Anatomy of a scene (3 scenes, actually) . . .
I always enjoy behind-the-scenes or anatomy-of-a-scene features for movies and TV shows. Now that my new historical novel GALLOWAY’S...
Stuff I learned, part II: What famous people really said!
As noted in an earlier blog, historical fiction needs to be accurate, and feel truthful. That’s why historical novelists often anchor a...
Stuff I learned about...19th century baseball!
Until I started writing historical fiction, I had no idea research was so much fun. Some research was specific – I needed to know when it...
Soundtrack . . . in a book? The music of GALLOWAY'S GAMBLE
When I started writing my new historical novel GALLOWAY’S GAMBLE, I wanted to weave music into the story. Music has been a natural part...
Bring on the blurbs!
Blurbs: those short, enthusiastic quotes that appear on book covers. As defined by NPR journalist Colin Dwyer in a 2015 story, a blurb is...
History: real, "reel" & living
Fun thing about writing historical fiction: it’s the perfect excuse to visit historical places. My quest – time travel! (Or, at least, a...
Carefree Highways & Big Bug Creeks: Real names for fictional places
Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has told the story of how he got the idea for his 1974 hit song "Carefree Highway" from the...
Thank goodness for Ken Burns!
65,000! That’s approximately how many books have been written about the Civil War. Not surprising, considering that it was, is and may...
"You can't tell a book by its cover." Wanna bet?
I believe you should absolutely be able to tell something important about a book by its cover. If you can’t, it’s a lousy cover. Back in...
Horsepower! When everyone owned a horse . . . or did they?
Before cars, horses were ubiquitous . . . or were they? Not long ago, my Minnesota friend Sally Skjaret and her husband Tom had this...
