Murder, Incest, Fornication, Ribaldry: Lucy Hutchinson's Unflinching Verdict on a King She called the Jacobean court a sty. Her aunt married into it.

Lucy Hutchinson didn’t hold back when writing about James I. Read why that may have made Sunday lunch with the fam awkward…
#EarlyModern
elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/murder-inc...

Fool | A Vibrant Tudor Historical Novel by Mary Lawrence - Elizabeth St.John Fool Mary Lawrence Betrayal. Power. Perception. The most dangerous mind at court belongs to a fool. From the author of The Alchemist’s Daughter comes a dark tale of ambition and survival. “One of the ...

A snippet from Fool on my website today - a Coffee Pot Book Club feature.
#HistoricalFiction #GreatHistoricalFiction #Tudors @marylawrence.bsky.social @cathiedunn.bsky.social www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

a man in a purple shirt and white pants is doing exercises with his arms outstretched . ALT: a man in a purple shirt and white pants is doing exercises with his arms outstretched .

That's as good as the mailer I received from AARP - with discounted Rolling Stones Tour tickets...

After the Workhouse Julia Harriet and the courage that was never spoken of

Honouring Julia Harriet, the nine-year-old girl who entered a workhouse and how I felt writing my grandmother’s story. Can resilience be passed on through families? I think so. Listen to or read my post:
elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/after-the-...

When the Past Came Knocking On doubt, and the long-lost portrait that rescued a novel from the bottom drawer.

Every writer has a bottom drawer. Mine held a manuscript I was quite certain I had failed, a novel stuffed away in despair, thinking, not very convincingly, that I would return to one day.

And then Allen showed up.
#HistoricalFiction #FamilyHistory
elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/when-the-p...

Easter Special on my #blog fascinating 3part series by @carolynhughes.bsky.social 1 Writing For Readers Ancient or modern? #Language in #HistoricalFiction
(“The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes" Agatha Christie)
ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/2026/04/doin...

I should totally make another starter pack for Bsky this weekend. 👀

But! In the meantime, if you aren’t following all these groovy people, get on it! 💞

• go.bsky.app/7u5ZeVQ

• go.bsky.app/7u5ZeVQ

Arthur encountered a new art installation on our walk this morning. After initial suspicion, he's made friends.

Henry – Book Three of the Tudor Trilogy: "A fascinating look at the life of Henry VII, the first Tudor king. Highly recommended." (Amazon review)

mybook.to/HENRY-Book-T...

#Tudors #HistoricalFiction #KindleUnlimited #audiobook

💫🌹📖KINDLE UNLIMITED🌹📖💫
The enduring mystery of the Princes in the Tower.
"A gripping account filled with treachery, intrigue, and family drama."
Historical Fiction Company Book of the Year
#Medieval #HistoricalFiction #KindleUnlimited
geni.us/GodmothersSe...

This is what solidarity looks like. #NoKings

The War of the Roses series - Margaret Beaufort, Anne Neville, Elizabeth of York and Marguerite of Anjou were key players during the era.

http://author.to/juditharnoppbooks

#HistoricalFiction #Bosworth #wotr #medieval #RichardIII

The Lost Garden the Grass Remembered Lady Johanna St.John's vanished seventeenth-century world, restored by a heatwave at Lydiard Park

Sometimes gardens are not secret or lost. They are just biding their time.
elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/the-lost-g...

Cats are always top dogs. #Caturday

I love it when our Historical Fiction nerd groups kick into gear and we start swapping info. I know that most of the participants in the English Civil War must have had PTSD; it was often called "melancholia" and took the form of trembling and nightmares.

Nostalgia | Psychological American Civil War Historical Fiction by Susannah Willey - Elizabeth St.John Nostalgia by Susannah Willey 🎖️ AWARD-WINNING HISTORICAL FICTION 🎖️ 5-Star “Award of Excellence” – Historical Fiction Company Before PTSD had a name, they called it “nostalgia”—and Dr. Jim Banyon was ...

I had no idea that PTSD was called “Nostalgia” in the 19thC. A fascinating novel by @susannahwilley.bsky.social inspired by the military service of ancestors and a Civil War surgeon.
#HIstoricalFiction #FamilyHistory
@cathiedunn.bsky.social y.social
www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

"I was born in the Tower of London at 4 of the clock in the morning..." A single sentence in a 400-year-old memoir, and the hidden world it unlocked

When a single sentence in an archive changes the course of your life. #EarlyModern #HistoricalFiction

elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/i-was-born...

I thoroughly enjoyed Char Newcomb's latest novel, beautifully combining myth, fact and historical fiction. #GreatHistoricalFiction #HistoricalFiction #NewReleast #MedievalSky

The Princes in the Tower: The Urn in Westminster Abbey Nobody Will Open What We Know, What We Don't, and Why DNA Testing is Not an Option

Why haven't the bones of the Missing Princes in the Tower been DNA tested?
What we know, what we don't know, and what happens next?
#MedievalSky
elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/the-prince...

West of Santillane | Extraordinary 19th-Century Women's Historical Fiction by Brook Allen - Elizabeth St.John West of Santillane by Brook Allen Desperate to escape a mundane future as a Virginia planter’s wife, Julia Hancock seizes her chance for adventure when she wins the heart of American hero William Clar...

We all know American explorers Lewis and Clark and their travels and travails.
But what about Mrs Clark?
Brook Allen explores the extraordinary life of Julia Hancock in her best-selling novel.
@cathiedunn.bsky.social @brookallenauthor.bsky.social
www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

My pleasure - Love Lost in Time is STILL one of my fave dual timelines ever!

Love Lost in Time | Atmospheric French Dual Timeline by Cathie Dunn - Elizabeth St.John Love Lost in Time By Cathie Dunn A reluctant daughter. A dutiful wife. A mystery of the ages. Languedoc, France, 2018 Historian Madeleine Winters would rather research her next project than rehash the...

What do you do when a friend discovers ancient bones under her kitchen floor in the Languedoc? Write a brilliant historical fiction novel inspired by the find, of course!

@cathiedunn.bsky.social #GreatHistoricalFiction
@maryanneyarde.bsky.social

www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

Sunny windowsill. Do Not Disturb. #Caturday

Dear dear dear Aurelia...from your dutiful, constant wife Mary Stuart, Frances Apsley, and the Language of Female Friendship at Court

Mary Stuart, the future Queen Mary II, was twelve years old when she began writing to Frances Apsley: letters so tender, so extravagant in their devotion, that the two women gave themselves new names and played at being husband and wife. #EarlyModern

elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/dear-dear-...

My daughter bought me this for Christmas last year ... sooooo good!

20 February 1583: Ambassador Mendoza writes home about a picture sent from Flanders featuring the Netherlands depicted as a cow an early version of this 1630s painting. It features Philip II trying to control the cow, his spurs drawing blood; William of Orange milking it, a sign ... 1/
#earlymodern

A Cup of Water & a Rose on a simple silver try in which you can see beautiful light reflections by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1630.

🌹 A Cup of Water & a Rose by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1630.

🔎 Non-artificial knowledge: Devout 17th-century Spanish viewers would instantly have recognized the religious significance of these objects.

21.2 × 30.1 cm, NG London

🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #earlymodern #art #flower

My pleasure. Added to my TBR list - Ballet Shoes was one of my favourites!

The Dead We Know Best The Past Is Not Distant. It Is Simply Waiting.

Inspired by Ian McEwan’s brilliant new novel, What We Can Know, I ask who the dead are that you know best. As historical fiction writers, we often connect with the dead better than the living…
#HistoricalFiction #Ancestry #Genealogy
elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/the-dead-w...

Dance of the Earth | A Sweeping Family Saga by Anna M Holmes - Elizabeth St.John Dance of the Earth by Anna M Holmes From world stages to theatres of war, Dance of the Earth is a sweeping family saga. Set against the backdrops of London’s gilded Alhambra music hall, Diaghilev’s da...

📖💫Enjoy an Excerpt💫📖
Dance of the Earth
A sweeping historical saga set in London's glittering Victorian and Edwardian theatre world.
#HistoricalFiction #CoffeePotBookClub

www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

@annamholmes.bsky.social @cathiedunn.bsky.social