Historical Accuracy

How important is historical accuracy to you in a novel? I waver. If the writing is good, I tend to forgive errors. But if there are problems with the story, I will notice every inaccuracy. I suppose I'm more stringent on books which take place in eras I am familiar with. But I'm not one to hurl a book for one mistake. I also put a higher standard to multi-published authors than newbies like when I'm judging a contest. Maybe that's not fair, but if you are a historical novelist, it is part of your job to produce a book as close to accurate as possible, in my humble opinion. What about you?

A wonderful resource...

Want to know more about historical buildings in Britain? I was pointed towards this resource by the author of World History Blog. It's a site called, appropriately enough, Researching Historic Buildings in the British Isles. So far, I've only scanned it (must get back to my ms), but it looks like a good place to learn lots!

Enjoy :-)

Teresa

Recommendations?

What authors do you like? Any titles you'd recommend? I confess I'm in a bit of a drought. The last one I read was "Music of the Night" by Lydia Joyce and I liked it quite a bit. What are your favorites?

So, Rene twisted my rubber arm *g* to join this blog and what do you know - here I am *g*.

I'm sure you're all sooooo surprised.

But a blog dedicated to writers of historicals is right up my alley. I feel like we're a dying breed. *sigh* NOT that I have anything against romantic suspense, women's fiction, chick lit, hen lit or any of the other more popular genres, it's just that I am so totally dedicated to the historical world I can't imagine writing anything else. Or give up hope that one day, despite the apparently fading historical market, I'll have one of my mss published.

I write stories set in the past because the events of yesteryear fascinate me. And because my characters are all historical - they come to me, fully formed, as people from the past. The one contemp character who made an appearance promptly insisted on travelling back to 1483 England and taking up with the handsome spymaster of Richard III. So what's a historian who loves a happy ending to do? Write historical romance. And keep on pushing the genre by talking about it, reviewing books set in the past and writing the best da**ed book she can.

Speaking of which - I'd best get back to my characters :-)

Thanks Rene and Melissa for welcoming me here :-)

Teresa

What Kind of Romance?

What kind of historical romance are you reading, writing or both? Do you have a favorite time period and setting?

Why This Blog?

Besides the fact I thought the template was pretty, I thought it would be a nice place for historical writers to gather. Writing the historical romance is different from other types of writing. While we are able to exploit the wide range of historical material and add that richness to our stories, our heroes and heroines must play by different rules. Their goals and motivations differ from their contemporary counterparts. I thought it would be fun to have a place where others can vent about their struggles or find answers to specific questions. We can gather support for our endeavors and share information with each other.