England is a haven for anyone with a passing interest in its fascinating history but for an ardent historian like me it is simply enthralling.

For wherever you travel in the British Isles its enduring past beckons you from every nook and cranny. Its stately old mansions, magnificent cathedrals and parish churches and the more modest villages with their cottages and obligatory ancient inns all possess an allure of historic riches.

I have read and studied numerous books relevant to the 17th century, both academic and those that inventively combine fact with fiction, and they all provide a good basis for historical prose whilst much can also be gleaned from sources such as Project Gutenberg and similar websites. These are invaluable to a writer who aspires to go that extra mile to create gritty realism in their work whether of an academic or fictional nature. 

To all you fellow  writers out there, in whatever genre you favour, your creativity can only inspire others to take up the pen and surely Wattpad’s popularity is testimony to that.

Bridge Bridgewater

'OF INK, WIT AND INTRIGUE' (formerly Rochester Unveiled) is NOW AVAILABLE in E-BOOK and PAPERBACK from my publishers Troubador Publishing Limited (Matador) together with  ‘Google Preview’. My Author Web Page link there is: http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=2570  

It is also now available on Amazon, together with their ‘LOOK INSIDE!’ feature. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_6?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=of+ink+wit+and+intrigue&sprefix=Of+Ink%2Cstripbooks%2C173 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Of+Ink%2C+Wit+and+Intrigue 

Print version publication 28.02.2014. Available early from 28th January (with discount) from Troubador/Matador (see my web page there). Also listed with Amazon, The Book Depository, Waterstones, W.H Smith and other online international book retailers.

You can find me on Twitter @SueCooperBridge