Tag: historical fiction

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Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for June, Part Two

Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Bethany Jett, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

Hollywood Storytelling with Zena Dell Lowe

Zena is an actress, director, producer, and writer. She joins Writers Chat to share her insights on telling a story. If you want to write a screen play, non-fiction, or fiction, this episode is packed with information and a must see. Zena is an amazing storyteller and creates examples that will have you leaning on the edge of your seat to hear what’s next. Many of live audience thought this was worthy of the episode of the year.

Watch the June 11th replay.

Historical Fiction Panel

If you have thought about writing historical fiction, but weren’t sure about all the research that goes into such a novel, this episode is for you. Johnnie Alexander, Melissa Stroh, and Josephine Massaro (from Yahweh Sisterhood Book Club) comprise our panel and share a wealth of information with us. They discuss research and how to use what you find in your story in such a way that won’t bore your readers. This episode is full of practical ideas. Come check it out.

Watch the June 18th replay.

For more information and tips from our wonderful panel, check out this week’s Show Notes and Live Chat Discussions.

One Page Critiques

Critiquing is an important part of being a writer. Sometimes we are too close to catch mistakes and having a critique group or partner helps us sharper our writing skills. On today’s episode, the Writers Chat team will critique two pages submitted from different writers. The team shares their insight into the positives of these stories, as well as some things that need a little work. This episode is a good reminder of what to look for when critiquing someone’s story and could help you avoid common pitfalls. Check it out. You will surely be encouraged in your writing today.

Watch the June 25th replay.

For more information and helpful hints on writing and critiquing, check out this week’s Show Notes and Live Chat Discussions.

JOIN US!

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. Here’s the permanent Zoom room link. 

Participants mute their audio and video during the filming then we open up the room for anyone who wishes to participate with our guests. The “After Party” is fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.

Additionally, you can grow your network and add to the conversation by joining our Writers Chat Facebook Group.

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History in the Making

Historical Fiction Basics and Top Ten Time Periods

History in the making

Those of us who write Historical Fiction are drawn to re-imagining the past and reconstructing times gone by. History interests us. But the details need to be believable to be successful at blending fact and fiction. We need to research how people talked, what they wore, what they ate, and how they lived. The rules for writing the historical fiction genre include three elements and six characteristics that must be present.

The three elements:

·  Fictional events, but real people.

·  Real events, but fictional people.

·  Real events and real people, but the plot, scenes, and dialogue are fictional.

The six characteristics:

  • Setting: The time period must be real in history and the place must be authentic. Getting this right is imperative.           
  • Characters: All or some of your characters may be fictional, but they must all behave in realistic ways for the time period.
  • Plot: The plot may be based on real events, or may be based on fictional events, but has to make sense in the time period you are writing about.
  • Descriptions: Characters, places, and events must be distinct. Weave historic information into your work so your reader will learn something they may be unfamiliar with about the time period.
  • Dialogue: Reflects the thoughts and knowledge of the people in the time period you are writing about.
  • Conflict: Again, the conflict or drama must reflect and be realist to the time period.

I mentioned time period a lot and readers have favorites. According to topten.com, these are the top ten historical time periods people like to read about (plus one of my favorite novels from each era):

  1. Middle Ages (Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett)
  2. Ancient Greece/Rome (Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn)
  3. Golden Age of Piracy (Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson)
  4. The Roaring 20’s (The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
  5. World War I (Overseas by Beatriz Williams)
  6. World War II (The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah)
  7. 19th Century Britain (Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood)
  8. Renaissance (Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel)
  9. Ancient Egypt (Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough)
  10. Wild West (Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry)

My first novel, The Story of Hagar, is set in Ancient Egypt. The second, More Than a Handmaid, is in Ancient Canaan. My current WIP, Reggie, takes place in depression era Alabama. I’m also outlining a novel drawn from 17th century Alabama and France. It’s like spinning the wheel of a time machine and I love it!

What time period is your favorite?

Blessings,

KD Holmberg

KD Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and website authorkdholmberg.com/

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Writer Encouragement

Ingredients are Key

Ever have a latte from your favorite coffee shop and they forgot to add a key ingredient?

I recently ordered a vanilla latte, only the barista forgot to add the vanilla. It didn’t take more than a second to realize the error. My taste buds shuddered at the omission while they wallowed in bland coffee and hot milk. Gross.

Manuscripts can be like that. Sometimes writers promise something in our selected genre—romance, history, suspense—but then the key ingredients might get omitted. Or you might have a combo genre like historical romance, which is what I write. Your book could be filled with battle scenes and drama, but somehow you forget there’s supposed to be a love story in the mix. Perhaps you focus on the war while forgetting the lass waging battles in her heart?

You might ask yourself, was it a bunny trail you followed that veered from the story to a whole new focus?

Perhaps while writing another book, you become so involved in the romance scenes that, although it takes place in World War I, it might as well be a contemporary novel. The historical elements somehow get lost. Somewhere.

We all have blind spots in our writing. Or perhaps, like the barista, we become distracted and just forget.

Historical fiction is especially challenging since anachronisms can sneak in—those odd phrases, cultural trends, or pieces of clothing that weren’t around in the era you are writing about.

One reader on social media groaned that she was so tired of Regency romance novels in which the dialogue included the simple expression, “OK.” It’s just not okay to include that when you’re writing about the Regency period, which was from 1811-1820. According to the Smithsonian, this expression was initially used in Boston around 1838.

Do you see why writing historicals is such a challenge? Someone always knows if you’re being inaccurate. I must be crazy for choosing to write historicals, but that’s a topic for another time …

It can be painfully obvious when a writer doesn’t do his or her homework. First rule of writing: Don’t cause pain for your readers.

There can be no more disappointment for a reader than expecting a romance, only to be left with a singular kiss with lips barely connecting. While I’m hardly suggesting a passionate bedroom scene, readers do expect a few sigh-worthy moments when the hero sweeps the heroine off her feet with a tender kiss.

A romance without a good kiss is like … like a latte without the flavoring! It’s just not what readers expect. Or want.

Carry on.

Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that recently released: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling is available in both e-book and paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com

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Novelists Unwind

Novelists Unwind Interviews Valerie Fraser Luesse and Laura Frantz

Valerie Fraser Luesse, the senior travel editor for Southern Living magazine, writes complex historicals deeply rooted in her own southern heritage of family story-telling. Valerie’s latest novel, Almost Home, is set during World War II and was inspired by a relative’s boarding house, a dear friend’s sense of humor, “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” (a Grimm’s fairy tale), and a river pirate. Besides talking about her writing journey, Valerie gives us a tour in her Story Shack.

Laura Frantz, known for her attention to historical detail and impeccable research, is a direct descendant of George Hume, a Scotsman exiled to the colonies because of his involvement in the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion. In our interview, Laura talks about her George’s connection to another famous George, and how she found a “new” distant relative from a commenter on the Novelists Unwind post!

The next Novelists Unwind Giveaway will be announced on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at http://www.novelistsunwind.com. Be sure to enter for your chance to win a print edition of an amazing inspirational novel.

Meet Johnnie Johnnie Alexander creates characters you want to meet and imagines stories you won’t forget. Her award-winning debut novel, Where Treasure Hides, made the CBA bestseller list. She writes contemporaries, historicals, and cozy mysteries, serves on the executive boards of Serious Writer, Inc. and the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference, co-hosts an online show called Writers Chat, and interviews inspirational authors for Novelists Unwind. She also teaches at writers conferences and for Serious Writer Academy. Connect with her at www.johnnie-alexander.com and other social media sites via https://linktr.ee/johnniealexndr.

Categories
History in the Making

Well Done Jane Austen!

History in the making

Jane Austen created some of the most memorable characters ever printed on paper. Without doubt, she is one of the best known and extensively read novelists in the English language. Her work has been discussed in literary circles, taught at universities, and credited with developing the modern novel art form.

Jane was an author with acute powers of observation, always alert to human strengths and foibles (she gave this trait to many of her characters too!). One thing she observed, and uses in her writing, is our innate, survival-based need to judge others quickly and by our own standards.

She used our mistaken judgments of others to expertly show us that people often aren’t as they appear. She exploited our snap and faulty first impressions to create archetypes that are anything but cliché.

How often do you form an impression of someone before you get to know them?

According to Psychology Today, out brains are wired to make unconscious judgements about others behaviors. Without realizing it, we make automatic decisions on a person’s moral character, sociability, and competency.

I’m sure they trace all that back to our primordial tribal muck.

But for now, with the craft of writing in mind, look at these examples from Jane’s famous work, Pride and Prejudice.

George Wickham, a lieutenant in the army militia quartered near Elizabeth Bennet’s home of Longbourn, had a pretty face and exquisite charm. He had all the women in the village of Meryton swooning (as well as the female reader) until we gathered more information about our good-looking and charismatic cad. We soon realized he had no scruples and was a master manipulator. He was willing to twist the truth to ruin a woman’s reputation or disparage a former benefactor for his own self-serving profit or revenge.

But George Wickham wasn’t the only one we all misjudged.

Fitzwilliam Darcy. His hard, rude, proud exterior, and the lies Mr. Wickham told about him, resulted in Elizabeth Bennet telling him she would not marry him if he were the last man on earth. And we all cheered her on. Yet, he becomes one of the most iconic romantic heroes of all time, operating within a strict code of behavior, and displaying courage, integrity, passion, caring, and devotion.

Awareness of the natural process of judging others can be exploited in Historical Fiction.

Look for negative and positive traits in the people you are researching to write about or add them to characters you are creating from scratch. Introduce them as something other than they truly are. Make your good character do something bad or your bad character do something good. Then surprise your reader by gradually transforming them by showing their true nature in their choices and behavior.

In Pride and Prejudice, protagonist Elizabeth Bennet realized her early judgments were flawed and prejudiced. Jane Austen’s readers had to admit that too. That’s why I say, “Well done, Jane Austen!”

K. D. Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and kdeniseholmberg.blogspot.com

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History in the Making

Rebecca Lee Crumpler−Pioneer

History in the making

Rebecca Lee Crumpler was a pioneer, but not the sort who climbed a weather-beaten prairie wagon, wrapped her work-worn fingers around the reins of a team of horses and then drove the rig across rushing rivers.

This 19th century trailblazer broke the barriers of race and gender to become the first female Black physician in the United States.

Born a free Black woman in 1831, Ms. Crumpler grew up in Pennsylvania where she dogged the steps of her aunt, the neighborhood healer. While her little-girl-ears heard moans of pain and discomfort, her little-girl-eyes watched her aunt bring relief and healing. In this community classroom Ms. Crumpler developed medical skills, which then led her to Massachusetts where she worked as a nurse for eight years. Her medical aptitude caught the attention of her supervising doctor who encouraged her to attend the New England Female Medical College. She began her studies in 1861 and concluded them in 1864, becoming the first Black female doctor in the United States.

This amazing feat earned Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler a place in history. But it was not the end of her story.

In 1865, the Civil War now over, Dr. Crumpler became aware that newly-freed poor Blacks needed medical services in the South. Nudged by her desire to ease their suffering, she moved to Virginia where she worked with the Freedmen’s Bureau. Though the title “M.D.” opened more doors of opportunity to use her healing skills, she was still Black, and still a woman, and thus her efforts were hindered by non-Black administrators, physicians and druggists. Yet cords of courage and threads of tenacity wove throughout her days, compelling her to battle through these challenges for five years.

Upon returning to Boston, Dr. Crumpler continued to practice medicine in the Black community of Beacon Hill, both outside and inside her home on Joy Street. She focused on women and children, without regard to their ability to pay. The house on Joy Street has been included on the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail.

In 1883, Dr. Crumpler became one of the first Blacks to publish a medical book. Entitled A Book of Medical Discourse, this two volume set stemmed from the extensive medical notes she had kept over the years, and focused on medical care for women and children.

These feats earned Dr. Crumpler a place in history, but her story still speaks to this generation, including those in the writing community. Writers of historical fiction set in this time period might find Dr. Crumpler−whether as a child, nurse, medical student, doctor or author−a stimulating real life personality for a hero or heroine to meet during the unfolding of their own fictional story.

Moving beyond the possibilities of weaving historical events and people into our fictional works, today’s writer can look to Dr. Crumpler as an example of pluck and persistence. She invested years honing her skill, yet still faced criticism and rejection. Did she ever feel like quitting? We can only speculate. But tempted or not, her life’s testimony says she did not give in to the resistance and conflicts she met along the way. Instead, she persevered, and ultimately achieved what others in her lifetime likely thought an impossible dream.

A writer’s takeaway?

Dream on.

 

Jeannine Brummett lives in South Carolina with her husband of nineteen years, Don, who shares his three adult sons and three grandchildren with her. Reading is big on her list of things to do, but she also thrives on TV crime dramas, NBA basketball, and marvels at the critters and fowl life that live at the pond behind their house. She loves to sing praise songs, attend Bible Study, and help at a local food pantry.

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Novelists Unwind

Novelists Unwind welcomes Roseanna White and Curt Iles

Roseanna White writes amazing historical fiction with complex plots, unique characters–ie family of reformed grifters in this series–and well-crafted writing. But then, Roseanna is a self-proclaimed word nerd who enjoys musing about the etymology of words. She explores the history of “the word of the week” on her blog at Writing Roseanna.

Curt Iles is a master storyteller who writes “memorable stories of the history, culture, and people of Louisiana’s Pineywoods region.” Curt’s great-great-great grandfather came to this area, known as No Man’s Land, from Ireland.

As a child, Curt sat by the fire listening to the grown-ups reminisce, and as a teen he began writing these stories in a journal given to him by an uncle.

We chatted so long, I divided the interview into two episodes.

 

 

The next Novelists Unwind Giveaway will be announced on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at  novelistsunwind.com. Be sure to enter for your chance to win a print edition of an amazing inspirational novel.

 Meet Johnnie

Johnnie Alexander creates characters you want to meet and imagines stories you won’t forget. Her award-winning debut novel, Where Treasure Hides, made the CBA bestseller list. She writes contemporaries, historicals, and cozy mysteries, serves on the executive boards of Serious Writer, Inc. and the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference, co-hosts an online show called Writers Chat, and interviews inspirational authors for Novelists Unwind. She also teaches at writers conferences and for Serious Writer Academy. Connect with her at www.johnnie-alexander.com and other social media sites via https://linktr.ee/johnniealexndr.

 

Categories
History in the Making

Is Writing Historical Fiction a Good Fit for You?

History in the making

I enjoy digging into the past, following bunny trails of history, and learning about cultures long interred and nearly forgotten. And then weaving a plausible story using the events and people of another time period.

It takes a lot of excavating (sometimes years) to discover enough buried remains of the past to write authentic prose, avoid historical mistakes, and gain the trust of your readers. Then you live with the fact that, inevitably, there will be mistakes. And what you create will be neither true nor false, but only a probability of what may or may not have happened.

 You can’t depend on what you think you already know.

I write Biblical historical and my first novel is set in Ancient Egypt during the Abrahamic era. I started writing with my own memory of events (from Sunday School) having a large influence over my story and discovered several mistakes early.

  • Abraham and Sarah were called Abram and Sarai at this time.
  • Pictures of Abraham riding a camel through the desert are historically inaccurate–the camel had not yet been domesticated.
  • Although Pharaoh’s army pursued Moses into the Red Sea on chariots, during Abraham’s day, the ancient Egyptians had no such vehicle.

Wear the hat of an investigative reporter.

I took a step back and spent nearly the next five years exploring the Middle Bronze Age, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Mesopotamia. And I realized I had to find research material beyond the internet because (surprise) it had a lot of false and flawed information.

[bctt tweet=”Like a reporter, historical novelists have to check facts and verify sources. #writetips #writerslife” username=””]

Going “old school” and visiting libraries or buying and borrowing reference books often provide my most reliable resources.

I recently wrote a heart-wrenching chapter about the death of a beloved man named Mamre. Going back through my research, I realized I killed the poor fellow off too soon. I put him in an early grave before (according to history) he went to war and became a hero.

My WIP is from Genesis, so any student of the Bible would have caught my mistake and lost confidence in me as a writer. I was glad I took the time to fact-check.

You dig up a lot of gold nuggets, but only cash a few in.

One of the most difficult things to do when writing historical fiction is to not use all of your research. You spend countless hours exploring a specific time period, and you want to share all of that information, but most of it should never make its way into your novel.

The work you do is to give yourself a sense of time and space. Take your reader on an adventure in another age, but do so without overwriting. You have to know what to leave in and what to leave out. Remember that you are writing a novel–not an encyclopedia.

Questions to ask yourself if you are wondering if historical fiction is for you:

 Does reading about the past interest you?

  • Does the prospect of a long process sound worthwhile to you?
  • Are you willing to find research material beyond the internet?
  • After all your hard work, are you willing to let most of it go?
  • Do you see yourself reimagining history?
  • Can you visualize combining past events or people with fiction?

If you answered yes to all of the above–good news–this genre is for you!

KD Holmberg is an author, blogger, and freelance writer. She is a member of ACFW, Word Weavers International, and a founding member of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is represented by Hartline Literary Agency. A retired flight attendant, she has traveled and lived all over the globe. She and her husband, Keith, love to golf and live in South Carolina. You can find more about her: Facebook @authorkdholmberg, twitter @kdeniseholmberg, and kdeniseholmberg.blogspot.com

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Literary Women in Histor

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Truth for the Time

Have you heard the latest outrage in the world of books and publishing?

Beloved children’s author, Laura Ingalls Wilder—turns out she’s something of a racist. Strange but true. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has deemed it to be so, in keeping with the current popular mantra that pretty much everyone these days is racist if they hold fast to traditional American values.

 Who knew!

The book award that the ALSC created over 60 years ago bearing Mrs. Wilder’s name no longer can because a scant handful of references in her Little House books have been tagged as racist towards certain minorities she came in contact with as a little girl in the 1880s.

Formerly hailed as a great classic of children’s literature, celebrating faith, family, hard work, perseverance, and American patriotism, parents are being warned against them. Her name is blackened. The award is stripped from her. And all because she told the truth as she experienced it. She wrote an historical fiction memoir based upon firsthand accounts of a major part of American history from the perspective of a child living through it. Why is that wrong?

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association wonders about that, too.

Statement from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association—Office of the Director:

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association wishes to voice its disappointment in the recent action of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). Many believe that Mrs. Wilder’s famous “Little House” books are American treasures and she should be honored as their author.

Mrs. Wilder believed her books to be historically accurate and reflect American life during the Western Movement. However difficult it may be to agree with social mores within these years, the fact remains that was a different time and what was accepted then would not be today. Mrs. Wilder was writing a historical account of her childhood to inform today’s children how proud they may be in their heritage and their nation.

Hmmm. Being proud of one’s heritage and nation. Not real popular these days in some media streams. What crazy times we live in where being proud of our heritage and nation is controversial.

But, true to the time in which she lived, Laura referred to Native Americans as Indians. Most historical fiction books of the time do. Even the Indians called themselves Indians. There is also some concern over her unfiltered childlike reaction at seeing a black person for the first time. Not quite the way we’re supposed to be speaking these days.

And therein lies the problem.

Do you write historical fiction? Do you write personal memoir or autobiography? Are you true to the time you are writing about? Or, do you fear negative repercussions if you don’t manipulate historical norms to fit contemporary trends in thought, word, and deed?

I’ve read all nine of the Little House books and loved every one. Mrs. Wilder painted sticky images in my mind of bygone times with precise details. Even though it has been many years since reading them, there are passages that left an impression so deep, I can still recall them, fascinated at how my imagination stirred with a desire to learn more about history.

I enjoyed teaching Little House in the Big Woods to a homeschool group a few years ago, leading young hearts and minds through some favorite passages: the maple syrup chapter, Pa’s bear story, Mary’s birthday, and the fact that Laura could name every tree and plant that grew in and around her home as a very little child, as though they were dear friends. What a wondrous childhood filled with worthy life lessons and experiences modern children rarely enjoy amid all the hyper distractions of today.

Times have changed. I am heartily sorry that those seeking to re-write history have chosen such a literary icon as Laura Ingalls Wilder to pick on.

In the mid-20th century, and for decades later, librarians lauded the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder for her honest storytelling of an American family living through the highs and lows of a defining moment in our national history, unfiltered by a political agenda. Not so much anymore. These days, one candid remark on social media can cost a person their livelihood and open their life to unforgiving abuse. It is a toxic environment for writers seeking to speak truth.

As Christians, publishing an unpopular message or controversial fictional story in an historical setting, we should not allow ourselves to be bullied into writing politically correct words that are untrue to ourselves and history. The Word of God should be the only arbiter of truth and the plumbline standard for our words. Some may take offense. Some may twist our meaning and motivation out of proportion, accusing us of unjustified things. If so, we are in good company. With the likes of Jesus.

And our own Laura Ingalls Wilder, it would seem.

Next month, I continue musing on this topic and share some words of wisdom from Laura’s pen to encourage the Christian writer of today.

 Journal Prompt: How true to yourself are you when writing in your journal? Is it messy? Is it whitewashed? In your historical fiction, are you bullied by contemporary politically correct culture that often skews the lens through which you experienced something in order to satisfy a trendy group-think? In essence, re-writing history? Where have you seen this type of manipulation in historical fiction? In memoir? In some contemporary biblical narratives?

[bctt tweet=”#Laura Ingalls Wilder: Truth for the Time—keeping the history in historical fiction and period memoir; Women Writers in Life and Letters Series @A3writers @misskathypwp” username=””]

[bctt tweet=”#Women Writers in Life and Letters—Laura Ingalls Wilder: Truth for the Time @A3writers @misskathypwp” username=””]

Writer-speaker, Kathryn Ross, ignites a love of literature and learning through Pageant Wagon Publishing. She writes and publishes homeschool enrichment and Christian living books for home, church, and school. In addition, she shepherds writers through the steps book development and production. Her passion to equip women and families in developing a Family Literacy Lifestyle, produces readers and thinkers who can engage the world from a biblical worldview. She blogs and podcasts at TheWritersReverie.com and PageantWagonPublishing.com. Connect with Miss Kathy on Facebook.