I was thrilled to be asked to host a blog post for E.M. Swift-Hook as part of a blog tour for the anthology, Masterworks, in which she wrote a wonderful short story called Blood on the Mountain, set in Prague. During her research, she came across a curious mode of assassination that seems to be unique to that city. Here is Eleanor to tell you all about it. Such an arresting word ‘defenestration’. The kind of word that sticks in the mind. Unfortunately, its definition is not very delightful at all. It is the act of throwing someone out of a window but carries the implicit intent of killing them ..read more

Grand Duchess Olga wanted more than anything else to remain in Russia instead of marrying a foreign prince when she would have to change her Orthodox faith and possibly learn a new language. Prince Peter was not a very prepossessing fellow, but at least he was Russian despite his title, so she accepted his proposal. Not until the morning after her wedding night, which she spent alone, did she learn that her husband was a homosexual. This was a time in Russia when homosexuals were disparaged and regarded as deviants. Two years later, Olga was at a military review when she saw a soldier and ..read more

My new book (first draft completed – yesss!) is about Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovich, daughter of Tsar Alexander III and Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark. She was the youngest in a family of three boys and two girls. Most of her youth was spent in the palace of Gatchina with her brother Michael, living an extraordinarily modest and happy life with their father, who enjoyed simple pleasures. Meanwhile, their mother, with the three older children, spent those same months in St. Petersburg, enjoying the balls and parties as a leading light of society. Despite th ..read more

Another great book from an author who knows the country so well and writes of it so poignantly. Nefeli lives with her eight-year-old daughter Georgia and owns the Blue Dolphin Tavern near the coast on a small island. She was widowed four years earlier and is now struggling to make ends meet. The village ladies think it is time for her to marry again. They select a husband for her and, in order to provide Georgia and herself with a secure future, she agrees although her heart isn’t involved in the bargain. One night while walking on the beach, she discovers a badly injured Luftwaffe pilot. She ..read more

The Son left the garage door open one night. In crept a thief – a hungry thief, who ate a Fibre One Bar from a shelf where the Family kept extra food. He took four longbows, several arrows, some tools, and two boxes of Fibre Ones. The thing that annoyed the Son most of all was that he discovered a pair of brand new work boots in a box on a high shelf, took off his shabby runners and had the cheek to leave them instead. Then he discovered the keys. In front of the garage door, on the driveway, was a pickup truck on blocks, behind it a newer model Subaru. Inside the car, he found the Son’s wall ..read more

A fictionalised account of true events In his early thirties, James Brooke retired from the East India Company’s army and is looking for adventure and opportunities in the East. In the 19th century, the Dutch rule trade in the China Sea, but Brooke sees a chance to open trade with Borneo (Malaysia) for the British. The Sultan is at war with rebels and persuades Brooke to lead an army against them. There follows – I can’t call it a battle – it is almost a siege, with the Sultan’s force refusing to engage if there is a risk of death to any of the men. (This was a time when there were still headh ..read more

The youngest of five siblings, Alexandra, was born Alix of Hesse and by Rhine on the 25th May 1872. Alix met her future husband Nicholas at the wedding of her elder sister Ella to Grand Duke Sergei of Russia and returned for another visit six years later when they fell in love. Alix at 15. Although Alix was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Hesse was a grand duchy and not a particularly distinguished house. Nicholas’s parents did not consider Alix of good enough lineage to marry the heir to the imperial throne and refused their permission. Although she was a granddaughter of Queen Victori ..read more

Excellent narrative of the early life of Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian I. Her story is told by Stephen, who was imprisoned by her, then released after 5 years when she is dying and wants an honest account of her life. The author describes her as a great beauty, and I’m sure she must have been to rise to such heights. Hers is not the kind of life anyone would expect to lead to the imperial throne. Raped at the age of twelve, she determined not to follow her older sister into a life of prostitution. Instead, she had quite a list of ‘careers’: a popular comedic actress, which led to her mos ..read more

My latest book, still in the editing phase, is set before, during, and after the Russian Revolution and contains lots of interesting characters, perhaps none more so than Nicholas Romanov. Nicholas was born on 19th May 1968, the eldest child of the Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich and Marie Feodorovna (formerly Dagmar of Denmark). He was only twelve years old when his grandfather was killed by a bomb thrown at his carriage and was a witness when the shattered body was brought into the palace. Because of this, and other attempts on the lives of the Imperial Family, Nicholas’s father, Tsar Al ..read more

On June 1st. I moved from an apartment to a lovely house with a horrible garden. I left the apartment spotless, going back to clean the floor after the movers had departed. In visiting the house before buying, I saw the windows were extremely dirty but fully expected them to be cleaned up before we moved in. Nope! As if that wasn’t bad enough, the kitchen shelves were filthy. How can people leave a house in such a condition? Oddly, shelves in other places such as the hall and bedroom closets were clean. The garden, however, did not come as a shock. There was no mistaking foot-high thistles and ..read more