Researching History: Daunting, Challenging, and Fun

#HNS2021 Conference Preview by Patricia Marcantonio - Unless you have a working time machine hidden away in your office, then you’re going to have to research if you’re writing historical fiction. Be it hitting the books, the Internet, interviewing historians or all of the above, researching the past can be daunting and challenging, but also a lot of fun.  Researching history will … Continue reading Researching History: Daunting, Challenging, and Fun

Sharpening the Blade: Borrowing Elements from Mysteries to Craft Compelling Historical Fiction 

#HNS2021 Conference Preview by Julianne Douglas, Mariah Fredericks, and Karen Ogden - With their life-and-death stakes, mysteries have had a profound narrative power since Wilkie Collins wrote The Moonstone in 1868. In a mystery, the reader often strongly identifies with the protagonist, an amateur sleuth or professional detective encountering clues and experiences simultaneously with the reader. As a result, both … Continue reading Sharpening the Blade: Borrowing Elements from Mysteries to Craft Compelling Historical Fiction 

Creating Characters Who Belong Where You Put Them

#HNS2021 Conference Preview by Jennifer Steil - Women through history have been more passive than active. True, or false? That’s certainly the conventional wisdom that allowed men to scrub most of our female ancestors from the history books. Yet writers of historical fiction know better. In truth, women have done far more of the heavy … Continue reading Creating Characters Who Belong Where You Put Them