Our resident agony aunt, Dr Darwin, answers a common question: what counts as historical fiction? Dear Dr Darwin, I told my grandmother that I was writing a historical novel set in the Liverpool of the early Beatles, and she laughed so hard she nearly fell off her motorbike. I told my brother the Beatles weren’t […]
Losing the Plot
Robyn Young on her new novel, Court of Wolves, and its difficult path to publication. Over the thirteen years I’ve been in this business, I’ve spoken to many writers about their methods and while no two authors tackle a novel in quite the same way, there’s clearly a spectrum – at the opposite ends of […]
How to Write a Historical Debut: A Cautionary Tale
HWA Debut Crown judge, Ben Fergusson, gives an inside view on what makes or breaks a historical
How do you research historical fiction?
Our resident agony aunt, Dr Darwin, answers a common question – how do you research historical fiction? Dear Dr Darwin, Everyone says “research till your eyes bleed” – you did in your post about cultural appropriation – but when I Google, all I can find is the information I know already, repeated in a million […]
Are there multicultural boundaries we must not cross in historical fiction?
Dear Dr Darwin, I’m working on a script that begins during the 1830’s. The central character is a fictional young Black teen, and two major characters are actual historical figures: a young Native American warrior and a mixed-blood warrior; the true purpose of the script is to tell their fascinating story. I, however, am White. […]
I know this story isn’t a novel, but I’m not a biographer!
Dear Dr Darwin I recently came upon a long-dead member of my family, Jebediah, who did some amazing things, in all sorts of places in the world. I think lots of people would find Jebediah fascinating, but I’m not equipped to do the formal, thorough research that a biography would need. Nor is there a […]
Historia Interviews: Antonia Hodgson and M J Carter
MJ (Miranda) Carter is the author of three books featuring 19th century detective duo Blake and Avery; Antonia Hodgson writes books featuring louche but good-hearted 18th century gentleman, Thomas Hawkins. Both write as their male first person narrators, and both their first novels, The Strangler Vine, and The Devil in the Marshalsea, were shortlisted for […]
Reliable Libel
When using real people in historical fiction, how far must you be true to them? Or, rather, how wildly may you traduce them? William Sutton ponders a common concern for writers. Do you worry about misrepresenting historical figures? “You faithless writer,” cry my characters, as I attribute to them words and attitudes they would renounce. […]