my journey as a civil war novel writer

A bit of a backpost really. But I want to do some blogs about my recent holiday in Normandy and Agincourt. I am going to start with the last weeken d, the one we spend in Agincourt. To be honest there is nothing left of the origin al battlefield. Just one informationtablet and a small monument. It was such a long time ago of course, 1415. And because it was such a huge French defeat , the French don't really flock there. T he museum in the village however is very nicely done. Lot's of information and nice displays. The next day was the day of the reenactments and we made sure we were early as we wanted our car up front as in the evening we had to drive back home. I was amazed at how many Dutch stands there were, but then again it is not that far. The reenactors kept us busy the whole day and that was very nicely done. We also met up with a facebook friend of mine who was on e of the reena ctors and it was very nice meeting him. It gave the day certainly something extra. The ...

I am back from a lovely holiday in England. Nice and rested and with new energy to spend on the practice. I want to tell everyone about a great exhibition about Henry VIII at the British Library. It has been curated by David Starkey, an historian who has also w ritten books about Henry. The exhibit is full of original texts and many paintings and it was a joy to look at. Most of the information was not new to me, luckily as we had a nine year old a long. And I could now use my time to tell her the history in a way that was interesting for her. Of course she loved all the gory details of the six wives and especially the beheadings. It was a bit harder to get the whole complicated family across, the importance of Henry's mother, Elisabeth of York for peace after the wars of the roses. And the emergence of the Anglican church. I stayed out of protestantism in Europe at that time LOL. That is for when she is a lot older. She did give me the compliment that I was much better at telling ...

We are coming to the end of my holiday. Friday was the last day of sightseeing and we had selected Porthsmouth. Again not too far a drive from Winchester. Here you can see two great historic ships. The first is HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar. Last time I was here you went in with a guided tour, now it was selfguided. And I remem bered correctly how hard it is on us who are a bit taller. With 1.84 it is not fun. And the poor captain of the boat was 1.93. While would anyone of that length want to enter the navy of that time is beyond me. We all enjoyed the tour very much and after this one we went to the Mary Rose museum. She is a Tudor royal ship, named after Henry VIII's favorite sister. There is about half of the ship left and it is still being sprayed with a solution to save her. Amazing that it sunk almost 500 years ago. This year in September she will be dry and then they will preserve her and build a new museum that will open in 2012. I do want to come bac...

Life is more or less returning to normal after the hectic last week of the year. So many social commitments but so much fun! Both trivial pursuit evenings were a great succes and new year's eve was great fun in Deventer. I did not go to bed very late, around 1 o'clock. So I started the new year honoring my resolution to listen to my body. I was cold and tired and just did not want to push myself. I the past I would just have taken another painkil le r and soldiered on, but no more. I really h ope I can keep this up! As usual I start the year with a fresh batch of book. One of my quirks trying to finish my stack by the end of the year. One of the non fiction books is the following. Allison Weir: Katherine Swynford. She has interrested me since re ading the novel Katherine by Anya Seton a few years ago. This story is so unusual you would think it a fairy tale and not true. John of Gaunt a 14th century son of the english king had children with his mistress Katherine but after hi...

Finally decided on a pair of glasses yesterday, not funny. My ideas are very difficult to measure, that means I cannot go to the cheap chains. I did not go for the most expensive option yesterday also because I am 99% convinced that it is not for me. The shop assistant was 99% convinced it would work but I have leant to listen to myself better and stick to my guns. But still the total sum comes close to 700 e uro and I can get only a third back from the tax man, nothing from health insurance because my last glasses are not 3 years old. And there is the dentist with the 2 crowns still to come. Joy! Tax etc i s on my mind a lot today. I need to finish the email for the accountant. The one that is coming to talk to us in december during the 4th study day. Boy do I have a lot of questions for him. I don't understand money matters easily and the site of the tax office is like greek to me. Hopefully this man will be able to make me understand, it is his job after all. Finished Jean Plai...

Yesterday was a pretty tiring day. Second studyday. It was a good day learnt a lot and the group is wonderful. It feels safe and already close after just two days. But I was exhausted at the end of the day. The chairs are not exactly comfy for me and I pulled a muscle in my back. Which of course leads to more pain in my arms, grumble. It meant i could play with the new scanner a little less then I had planned. But I did man age to get the first set of family pics done. It is pretty amazing to look at. There are photo's of nearly a century old which depict my great grandfathers, and my grandparents as young people. It awes me. And it makes me happy that they are now safe on the computer and the internet and not just in an old drawer. A nd I finally have a photo of Timmy, the dog I had for 14 years on my computer . I love scanners, I really do! I have also been ordering some books. 3 studybooks and some fun books. Book 6 and 7 from the Merry Gentry series. Now I am rereading them I...

At least today we did not have to get up before dawn. But still we would not be sleeping late as we were meeting friends at Leeds castle at 11. Not a long drive so getting up by 9.30 was doable. Leeds castle is close to Maidstone in Kent, and not Leeds in northern England. Don't ask me why. :) It is nicely situated with a park around it , we walk ed through i t towards th e castle entrance. Our friends were running a little late and of course we made jokes about that. There is a history of being late and getting lost there. But it was great to see them again. Robert and Dru and Chris. Dru and Chris are brother and sister. I know them through Robert who has been a friend for a few years now. In April of this year they came over to the Netherlands with another friend Sarah, and we had a great time then. With the seven of us we toured th e castle. I was pleasantly s urprised that we were allowed to take pictures inside, usually it is not allowed in houses like this. And there was plen...

Today is a busy day with not much time for reading. This afternoon going to the optician to have my eyes checked. See if that is influencing my headaches. I did have time to check out this wonderfull new blogsite. http://portaltorealmsonourbookshelves.blogspot.com/ It is a great site! Check it out if you have the time. And I am nearly finished with the Sixth wife which deals with Henry VIII's widow. The story is seen from the point of view of her best friend. Luckily this is a character from the series The Tudors, otherwise I would not have been able to place her. Charles Brandon's widow. It is interresting, but not the best book about the period I have ever read. Hey and I have become serious about the writing I was discussing yesterday. Going to do it together with my good friend Mel. And if more people want to join... I am going to ignore pain and time restraints and follow my heart. The pain book has tought me that that is the best way to beat the pain anyway. Today I am al...