Judith Arnopp

January 2024

I usually blog twice a year, mid summer and just before Christmas to keep you all in the loop but this year I don't seem to have done either. To be honest, things have been a bit tough and I know they have for everyone. It seems to be all work and no play, hampered by ill-heath and personal problems, and as for the weather, well, I won't even go there.

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The garden started off well but was quickly neglected due to drought followed by rain, plus my husband was extending the greenhouse in between showers so it was a horrid mess for most of the time. At least it gave me time to write - trouble was, brain fog has been a problem since Covid but I finally got the third and final book in The Henrician Trilogy finished and How to Dress like a Tudor was published by Pen and Sword in September.

Mid-July we had a bit of a surprise when my eldest boy came home to live with us after a marriage break down. It is lovely to have him here. He likes to swim in the sea so I've had plenty of beach time and can now get out and about more without having to drag my old fella everywhere. He also helps with housework and gardening, brings me coffee throughout the day and is generally lovely.

The very wet August and September followed by a gloomy October and November put me in no mood for Christmas and then about a fortnight before, I went down with that horrible flu-like cold everyone has been suffering with. Back to square one with sniffling and coughing and forgetting how to think while I struggled with editing and getting the book ready for the proper editor.

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Then there were covers to sort out, blurbs and articles to write, How to dress like a Tudor to market. It has all left me quite burned out but I am very bored with no project on the go, and missing Henry a lot. Since I am a glutton for punishment, I began to rewrite and edit a couple of my early novels that have been lurking and not selling very well under an author name. I've come a long way since I wrote them in the early noughties, and the writing was appalling, so I've had to be quite brutal. They are a bit different in tone to my current stuff but a good enough read, I think. I will be bringing them under the Judith Arnopp banner as soon a

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Both Henry and I were delighted to receive a gold award from The Coffee Pot Book Club for A Matter of Faith and then yesterday, I found out The Historical Fiction Company Book of the Year awards have awarded a gold for A Song of Sixpence.

Both awards are a much needed boost to my flagging energy. This year, I need to spend time restoring my mobility and, due to problems with my eyesight, I can no longer write all day long but hopefully, with some logistical adjustment I will embark on my next book soon. I haven't decided to set it in the Tudor era or late medieval yet, so if you have any thoughts on the matter, please let me know. I've thought about revisiting the princes in the tower but I imagine a lot of authors will be doing that since Phillipa Langley's recent book. I have also considered the topic of Elizabeth and Robert Dudley. I'd love to know your thoughts.

Meanwhile, I hope Christmas 23 was good, and you all have a fabulous 2024 - it can't get any worse, can it ... can it?

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and just so you know, those of you who have persevered thus far, I did have some lovely images to go in this blog post but the site is so frustrating to use that I had to give up or you'd not have got it until next Christmas!

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