Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
“More like a mermaid than a queen”: The last time I saw John Singer Sargent’s great painting of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth…
Read MoreRossetti’s Lady Lilith
“And round his heart one strangling golden hair”: Desire has always seemed a dangerous kind of magic…
Read MoreSerendipity: Adventures in Writing
“I don’t know.” Three simple words. One potent and seductive phrase that led to a remote loch in the Scottish Highlands as I researched Haunt Me Still…
Read MoreBlade
Viking swords were marvels of art and technology. Poets called them “blood serpents”…
Read MoreCauldron
“Double, double toil and trouble”: cauldron imagery was already ancient when Shakespeare got to it…
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About My Blog
Occasional musings about stories, history, art, ideas, and the adventures of a writer's life...
