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| Historical Fiction Blogs |
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Why Pacific Sail Pt 3 by Alan E. (Al) Strunk 2/20/2021 11:43:38 AM
Imagination is limited only by lifespan. History is a large stage. The story had escaped the bounds of a single novel! Pacific Steam, Pacific Steel, were sailing in formation just over my creative horizon. On board were future generations of establis... more
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Why Pacific Sail Pt 2 by Alan E. (Al) Strunk 2/15/2021 12:45:36 PM
I started on a voyage aboard the sailing brig Azalea in my novel Pacific Sail, knowing full well my chances of completion were slim; those of success, “slimmer than an eel’s backbone” as my character, ship’s cook Goodfoot, would have put it. Then cha... more
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Eight Stages to a New Book by Jess Wells 11/2/2020 8:41:30 AM
Grieving over the loss of characters and a fictional world I've created, I have realized that there are perhaps eight stages to book creation. ... more
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Is the story of King Arthur all played out? by Jay M Horne 10/27/2020 6:39:42 PM
I remember being in middle school and thinking that I had been born a few centuries too late. This was just before I really started taking an interest in King Arthur and his tutor Merlyn (Coincidentally, Disney produced the Sword and the Stone around... more
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The Mirror and the Light, book review by David A. Schwinghammer 5/17/2020 9:28:27 AM
How Thomas Cromwell, Master Secretary to Henry VIII, met his end.... more
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Video Readings from Straight Uphill: A Tale of Love and Chocolate by Jess Wells 5/15/2020 9:50:28 AM
Please enjoy a five-minute video introducing you to the small Italian hilltop village, and the protagonist, of a href="https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Uphill-T... more
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Six Authors on Staying in the Zone by Jess Wells 4/20/2020 10:42:17 AM
Six authors discuss how they get in and return to the Zone, that elusive state where the words flow and time flies.... more
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Gems from Ulrich’s Not-Well-Behaved Women by Jess Wells 11/29/2019 8:10:23 AM
Well behaved women seldom make history, but here are glimmers of some ground-breaking women, and interesting ways women's lives were shaped, in the seminal book by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.... more
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Christine de Pizan Honored by GCP by Jess Wells 10/27/2019 10:27:22 AM
Christine de Pizan, the first feminist and brilliant thinker of the 1300s, is honored in The Great Courses Plus. Here are the facts, as dramatized in my book, A Slender Tether.... more
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Seeds of a Novel by Katharine L Sparrow 8/24/2019 7:07:57 PM
How my search began that eventually would lead me to write my novel, "Green Among the Clovers".... more
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What Does Your Writing Mean? by Jess Wells 8/11/2019 12:55:42 PM
Only a unifying theme can turn a story into actual art. And it’s personally revealing to consider the themes in your pieces. Here are mine, and tips on the topic.... more
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Chocolate Comes to Europe in Surprising Ways by Jess Wells 6/26/2019 9:06:58 AM
It took more than 100 years for chocolate to travel from Spain to Italy: it was a well-guarded secret! In the second of three posts, learn how chocolate made its way into the Italian court and where hazelnut paste comes from.... more
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Writing Women into HistFict: How-to Book with Great Advice by Jess Wells 5/10/2019 6:54:33 AM
From the visual cliche of the headless woman on the cover to the challenge of writing heroines in histfict, Writing Historical Fiction is a how-to book with a lot of heft. Here's my take on it:... more
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Segmented Sleep is Great for the Creative Mind by Jess Wells 11/28/2018 8:51:54 AM
A good night's sleep -- especially for creative types -- isn't 8 uninterrupted hours, it could be closer to the ancient pattern of two sets of sleep, with a creative time in between.... more
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New Findings on The Surprisingly Sophisticated Druids by Jess Wells 9/4/2018 8:21:33 AM
Turns out that Druids are not just shadowy magicians like Merlin. A new book shows them as surprisingly sophisticated in their land management and education, and their involvement of women. ... more
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Review, IN THE WEEDS by Mark Ozeroff 8/6/2018 4:38:20 PM
My novel has received an excellent review from Cynthia Varady. IN THE WEEDS is a humorous ‘70s tale of gas, grass, ass…and Vietnam. Please stop in, take a stroll through Cynthia's interesting blog:
www.cynthiavarady.net/blog/in-the-weeds/... more
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A Brief History of an Obsession: Fashion from Pre-Human to the Rental Box by Jess Wells 8/4/2018 3:02:54 PM
Fast fashion and rental boxes aside, the work of textiles has been up to women for millenia. Here's a look at the work involved, and how long we've been doing it!... more
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HistFic Questions on Character Development and Scene by Jess Wells 7/4/2018 6:14:41 PM
While most discussions of historical fiction endlessly debate the need for accuracy vs. artistic license, I'd like to suggest other questions re: outmoded beliefs held by characters and social forces that bore the reader. Here are a few suggestions:... more
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Medieval Peasants Had More Vacation Time Than You by Jess Wells 6/1/2018 11:16:06 AM
We work harder and longer than Medieval peasants, new research has shown. They took a nap at noon and had a 'bever' break for ale that lasted for hours.... more
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Service and Remembrance by Faith N. DeVeaux 4/21/2018 8:23:49 AM
Today (4/21/2018) was a Day of Service and Remembrance at the Vietnam Wall in DC.... more
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