Love is worth the risk
I know, I know. That’s an odd one for a motivator. A friend just said temps below freezing and snow make for a good day to finish her edits. I say grey skies, threatening snow, and sub zero wind chills make the world an unpleasant place. I can a)get depressed or b) slip into my […]
Regular readers will note that I try to highlight a different writer of historical fiction every Thursday. Yes, I know, I’m late this week. I have no excuse, tender readers except, well February. I’m having a hard time remembering what day of the week it is! Today Maggy Mundy brings some interesting thoughts on grim […]
Turning on music is one of the triggers I use to say, “time to write, Caroline!” A friend of mine once told me she uses movie scores for inspiration. Those work sometimes. It depends on the book. For Dangerous Secrets I used a lot of traditional Italian music and a bit of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. […]
It is easy for an author to collapse under the weight of it when a secondary character highjacks the plot, gives her three scenes too wonderful to delete, and then leaves her with no idea how to get the hero from there to the end of the story. Its time to take a step back […]
In my stories, I always strive for historical accuracy. I have three great critique partners who are quick to point out anachronisms—“Are you sure they drank whisky from a glass in 1370? Perhaps a mug or goblet?” and “That word wasn’t in use in 1370. Find another.”—and keep me from blundering too badly. But the […]
Ok, I admit it. I’m a sucker for kind words. The authors I know do what they do for a wide variety of reasons. I realized long ago that I tell stories so people will read them. Nothing keeps me going like finding out someone has read one of my books and liked it. I […]
I’m not a historian, nor am I am one of those authors who gets caught up in research. I’m more of a flutterer – I learn a bit about this, a bit about that, flit from place to place, get hit by an idea, and work from there. I delve a little deeper into research […]
Monday morning dawns cold and clear and the author stares at a blank screen firmly forbidding self to wallow on Facebook or find a good card game. What to do? There are a number of old fashioned motivators of a disciplinary nature: Deadlines. Nothing stiffens the spine like responsibility for a deadline that impacts others. […]
When I saw Caroline’s suggestions about interesting research for BY CLEAR WATER a chuckle bubbled up inside me, because the research for this book got totally out of hand. I lost myself on the southern route the Texas Argonauts took from Texas to California during the gold rush (the trail Leslyn and Matt traveled in […]
I outlined my passion for women’s education in my last post. Why did society not only overlook but actively oppose women’s education? For one thing, it was not uncommon for parents to fear that an excess of education ruined a girl’s chances of a good marriage. The church fretted about the decline of the family […]