Food & Fiction
Historical Notes: The MapMaker’s Secret
Historical notes from The Mapmaker’s Secret. Feel free to ask me about what is fact, what is fiction and why I decided to mix them up.
The 2024 Selah Awards
I entered the Selah Awards with an aspiration to make the final in the first novel category. To also make the final in the historical romance category makes me feel like I have already won.
Book Recommendation: Embers in the London Sky
Packed with romance and mystery, Embers in the London sky is gripping from beginning to end and tears at the heart of any mother who has ever been worried for her child.
Book recommendation: The Warsaw Sisters
Expertly evocative, you will be thinking about The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt long after you have put it down.
Heart in the Clouds supports mission of WWII pilots
I’m giving ALL my page read income in December to MAF Australia! So if you read Heart in the Clouds in KU in Decmeber 2023 you will support a worthy charity at the same time!
Behind the pages: The Warsaw Sisters
I love talking to other author’s about their writing an research processes, especially when it comes to WWII history! So I’ve started a new type of post for newsletter subscribers where I take you behind the scenes of another author’s WWII book.
Behind the Pages: The Bravest Soldiers
As a former Sydneysider I was impressed by the research that underpins this book. So I thought I’d take you behind the pages!
Book Recommendation: The London House by Katherine Reay
Truth matters: This idea is woven into the fabric of The London House. It never preaches, but only inspires. The way good fiction should.
Historical Notes from Heart in the Clouds
I’ve put my historical notes from Heart in the Clouds on my blog so readers who love history can ask questions. I’ll be updating this page regularly, so feel free to contact me to ask questions about what is fact, what is fiction and where and why I decided to mix them up.
Book recommendation: The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin
The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin is a gripping World War II resistance tale.
Book Recommendation: Yesterday’s Tides by Roseanna White
Time slip fiction that keeps you guessing until almost the very last page!
Book Recommendation: Within These Walls of Sorrow by Amanda Barrett
Within These Walls of Sorrow lives up to its name. It is not the kind of book you can rip through in an afternoon. It is a book you regularly have to put down in order to weep.
Foodish History: Eggnog for beginners
Over-indulging on eggnog and saying something you shouldn’t is a classic Christmas rom-com trope! But there are two very different ways of making eggnog and only one needs to be boozy!
Foodish History: Woolton Pie
Woolton Pie is a much-maligned recipe from England during the Second World War. The recipe was famously developed by the head chef at the Savoy Hotel and named after the Minister of Food, Lord Woolton.
Wartime Stories from Australia
Much of the fighting in WWII happened oceans away from Australian shores, but Australia still has some amazing stories from the second world war.
Book Recommendation: Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp
How do you review a book where the joy you took from the story had as much to do with not knowing what to expect as the sympathetic characters and compelling prose? Like this…
Foodish History: ANZAC Biscuits
Anzac Biscuits are easy to make – no need for rolling pins or cookie cutters – and they have a fascinating history that you can get your teeth stuck into.
Three things I loved about The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan
Simon Barrington and Sophia Huntington-Villiers (not that they would want you to use those names) are bound together by past experience, mutual trust and a little piece of paper that Sophie keeps tucked behind the sherry decanter.
Three Things I Loved About The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan
This is a book I wish I had written. It is the story of four women competing in a MasterChef-style cookery competition during WWII where they have to create dishes using wartime rations to inspire the housewives of Britain who listen to the popular radio program ‘The Kitchen Front’.
Three things I loved about The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Kate Quinn’s book covers have stared down at me from the shelves of my local bookstore for a while now. They seem to call to me “What are you waiting for? You know you’re going to like it!” For some reason, I resisted. Until now…and after reading The Alice Network, I...
Three things I loved about Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin
I came to this book wanting high drama, espionage, a bit of swoon-worthy kissing and a satisfyingly romantic ending. Sarah Sundin delivered on all counts.
Three Things I loved about v2 by Robert harris
This was a cracker of a read. It had me gripped from beginning to end, despite the lack of romance.
Three Things I Loved About the White Rose Resists by Amanda Barratt
The White Rose Resists expertly weaves fact and fiction, filling in details of real life resisters to pull together a compelling picture of life for young people at odds with the ideology of Nazi Germany.
Foodish History: Delicious Wartime Pickle
Larders would have been full of this pickle in WWII England when it was critical to preserve summer produce for the winter months.
Foodish History: Carrot Cake
A wartime carrot cake doesn’t have the flavour or moisture you would expect in carrot cake. In fact, the texture of this WWII cake is more like a large scone.
Foodish History: Rum-Laced Tea
Rum-laced tea was a common drink during the post-op debrief at Bomber Command.
Foodish History: A Bomber Command Breakfast
This operational supper is the kind of thing we order for brunch in a cafe after big a night out. But Bomber Command lined stomachs for a different reason.
How Winston Churchill used words as weapons
Churchill’s speeches are powerful, visceral and incisive. As a writer (and former voice coach) I admire how artfully Winston Churchill used language.
Three things I loved about When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin
Sarah Sundin writes with enviable historical accuracy. She handles both sweet romance and military action in a way that truly sweeps the reader up into the story.
The man who inspired my first book
The real story of the war doesn’t lie on the battlefield, it lies in the millions of little stories of human lives intersecting with a world at war.
