Author Archives: colinfalconer

About colinfalconer

author of bestselling historical novels like Anastasia, When We Were Gods, Aztec and Harem. My books have been published in the UK, US and ANZ and translated into seventeen languages.

LETTER TO A FRIEND

Posted on May 22, 2013

There have been days when you have woken up and thought: why am I doing this? Days when you said to yourself: why am I doing this job, when it’s not what I really love? Times when you have looked … Continue reading →

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WHY A TOMATO IS NOT AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ANY HISTORICAL NOVEL

Posted on May 12, 2013

Looks harmless enough, doesn’t it? But Solanum lycopersicum could cost you readers. I got this the other day: “I started reading Silk Road a couple of days back and was enjoying it very much, just as I had enjoyed one … Continue reading →

Posted in HISTORY, WRITING | Tagged , , | 28 Comments

THE FACE THAT SUNK A THOUSAND SHIPS (WELL 3, ANYWAY.)

Posted on May 6, 2013

As any old sea dog will tell you, it’s unlucky to have a woman on board ship. (Unless the woman is naked, apparently. Sailors make up the best superstitions.) But in the case of Violet Jessop, you’d have to say … Continue reading →

Posted in HISTORY | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

THE SONG OF BERNADETTE

Posted on May 3, 2013

155 years ago a peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous saw an apparition of the Madonna in a cave called the grotte de Massabielle. Since then the nearby town of Lourdes has grown into a major pilgrimage site for Catholics from … Continue reading →

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WHAT PRICE TALENT?

Posted on May 1, 2013

THE SITUATION   Washington DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. People rushed past on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, … Continue reading →

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FROM AUNTY IVY TO KHUBILAI KHAN

Posted on April 29, 2013

My primary school teacher’s name was Mrs Boyne. She once told my mother at a parent interview: “Your son is a complete dreamer. He’ll never amount to anything in this life.” I still think that was a pretty harsh judgment … Continue reading →

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NOT TONIGHT, JOSEPHINE

Posted on April 26, 2013

“I awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night’s intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses.” Napoléon Bonaparte will be remembered as one of history’s greatest generals; yet the one victory that seemed always … Continue reading →

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ARE YOU GOING TO FINISH STRONG?

Posted on April 24, 2013

Life isn’t always roses. There have been times for me, as I am sure there have for you, when everything seemed just too hard. I have lost those I did not think I could live without; and there was a … Continue reading →

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IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE WYRD

Posted on April 22, 2013

You can call me weird. I really don’t mind. In fact if you said I was in the way of the Wyrd, about two thousand years ago, it would have been a huge compliment. It would mean I was – … Continue reading →

Posted in HISTORY | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

A BETTER MAN: THE STORY BEHIND CHICAGO’S AIRPORT

Posted on April 19, 2013

On Wednesday, November 8, 1939, a 46 year old man left his office at Sportsman’s Park in Cicero, and drove away in a black 1939 Lincoln Zephyr coupe. At the intersection of Ogden and Rockwell, a dark sedan roared up … Continue reading →

Posted in HISTORY | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments