My week has been full of writing marketing copy and similar duties for the upcoming launch of Hand of Fire on September 10. While there are moments when the precision and clarity required by such writing are fun to capture, I have to say I am looking forward to spending time on the messy rough draft of my historical mystery. Much more imagination involved and much less tension!
Here are some spots on the web I enjoyed this week:
Engaging interview with Deborah Harkness. A completely different take on writing fiction with witches, demons and vampires (she’s a historian, after all). Also, as an academic, her understanding of what “genre” she fits into and how potentially useless the many distinctions are. Nancy Bilyeau did the masterful asking. Link here.
Via Heather Webb with thanks: An excellent discussion in The Guardian about Mary Renault and the state of historical fiction, with Hilary Mantel’s quotes dominating the discussion, as they should. Two pieces that struck home with me. I hear my process of recreating Briseis’s world in this quote, “All historical novelists have to provide psychological character insight. But Renault has to go beyond that and create events and stories and characters, because we have so few facts about Alexander’s early life. She makes up a great deal. That’s not a criticism. It’s her novelist’s prerogative. Arguably, her best skill lies not so much in presenting the known facts as filling in the gaps between them.” And I think Mantel sums it up well with, “The trade of the historical novelist doesn’t seem so reprehensible or dubious; the only requirement is for conjecture to be plausible and grounded in the best facts one can get.” What are your thoughts on the state of historical fiction: a debased genre or are we to be allowed into the realm of respected literature? Link here.
The last days of Scott and Zelda as retold in fiction. Beautiful Fools: The Last Affair of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald by R. Clifton Spargo on one of my favorite blogs, History and Women. Link here.
A new find on Cyprus. An impressive citadel wall of Classical date just outside a fascinating site dedicated to Aphrodite that I visited this spring. This wall is part of palace of the last dynasty of ancient Paphos. Link here.
Only the facts? No! Historical fiction finds the unknown WHY & that part is usually made up. Lisa Yarde on this tricky business as she wrote Sultana: The Bride Price Link here.
Ever wonder where the Holy Grail legends came from and where they went? Jeri Westerson tells all. Turns out it’s more complicated than I remember from Monty Python J 🙂 Link here.