Writing historical fiction requires balancing the historical sensibilities (speech, culture, customs) for the modern reader. Today, I’m a guest on Mary Tod’s award winning blog, A Writer of History, where I discuss how to do it and why it’s important. Click here for the article. If you’re interested in getting an insight into all aspects of historical fiction, I highly recommend Mary’s blog. There are many fascinating articles.
When I started writing the first dirty draft of Traitor’s Knot, I was so focused on the details of the events, that I often neglected the human reaction to the drama. It’s understandable given that there is so much pressure to get the historical facts nailed. Historical fiction writers have the advantage of knowing what happened to their subjects, but sometimes that knowledge blunts the suspense. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for other genres, with perhaps the exception of memoire. Science fiction and fantasy–your imagination defines what or what doesn’t happen. Contemporary or romance, ditto. Thrillers? You guys are…
My publisher, Endeavour, needs a bio from me. For civilians, that is what we call a biography; for writers, it’s the 3rd worst painful exercise to subject a writer to. The undisputed most painful exercise, of course, is the synopsis. Cue the deep-throat narrator. One woman…one natural disaster…one hour to live… can she survive? Writing a synopsis is the equivalent of facing screaming legions of Hell during the Apocalypse. Do you have any idea on how hard it is to boil your full length novel down to a one or two page synopsis and not make it sound like, “and then…
I’ve been a life-long reader and can’t imagine anything more satisfying than curling up with a book and losing yourself in its pages. If I were a foodie, it would be equivalent of eating my way through five star restaurants. As a child of immigrant parents, I had to wait until the first grade before someone taught me how to read. Before then, I would look at books and pretend I knew how. My older cousin once called my bluff, and I made up some story on the spot to convince him. And so a writer was born. Imagine my…
Just don’t. Trust me, no one wants to hear that conversation. Ask my critique group, I have no tolerance for him. Who’s Bob? You know Bob—every writer knows Bob, but historical fiction writers know him best. Bob is the gate crasher, the unwanted guest who always brings down the party, only instead of hanging out at the bar and being obnoxious, Bob hangs out in a story with the protagonist taking on the role as tiresome wingman. At first, it’s all fun and games. Our hero is happy—no relieved—when Bob shows up. Finally the opportunity to trot out his knowledge of…
Cryssa Bazos 