Happy New Year, oh List Link Lovers! I hope your holidays were the best and that you’re as eager as I am for an incredible year of historical fiction adventures!

I’m kicking off our 2025 List Links with a very personal list of 25+ historical fiction author newsletters and Substacks.

Most of these recommendations are from my own inbox (I know! I subscribe to way too many, but each offers something that appeals to me), and thankfully, my fellow Paper Lantern Writers Anne Beggs, Edie Cay, Kathryn Pritchett, Alina Rubin, and Jonathan Posner offered some excellent suggestions.

Each name below links to a newsletter or Substack signup page. I’d like to keep this list growing, so if you have other newsletters or substacks to recommend, please add them in the comments!

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Alice Elliot Dark ~ Author of Think of England

Alina Rubin ~ Author of A Girl with a Knife, No Job for a Woman, and A Surgeon and a Spy

Alina Rubin and PA Martinique Pautzke ~ Work Life Balance as an Author Substack

Alison Epstein ~ Author of Fagan the Thief and Let the Dead Bury the Dead. Alison’s Substack wins the prize for best title: Dirtbags Through the Ages.

Ana Brazil ~ Author of The Red-Hot Blues Chanteuse and Fanny Newcomb & the Irish Channel Ripper. A quarterly newsletter.

Anne M. Beggs ~ Author of Archer’s Grace and By Arrow and Sword (2025)

Barbara Davis ~ Author of The Keeper of Old Books and The Keeper of Happy Endings

Clare Flynn ~ Author of Letters from a Patchwork Quilt and Kurinji Flowers. Her signup offers a free short story.

Cryssa Bazos ~ Author of Traitor’s Knot, Severed Knot, and Rebel’s Knot 

Edie Cay ~ Author of The Boxer and the Blacksmith, In the Money With You, and Into the Breach With You (February 2025).

Emily Royal ~ Author of The Taming of the Duke and The Harpy of the Ton. Free book with subscription.

George Saunders ~ Author of Lincoln in the Bardo. His Story Club with George Saunders Substack has both free and for-fee options.

Grace Callaway ~ Author of Pippa and the Prince of Secrets and The Duke Who Knew Too Much

K. T. Blakemore ~ Author of The Good Time Girls and The Good Time Girls Get Famous. This is one of my favorite blogs for in-depth historical content, and I love, love, love K.T.’s FB tagline: “I write historical fiction about fierce women. Sometimes they scare me. Mostly, I want to be them.”

Karen Odden  ~ Author of A Lady in the Smoke and A Dangerous Duet. You can view Karen’s newsletters on her website.

Janis Robinson Daly ~ Author of The Unlocked Path

Jillianne Hamilton ~ Author of The Hobby Shop on Barnaby Street and The Land Girl on Lily Road

Jonathan Posner ~ Author of The Sovereign’s Secret and The Alchemist’s Arms. Jonathan describes his 5 Minute Break Substack as “quick reads for when you just want to take a short break and be challenged, amused, or maybe mildly pissed off by an old codger having a bit of a rant.”

Lars D. H. Hedbor ~ Author of the Tales From a Revolution series

Laurie R. King ~ Author of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, The Lantern’s Dance, and soooo many other Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell novels

Linda Ulleseit ~ Author of Innocents at Home, The River Remembers, and The Aloha Spirit

M.K. Tod ~ Author of The Admiral’s Wife, Paris in Ruins, and Time and Regret. While M.K. has ended her excellent newsletter, you can sign up for regular, well-worth-the-time-to-read, blogging updates.

Michael Ross ~ Author of the Across the Great Divide series

Paper Lantern Writers ~ Authors of the Unlocked, Beneath a MidWinter Moon, and Destiny Comes Due anthologies. Every month, Linda, Alina, and Vanitha put together an entertaining assemblage of PLW updates (New books! Giveaways! Latest Posts! Behind the Lantern!) Get your choice of 3 free short stories when you subscribe to the PLW newsletter.

Sharon Bennett Connolly ~ Author of the non-fiction Heroines of the Medieval World and Silk and the Sword. Sharon’s History…the Interesting Bits newsletter comes highly recommended.

Suzanne Kelman ~ Author of A View Across the Rooftops and Under A Sky on Fire. A free book with newsletter signup.

Word Wenches ~ “Seven historical authors who plot in the present, write about the past…and improvise all the rest!”

Finis!