I'll be discussing "The Pleasures and Perils of Writing Historical Fiction" at the 2021 Catholic Writers Guild online conference. Here are the resources I'll be sharing, along with links where available.
Books:
- Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders: A Writer's (& Editor's) Guide to Keeping Historical Fiction Free of Common Anachronisms, Errors, & Myths by Susanne Alleyn. For more about this book, and to read the first chapter, see this page.
- Writing Historical Fiction by Rhona Martin
- Once Upon a Time It Was Now: The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by James Alexander Thom
- Turning Life into Fiction by Robin Hemley
Online Resources:
- The unabridged research bibliography from Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders containing hundreds of reference titles of interest to writers of historical fiction
- Project Gutenberg containing full text of many out-of-print books
- Google Books
- Online Etymology Dictionary
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Social Security Administration name database
- Newspaper and magazine archives (check your local library)
- How to Write History.com
- "Day in the Life Method of Writing Historical Novels" by Juliet Waldron
- Historical Novel Society
Additional articles of interest:
- "5 Top Resources for Researching Historical Fiction" by Alisa Alering
- "How to Write Historical Fiction: 7 Tips on Accuracy and Authenticity" by Susanna Calkins
- "6 Keys to Writing a Compelling Historical Novel" by Sofia Grant
- "5 Historical Fiction Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them" by Margo Dill
- "Tips To Create Unforgettable Historical Fiction" by Ashley Hope Pérez
If you have a questions about my presentation, feel free to post it as a comment below or email me through my contact page.