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 for winning "You Are Mine, Porcupine." She is my cousin-in-law and has several porcupettes she'll read the book to! ******* Some writers use prompts or free writes when they're trying to figure out what their character is thinking or feeling, or what happens next in a story. I use poetry.… Continue reading After I Passed: Lillian's Poem
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 Theresa Milstein who won Tomorrow's Bread from last week's blog. ******** One of the television shows my husband and I enjoy is Chopped. Besides watching the incredible creations the cooks come up with out of their mystery baskets, I like the final second when the cooks' time is up. They throw up their hands and step away… Continue reading I Finished My Book, Now What? Some ABC's of Being Between Books
Congratulations to Gail Cartee who won The End of the World and Beyond on last week's giveaway. When I began researching Half-Truths someone--I'm afraid I don't remember who it was--told me about how Brooklyn, an African American neighborhood in Charlotte that was leveled as a part of urban renewal. Tomorrow's Bread by Anna Jean Mayhew, breathes life into… Continue reading TOMORROW'S BREAD: A Review and Giveaway
It's been awhile since I've shared the books that I read while writing Half-Truths. Here are two more books that have helped me understand one of my characters, Lillian Harris. If you aren't familiar with Half-Truths, this is the pitch for my book: In the heavily segregated South, fifteen-year-old Kate Dinsmore's world is shaken when she… Continue reading Multi Racial Reads #20 and #21
Florida became a state in 1845 and was quickly thrust into the Civil War. The Smallest Tadpole’s War in the Land of Mysterious Waters bridges the years from 1843 to 1900. The main character, Thomas Franklin Swearingen, was author Diane Swearingen’s husband’s great-great-grandfather. Thomas Swearingen, an uneducated farmer who settled northern Florida when it was… Continue reading The Smallest Tadpole's War in the Land of Mysterious Waters: An Audio Book Review and Giveaway
Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won Vijaya Bodach's new novel, BOUND. Thanks to all of you for your comments the last three weeks; both Vijaya and I appreciated hearing from you. ******* Many of you have been following my blog for years and some of you are new readers. My "old" followers are familiar with… Continue reading Celebrate Black History Month With These Books
As I mentioned last week, this is the second post in a two-part series on the variety of stages writers go through when producing a book. Thanks to Jean Hall who said that she is "always in the middle of creation or revision of picture books." Julian Daventry said, "I'm about to start editing my… Continue reading Four Writers and Four Writing Stages–Part II