Fantasy writer and illustrator
This post is part of my Grand Castle Tour! You can find articles on lots of other castles here! I just want to start this post by saying: don't get too excited. Pontefract castle ain't there anymore. We have the English Civil War to blame for that - the bane of medieval historians. It was… Continue reading Pontefract: The Key to The North
Hello! Before I go on, I want to make an announcement: April is the month of the castle tour! I've been researching and prepping a few posts in my spare time over the last month, so you're going to see more from me in April: of course there'll be the usual Saturday blog posts, but… Continue reading What I Wrote In March 2020
The Normans, led by King William, conquered England in 1066. They took the south easily, but the north was another matter. William eventually acquiesced and allowed some powerful northern Anglo-Saxon lords to keep their power. For decades after 1066, the Anglo-Saxon northern lords were fair-weather vassals at best, and after several rebellions William acted to… Continue reading Barnard Castle: The Fortress Sold For Parts
If you know Warhammer, you probably know it because of the very successful tabletop game. Newer fans might know it from the Total War: Warhammer series of video games. If you've been around a while, you might have found it through its fiction. I found it through the tabletop game, but I stayed for the… Continue reading Why Warhammer’s Monsters Work (For Heroic Fantasy)
(source: dreamstime.com) Times are tough, and people are struggling to sleep. So some kind folks in Twitter's writing community started a new hashtag, #WritingCommunityBedtimeStory, to give people free stories to listen to. Writers started tagging their friends, encouraging them to do it as well. I watched this ball of audio-based terror roll towards me like… Continue reading I Recorded Myself Reading a Short Story For You
Some of you really enjoyed my Conisbrough castle post. I was quite surprised, actually. But then, I suppose it makes sense that folks who love fantasy are also going to be interested in the minutiae of castles. So I'm back, and this time I'm here to tell you about Conwy castle, the French (Savoyard, specifically)… Continue reading Conwy: A French Castle In North Wales
Hey folks and happy saturday! What a month it's been so far, huh? I certainly didn't see this coming on the 1st of March. Which was, by my recollection, about three years ago now. At least it feels that way. Anyway, the longest month in history is officially coming to an end, so you'll see… Continue reading The Grand (Castle) Tour!
I presume you're writing a book, right? Well, not right now. But in general. Maybe you're just brainstorming it? If so, you'll know about the dreaded middle. The beginning and end are relatively easy because they have set structures: inciting incident, pinch points, dark night of the soul, climax, denuement, etc. That's not to say… Continue reading How To Do A Fantasy Middle Correctly, With Help From Theoden King
A review of 'The Emergence of the English', the latest attempt to answer this huge question.
History Conisbrough gets its name from the Anglo-Saxon Cyningesburh, meaning "King's Fortress." In the late Anglo-Saxon period it was the centre of a large estate owned by Harold Godwinson - who history buffs will know as the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. After his defeat, the estate (it was not yet a castle) was given… Continue reading Conisbrough: England’s last Norman castle
Dewi Hargreaves 