historical fiction

Beyond the Marquee: Toward a Common History

Posted on Jun 5, 2011 in historical fiction, social history, women's history | Comments Off on Beyond the Marquee: Toward a Common History

Beyond the Marquee: Toward a Common History

This article of mine was originally published in the February 2011 issue of Historical Novels Review.Come and visit our panel “Are Marquee Names Really Necessary” with star authors Margaret George, C.W. Gortner, Susanne Dunlap, and Vanitha Sankaran at the 2011 Historical Novel Society North American Conference in San Diego, on Saturday, June 18.Recorded history is wrong. It’s wrong because the voiceless have no voice in it. These are the words of the late, great Mary Lee Settle, author of the classic Beulah Land Quintet, published in the 1950’s when both academic history and most...

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Writing Women Back into History

Posted on Oct 22, 2010 in daughters of the witching hill, historical fiction, pendle witches, women's history | 2 comments

Writing Women Back into History

This illustration, from Wikipedia Media Commons, depicts medieval women hunting. This article of mine was originally published in the May 2008 issue of Solander Magazine, published by the Historical Novel Society.We have been lost to each other for so long. My name means nothing to you. My memory is dust. This is not your fault or mine. The chain connecting mother to daughter was broken and the word passed into the keeping of men, who had no way of knowing. That is why I became a footnote, my story a brief detour between the well-known history of my father and the celebrated chronicle of my...

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A Brief History of Enchantment: Witchy October Reads

Posted on Oct 13, 2010 in book recommendations, historical fiction, magic | 2 comments

A Brief History of Enchantment: Witchy October Reads

This article of mine was originally published in the February 2010 Issue of Historical Novels Review.A Brief History of Enchantment: Magic Goes MainstreamParanormal fiction is hot. Think of the huge popularity of the Harry Potter and Twilight series; of adult fantasy/historical fiction crossovers such as Susanne Clarke’s eccentric doorstopper, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell; not to mention Seth Grahame-Smith’s quirky genre-bender, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. “The publishing world has seen an explosion in fiction featuring a wide array of paranormal elements,” says literary agent...

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