Guest Post by E. C. Ambrose - An archive, library, or internet equivalent is your usual starting point when developing the ideas, conflicts and characters you’ll weave into a narrative. While reading is a great place to begin, relying strictly on written matter to re-create a historical world can lead to limitations that prevent the … Continue reading Hands-on with History: Researching Material Culture
The World Needs More Heroines! Use the Heroine’s Journey to Outline Your Next Historical Novel
Guest Post by Robin Henry - Writers of historical fiction often face criticism for placing “modern” characters in a historical setting. Readers send angry emails about how writers got it wrong. “That could never happen!” they exclaim. These comments frequently concern the actions of female characters. This essay asks writers to look for the spaces … Continue reading The World Needs More Heroines! Use the Heroine’s Journey to Outline Your Next Historical Novel
Historical Fantasy: Fantastic Answers to Historical Questions
Guest post by Matthew Lucas - One of the pleasures of writing historical fantasy is working within the weave between the facts of history and the flights of “fantasy,” or, as W.R. Irwin set the term, the “overt violation of what is generally accepted as possibility.” Whether it’s following a golem around the Lower East … Continue reading Historical Fantasy: Fantastic Answers to Historical Questions
Tools of the Trade
Guest Post by Amanda Cabot - Carpenters need saws and hammers; portrait painters use brushes and palettes; chefs rely on whisks and saucepans. Those are all tools of their trades. What tools does an author of historical novels have? I don’t pretend to answer for everyone, but I’d like to share my favorite tools with … Continue reading Tools of the Trade
Major Legislative Changes Affecting Women in the 19th Century
Guest Post by Brenda W. Clough - In Victorian Britain, women teetered on the verge of a vast change in the laws that had constrained them since medieval times. This is a quick summary of some of the major legislative gains of that period. The clever author can select the period when the laws would … Continue reading Major Legislative Changes Affecting Women in the 19th Century