Until now, my proudest accomplishment was the release of my literary historical fiction novel, Blind Tribute. But now, two days hence, this achievement will be surpassed by the release of Crafting Stories from the Past: A How-To Guide for Writing Historical Fiction.

I have edited a lot of projects in my 40-year writing/publishing career, and led as many, often (but not always) at the same time. Rarely has one developed as “magically” and seamlessly as this one. From the moment the Paper Lantern Writers decided on the format—one person per chapter, writing about an area where they have expertise—the process was generally smooth, with remarkably few roadblocks for a project of this size and complexity. After three short story anthologies (and a fourth on the way), we worked as a strong team to produce this remarkable book, of which we all can be exceedingly proud.

Perhaps it came together so easily because we all chose and worked in our own areas of expertise. We started off trying to write by committee, which was kind of a disaster, but when we switched to (mostly) individual authors, the mood shifted. My co-editor, Jill Hamilton, and I devised a method by which each person could “pitch” their idea for a chapter. (Only if 15 chapters were submitted, we agreed, would we move forward.)

The Paper Lantern Writers rose to the challenge, averaging two chapters per member (some of us had more to say than others). In all, after culling/combining a couple of duplicates and adding a few that tickled our editorial fancy, 23 chapters came in at the start, then I exploited my position as co-editor to write an additional chapter halfway through (ironically, “How to Tame the Messy Middle”).

Among the most remarkable parts of the book, however, and the biggest bugaboo, was the Resource List at the back. With more than 200 sources represented, it was an enormous task to wrangle. Taken on ably and without complaint by Ana Brazil, she curated page after page after page of the research sources we use to write our own books. (Then Edie Cay formatted them, which was a nightmare all its own.)

Finally, toward the end of the writing, Jill and I took on the “duty and privilege of the editor” and wrote an introduction, which we hope sums up the Paper Lantern Writers’ purpose and vision and hopes for this book.

In all, this was among the most invigorating projects I have shepherded. In part, this was due to the company. These eleven other authors are generally speaking a joy to work with. They meet deadlines; they read each other’s work and consider it critically; they communicate; they take editorial direction; and they (we) work as a team, all rowing in the same direction toward release date. Just as we have all contributed the best of our authorial expertise to the content, we’ve likewise each added skillsets to the publishing side of the book: editorial, production, marketing, distribution. We have all thrown in our wide-ranging proficiencies to produce this new book in the marketplace.

Why, when there are innumerable craft books available, would we decide to add another one? Because, every single one of us was once a new, aspiring historical fiction author with a grand idea and no idea how to implement it. Every one of us found support in writer’s groups and associations, critique partners, other authors, other publishing professionals, and—of course—from Paper Lantern Writers.

Every single one of us overcame to finish our first (and subsequent) books. We have all read dozens of books on the craft of writing, taken classes (earned degrees and taught classes, even) in storytelling and all its related offshoots. But books and classes of that nature are rarely genre-specific.

(I would guess that I learned 90% of what I know about writing historical fiction by reading historical fiction; another 9% I picked up from talking to historical fiction authors, the rest a combination of craft books and the projects I chose within my college coursework.)

Every single one of us would have had an easier time with a book like this in our back pockets. I know this to be true, based on the sheer number of times I have heard from one or more of the authors reading others’ chapters: “Wow! I wish I had known that when I wrote my book!” or “I can’t believe I got that wrong in my last book!” If the “aha” moments are so thick and fast just among these professional authors, how can this book help but add value to any writer’s toolbox?

So, there is the primary WHY: It was important to all of us to give back to the community of historical fiction writers by sharing the knowledge we have built in our own careers, that informs every book we write. We know who we are as writers, as researchers, and as authors in the marketplace, all of which we explore in depth to help you along your way.  And this, at its heart, is what makes this book special, what made the process so magical, and why it is a must for every HistFic author’s research shelves:

The information comes from and is strengthened by our core identities as writers—and our identity as a group. We are, together—like our individual chapters and topics—larger than the sum of our parts.