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Q & A What is the Spark that Prompted Your Book
The world of historical fiction is full of amazing, interesting, and fascinating stories. I often wonder what sparks authors to write the stories...
Eighty Excellent Online Historical Collections
Happy International Archives Day! In the spirit of Fifty Fabulous Online Library Historical Collections, Sixty Sensational Online Historical Archive...
Adventure by Foot, Coach, and Ship
THE CHARACTERS IN MY FICTION travel about in their world. Could it be because I like to travel? Absolutely. Travel runs through my fiction because...
Obliged to be Industrious
I grew up as a musician in a household of musicians. My father was the conductor of a summer county band--think of any extremely wholesome outside...
Travel Blog – Preston, Idaho
The day was bitter cold, with snow on the ground and ice floating in the river. Cannons from the nearby ridge opened fire with grapeshot. The Shoshone had a few rifles with faulty powder. They tried to defend their families with bows and arrows. Soldiers charged the camp, and were initially repelled, but flanked on two sides and overwhelmed the defenders with superior numbers and firepower. Chaos ensued. One woman picked up a pistol to protect her baby and was shot by an officer. Women were shot trying to swim the river with babies on their backs, a vain attempt to escape.
Women at Sea
Fiction often portrays that women were unwelcome on ships. According to superstition, women brought bad luck to the voyage. Yet, in British Royal...
5 Reasons to Include Travel in Tudor Stories
As a writer of historical fiction set in Tudor England, I am firmly of the belief that travel can be an integral part of the narrative and not...
The Trip West: Indiana to Iowa in 1848
When “travel” came up as a blog topic, I was instantly intrigued. While researching NEVER LET GO, I assembled large batches of information about...
Medieval Road Trips
Welcome to my travel blog. As I write adventure romance set in thirteenth century Ireland, I will share my research and insights in that time....
Q&A – Something You Don’t Like About the Period You Write In
In order to be an author of historical fiction, an author must get really down and dirty in their chosen timeframe. The more intimate the research...
The Music Didn’t Stop for Wartime Britain
Music and dancing appear in all three of my WWII romance novels. Music brought people together during wartime when they needed fun and companionship...
May Day and How to Fight For Your Right to Party
From the sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt, a 13th century master mason. These show sketches of The Green Man motif that can be found in...
The Written Word – Victorian Women’s Periodicals
March is Women’s History Month, which is pretty much EVERY month for us Paper Lantern Writers. But this March we’re focusing on the Written Word and...
It’s Mardi Gras History, Baby!
Author's Note: This blog post was crafted before the heinous shooting of parade goers during Sunday's Bacchus Parade. My heart goes out to the...
Luminous Istanbul: City of Dreams
Hagia Sophia, Salvator Barki/Getty Images Whenever friends returned from a trip to Istanbul—whether spending a week or a month—they always said, “We...
Where Murder Is As Commonplace As Suppertime
Panning for gold, 1850. I love history (obviously), and most of my work stems from a specific tidbit I’ve found in my regular reading. While...
Reflecting upon Revolutionary America
Long before I heard the unbelievably insane soundtrack of Lin-Manual Miranda’s Hamilton, I’d been a big fan of the men and women of the American...
Pondering Roman Britain
Roman baths When someone suggested our topic for this month: "Places/Eras we'd like to write about, but haven't," I immediately knew what I would...
Gilded Age Actress Maude Adams on Dressing the Part
Maude Adams as Peter Pan Maude Adams was the preeminent American stage actress of the Gilded Age and Broadway’s original Peter Pan. She owned...
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