Castle and the Cross: A New Historical Fiction Series in Progress

A first look at the world, themes, and research behind my medieval France project.

There are certain periods in history that feel both distant and uncomfortably familiar. Medieval France is one of them. It is a world of stone walls and muddy roads, saints and soldiers, oaths and betrayals, where power is personal and survival is political. It is also a world where ordinary lives are shaped—often abruptly—by forces they cannot control.

Castle and the Cross is my upcoming historical fiction series set in medieval France. It is still in development, but I wanted to share a brief introduction to the project: what I am building, why I am drawn to this era, and what readers can expect as the series takes shape.

A story about power, faith, and survival

The title Castle and the Cross points to two realities that structured medieval life. The castle represents authority: protection, coercion, obligation, and the constant negotiation between those who ruled and those who endured rule. The cross represents belief: sincere faith, institutional power, fear of damnation, hope for meaning, and the ways religion shaped both daily habits and major decisions.

In the world of this series, neither force operates in the abstract. They show up in the practical details of living—what a family can eat, where they can travel, who they can trust, and what they risk when they speak or act outside their assigned place. I am drawn to stories where people must make choices under pressure, and medieval France offers that kind of pressure in almost every direction.

Why medieval France

Many readers associate the Middle Ages with myth or spectacle. The reality is more complex, more intimate, and often more revealing. This is an era when institutions were evolving, borders and loyalties were fluid, and daily life was shaped by local power structures as much as by distant kings.

For a writer, that combination is compelling. You have a landscape rich in conflict, but also full of small human stakes: family duties, personal reputation, obligations to a lord, the pull of a city, the protection offered by a monastery, the dangers of the road. It is also an era that forces you to ask hard questions about what “safety” means—and what it costs.

What I am researching right now

I approach fiction the way I approach nonfiction: story first, but supported by research that holds up under scrutiny. For Castle and the Cross, that means paying attention to the textures of life that make a world feel real rather than decorative.

Right now, my focus includes:

• Daily life and material culture: food, clothing, housing, work, travel, and seasonal rhythms

• Power and law: feudal obligations, local courts, inheritance, and the currency of reputation

• Religion as lived experience: not only theology, but ritual, fear, community, and institutional influence

• Cities and countryside: how the needs and values of each collide and interlock

• Violence and its aftermath: what conflict looks like on the ground, and how people carry it forward

As I make progress, I will share occasional notes here—sources I am reading, places in France that inspire scenes, and small details that matter more than you might expect.

What to expect from the series

Castle and the Cross will be character-driven historical fiction. The goal is not to “teach” in the classroom sense, but to place readers inside a world that operates by different assumptions, and then let the characters navigate it with believable motives and constraints.

You can expect:

• A grounded sense of place, built from research and real geography

• Political and personal conflict that unfolds through human decisions, not plot tricks

• Moral complexity, especially where loyalty and survival collide

• A balance of tension and intimacy—large forces felt through individual lives

This page is a beginning

For now, this post is simply a marker: the series is underway, the world is forming, and the work is moving forward. If you are interested in medieval France, in historical fiction rooted in research, or in stories that examine how people adapt when rules are shifting, I hope you will follow along.

I will share updates here as the project develops—early glimpses, research notes, and announcements as they become available.

Explore My Books