Deborah Swift's Blog, page 33
March 30, 2016
Second of my historical fiction deadly sins – Purple Prose
Description Over-writing. It’s a sin! Historical fiction demands that we paint a vivid picture of the past. To do this, we have to tell our story, describe a world, and still bring the novel in at a reasonable length. Unnecessary adverbs and adjectives must be the first to be axed, (though now I have got […]
March 27, 2016
Sugar – The favourite ‘nip’ of the Tudors and Stuarts
Sugar became enormously popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was sold in loaves and wrapped in blue paper (patented 1666) to make it appear whiter. A sugar loaf could be from 8″ to nearly 3 feet tall, but the smaller the loaf, the higher the quality and the price. Loaves were cut into […]
March 24, 2016
Subtlety and Melodrama in Historical Fiction
Many of my books are set in the English Civil war, a time of high tempers, and of settling disputes by the sword. Writers of historical fiction find they are often writing against backgrounds of high tension. So with all the fighting, blood, gore, deaths and subsequent tears, how do you avoid sentimentality and melodrama? […]
March 8, 2016
The strengths of a first historical novel #histfic
Before I came to write my first historical novel,��The Lady’s Slipper, most of my writing was contemporary. I read a lot of contemporary fiction as well as historical fiction. A few years ago I would have been surprised to find I had produced a historical novel. So why write one? The answer is that it […]
March 4, 2016
Forged in Ice – what inspired my new Viking Saga by Ken Hagan
Today I welcome Ken Hagan to tell us what inspired his new novel, the first in a Viking Trilogy. Ken: My thanks to Deborah for inviting me as guest author.�� Forged in Ice is set in 960AD. It tells the story of a boy and his family who leave the Norse Kingdom to live […]
February 27, 2016
Historical Fiction – The Power of Then, and the Power of Now
All historical fiction readers understand the power of Then. The lure of an unknown time or place which is only unknown because it happened to take place before we were born. Unlike fantasy, this is an unfamiliar world which, if we took them back far enough, our own flesh and blood ancestors would be able […]
February 24, 2016
Spinning a Tale – writing and weaving
The language of story is peppered with references to the craft of spinning. We ‘spin a yarn’, and ‘weave’ a tale. The art of ‘fabric’ation has very deep roots as one of the earliest forms of creation. Spindles and spinning are also built into our mythology and folklore. Who can forget childhood tales of Rumplestiltskin […]
February 22, 2016
Savaged Lands by Lana Kortchik #WWII
The plight of the people of Kiev in WWII was a subject that I knew very little about, so this book helped me understand a little more of the history of this city which is now the capital of Ukraine. This story tells of a romance between a Hungarian soldier, Mark, forced to work for […]
February 9, 2016
Upcoming Live Events
Are you curious about how long it takes to write a book, how the editing is done or who designs the book covers?��Have you ever wondered how to construct a historical novel? How much research to do, and how to decide what to put in or leave out? Now is your chance to find out […]
January 22, 2016
Forgetting Tabitha by Julie Dewey
Thank you for having me on your fabulous blog, Royalty Free Fiction! ��I am delighted to be here. I first heard about the orphan trains in 1990. ��I recall seeing a snippet in an article that was written about big moments in U.S. history that went widely unacknowledged. ��I kept the article, I am […]
