In the Wash – Diane Calton Smith

Local writer Diane tells us a little about what she did during Lockdown – a productive time for many.

Writing Fenland Histories and Mysteries has been part of my life for the last six years, but lockdown really gave my writing a boost. There was time at last to concentrate on finishing my latest book and to make sure it really was ready for the publisher.

‘In The Wash’ is a Fenland History set in the time of King John. The loss of his baggage train in the Wash in 1216 has become interwoven with local legend and we have no way of knowing any more what really happened. There are too many theories and there is too little evidence.

I had to choose one theory for the medieval plotline and keep to it, running alongside it a modern day sequence of events to give it structure.

I love writing about the medieval era and this book has been such fun to write. It was hard work, certainly. There was a lot of research needed, as well as the solving of quite a few conundrums, but it was a happy project and one which I hope makes happy reading.

(It is available online through Amazon and Waterstones.)