INTRODUCTION When you write "recent" historical fiction, sometimes you are fortunate enough to interview people who were alive during your story's period. I am one of those authors. HALF-TRUTHS takes place in Charlotte in 1950, and when I started researching the book twenty years ago, I searched for people who were alive in the 1950s.… Continue reading Learn to Read, Read to Learn
One of the good things about writing historical fiction set in the not-so-distant past is that you can interview people who lived through the conflicts you are writing about. One of the hard things about writing "recent" historical fiction is that the people you interview--your experts--are elderly and die. Ten years ago I posted my first blog… Continue reading Thereasea Elder Wore Many Hats
One of the cool things about writing historical fiction is the people I have "met" in my research. Some are relatively well-known, some are names buried in history. It is especially cool if I'm able to include their stories in my WIP, Half-Truths. HALF-TRUTHS For those of you who are unfamiliar with the plot, Kate Dinsmore, my… Continue reading Including "Real" People In Historical Fiction And A Book Review of WAR IN KOREA
Congratulations to Jo Lynn Worden who won an autographed copy of "God's Blessings of Fall." Thanks to everyone who entered this popular giveaway. ******* I've been plotting and thinking about my next book, which is tentatively titled, TOXIC. It will be a sequel to HALF-TRUTHS with Kate's younger brother, Woody, as the main character. In… Continue reading Meet My New Experts: Four Korean War Veterans
Congratulations to Joyce Hostetter who won THE HERO TWO DOORS DOWN and to Clara Gillow Clark who won PACO'S PAINTBRUSH. Clara Gillow Clark is the blogger from whom I won FOOD FIGHT FIESTA. (And no, I didn't rig the contest. Random.org always picks my winners!) ******* Several weeks ago when I blogged about teaching at Write 2… Continue reading Fundamental STEPS to Writing Historical Fiction– Highlights 2018
Congratulations to Joan Edwards who won RESTART from last week's giveaway. Thanks to almost five hundred people who read my second blog in this mini-series of posts about my WIP. That's a new record for a blog post about Half-Truths! In this post, Julian Daventry (the ring leader for these posts) challenged me and my fellow… Continue reading Shared WIP Tag III- The Story World
Congratulations to Joyce Hostetter who won the autographed copy of Darlene Jacobson's book, WHEELS OF CHANGE. As promised several weeks ago, I want to share more about Vermelle Ely, one of my generous experts for Half-Truths, my WIP which takes place in Charlotte, NC in 1950. Vermelle and I in her Charlotte, NC home March,… Continue reading Meet My Experts III- Vermelle Diamond Ely
Congratulations to Kathy Wiechman who won FIRE, COLOR, ONE from last week's blog. Three years ago I posted a blog about some of the people I'd interviewed for Half-Truths. These experts as well as other men and women willingly shared their life stories with me in order to make my story more authentic. Since I'm… Continue reading Meet My Experts – Part II
Last week I pressed send. Not to an agent or an editor. But to 10 beta readers. I finally have a draft of Half-Truths, which is ready to be critiqued! Eight years ago Joyce Hostetter challenged me to join her in NaNoWriMo. I'd been thinking about writing a novel and had a rough idea what… Continue reading Marking a Milestone
As promised, today you're going to meet four women I have interviewed in the process of writing Half-Truths. I hope you'll enjoy a glimpse at their lives--"back in the day"-- and a few of their insights which have contributed to my book. Thereasea Elder T.D.'s Truths by Stanley and Janice Frazier In 1962, Thereasea was… Continue reading Meet My Experts–Part I