Author in the picture: Madame Gilflurt, Catherine Curzon

Already from the beginning of my blog adventures in 2012
(sounds like history 😆) , I follow on Twitter a certain Catherine Curzon alias
Madame Gilflurt. She told very interesting stories about the Georgian area. 

Since she has written several books about this interesting time period, I thought
it was an excellent idea to invite her on the blog. 

So these are my questions and her answers. 

Questions & Answers

Can you tell me more about yourself? Who is Catherine Curzon? 

Who is Madame Gilflurt?

Catherine Curzon is a gal who lives up a steep hill in Yorkshire and
writes books about eighteenth century history. My shadow is a little dog named
Pippa, and we have a passion for history and classic Hollywood cinema, reflected
in my Master’s in Film. I’m also half of novelist Ellie Curzon, author of the
bestselling Under a Spitfire Sky, which was published by Orion, and its follow-up
The Codebreaker Girls.  Madame Gilflurt was the name I came up with nearly a
decade ago when I wanted to launch my online presence, and thought a smart
Georgian nickname would be a good way to do it. Gilflurt is a bit of Georgian
cant, meaning a minxish woman!

How did your interest in History started?

I’ve told this story a lot, but my love for history was nurtured by my grandad. 

He lived in a tiny cottage on the edge of Sherwood Forest and was a born
storyteller. By the time I was in primary school I thought Byron’s ghost haunted
the pub and Dick Turpin had a camp out in the woods! When I was five years old he
told me about Marie Antoinette losing her head and that was the clincher –
I was hooked!

How did you begin your blog/website? Do you have tips for new bloggers?

I thought my husband was getting a bit tired of my sharing historical titbits with him,
so I decided to share them with a wider audience instead. That was how the blog
came to be, and it’s since evolved into a place where I post my news and bits and bobs,
such as tour dates for Being Mr Wickham and the like. The main bit of advice I can give
is to keep at it, and make friends. The history community can be very welcoming,
and really nurturing too.

Why do you have such an interest in the Georgian era?

Essentially because of the bloody tales my grandad loved to tell. He really brought
the adventure of the era to life, and captured my young imagination. When he
told stories of the eighteenth century, it really did feel as though anything could
happen. It’s a very relatable time in many ways too, and its obsession with
celebrity and gossip is familiar to anyone who uses social media today, I think.

5/ How do you start researching for new books? 

How for example do you chose a topic?

I specialise in bitesize biographies of Georgian royalty, so there are plenty of
wonderful candidates to choose from. I don’t so much choose a topic as meet
a character in the course of my research who simply won’t sit down. A good
example of that was Sophia, Electress of Hanover. When I wrote
Kings of Georgian Britain and its follow-up about George I’s doomed marriage,
which ended in adultery and murder, Sophia was a major supporting character.
She was the mother of George I and had Stuart blood in her veins, so was a
fascinating character in her own right. As her part in George I’s story got
bigger and bigger, I knew that she had to have her own book.
That became Sophia: Mother of Kings. The same is true for
Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who has become familiar to
Bridgerton fans lately, but has been a major supporting player in my
non-fiction works from the very first, Life in the Georgian Court.
I’ve just finished her biography, which will be released by
Pen & Sword in 2022, and it’s been a real privilege to spend time with her.

Do you have favourite characters/royals/persons/events in history?
Which ones?

This is a really difficult question for me, because there are just so many.
I’ll narrow it down to a favourite Georgian royal if I may, and choose
Electress Sophia, the founder of the dynasty in so many ways, and a woman
to be reckoned with. She missed out on being queen of the United Kingdom
by a matter of weeks, and I truly believe she is the finest queen we never had.
I also have a soft spot for George IV, but for all the wrong reasons. As a friend
or husband he would’ve been a nightmare, but as a figure who perfectly sums
up the most grotesquely opulent excesses of the era, he takes some beating.

Have you other hobbies or passions than history and writing?

I have a Master’s degree in film and a passion for Golden Age cinema. 

I spend so much time in front of screens that I need to keep my fresh air
topped up, and Pippa and I walk as much as we are able. We’re fortunate to
live among some beautiful countryside, and there’s never any shortage of
fresh air. I also love the theatre and my own play, Being Mr Wickham,
goes on tour in the autumn. I wrote the show with Adrian Lukis, who played
Wickham in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and returns to
the role in our play, to lift the lid on Wickham at 60. 

How does a typical (writing) day look like?

A typical writing day isn’t too exciting, but it is generally pretty productive, 

and that’s what matters. I get up early and walk Pippa after Mr C has gone to 

work, then we eat breakfast before I head upstairs to my office and knuckle down.
Essentially I try to keep office hours as much as I can, otherwise I’m the sort of
person who could easily find themselves still happily writing away at 4am!
I’ll usually work at home or in our gorgeous village café until Mr C finishes work,
then take Pippa for a walk to meet him. The three of us will then go for a cuppa or
a bit more of a stroll if the weather is fine, then spend the evening relaxing as
much as possible. Writing is my full-time job, and in the past I’ve been guilty
of not giving myself time off. I’ve learned to be much better at that now –
when you’re working for yourself, you have to remember to look after
yourself too!

Do you have other plans for new books?

The Wives of George IV, the true story of Maria Fitzherbert and
Queen Caroline, will be out before Christmas. Next year will see the
release of my Queen Charlotte biography and also a tie-in book for
fans of Bridgerton, which will pull back the sheets on some of the era’s
sauciest scandals. After that There’ll also be exciting things happening
for Ellie Curzon, and Being Mr Wickham too, as well as lots more history!

I always end with the same question. What do you wish for yourself and
for the world? 

A contented and smiling future.

Thank you very much for participating in your Author in the picture blogpost on 
MyCrazyLifeWithBooks Blog. 

I'm looking forward to read your books and to follow your stories on Twitter!

If you want to know more about Catherine Curzon and Madame Gilflurt here

are some interesting pages and links!

Links

www.catherinecurzon.com

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Mistresses-of-George-I-and-II-Hardback/p/19112

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Catherine-Curzon/a/2720

https://twitter.com/madamegilflurt

https://www.facebook.com/madamegilflurt

Author in the picture: Geri Walton

Already from the start of my other blog - the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog - and my big
debut on Twitter 😃, I 'met' Geri Walton, an author and historian fascinated by
the 18th. and the 19th. century. 

She also wrote several books inter alia Napoleon's downfall, which I read and reviewed
on this blog. 

I was very happy that Geri Walton was interested to participate in an Author in the picture
blogpost, so here we go. 

The Questions & Answers

Hello Geri, Could you tell me more about you? Who is Geri Walton?

I am a historian of the 18th and 19th century and host of my own blog that
I established in mid-October 2013. Because of all the fascinating subjects
and people from these eras, I learned a lot while writing my blog and have
written four books that have a connection to France. These books are
"Marie Antoinette's Confidante" (a tale about the Princesse de Lamballe
who was a friend and superintendent of the household to Marie Antoinette),
"Madame Tussaud" (a story about the famous wax figure sculptress
who established Madame Tussaud’s wax museum and provided
her version of the French Revolution), 
"Napoleon's Downfall" (an account about a French socialite,
Madame Juliette Récamier, who butted heads with the Emperor Napoleon),
and my latest book, "Jane Austen's Cousin" (a story about Eliza de Feuillide
who married a French count, survived the French Revolution, and then
married her cousin Henry Austen).

How did you get involved with history?

I have always been fascinated by people and history. During high school,
I constantly read books related to people and history so it was inevitable that
when I went to college I would major in history.

Do you have other interests than history and writing?

I have several outside interests. One is gardening. I have a raised bed where
I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, radishes, tomatillos, onions,
hot peppers, and a dozen herbs. In addition, I like to cook and make everything
from chicken pot pies to braised ribs and luscious cookies and cakes.
I also began knitting when I was eight and find it a relaxing hobby.
I often knit while watching TV.

How do you start writing books? For ex. How do you choose your topics?

My interest is usually piqued by something I read while working on
my blog or reading tweets. Then, I start researching and decide whether
to write a book, which I do partly to learn more about the subject and
partly to satisfy my own curious nature.

Do you like to travel?

I love to travel and have visited Germany, France, Austria, and England.
Some of these trips were for pleasure and some of them were related to
the books I have written. For instance, when I wrote
“Marie Antoinette’s Confidante,” I travelled to the Chateau Rambouillet
in France to learn more about the chateau and estate because both the
Princesse de Lamballe and Marie Antoinette lived there. Then when
I wrote my book on Madame Tussaud, I visited London, England, as that
was the site of Madame Tussaud’s first wax museum. I have also travelled
throughout the U.S. and visited numerous historical sites on the east
and west coasts.

Which person(s) in history fascinate you the most?

There is no one person that I find fascinating. Rather I find the 1700 and 1800s
fascinating and like to learn about the lifestyle and insights of people from those
time periods. It is interesting to try and figure out how they saw the world, what
they worried about, and why they approached life the way they did.

Which events in history are special to you?

I like almost any event that happened in the 1700 or 1800s. For instance,
I have enjoyed learning about the revolutionary periods both in America and
France and have tried to understand what motivated people during those times.
I also like the Victorian Era because it was such a time of reform and
improvement, families were also a dominate feature, and religion and morality
became a battleground among agnostics, free thinkers, and theologians.
In addition, so many interesting people of the 1700 and 1800s
(such as Queen Victoria, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte,
Benjamin Franklin, or Louis XVI) changed the world. I find that
I am always learning something new whenever I study the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries.

Do you have a daily routine?

I have a loose routine where I schedule my Facebook posts and tweets
for Twitter each morning. Then I spend four to five hours writing. Sometimes
extra material from a book becomes a blog post and sometimes a blog post
I’ve already written ends up becoming part of a book.

I always end with the same question: what are your wishes
for yourself and the world?

I am extremely grateful that my immediate family and I survived the pandemic
despite my father-in-law succumbing to Covid. With everything returning to normal
in the U.S., and as more and more people around the world get Covid vaccinations
and as covid cases go down, I hope everyone will realize how blessed they are
to be alive. I know that I am taking more time to appreciate the many wonderful
blessings that I enjoy.

Thank you 

Thank you very much Geri Walton for this interview and your participation in 
your author in the picture blogpost. 

Good luck with the publication of your new book(s) and keep me updated!

Where to follow Geri Walton?

You can read more about Geri Walton on ther website:
https://www.geriwalton.com/ .

Author in the picture: Alyson Sheldrake

A few weeks ago I read and reviewed Living the Quieter Algarve Dream.
This is the second book of Alyson Sheldrake. I immediately loved her book
and the small paintings before each chapter as well. I also share her love
for Portugal, although we haven't visited the same places. 

That's why I wanted to put her in the picture with this blogpost. I asked
Alyson if she would like to participate in a Question and Answer interview
and luckily she said yes. 

So here is the Author in the picture interview of Alyson Sheldrake. 

The interview

Did you always want to write a memoir?

 

My husband, Dave, and I initially bought a house in the Algarve in 2006,
and it took us a further five years of working in the UK before we made
the permanent move out here to live. I started writing a blog when we
first moved here, initially just to keep friends informed of what we were
doing. It soon grew into an award-winning blog with over 100,000 views
 a year. I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing our articles,
all liberally sprinkled with Dave’s photography.

Many of our personal stories didn’t seem to fit the blog format,
so I put them all to one side, and then eventually realised that
I had a lot of material sat on my computer. People kept saying
to me, “you should write a book”, so I sat down one day and
started writing. It wasn’t long before I had written almost 80,000 words,
and ‘Living the Dream – in the Algarve, Portugal’ was born.
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a genre called ‘memoir’
when I first starting writing.

Do you prefer other genres too?

 

I am an avid reader and have been since I was a very young child.
 I love fiction, fantasy, and travel books as well as memoirs.
I love books that transport me to another place or time,
or even a different world. I am a fast reader too,
I can easily finish a novel in two or three sittings.

What was your goal by writing the Portugal memoirs?

My first book was very much an adventure into the unknown.
Self-publishing was a whole new world to explore, and I relished it all.
Pressing the ‘upload’ button on Amazon and seeing my book go live
was an exhilarating – and slightly scary – moment. At the end of the
first book, I mentioned we were moving to a new house in a
different part of the Algarve, and that maybe there would
be a sequel. I had so many messages and emails from people
asking me when the sequel would be released that I had to sit
down and write it! ‘Living the Quieter Algarve Dream’ was
published in November last year.

Are you fully integrated in the Algarve region or are there still surprises?

There are always surprises, and even though we have travelled
and explored widely across the Algarve, there are still some tucked
away locations we haven’t visited yet. Dave is a professional photographer
and I am also an artist, so we are always scoping new beaches and villages
that we can explore for inspiration. And then, of course, we have whole
areas of the Alentejo, Lisbon and northern Portugal that we
haven’t even stepped foot into yet!

I do love Portugal, its food, its culture and its port wine.
What do you recommend to visit first in the Algarve?

When we first visited here on holiday, we discovered the fishing
village of Ferragudo, and we were smitten. We rented a little cottage
off the main street, and I can still distinctly remember the first time
we arrived in our hire car and saw the village reflected in the
glistening water of the Arade river. Painted boats were tied up,
bobbing with the tide, the houses seemed to tumble down
to the riverfront, with the majestic whitewashed church sat
proudly above them keeping watch. It was idyllic.

We loved everything about the Algarve from that moment, the
food, the people, the stunning beaches, and wide-open blue skies.
The pace of life was enticing, and the area captured our hearts.
So I would recommend Ferragudo as an excellent base to see the
Algarve from. Hire a car, grab a map and go explore. And then
head up to Monchique and enjoy a hearty plate of Piri-piri chicken
and watch the sunset. I defy anyone not to be enthralled by this wonderful place.

Do you like the Portuguese food, the British food or others?

Oh, definitely Portuguese local food. You can still eat a
three-course meal for less than ten euros a head if
you know where to go. The fish is freshly caught, and the meat
dishes are hearty meals. Try a cataplana ( a type of fish stew) and
ask for baba de camelo for pudding (it literally translates as
‘camel spit’) it’s a delicious caramel-flavoured mousse.
Or try the locals’ favourite of grilled sardines.
Just the smell of them cooking makes me hungry!

Do you sometimes feel homesick ?

No, never! I can honestly say that Portugal is our home and we are
extremely happy here. I have absolutely no plans to return to the UK – ever!

What does a typical day look like for you?

I am an early riser. I love to get up at about 5 a.m. and have the
house and the world all to myself. This is my best time for writing,
I find my brain is full of ideas and the thoughts and words just flow easily.
We have a beautiful rescue dog called Kat, and about 7 a.m. it is
time for me to take her for a morning walk beside the river. I treasure
that time each day, the river walk is so peaceful and beautiful.

After breakfast I am straight into my art studio, which is part of
our house. I will paint there until lunchtime, then I confess to enjoying
an afternoon nap after that! It’s great living here as no-one bats an
eyelid if you have a siesta – although the Portuguese don’t take the
afternoon siesta as seriously as their Spanish neighbours.

The afternoon is often rounded off by a trip to one of our local beaches.
Kat and I will explore the shoreline while Dave is busy with his camera.

Do you watch lots of television or have you due to the
temperature more outdoors activities?

We have Portuguese television as part of our internet package.
I think we have switched it on twice in the last two years!
I don’t miss ‘television’ at all. We love box sets of TV series,
so at the end of the day we usually curl up on the sofa for
an hour and watch the next episode in whatever series we
are currently devouring. One of our favourites is NYPD Blue –
we have all 12 seasons – it takes about eight months to watch them all!

The Algarve is such a beautiful place, and the weather
almost year-round is sunny and warm, so it would be crazy
not to enjoy it all. I love to walk around the place we call home,
chatting to our Portuguese neighbours and enjoying the stunning
countryside and unspoilt beaches that surround us.

What are your dreams/wishes/plans for 2021 and the near future?

I have three books planned for release in 2021. The first is an anthology
of life stories about other expats that have also made the Algarve
their home. It has been a real privilege to bring their stories to life.
I have chapters on people that have set up an award-winning vineyard
from scratch, been honoured by the Queen for their charity work
out here, and others who have set up a wide-range of ventures and
activities, from yurt-farms, to animal rescue, arts, local magazines,
alternative therapies and film-making. ‘Why the Algarve?’
will be released in the spring.

Next up after that is another anthology, this time entitled
‘Chasing the Dream – a new life abroad’ which combines the
writing of twenty established memoir/travel authors and their
stories of moving to a new country to live. After that it will be
the turn of a collection of stories from travel writers with a book
entitled ‘Itchy Feet – Tales of travel and adventure’. Add that to a
new set of very large paintings commissioned by a
client and you have one busy Algarve lady!

More Alyson Sheldrake

Do you want to know more about Alyson Sheldrake, please check her
sites :

Her website with beautiful artwork on this link: 

Her husband's website with amazing pictures on this link: 

All paintings: © Alyson Sheldrake

All pictures: © Dave Sheldrake Photography