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2007-07-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

We're Going Home!

2007-02-19T17:51:00.000-05:00

*I apologize! I just realized that this post got buried because I didn't change the date. I hope you all can find us now at the address below!

Our old site is finally available to us again. We'll be going back there now where most of our archives are and where Tiff/Amber Miller designed a great look for us. So if you came here looking for us, please go here instead: http://favoritepastimes.blogspot.com

Feel free to come back here to visit the archives posted from Jan. 01, 2007 to Feb. 15, 2007.

And the winners are...

2007-02-17T17:50:00.000-05:00

We have two winners for Cindy Vallar's book The Scottish Thistle - one print copy and one e-book copy. I'll let Cindy decide who gets which one.

And the winners are...

Donald Cameron and Shauna

Would both winners please contact me at jill at jilleileensmith.com with your address and email address. I'll pass them on to Cindy.

Thanks so much - and Congratulations to both of you!

~Jill

Review: The Longing Season

2007-02-16T08:40:00.000-05:00

Today my buddy Michelle Sutton is reviewing The Longing Season by Christine Schaub, a member of my local writers’ group, Middle Tennessee Christian Writers.

The Longing Season

From the Publisher

In the 1740s, British culture allows few options for the son of a merchant ship captain. And in a time of war, a man with John Newton’s experience must serve the king. But Newton, a man who quotes Virgil and curses God with equal fervor, is interested in serving only himself.

Mary Catlett simply cannot believe her childhood friend sailed away on a British warship and vanished in Africa. In desperation, she takes a step that will change her life and call her lost love home. But will he arrive in time?

Newton’s odyssey takes him from the West Africa gold coast to the banks of Newfoundland to the heart of the Atlantic before he finds what he’s spent his entire life longing for: deliverance. In an account that challenges popular myth, Schaub continues the Music of the Heart series with one of the greatest redemption stories of all time...the story of "Amazing Grace."

My review

Bottom line ... I enjoyed this book. However, after getting to know Mary Catlett so well and then not seeing their relationship develop (because the book was essentially over by then) was a bit of a bummer. I understand the focus of the book was on "longing," but come on, us romance lovers want to see what happens when they finally get the person they've been longing for!

On the other hand, I was impressed with how well the author showed John Newton's life while he was still living as an infidel. Sometimes the content was PG rated (but I liked that point because it gave me—the reader—a better sense of the character's view of the world) so I wouldn't want a bit of that content changed. John Newton was truly wretched, and I think the author was very effective in communicating that point. The scene where he was in the midst of that horrible storm and he started to remember what people told him about God ... and how he thought he was going to die, was very effective.

But then he FINALLY sees Mary after all that time, and that's it! I wanted to scream "wahhhh" over that point. I really liked Mary and actually hoped she'd end up with the Viscount Alexander Todd because he was such a fabulous man who loved the Lord. It made me sad when the Viscount finally realized she would never love him until her affections toward the missing sailor John Newton were resolved. I wonder if Mary would've married the Viscount if she'd known what John had been doing in the Ivory Coast prior to returning to England. I wish the story would have either left out Mary altogether, or showed at least one chapter of their reunion after he returned to England. That would've made it a five star story, but since that didn't happen, I'm ranking it lower. It was an excellent read otherwise.

The Longing Season was published by Bethany House and released in July 2006.

Michelle Sutton (pen name)
"writing truth into fiction"
ACFW Volunteer Officer
writer/book reviewer - check out my latest reviews!
http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com
http://www.michellesutton.net

Ask HF Blog

2007-02-15T07:49:00.000-05:00

What an exciting week to debut this new "column" here at the HF (historical fiction) Blog. At least here in the Mid-Atlantic region. :) Ice storms, snow, sleet, freezing rain, power outages, 40 mph winds. You name it, we've had it the past couple of days.

However, something to warm your thoughts is this new feature. Every Thursday, we'll be answering questions that YOU have submitted regarding historical fiction. Anything and everything that has to do with the topic, we'll consider. For now, we'll limit to 3-5 questions, but we'll see how things go as we get further into the schedule.

So, be sure and tell your friends (authors, writers and readers) to come here for all their HF questions. Encourage them to submit a question of their own, or you can ask for them. Only your first name and state/country of residence will be featured to help maintain your anonymity. You can submit your question by sending an email here.

Now, on with today's questions:

1. What is historical fiction?

HF Blog: There are several answers to this, and only a few will be used here, as there are several interpretations of the genre.

* Fiction that attempts to present an accurate, often critical, portrayal or imitation of a historical event.
* A long narrative of past events and characters, partly historical but largely imaginative. Stories set in the past and try to recreate the auro of a time past, reconstruct characters, events, movements, ways of life and spirit of days gone by.
* Works in which the characters are fictional, but the setting and other details are rooted in actual history.
* A novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author. As such, the historical novel is distinguished from the alternate-history genre. The historical novel was popularized in the 19th century by artists classified as Romantics. Many regard Sir Walter Scott as the first to have used this technique, in his novels of Scottish history, but it has grown and expanded from its original form since then.

2. What is the best way to conduct historical research? Do you use the internet or libraries or books?

HFBlog: All of the above. It's best to use whatever resources you have available. The Internet can be a fantastic research tool, but depending upon what information you need, it might be better to rely on periodicals, diaries, journals and personal accountings from a specific time period. Older or out of print books can be located at a library or used bookshop, and they provide documented details that can be quite difficult to find online. Even community newsletters or letters to the editor can be extremely helpful with grasping the "mood" of a certain time or place or event. The biggest problem with Internet research is determining the veracity of the information you find.

3. What responsibility do historical fiction writers have with maintaining the accuracy of the period, the people, and the events?

HFBlog: The fiction writer has a great responsibility to represent the truth. Because these works are clearly labeled "fiction," one can alter the chronology of events here and there, invent characters and dialogue, speculate on motives, and dramatize important points. But the fiction label doesn't give one the right to seriously distort historical characters or events. As it's been proven, readers of fiction still can be influenced by what they read, and if the truth is distorted, it can negatively affect their perception of reality of that time. You owe it to your readers to be as accurate as possible. If you don't feel that responsibility then you're not a historical novelist --- you're a fantasy writer. The story, of course, is paramount because a writer is a novelist before a historian, but also a historical novelist which suggests a certain love and respect for what actually happened. Sometimes, because the story demands it, a piece of history can be changed, but that is usually denoted by an author's note for clarification.

That's it for today. If you have burning questions you'd like to ask, don't forget email us. And don't forget to let your reader/writer friends who love historical fiction know about Ask HFBlog Thursdays.

See you next week!

Interview with Author Cindy Vallar - Part Two!

2007-02-14T09:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! And now...
CONTINUING THE INTERVIEW WITH NOVELIST CINDY VALLAR…(and don't forget to post a comment for either a print or e-book copy of Cindy's book - there will be two winners!)

You also have an interest in pirates. How did that come about?

While in college, I saw an episode of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. Disney always introduced the show and gave background, and this particular episode involved a gentleman pirate named Jean Laffite. Little was known about this man who played an instrumental role in helping the Americans win the Battle of New Orleans, and I’d never heard of him in any of my history classes. The unknown or mysterious always fascinated me, so I started researching Laffite and pirates. I had an idea for a novel, but needed more information. Many years later, I’m working to finish that story.

When I decided to pursue writing full time, I knew I needed some publishing credits. An online database was looking for people to write for them. I wanted to do a column on Scotland, but several other people were already doing that. The only other subject I knew about that allowed me to write for a long period of time was maritime piracy, so I became the editor of Pirates and Privateers. At the time I had no idea how popular a topic pirates were or that there was little reputable material available online about them. Six years ago, I moved Pirates and Privateers to my website for greater creative control without a lot of advertising. Since then, Pirates and Privateers has blossomed. I publish a monthly article on a piracy topic; I review the latest fiction and nonfiction books; I recommend the best pirate sites on the web; and I inform readers about places to visit that are tied to pirates. My readership is worldwide, and I’m asked to speak and teach about pirates to writers and readers throughout the U.S.

You also run an editing service. What advice do you have for writers?

I edit manuscripts for aspiring authors and authors already published. No matter how polished an author believes his/her work is, it usually needs an editor’s touch to make it the best it can be. When I look at a client’s manuscript, I do so through a variety of eyes – the editor’s, the writer’s, the reader’s, and the reviewer’s.

Active voice is essential in a story, but oftentimes authors aren’t aware that they write in passive voice until I point it out. A strong action verb is always preferable to a passive verb: “The horse galloped across the field.” versus “The horse was galloping across the field.” Which would you prefer to read?

Try to avoid head-hopping. This occurs when the point of view in a scene constantly switches between one character’s and another’s. It’s kind of like watching a ping pong ball during a match. For a reader, it’s disconcerting and annoying. Your writing is always stronger if you maintain a single point of view in a scene. If you must change that point of view, do so only once.

Always let someone else read your manuscript before you submit it to an agent or publisher. As a writer, you’re too familiar with the story and characters and even though a word may be missing, you tend to read that word into the sentence because it’s supposed to be there. A fresh pair of eyes sees what has become invisible to the writer’s eyes because of the number of times the writer has read the manuscript. Someone unfamiliar with the story will see things you won’t and that person can also point out where he/she doesn’t follow the storyline.

Any advice for aspiring novelists?

Never give up. No matter how rocky the road gets, if this is what your dream is, pursue it. Sometimes dreams do come true.

Develop a tough skin. All authors need to do this because you can’t take reviews and criticism personally.

So true. Any last words?

While you wait for your dream to come true, keep writing and do some research into the business side of writing. I learned this aspect after I got the contract and I wasn’t prepared for how much time marketing and business side of writing can take. Oftentimes writing takes a back seat once a book is published. If you know what to expect before it happens, you’re ahead of the curve and can budget your time and money accordingly.

Thanks Cindy! We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us.

(And don't forget to leave a comment to win a copy of Cindy's book!)

Interview with Author Cindy Vallar!

2007-02-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

Born and raised in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Cindy Vallar spent her formative years reading books and writing poetry. While in college, she saw a movie based on the life of Jean Laffite, a gentleman pirate who helped Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Intrigued by the mysterious, Vallar researched then started to write a novel about Laffite. Graduation, career, and marriage put that manuscript on a shelf where it remained until she began working as a school librarian for seriously emotionally challenged teenagers. She returned to writing to relieve the stress inherent in working in special education facilities.

Cindy Vallar holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Towson University and a Master’s Degree in Library Science from the University of Maryland. She is a member of Clan Cameron, EPIC, The Historical Novel Society, The Laffite Society, Scottish Clans of North Texas, the Texas Coalition of Authors, Texas Author Speak, the Louisiana Historical Society, and the National Maritime Historical Society.

Welcome to PASTimes, Cindy Vallar. Let's start by hearing a little about you and your road to publication. Your experience may be a unique one for our readers. Can you tell us a little about your publisher? Are they royalty paying?

My mother instilled the love of books and reading in me as a young child. I also researched subjects, like the Holocaust, that interested me but were rarely covered in school. As a result, I chose to become a school librarian for twenty years. When my husband’s job took us to the Midwest, I became a full-time writer. This allowed me to finish polishing my manuscript, which I then submitted to a publisher and received a contract.

That sounds like getting published was easy, but it wasn’t. I submitted to an e-publisher that also published paperback books. In spite of all my research, that publisher broke my contract several times, so I pulled my book, The Scottish Thistle, from them. A friend suggested I submit to her publisher, which promised to be a reputable business with a lot of novel ideas. The acceptance call came while I was in Scotland attending the International Gathering of Clan Cameron. (The Camerons and MacGregors are the principal clans in The Scottish Thistle.) Circumstances beyond my control eventually resulted in the demise of that publisher. Rather than resubmit to another publisher, I set the manuscript aside to work on other projects.

Last year, I received a request from Amber Quill Press to submit a manuscript. Since The Scottish Thistle was the only one ready for publication, I sent them that novel and they sent me a contract. I knew the head editor there and a number of their authors, so I think this time around The Scottish Thistle has found a good home. They do pay royalties, but they do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. AQP publishes the best in fiction, so they only consider novels from authors they invite to submit.

Do ebooks sell well? What do you have to do to promote them?

It doesn’t matter whether the novel is an e-book or a paperback. How well it sells depends on how much marketing and promotion the author does. The Scottish Thistle hasn’t been out long enough for me to answer how well it sells as an e-book, but I have sold quite a few paperback editions.

I make personal appearances at book festivals and organizations that invite me to speak. I maintain a website, Thistles & Pirates. I also take out ads and participate on mail lists. I conduct online workshops for RWA’s Hearts through History and Celtic Hearts Chapters, and I speak at conferences.

Tell us a little about your book.

In August 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie came to Scotland to stage an uprising against the British Crown. The English had tossed out his grandfather, King James II of Britain, because they didn’t want another Catholic king to rule them. This is how the House of Hanover came to rule Britain. Prince Charles wanted to regain the throne, which he believed belonged to his father and him.

He sought the aid of the Highland clans, some of which felt that the House of Stuart was the rightful ruler of Scotland. Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel brought out his clan and the Rising of 1745 began. His influence was such that had he not done so, historians believe the rising would never have happened.

I took this history and crafted The Scottish Thistle, a tale about loyalty and honor. A Highland warrior prizes both more than life, and when he swears his oath on the dirk, he must obey or die. Duncan Cameron heeds his chief’s order without question, but discovers his wife-to-be is no fair maiden. Although women are no longer trained in the art of fighting, Rory MacGregor follows in the footsteps of her Celtic ancestors. Secrets from the past and superstitious folk endanger Rory and Duncan as much as Bonnie Prince Charlie and his uprising. Rory and Duncan must make difficult choices that pit honor and duty against trust and love.

What kind of research did you do?

I do a lot of research into all facets of the time and place where I set my story. In the case of The Scottish Thistle, which took twelve years to research, I studied Scottish history, the uprising, the clans, the Camerons and MacGregors, food, dress, superstitions and folklore, folk medicine, customs, daily life, animals, geography, and many other subjects, including a bit of Gaelic.

My husband took me to Scotland to see the places I wrote about. Doing so helped me set the time and place far better, and I learned that some of my assumptions weren’t correct. The mountains were different and insects didn’t make noise at night like they do in the States. I visited Achnacarry, the estate of the Cameron chief and saw the only part of the house that remains from the one that stood during the ’45. It was eerie to walk where my characters and the real people who populate my story walked, but it brought me closer to them and their way of life.

Twelve years! I admire your perseverance. How and why did you pick your setting, one of the most tumultuous times in Scottish history?

During one boring staff meeting, I wrote a scene about a stranger riding across a windswept moor in a thunderstorm. I started researching Scotland and its history because I knew little about either and didn’t know when in time to set my story. The more I learned about Scotland, the more I fell in love with the country. One day I borrowed Sir Iain Moncrieffe’s The Highland Clans. There I read about the tragic history of the MacGregors, a clan that was proscribed and forbidden to use their name, and Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel, who brought out his clan for the prince even though he didn’t think they could win.

You also have an interest in pirates. How did that come about?

Oh, I hate to leave you hanging, but...COME BACK TOMORROW FOR PART TWO OF THE INTERVIEW WITH CINDY VALLAR.

(And if you leave a comment, you'll be entered to win one of two copies of Cindy's book The Scottish Thistle - Cindy is giving away one print copy and one e-book copy.)

Trade Journals

2007-02-12T07:06:00.000-05:00

Welcome to market information Monday! Today's post is not specifically related to historical fiction, but contains information that anyone interested in books will be interested in.

One way to keep up with what's happening in publishing, is to read trade journals. Today I'm posting an article written by Terry Whalin. Terry is now a literary agent and has been an editor and freelance writer for many years. His Web site has lots of information for writers.

What is a trade journal?

by W. Terry Whalin Question:

Why should I read trade journals? Where does a writer find trade journals with publishing news?

Answer:

You may be wondering, "What in the world is a trade journal?" To newcomers, publishing is almost like a secret society where there are code words and unwritten expectations about what to submit to magazines and how to submit your material to publishers. First, it is not a secret society--but there are expectations and specialized language that every writer who wants to be consistently published needs to learn.

One aspect of this business which is also eye-opening to newcomers is the constant changes in the industry. Publishers come and publishers merge and sometimes completely close their doors. Magazines have an extremely high turnover of editorial personnel and new magazines have a high failure rate. How do you keep track of who is doing what and when? New books and new magazines are constantly appearing. A working writer needs to read trade journals to continually learn about this type of information.

A trade journal is a publication targeted to a specific segment of the population and some of the language in the publication is specialized. In the publishing arena, Publisher's Weekly is a magazine that every writer should know about--and try to read the magazine on a regular basis.

You can see the online version at: http://www.publishersweekly.com. This publication is about the size of a news magazine like Newsweek or Time and is a weekly magazine. The publication is specialized and has a limited circulation and a large subscription price tag (currently $225 a year for 51 issues).

Before you totally discount my advice to read it on a regular basis, here's how to see it from time to time. Almost every public library in the U.S. subscribes to Publisher's Weekly but it is not a publication that will normally appear in the magazine section of the library. The librarians use this publication to read reviews of bestselling books and other types of books before they appear in print--then they order them for the library customers. That means when the latest John Grisham book appears in your local bookstore, your public library has a copy or two available for check out.

OK, back to your library issue of Publisher's Weekly. Ask the reference librarian if they have a copy that you can read. Usually the librarian has to look around to find it and will often require you to read it nearby then watch to make sure you return it. These magazines are librarian tools as well as tools for the writer. I suggest you make friends with your local librarian and read Publisher's Weekly. It's how I read it for many years until I became a subscriber.

Beyond Publisher's Weekly there are other specialized publications for different segments of the marketplace. For example, if you write for Christian magazines, then you need to be reading CBA Marketplace and/or Christian Retailing. CBA Marketplace is the official publication of the Christian Booksellers Association and also has a limited circulation (something like 3 to 4,000 issues). Almost every Christian bookstore in the nation takes this publication. The retailer may be behind on reading it, but they have a stack of them. If you stop by the store and politely ask for it, they will often let you stand in the store for a few minutes and read through an issue. Anyone can subscribe to CBA Marketplace and the non-member price is currently $59.95 a year for 12 issues. http://www.cbaonline.org/Member_Services/resmpsub.jsp.

Another trade magazine which follows the Christian retail business is Christian Retailing which has a subscription price of $75 per year but does give away free issues if you qualify. See the qualifications at: https://secure.strang.com/strang.com/cgi-bin/subscribe.pl?offer=cr

CBA includes a free online newsletter at: http://www.cbaonline.org/

Christian Retailing includes a free online newsletter at: http://www.christianretailing.com/

One note of caution: these online newsletters may tell you the highlights or breaking news but the in-depth reporting is in the printed magazine--not online. Many writers wrongly assume they can get all of their information online. They can't and it's something you should keep in mind--no matter how much time you spend surfing the Internet.

Change is constantly happening within publishing. New editors come on the scene and others fade. Some companies are purchased by other companies and that purchase normally means a transition and change for the authors as well. I learned about this acquisitions change first hand last year when the publisher where I worked purchased two lines of books from another publisher. Instantly it added over 300 books to our backlist and authors began to phone me from out-of-the-blue to introduce themselves and ask questions about their books. As an editor, I had a huge learning curve and worked to find answers to their questions. My lesson as a writer was that I should have been aware of this change in the marketplace from several years earlier. The parent company, Eagle Communications sold off one of their lines of books to Bethany House Publishers . I had heard some horror stories from other writers about their books but I hadn't paid too much attention--until the publisher where I worked purchased two of the lines from Eagle Communications. I was suddenly involved handling many transition issues. Authors received their royalty statements and wondered why their book hadn't sold as much as previously. In the transition, book sales will often plummet because the sales team has left the company or they are a change mode.

From a learning standpoint, you can get a lot of insight and this type of information about the constantly shifting industry--from reading trade magazines. Admittedly it takes effort on your part as a writer--but it pays off in your understanding about a particular area of the marketplace and who is doing what. A key factor in getting your material published is often simply sending your submissions to the right editor at the right time and place. Writers need to keep learning about the marketplace and one of the ways to track this information is through consistently reading trade journals.

__________________________________________________

W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk--as an editor and a writer. He worked as an editor for Decision and In Other Words. His magazine articles have appeared in more than 50 publications including Writer's Digest and Christianity Today. Terry has written more than 55 nonfiction books and his latest is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Teaching the Bible (Alpha Books). See more about Terry at:www.right-writing.com/whalin.html. For more than 12 years Terry has been an ECPA Gold Medallion judge in the fiction category. He has written extensively about Christian fiction and reviewed numerous fiction books in publications such as CBA Marketplace and BookPage. Sign up for Terry's free newsletter, Right Writing News.

And the winner is...

2007-02-09T19:41:00.001-05:00

Erica Vetsch is the winner of Randy Ingermanson's book Premonition. Congratulations, Erica!

Please email me privately with your snail mail address at jill at jilleileensmith.com.

Thanks!

Review: Petticoat Ranch

2007-02-09T09:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, faithful readers! If you’ve checked out our new schedule, you know that Fridays are the day for reviews. And as usual, Michelle Sutton, our lovely reviewer extraordinaire, has a great one for us today. Sounds like another one I’m going to have to add to my TBR pile!

Petticoat Ranch
By Mary Connealy
Barbour Books, February 2007
ISBN 978-1597896474

Book Description

Sophie Edwards is doing just fine, until a strange—yet oddly familiar—man rides into her life, insisting on rescuing her and her four daughters. Can she find a way to love a headstrong mountain man?

When Clay McClellan discovers his brother has been murdered, he’s bent on finding the killers and seeing them properly hung. But first his Christian duty demands that he marry his sister-in-law. After all, Sophie needs someone to protect her—right?

Faith and love help unruly wed newlyweds find common ground and a chance at love on the Texas frontier.

My Review

This book was FABULOUS!!! The story starts out with a bang ... as in non-stop action. I had to laugh at the girls fighting all the time and poor Clay not knowing how to handle all the woman “stuff” because he’d never been around them much. Ironically that primitive mentality made him all that more attractive as a hero. He’s a real man’s man and as such, the very tomboyish girls and his new wife go out of their way to perpetuate that belief ... by acting incompetent when they are just as good with a gun and lasso as any man on the frontier. Many of the scenes made me smile. Connealy is very witty and her caveman humor is to-die-for funny! Plus, she has the dialogue down to a science...even had me thinking like a western yokel. Hilarious!

A lot of times romantic tension in novels feels contrived and the animosity forced. Not so in this one. Sophie had every reason to want to chokehold the man and kiss him senseless all in the same breath. Wow. I loved that. She’s feisty and lovable without feeling forced by the author. Did I mention that I love marriage-of-convenience stories? The only thing in this one that made me snicker is the hero kisses her breathless a few times and later on she’s feeling faint! I had no idea they’d consummated their relationship. Made me go back and search for what I was missing. Must’ve been that warm snuggling Clay referenced in his thoughts that got her “in the family way.” I know, you’re snickering, too. Maybe it was the publisher’s idea to skip that, but it made me smile regardless.

The most satisfying of all was the culmination at the end. Without giving away the details I’ll just say that it reminded me a lot of the Home Alone movies. One exciting event after another. Tough girls who know how to survive and a momma who taught them well. In the end I felt just as proud of them all as if I’d been there myself. I’d totally bought into the plot, and my heart was with the couple through to the last page. Tender and sweet, tough and calculating, adventurous and passionate ... this story has it all. It’s now at the top of my list of favorite historical westerns. It’s the best one I’ve ever read, bar none.

Michelle Sutton (pen name)
“writing truth into fiction”
ACFW Volunteer Officer - voloff@acfw.com
writer/book reviewer - check out my latest reviews! http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com
http://www.michellesutton.net

Interview with Author Randy Ingermanson Part Two

2007-02-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to our interview with author Randy Ingermanson!

Jill: In the general market there are a number of Biblical novels written from what I call a “revisionist” point of view. These writers use the Scriptures as a back bone for their story but have no problem revising the traditional Biblical view of the characters. As a Biblical novelist, what is your opinion of revisionist Biblical writing? From a critic’s point of view, isn’t one opinion as good as another in how these characters are seen?

Randy: I’m all for revisionism—as long as it’s good history. My problem is that a lot of revisionism I see is bad history now, and it was bad history fifty years ago. A lot of the revisionist novelists I see are simply way far out of date, and so they look silly. On the other hand, that’s the case with certain traditionalist novelists too. If you want to write fiction set in Bible times, do your homework!

The problem is that what you learned in Sunday School is all too often wrong. So revising that is a good thing. What you often see, though, is a revisionism intent on demolishing faith. That’s a fairly stupid thing to do, too. What I would like to see is a revisionism intent on figuring out what really happened and why and what it means for us. That’s a good kind of revisionism. If that messes up the head of your Sunday School teacher, well then tough.

Jill: On the other hand, Christian Biblical fiction most often portrays the Biblical story in what I consider an “apologist” fashion, staying true to the Scripture where the Scripture speaks and only offering what might have been where the Bible is silent. In your opinion, how hard is it to keep to the text, yet weave in enough conflict to keep the story interesting?

Randy: That depends on which story you choose to retell. If you don’t have enough information, then you either have to make stuff up, or you end up telling a pretty sparse tale. I believe in telling a story that fits in with all the data we have, whether it comes from the Bible or not. So in my New Testament-era books, I have no qualms about bringing in things I know from Josephus, the Mishnah, archaeology, Tacitus, Philo, or wherever I can get it. And I have no qualms at all about making up stuff—as long as it fits with what I believe is the true historical account. A story needs conflict, and if you have to make up conflict, then that’s fine. Just don’t go off on some weird tangent and violate everything we know about the actual time period.

Jill: Do you have any concerns or opinions about the direction and future of Biblical fiction in the CBA? And is there anything writers who want to write BF can or should do to help promote this genre?

Randy: My concern is still that writers aren’t doing their homework well enough. Maybe I’m just grouchy, but it irks me to see bad history turned into sloppy fiction. So if you want to promote the genre, go do your homework! Then go do some more. You can never do too much research.

Jill: I read a quote once that referred to Biblical fiction as the “ghetto” of writing—as though it was at the bottom rung of the Christian fiction ladder. How would you respond to that thought?

Randy: Too true, too true! There seems to be an implicit assumption that “I want people to love the Bible like I love the Bible, so I don’t have to work hard to get the details right.” Baloney! When novelists lose that notion, then we’ll see progress. I was thrilled to see the research notes in Anne Rice’s book on Jesus, where she talked about all the books she read. She was reading the right authors and drawing the right conclusions. If you don’t like her story, go read the same books she read and tell your own.

Jill: How has God used Biblical fiction in your own life, personally speaking?

Randy: Every book I write has a personal impact on me. I live the life right along with my characters, and when they have an epiphany, it’s generally because I had one too. An example from my novel, Premonition: One of my main characters is a time-traveling physicist, Ari Kazan. Ari does not believe in Jesus, and he’s married to a woman who does. So they have their stresses. Ari does, however, believe in God—sort of. He’s very much a cerebral sort of guy. At one point in the book, Ari has a near-death experience and meets God.

The easy thing to do here would have been to have him meet Jesus and then become a Christian. I thought that would be cheating. If Ari is ever going to become a Christian, he needs to do so because he wants to, not because God pulls some magic trick on him. So in Ari’s confrontation with God, God doesn’t pull a power play on Ari. Instead, he asks Ari if he has any questions. Ari asks God about the Problem of Evil, which has troubled Ari all his life. God doesn’t answer him. Instead, God asks Ari a question of his own. I won’t tell you the question (go read the book!) There are no answers given here—but some hard questions are asked.

Now here’s the thing that had an impact on me. I wrote that chapter in a rush. I jammed it out in an hour and a half. When I started that chapter, I had been struggling all my life with fear of death. When I finished that chapter, it was gone. (Not that I want to die. I have a healthy respect for death, but death is not something looming over me anymore like it used to.) I’m not quite sure why that happened, but it did. Things like that happen when you write.

Jill: What one thing have you learned that you would pass on to writers interested in writing in this genre?

Randy: I learned that I know nothing. Research, research, research! Then go research some more.

Jill: When I’m studying the life of a Biblical character, I often wish I could transport back in time and view the scenes in real time as on a movie screen. Which Bible character’s life would you like to view in that way if you could?

Randy: Jesus.

Thank you, Randy, for taking the time to answer my questions and for being with us here on PASTimes!

Don't forget - leave a comment, enter to win the book Premonition. And don't forget to check out Randy's websites. If you're new to fiction writing or even been around awhile, he's got a lot of good resources to offer.

(Winner will be posted on Saturday.)

Interview with Author Randy Ingermanson

2007-02-06T08:40:00.000-05:00

We're here today with author Randall Ingermanson, famous for the "Snowflake" method of plotting a novel. Also known for his "Mad Genius Marketing" E-zine and website and his "Advanced Fiction Writing" E-zine and website. Randy has six published novels and one non-fiction book Who Wrote the Bible Code?. Three of his novels, Transgression, Premonition, and Retribution are set in Biblical times, which is why I asked him to talk with us about Biblical fiction. (Be sure to check out all of his websites. Randy is very versatile and knows a lot of good stuff.) :)

Jill: Why did you choose to write Biblical fiction in addition to your other genres?

Randy: I write what I like to read. I’ve always liked historical fiction, and my special interest is Biblical history. I don’t particularly like the term “Biblical fiction” because it carries the connotation “badly researched and poorly written.” Of course, that’s not true of all Biblical fiction, but that’s the perception. So I avoid the term.

Jill: What Bible characters have you written about so far, and if you care to tell us, which ones do you hope/plan to write about in the future?

Randy: I’ve written three time-travel novels set in first-century Jerusalem. My main characters are modern folks who’ve found themselves unexpectedly stuck in the New Testament. They meet folks like the apostle Paul, and James, the brother of Jesus, but those are deliberately minor characters.

I’ve also recently written a novel about Jesus, and the main characters are the familiar characters from the Gospels—Jesus, Peter, John, Judas, Mary of Bethany, Mary of Magdala, Mary of Nazareth, and so on. I think this will someday be considered my best work, but I still need to sell this book. I’d like to continue this into a series and take it all the way through the New Testament.

Jill: What drew you to write about these characters?

Randy: Well, they’re darned interesting!

Jill: When you set out to write a Biblical novel, what steps do you take to research the story?

Randy: I don’t start researching when I start writing. I’ve been researching for 25 years. So when I sit down to write, I’ve already done massive amounts of research. I learned to read Hebrew years ago. I’ve read tons of books on archaeology and the New Testament world. I have a special interest in Jewish history, so many of the books I’ve read were written by Jewish authors. Some of my most valuable books are on cultural anthropology.

Jill: Some Biblical stories say very little about the characters and even the plot leaves many holes, giving the Biblical novelist much room to fill in the blanks. But others give us much detail, and we know how the story ends. How do you weave the tale so that it doesn’t come across predictable?

Randy: In my first three novels in the New Testament, that was easy because I had non-Biblical characters who had their own concerns (such as getting back to modern times!) and so they had their own story. Then the Biblical story interacted with the characters’ story (and generally screwed up their story badly). That way, even if you really know the Biblical story, you see it from an entirely different perspective and you are actually hoping the Biblical story will play out differently.

With my Jesus novel, I told the familiar Gospel stories, but always looked for what insights I could bring in from cultural anthropology, Jewish studies, and study of the secular history. For example, when I told the story of Mary and Martha (which nowadays gets a rather threadbare interpretation of “just relax and take time for your devotions”), I explained WHY it was so radical to allow Mary to sit there with the men while Martha was working. That violated a strong cultural taboo. It had nothing to do with taking time to smell the roses. It was about Jesus overturning cultural norms.

As another example, I took one of Jesus’ sayings about “going the second mile” and showed Jesus doing that—in a way that infuriated his disciples, and at the same time, saved their necks. As a final example, the familiar stories of Jesus arguing with the Pharisees has long ago gotten sidetracked into a set-piece starring freedom-loving Jesus smacking down the legalists. Yawn. The reality is far more complex, and I show the real story behind the story there.

Thanks Randy - those insights sound intriguing. I love understanding the cultural setting behind the scenes of Scripture!

Join us tomorrow for the second half or our interview with author Randy Ingermanson. And if you post one of those pesky comments, you'll enter a drawing to win a copy of Randy's book Premonition! (Which, by the way, gives a fascinating look at New Testament culture mixed in with the story.) :)

Market Monday with Cindy Thomson

2007-02-05T07:03:00.000-05:00

Good morning, everyone. Today launches a new schedule for Favorite PASTimes. If you missed last Saturday's announcement, please scroll down to read it. We think the new schedule will help you, our readers, to anticipate what you will find when you visit this blog.

Today is my day. On Mondays I'll be bringing you market news, publishing house news, new releases--whatever I can find. You can help me out by sending any news you come across to cindy @ cindyswriting .com (don't cut and paste; I put spaces in there. And put PASTime news in the subject line, please!)

Today the news will focus on the Christian market because I've just returned from CBA Advance in Indianapolis. For anyone who doesn't know, that's me with Liz Curtis Higgs (great picture of her, not so great of me! Oh, well. I was thrilled to have my picture taken with her.)

What's the state of historical fiction in the Christian market? Well, my knowledge is limited, but what I can tell you is no one told me to forget it. Several editors were interested in my projects. One said, "We haven't published a lot of historical fiction, but we have published some." So writers out there, don't be discouraged. And if you're writing about Ireland, know that EVERYONE seemed to think that's the coming wave. When I first started the editors were saying, "No Celtic themes!" The best advice is to write what's on your heart, but keep readers in mind.

The show was small, smaller than last year I'm told. The exhibitors seemed to have trouble giving books away (with the exception of books by Liz Curtis Higgs, Francine Rivers, and Gary Chapman.) There were two historical movies screened at the convention. I saw one, Amazing Grace. It was wonderful. If you're not familiar with it, check this out. I thought it was well done. There were bits of humor added that were very "British." Without that, however, the movie might have been a little depressing. The descriptions of the slave trade was heart wrenching, as was the performance of Albert Finney as John Newton, the man who wrote the words to Amazing Grace. Historically, I thought they did a great job with the costuming. Wilberforce's wife's lipstick was a bit unlikely, as was the perfectly round and white loaf of bread a cook pulled from a blazing fire. But those are minor things. I urge everyone to see it when it releases Feb. 23. Wilberforce's story is inspiring and motivates us all to never give up on what we know to be the right thing to do.

I missed the screening of The Last Sin Eater, but I did read the book by Francine Rivers. You can watch the trailer here.
It's set in 1850's Appalachia. I'm not sure about those Welsh accents I'm hearing in the trailer, but maybe one of you knows better than I do. I'm thinking Appalachia had by that time morphed the dialect into something more American. I do have Kentucky relatives and I guess I expected to hear more of that twang. But the book was terrific and I'm sure the movie, directed by Michael Landon, Jr., is too. I plan to go see it when it opens this Friday.

New releases:

Borrowed from Brandilynn Collins's Sneak Peak newsletter:

The Reliance by Marylu Tyndall (Barbour)
www.mltyndall.com

Legacy of the King's Pirates #2. Tormented by his wife's apparent demise, Edmund Merrick sails away to drown his sorrows-only to find himself trapped in the dark world of a demented Frenchman. When his mind clears from its rum-induced haze, will Edmund find the will to escape? Seemingly abandoned by her husband, Charlisse is thrown into the clutches of the vengeful pirate Kent. Will she be swept away by the undertow of treachery and despair? Can Edmund and Charlisse steer their way to the faith-filled haven they so desperately seek, or will they ultimately lose their love and lives to the sea?

From the Historical Novel Society:

THE GENTLE WIND'S CARESS by Anne Whitfield

Robert Hale Ltd
ISBN 0709082282
February 28th

1870s Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
Isabelle Gibson escapes a life of drudgery in a workhouse and marries a moorland farmer she has never met, but not all goes to plan.

One last thing I wanted to tell you is that I received an advance copy of Jane Kirkpatrick's A Clearing in the Wild. Here's a teaser from her Web site: Jane Kirkpatrick discovered the grain of the story when she read that in 1853 Emma Giesy was the only woman in a party of ten Missouri scouts sent to find an Oregon site for their communal society. That got Kirkpatrick considering why a woman had the courage to make such a journey 150 years ago.

There are readers for these historicals out there. So the genre is alive and well!

Remember, if you have news, please send it to me as described above. Until next week, happy reading!

Cindy
Author of Brigid of Ireland

Exciting Changes on the Blog!

2007-02-03T08:38:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

I want to notify everyone about some changes to Favorite PASTimes that will take effect next week. Here are the details:

Monday News with Cindy Thomson:
Every Monday I'll bring you news on the historical fiction market, author news, publishing house news, conference reports, new releases--whatever I can dig up! (You can send me news at: cindy @ cindyswriting . com (put "PASTimes News" in the subject line, please!)

Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Jill Eileen Smith and/or Kaye Dacus:
Every Tuesday and Wednesday these ladies will post interviews with authors, agents, and/or industry professionals. These will be either interviews they have conducted or interviews conducted by the other hosts of this blog. Once a month Kaye will host a critique session as well. (Details are upcoming.)

Thursdays: Ask Me Anything with Tiff/Amber Miller. Send Tiff your questions relating to historical fiction and she'll research the answers and discuss them every Thursday. askhfblog@ambermiller.com

Fridays: Book Reviews!
Joan Hochstetler will be organizing book reviews that will be written by various people.

Occasionally, like today, we'll have special announcements on Saturdays, so don't forget to check!

We hope this new schedule will benefit you, the readers of our blog. Now you'll know what to expect when you drop in. Let us know what you think!

Blessings,
Cindy
Author of Brigid of Ireland

Gaining and Leaving a Legacy

2007-02-03T00:48:00.000-05:00

I went to Celebrate Recovery at church tonight. A friend gave her testimony. As I listened, I couldn’t help but thank God for the legacy He’s helping her leave for her children. Especially when it could have been oh so different.

We’ve all received a legacy in one form or another—mannerisms, stories, traditions, faith, genetic make-up and tendencies—we’ve received a legacy and we’re building one as well.

You've probably gathered this week that I enjoy family history. I like to wonder if my finger shape came from my father’s side or my mother’s. I sigh with pleasure to hear my sister speak to her boys with words our grandmother said to us a millenium ago. And I still dream of my daddy telling stories of his childhood, picturing him getting into trouble almost as if I’m with him as he does.

History, His Story, isn’t just what happened way back when. We make history every day as we play our part in His Story. It’s all about Him and it all comes back to Him. Maybe someday I’ll have a great, great, great granddaughter who tries to imagine me. It could happen! Maybe. My prayer is that she never loses sight of the Creator of time and family and love—all those things God has blessed us with in His Story. That’s the legacy I want to leave--a mind filled with wonder and a heart flooded with gratefulness.

Thanks, Cindy, for letting me play. And thanks to all your readers. May you have a wonderful history-making day.

Abundant blessings,
Jenny

Not-So-Secret Love

2007-02-01T23:28:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make—I love trivia. I even tried out for Jeopardy once. Didn’t make it (and learned I’m far from the brightest crayon in the box) but I met Alex.

Over the years I’ve filled my brain with so many little known facts I’m surprised I don’t leave a trail of dropplets that won’t fit—actually a sort of a Hansel and Gretel kind of thing might be nice to help me remember what I was thinking when I veer off track.

I especially love learning about juicy tidbits of early American history. Things such as the fact that George Washington was not the first president of the United States. He was the first president under the Constitution but there was another man who had that title under the Articles of Confederation who even GW called “Mr. President.”

Okay, so I don’t know everything but that one stuck when I read it in a great book called One Night Stands With American History. I love that book and, if it weren’t for the candor in areas inappropriate for children, I’d make each of my fifth graders read it. Instead, I read selected passages to them and we discuss it.

A part of me is relieved to see people are people no matter the century. And a part of me is saddened that some things never change. But if you enjoy American history, and really who in their right mind doesn’t (I feel safe stating that opinion here), this might be a book worth your time. Authors working in that era of the historical genre would definitely find flavor jewels.

So, I pass on one of my secret trivia sources to you. Do you have any special places you enjoy for locating tidbits of history? Feel free so share. Oh, and by the way, anyone out there know the name of our first president (the one under the Articles of Confederation, not George)? I'll send chocolate to the first person to post a comment with the correct name.

Abundant blessings,
Jenny

It's All Genetic

2007-01-31T21:10:00.000-05:00

I come from a family of packrats. Can’t help it, it’s genetic.

Before you pooh-pooh my reasoning, let me just say I learned about these genetic quirks the hard way. My husband showed up for our first date fifteen minutes early (can I get a sympathetic murmur?). I wasn’t running late or anything though I was a bit worried. I had worked that day and came out to my car to find I’d left the lights on. I had a date to an Abba concert (stop working out the math) and needed to get ready. Thankfully I also had a manager with a romantic streak as well as jumper cables. I rushed home and was actually quite pleased with myself that I would be ready on time—on time being the operative words. Fifteen minutes before he was due to arrive, my tall handsome date rang the doorbell. I remember calling out to him while he waited in the living room. “God will get you for this.” After twenty-six years, I’m not really sure who God got.

Fast forward a couple years. Phil took me back to New York for the first time. His dad’s side of the family was coming over for a BBQ that was to start at noon. So there we were—my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law and me—feeding little ones and having a bite of breakfast for ourselves when we heard a car pull in. It was nine o’clock in the morning and the guests were starting to arrive. That’s when I realized it was genetic. I also thanked God that Phil only had a mild case—I could live with an obsession to always be fifteen minutes early. Three hours would have caused either divorce or homicide.

That’s also when I started looking at habits I’d picked up. I still have my grandfather’s journals, my great-aunt’s greeting cards and newspapers of major events that my mother collected. And that doesn’t even begin to count all the pictures and notes and cards I’ve collected on my own. It drives my husband a wee bit batty but then I figure turn-about is fair play.

Do you have any genetic quirks (and I say that with the nicest of definitions) that you can blame on family? Or, better yet, does a loved one have a genetic quirk you blame on someone other than you? Please share—don’t leave me to think it’s only my family. You’ll feel better if you tell.

Abundant blessings!
Jenny

2007-01-31T00:41:00.000-05:00

Jenny Cary here again for Cindy.

I teach gifted classes at my school. The fifth graders are really getting into colonial/revolutionary American history which I am so excited to teach. I’ve collected books and artifacts for years with the hope of finally sharing this love of history with students who might just get excited with me. It’s finally happening.

Last fall we talked about the Mayflower. I was able to share that I had an ancestor come over on it and so did my husband. They thought that was funny but the truth is, we are so inter-related, it’s like a six degrees to Kevin Bacon kind of thing.

And that isn’t all. A cousin wanted to do some family history a few years ago. She sent me what she had and asked if I knew any more—I didn’t. But what I did notice was that a certain name showed up in both my family and my husband’s family. A little more digging and I learned my side had migrated to Indiana from NY where his side, with that name, still lives. We haven’t located a center point—a single person where the two lines come together—but think about this: I grew up in Indiana and moved to Arizona as a teen. My husband was raised in upstate New York and moved to Arizona as an adult and we both ended up working at the same retail store where we met and began to date. We both had family on the Mayflower and we have a common family name from the same geographical area. Is there something in family that just calls out to each member?

I received an e-mail from my friend Belinda today—which is what really brought all this to mind. She told me that another Crockett descendant had been in contact with her and a Robert Crockett of Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Belinda had introduced me to Robert—a lovely man, retired farmer who writes and recites poetry. Well, it seems that the Crockett descendant here in the states had a DNA test done and sent a kit over to Robert to see if the Crocketts from Ireland and the Crocketts of Davy’s line here are kin. Belinda said the verdict is in and yes, we are all related.

I could have told them that without the DNA test. Though it might go back ten generations, there’s something about family that comes through. I could see a familiar something in Robert’s face when I first met him. The tug of kinship was real.

So I ask you, have you ever stumbled onto family? Do you know what I mean by a tug of kinship? On a family tree, Robert and I would be on distance branches. My husband I and on even more distance ones (the kids are really happy about that!). So I’d love know what you all think.

Until tomorrow,
Abundant blessings!

2007-01-30T07:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever stood in the middle of a moment of history and known that God had His hand on you even before your parents took their first breaths?

When Cindy asked me if I’d like to play substitute for her this week, I didn’t have to wrack my brain long before I knew what to share. I’ll tell you about my experience with that surreal moment in time.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve known how to verbally trace my ancestors back several generations. It was something my father drilled into my sister and me as we grew, mainly because he was teased as a child and called a liar. However it wasn’t until I was in high school that I learned about my great, great, great grandfather’s great, great, great grandfather—Antoine Deseaure Permonette de Crocketagné, the first Crockett in the linage of Davy Crockett. My mother wanted to find college scholarships for us and went on an in depth search for documented proof—Davy’s father fought in the American Revolution so we would qualify for entry into the DRA if we could come up with the evidence, another possible source of college money. Mom located the documentation she needed in a long out-of-print series of books called Notable Southern Families housed in the research library at the Alamo. The book on the Crockett family listed the generations from Antoine through my grandfather—she already had birth certificates for the rest so this was an amazing find.

It also set my brain to whirling about all those people mentioned who made at least a physical contribution to me.

Fast forward a few decades and I finally stopped just mulling over the names and started looking for more. My plan had been to write their stories so I began sending out e-mail queries and reading through tons of research on the eras and locales. I learned that Antoine’s third son, the one in my lineage, is the one who brought the family to what was then the American Colonies. His name was Joseph. A few discrepancies with dates gave me a story idea that wouldn’t let go. I learned Joseph had married Sarah Stuart and they had lived in County Donegal, Ireland before moving to Bantry Bay and then across the Atlantic to New Rochelle. So I took a chance. I found a small newspaper in Donegal with an e-mail connection and wrote the editor to see if he might know of someone to be my eyes and ears there. He printed my letter in the paper and I received numerous replies, among them a note from a librarian who was highly interested in what I knew—enter Belinda.

Then my daughter, Alyssa, got a job at the airlines.

Alyssa and I flew over and spent the week of Saint Patrick’s Day 2005 in one of the most amazing places on earth. Belinda picked us up bright and early our first morning and played tour guide non-stop for two days. She took us to Edenmore, the Crockett ancestral home, and we visited with people who now call it home, people knowledgeable about the area.

I saw buildings that had been built about the time Joseph and Sarah left Donegal and a two hundred year old map of what Edenmore looked like at the height of its prosperity. It was more than I had dreamed.

Then Belinda asked if I’d like to see where Sarah grew up.

I think I must have nodded because I’m sure no words could escape my mouth. I had no idea I would get to see anything so concrete. Sarah had lived and bloomed in my brain for years but this was different. I was about to touch what she had touched, walk where she had walked.

I don’t remember much about the drive, just arriving and getting permission from the owners to walk about the ruins of the tower house Sarah had called home on the banks of Lough Swilly. Though there wasn’t much left and trees grew up in places that had once been rooms, there was enough to see what it had been. Then Belinda shared the traditional story of how Sarah had walked to the landing and taken a boat across the lake to the abbey at Rath Mullin where she married Joseph Crockett.

Belinda knew where they had married?

After a walk toward the banks of the lake where Belinda pointed out Rath Mullin, we climbed back in her car and took the less romantic trip around to the abbey. Again there was little left but enough to see and touch and experience the room where Joseph and Sarah pledged their love, a love I hoped I could honor well in my writing. Just for a moment, I think the DNA of those ancestors that still races through my veins recognized where I stood.

My own blog is called Abundant Blessings. I call it that because God has proved over and over that He loves us and blesses us even when we don’t see. But at that moment, I could see. He's had His hand on me and my father and my children even as Sarah and Joseph knelt at that alter.

I love that Ireland will always feel a bit like the home I never knew. But most of all, I’m blessed, now and always.

Thanks, Cindy for letting me share. I'll be back tomorrow with another thought about our yesterday.

Abundant blessings, all!

We have a winner!

2007-01-27T14:41:00.000-05:00

Becky is our winner for a copy of Lynn Austin's book Gods and Kings. Congratulations Becky! And thanks for posting!

Please contact with your email address at jill at jilleileensmith.com. Thanks!

Review of Brigid of Ireland from Sharon Hinck

2007-01-26T23:07:00.000-05:00

Greetings, historical fiction lovers!

Cindy is a gifted writer and also a dear friend and encourager on this rocky road of writing, so I’m happy to pop by today to comment on her novel.

I constantly have a stack of new novels waiting to be read, but when Cindy’s book, Brigid of Ireland, released, it disappeared shortly after arriving. My daughter, Jenni had nabbed it. Although the book is intended for the adult reader, I found it interesting how strongly Jenni related to the story, so I asked her to write a review from her perspective as a fourteen-year-old.

Jenni’s Review

My name is Jenni and I’m a freshman at Concordia-Academy Bloomington (a Lutheran high school). I love to read and am currently working on writing a novel of my own. I like fencing and archery, playing flute, piano and guitar, and I hate geometry (but like algebra).

I took Brigid of Ireland from the stack of my mom’s books because the description on the back cover sounded interesting, and the cover was pretty. I liked the chapter openings with quotes – some Bible verses and some Celtic blessings or sayings.

But most of all, I absolutely loved the STORY of Brigid of Ireland. It has such a gripping plot, and is a great inspiration to my faith.

I've recommended it to all of my friends, knowing that they would love the suspense and heartbreak in it, as well as the spirituality. I admire Brigid's strong faith throughout all her troubles. It gives me strength to go through tough things.

In addition to sharing this terrific book with adult friends, consider buying a copy for a daughter, student, niece, or other young woman in your life!

---Sharon Hinck is the author of The Secret Life of Becky Miller and Renovating Becky Miller (both from Bethany House Publishing). Visit her at www.sharonhinck.com

Interview with Cindy Thomson Part II

2007-01-25T23:04:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to the second half of my interview with Cindy Thomson

Which character do you identify with most and why?
It would have to be Brigid because she is the main character. However, I was never separated from my mother. I doubt I could ever be as self-sacrificing as she was. That’s why I focused the story on her human side. We have all been separated from God by own doing at times, and I can relate to trying to do the right thing and then falling back into selfish habits. Also the quest for finding your roots and then discovering that there was something more important to find came out in this story.

Brigid is also sold in the U.K. Can you share the publishing story there?
Actually the publisher is in the UK and it’s distributed here in North America by Kregel. Monarch took a chance on me since they don’t normally publish fiction. Christian fiction does not sell well in Europe. Christians there don’t buy it. They buy mainstream fiction. So it hasn’t done well there, yet anyway. Monarch doesn’t publish fiction anymore. They do well with missionary type nonfiction books. They were great folks to work with, however. And Brigid is available in many different countries because of how Monarch (imprint of Lion-Hudson) distributes. Also they sold translation rights to a German publisher so it will be available in German!

What are some things that you find most fascinating about Irish history?

Definitely the story telling. During the time Brigid lived the Irish had no written language. But they did have a vast and colorful history handed down orally. Monks recorded this history in the centuries after her, and several ancient illuminated manuscripts still exist in museums, like the Book of Kells. The keeper of the stories, the seanachie, was and is held in high esteem. Sometimes it was the bards who told the stories in song with a harp. The people were in the stories. It was who they were and without the stories of the past they were lost. If you had a book, or you had the stories, you were a very important person. I think that’s why the ancient monks memorized all 150 Psalms.

You have two blogs devoted to history. In addition to Favorite Pastimes, you have a blog called Celtic Voices. Tell us about some of the thoughts you explore there.
Oh, it’s anything related to Celtic Spirituality (http:celticvoices.blogspot.com). The Celts were very spiritual people before Christianity took over. They believed that there was very little dividing us in this world with the next. They had a close connection to nature and were very open to learning about the God of Creation. Celtic Christians believe that God is in us because we were created in His image, and likewise we are to look for God in others and love them. Many people think of Celtic spirituality as being New Age, but the spiritual side of the faith speaks to me and to many Christians. The name Celtic Voices comes from St. Patrick. He was kidnapped from his home in Wales (or somewhere on the coast of Britain) and brought to Ireland as a slave when he was a teenager. He connected to God during his lonely days working as a shepherd. He escaped and returned home, received training as a bishop, and then heard the Voice of Irish speaking to him, begging him to return to them. He did and was one of the fathers of our faith.

Why the interest in all things Celtic?
It’s my heritage. There is a saying: There are the Irish, and then all those who wish they were Irish.

From Brigid of Ireland to the story of baseball legend, Mordecai Brown. That seems like such a big departure. How did you come to write this?

Again, it’s a history story. Mordecai Brown, a Hall of Fame pitcher from the Cubs glory days (yes, they had glory days in the early part of the 20th century!) is my grandfather’s first cousin. Everyone has more than one interest, right? I’m a huge baseball fan. Got it from my mother (yes, my mother, again! Have to give the Irish connection to my dad since that’s the side of the family I have researched.) My mother is the Brown. We didn’t know we were related to Three Finger Brown (check out the site http:www.threefinger.com) until my cousin, Scott Brown, discovered the connection. Scott and I co-authored the book and Scott has started a non profit foundation in Mordecai’s memory: http://www.mordecaibrown.org.

What are some interesting facts about this story?

Do you have all day? Hmm, he pitched with much success with a deformed hand. He endured death threats to beat the New York Giants in a one game play-off for the National League Championship in 1908. I have a children’s historical fiction story based on him coming out in Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Magazine in March. There is so much more to tell. I hope people will read the book!

Tell us about some of your other writing projects.

Other than magazine writing, which I continue to do, I’m working on two new novels. One, Brendan the Navigator, is based on the life of St. Brendan, another ancient Irish saint. Some believe he actually sailed to North America in the 6th century! The other is a contemporary, one in which a young woman learns her family history going back to ancient Ireland and how secrets have affected the generations since. This information sheds light on her own life.

Any parting words to history fans or historical writers?

Continue to support historical fiction if you love it. We are hearing in the Christian market that publishers aren’t open to new authors. If you disagree and want to read works by new historical fiction writers, leave reviews, let people hear your voice. And if you’re an author, congratulations on taking on a genre that is hard to write and research but tremendously rewarding. Remember that we are called to tell the stories of the wonderful things God has done (Exodus 10:2).

Thanks so much Cindy! It's been great blogging with you and I wish you much succes with your books as well as Favorite Pastimes.

Join me tomorrow for a quick review of Brigid of Ireland as author Sharon Hinck's fourteen year old daughter shares with us how this book impacted her life.

Blessings!
Beth.

Interview with Cindy Thomson Part I

2007-01-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

Cindy Thomson writes fulltime from her home in Ohio despite the distractions of two young adult sons and another in high school, two dogs, and countless numbers of lizards. (Fortunately her sons take care of the zoo!) A former teacher and amateur genealogy buff, Cindy has always had an active imagination and a love of history. Preserving our spiritual and genealogical histories is her passion.
Cindy and her husband Tom are active in their church and small group ministry.
Brigid of Ireland is her first novel. She is at work on another novel set in ancient Ireland. Her biography (co authored with her cousin, Scott Brown) on her relative, baseball great Mordecai Three Finger Brown, was released in October 2006 by the University of Nebraska Press.

Besides books, Cindy writes freelance articles. She has been published in Family Chronicle, History Magazine, War Cry, Christian Networks Journal, Wonderful West Virginia, Rural Missouri, and other publications.

Thank you for joining me for my interview with our very own Cindy Thomson! I should have done this sooner.

I have to tell you, Cindy, when I started researching more about you to do this interview, I discovered many interesting facts about you. And here I’ve been blogging with you for months!

First, tell us about yourself and your family, i.e. where you grew up.

This is not too interesting! I grew up in Ohio, but I was born in Ft. Riley, KS. My dad was in the Army and went to Korea for two years right after I was born. We stayed behind with family in Indiana. Then we lived in Arizona, then Alaska (we survived the strongest earthquake to hit the North American continent and I was too young to remember), then back to Arizona. When I finished First Grade we moved to Ohio, so I consider myself an Ohioan. I’ve been married to Tom for 24 years and we have three boys: Dan, 21; Jeff, 19; and Kyle, 16. I taught preschool and kindergarten for nearly 20 years and now write full-time.

What books do you feel have influenced you most in life? In history? In writing?

I’m really no good at this question. My answers keep changing. But I’ll give it a shot.
My mother read Charlotte’s Web to me at bedtime when I was kid, even after I was old enough to read myself. That’s a great memory and what characters in that story! I love it still. But unfortunately, I did not do a lot of reading from the time I was about 12 to about age 30, other than college stuff. I keep bringing up a book that I can’t remember the title of. I’m sure I had to read it in elementary school, but it was a historical fantasy and it started my curiosity with history. English and history were my favorite subjects in school—no surprise, huh? The two writing books that influenced me the most were Self Editing For Fiction Writers by Brown and King and Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. I went to a workshop by Maass a few years back that was truly enlightening.

You are a HUGE history buff with articles published in several historical periodicals, including History Magazine, and Internet Genealogy. Tell us how this all came about, what sparked that interest in history?

When I was 13 my mother gave me a book for recording family history. That started it all. I interviewed family members and collected what they had on the family. Then I sent for death records and the like. Mostly I collected family photographs. No one seemed to want those and when my grandmother died they were given to me. (Ha! They thought the end tables and lamps were the valuable things!) Pretty soon everyone in the family who wanted information on our roots started coming to me. I realized I really didn’t have much information. Luckily, the Internet took off about then and my husband is a computer expert. Using the Internet really launched my family history research. When I developed my writing, I started querying genealogy magazines.

On your website, you have a page devoted to genealogy. Give us some tips on research.

The best thing is to start with what you know and work backward. Interview living relatives. Their memories are the best treasures you can preserve and hand down. They also will give you clues you can then use to track down primary sources. I have tips on my site http://www.cindyswriting.com (Click on Genealogy 101.) These are notes from a talk I have given on the subject.

What is your favorite part of genealogy research?

Oh, my gosh! It’s finding that elusive relative or that elusive proof that you have been searching for for years. Genealogists often talk about “hitting a brick wall.” When you can break through it, it’s a major victory. My husband and I took a research trip once to a dusty little courthouse to look through records. There were journals stacked on shelves. The first day didn’t provide anything. The next morning I just decided to look for the oldest looking journal there and try that. I found it on a shelf behind a stool. There I found my relative, Thomas Little. It was a tax record and showed how many horses and cows he owned. But mostly it showed me when he was no longer recorded there. That was when he moved on from Virginia to Kentucky and that was the missing piece of information I was looking for. (Later I discovered that this was on microfilm, but finding a 200 year old book was more fun!) This experience actually became my first print publication!

Or perhaps my favorite part is the people you meet. There are many people out there researching the same family line you are. These are distant cousins that you never knew existed.

Tell us the path in your genealogical research that led to your finally writing Brigid of Ireland.

I was never satisfied with just names and dates. I wanted to know about these ancestors. Who were they? Why did they do the things they did? What did they believe in? The more I searched the more I learned about the Scots-Irish and the Irish. I soon learned that bloodlines were not the most important thing linking us to the past. The people who went before us left us a legacy of faith. Without their trials and the things God taught them, we would not have the beliefs we have today. I learned about Brigid while attending an Irish festival; and I was there because I wanted to learn about the Irish people.

Tell us about Brigid of Ireland.

The book is based on legends surrounding St. Brigid who lived from about 452 to 525AD. My story covers the early part of her life. Some of these legends are quite fanciful. I started to think about what an incredible woman she must have been to perform all the miracles she did and to give constantly to the poor. How does someone get to be that kind of person? They go through trials and God teaches them along the way. I knew that the legend was that she was born to a slave woman and the woman’s master. And that the master sold her mother, but not Brigid. I decided to start with Brigid being separated from her mother and tell how she grew up to be the kind of God-loving woman she was—and in the midst of a land filled with unbelievers.

Please come back tomorrow to read the second half of my interview with Cindy.

Blessings!
Beth.

Interview with Author Lynn Austin! Part Two

2007-01-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to part two of our interview with author Lynn Austin (Don't forget to leave a comment to win one of Lynn's books!)

Jill: Do you have any concerns or opinions about the direction and future of Biblical fiction in the CBA?

Lynn: I think that good Biblical fiction will always have as its goal a deeper understanding of Scripture. In other words, the novels bring the Bible story to life and flesh it out so that readers are better able to understand the Bible and how it relates to their own life. That was what I tried to do. To me, it’s very much like old-fashioned expository preaching. I believe that this approach to Biblical fiction will always find willing readers.

The other type of Biblical fiction is the kind that has a hidden agenda. The authors have an ax to grind or have already made up their minds what they want readers to believe and they set out to make their case. This approach is more like the style of preaching that pulls out passages of Scripture from their context to prove the sermon’s main points. The goal isn’t so much a better understanding of the Bible as it is to sway the reader to the author’s point of view. If this approach becomes the norm for Biblical fiction, I doubt if it will have much of a future in the CBA.

Jill: I read a quote once that referred to Biblical fiction as the “ghetto” of writing—as though it was at the bottom rung of the Christian fiction ladder. How would you respond to that thought?

Lynn: That was exactly the attitude that I encountered when I finished my first “Chronicles” book and tried to get it published. It is also the attitude in many Christian “literary” circles today. I have no doubt that some critics consider my Biblical fiction a black mark on my record as an author. The reason this is so, I believe, is because in the past, much of Biblical fiction was very poorly written. The genre has changed a great deal over the years and there are some wonderful examples in the marketplace today—but old opinions die hard. Unless critics read the good examples (and many critics admit that they haven’t done so) they are not going to change their opinion and give the genre the respect it deserves.

I have to say, as an author, that I don’t give much time or thought to what “they” say. If I’m in the “ghetto” of writing, so be it. I wrote the “Chronicles” because the story and the characters fascinated me. My goal was to bring the Bible to life so that readers could better understand Scripture when they read it for themselves. I have received many letters from readers that have told me the books have done just that.

Jill: How has God used Biblical fiction in your own life, personally speaking?

Lynn: I think that for me, the biggest benefit I’ve gained from reading Biblical fiction is that it showed me that the people in the Bible were real people, just like me. It’s easy to read the stories of the great heroes of the faith and imagine them as larger than life—people who never struggled with their faith or had doubts or questions. But well-written Biblical fiction portrays these people as very human, very fallible individuals—just like me. Now when I read Scripture, I am able to put myself in Noah’s place, or Elijah’s place or Esther’s place and believe that what God did in their lives He can also do in mine.

Jill: What one thing have you learned that you would pass on to writers interested in writing in this genre?

Lynn: I would advise authors to choose a lesser-known Bible character and let the more well known ones play supporting roles in your novel. Most readers don’t know much about my main character King Hezekiah, for instance, and even less about his wife, Hephzibah. But these same readers probably have formed an opinion about what the prophet Isaiah was like, and they don’t like to read stories that damage that view in any way. The more well-known the character, the more likely an author is to annoy readers if their new portrayal doesn’t match their pre-conceived one. The other advantage is that readers won’t know how the story of a lesser-known character will end.

Jill: When I’m studying the life of a Biblical character, I often wish I could transport back in time and view the scenes in real time as on a movie screen. Which Bible character’s life would you like to view in that way if you could?

Lynn: I would love to view King Hezekiah’s life. I would love to stand alongside him on the morning that he awoke after a long, desperate night of prayer to discover that 185,000 enemy Assyrian warriors had died in their tents during the night. What a celebration must have followed! I know it sounds corny, but I spent so many years writing and researching this dear man’s life that he will probably be the first person I want to meet in heaven. (After Jesus, of course!)

Second on my list would be Isaiah, closely followed by Jeremiah. I have a feeling that if we did view their lives on a movie screen we would see that they were very much like us with our daily struggles to remain faithful and serve God.

I agree! Thank you, Lynn! I appreciate your insight, and I love your writing. I hope your Biblical series sells well and that one day you can write your "Restoration Chronicles" series in this genre. To bring the Bible, particularly the Old Testament to life for readers is a daunting task but well worth the effort.

I hope you have enjoyed my interview with author Lynn Austin. Don't forget to leave a comment to enter the drawing for a free book - a copy of the first book in the "Chronicles" series - Gods & Kings.

Join us tomorrow for Beth's interview with author Cindy Thomson!

Interview with Author Lynn Austin!

2007-01-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Today I am privileged to interview author Lynn Austin! (If you leave a comment today or tomorrow, you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of Lynn's Biblical novels Gods & Kings.) This is a great story you won't want to miss! Now on to our interview.

Lynn is a former teacher who now writes and speaks full time. She has won three Christy Awards for her historical novels Candle in the Darkness (which was very good!), Fire by Night, and Hidden Places. She and her husband have three children and make their home near Chicago, Illinois.

Jill: Why did you choose to write Biblical fiction in addition to all of your other genres?

Lynn: My Biblical fiction series, "Chronicles of the Kings," were the first books that I ever wrote. When I began writing them in 1982 there wasn’t nearly as much variety in Christian fiction as there is today. I didn’t give the genre a great deal of thought when I chose it—it just so happened that the story of King Hezekiah gripped me and I wanted to bring him to life. I taught myself how to write by re-working that book, over and over.

(Jill's side note) - Lynn's entrance into writing sounds much like mine. I learned to write by rewriting my first book about King David's life about a zillion times!

Lynn: After I completed the first book in the series and began researching the mechanics of getting published, I discovered that Biblical fiction was very much out of vogue in Christian publishing, and that very few—if any—publishers would print it. I ignored everyone’s advice and kept writing the series. Some twelve years—and many submissions later—my first publisher, Beacon Hill, decided to take a chance on printing it in 1995. I think they chose it not so much because of the genre but because they liked my writing. The series eventually went out of print when Beacon Hill discontinued their fiction line.

Recently my current publisher, Bethany House, secured the copyrights to the series and the books have been re-edited and re-issued with new titles and covers. But Bethany has cautioned me that the readership for Biblical fiction is still quite limited compared to other genres of Christian fiction.

Jill: That saddens me. I love Biblical fiction, to read it and to write it, and I wish readers would reconnect with it the way they did in the 1980s. There are some great Biblical novels out there right now, yours among them! People are missing out on a wonderful trip to this era of the past.

What Bible characters have you written about so far, and if you care to tell us, which ones do you hope/plan to write about in the future?

Lynn: The five books in my “Chronicles” series tell the stories of the Old Testament King Ahaz, his son King Hezekiah, and his son King Manasseh. The prophets Isaiah and Micah also have roles in the novels since they were contemporaries of these kings.

As for the future, I would love to write “The Restoration Chronicles,” telling the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah and the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian captivity. But at this point, it’s just a wish. I have too many other projects to complete, first.

Jill: I would love to read "The Restoration Chronicles!" Sounds intriguing! But back to the "Chronicles" series - what drew you to write about this/these characters?

Lynn: Believe it or not, I got excited about King Hezekiah’s story a LONG time ago when I was still in high school. I was taking a year long confirmation class at my church and we had weekly assigned readings in the Bible throughout that year. When I came to the story of Hezekiah, I couldn’t put it down! The Assyrians had surrounded Jerusalem and were demanding Hezekiah’s surrender. When he refused, choosing to trust in God, I couldn’t stop reading! And, of course God honored his faith and saved the city by sending the Angel of Death to destroy 185,000 Assyrians during the night.

What also impressed me, besides his astounding faith, was the fact that his father had been such an evil king, even sacrificing his sons to Molech. Yet scripture says that Hezekiah began his religious reforms in the first month of the first year of his reign. How did such an ungodly father produce such a godly son? Where did Hezekiah’s faith come from? I started writing his story to try to answer that question.

At first, I didn’t want to write about Hezekiah’s son Manasseh at all. After all of the reforms Hezekiah made and all the good he had done, along came his evil son and led the nation right back into idolatry. It was too heartbreaking to even consider, even though scripture said that Manasseh repented in later years and returned to God.

Then, in the course of my research on Hezekiah, I came across a Jewish Midrash about Manasseh. (A Midrash is a non-Biblical oral tradition that has been handed down through the centuries.) The story said that Manasseh had been so thoroughly evil, that when he began to pray for forgiveness, the heavenly host closed all the windows and doors of heaven so his prayer wouldn’t reach God. But God opened a hole beneath His throne of grace to receive Manasseh’s prayer so that people throughout all time would know that no one is beyond the reach of His love and mercy. After reading that story, I knew that I had to write about Manasseh, too.

When I read the Old Testament (which I love to do) it comes to life for me in 3-D. I see it almost like a film, inside my head, and my imagination begins filling in all the “holes” in the story. For years, I thought everyone read Scripture this way. Then I found out that many people find the Old Testament boring, and can barely struggle through it. That’s when I decided that I wanted to write some of these stories the way I “see” them and bring the Bible to life for others the way it comes to life for me.

Jill: Oh, me too! I LOVE the Old Testament, and as I read it I feel like I'm there and I "see" the landscape and the people and sometimes I can hear them talking and smell the food cooking. There are SO many amazing stories there.

When you set out to write a Biblical novel, what steps do you take to research the story?

Lynn: When I started to write this series, the very first thing I did was read and re-read the Biblical accounts endlessly until I had them memorized. There are quite a few scriptures that refer to these kings and the times of their reign including information from the prophets. From these passages, I outlined the entire story and let that serve as my book outline.

Next, I read every commentary I could find on those books of the Bible and the passages of scripture that I had already found. I wanted to know what every commentator had to say about these Biblical passages. As I read, I found that the story and characters were already coming to life in my imagination and I was imagining various scenes. I added these scene descriptions to my outline.

By this point, I knew that I had to research other historical books and reference materials to fill in the blanks on the culture of the times. I had access to a seminary library at the time, which helped a great deal. In 1989 I had the opportunity to travel to Israel and take a course in Biblical Backgrounds and Archaeology, and I spent a month there, volunteering on an archaeological dig. I also walked through Hezekiah’s tunnel, still intact beneath Jerusalem. On the way home from Israel, I spent time in London at the British Museum which has one of the finest Assyrian collections in the world.

But no matter how much I learned, I always made sure that my primary source was the story that is presented in Scripture.

Jill: An archaeological dig sounds amazing! The closest thing I've gotten to one is Biblical Archaeological Review magazine. But minus the trip to Israel, we research much the same way.

Some Biblical stories say very little about the characters and even the plot leaves many holes, giving the Biblical novelist much room to fill in the blanks. But others give us much detail, and we know how the story ends. How do you weave the tale so that it doesn’t come across predictable?

Lynn: I found that very few people actually knew the story of King Hezekiah. Even fewer knew about King Ahaz and King Manasseh, so the suspense was relatively easy to maintain. One of the reasons why I chose Hezekiah was because I felt that he wasn’t given “credit” for the astounding faith that he exhibited. Most people, if they are familiar with him at all, remember him for his downfall of pride. But the story as presented in Scripture, is told out of sequence. His prideful “downfall” occurred before the Assyrian invasion—and probably contributed to it. He obviously grew in faith from that experience and was able to trust God completely when the Assyrians attacked.

When I outlined the story as told in scripture, the plot was quite complete, and enough detail was given to provide a complete story. I filled in the blanks with sub-plots involving secondary characters.

As for predictability, I was told by one publisher that the reason people don’t read Biblical fiction is because they already know how the story will end. I didn’t let that deter me. In each novel, I’ve also created minor characters and sub-plots that aren’t from Scripture so that an element of suspense remains. Readers might know how the big story ends, but they will keep reading to see how all of the other stories are resolved.

Jill: In the general market there are a number of Biblical novels written from what I call a “revisionist” point of view. These writers use the Scriptures as a backbone for their story but have no problem revising the traditional Biblical view of the characters. As a Biblical novelist, what is your opinion of revisionist Biblical writing? From a critic’s point of view, isn’t one opinion as good as another in how these characters are seen?

Lynn: I probably wouldn’t read Biblical fiction from a “revisionist” point of view. Many revisionists have an agenda or a point of view about Scripture that they want to promote, and they revise the traditional interpretation of these stories to fit that agenda. In terms of literary criticism, I agree that each author is entitled to his own opinion. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I agree with that opinion—or that I want to read an entire novel based on it.

Every novelist—Christian or secular—writes from his own worldview. We can’t help it. My Biblical novels are based on my view of Scripture—and I happen to believe the traditional view. In fact, when I was researching my novels, I discovered that other historical reference books, as well as the archaeological evidence I unearthed, support the traditional interpretation of Scripture. For instance, the great miracle in Hezekiah’s time when the Assyrian army was destroyed during the night is collaborated by the Greek historian Herodotus—and by the curious silence about further conquests in the Assyrians’ own historical records. The reason the view is “traditional” is because the historical evidence supports it.

Jill: On the other hand, Christian Biblical fiction most often portrays the Biblical story in what I consider an “apologist” fashion, staying true to the Scripture where the Scripture speaks and only offering what might have been where the Bible is silent. In your opinion, how hard is it to keep to the text, yet weave in enough conflict to keep the story interesting?

Lynn: Again, this is where the use of fictitious secondary characters and sub-plots come in handy. Woven into the Scriptural story, they can provide on-going conflict and keep the story interesting. I also use sub-plots to explain historical details that aren’t provided in Scripture but that enhance our understanding of it. For instance, the Bible doesn’t tell us how horrifically brutal the Assyrians were. I used a sub-plot in my second book in which the Assyrians took a woman captive, to demonstrate how violent and cruel these warriors were. By the time they surround Jerusalem in the third book, readers should be trembling with fear along with King Hezekiah and everyone else. (By the way, I would have run the other way, too, if I had been Jonah and God had told me to preach to the Assyrians!)

The other way I try to stay true to Scripture yet weave in conflict is by delving into my characters’ motivations. For example, Scripture says that King Ahaz ordered his high priest, Uriah, to shove God’s altar aside and build an Assyrian altar in its place. And Uriah obeyed. I wondered why he would do such a thing. I decided to weave in a fictitious background story about Uriah’s life that provided a possible motivation for his actions. But I first studied real-life people who were once in positions of trust, to learn why they had compromised their beliefs. It so happened that at the time that I was doing my research, a prominent denomination was wrestling over the issue of staying with tradition versus adapting to the changing times, and I was able to use all of their arguments—pro and con—in Uriah’s story.

Thank you Lynn! Join us tomorrow for part two of our interview! And don't forget to leave a comment to win a copy of Lynn's first book Gods & Kings about King Hezekiah. I read this book when it was published by Lynn's first publisher - even read it to my kids as part of our historical reading for homeschooling. I promise you, it is some of the best Biblical fiction you will ever read!

Until tomorrow...

And the Winner Is ... Drumroll, Please!

2007-01-19T15:25:00.000-05:00

The lucky winner of our drawing for a free copy of Deeanne Gist’s A Bride most Begrudging is… Karen Wevick! Congratulations, Karen!! I’ll have Bride on the way to you in a couple of days. I know you’re going to enjoy it!

Thank you to everyone who posted a comment this week! I enjoyed our dialog.

Special Announcment

Next month, if all goes well, we’re going to start featuring regular weekly columns. More details will follow in the next couple of weeks. One feature we’re planning is “Ask Us Anything,” in which Tiff/Amber Miller will answer your questions about all things related to historical fiction. To submit your burning questions, please e-mail Tiff directly at askhfblog@ambermiller.com. She will research your question and bring us the answer the following week.

That’s all for now. Jill and Beth are up next week, so be sure to come on by and find out what they have in store!

Review: Loving Liza Jane

2007-01-19T06:40:00.000-05:00

Loving Liza Jane, the forthcoming new novel by Sharlene MacLaren, follows 21-year-old Eliza Jane Meriwether from Boston to Little Hickman, Kentucky, in the year 1895. Naïve, but full of confidence and zeal, Eliza will assume the job as Little Hickman’s schoolteacher.

But when she first rides into town on a ramshackle buckboard, her initial thought is, “Oh, Lord, what have I done?” Kentucky is nothing like her native Boston. Will she ever grow accustomed to its rolling hills and wide open spaces, not to mention the lack of modern conveniences?

Although filled with doubts, she is convinced God has led her to this point, and soon the new schoolteacher is beloved by all, including Benjamin Broughton, a handsome widower with two young children. The trouble is that her contract implicitly states, “marriage or any other unseemly behavior by women teachers is improper and will thereby result in immediate dismissal.”

Liza has a lot to learn about God’s perfect plan for her life.

My Review

I love this author’s writing style and enjoyed her first book. When I first received Loving Liza Jane I thought it would be just another prairie romance novel. Typical characters ... Attractive, single, schoolmarm, and hunky widower with young children who is suddenly in need of a wife. However, this was not the typical story at all, and though it contained the basic sketch of characters, it strayed from the usual outline. I enjoyed the variation from typical plot scenarios and experienced more than a few surprises in this one!

The author made this novel shine and I love the author’s voice. She uses metaphors and similes with finesse—not to many and not too often—and they enhanced the story even more. Ben is the ultimate hero, and Liza, the ideal, strong heroine. They had flaws, but lovable ones. The romantic tension between them was divine, and thankfully it wasn’t one of those one-kiss-at-the-end stories. This one sizzled! I loved all of it.

While tastefully done, the first kiss was too-die-for, and the subsequent ones perfectly orchestrated to enhance the plot. The child characters and bullies were very believable. I also enjoyed the spiritual arc. The hero starts out the spiritually strong one, but the heroine quickly overtakes him in the faith department as the Lord stretches her through her trials. Wonderful story! I can’t wait for the sequel!

Loving Liza Jane is published by Whitaker House and will be released in April 3, 2007.

Michelle Sutton (pen name)
“writing truth into fiction”
ACFW Volunteer Officer - voloff@acfw.com
writer/book reviewer - check out my latest reviews! http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com
http://www.michellesutton.net

Be sure to watch for my interview with the author of Loving Liza Jane, Sharlene Maclaren, coming up in February.

Later this afternoon, I’ll post the results of this week’s drawing for a free copy of Deeanne Gist’s A Bride most Begrudging. You still have a chance to enter by posting a comment, so jump in and let us know what form of the historical you write or enjoy reading the most. And be sure to stop by later to find out if you’re the lucky winner!

Breathing Life into the Past

2007-01-18T06:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I lied! Our reviewer extraordinaire, Michelle Sutton, had some unexpected zig-zags pop up in her week, so instead of a book review, today I'm going to delve into the different forms of the historical novel. Hopefully we'll be able to bring you Michelle's review tomorrow.

In mulling over topics for today’s post, I started thinking about the different historical novels I’ve written over the years. And it occurred to me that there are three different ways to write a historical. (There could always be more, but none occur to me at the moment.) The first novel I wrote (still unpublished), entitled Falkenberg, was a medieval epic tragedy, i.e., the main characters were all dead at the end, a la Hamlet. In fact, I was deep into Shakespeare’s tragedies at the time, and they served as the model for my plot structure.

Although Falkenberg is set in thirteenth-century Europe, the action takes place in the fictional kingdom of Sehnthal, which I located below the Jura Mountains and between France, what is now Germany, and Switzerland. The characters are completely made up by moi, as is their world. There is little reference to any real kingdoms, people, and world events of the time. I researched the period very carefully, and the details of my characters lives are solidly grounded in the actual thirteenth-century European social, political, and religious culture. But everyone and everything that happens in the story is purely a product of my fertile imagination.

This story was immense amounts of fun to write. I created detailed genealogies for my characters as well as complete histories for these ancestors, wrote sonnets and epic songs for my troubadours, and created an entire, complex world full of kings and princes, knights and ladies, romance, passion, intrigue, adventure, and peril. I felt like God. LOL! This kind of novel is probably the easiest to write and is, I'd guess, the most popular form of the historical novel.

The first two books of my American Patriot Series, Daughter of Liberty and Native Son, however, are quite different. This time the actual people and events of the American Revolution became the basis, the core, of my story. I then created fictional characters and set them down in the middle of the historical people, places, and events of the time. My fictional characters live and travel through a variety of settings that are as accurate to the real places of the Revolution as I can make them. They interact with the real political and military movers and shakers as well as with the more humble folk who actually lived at the time and were involved in one way or another in the events that created our nation. My characters don’t just watch these things happening—they actively participate in them as they occur so that readers, in effect, become eyewitnesses to the Revolution. Needless to say, this series is requiring considerably more intensive research and much more careful plotting than Falkenberg did.

Last summer, my cousin, author Bob Hostetler, and I met for the first time and discovered that we both were toying with the idea of writing a fictional account of our ancestors’ story. Amish Mennonites who came to this country in 1738 seeking freedom to live according to their religious convictions, they settled on the borderlands between the white settlements and Indian territory. They were pacifists, and in an ironic twist of fate their home was attacked by a band of Indians during the French and Indian War. Because they refused to take up guns to kill, three members of the family were killed and scalped, and the three survivors were carried off into Indian captivity, returning years later.

After talking, Bob and I decided to join forces on this massive project, which we’ve entitled Northkill for the name of both the creek along which the massacre took place and the Amish congregation our ancestors were a part of. We are very fortunate to have a considerable amount of research material to work with. In 1911, the 1,200 page Descendents of Jacob Hochstetler (DJH), well known in genealogical circles, was first published. It included not only an extensive genealogy of our family, but also a brief history of the Amish and Mennonites and a more detailed account of our ancestors’ story, compiled from research materials available at the time as well as stories that had been passed down by family members.

However, there are pitfalls to anecdotal material like this. Stories handed down through the years and through multiple voices tend to mutate quite a bit from the original facts. Thankfully, our family also has an organization, the Jacob Hochstetler Family Association, which includes members who continue to research the story of our ancestors. They have published a number of corrections to the DJH as well as intriguing additional details gleaned from sources such as the Pennsylvania Archives, which are helping us to keep Northkill as close to the real people and events as possible.

A fictionalized account of a true story is the most difficult form of the historical novel to write, I’m discovering. Because this story is very well known among the Amish and Mennonites and is important to so many people, especially to the members of our extensive Hochstetler family, Bob and I are committed to doing the best job possible in bringing our ancestors to life and giving a true account of their experiences. For one thing, we don’t want to incur the wrath of our relatives if we make a hash of this!

While many details of the story are known, such as the site of our ancestors’ farm on the Northkill Creek where the massacre took place; an approximation of what their house, barn, and other outbuildings looked like; how the attack played out; where the survivors were taken by the Indians and roughly when they were returned, other details are not so easy to discover. The humble details of daily life are rarely recorded, and so we are left with many questions as we try to capture their story. What were their marriage, birth, and death customs? What were their worship services like? How different was the German dialect they spoke from what is spoken today.

For one thing, we can’t be certain how the Amish of that time and place dressed. I’ve had to do a lot of guesswork there. The idea that Amish dress has remained virtually the same since the sixteenth century was very quickly dispelled through my initial research. Despite their plain lifestyle, costume, customs, and even dialect have undergone a gradual, but noticeable shift over the centuries, as is to be expected. The trouble is, nobody thought to take notes as changes took place!

Just one of the problems we encountered up front was the fact that the name of our ancestor’s wife had never been recorded, as women’s names frequently were not. Their infant daughter, who, with her mother, was also one of the victims of the massacre also remained unnamed. So we had to do some digging and speculating to come up with the most likely name for each of them. And once we found those names, it was as if we had breathed life into this mother and her baby and had again given them a voice after all these years. That has been the most gratifying part of this project—to finally see them emerge from the shadows of the past to tell their own stories.

To be honest, that’s really why I love writing historicals. What other work gives you the opportunity to recapture long-forgotten people and places of the past and breathe life into them so they can share their stories with readers of today and into the future. That is a delight I will never grow tired of.

Be sure to post a comment today to be entered into tomorrow's drawing for a copy of Deeanne Gist's A Bride Most Begrudging. And tomorrow, if all goes well, we'll have that review of Sharlene Maclaren's forthcoming novel, Loving Liza Jane. If not, then I'll have another topic for us to talk about!

Fixing the Calendar

2007-01-17T09:30:00.000-05:00

In spite of the addition of regular leap years, the calendar established by Julius Caesar overestimated the length of a year by 11 minutes and 15 seconds. The result was the addition of a full day every 128 years. By the sixteenth century it had accumulated an error of 10 full days, and a fix couldn’t be put off much longer.

By now the Roman Empire was history, so to speak, and the calendar issue was dropped in the lap of Pope Gregory XIII. In 1582 he decreed that the calendar be reformed by removing the excess minutes from the year, along with the 10 extra days that had piled up. Pope Gregory carried over the order of months and number of days per month from the Julian calendar, but a year would now be 365 days, with an extra day being added every 4 years, or leap year. The Roman Catholic nations of Europe fell in line quickly in adopting this system, called the Gregorian calendar.

Europe’s Protestant nations, along with the Eastern Orthodox Church, however, had other ideas. The Catholic pope wasn’t going to tell them what to do, and they stuck with the Julian calendar. That put London 10 days ahead of Paris. Protestant and Orthodox believers celebrated Christmas 13 days later than did Catholics, on the equivalent of the Julian calendar’s January 6. In fact, in some parts of Great Britain people still call that date Old Christmas Day. England also continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on March 25th instead of on the new date of January 1. Imagine what this did for business.

The result was that by 1751 England was eleven days ahead of the Continent. The situation had become so confusing that Parliament gave in to the inevitable and passed the Calendar Act to try to get back in step with the rest of the world. In an exquisitely simple maneuver, they decreed that in England and her colonies the day following September 2, 1752, would become September 14. Astonishingly, this was too difficult for many people to comprehend. They believed that the government had actually stolen 11 days from their lives, and riots broke out as the uninformed demanded that the government return their 11 days!

Although the original purpose of the Gregorian calendar was to regulate the ceremonial cycle of Christian churches, today it also serves as the international standard for civil affairs. Years are counted from the initial epoch defined by Dionysius Exiguus, a sixth-century scholar, beginning with the assumed birth of Christ—which today we know to be in error—and are divided into two classes: common years and leap years. Common years are 365 days in length. Leap years are 366 days, with February 29 inserted before March 1. Every year that can be divided by 4 is a leap year … xcept for years that can be exactly divided by 100, which are leap years only if they can be exactly divided by 400. For example, the year 2000 is a leap year, while 1900 and 2100 are not. Clear, isn’t it? I thought so.

Bede, an eighth-century English historian, is the one who began the practice of counting years backward from the year AD 1 to account for time before the birth of Jesus. The year AD 1 is preceded by the year 1 BC, without an intervening year 0. That caused all sorts of trouble for astronomers, but they came up with a solution that’s beyond our interest here. However, it should be noted that the Gregorian calendar accumulates an error of one day in roughly 2,500 years. That’s going to cause problems one of these days, but at this point, no one is doing anything about it.

Today there are approximately forty different calendars in use around the world, divided into three distinct types. A solar calendar, like the Gregorian calendar, is designed to synchronize with what is called the tropical year, and days are regularly added to correct accumulated errors. A lunar calendar, like the Islamic calendar, strictly follows the lunar phase cycle, with the result that its months continue to shift in relation to the Gregorian calendar. Lunisolar calendars, like the Hebrew and Chinese calendars, base months on the lunar phase cycle, but insert an entire month every few years to correct their built-in error.

As long as we’re talking about sun and moon cycles, let’s assume you have a romantic scene going, your handsome hero and beautiful heroine are in a clinch gazing longingly at each other, drenched by silvery light of a full moon, their hair blowing in the warm breezes of that white sand beach in Key West on New Year’s Day, and he bends to her and their lips draw closer and….

Hold it! Come to think of it, would there have been a full moon on New Year’s day in the year your story takes place? And if there was, would it have been high in the sky at that exact hour? ACK! Before you can complete your scene, you have to find out what phase the moon was in on the night in question as well as when it would appear to rise and set in Key West.

If you’re obsessive about making sure every detail in your story is accurate and you haven’t already discovered these sites for calculating the phases of the moon and the position of the sun on a specific date and time, here are the two best sites I’ve found for digging up historical data. For that matter, for all you sci-fi folks, it would also work for the future—but only for earth.

The US Naval Observatory offers a wealth of information about all things celestial. Click on Complete Sun and Moon to look up historical as well as contemporary and future dates.

The NASA Eclipse Home Page gives a readout of moon phases beginning in 1701.

Well, that’s all for today. Don’t forget to post your comments to be entered in this week’s drawing for a free copy of Deeanne Gist’s A Bride most Begrudging. And be sure to stop by again tomorrow for Michelle Sutton’s review of Loving Liza Jane by Sharlene Maclaren, due in bookstores in April.

Figuring out Time: The History of Calendars

2007-01-16T07:10:00.000-05:00

We all know that George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, right? That’s what we learned in school, and that’s what the majority of texts about Washington tell us. You might be surprised to learn that the truth is slightly different.

February 22 is indeed Washington’s birthday … if you’re using the Gregorian calendar, which is the way we measure time today. But on the day Washington was actually born, the English—and thus the American colonists—were still using the Julian calendar. Consequently, when the future commander in chief of the American Army and our first United States president made his debut in the world, the calendar actually read February 11.

Let’s take a brief overview of calendars through the ages. What is a calendar? Simply put, it's a system of organizing and measuring months, days, and years. Days are based on the length of time it takes for our earth to make one complete rotation on its axis. Months are based on how long it takes for the moon to revolve around the earth. And years are based on the length of time it takes for earth to make a complete circuit around the sun. The problem is that not only do these astronomical cycles have slight variations in length, but they also don’t exactly line up with each other. That makes it impossible to come up with a formula for calculating a calendar that is completely accurate. Every calendar humans devise needs regular tweaking to keep these built-in errors from accumulating over time.

If you’re like me, well before New Year’s day, you were already searching avidly for just the right calendars for your office and home. I couldn’t function without my Daytimer. In addition to our clocks, we all depend on calendars to keep our lives organized. Not only are calendars important for helping us keep a grip on our personal business, but they also provide the basis for agricultural planning; predicting solar and lunar events such as eclipses; determining when the seasons change; and maintaining cycles of civil and religious events.

Our ancestors had many of the same needs and concerns. Throughout human existence, the sun, moon, planets, and stars have been important reference points for measuring the passage of time. From ancient times, civilizations have depended on the perceived motion of celestial bodies through the sky to determine seasons, months, and years. Although we don’t know much about how the earliest humans calculated time, ancient records and artifacts show that people have always measured and recorded the passage of time.

Over 20,000 years ago Ice Age hunters in Europe carved lines and holes in sticks and bones that modern researchers believe may calculate the days between phases of the moon. Five thousand years ago, Sumerians in the Tigris-Euphrates valley in modern-day Iraq devised a calendar that divided the year into thirty-day months, divided days into 12 periods, each corresponding to 2 of our hours, and then divided these periods into 30 parts that correspond to 4 of our minutes. The alignment of the massive stones at Stonehenge, which was built over 4000 years ago in England, strongly indicates that this ancient formation was used to determine seasonal or celestial events, such as lunar eclipses and solstices.

The earliest Egyptian calendar was based on the moon’s cycles. Later Egyptians, however, determined that the “Dog Star” in Canis Major, now called Sirius, rose next to the sun every 365 days, roughly at the same time the annual flooding of the Nile began. They used this discovery to establish a 365-day calendar that appears to have begun in 4236 BC, the earliest recorded year in history.

Before 2000 BC, Babylonia, which covered a part of modern-day Iraq, observed a year of 12 alternating 29-day and 30-day lunar months, which resulted in a 354-day year. The Mayans of Central America, who flourished from around 2000 BC until about 1500 AD, relied not only on the sun and moon, but also on the planet Venus, to calculate 260-day and 365-day calendars like the one above. According to Mayan records, they believed that the creation of the world occurred in 3113 BC. The great Aztec civilization that followed incorporated Mayan calendars into their own calendar stones, one of which is shown in the image below right.

The ancient Romans used a lunar calendar, a system that is highly inaccurate. On the advice of his astronomers, Julius Caesar established a sun-based calendar and decreed that one year would consist of 365 and a quarter days, divided between 12 months. The Romans renamed the month of Quirinus July to commemorate his reform. This Julian calendar continued in common use up until it was replaced by the Gregorian calendar.

We have a slight change of order on this week’s posts. Tomorrow I’m going to delve into how the Gregorian calendar we use today was developed. I’ll also include links to several sites where you can find historical sun and moon data. I’ve found these sites to be particularly helpful whenever I set a scene on a specific date and time and want to describe the moon or show when the sun rises or sets.

Then on Thursday we’ll have Michelle Sutton’s review of Loving Liza Jane by Sharlene Maclaren, which will hit bookstore shelves in April. Michelle is still reading it, so you’re going to get it hot off the press! Friday ... well, it's still up for grabs.

As always, be sure to get in on the action! Post a comment, and you’ll be entered in Friday’s drawing for a free copy of Deeanne Gist’s A Bride most Begrudging.

Sparking Your Historical Muse

2007-01-15T07:25:00.000-05:00

The rhythmic pounding of drums, the silvery click-click of rattles, and the ethereal, high-pitched piping of flutes had my blood pulsing to a primal beat, transporting me far away in time and space to Ohio Territory in 1776, among the embattled Shawnee. Draped in the fresh pelt of a great, grey wolf, the shaman, Wolfslayer, was leading his followers in a hypnotic dance to seek a new vision from their god Moneto. Meanwhile, my hero White Eagle watched from the shadows, brooding over his adversary’s designs to wrest leadership of the tribe from him.

Sounds like a mystical experience, doesn’t it? In a way it was. That morning I was weaving my Mini around Highway 70’s tight curves below sheer rock cliffs along the Harpeth River, heading west to my office in Nashville, Tennessee. Mentally and emotionally, however, I was in a scene in Wind of the Spirit, book 3 of my American Revolutionary War series. I could see it unfold in my mind’s eye, and I groped for my trusty digital voice recorder to capture the vision before it could melt away.

Do you ever use music as a sort of muse to spark your imagination? I suspect many of us do, perhaps casually, as is the usual case for me—or perhaps intentionally, as I’m finding myself doing more and more. They say music has power to tame the savage beast. I’m discovering it also has power to bring scenes in my stories to vivid life. As a result, I’m putting the CDs I’ve collected over the years to a use I never intended when I bought them.

For example, back in December I was looking for a CD of colonial Christmas music, and on Amazon I found Sing We Merrily: A Colonial Christmas. The first time I listened to it, I immediately came up with a scene that will take place near the end of Wind of the Spirit. Following a separation of almost a year and a half, my heroine, Elizabeth Howard, has found her beloved, Jonathan Carleton, among the Shawnee in Ohio Territory. She brings him back to rejoin Washington’s army, and on Christmas Eve they find the bedraggled colonials encamped just across the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey, where they have been pushed by British General Howe’s forces after being driven out of New York City.

Ragged, hungry, without supplies, the badly mauled and outnumbered remnant of Washington’s battered brigade huddles around meager, smoky campfires all across the snowy Pennsylvania fields during that bleak night. For many, their enlistments end New Year’s Day, and regardless of their commander’s pleas, most intend to give up the struggle and return home, effectively breaking the back of the rebellion. Now, at their darkest hour, a soldier at one of the campfires impulsively begins to sing. And one by one, his fellows join in.

A virgin unspotted by Prophet foretold,
Should bring forth a Saviour which now we behold,
To be our Redeemer from death, hell, and sin,
Which Adam’s transgressions involved us in.

Then let us be merry, put sorrow away,
Our Saviour, Christ Jesus, was born on this day.
Then let us be merry, put sorrow away,
Our Saviour, Christ Jesus, was born on this day …

As yet unknown to them, the following night Washington will lead them across the ice-clogged Delaware on a desperate gamble to attack the Hessian outpost at Trenton in the teeth of a nor’easter the like of which few had ever experienced. Two men will freeze to death in their tracks while waiting to board the Durham boats ferrying them across the Delaware. Raked by gale-driven sleet, snow, and hail, the troops stumble through snowdrifts, many with bloody feet bound in strips of rags. But the morning of December 26, 1776, against all odds, they win an astounding victory over the formidable Hessian troops. As a result, many who had planned to abandon the cause will choose, instead, to reenlist and hang in there with Washington for a little while longer, thus saving the rebellion for another year.

If you haven’t yet discovered the power of music to practically write scenes for you, start to think about what songs or genres of music would fit with the stories you’re writing. What kind of music does your hero/heroine love or dislike? What kind of music would your characters commonly hear being played around them as they go about their daily lives? What hymns are sung at their church services? I know my buddy Lori has been checking out spirituals for her family saga set in 1790s North Carolina, and I think she’s even writing one for her characters to sing. Now that’s exciting!

Over the years, I’ve collected a rather eclectic mix of music CDs, and I often play one or another while I’m taking that one-hour drive from my home to my office in Nashville and back again. Offhand, I don’t know how many scenes I’ve written as a result, but there have been several. Just a few of the CDs in my collection are Mesa Sunrise and Ancient Canyons, modern Native American music by John Huling that has inspired more than one scene in Wind of the Spirit; Colonial and Revolution Songs by Keith and Rusty McNeil; a number of CDs of medieval carols and motets, chant and polyphony by Anonymous 4, which will enliven my medieval epic tragedy once I get back to it; Elohim, modern Jewish worship music—who knows what story that might spark; classical music from several different eras; 4 CDs of popular WWII songs that are giving me lots of fodder for my WWII era Mennonite romance; and country (for my Nashville-based music industry-centered contemporary romance), gospel, and contemporary music in a variety of genres from the 1950s to today that harbor endless possibilities. I’m even tinkering with a story based on Randy Travis’ award-winning song “Three Wooden Crosses.”

Searches on the Internet, including on retail sites like Amazon, yield all sorts of fascinating and helpful music as well as information that can lead you further. Don’t overlook this rich source of inspiration and creativity!

This is shaping up to be an eclectic week as far as topics are concerned. I’m going to hop around a bit. Tomorrow I plan to dip into a subject that’s especially appropriate for the beginning of the New Year: the history of our calendar. Do you know what our calendar is called? How did our calendar develop? How old is it? What calendar was in use before the one we’re using today? Does everyone use the same calendar? I’ve come up with lots of fascinating information on the subject, so be sure to drop by tomorrow.

On Wednesday, reviewer extraordinaire Michelle Sutton is going to share a sneak peek at Loving Liza Jane, an excellent historical romance coming out in April. I’m working on getting an interview with the author for next month, so keep watching for that.

Thursday and Friday are up for grabs, i.e., I haven’t definitely decided on topics yet. If you’ve been harboring a question or idea you’d like to see covered, post it in a comment, and I’ll consider it for our discussion.

If you post a comment this week, you'll automatically be entered in the drawing to win a copy of Deeanne Gist's A Bride most Begrudging. The lucky winner is going to be in for a treat, so be sure to jump into our dialog. See you tomorrow!

The 3 R's -- Research, Reading and (W)riting

2007-01-13T08:43:00.000-05:00

It's funny when I think back to my school days and the teacher would stand at the front of the room, getting ready to deliver the dreaded assignment...

Research Paper

Oh no! Anything but that! For me, however, it was exciting, because I knew I'd get to learn something I never knew before and get to explore the pages of the books I'd be using. All right, so I was weird and far from "average" as students go. Still, school never really challenged me, and I made the best of what they assigned. Earning high marks came easy, and I confess that I too often took it for granted.

With just a little bit of information, I could let my creative juices go to work and craft the details of a story without ever having set foot anywhere near the setting of the story I'm writing. Readers would often comment on how "real" I made it feel, how they felt like there were right there. Even those readers who had actually been to the places I described asked me if I'd ever visited.

For my books, however, the reality didn't come so easily. :) Stories could be crafted without all the detail. A book requires to much more. Depth and development of the big picture as well as the little pieces that pull it all together meant I had to spend a lot more time digging into the background, the culture, the day-to-day lives of those who lived during the setting of my books, etc. And for that, I needed resources.

With this set of books, that meant a trip to the Historical Society of Delaware and the Research Library next door. It meant multiple visits to the town that was, at the time, the capital of Delaware, to take pictures, walk the cobblestone streets, gain a perspective of life as it might have been lived during Colonial times. It meant attending what's called "Colonial Days" where the town comes alive with reenactors and guides, and the homes/shops open their doors to give you a glimpse of life 250 years ago. It also meant spending time with the research librarians and coordinators, asking questions, seeking information, and recording what I'd learned.

By far, the most fun I had was writing a letter to the current owners of the house I used as the setting for the 3 books in this series. The home is what inspired me to write the first book and the idea caught the attention of the editor who ended up reviewing my manuscript and giving it the recommendation that led to the sale. This home has a sign by the driveway (circa 1740). I drive by this house several times a week. One day, I saw that and stopped. The ideas started flowing, and wouldn't let me brush them aside.

When I received a reply and an invitation to visit, I had to be pulled down from the clouds. The tour, the information, the ambiance. All of it transported me back to 1740 when the home was first built, wondering at all that had happened in almost 300 years. The phrase "if these walls could speak" took on new meaning for me. Oh, the stories they could tell.

From that day on, I was determined to tell that story...even if I had to take a little creative license to do it. *winks* Along with this house came the desire to shine the light on Delaware's significance during Colonial times and give Colonial Williamsburg a run for its money. :) They think they're such hot stuff, they've even used the "history.org" domain, as if they're the be-all and end-all of history.

Seriously, though, that's a fantastic resource for everything and anything Colonial -- from teacher and student resources, to books, to activities, to planning a visit and so much more.

Have you been there? If so, share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Thanks so much for sticking with us this week and sharing your comments as well as your time. I hope Kaye and I managed to broaden your minds a bit and entice you to look at things from all sides before forming an assumption...especially when it comes to history.

Getting Original and Critical with Research

2007-01-12T11:32:00.000-05:00

As I read Tiff’s post yesterday, I had to laugh at my own reaction to it. She wrote:

“Britain was causing unrest amongst the American colonists due to what colonists termed ‘unfair taxes’; many colonists began seeking a better way of life separate from British rule; Britain tried maintaining a hold on their colonies while fighting against the French for greater control of this 'new world' land…”

My immediate reaction was to come to the defense of the British; after all, they were engaged in a war with France at a dear cost—in lives and in gold. They saw the New World as a source of new natural resources, which were, even in the 18th century, beginning to run low in the British Isles. They were losing young men by the scores and hundreds as younger sons made their way west across the Atlantic to make their fortunes—if they stayed in England, their choices were limited; and with the conflict with France escalating, most faced entering the army or navy (or being pressed into service) and being sent to war. I could go on about how those in England felt it was only right that the British subjects living in North America should also help support the war effort by funding it . . . but I think you see the point we’ve been trying to make this week.

Because most of my research has focused on the Regency/Napoleonic era of British history, I have been fascinated by how little “play” the War of 1812 got from the popular authors of the time in their stories and novels. My novel begins the summer of 1814, shortly after Boneparte’s abdication in April. Most of the Royal Navy has been recalled to England, the officers and sailors dismissed to civilian life. There is an air of celebration throughout the country—finally, after decades’ continual conflict with France, the war is over. As someone in the 21st Century, I know this peace is to be short-lived, but I have to remember that my characters had no prescience of Boneparte’s impending escape from Elba and the final culminating battle at Waterloo. (Again, getting myself into the headspace of my characters at the moment in time I have placed them.)

I have, unlike Jane Austen, brought the American war into my novel. In one conversation about the “other” conflict, my heroine remarks she is glad of the blockade of American ports—especially those in the Gulf of Mexico—as it has kept sugar from Louisiana from getting to market, lowering the supply when the demand was ever increasing and driving up the price, which benefits her family’s sugar plantation in Jamaica. And yet she can also sympathize with those sugar growers whose crops are rotting in the fields because they have no way to get their product to market, because of the fear of something like that happening to her.

So, how do we get into the mindset of our characters at a given time and cultural setting in history?

The absolute best way is to read books and periodicals published in that time and place (I know, this is hard to do the further back you go in history). For centuries, people kept diaries or journals, recording everything from how many eggs were gathered that day to important historical events. After the 15th or 16th Century, when printed materials started to proliferate, newspapers came into existence and more and more books were published. Although difficult to read, original source materials are the best resource for understanding the people of a historic era.

Another source to help us in understanding an era is to read literary criticism of the works published during our time periods. Academics who have studied the literature can offer insights to some of the tiny details we might miss because we do not have the cultural background to pick up on them. As an undergrad, I did quite a bit of critical work on Jane Austen’s novels, focusing mainly on the themes of wealth and social status. Most of my work was researching the historic context: what were the laws of inheritance, the value of the Pound, the meaning of being a landowner versus a merchant or even a barrister, why were men’s fortunes given in annual figures while women’s in total sums? While I did turn to a few history texts, most of my information came from critical essays about her novels which explained these topics using examples from the stories and making the concepts that much easier to understand.

Because there are not a lot of local resources in Nashville for British history, I do much of my research online. One of the tricks I’ve learned when doing a websearch is to include “.uk” in my search so that it brings up websites originating in Britian. That way, I am more likely to get sites written from the British perspective.

For even more information on places I’ve found source material for research, see the entry I posted in October 2006: Favorite PASTimes: Getting Creative with Research.

What are some of your favorite sources for research? Some of the most unique resources you've found?

Fiction Equals Truth?

2007-01-11T10:04:00.001-05:00

As Kaye mentioned yesterday, it's not often easy to take yourself out of a mindset you've had your entire life. That's a necessity as an author. I'm sure you've read books where your perspective was broadened by a character or viewpoint the author included through thorough research in the story. On the flip side, you've no doubt read something where the viewpoints were limited and obviously centrally-focused from the author's perspective.

Sure, it's easy to take your own viewpoints and carry them into your writing, but it's much more of a challenge to put yourself in the shoes of someone else. Get into their head, their skin, and see how it fits for a little while. Lay aside everything that's formed your own sphere of influence and "live" life as that other person. This applies to writing as much as it does in relationships with other folks. But that's a topic for another blog. :)

I've discovered the challenge this presents researching for my Colonial era series. Not only do I have loyal patriots to the American cause for independence, but because of the setting, I also have Dutch, Swedish and British characters. Each one comes from a different background, with a different set of beliefs and motivations for their actions. When I wrote the first draft of book 1 and sent it off to be critiqued/edited, notes came back that several characters fell "flat" with stereotypical characterizations and shallow motivations.

So, back to the research resources I went. When I was able to dig deeper into the character backgrounds, I was able to present the motivations from a perspective that was true to that character. Who they are and why they reacted the way they did directly correlated with each other. It started making sense and provided a richer more complex character.

I'm in the middle of book 2 at the moment, and a large portion of story focuses on the French & Indian War where the patriots/Americans are fighting on the side of the French and against the British. However, the hero of the book is British and the heroine is from a family that is leaning more and more toward the American way of thinking every day.

The emotions during this time were quite volatile. Britain was causing unrest amongst the American colonists due to what colonists termed "unfair taxes"; many colonists began seeking a better way of life separate from British rule; Britain tried maintaining a hold on their colonies while fighting against the French for greater control of this "new world" land; the natives in America couldn't decide on which side they wanted to fight and who they wanted to support because both sides were considered an "invasion" to them. While all of this was taking place, the governmental associations within each colony were beginning to come together and would soon lead to the forming of the 1st Continental Congress.

That's a lot of perspectives and a lot of internal motivations that lead to physical motivations and misunderstandings. It would be easy to focus on just one viewpoint and make that the guiding factor in the books. But, to accurately portray the realities of the times, so much more is required.

So, now it's your turn. Share some books where you feel the author successfully accomplished this and/or why the book compelled you to keep reading. On the flip side, share some books where you didn't get into the story and why. Tomorrow, Kaye will be back to share some of her research strategies and resources, and I'll return on Saturday to close out the week with some of mine.

See you again soon!

The British Are Coming!

2007-01-09T20:01:00.000-05:00

In this day and age, it’s hard for a lot of Americans to believe that France used to be America’s biggest ally and England our worst enemy. However, that was the political landscape 230 years ago during the American Revolution and continuing on into the 19th Century (including the fact that France nearly came to the aid of the Confederate States during the Civil War).

I am an extremely patriotic person. I get misty-eyed whenever I hear the national anthem; I love celebrating Independence Day with reading the Declaration of Independence, watching The Patriot (yes, I know it’s not historically accurate), and watching fireworks set to the finale of the 1812 Overture. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in J. M. Hochstetler’s American Patriot series: Daughter of Liberty and Native Son, set during the Revolutionary era.

As an American and—as mentioned before—American History minor in college, it’s easy to put myself into the “headspace” of the characters I read about who, against all odds, fought the evil, imperial, cold, heartless (shall I go on?) British at Camden, Boston, Saratoga, Trenton, Valley Forge, and Bunker Hill. After all, the history classes I took and the texts I studied were all written from an American point of view.

But what if I put myself into the mindset of a British woman born in the late 18th century to a father who fought against the Americans? How would my view of world events of the Revolution through the War of 1812 change?

I had to look for sources written from the British POV. For the most part, this involved finding books through online sources or British websites. And while I know that the Americans went to war for what was, in their viewpoint, a just cause, from the British point of view, I learned to see both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 as wars of American aggression—the Americans made the first moves against the British in both conflicts.

My heroine’s father fought against the fledgling American Navy both in the waters off the coast of America and along the coast of England. Later, my hero, William, may have to fight against the Americans in the War of 1812. As I’ve researched the era from the British point of view and placed my British characters (Royal Navy officers) into real historical events, I find myself looking for battles where the British won—where they defeated the Americans.

As I examined my own feelings about these battles, I had to also think about how my characters would have viewed them. Talking to my father, a career army officer, helped considerably with this. I learned that career military officers do not go to war because they hate the people on the other side. They go to war because their country asks them to. It is not hate that drives them, but love—love of country. They mourn the loss of life on both sides of the battleline. The men who fought for King and Country were no different in their hearts than those who fought for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In coming to this conclusion, I was able to set aside my “national identity crisis” and develop real, dimensional characters—whether or not they would have been my ancestors’ enemies.

Now, the question becomes: would I be able to portray characters on both sides of the same conflict, making them sympathetic without reverting to stereotypes, explaining the beliefs and causes of both sides honestly without painting one or the other as “good” or “bad” but as equally complex? I may not have the opportunity to do this, but to be able to accurately portray any characters in a historical conflict, understanding both sides will make my story that much richer.

What If? Moments in History

2007-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Before I get into the topic for today, I wanted to share some great news.

I sold my first historical fiction novel to Barbour Publishing. It releases in January 2008 and is the first of 3 possible for their "state" sets. It's a Delaware Colonial, chronicling one family and the lives intertwined throughout the years, using the family home as the setting. You can look for information on my personal web site and blog (www.ambermiller.com).

Now this means more research as I embark on the editing process and more probing to find answers to questions that arise through the stories in my books--which brings me to the topic of today's post.

What If?

As a reader, I often find myself pondering the idea of an "alternate" ending or option to what is portrayed in the book. If not that, I wonder about the actual characters themselves. What if they had chosen a different course of action, or what if their convictions had been swayed?

After chatting with my cohost this week, Kaye Dacus, a more ironic scenario came to the forefront. She pointed out that my books are from an American perspective during the conflict leading up to the Revolutionary War and that she's currently writing from a British perspective about the Royal Navy including its involvement in the War of 1812. Had our characters known each other, they would've been enemies and possibly even fought against each other.

When you think of it in that light, it brings up a whole other list of "what if" questions.

What if characters on opposing sides felt animosity toward each other because of their convictions? What if those convictions led them to actions they wouldn't normally consider? What if you, as an author, turned the tables on them and presented their convictions from the other side of the battle line, so to speak, portraying both sides in a sympathetic light?

As an author, I am duty-bound to present all sides when fleshing out my characters and bringing them to life. If I am going to succeed at creating characters my readers will come to love, I need to delve deep into all facets of their nature and behaviors. So, another question to ask is can I set aside my own patriotism or personal bias and find the good in my characters' enemies? How does writing historical fiction from another cultural viewpoint change my view of a country both then and now?

Kaye and I will flip back and forth this week presenting answers to those questions and how each side viewed the conflicts during these times. We'll also share a little about researching cultural viewpoints to provide greater depth to our stories.

We hope you'll join us and share your thoughts, or pose some questions of your own.

Falling in Love with History

2007-01-08T00:44:00.000-05:00

Hi, all! While this is not my first contribution to the PASTimes blog, this is my first post as a regular contributing member. So, I thought perhaps I should explain why I’m here.

In my early teens, I began a life-long love affair with history. It was not because of a wonderful teacher who made it come alive in the classroom (she came later, in high school). Nor did it stem from living in the Old West near historic Old Mesilla, New Mexico, where the “ghosts” of Billy the Kid or Kit Carson seemed to stroll the streets.

No. My love—passion—for history was born when I read a book entitled Kathleen that I ordered from the Scholastic book order form at school, because the name was so close to my own. When I received it a few weeks later, I devoured it. Now, I had always been a reader, but before this, my bookshelves were filled with Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books, stories about horses or dogs, and Nancy Drew. When I read Kathleen, though, I was transported to another time and place as I never had been before. You see, Kathleen was a YA historical romance, the story of an Irish girl escaping the potato famine and starting a new life as a servant in Boston (where she falls in love with the wealthy family’s son, naturally).

I was so exhilarated by this book, I immediately re-read it. I then discovered a list of other Sunfire Romances in the front and promptly set about finding them. Each was set in a different era, many involving the characters in major historic events such as the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, the fall of Richmond in 1865, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Alamo, the Alaska purchase, and the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. As I read these novels, I started paying more attention in my history classes when I realized the teachers were talking about the events these characters I loved so much were involved in—so much so that when I went to college, I majored in Education, thinking I would become a high school Social Studies teacher.

But I quickly discovered I was not in love with ALL history—just certain parts of it. (And civics and political history? Please, spare me!) I also learned that I liked reading novels and writing stories more than anything else. So I switched my major to English/creative writing, but kept history as my minor—that way I could still take a bunch of history classes, but I would get to take only the ones that interested me. At that time, Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary had just come out, and my parents lived in Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Manassas (Bull Run) battlefields. And, LSU was the school where the top Civil War scholars and experts were part of the History faculty. When I left LSU, I lived in NoVA for about four years and got to visit so many of these sites: Manassas (Bull Run), VA; Sharpsburg (Antietam), MD; Gettysburg, PA (several times, and once took a horseback tour of the battlefield); Harper’s Ferry, WV; Winchester, VA; Chantilly, VA (where I lived); Fair Oaks, VA; and, of course, Washington, DC, itself. History came to life for me as, along with my dad—an expert in military history—I surveyed the actual places where history happened.

Now, many years later, while I still love visiting Civil War sites (and there are plenty I’ve still yet to see here in Middle Tennessee) and reading novels set in the era, my latest passion is Regency England. While most of the history I’ve had to learn on my own, not having taken any British history courses (but plenty in British Lit!), the passion I’ve developed for learning of different times, along with the research skills honed by years of study and writing academic papers, has fueled my desire to pass on my love of history through story and character…just as those Sunfire Romance authors did for me so long ago.

Now what?

2007-01-05T07:17:00.000-05:00

Great discussion this week by our panelists. Since we moved, some may not have found us. Please help us out by telling people where we are. This Q&A will be in the archives and easy to find since it's the first discussion of 2007.

So now that we've heard from the experts, what do we do with this information? You only really learn something if you apply it, you know. I've put together a few resources for you.

If you're putting together a book proposal, here are a few books that you might want to check out:

Book Proposals That Sell by W. Terry Whalin
Here is Jeanne Zornes's review on Amazon:
Before you even think about writing a book, you need to read Terry's book. Finally, in helpful detail, we have an insider explaining what goes on in those mysterious caverns called publishing offices. Terry teaches you how to write a book that will pass the scrutiny of those guarding the publishing house gates and eventually reach the golden status of "published." He introduces his book with some insight into non-fiction trends in publishing, then launches into the twenty-one "secrets" that comprise a winning book proposal. From sharpening a book's topic and identifying an audience, to defining marketing plans and putting together a winning proposal package, he gives helpful, inspiring advice. His thorough treatment offers a comprehensive education in the business side of book writing that you'd never get from a conference or course. It's a paperback mentor you can't pass by.

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas
Steven James left this review on Amazon:
As the author of more than 20 books I'm always on the lookout for practical writing guides that will help me improve my craft and expand my horizons without simply repeating the same old advice. In this book, literary agent Donald Maass offers insider's advice on taking your fiction to the next level by outlining what makes a bestselling novel work. I found the ideas invigorating, practical, and very down-to-earth. Packed with checklists and detailed how-to-advice, this is a book I would recommend for all fiction writers. While many experienced writers will be familiar with some of the material on plotting and characterization, many of the ideas on what make a novel break out from the pack were unique to this book. I found the suggestions helpful in a general sense and am not applying many of the specific ideas as I work on my current project, a suspense thriller due for release in the fall of 2007. While this book might be most helpful for seasoned writers, I would recommend it for all authors who are looking for ways to hone their technique and improve their writing.

Stein on Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies
by Sol Stein
Michelle R. Garcia left this Amazon review:
I bought this book a few months ago at the advice of a fellow journalist. He told me that this book is half fiction, half non-fiction but the advice is helpful. Without a doubt, the words of wisdom that Stein has to offer are priceless. However, when I thought about writing a novel, this is where I turned. From there I now have the basis for my story and will write it during National Novel Writing Month. Get the book, whether you're interested in non-fiction, fiction or both. Be prepared to be honest with yourself and have fun writing!

I have found that many literary agencies have excellent guides to writing proposals on their sites. So do some authors. Here are a few:

Brandilyn Collins
Randy Ingermanson
Chip MacGregor
Hartline Literary Agency
Terry Whalin

Helpful groups:
Fiction Factor
American Christian Fiction Writers
Historical Novel Society

Did I get them all? Of course not. Why don't you share your own resources? Tell us which books, authors, agencies, have given you the best information on publishing trends, book proposals, and more.

Next week Kaye Dacus and Amber Miller are in charge. See you then. Have a wonderful weekend!

Cindy
Author of Brigid of Ireland

Pictured: Cindy and Tricia Goyer. Chip MacGregor picked Tricia as a mentor for me a few years ago. This picture was taken this past July at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver (the first time we met in person!)

Agent/Editor Panel Day Four

2007-01-04T07:24:00.000-05:00

http://clipartheaven.com

We’ve got more of the editor and agent panel for you today. Enjoy!

Again, the key:
JS: Jan Stob, fiction acquisitions editor at Tyndale House Publishers.
CM: Chip MacGregor, literary agent, MacGregor Literary.
TB: Terry Burns, literary agent, Hartline Literary.
JG: Judy Geary, editor, High Country Publishers.

Q: How do you feel about writers following up on a query or proposal submission? What is an acceptable time period to wait before following up?

CM: Hmm…I try to get back to people within three weeks. The fact is, I’m often much faster. But I hate having people send me short notes in order to remind me that I’ve failed them (“I sent you my proposal a month ago!”). They’ve forgotten that I don’t owe them a reading. If I agree to read their proposal, it’s because I choose to. (Sorry if I sound cranky, but I got two of these today, from two people I’ve never heard of. My first reaction is to say something snarky like, “Okay, if you’re forcing me to decide, my answer is no. Now leave me alone.” But no, I’ve never done that.) So I guess following up after a few weeks in a short, polite note (maybe thanking the editor or agent for looking at it) is fine. I prefer just a quick email that reminds me I’ve got your proposal, and asking me if I need anything else. No whining, no blame. I will tell you that I’ve heard from several authors recently about some editors who have kept things for a YEAR without a reply. I find that unconscionable. You wonder how these folks keep their jobs. Look, if the person hasn’t responded in a couple months, move on. Move on emotionally at least.

JG: An unsolicited submission is likely still in a pile somewhere no matter how long it has been. A material that was sent as a result of a request is a different story. About six weeks is long enough to wait. Certainly, if you have sold the manuscript to another publisher (or if you're considering it), that's a good time to get back in touch.

JS: I don’t mind if an author contacts me to verify that I’ve received their proposal but they should wait at least three months before they expect a response to their proposal. Sometimes we’re able to respond more quickly but we can get a little backed up.

TB: Again, most guidelines state a usual response time. It is perfectly acceptable, and good business practice to follow up when that time is reached. However, these response times vary house to house, agent to agent, and some should not be followed up on as quickly as others.
Cindy: Bottom line: check the guidelines. When you do follow up, be polite!

Q: Writers of historical fiction seem to be interested in knowing what time period editors might be looking for. Is there a “hot” time period you would like to see a book set in or any to avoid?

JS: Medieval and the Civil War time period should probably be avoided. However, if the story has an incredible hook, there could be exceptions.

CM: Nope. Tales set in the 1960’s and 70’s have bombed in most markets so far, so I’d generally stay away from the era of long hair and love beads (and, of course, now that I’ve said that, I’m sure the next NYT #1 bestseller will be something like “Love Child: The Haight-Ashbury Series”).

TB: The baby boomers are hitting retirement age and while they are more active than earlier retirement generations, they are the largest generation and will be reading more and more. Targeting time periods that interest them is a good strategy.

JG: I'm not in the "in-group" to know what the big boys are looking for. American history seems to sell steadily. A good mystery finds a market whenever or wherever it's set.

Cindy: I’ve been waiting all week for the MacGregor humor to show up! Thanks for not disappointing me, Chip!

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

TB: In a perfect world we'd write a book and the world would beat a path to our door and force an obscene amount of money on us to publish it, doing all of the work, sales and promotion. In reality, 85% of all manuscripts are turned down and it is generally because the writer has not done the legwork necessary to get a good shot at the market. All of us want to write the stories, we don't want to do the business end, but those who do the work get into that magic 15% where the decision is based on the quality of the writing, not on the details of trying to get the work looked at.

JS: I can think of two examples in the past year where we considered proposals that were in genres that we weren’t currently pursuing. We were willing to overlook the fact that they didn’t fit with our current publishing plan based on the fact that they were either incredibly written or had a great hook that would connect with our readership.

CM: Yes. Two things, actually… First, people ask me why I talk so much about “voice,” when right now the trend in the market is to talk about “branding.” It’s because I think great writing trumps cool marketing. The fact is, if you haven’t found your voice as a writer (and most successful novelists will tell you it came to them over time, often after they’ve written six or seven complete novels), you don’t have anything to “brand.” I urge you to FIND YOUR VOICE FIRST. Second, several folks have emailed me (you can check my web site at www.MacGregorLiterary.com) with questions about “where does depth in writing come from?” I offered an answer on this to my friend Gina Holmes’s NovelJourney blog site, and I’d like to render it here: Depth is found when multidimensional characters who I can relate to face timeless questions in complex circumstances, then make decisions that are open to interpretation…so they may not be right. (THAT’S what causes me to learn, what helps me to understand myself, what leaves me thinking about your book. And this can’t be faked – so you can’t write with an agenda. Nothing is more boring than to read a polemic.) If you really want to add depth to your novel, consider this MacGregor’s Dictum. Really nice of you to invite me. Cindy’s note: Chip also wished us all a Merry Christmas, but he didn’t realize the interview wouldn’t post until after Christmas. But it was a nice sentiment anyway, don’t you agree??

JG: Thank you for maintaining this site. We history buffs need to stick together! Judith Geary
www.judithgeary.com

Thank you to our panel this week. They’ve been very generous with their time. If you missed the bios, please go back to Monday of this week to read them.

Come back tomorrow when I'll share resources that can help us put into practice what the panel has taught us this week.

Agent/Editor Panel Day Three

2007-01-03T07:05:00.000-05:00

http://www.clipartheaven.com/

I don’t know about you, but I’m really enjoying the editor/agent panel this week. We are very fortunate to have these folks sharing their insights and knowledge with us here on PASTimes.

Again, the key:
JS: Jan Stob, fiction acquisitions editor at Tyndale House Publishers.
CM: Chip MacGregor, literary agent, MacGregor Literary.
TB: Terry Burns, literary agent, Hartline Literary.
JG: Judy Geary, editor, High Country Publishers.

Q: Should writers try to keep up on publishing trends? On Nov. 21 on our blog Francine Rivers said: I have no idea about the market. I made a decision a long time ago to pay no attention to the trends in publishing. If writers try to write what is selling, chances are the trend will have changed by the time they finish a manuscript. I write what I need to read.
What is your reaction to this?

JG: I agree with Francine. Write it, then try to find a trend to hook it to.

TB: I think that's good advice for her. When you have that big a name you don't have to worry about such as that. For us lesser writers, there is NO ONE to whom our career is as important as it is to us. As a writer I know that and I take a strong hand in knowing how things that are going on will impact my writing. I don't hesitate to make suggestions and requests on how things should be submitted and where to my agent. As an agent I care a great deal about the future of my clients, but that concern is spread over a number of them. However, trying to write to the market does tend to put us behind the curve. We need to write the stories we have to tell then try to get the most out of it.

JS: I agree [with Rivers’s statement]. Trends are a moving target and hard to predict. At the risk of being repetitive, that’s why I’ve continued to talk about your story having a strong hook. You need to ask yourselves why you’d pick up your story and why others would as well. I would advise writers to be aware of what is available in the market to avoid writing something that has already been done.

CM: I generally agree [with Rivers’s statement]. Of course, a writer of Francine’s stature doesn’t need to pay attention to trends – publishers are going to stand in line to work with her, and offer her a great deal, no matter what she writes. (And I happen to think Francine is a wonderful writer.) That said, I have to pay attention to trends as an agent. And if I’m representing you, it’s nice to know that you’re basically aware of what’s happening in the market. At the same time, what I care about MOST is that you write a great book – trends or not. I do think some authors worry more about the latest trend than they do about the craft – that’s something I see evidenced at writer conferences.

Q: As an editor or agent, what advice do you have for authors regarding querying? What is the best method? (e-mail, snail mail) Is there a particular format the query (or proposal) should follow?

JG: We accept e-mail queries, and they're dealt with as they're received. (Of course that usually just means a quicker rejection.) Snail mail queries may pile up for months before someone braves the "treasure trove." A new format that has a lot to recommend it is to set up a website with the materials for a query package. You can include a link to the website in an e-mail. It's easy to forward such an e-mail to others who might be interested, and it takes up no space in the que. If you're concerned about compromising your copyright, do an unpublished site. A tip: E-mail queries without a specific salutation are deleted without an answer.

JS: My best advice would be to query by snail mail but to include your email address on your query. At Tyndale, our computer firewall blocks a lot of our emails so I’m afraid I may not see queries that are emailed to me. However, it saves a lot of time if you include your email address so I can email you back if I’m interested.

CM: The BEST method is to get face-to-face, so by all means consider attending a conference where you can meet the editors with whom you want to work. But I’m an email guy – I much prefer a query via email. Short, to the point, and give me a reason for wanting to see your proposal. Remember, the goal of the query isn’t to sell your book; it’s to get an editor to agree to take the next step. So the query should briefly give me a reason for wanting to see more, and it should be written extremely well in order to show off your talent, and it should tell me exactly what you want me to do.

TB: Read the guidelines. Most houses and most agents have submission guidelines posted, and to ignore them and send what we don’t want is an insult. People put up what they want to receive for a reason. If someone ignores what is posted I drop them an email and point them to the guidelines saying I don't read bare chapters without the support material. There are too many people doing the research to make sure they are querying the right people, reading the guidelines and submitting properly, giving the editor or agent exactly the information they need to evaluate the project when they read the writing sample. To reward people who don't bother by treating them the same as those who do the work would not be right.

Q: How do you feel about writers following up on a query or proposal submission? What is an acceptable time period to wait before following up?

More tomorrow…

Agent/Editor Panel Day Two

2007-01-02T06:42:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to our editors and agents panel on PASTimes. If you missed yesterday, you’ll want to go back and review the bios of our guests.

Here’s the key:
JS: Jan Stob, fiction acquisitions editor at Tyndale House Publishers.
CM: Chip MacGregor, literary agent, MacGregor Literary.
TB: Terry Burns, literary agent, Hartline Literary.
JG: Judy Geary, editor, High Country Publishers.

Q: Since trends do seem to come and go, would you advise a writer of historical fiction to write in other genres as well?

JG: Write what you know -- and what you love. Some authors have used different pen names to write in different genres, but of course we know that because it's an open secret.

TB: I hate to see anybody trying to force themselves to write in any genre. We have to write the stories that are on our hearts to tell in order to deliver the kind of projects that will touch people. Now, anybody who has stories to tell that span genre lines, they'd be shortchanging the reading public to not tell them. Anybody can write down words, having the story to tell and the ability to tell it well is the name of the game.

JS: I would advise them to write their passion regardless of the genre. But I would also encourage them to consider whether or not they are writing a unique story, a story that will hook your reader.

CM: I don’t think that’s the right question to be asking. A better question would be, “What’s the right place for me to write?” When you look at writers who are making a living at their writing, you find they come in two basic types:
TYPE 1 is the writer who writes all over the map. There are plenty of examples of this in CBA – writers who do kids books, teen books, women's fiction, romance, thrillers, Bible studies, and the occasional novella. This author has good years and bad, makes decent money, is certainly out there a lot.
TYPE 2 is the writer who figures out what she wants to write, then writes it. She focuses on a genre, figures out her voice, and writes to that audience. An example of this is Terry Blackstock (there are plenty of others). She's writing suspense novels, everybody recognizes her voice, and she's focused on that one audience.

I'll tell you right now that TYPE 1 writers rarely hit it big. You know that feeling of being overwhelmed because you're doing six books in four different genres? Well, that's the sort of life a TYPE 1 author is going to lead forever. Because she can't build an audience. Readers have trouble following her. Bookstore owners have a hard time getting behind her because they don't know what her next book is going to be.

TYPE 2 authors have a much greater chance of building an audience, hitting the big time, partnering with retailers, establishing a brand, not working so hard or writing so many books. BUT it's more risky being a TYPE 2. Why? Because WHAT IF YOUR VOICE DOESN'T CATCH ON? Take a look at publisher mid-lists -- they are filled with good authors (occasionally great authors) who are writing and publishing but struggling along. I can think of a couple fantastic writers -- literate, fun, insightful, solid craftwork….but they’ve never really had a hit. There's no guarantee that becoming a TYPE 2 author will establish you as a bestselling author. On the other hand, a good TYPE 2 author continues to get published, because she's GOOD.

So...ask yourself what you want to be. One problem I see is that many authors writing numerous historicals aren’t taking the long view – they started out with the goal of “locating a contract,” and they continue with that as a goal. I would simply suggest a better goal would be “establish a successful long-term career.”

Q: In your opinion, should an author who writes fiction stick only to fiction? Since so much historical research has to be conducted, how do you feel about authors using their novel research to pen nonfiction?

TB: A writer should do what they can do well. Some fiction writers can't cross that line well and vice versa. If they can, and if it's on them to do it, they should.

CM: It depends on their calling. I don’t have any problem representing authors who write both fiction and nonfiction.

JG: Write anything you can at every opportunity. Nonfiction publications lend extra credibility to the fiction writer, so I believe they're valuable. For example, Anita Diamont's nonfiction works lent credibility to her portrayal of Dina in The Red Tent. Pat Mestern and Albert Bell write nonfiction as well as more than one genre of fiction. I've written a number of articles about aspects of Roman culture or my travels, published on the Internet. Most recently, I've completed an article for a young adult biography collection of colonial America.

JS: Frankly, I don’t care if an author wants to write both fiction and non-fiction. I think the larger question is whether or not the author has a passion for both. An author who writes both also has to realize that they may have two different audiences awaiting their releases. Plus, their non-fiction and fiction wouldn’t be shelved together which means they probably wouldn’t have a large shelf presence in either area unless they are extremely prolific.

Q: What particular skills do you look for in a writer of historical fiction?

JS: As in any genre, I look for good writing and a strong story with a good hook. I also like to know that the writer of historical fiction is willing to do their research.

CM: A strong voice. Passion for their story. A strong sense of history and adequate research so that it feels genuine. A good vocabulary, particularly of the setting and time. A clear sense of mood. Good rhythm to their words, clear pacing. Great characters in interesting situations. Strong dialogue. Clear scenes. Action that moves me from one page to the next.

JG: The areas of common ground among historical fiction, other genres, and creative nonfiction are greater than the differences. A writer must be able to hook the reader with engaging characters, engrossing plots and believable dialogue. In addition, the writer who is building a world with which the reader is unfamiliar must be able to include relevant details and description without unduly slowing down the plot. A challenge that seems unique to the writer of historical fiction is the competitive nature of many readers of historical fiction. It's a game to catch the writer in real or seeming anachronisms. So, one particular skill is to reconcile the different perspectives on an historical event or period in a plausible way.

TB: Someone who realizes that it's important for historical fiction to be true to the facts and have a rich setting, but who further realizes that those things cannot be allowed to get in the way of telling the story. When the facts and setting overpower the story it's no longer a work of fiction but it becomes a history text.

Cindy: Wow. Good points here from the panel: you must have a strong hook and good research skills, you must have a passion for the story you’re writing, you must understand the vocabulary appropriate for the time and setting, you must have all the skills required for novelists of any genre, you must reconcile different viewpoints on historical matters (at least making your version plausible), and you must respect the facts and still not let history bog down the story. It’s a tall order, but when those things come together, you end up with a rich, rewarding story. That’s why we love historical fiction!

More of the Q&A tomorrow…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-01-01T08:56:00.000-05:00

My 2007 resolution is to not let obstacles stand in my way (so long as I'm certain I'm following my calling.) Therefore, I've set up this temporary blog so that we can continue our great discussions on Favorite PASTimes. Thanks for hanging in there with us. Please help us spread the word so others can find us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We have had some ups and downs with the operation of the blog and we’ve been away on Christmas vacation. But it’s a new year, and we’re looking forward to some great interviews and discussions on historical fiction in 2007. We also have a new host. Welcome, Kaye! And we will have a new guest host at the end of the month, Jenny Cary.

This week, as promised, I will be bringing you a Q&A with two editors and two literary agents. Let’s get right to that, okay?

Welcome to our guests!
Terry Burns: Terry is a native Texan Living in Amarillo, Texas. For more than twenty-five years he represented businesses, making deals and doing promotion. As a writer he sold much of his work himself and helped some of his friends publish before going with Hartline Literary. He has six novels in print, work in a dozen short story collections, four non-fiction books and numerous articles and short stories.

Judy Geary: Judith Geary joined Ingalls Publishing Group founders Bob and Barbara Ingalls in forming the company in 2001. She is senior editor of the High Country Publishers imprint, which publishes primarily mystery and historical fiction. Her background is a MA in Education from George Peabody College and continued graduate work in writing, editing and literary criticism as well as a twenty year involvement in a regional writers' group and teaching at the university level. In her other life, Geary teaches at Appalachian State University.
GETORIX: The Eagle and The Bull is her first published novel.

Chip MacGregor: Chip MacGregor has been in publishing for two decades, starting as a copyeditor on a small magazine in Portland, Oregon. He has authored or co-authored dozens of books, edited even more, served as a Senior Editor at two CBA houses, and as the Associate Publisher for Time Warner. He is perhaps best known for his years as a literary agent – a job he now does from his own company, MacGregor Literary.

Jan Stob: Jan is an acquisitions editor of general fiction at Tyndale House Publishers. She could have told us all about her illustrious life, but I guess she’s modest because she didn’t give me anything to share. I can tell you that she’s a nice lady. I met her in person last summer at the Write to Publish Conference.

Q: The popularity in genres seems to go in cycles, with perhaps the exception of romance, which always seems to sell well. Where in this cycle do you see the historical fiction genre right now? In the near future?

JS: I think historical fiction is a hard sell right now, unless you are an established/known author or you have a story with an incredible hook.

TB: Those who don't learn from the past are destined to make the same mistakes in the future. We know that, and people have always been fascinated with the past. It does cycle, granted, but there's always a place for a good story, well told.

CM: Historical fiction goes through a cycle with publishers: produce some, watch it grow, produce more, produce too much, cut back, start selling again, produce some, watch it grow, etc. Right now one could argue that there are fewer historicals being sold than there used to be, but I agree with you -- that’s simply a cycle. People love reading about other eras, so while we may be trending down a bit right now, it will trend back up.

JG: Wonderful question. I wish I knew the answer.

Cindy: I may have started off with a trick question, huh? I suppose it is hard to predict the future. Like my husband tells me when I ask him questions like this: Hold on. Let me go get my crystal ball! But I like Chip and Terry’s optimism here! (Keep in mind, they are the agents!)

Q: Is there a certain sub genre of historical (fantasy, romance, thriller, mystery…) that you thinking is selling best now?

JS: I think it’s more about the hook than the sub-genre. What makes your story not only unique but marketable. What is it about your historical romance set during the Civil War that is unique from other historical romances with similar settings? What is it about your story that sets it apart from the other historical novels that are available and why would readers need to read it?

JG: Historical mysteries seem to be selling best right now.

TB: Watching the charts, mysteries seem to be selling better than anything right now regardless of the genre.

CM: A sub-genre that seems to be trending up is the mystery/thriller novel set in a historical period. Historical romance continues to sell (thanks to my forebears – what is it about 18th Century Scots that makes everyone love us?).

Q: Since trends do seem to come and go, would you advise a writer of historical fiction to write in other genres as well?

Come back tomorrow for the answer!