the Trobairitz Sleuth series of medieval murder mysteries. I've been researching medieval poisonings in the British Library and medieval magic via Medievalists.net. My recent post on the poisons research is on Substack: You can read about Book 1 in the Trobairitz Sleuth series on Tony Riches' Blog: And my latest post on France's Splendid Centuries is about four powerful medieval women: Adela, countess of Blois; Ermengard, viscountess of Narbonne; and the 6th century Merovingian queens, Brunhild of Austrasia and Fredegund of Neustria, who are the subject of Shelley Puhak's wonderful biography, The Dark Queens.

Unquiet Women by Tracey Warr https://meandabooks.com For centuries, historians have recounted history with undue emphasis on the story of men. In recent decades, this gender imbalance has begun to.....

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US 1093. The music of murder. Beatriz de Farrera is a trobairitz (a female troubadour) at the court of ...

My trilogy of novels on Nest ferch Rhys has just arrived in stock at Book Space bookshop in Cardiff.  Book Space opened last year. The owner, Lily Baron, lived in the Shakespeare and Company Booksh…

My trilogy of novels on Nest ferch Rhys has just arrived in stock at Book Space bookshop in Cardiff.  Book Space opened last year. The owner, Lily Baron, lived in the Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris for a while (see my post worked in a bookshop in Bristol, and built the Book Space interior herself.  ‘There is nothing like a book.

INTERVIEW BY TRACEY WARR Samantha Ward-Smith lives in Kent in the UK with her two cats Belle and Rudy. She has a PhD in English and has been a volunteer at the Tower of London for over 12 years. She l...

I've started posting a new series on medieval Occitan female lords on France's Splendid Centuries. Here's my first one on Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou. She wasn't originally Occitan, coming from Anjou in the north, but she married with a series of Occitan lords and was regent for a couple of sons in the south. She was also (briefly) Queen of Aquitaine and played a part in the death throes of the Carolingian dynasty (the descendants of Charlemagne). She was the mother of Queen Constance of France, wife to Robert II, who was another very interesting medieval woman.

Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou By Tracey Warr https://meandabooks.com Last year, I posted on Female Lords in Occitania...

A new review of Love's Knife just published on Amazon emphasises the focus on women in history in my novel: 'Warr skillfully immerses readers in the vibrant yet unforgiving world of a female troubadour, shedding light on a chapter of history where women’s stories are often overlooked. Through rich detail and keen historical awareness, she reveals a society where a woman without children can be confined to a convent and an heiress’s fate decided by a marriage against her will.