Author Archives: Jan Foster

As Above, So Below

Welcome to Elizabethan Hardingstone – a small village in Northamptonshire, where magical mishaps and unlikely heroines are about to explode. Below is Chapter 1 of of my cosy historical fantasy, As Above, So Below, for you to enjoy. 30th July 1566 Though the linens should be white, the nightgown Becca swirled with her paddle hadContinue reading “As Above, So Below”

Lammas in Elizabethan England: Harvest, Magic, and Memory

Every August, as summer began to tip toward autumn, Elizabethans marked a feast that was older than Christianity itself: Lammas, or in Old English “hlāf-mæsse” meaning “Loaf-Mass.” By the 1560s, England was a Protestant nation under Elizabeth I, yet villagers still carried echoes of pagan and Celtic ritual into their daily lives. Lammas was oneContinue reading “Lammas in Elizabethan England: Harvest, Magic, and Memory”

The Secret War Beneath Paris: WWII and the Shadowed Legacy of the Catacombs

Discover the hidden role of the Paris Catacombs during World War II—Nazi bunkers, French Resistance hideouts, and the enduring mystery. Includes fiction references and modern research challenges.

Chester, England: Strategic Stronghold and Market Crossroads

Discover Chester, it’s rich history and the books which this ancient city features in

Beyond the Seams: The Unseen Strength of Women in the French Resistance

In the shadow of World War II, as Nazi occupation gripped Paris, acts of defiance emerged not just from the expected places of male bravery, but often from the most unexpected corners of society: its women. While writing the Rebels and Resistance duology, I have been constantly struck by how overlooked the role women playedContinue reading “Beyond the Seams: The Unseen Strength of Women in the French Resistance”

Boy, Resisting

Chapter 1 – The Voice My name is Frederick and I have a secret. Want to know what it is? Of course you do IF YOU’RE SNOOPING AND READING THIS! My Mama gave me this book for my birthday. “So you can keep a record,” she said. “It’s important to remember who you are, andContinue reading “Boy, Resisting”

Sewing Resistance

Chapter 1 March 23rd 1937. Austria. My foot pauses on the pedal when I hear the rumble of trucks pulling into the convent’s courtyard below. I glance down at the beige shirt held by the needle of my trusty Kohler sewing machine, then through the small window next to me. Adjusting the shirt to fitContinue reading “Sewing Resistance”

A Bridge of Words

Recently I was invited to appear on a podcast, with a twist. Writing to a prompt of ‘polite’ the two hosts of ‘The Tiny Bookcase’ and I would write a short story and read it out for the first time, on air. It was a fantastic exercise because, not only could I write something completelyContinue reading “A Bridge of Words”