Monthly Archives: August 2012

Can you find enough Historical Fiction?

30 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Trolling through the historical fiction survey data yesterday I found an unexplored topic – the reasons why readers cannot find enough historical fiction.

The base question is Can you find enough historical fiction you like? 78.2% said YES, 21.8% said NO. Those who said NO were asked to comment.

The top three reasons for being unable to find enough:

  • Poor quality writing
  • Looking for a specific time or geography
  • Too much romance

Let’s hear from a few readers:

“Distorted, hastily written books on historical women flood the market — with half the lady’s face off the cover. Always a sign of hack work — forgive the pun.”

“Never enough well-written with strong narrative arc and authentic period detail.”

“Just not a lot of really great US historical fiction, except for Civil War and World War II.”

“Not enough written from European history circa C14th – C16th.”

“With about 3/4 of it convinced that nothing happened outside Tudor England and the rest romance, good historical fiction is hard to find.”

“Bad writing. And I fear ebook publishing is going to make it much worse. Everybody who thinks they can string words together seems to be self-publishing. I’ve read a lot that is dreadful and I’m very wary about it now.”

Interesting messages for authors, agents and editors to consider.

Feedback: I’d love to hear from others concerning this topic. Do you agree? Do you have a different point of view?

 

Now for something completely different

24 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , ,

A woman I know runs a blog called Babes on Bay Street with a tagline of “wisdom, courage & inspiration”. It’s an online community that offers support and inspiration to women striving to succeed while balancing work and life – at least that’s my interpretation. By the way, Bay Street is the Toronto equivalent to Wall Street or other global financial centres such as those in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Zurich.

I’ve written a few guest posts for her blog in the form of letters to my daughter, Lesley. I thought they might interest those of you in the earlier stages of your careers, or those with daughters and sons attempting to travel this path.

I wrote the first letter after rereading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. That letter considers Friedan’s messages from today’s vantage point. The second letter includes a top 15 list of things to help maintain balance while succeeding at a career and raising a family. In letter three I reflected on lessons from my early career days.

I don’t for a moment pretend to have all the answers, however, in keeping with the spirit of Babes on Bay Street, I do hope these letters offer some wisdom and support as this next generation of women – and men – take on their own challenges.

PS – I’m not abandoning historical fiction by any means. In fact, my passion for the topic  keeps growing. Next I’m planning to look across the interviews with top historical fiction authors with an eye for commonalities and further insights.

Dieppe – 70 years ago

20 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Writing about WWII

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Yesterday marked the seventieth anniversary of the Dieppe raid on France. A cross-channel effort so badly flawed that Allied troops were massacred as they landed. Almost 60% who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured. Apparently the Germans were on high alert having been warned by French double agents of British interest in the area. If that wasn’t bad enough, those planning the raid failed to discover the extent of German fortifications and manpower.

A novel I’m writing includes a scene about Dieppe for which I transcribed a live radio broadcast archived by the CBC. On August 20, 1942 Edward and Ann Jamieson and their two children, Emily and Alex, are at home. Edward fought in WWI and is involved in Canada’s espionage training program during WWII – all strictly secret, of course. The previous night they listened to the first reports of Dieppe.

The next evening the whole family gathered to hear Brian Burgess, a war correspondent on one of the tank landing ships, give a first-hand account.

“I am broadcasting now about the Dieppe raid at a time when details are just becoming available. I saw our men die, but never have I seen men die more bravely or fight with such great heart as our Canadian troops. The word Dieppe may rank with Vimy Ridge in our history and our hats are off to …” Edward listened to the list of Canadian units involved, thinking of soldiers he knew.

“… a lot of those men will never return to Canada. I believe more will return after the war if the German announcement of fifteen hundred prisoners is correct.”

Hearing the number of prisoners, both Ann and Emily gasped.

“This was a combined operation, playing an equal part with our troops were the airforce, marines, commandos and the navy … at least nine aircraft fell to Canadian guns and many more were damaged. What a marvellous job they did in the face of intense fire from accurate and powerful German shore and AK AK batteries. Our losses haven’t been sustained without reason. We’ve learned a most valuable lesson … we know now how the German coastal defences operate and how best to attack. We know the tremendous weight of artillery the enemy can bring to bear on the beaches …”

“Sounds like the Army is trying to create something positive out of disaster,” muttered Edward.

“Sshhhhh, Dad,” said Alex, grabbing a chunk of his light brown hair. “Gerry said he thinks his brother was there.”

“We moved large forces across the channel unnoticed by the enemy. We landed men on six beaches; we landed tanks in our new tank carrying vessels. Costly as it has been to Canada, the raid was definitely a success. Without this experience a second front would have been suicide. The plan was a closely guarded secret and the men weren’t briefed until on board the ships. We set sail in crafts of all types and in cover of darkness. The men were quiet as we slid out into the darkness and soon we said goodbye to the shores of Britain. And now I’ll read to you from notes I scribbled while on the water …

“Our bombers are at work … more heavy flash of coastal guns and bombs … our aircraft are flying in close to the water … the ships are weaving in front … heavy thuds are shaking us even this far out … destroyers are slinking along beside us … there are fighter patrols like flocks of geese … fast troop carrying ships are passing us … the coast has suddenly loomed up in front of us with its white hills … the destroyers are laying a smokescreen to windward turning broadside and blasting the town with their guns … a spitfire has just crashed off our starboard bow and into the sea like a stone, we can see the pilot trying to get out but he can’t …”

Emily put her hand across her mouth, eyes wide with horror.

“… two Messerschmitts have tried to attack us … we’re shore bound and in we go … we have to back off … I can see casualties in the water … machine gun bullets are winding around us … the tank landing craft ahead of us got its tanks ashore but she’s sinking now … the German shore batteries are shooting at us, our barrage is unbelievable, shells falling on all sides of us … we can’t get into the beach … three pilots are coming down by parachute … the Germans on the cliffs are throwing hand grenades … and now dive bombers are attacking us … some of our men are wounded … our aircraft are suffering heavily … they’re fighting like fools on shore … it’s been a bitter hard fight.”

When the broadcast ended they sat without moving, overwhelmed by what the reporter described. No one spoke. Edward thought again of Julian and Louise. Still no news.

If you have a chance, listen to the live radio broadcast and just imagine.

A Moment in Time – Hormel introduces Spam

17 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Researching historical fiction

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

After focusing on top historical fiction authors and blogs and the historical fiction survey, I thought I might include something different today.

Source – Globe & Mail

For most of us the word spam refers to noxious messages sent indiscriminately around the internet. In 1937, the word announced a new product by Hormel which went on to become a household favourite and was widely eaten by WWII troops. Spam was a made up word SP for spiced and AM for ham, one of its ingredients. My wonderful local newspaper – The Globe and Mail – included this picture in early July.

Don’t you love the captions and what they imply about the culture and norms of that time? The authoritative white-coated man, the husband in jacket and tie, the reference to maid’s night out. Perhaps I should weave a reference to SPAM into Unravelled. Hmm, the possibilities are endless :)

Top Historical Fiction Authors – Michelle Moran

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Authors, Writing Process

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Source – Author website

Today I welcome Michelle Moran, one of the top 20 favourite authors identified in the historical fiction survey. I am doubly pleased to publish her interview on the same day as the launch of Michelle’s latest book, THE SECOND EMPRESS. 

Why do you write historical fiction?     For every novel I have written, I can look back and say that there has been a very specific moment of inspiration – usually in some exotic locale or inside a museum – where I’ve said, “Aha! That’s going to be the subject of my next novel.” I never began my writing career with the intention to write books about three different princesses in Egypt. In fact, I had no intention of writing about ancient Egypt at all until I participated in my first archaeological dig.

During my sophomore year in college, I found myself sitting in Anthropology 101, and when the professor mentioned that she was looking for volunteers who would like to join a dig in Israel, I was one of the first students to sign up. When I got to Israel, however, all of my archaeological dreams were dashed (probably because they centered around Indiana Jones). There were no fedora wearing men, no cities carved into rock, and certainly no Ark of the Covenant. I was very disappointed. Not only would a fedora have seemed out of place, but I couldn’t even use the tiny brushes I had packed. Apparently, archaeology is more about digging big ditches with pickaxes rather than dusting off artifacts. And it had never occurred to me until then that in order to get to those artifacts, one had to dig deep into the earth. Volunteering on an archaeological dig was hot, it was sweaty, it was incredibly dirty, and when I look back on the experience through the rose-tinged glasses of time, I think, Wow, was it fantastic! Especially when our team discovered an Egyptian scarab that proved the ancient Israelites had once traded with the Egyptians. Looking at that scarab in the dirt, I began to wonder who had owned it, and what had possessed them to undertake the long journey from their homeland to the fledgling country of Israel.

On my flight back to America I stopped in Berlin, and with a newfound appreciation for Egyptology, I visited the museum where Nefertiti’s limestone bust was being housed. The graceful curve of Nefertiti’s neck, her arched brows, and the faintest hint of a smile were captivating to me. Who was this woman with her self-possessed gaze and stunning features? I wanted to know more about Nefertiti’s story, but when I began the research into her life, it proved incredibly difficult. She’d been a woman who’d inspired powerful emotions when she lived over three thousand years ago, and those who had despised her had attempted to erase her name from history. Yet even in the face of such ancient vengeance, some clues remained.

As a young girl Nefertiti had married a Pharaoh who was determined to erase the gods of Egypt and replace them with a sun-god he called Aten. It seemed that Nefertiti’s family allowed her to marry this impetuous king in the hopes that she would tame his wild ambitions. What happened instead, however, was that Nefertiti joined him in building his own capital of Amarna where they ruled together as god and goddess. But the alluring Nefertiti had a sister who seemed to keep her grounded, and in an image of her found in Amarna, the sister is standing off to one side, her arms down while everyone else is enthusiastically praising the royal couple. From this image, and a wealth of other evidence, I tried to recreate the epic life of an Egyptian queen whose husband was to become known as the Heretic King.

Each novel I’ve written has had a similar moment of inspiration for me. In many ways, my second book, The Heretic Queen is a natural progression from Nefertiti. The narrator is orphaned Nefertari, who suffers terribly because of her relationship to the reviled “Heretic Queen”. Despite the Heretic Queen’s death a generation prior, Nefertari is still tainted by her relationship to Nefertiti, and when young Ramesses falls in love and wishes to marry her, it is a struggle not just against an angry court, but against the wishes of a rebellious people.

But perhaps I would never have chosen to write on Nefertari at all if I hadn’t seen her magnificent tomb. At one time, visiting her tomb was practically free, but today, a trip underground to see one of the most magnificent places on earth can cost upwards of five thousand dollars (yes, you read that right). If you want to share the cost and go with a group, the cost lowers to the bargain-basement price of about three thousand. I took a few moments to think about this. I had flown more than seven thousand miles, suffered the indignities of having to wear the same clothes for three days because of lost luggage… and really, what was the possibility of my returning to Egypt again? There was only one choice. I paid the outrageous price, and I have never forgotten the experience.

While breathing in some of the most expensive air in the world, I saw a tomb that wasn’t just fit for a queen, but a goddess. In fact, Nefertari was only one of two (possibly three) queens ever deified in her lifetime, and as I gazed at the vibrant images on her tomb – jackals and bulls, cobras and gods – I knew that this wasn’t just any woman, but a woman who had been loved fiercely when she was alive. Because I am a sucker for romances, particularly if those romances actually happened, I immediately wanted to know more about Nefertari and Ramesses the Great. So my next stop was the Hall of Mummies at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There, resting beneath a heavy arc of glass, was the great Pharaoh himself. For a ninety-something year old man, he didn’t look too bad. His short red hair was combed back neatly and his face seemed strangely peaceful in its three thousand year repose. I tried to imagine him as he’d been when he was young – strong, athletic, frighteningly rash and incredibly romantic. Buildings and poetry remain today as testaments to Ramesses’s softer side, and in one of Ramesses’s more famous poems he calls Nefertari “the one for whom the sun shines.” His poetry to her can be found from Luxor to Abu Simbel, and it was my visit to Abu Simbel (where Ramesses built a temple for Nefertari) where I finally decided that I had to tell their story.

It’s the moments like this that an historical fiction author lives for. And it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that my decision to write Cleopatra’s Daughter came on an underwater dive to see the submerged city of ancient Alexandria. Traveling has been enormously important in my career. My adventures end up inspiring not only what I’m currently writing, but what I’m going to write about in the future.

You are clearly good at writing historical fiction. What do you think attracts readers to your books?     Thank you! I hope it’s the historical accuracy, and the ability to be transported back in time.

Do you have a particular approach to research and writing?     Because the publishing industry likes their authors to be on a book a year schedule, I divide my time evenly. Six months for research, six months for writing.

Have other writers of historical fiction influenced you and, if so, how have they influenced you?     12 years ago, I had the fortune to be wandering through the Borders bookstore in Claremont CA and see Robin Maxwell touring for her latest historical fiction, which at the time I believe was Virgin. So I summoned up the chutzpah to go over and tell her I was an historical fiction author too — at the ripe old age of 21! Hey, so what that I had only sold a book in German and my current agent wasn’t returning my emails? I was still an author, right? And, again, instead of laughing (or worse), she gave me her number and told me to call her with questions at anytime. We talked every five or six months or so after that, and she was a great inspiration to me. Since then I’ve been to her ranch. She lives in a beautiful expanse of desert with her husband, who’s a yoga instructor.

What ingredients do you think make for a top historical fiction author? Do you deliberately plan for these ingredients in your writing?     Oh wow. I really couldn’t say. As a reader, I look for historical accuracy, plus a place in time I know little about. I like to learn while I read, but I also want to be entertained. I feel that good historical fiction can deliver both.

You seem to be creating books focused on famous women of history. How do you balance an interest in ancient times such as the Egyptian empire with Napoleonic times?     Actually, my interests are pretty wide-ranging, so it hasn’t been difficult at all. History in general is what fascinates me, from the ancient world to the modern. I guess what compels me to reach back in time to search for untold stories is how similar we are to people who lived a thousand, even two thousand, years ago. People in ancient Egypt had the same hopes, dreams, fears, and desires as we do today. Human emotions haven’t changed.

What advantages do you think come from writing more than one book set in a given period? Any disadvantages?     I can’t see any disadvantages to writing a few books set in the same time period, but I can see disadvantages for a writer who writes more than two or three.  Not because their readers will get bored, but because they might! Of course, this doesn’t apply to all writers, and those who write series—I really take my hat off to them! For me, one of the best parts about writing historical fiction is the research, and I like to keep it new and fresh!

What brand are you trying to create for yourself?     I’d like readers to think of me as a writer of famous women whose names have been obscured by history.  Women who have been talented—not just beautiful, or married to the right man.

What do you do to connect with readers?     I have a very strong online presence. From my FB page for readers, to Goodreads, to my website, www.michellemoran.com, I try to make myself as accessible as possible, particularly those with questions about the history behind the books.

What do you know about your readers?     What I know often comes in the form of emails and FB postings. I have a very active FB page for readers, and I’m on there several times a day, as well as on Goodreads. I adore online communication, and I can’t get enough of it!

What data do you collect about your readers?     None. But I do try to read both positive and negative reviews to see if I can learn something from them.

What strategies guide your writing career?     Honestly, I just wrote what I enjoy reading. I ask myself if it’s a scene I’d enjoy in someone else’s book, and if it isn’t, I simply don’t write it!

What would you do differently if you were starting again?     Hmm… that’s tough. Because both my mistakes and my good decisions led me to where I am today. I’ve had tremendous good fortune in my career, and I have so many people to thank for that. I guess if I had to do something different it would be to market and publicize my second book better. I was so exhausted from the first book’s campaign that I didn’t really give THE HERETIC QUEEN enough time to shine.

Do you have any advice for writers of historical fiction?     Keep writing. If at any point along the way I had stopped writing and said to myself, you know, I think book number eleven will be my last, I wouldn’t be published. Writers don’t like to hear this, though. I know when I was looking at writing advice and I would see this posted somewhere I would think, well that’s helpful. I wouldn’t have thought of that. But the truth is there’s no good-ol-boys-club and there’s no backdoor into the publishing industry (unless you’re already a star). Good work sells, and if it doesn’t, write another one, then maybe once you’re a success they’ll haul out all of your old books that weren’t worth publishing the first time around, spruce them up a little, and voila, all of your previous efforts won’t have been wasted. Or maybe you’ll look back on those books and think, wow, they knew something I didn’t. My work has gotten better. And then you’ll hide those first eleven books in a closet somewhere (or a craftily labeled folder in My Documents so that no one ever finds them).

Is there a question you would like to answer that I haven’t asked?     No! You’ve pretty much covered everything, and it’s been a real pleasure. Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me!

Michelle, your passion for the subjects you choose and the research involved is so very clear. You’ve certainly inspired me to keep on writing although, having recently spent four months editing a manuscript, I can’t imagine completing a book a year! The Second Empress sounds like a wonderful read – I wish you great success with it.

THE SECOND EMPRESS:   Last spring, bestselling author Michelle Moran revived the tumultuous years of the French Revolution in her novel Madame Tussaud. Channeling the voice of the very real wax sculptor, Marie Tussaud, readers witnessed the fall of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the Reign of Terror, and the rise of a general named Napoleon Bonaparte. In her new novel, THE SECOND EMPRESS: A Novel of Napoleon’s Court (August 14, 2012; Crown Publishers), Moran reveals the next chapter in French history, taking readers inside the court of Emperor Napoleon. Through the voice of three people who knew him best—Pauline Bonaparte, his infamous sister; Marie-Louise, his second wife of royal Austrian blood; and Paul, a Haitian chamberlain who caters to Pauline and advises the emperor—Moran offers a glimpse at the individuals behind the scenes who helped influence an empire.

Blog tagline for A Writer of History

13 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Joel Friedlander writes a popular blog called The Book Designer. He has hundreds, if not thousands, of followers and presents insightful posts every day on self-publishing, book designing, blogging and other topics. As Joel says ‘practical advice to help build better books’. Today’s post encourages bloggers to consider their tag line carefully. I had a look at mine.

Hmm. Not quite right for where is the appeal to readers? I’m certainly trying to develop material that appeals to readers. Here’s the new tag line with just a small change.

 

Let me try that for a while.

Top Historical Fiction Sites – The History Girls

10 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, Historical Fiction, Top Historical Fiction Sites

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Running the data from the historical fiction survey resulted in four top digital sites however, restricting the data to UK participants resulted in two additional favourites and today I am pleased to welcome The History Girls to the blog.

They describe themselves as “a group of best-selling, award-winning writers of historical fiction. Some of us write for young adults, some for fully fledged adults, some for younger readers.” Mary Hoffman the originator of the blog tells us about their philosophy, how they came together, and other interesting insights about historical fiction. Mary has written over ninety books for children and teenagers – a very impressive body of work.

Why did you start blogging? Did your group come together to create the blog or did you add folks as time progressed?

To be brutally frank, I had the idea for The History Girls blog as part of a campaign to raise awareness about my own historical novel, DAVID – the story of the young man who posed for Michelangelo’s famous statue. (published by Bloomsbury in July 2011) But it soon became so much more.

We did start with 28 bloggers but several have left and been replaced as the year progressed.

What is your philosophy for the blog?

My personal philosophy is to raise awareness of the richness of historical fiction for adults and for younger readers. Each History Girl probably has her own philosophy and this is reflected in the richness and variety of the blogposts.

We have contributors who write historical fantasy, those who write about battles and war. Some who cover the ancient world, Dark Ages, Medieval and Renaissance history, others who write about World War One or Queen Victoria. French Revolution, American Wild West – it’s pretty much all there.

What trends have you seen in historical fiction in the past? What new trends are emerging?

It seems to have suddenly become more respectable with the emergence of more “literary” writers such as Hilary Mantel. (She was our guest blogger on 10th May, publication day of BRING UP THE BODIES – something of which I am extremely proud!). An unwelcome trend, not just in Historical fiction, is for “adult” authors to start writing for a YA audience, such as Philippa Gregory. I can assure you it doesn’t work the other way round, at least not in the UK.

Is historical fiction growing in popularity? If so, why?

It certainly seems to be and there are a lot of fine historical novels for teenagers too though not all British publishers will take them. (And I have been told that the only periods American readers are interested in are Tudor, Elizabethan and World War 2!)

I don’t really know. Perhaps because readers find it a good way in to historical fact. Or perhaps because there are such good stories there.

Who are your readers? What do you know about them? Do you collect specific data about them?

Yes, we have a Statistics page that Admins like myself can see. We have almost as many readers in the US as in the UK but 79 in Russia and 77 in India! Our aim is to conquer the world.

What features does your blog include? What features are most popular? Your blog has pages for Reviews and Interviews – do you plan to activate these in the future?

We do plan to put links to our Reviews and Interviews (already carried) in the future. It just requires a bit more time (even more time) from me or one of the other Admins. We do interviews and reviews, run competitions and give away prizes at the end of each month and have occasional series like The Historical Character I Just Don’t Get.

Sometimes a month’s posts might have a loose theme. This July it was our favourite historical characters but we have also featured Cross-dressing and Ghosts.

Do you think of the blog as having a brand? If so, what is it?

Female (though not necessarily feminist) writers of historical fiction explaining their work or exploring a fascinating aspect of History. I have not thought of us as having a brand until answering this question, though.

What are your marketing strategies for the blog?

We have a Twitter account: @history_girls and a Facebook page. Each time a new post goes up they are flagged in those two places. I sent out a Press Release to British magazines and organisations when we began but have not done much since. I wanted to see how the blog bedded down after its first year.

Why do you think so many people blog about historical fiction or participate in blogs about historical fiction? What are the implications for writers, agents and publishers?

I don’t think I realised they did!  Your site and Historical Tapestry’s has opened my eyes. I must look some up. For us, and I can only talk about writers, I think it has given us a sense of community in a world where you can often feel isolated. We email each other regularly and arrange meetings several times in the year – although not everyone can attend, since some HGs live in Devon, others in Scotland. For your American readers, that means a long distance to travel to London.

What do you see writers doing differently to market their books and build their platforms? What about publishers?

I’m sure that people in publishers’ Marketing Departments work very hard in order to get “their” books noticed in a crowded marketplace. But after publication day they are marketing the next book and then it is very much up to writers to keep public interest in their work alive. Blogs can help with that as can Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc.

What advice do you have for writers?

We don’t have joint advice and I can’t speak for the other HGs. My own writing advice can be found on www.maryhoffman.co.uk (Writing Tips) but that is very personal. On the About Us Page of the HGs there are  links to all our websites and I’m sure that is something most of us have addressed.

Is there a question I should have asked?

I can’t think of one. We are very happy that you have decided to feature us on your blog and hope we will acquire more North American followers as a result.

Many thanks from one Mary to another! The History Girls is on my RSS feed. I dip into it frequently for inspiration or sometimes just for a change of pace from the era of WWI and WWII.

Guest Post – Olly Wyatt

08 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Guest Posts, Historical Fiction, Writing Process

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

A few weeks ago, Olly Wyatt connected with me after reading a post about the historical fiction survey. Olly has written a book called THE DEMOCRAT. In this guest post he talks about his philosophy for writing historical fiction.

Historical fiction is about waving goodbye to the present, immersing yourself in another time and fulfilling that desire to go beyond the years of your own life. Ignoring your own values is as important an attribute in historical writing as discovering those of other eras. Once we have done this, historical fiction demands that we ask questions about what existed at a particular time. Political, moral and social values specific to the era you’ve decided to write within, are as important considerations as being accurate about facts like the use or absence of electricity, steam power or the combustion engine. Read any diary and you’ll soon sense the way people thought, what they were averse to, what they desired and the thinking behind that distinction.

Writing The Democrat, set in the 1790s, I had to ignore everything that came after that date. You couldn’t allow, for example, the Marxist thinking of the 19th century or the calamities of the 20th century to colour your thoughts. The world of the 1790s was the world of Thomas Paine and the promotion of republicanism, the world of Burke and arguments for conservatism, the world of Adam Smith and the defence of individualism. In many ways the book is about a collision of these outlooks and at its centre is a person who has to decide what beliefs he is going to act upon to represent the ordinary people as effectively as possible.

We historical fiction writers also have to be careful about imposing an assumption that the course of history has always been progressing towards freedom. History books have a habit of insisting that this is an inevitability. The Democrat is about a time when people are looking back at the Glorious Revolution, a century earlier in 1688, when the relationship between the governed and the governing appeared to be moving into a golden age. That it didn’t and that freedoms regressed from 1690 to 1790 see our characters trying to establish rights to which they believe they were entitled that had alluded them.

At the heart of historical fiction is an understanding for what your characters have suffered and an admiration for how they attempted to solve the problems thrown at them. Thomas Carlyle said the writing of a life should be, above all, an act of sympathy. This sympathy can be imagined as in pure fiction or found through research as in biographically based historical fiction. In addition, I believe we must also be ready to understand the things our characters do that we cannot sympathise with and at least explain why they had to do something we might not agree with. For me it is about understanding someone as well as having sympathy for them.

Thomas Muir, the subject of The Democrat, was an incredibly articulate lawyer who ended up defending himself against the dubious charge of sedition brought against him by a politically motivated judiciary after he’d tried to extend the rights of ordinary people. Within weeks the trial brought against him was considered illegal. The establishment, however, was unwilling to listen because they valued his exile more highly than reforming society. But this is just the beginning because Muir doesn’t give up easily. Instead he embarks upon a perilous ocean odyssey pursued by the British government, its navy and its allies, in his attempt to cross the Pacific to eventually return to Scotland.

My own often perilous journey through piles of research began in Edinburgh’s Rare Books Library making notes on hundreds of documents from the 1790s. I then had the challenge of telling Thomas Muir’s story as powerfully as I possibly could whilst being as true as possible to what I perceived to be the relevant historical facts.

Whilst I believe that we must be authentic to the values and thinking of the time we choose to write within, our writing can still resonate with our own day. As I wrote The Democrat, Arab protests for democracy were gathering pace in North Africa and the Middle East. A year earlier in the United Kingdom, we had had the parliamentary expenses scandal. People were disillusioned with their politicians. With demands for democracy being made in places like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Bahrain as well as much needed reform to the UK’s democratic infrastructure under way, there seemed to be no better time to tell Muir’s story and in so doing, sketch out a historical novel that was relevant to our own times as well as being true to Thomas Muir’s.

Thank you, Olly, for your very thoughtful words on writing historical fiction. You highlight central dilemmas of authenticity that go beyond historical fact to the more nuanced aspects of respecting the times we write about.

Olly Wyatt’s debut novel, The Democrat, is a finalist in the 2012 Global Ebook Awards. 

The ebook and paperback are available from www.thedemocratbook.com.

Top Historical Fiction Sites – English Historical Fiction Authors

06 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Sites

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Running the data from the historical fiction survey resulted in four top digital sites however, restricting the data to UK participants resulted in two additional favourites and today I am pleased to welcome English Historical Fiction Authors to the blog.

This lively site is run by a well-known group of authors writing historical fiction set in England. As their home page says they have “come together to share our historical work and to reach out to our much appreciated readers”. Have a read as Debra Brown, Nancy Bilyeau, Sam Thomas, Judith Arnopp and Sherry Jones talk about their passion.

Why did you start blogging? Did your group come together to create the blog or did you add authors as time progressed?

Debra Brown: In today’s publishing world, authors and readers are much more in contact than they ever were before. Social media and book sites have opened up a whole new way of interacting. To be found on the internet authors must have some kind of presence. Blogging provides one means, and we felt that those who love British history could meet together in one place to learn and share with each other. Authors write a daily post and readers can discuss them via their comments. We launched the blog on Sept. 23rd, 2011 with thirty authors. A few have been added over time as life and/or genre changed for some authors and we saw the need for others to keep things running smoothly.

Nancy Bilyeau: In the months before my first novel, THE CROWN, was published, I explored blogging and read all sorts of philosophies. Some people wrote a lot about the experience of being published or writing fiction, others focused on sharing original content. Because my book is set in the Tudor age and during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, I felt there was a wealth of material to write about. I knew I found it all extremely interesting, and I hoped readers would too. Just at the time I decided to do this, I found out about English Historical Fiction Authors, formed by Debbie Brown so that writers could take turns posting on the same site. The theory was that readers would have a lot of posts and a rich variety in historical periods to choose from and so would come back regularly. I think Debbie’s original idea was proven correct!

Sam Thomas: For me, blogging has been an extension of the other writing I’ve done. Before writing fiction, I wrote academic history, and in each case, my goal is to talk about the past in a way that the reader will find both entertaining and informative.

Judith Arnopp: Regarding my personal blog. I was advised to blog when I first published and found I really enjoyed it. I’m not the most regular of bloggers, I have to be inspired and not too busy working on a novel. I stumbled on the EHFA blog by accident and thought it was great and asked to join. It has put me in touch with a lot of other historical authors and I’ve learned a lot through them. I also enjoy promoting their work, not just my own. Debbie Brown should have a medal I think for all the hard work she puts in to the blog.

What is your philosophy for the blog? Why did you choose that philosophy?

Nancy Bilyeau: My background is magazine journalism, so I’m comfortable with nonfiction narrative. I enjoy writing about people who pass through my novel, which is a mix of fictional characters and people from history. But also I wonder if anyone besides fellow writers wants to read all the blogs about getting published. I really like writers but I want to find readers.

Debra Brown: I feel that readers of historical fiction are fascinated with the past, as I am. Yet most of us have questions about the eras we are reading – the customs, the people and the locations. The blog posts greatly enrich my knowledge of Britain – past putting context to the stories and helping them to make more sense to me. I hope that they do the same for others.

What trends have you seen in historical fiction in the past? What new trends are emerging?

Sherry Jones: It seems to me that literary authors, seeing the popularity of historical fiction with readers, are now jumping on the bandwagon and writing their own historical fiction novels in greater numbers. I’ve also heard that interest in the Tudors is waning — could it be that Hilary Mantel has finally tapped them out?

Is historical fiction growing in popularity? If so, why?

Nancy Bilyeau: Unfortunately, I have been told the opposite, that it has peaked in sales. But I see so much interest out there in the books by authors who contribute to English Historical Fiction Authors, and there are always new historicals coming out that are so rich and interesting to read. So I think the market is thriving.

Judith Arnopp: It doesn’t make much difference to me as an author, I would still write historicals. I think, like everything, popularity fluctuates and if it declines for a while it will soon perk up again. TV series like The Tudors and The Borgias seem to affect popularity of historical fiction so with the BBC running The Hollow Crown, who knows we might see a flood of Plantagenet interest. That should keep us busy.

Who are your readers? What do you know about them? Do you collect specific data about them?

Debra Brown: On our blog we do not keep track of much other than the locations that Blogger provides. We get most of our visits from Commonwealth and English-speaking countries, and interestingly, Russia. We also have a Facebook group by the same name as the blog, and many of our readers are members there, so we get to know them in person.

Nancy Bilyeau: I’m not aware of any method to collect data about my readers. On my own website blog I have a “contact” feature and I do get emails from readers. I reply to all of them, and I learn a lot from their comments.

Judith Arnopp: I only know the readers who contact me. I respond to them because they are the reason I write and I value their feedback. Each time someone bothers to contact me to say how much they’ve enjoyed one of my books it makes my day.

What features does your blog include? What features or topics are most popular? Do you plan to add other features in the future?

Debra Brown: Besides a daily post on a historical topic, we have a weekly book giveaway on a separate page. We have a page to introduce our authors and a page listing many of our books. We also have a Guestbook and enjoy comments that people leave there. We have a contact page and I reply to email or ask if others wish to at times if it is relevant to do so.

Sam Thomas: Based on what I’ve seen (which could be wrong), it’s violence, sex and death. If memory serves, our top post last year was about lingerie, and posts about murders also do well. It’s many of the same things that make books sell!

Do you think of the blog as having a brand? If so, how would you describe it?

Debra Brown: I understand the importance of branding, and we have a picture that perhaps people recognize and think of us, but to be perfectly honest, I am so busy with keeping things going and doing some writing that I have not put much time into worrying about branding for the blog. It does not seem to have hurt us as we have had to date nearly 56,000 unique visitors and we have about 1000 page views per day.  We do have our Twitter hashtag #EHFA!

What are your marketing strategies for the blog?

Debra Brown: Authors that join the blog agree to share the daily post and the weekly giveaway via Twitter, Facebook and/or whatever means they prefer to use for marketing. They have been very cooperative and successful at that. For quite some time, now, we are usually found on page one of Google for most relevant search terms, so it seems to have taken on a much-appreciated life of its own.

Nancy Bilyeau: Whenever I write a new blog post, I link it to my facebook, twitter and linked-in feeds with a little topic phrase or some way to entice people to read. Then I just hope it gets picked up! I am not good at marketing, it is a totally different skill so I just try to engage my readers in something interesting and hope it prompts them to look at my books.

Why do you think so many people blog about historical fiction or participate in blogs about historical fiction? What are the implications for writers, agents and publishers?

Sherry Jones: Historical fiction readers tend to be history buffs. They read for pleasure but also for education. And, recognizing the “fiction” in historical fiction, they want to know the history behind that. A lot of historical fiction bloggers are discussing their research in their blog posts, giving readers the history in their books in a form that is not only informational, but also well written — something a lot of academic history is not.

Judith Arnopp: It is such a vast subject that most people will have some sort of interest in the past even if it is as recent as the 1970′s. There are also many different types of historical reader; there are those who require deadly serious, very accurate books and those who like to read about a more colourful past, see the blood and taste the tainted meat, if you like. Personally, I like them all, so long as they are well written. The ‘past’ is expanding all the time so this guaranteed continued areas of interest can only be a good thing. Of course, everyone has a pet theory and this can make for some pretty heated exchanges on the blogs. I’m not sure if this draws people in or drives them away but with so much past to write about, so many different styles of historical writing and such a variety of reader, the long term future of historical fiction can only be a good one.

What do you see writers doing differently to market their books and build their platforms? What about publishers?

Sherry Jones: One new trend is the release of a short story or novella in e-book form before the release of a long novel, as a prequel. I did this, releasing WHITE HEART, telling the story of the early life of Blanche de Castille, the White Queen of France in the 13th century, before the debut of FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS, in which Blanche is a mother-in-law and antagonist to the eldest sister, Marguerite. Anne O’Brien has most recently released THE UNCROWNED QUEEN, a short story prequel to her THE KING’s CONCUBINE, and I expect others will follow.

Sam Thomas: It’s become cliche that more and more responsibility for marketing is laid at the author’s doorstep and in the author’s wallet. We have to put up our own websites, arrange our own signings, etc.

Judith Arnopp: Some authors are doing lovely book trailers and things on youtube etc. but personally I stick to blogging and discussing my work on social networking sites. I don’t enjoy marketing but we have to do it. It wastes an awful lot of writing time.

What advice do you have for writers?

Sherry Jones: Historical accuracy is a must for readers, but historical detail should add to the story. It is not the story. The emotional lives of the characters is paramount; all else is subservient.

Judith Arnopp: Stick to your guns, write for yourself, don’t try to follow trends or be something you aren’t. Also never believe you are good enough, never stop striving for improvement.

I love Sam Thomas’ comment on “violence, sex and death” being popular with readers just as it is in any genre. Another aspect that strikes a chord for me is the group’s desire to appeal to readers. I am very impressed that a site launched only eleven months ago already has so many followers! Many thanks for doing the interview. Best wishes as you continue to flourish.

Transfer Day – by Sophie Schiller

03 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Researching historical fiction, Writing about WWI

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

I am pleased to include a guest post by Sophie Schiller, author of Transfer Day, a story full of action, adventure and romance set in the Danish West Indies during World War I. Sophie’s post describes how the novel took shape over five years of researching the island of St. Thomas and events leading up to its transfer to the US.

Sometimes the best reason for accomplishing a goal in life is for the simple reason that no one else has ever done it before. That’s how I got involved in a writing project that turned into a full-fledged obsession for five long years.

While growing up in St. Thomas, a single, nagging question returned time and again: Why aren’t there more books illustrating the rich, vibrant history of the Danish West Indies? After all, the islands have been praised for their beauty for centuries. The capital, Charlotte Amalie, possesses one of the most wonderful natural harbors in the world. For inspiration, all a writer has to do is gaze at her rolling green hills dotted with colorful flowers, turquoise blue water, and ubiquitous red-roofed houses. And since no novel yet existed that could satisfy my desire to read about this remarkable, fascinating place, I decided to write my own.

The most momentous event to occur in this former Danish colony was its sale and transfer to the United States in 1917, an episode never tackled by any writer. In my mind, this incident presented a fertile field for suspense, conflict, and drama. After all, it wasn’t every day that a territory was transferred from one hand to another. It seemed only natural that the very act of being bought and sold would introduce significant, uncomfortable changes for the islands’ inhabitants.

I decided to tell the story of the transfer through the eyes of a blossoming young woman. For purposes of cultural exoticism, I made her a member of St. Thomas’ now-extinct Sephardic Jewish community. Located high on a steep hill behind the town is one of the oldest Sephardic synagogues in the Western Hemisphere, a cultural relic of a bygone era when tall-masted sailing ships ruled the seas, when the world hungered for sugar and spices. But who built this synagogue? Why did they disappear? What was the origin of the ubiquitous island surname, Maduro.

Lots of Virgin Islanders are named Maduro but the name always struck me as unusual. Island names such as Maduro, Robles and De Castro had an unmistakable Spanish-sounding ring. How did inhabitants of a former Danish colony wind up with Spanish-sounding names?  To my surprise, I learned that the name Maduro was actually a Sephardic Jewish name, brought to the island by 18th and 19th century immigrants with roots in Holland, Portugal and Spain.

The name Maduro was adopted by 16th century Conversos from the Hebrew tribe of Levi who fled the Iberian peninsula for Holland in order keep their Jewish identity intact. Later, these Spanish-Portuguese Jews crossed the Atlantic, settling in tolerant Dutch colonies like Suriname and in Dutch islands like Curaçao, Saba and St. Eustatius.  Later, on invitation of a Danish King, the Sephardim established an important trading colony in St. Thomas. Denmark is the only Nordic country to aspire to great maritime power and colonial expansion. In the 17th and 18th centuries, they acquired the three main islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix to obtain precious metals, spices, sugar, tobacco, rum, cotton, indigo, ginger, cacao and coffee, and those Sephardic Jews played an important role in expanding Denmark’s trading ambitions. However, due to natural disasters and the introduction of steamships at the end of the 19th century, the economy of the islands dwindled and those Sephardic Jews emigrated to other, more prosperous shores, such as Panama. I decided to focus on a young girl facing a life of spinsterhood as a result of this out-migration of available men, and the turmoil of the islands’ transfer and the First World War.

Now that I had a main character, I needed an element of danger. From scouring old New York Times articles, I knew that an important office of the Hamburg-America Steamship Line was located on the island of St. Thomas. In fact, German holdings in the Danish West Indies were extensive, consisting of buildings, docks, villas, warehouses and coaling facilities. Thoughts began swirling in my mind over what went on in this operation. Who was behind it all? What was its true purpose? Were the Germans actively engaged in helping the war effort? And if so, how?  I was also curious about German contingency plans in case Americans took over and then entered the war. I decided to focus on a character from the Hamburg-America Lines as my antagonist.

To find out more about this Hamburg operation, I turned to a Danish contact with a personal interest in the Danish West Indies. To my good fortune, he put me in touch with a gentleman in Germany, which proved to be a major breakthrough because this man’s grandfather had been in charge of the entire Hamburg-America (HAPAG) operation on St. Thomas since 1913. Not only had he been the Director of the steamship office, but he had also served as the island’s German Consul. Several days after the islands were transferred, and shortly after the U.S. declared war on Germany, he was rounded up as an enemy alien, put on a cruiser and taken to the U.S. for military detention.

I turned to the National Archives in Washington to fill in the holes. The name of this gentleman’s grandfather did indeed come up in their records; according to State Dept. records, he had been a WWI German POW. At the soonest possible opportunity, I flew to Washington, D.C. and came home loaded with copies of precious documents about his grandfather’s dramatic last days on the island.

There were hand-written letters, formal memos regarding his dealings with Swiss diplomats and State Department officials, emotional telegrams and missives to his wife and colleagues, documents concerning his internment in Fort Oglethorpe, his protestations of innocence, his hearing, and his inevitable deportation to Europe. The picture that emerged was a dramatic one. After all, war-time espionage is not a risk-free endeavor. Even in this quiet, neutral little Danish enclave, human lives were not exempt from the vagaries of war.

St. Thomas society in the years leading up to and during the Great War contained a well-entrenched, affluent, influential German colony that invested huge sums of money in real estate, docks, warehouses, and a coaling depot. The German captains, officers and engineers who operated the steamships were all reserves in the Kaiserliche Marine. Upper management in the steamship office were German nationals who maintained close contact with Berlin via coded radio transmissions over a Telefunken wireless radio station hidden in at least one of their steamships. Other documents I uncovered showed heated confrontations between HAPAG steamers presumed to be carrying war contraband and American Customs officials on the island of Puerto Rico, confrontations that resulted in cannon fire and seizures that had been ordered from the highest levels of the State Department. This was fascinating stuff! But how do I turn it into a novel?

Slowly, I devised a plot in which an officer from a German U-boat, Leutnant zur See Erich Seibold, deserts his ship in the Azores because he refuses to sink any more passenger ships then talks his way aboard a tramp steamer headed to the Caribbean, and jumps off as soon as he reaches this safe, neutral Danish island. Once there, the deserter enlists the aid of a local girl, Abigail Maduro, who hides him in the basement of her spinster aunt’s house. Things go well for the unlikely pair until the Black Tom incident in July of 1916 (when German saboteurs exploded an ammunition depot in New York harbor) when Abigail is forced to confront Erich about his true mission on the island, if he indeed is a German saboteur sent to wreak havoc on the formerly peaceful Danish islands. Ultimately, Erich reveals that he is a deserter from a German U-boat who left the war of his own accord. However, unbeknownst to them, a twist of fate brings Erich’s true identity to the attention of the Director of the Hamburg-America Steamship Line, Lothar Langsdorff, who uses the information to blackmail Erich into committing sabotage and murder. In my story, Langsdorff has personal ambitions to become the first German governor of the islands, orchestrating a German takeover by first assassinating the Danish governor to scare away the Americans and pave the way for a German invasion.

Once I had my three main characters set, the story flowed naturally. I took my German U-boat character (Erich Seibold), brought him to the Danish West Indies, introduced him to the island girl (Abby Maduro), then added the element of danger when the German spy character (Lothar Langsdorff) discovers Erich’s presence and blackmails him into assassinating the Danish Governor, to cause a riot and scare away the Americans.

To heighten the drama, I introduce some real-life characters such as Governor Helweg-Larsen, Queen Coziah (the legendary leader of the coal carriers), David Hamilton Jackson (a newspaper editor who challenged King Christian X for freedom of the press in the colonies), and Dr. Viggo Christensen, a physician who worked feverishly in the interest of public health.

Above all, authenticity was key. I was determined to portray life in the Danish West Indies during World War I as accurately as possible and spent many hours in exhausting, thorough research. Once I connected with my characters, I let them tell their story in their own words. In the end, a certain magic was created. The magic of bringing the past to life.

If the reader walks away knowing a little more about this forgotten historical event, I will feel that I accomplished more than what I set out to do. When I look back on five years or work, I feel that the characters guided me along this path. I just had to find their stories and write them down.

Thanks for the interesting post, Sophie.  The storyline and characters you’ve created sound wonderful. I wish you all sorts of success with Transfer Day.