It’s what my ex mother-in-law used to say when I phoned her and asked her how she was. ‘I’m a mess of minor miseries.‘ At ninety-seven, having lost her husband of sixty-nine years, she was more than entitled to have the occasional moan, and I like to think I was a good listener. She was … More A Mess of Minor Miseries
I was very interested to read this film review, https://beetleypete.com/2021/04/10/film-review-peterloo-2018/, having written a fictional series set in the Black Country in the 1900s that describes just such conditions for the poor workers on whose backs was born the industrial revolution. If my memory serves me correctly, the Manchester Free Trades Hall is built on the … More Film Review: Peterloo (2018)
Beware ye all who fall in love, There’s no way out but sorrow, For, the joy we feel today Must be repaid, tomorrow. The answer, of course, is to love, and we dive into it, hearts all aflutter, with no thought of the consequences. After all, without love, what are we? But, oh, the pain … More To love or not to love; that is the question.
I had a review a while ago for one of my historical novels. It went something like this, ‘Rebecca Bryn isn’t afraid of tackling the hard subjects.’ Another reviewer said of the horror of WW1 ‘Rebecca Bryn was brave enough to dwell on it.’ I confess that to begin with, I shied away from tackling … More Sanitising our history – and why we shouldn’t.
I’ve moaned about the criminal element of the world holding the law abiding to ransom before – and the fact that there’s no such thing as a victimless crime. I’ve argued for tougher penalties, and parenting classes for new parents to raise socially responsible children. I’ve even suggested a points system – so many points … More ‘That’s where all the criminals come from’ – a different point of view.
I wrote about this last year, https://rebeccabrynblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/08/the-inequalities-that-inspired/ and much has changed since then. The pandemic has turned all our lives upside-down. So how have I spent my year in lockdown? I finished my work-in-progress, The Chainmakers’ Daughter, the story of the white slaves of England – the women chainmakers who went on a ten-week strike … More International Women’s Day 2021 – fighting to prove a woman’s worth.
I suspect most authors have a book that doesn’t sell well. Is it the marketing, the cover, the title, the subject matter, or the book description – the ‘blurb’? Or is it because my main reader base is historical fiction and this novel is anything but – or is it? My ‘livre noir’ is a … More Books that don’t sell.
Holocaust Memorial Day marks the liberation, on January 27th 1945, of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi death camp in Poland, by the Russian 60th Army. While most people have heard of Auschwitz and the horror perpetrated there, many would reasonably believe that liberation put an end to the inmates suffering, that they were rescued and returned to … More The March of Death – Holocaust Memorial Day
You wouldn’t think that was a big ask, would you? George’s hens, along the far side of Chapel Lane, lay the most beautiful eggs, so after a request from my husband for more eggs, I set off with the dog, a carrier bag, and an empty egg box to fetch some. It’s a bitterly cold … More Half a dozen large eggs, please.
‘Should lost out to want, as usual. She grabbed a coat, her car keys, and Aunt Siân’s digital camera and headed for the hills. The sketch she’d made of standing stones in the mist was atmospheric, but she needed to see the stones again within the landscape to understand them. She parked on a rocky … More Solstice, catkins, and the silence of the stones.
I freely admit it. I’m the grumpiest person around when it comes to Christmas. The thing I hate most, apart from the incessant Christmas songs, the hype, and the commercialism, is writing Christmas cards. I moan my way through it evey year, and this year, with Covid and the risk of spreading the virus, I … More The Christmas Grouch.
It’s impossible, when researching a woman’s role in historical fiction, not to be appalled by the inequalities, abuse, and lack of rights women suffered in previous centuries. It’s equally impossible not to be inspired by those women who fought for what we take for granted today – the right to an education, to own property, … More Strong women – woman power!
FREE today http://mybook.to/OnDifferentShores… or get the whole lot for only£1.98/$1.98 at http://mybook.to/FTCGtrilogy Offer lasts for two days only. Convict ships, penal colonies, a whore, a murderer, a sheep rustler, a horse thief, an ancient horse named Blue, and the search for gold over the Blue Mountains of Australia. When Jem is convicted of murdering a … More FREE and Bargain! A journey you won’t soon forget.
A woman knocked on my door early this morning. She was holding a blackberry bramble and a pair of secateurs in her hands. Apparently, she was renting our holiday cottage at Crwsyddig and wanted me to clear the footpath close to the cottage. I’d just made myself a cup of tea, so I asked her … More How not to make a cup of tea!
I’ve just typed THE END to my latest novel, The Chainmaker’s Wife – a sequel to The Chainmakers’ Daughter. There’s still a lot of work to be done applying my latest research findings, editing, beta reading, etc, but I hope to be able to publish it before Christmas. I was asked to write this sequel … More Power Politics and Emptying an Entire Dog out of my Vacuum Cleaner.
I fell into historical fiction writing quite by accident, but once there, I was totally hooked on the events in the past that made us who we are today. Writing this genre follows much the same basic rules as any fiction writing: The inspiration for the story – what got my juices going. The characters … More Writing historical fiction
You’re in luck. We have two free books to get you started on two very different epic tales. If you love historical and contemporary adventure, you’ll love these. If you love romance, we have everything you want. If you’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to be a star of stage and screen, look … More Love to get stuck into a good series?
There’s been a lot of discussion recently about removing statues and destroying parts of our history because it’s contentious. The sad fact is that most of our history is contentious, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taught. In fact, it’s all the more reason why it should be taught. Our history is the path … More History we shouldn’t forget.
It’s been a long time coming, but I’m delighted to say The Chainmakers’ Daughter is finally here. Set in 1900s England in the midst of the industrial revolution, we find Rosie Wallace and her family working in the sweat shops of the Black Country. Life is relentlessly hard for ten-year-old Rosie as she struggles to … More NEW RELEASE! – The Chainmakers’ Daughter.
Firstly, I’m happy to announce that my latest novel, The Chainmaker’s Wife, is available to pre-order at http://mybook.to/ChainmakersWife Book One, The Chainmakers’ Daughter, is also available at http://mybook.to/ChainmakersDaughter It’s been an interesting book to write given the present happenings around the globe – so much in it resonates with today’s problems – truly, nothing really … More New release! Nothing really changes.
I was just a twinkle in my father’s eye when this photograph was taken on June 8th 1945. My mother is the lady front right, and the little boy she has her hand on is my older brother, who’d have been about two at the time. The face behind the camera is almost certainly my … More I was wrong. Apologies to youth.
I don’t consider myself to be a women’s libber, and had I lived in the early 1900s, I’m not sure I’d have had the courage of the likes of Mary Macarthur or Emily Pankhurst, but I have always been keenly aware of women being viewed as second-class citizens. I didn’t question it – it’s how … More The inequalities that inspired a revolution. International Women’s Day 2020
Originally posted on Bendideia Publishing:
Rebecca Bryn lives near Britain’s smallest city, St Davids, in the far west of Wales with her rescue dog, rescue husband and twenty very sheepish sheep. Surrounded by stunning coastal and moorland scenery, she also loves to paint. She inherited her love of stories from her grandfather, who told stories…
We all do it, whether it’s the simple act of walking down the road, seeing a primrose in early spring, touching the hand of a loved one, having a meal with friends, or listening to music. And we all moan about the weather, the government, the state of the world in general, and few of … More Taking things for granted. Holocaust Remembrance Day 2020.
Royal Command Family Saga: Plus Sizzling Sunset 99c/99p held for November! Click / to Amazon Michael, a poverty-stricken amateur actor makes superstar abetted by wife Elspeth. Unknown to Michael, Elspeth and their daughter are influenced by a literary heirloom. Seductions, betrayals, kidnap, blackmail, & murder follow. The Spy, an unscrupulous journalist, is out to prove…
The man is Michael Marsh, the Diamond Superstar, catapulted from obscurity to fame in musical theatre at a young age. He’s determined to buck the trend and be faithful to his wife, Elspeth, stay clear of drugs, and wow his audiences with his sexy rock songs. He also wants to be a father to his … More Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll? The Truth, the NAKED Truth.
It seems to me that the best way of honouring the fallen of two world wars is not to forget their sacrifice and have some understanding of what they went through. ‘Lest we Forget’ is written large on many memorials for a very good reason, but what do most of us actually know about the … More Honouring the Fallen
Amazon Three Against The World started life as a book my “cover girl” Maria, would be allowed to read. In a word, clean. It came before lockdown, but here she is, two years on, taking her “daily exercise”. Maria’s mother dumped her on Richard’s doorstep claiming he was her father, and he didn’t tell Maria when…
Yesterday, I had three attempted scams on my finances. The first was someone purporting to be Amazon – an e-mail saying I’d ordered a 76″ TV at a cost of in the region of $1700. If I didn’t order it, go to a website and – you know the score, give them your bank details … More Scams and generosity – the eternal struggle for good over evil.
