Bleak House, the Orkneys and Desert Island Books…

November 26, 2017

I first met Ann Swinfen a few years ago.

I had been an indie author for some four years and she had been a mainstream author but was considering the indie path and she contacted me for advice and information. Since then she has scorched a path with frequent releases in print and e-pub and recently began to tread the path of audiobooks. She is an elegant writer, knowledgable of her field and now has a dedicated following. I asked Ann to cast herself away and let us know what she would read whilst so isolated…

Summer lov’in…

December 19, 2015

When I’m writing a new novel, I usually try not to read any hist.fict because I have a fear of literary osmosis, but it’s so hard as I have such wonderful writers to read. Fortunately none are in my timeframe, so that’s a blessing! But I am still cautious…

‘Dair’ to be different…

April 27, 2014

I met my current guest a number of years ago – not many months after we had both decided to move into independent writing and publishing. We connected because at that time, there weren’t a lot of Australians treading the independent path and the friendship has seen much laughter and happiness as we share in each other’s successes.

My bedside table…

February 6, 2014

Currently beside my bed, I have this little pile of books.

I am about to read Ann Swinfen’s new book, Flood, an exciting revelatory novel set in the seventeenth century Fens. She is releasing it next week and kindly send me an early e-copy. Ann has had a laudatory career as a women’s literary fiction writer with an excellent backlist to her credit. Recently she has taken her backlist and re-published through Shakenoak Press and I can tell you, if Flood is anything like her previous books it will be the most perfect read.

A name … or two…

August 24, 2012

Lately I had cause to pull out the WIP of The Chronicles of Eirie Book Four. I noticed something glaring, something I had never honestly thought about before. Alongside this WIP (I write in longhand and then transcribe, editing in the process), I laid the WIP of Book Two of The Gisborne Saga – different genre, different characters, different world.

The Big Red Chair…

July 15, 2011

I started interviewing independent authors in my Big Red Chair a little while ago. I began with the inestimable Ann Swinfen whose books are such a delightful discovery. I have interviewed SJA Turney whose Roman fiction is so full of imperial drama and life. Lucinda Brant has allowed herself to be scrutinised… she who could justifiably take up Georgette Heyer’s crown. And I have others to come: hot property coauthors Mark Williams and Saffina Desforges and also Barbara Silkstone who is an electric author who thinks outside the square. That’s something I admire in a writer.

Literary leanings… talking with Ann Swinfen

June 15, 2011

I first ‘met’ Ann Swinfen on a messageboard, part of YouWriteOn.com to which we both belong. On reading various well thought out comment she made, I went to Amazon to purchase her newly released The Testament of Mariam… a beautiful read, almost shocking in its revelatory subject matter, but subtly handled nevertheless. Ann is highly regarded as a writer, her titles published in the past by Random House. She has also written a definitive text called ‘In Defence of Fantasy’, published by Routledge and which as a fantasy writer, I felt enunciated the power and place of the modern fantasy novel.

E-pub, e-books, e-readers . . .

January 19, 2011

Over the last year, I’ve been one of those who said ‘I shall never read e-books; I am a paper, bindings, smell and sound type of girl,’ and as for publishing an e-book: ‘My God! Are you kidding?’ I’d read all the industry blogs on the increasing popularity or the e-book, I’d watched sales of e-readers climb and still I was unaffected.

Holiday reading …

December 17, 2010

As I prepare for a holiday, for a break in the day to day grind, I’ve been gathering together a pile of books to read. To be honest, I had already started Ann Swinfen’s Testament of Mariam and finding it to be such a strong narrative and such a different interpretation to the familiar story of Jesus and his followers I had to keep reading and finished it last night. It was a superb read written by an author who has great sensitivity. Ann’s description of Galillee and Judaea, her interpretation of the religious truths, her depiction of Jesus and Judas through the eyes of Jesus’s sister Mariam, was emotive and intensely thought-provoking. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially historical fiction of ancient days.

Category: Ann Swinfen