I am a trained professional historian. I received a doctorate in history from the University of California, San Diego, in 1982. I then spent nearly thirty years teaching full time at the college level as a professor of U.S. and U.S women’s history. The historical profession expects its practitioners to… Read More »The story in History is important: Why I write historical fiction by M. Louisa Locke
Normally I write a mystery series set in eleventh century Japan. This invariably causes strangers to ask me, “Why Japan?” Their curiosity is due to the fact that few people take an interest in Japanese history before WW 2. In a way, it is even stranger that I chose to… Read More »Splendor, Scandal, and Murder by I. J. Parker
MEDIEVAL UNDERPANTS AND OTHER BLUNDERS by Susanne Alleyn, one of our Historical Fiction Cooperative authors, is designed to do two things–make writers of historical fiction aware of the pitfalls of the genre and help them avoid some of the worst of them. Here’s the link in case you’re interested. It’s… Read More »Medieval Underpants? Really? by Peg Herring
Ever felt bogged down by the details? Every writer of historical fiction has likely shared the experience. Stories of bygone eras immerse readers in a particular time and place by invoking elements of the past that bring history to life. In the quest to blend fact and fiction, it is… Read More »The Pitfalls of Historical Research by Lisa Yarde
You are young and you are beautiful. You have been captured by the Turks after your Balkan city succumbed to a long siege. Your father and brothers are dead. You are terrified you will now be raped and murdered. But you are not harmed by your captors, fearsome as they… Read More »Life in an Ottoman Harem by Colin Falconer