Susan Stephens' Writing Diary

Have just been adding a scene to my book that plummets me back to the lovely medieval city of Siena... so I thought you'd like to see this pic' of the research trip I took.
The Palio is a horse race with a lot of history. It involves rivalries and all sorts of scheming, which fit in just fine with my story about Niroli... and 'The Richest Royal Family in the World'

Believe it or not, 50,000 people squish into Siena for the race... and the walled city ain't that big. 'Give me a breath of air someone...'

The horse race is a fantastic spectacle- it's dangerous, it's exciting, and it pits one man against another... horse to horse, rider to rider.
All you have to do to win is for your horse to cross the line with its headpiece intact- if the jockey falls off, or is pushed off, no one cares, which gave me lots of scope for an exciting ending to the race for our hero, Nico!
The Palio only takes around 70 seconds, but a lot can happen in that time...

Love to all, and happy reading everyone!
Susan