I remember, in my early days in St. Frideswide’s, a morning when I had to leave off my writing for the day, dress in “office clothes”, and go to stand on a corner waiting for a bus to take me to yet another temp job. The day was February at its most bleak: grim, gray, cold, and slush-ridden. Traffic roared past, and all the buses were full or, when one paused with at least standing room left, I failed to scale the dirty snowbank faster than others eager to crowd into the fusty heat beyond the hissing doors. As one bus after another came and went – with nothing to be won by actually getting on one except a day in a cubicle under merciless fluorescent lights — I thought (quite pathetically, as I recall), “I want to go back to my nunnery!”

Historical Tapestry is hosting Why I Love Life in a Medieval Nunnery today.

– Margaret

The technical difficulties we were having a couple days ago seem to have been largely resolved. Which means I’m now retroactively appearing at Karen Johnson’s Release Notes. Take my hand for a little double-layered time travel, as we go Falling Into Medieval England.

– Margaret

I’m joining Jeri Westerson, author of the Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series, and Getting Medieval. Jeri’s hosting my thoughts on the Joys of Research. If there’s anything that I enjoy in the same degree that I enjoy writing, it’s the research that goes with it…

– Margaret

We have apparently run into some scheduling problems with the blog tour today. We’re hoping to have them straightened out shortly, but in the meantime here’s something I meant to mention awhile ago, but which slipped through the cracks: Sharon Kay Penman, my dear friend and an extraordinarily talented writer, has written a very fine article on the difficulties (and rewards) of staying as true as may be to medieval mind-sets in our novels and not cheating by giving our characters modern sensibilities they could never have had. To that I can only add, “Hear! Hear!”

You might also be interested in an interview Sharon did with me back in December as a very special Christmas gift. Hopefully that can tide you over until this blog tour thing can get itself straightened out!

– Margaret

Priscilla Royal, most recently author of the medieval mystery Valley of Dry Bones, was kind enough to interview me for the LadyKillers. Venturing far beyond Winter Heart, we chatted about Joliffe and my other short stories and all manner of things. Come join us for Crafting the Historical Mystery: An Interview with Margaret Frazer.

– Margaret

At Let Them Read Books, Lady Q has been entertaining me with her Tour d’Italia — a literary tour of Italy. Winter Heart, of course, is a bit further afield, but she has nonetheless been kind enough to host me today with a brief discussion of where this particular story came from. She also offers a very charming review for those of you still pondering the novella’s virtues.

– Margaret

I had a simply delightful time being interviewed by Elizabeth Zelvin for Poe’s Deadly Daughters. And Elizabeth was kind enough to let me blather on for as long as I’d like. Come join our little chat! I’ll be answering questions in the comments over there starting later this morning.

– Margaret

Today I’m taking a break from appearances. But instead of an interview, you’re getting a Blog Tour Special! My short story “Strange Gods, Strange Men” is on sale for both the Kindle and Nook for just $0.99!

A TALE OF MYTHIC ALEXANDRIA

Only sometimes, when the rain was falling or the gray mist hung thick among the trees, did he remember…

… blue seas and a blue sky of a kind never seen in these cold northlands. And green, green marshes, and the thick smells of the delta marshes and black Nile mud, and Alexandria glowing white under a sun that baked to the bones. Alexandria. The name itself sang of legends — Joseph and Moses and Pharoah; statues that sang at dawn; and pyramids said to be as big as mountains and maybe full of gold.

And there he had learned how legends looked when they were half-tumbled into ruins.

Join award-winning author Margaret Frazer in the sweltering deserts of medieval Egypt, where the swirling dust of history wraps man and god alike in a legacy of endless blood.

Kindle Edition / Nook Edition

Feel free to drop by my Facebook fan page and say hello if you’re feeling friendly! We’ve also got some interesting conversations continuing on Patricia Stoltey’s blog.

– Margaret

Justin Alexander, who runs the Alexandrian, is also the fellow who has been editing my e-books and designing my covers. The Alexandrian isn’t a blog dedicated to mysteries or historicals, but Justin asked me some great questions and the unique, outside perspective on historical fiction gave the interview a really interesting slant. Check it out.

– Margaret

What is a historical novel? Why do we write them? What makes them special? These are questions I wrestle with often and Patricia Stoltey gave me a chance to explore some answers in Historical or ?. Check it out. I’ll be joining you in the comments over there later today.

Patricia is the author of The Prairie Grass Murders and The Desert Hedge Murders, two mysteries starring Sylvia Thorn, a retired FBI agent and judge who finds herself drawn into some surprising sleuthing.

– Margaret