Skip to main content

#HistFicThursdays - Caledon - Book Trailer

Today, I am so excited to share my new series trailer for Caledon . As many of you know, as well as Historical Fiction, I am also a massive fan of fantasy literature. Caledon combines the two. After launching the first book during lockdown, and the second only making it as far as an eBook, this summer will finally see the print version of The Stealth of Caledon . Next year, The Strength of Caledon  (which was serialised on Smashwords last year) will be released, followed by The Wisdom of Caledon  (2027), The Nobility of Caledon  (2028), and  The Zeal of Caledon  (2029). It seems scary to be thinking so far ahead, but I'm eager to get the books finalised and shared with the world. So, enjoy the trailer and - hopefully - enjoy the books too!

#HistFicThursdays - Taking Liberties With Histories

 This week is Book Week Scotland, and this month is NaNoWriMo. This makes it a very busy time of year! For me as a writer, these two things have something in common: taking liberties with histories!

One of my favourite books by a Scottish author is Kidnapped. If you didn't love roguish characters before reading this (I always have done!) this book will change your mind, and you'll really be rooting for Alan Breck Stewart by the end. It's a book for all ages, and can be read on several levels.

But, although I loved this book, it taught me one very important thing about historical fiction: it doesn't have to be accurate. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact Robert Louis Stevenson knew the history, but still decided to change it - blatantly change it, too, since the dedication makes reference to it in the first paragraph!

I still love the book, though. It is a brilliant adventure through the countryside I know and love.


This NaNoWriMo, I'm attempting to write an adventure book - historical, of course. I am trying to write something in every genre I can, and this will tick adventure off the list. And I'm taking a few liberties along the way, although not quite so obviously as RLS! History evolves, and fiction is not the only thing which encourages this. There is a slant to each book you read - there has to be, or no one would have bothered writing it.

So, for the sake of my project, a dual-timeline novel called My Cloak Shall Be My Shroud, I'm attempting an approach with a slightly more relaxed attitude to historical accuracy. My hope was that it would be easier to do this and revisit the facts at the end in the editing stage. In practice, I still have eighteen internet windows of research open, mostly concerning the Roman legions in Britain, but ranging to caudles and disembowelled Jacobites.


But do you know what I've found? There is a certain amount of freedom to just writing and writing without having to worry about facts, and I also found I know more than I thought! Incorporating potential supernatural threads allows for a certain lenience, too. Early church history and the mysticism of conversions of the first British martyrs is heavily interwoven in the earlier timeline, and ghosts and shadowy forms haunt the later one. Throwing in these beliefs and superstitions allows a certain amount of artistic interpretation for events. And given the vague nature of timings and dates in that earlier period I, like RLS, have tweaked them to line up with what works for my story.

I'm not sure if this is an approach I'll keep for other projects but I have certainly made a discovery as I've plunged down the NaNoWriMo rabbit hole. Historical fiction does not need to be written as prescriptively as I always have done. I don't think I will ever be able to write a story I know to be inaccurate, but there are plenty of gaps in historical knowledge that we, as writers, can exploit.

In short: historical fiction does not need to be factual so much as true.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Masterworks: Legacy - Samantha Wilcoxson - Interview

  Today is the last of a series on nine interviews I'm sharing on the Crowvus Book Blog. These are from the authors of the short stories included in the  Masterworks  anthology by the  Historical Writers Forum . We're running through chronologically, some are video interviews, others are written. I am delighted to welcome the fantastic Samantha Wilcoxson, who is sharing the artist inspiration for her short story Legacy , as well as the appeal of James A. Hamilton, and the delights of researching. First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself, what you write (besides Masterworks!), and what inspired you to begin writing. I was inspired to write by my love of reading. After watching me read, write reviews, and keep journals for twenty years, my husband asked me why I didn’t try writing, so I did! Without really planning on it, I ended up writing historical biographical fiction. I’m drawn to a tragic tale but also to lesser known historical figures with emotive stor...

#HistFicThursdays - Apollo's Raven - Linnea Tanner - Book Blast

 If you've been following this blog for a little while, you might remember me sharing a fabulous guest post about this book in 2022 (which you can read here ). It's always great to welcome Linnea Tanner onto the Crowvus Book Blog, and I'm delighted to be taking part in her Coffee Pot Book Club book blast blog tour. So, let's meet the book... A Celtic warrior princess is torn between her forbidden love for the enemy and duty to her people. AWARD-WINNING APOLLO’S RAVEN sweeps you into an epic Celtic tale of forbidden love, mythological adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. In 24 AD British kings hand-picked by Rome to rule are fighting each other for power. King Amren’s former queen, a powerful Druid, has cast a curse that Blood Wolf and the Raven will rise and destroy him. The king’s daughter, Catrin, learns to her dismay that she is the Raven and her banished half-brother is Blood Wolf. Trained as a warrior, Catrin must find a way to break t...

#HistFicThursdays - Strait Lace by Rosemary Hayward - Guest Post

For this week's #HistFicThursdays blog, I'm delighted to be welcoming  Rosemary Hayward  to the blog with a guest post about her new release  Strait Lace ,   as part of her  Coffee Pot Book Club  tour. Read on to discover the history surrounding this fabulous book. But first, let's meet the book... Blurb It is 1905. Edwardian England. Harriet Loxley, the daughter of a vicar and niece to a prominent Nottingham lace manufacturer, spends her days playing cricket with her brother, scouring the countryside for botanical specimens, and never missing an opportunity to argue the case for political power for women. Given the chance to visit the House of Commons, Harriet witnesses the failure of a historic bill for women’s voting rights. She also meets the formidable Pankhurst women. When Harriet gets the chance to study biology at Bedford College, London, she finds her opportunity to be at the heart of the fight. From marching in the street, to speaking to hostile c...