Welcome to my small corner of the internet! This blog is designed as place for me to archive and unpack my research as I work on my novel, A Queen’s Cup, a retelling of the tale of Rosamund, princess of the Gepids. The story is set in the 6th century in regions that would later become Hungary, Serbia, and Italy. Here, I’ll discuss historical context and historiography, political history, linguistics, religion, and other background topics.

I consider it part of my “job” as a writer of historical fiction to open a window onto another time and place. But historical fiction is, fundamentally, still fiction. One of the most interesting aspects of working in this genre is figuring out when, how, and to what degree historical “fact” must give way to narrative imperatives. This blog is a look behind the scenes of my decision-making process. It will also, hopefully, shine a light on historical elements that don’t fit within the story I’m trying to tell.

I knew next to nothing about this period before I began research several years ago in preparation for writing. It is a fascinating, complex time that has been subject to hundreds of years worth of debate, reevaluation, and politicization. Even today, there is a tendency bring contemporary social and political agendas to bear on a society that was almost unimaginably different from our own. While history unarguably has much to teach us about our current moment, I also think it is important to engage it on its own terms. As L.P. Hartley wrote in one of the most justifiably famous first lines in all of English literature: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”

When we visit a foreign land, we are always on the lookout for moments of cross-cultural recognition. But the experience of the unknown can also baffle, amuse, mystify, or even shock. It’s a truism to say that people of the past were “just like us.” Yet if we found ourselves transported to their world, I doubt we would find much comfort in our shared humanity. The past is a strange, disturbing, and illuminating place–let’s go there together!