Researching a Real Location by Laura Hilton

A long time ago, when I was young and single I moved to Springfield, Missouri, to live and work.  My mom lived in Arkansas, and when I drove home to visit Mom, I would drive through Seymour, Missouri.  I would see the horses and buggies along the sides of the road and thought oh, how neat. Amish. That was before Beverly Lewis was published. And as a young single I was a long way from bringing my writing “out of the closet” to seriously learn the craft. Let alone come up with a brilliant idea about writing a story centered around the Amish. 

Years passed. I married and had children. My husband’s family lived outside Springfield, so even though we moved away we’d still go through Seymour in order to visit them. When I came up with an Amish story idea, the first place I considered was Seymour. It is only two hours away from where I live. My husband has an aunt who lives there. And everyone wrote their stories in Ohio or Pennsylvania at that time. 

My husband’s aunt laughed when I mentioned I was writing a story in Seymour. She said “There’s nothing here!” I said, “There are Amish.” And we drove up. We discovered Amish love McDonalds. Of course, that’s pretty much the only fast food in Seymour. I saw an Englisch driver carrying a trailer full of Amish boys down the highway. They were all standing and were packed in very tight. I wish I would’ve followed that vehicle to see where they were going! 

We made several trips up to the area, discovered where the Amish lived (obviously, not in town!) and drove down the back roads. One nice Amish family allowed us into the main areas of their house, although I think it rather shocked them that someone would ask! And they answered some questions. I met another couple at the Dollar General who had the most adorable baby girl, and talked with them awhile. And my aunt-in-law got into the research by tracking down interesting news stories about what happened with the Amish. 

In Surrendered Love, the real life stories where the bear in the tree—it was actually on my aunt-in-law’s street!  And she heard the bear rummaging around in her garage before it climbed the tree. And also the buggy accident where the horse fell down, but that actually happened when the horse ran into a school bus. I changed it slightly for the story. There unfortunately was a fatal accident involving a speeding car and an Amish buggy. 

I listened as the Amish corresponded in their dialect (which, in Seymour isn’t Pennsylvania Dutch, since these are Swiss Amish) but I did use Pennsylvania Dutch and their dialect in my stories since that is what most Amish readers expect. I am somewhat familiar with the language as my maternal relatives came from the Pennsylvania Amish and my mother grew up speaking the language. 

When you use a real location, you do need to be careful to get the facts right—even though some may change due to creative license. If you use real business names in your stories (which some publishers allow) you need to be careful they are still there when the book comes out! In one of my stories the main characters visited the Starbucks in the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. But when I went to Springfield, Starbucks had moved across the street and another coffee shop was inside the Bass Pro Shop. I called my editor in a panic and she did a quick change to the manuscript to a genetic term, instead of a name. 

Research is fun and it definitely helps to know the area you are writing about. If you can’t go there, make sure you find a friend who lives there who can help you with the familiarity of the location, and contact the tourist department for further information. Also some areas have pages on Facebook. 

Stop by Friday when Laura will be giving away a copy of her book, Surrendered Love.

Award winning author, Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and their five children make their home in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas. She is a pastor’s wife, a stay-at-home mom and home-schoolsthree of her children. Her two oldest children are homeschool graduates and are in college. Laura is also a breast cancer survivor.

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A Writer's Notion by Roseanna White

A Writer's Notions

by Roseanna M. White

I don't know about you, but I tend to make assumptions. Not just about people, but about the ways things are...and the way things were. For a historical writer, that can be dangerous, LOL.

Back in the day when writing was just fun, when it was my way of winding down and expressing pent-up emotions, I didn't always bother researching like I should. And that's okay, since it was just for me. But one of the reasons I sometimes let that slide was because I would find things that contradicted my assumptions...which changed my story...and I had no clue what to do with that.

Once I determined to write for publication, though, that laziness had to go. And when I found contradictory information, I had to learn how to integrate it into my plot. Sometimes it's a simple matter of tweaking this or that. It changes things, yes, but nothing huge. Other times, though...other times it affects the whole premise.

I ran into this in the early days of Ring of Secrets. When I got the first niggle of an idea to base a book around the historical Culper Ring, America's first spy ring and the most trusted intelligencers of George Washington during the Revolution, I had these ideas. And honestly, my first scratches of research bore it out. That they were low-tech action heroes. James Bond with earlier gadgets. Jason Bourne during the Revolution. I rubbed my hands together and though "Oo, this is going to be fun!"

Then I got down to the serious research. As in, reading books instead of 200-word articles online. And as this portion of research is for me, it frankly involved some disappointment. Because I read actual documentation of the Culper Ring, you know what I found? That these weren't super spies. They weren't even trained. They had no history with espionage, their codes were flawed, they had nothing to do with the biggest event of the Revolution--Benedict Arnold's capture--even though those websites had led me to believe they had, and all the things they did help with were fairly small to my way of thinking, and spread out over a year. That doesn't exactly qualify as high-action for a romantic suspense.

So as I read my primary research book, Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose, my mind had to churn through my whole premise again. Did I want to write this book in a new way? Did I want to let go of my assumptions? Could I write the book under the banner of the facts, or should I forget the historical basis and make up my own spy ring?

There was some waffling in my mind. Because at first, I really didn't like reality, LOL. But I have this deal I make with myself when writing historicals: facts are sacred, motivations are up for grabs. I never, ever let myself change actual history, the events recorded by observers. (Okay, so I might fudge the phase of the moon now and then, but I beg forgiveness for that, LOL.) But I do let myself alter why people did the things they did, figuring that historians are only guessing about the reasons anyway. Even when people record their motivations, are they always honest? Who knows. So I can do with those what I will. But here? Could I work within those parameters here?

I kept reading, and the more I read, the more I got a grasp on what would become my absolute favorite part of Ring of Secrets. The very thing that made me moan and groan became my new, better premise. Because I realized that I didn't need super-spies in my book. I needed people. Normal, everyday people who were doing something extraordinary. And that is what the Culper Ring turned out to be. They were sickly farmers, they were nervous shopkeepers, they were over-confident sailors and soldiers with absolutely no grasp on how to accomplish this task assigned to them. They were creative and inventive and determined...and terrified. 

And that, with this book as with many other I've written, turned out to be the most amazing thing. Because my assumptions tend to simplify things. My vision starts out so narrow. But when I embrace the facts and let go of my notions, I discover what God's vision had been at the time. And needless to say, His is so much richer. So much fuller. So much better than my imaginings. 

It's my prayer that Ring of Secrets can show readers just a portion of what the real, original Culper Ring accomplished during the Revolution. That they were people just like us who stepped up, who fell to their knees, who put aside their fears...and who changed history forever.

~*~

Roseanna M. White pens her novels under the Betsy Ross flag hanging above her desk, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When she isn’t writing fiction, she’s editing it for WhiteFire Publishing or reviewing it for the Christian Review of Books, both of which she co-founded with her husband. 

www.roseannawhite.com | www.facebook.com/roseanna.white | www.twitter.com/roseannamwhite

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Come back on Friday when Roseanna teams up with The Borrowed Book to give away a copy of her latest release!

Fact Into Fiction: Tips and Techniques for Writing the Historical Novel by Dorothy Love

In addition to the usual concerns about characterization, story structure, theme, plot, setting, and dialogue, authors of historical fiction must undertake considerable research and make some additional choices in storytelling. Here are some tips and techniques to consider:

Accuracy matters. The authenticity of an historical novel depends upon the author’s knowledge of, and judicious use of accurate details. Readers must be able to hear, smell, feel, taste, and touch the world into which they’ve been invited. If your protagonist is on a train trip from Boston to Nashville, what rail lines are in use? What are the routes? What foods are available on board? Is there a sleeping car? What do the stations along the way look like? The hotels? Who are the other passengers? All of this, just to put her on the train!  Don’t depend on movies or Wikipedia. Search out university web sites, or sites run by state historical societies. Read the best books you can find on the subject. Interview the authors of those books, if available.  Search out copies of the magazines of the day. Some can be found online. Reading these magazines, as well as old catalogs, will give you a sense of the language and of the concerns and opinions of the people about whom you are writing. 

Don’t overwrite. Knowing which details to leave out is as important as knowing which to include. . Esoteric facts, no matter how fascinating, should be left out if they don’t advance the plot or reveal something important about your characters. The art of writing historical fiction requires the wise selection of the right detail to achieve the desired effect.  Historical details might entice readers into your novel, but it’s the characters that keep them there. Never substitute solid character development for more detail. 

Be true to your characters and to their times. If you are writing about actual historical persons, treat them fairly. They aren’t here to defend themselves. Don’t give your fictional historical characters a 21^st century sensibility. Let them be bigoted, provincial, ignorant, prejudiced if that is what your story requires. 

 Be judicious with backstory, especially at the beginning of your novel. Tell only    as much as is necessary to set the story in motion. Let the rest of it come out gradually after your readers are invested in the story. The old advice to begin on 

the day that is different, on the day when your protagonist is called to adventure,          has survived  since the days of oral storytelling because it works. 

Expect a long process. Often, you won’t  know what it is you need to know until you are into the story. Expect to stop to look up what you need to know. If your goal is to write fast, if you don’t enjoy this process of unearthing the past, chances are, you won’t  enjoy writing historical fiction, for it’s a bit like setting out on a long journey with very little information about your destination and about what you’ll need to make the trip. But when you finally arrive…wow! 

Read voraciously. Here are a few of my favorite writers of historical novels. Some write inspirational fiction. Others write for the general market. Read to see how these authors begin stories, how they incorporate backstory and how they weave their research into the narrative. 

Lynn Austin, eight time Christy winner, author of All Things New, Wonderland Creek, and many others. I discovered her work with Though Waters Roar and became an instant fan.  

Rosslyn Elliott’s Sadlers Legacy series are outstanding examples of incorporating historical figures into fiction.

Phillipa Gregory, author of the Wideacre series, plus The Other Boleyn Girl, The Red Queen and many others.  

Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name

Kelly O’Connor McNees. Kelly is a new author whose two books, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott and In Need of a Good Wife, blew me away.  

Susan Meissner’s The Shape of Mercy. Robin Olivera, also a new author, My Name is Mary Sutter. 

Catherine Richmond’s Through Rushing Water and her debut novel, Spring for Susannah are very well researched and beautifully written. 

Dorothy Love is an award-winning author of seventeen novels for adults and young adults published at Random House, Simon and Schuster, and HarperCollins/Thomas Nelson.  Her work has been honored by the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, and many others. She is a past winner of the Friends of American Writers Fiction Prize and the Teddy Prize for juvenile fiction. She makes her home in the Texas hill country with her husband and two golden retrievers. Her next novel, CAROLINA GOLD will be published this fall at Thomas Nelson. 

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: 

Author website: www.DorothyLoveBooks.com   

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dorothylovebooks  

Twitter: writerDorothy

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Tweaking a Sentence to Add Drama by Donn Taylor

Who would believe that a subject as prosaic as punctuation of compound predicates could help dramatize the actions—and thus the immediacy and interest—of a novel? Yet, with apologies for the pedantry, that is what I will attempt to illustrate today.

First of all, though, I’d like to suggest that no structure of writing is too small for a writer to pay attention to. When the poet and dramatist Oscar Wilde said he had worked all day on a poem, someone inquired what took so much time in a single poem. Wilde replied that in the morning he put in a comma, and in the afternoon he took it out. The best writers do spend time on small details that others may think insignificant.

I would also like to cite a concept proposed years ago by literary critic Stanley Fish, that the meaning of a sentence is everything that happens to the reader as he progresses through it. The skilful writer can speed his reader up or slow him down, as appropriate to the events being described.

Now back to compound predicates: Elements of these are connected by coordinating conjunctions, usually and. Thus:

Light from the Jeep's headlights moved at right angles from the highway and then disappeared.

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/doMqtrIKOMw

However, the sentence cannot be written this way: 

Light from the Jeep's headlights moved at right angles from the highway then disappeared.

The reason is that then is an abverb, not a coordinating conjunction, so it cannot connect the two elements of the predicate. (Yes, I know that sentences written this way appear in many poorly edited manuscripts, but that does not make them grammatically correct.)

However, another grammatical rule says that a comma is often used to mark an omission. In this example, and.

Light from the Jeep's headlights moved at right angles from the highway, then disappeared.

For fiction, this construction has the advantage of suggesting passage of time between the moving and disappearing.

The principle I’m proposing: Use the and to rush the reader through the sentence to suggest continuous action, but substitute the comma for and to make the reader pause, suggesting a time lapse or at least separation of the predicate’s two actions.

Here is an example from my suspense novel Deadly Additive:

The man hesitated, then spoke.

The comma forces a pause, dramatizing the man’s hesitation. That dramatization is lost if the sentence is written with the and, rushing the reader through to the second action:

The man hesitated and then spoke.

Here, from the same novel, are other examples in which I chose to force a pause for dramatization or to show a separation of the two actions. Also provided are the same sentences written the other way, with the and. It’s not that those are wrong. It’s just that they lose the dramatic or illustrative quality of those with the comma.

He nodded toward the eastern mountains, then threw a glance at [his companion].

He nodded toward the eastern mountains and then threw a glance at [his companion].

He held up the guilty document, then thumbed through her other receipts….

He held up the guilty document and then thumbed through her other receipts….

[The victim’s] twitching grew into violent convulsions, then subsided into stillness.

[The victim’s] twitching grew into violent convulsions and then subsided into stillness.

"Fools!" Contreras permitted himself the one exclamation, then asked for details.

"Fools!" Contreras permitted himself the one exclamation and then asked for details.

The rifle held steady, then wavered.

The rifle held steady and then wavered.

The guard came to present arms and back to port, then stepped aside.

The guard came to present arms and back to port and then stepped aside.

He worked his fingers to restore circulation, then shook hands with [his rescuer].

He worked his fingers to restore circulation and then shook hands with [his rescuer].

Deliberately, he touched his forefinger to his lips, then gently pressed it to hers.

Deliberately, he touched his forefinger to his lips and then gently pressed it to hers.

This is a small distinction, and one that may be meaningless to speed readers. But small distinctions like this make the difference between mediocre writing and good writing.

Donn Taylor led an Infantry rifle platoon in the Korean War, served with Army aviation in Vietnam, and worked with air reconnaissance in Europe and Asia. Afterwards, he completed a PhD degree at The University of Texas and taught English literature at two liberal arts colleges. His previous novels include a mystery, Rhapsody in Red, and a suspense novel, The Lazarus File (spies and airplanes in the Caribbean). Poems that he published in various journals over the years are collected in his book Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond. He is a frequent speaker for writers' groups and has taught poetry writing at the Glorieta and Blue Ridge conferences. His current teaching crusade is to promote the writing of good-quality poetry that's accessible to ordinary readers. He and his wife live near Houston, where he writes fiction, poetry, and articles on current topics.

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Marketing an Ebook by Cynthia Hickey

With the success of my ebooks, many authors have asked what I am doing to market them. I don’t believe I’m doing anything different than I would if the books were in print. My cozy mysteries, previously published through Barbour, have been re-released as ebooks and have sold more copies than they did in print. Other ebooks I’ve released myself. While I still have books in print, I also enjoy the freedom of ebook publishing. So, how do I market?

*Blog interviews and guest posts where I give away a free download

*At least once a week, I twitter and FB an announcement about one or more of my books, and ask others to retweet.

*I link my twitter, FB, and blogs together.

*I buy inexpensive ads in online magazines.

*I give away free downloads for reviews.

*I post pictures of my covers on Pinterest

*I write the best book I can. If someone mentions an error, I unpublish the book, fix the mistake, and republish.

I’m not sure whether any of these options work more than the others, I only know that I’m selling copies and having a blast. Hope I’ve helped others who may be wondering about ebook publishing.

Readers can connect with me at www.cynthiahickey.com, on FB at https://www.facebook.com/TKlinesmith#!/pages/Cynthia-Hickey/151333448227549 and Twitter at https://twitter.com/

I’d love to hear from you.

Multi-published author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries published through Barbour Publishing, with a novella scheduled to be released in March 2013. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with Deadly Neighbors, the first in a new cozy series. She lives in Arizona with her husband, two of their seven children, two dogs, two cats, a snake named Flash and a fish named Floyd. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com 

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Research for Fiction Writers by Kit Wilkinson

If there is one question that I have been asked repeatedly—especially since Plain Secrets, an Amish romantic suspense, released—it is: Did you have to do a lot of research?

The first time a writer at a conference asked me if I did research for writing romance, I’m certain that I made a queer face at her. I thought to myself, What? You don’t? Shocking business.

A couple of years later, I participated in a conference panel about research for fiction writers. And just recently, I’ve been asked to speak at a writer’s group to discuss, yep, research. Apparently, doing research is an arduous and sometimes daunting task for many people. Including writers.

Maybe you feel that way, too. But, let me tell you, research doesn’t have to be painful or complicated. In fact, it can be fun. Consider this, there are 3 types of research—first-hand, second hand and third hand.

First hand research is when you have a real-live interview; when you visit a place; when you actually see or experience that thing which you are writing about. I’m not Amish. So what did I do to in writing Plain Secrets? I got in my car and drove to Lancaster, PA. I toured. I talked to people. I spent some time there so that I could get a feel for the place and the people. This is the best way to research something. There is no substitute for seeing or doing something yourself.

Second hand research is when you talk directly to another (trusted) person who has been to a place or experienced something. For example: I have my cousins who live in Lancaster, PA. So, they have access to local and current news (which I don’t have in VA). They know Amish people. They grew up around them. They can faithfully give me information about the area and the people. Not as great as the writer seeing it for him/herself, but still a pretty effective method for gaining insight on something.

Then, there is third hand research. This is when you read something on the Internet, in a newspaper, in a book, et cetera. Also, a fine way to research. With Google at your fingertips, it’s certainly the fastest, easiest, and most economical way to find facts, pictures, or blogs/articles where someone has written about whatever it is that you want to write. (Just be careful not to waste precious writing time browsing over interesting information that is of no use to your novel—I’m terrible about that!!)

Ideally, when you write, you will have a mixture of all of these types of research, which will produce authentic, correct, and believable stories.

Now, are you still asking, Why? What’s the big deal? It’s fiction. It’s all just made up, right? Why should it matter?

Yes, your story is made up. My story is made up. But Amish people are not made-up. Police procedure is not made up. The FBI and the way it works is not made-up. If we are going to use these things (or anything like them) in a story, we need to do it with care. Do not assume your reader is stupid and doesn’t know about the topic either! Readers are smart and they don’t want to be thrown out of a story because a little detail about a subject they know well was handled carelessly. And not only will they be thrown out, they might be reluctant to pass on your book to another.

Does this mean we should only write about what we know? Just to be safe...

I don’t think so. In fact, I think sometimes when some writes about what they know they are too close to it and have a hard time deciding what needs to be told and what doesn’t.

So, be encouraged! If I can write about Amish, you can write about whatever appeals to you. Just don’t forget to do your research ;-)

Kit Wilkinson is a former Ph.D. student who once wrote discussions on the medieval feminine voice. She now prefers weaving stories of romance and redemption. Her first inspirational manuscript won the prestigious RWA Golden Heart and sold to a popular division of Harlequin. Her second novel, Sabotage, was nominated for a 2010 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award. Her fourth novel releases in July 2012. 

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