When asked about research by M.M Bennetts for her guest blog on October 16, 2011, Cheri Lasota responded in this fashion. “Research. Writers either love it or hate it. I’m fair-weather about it. I love it when I find the information I’m looking for, but otherwise… “Until September 2011, I had been… Read More »Researching the Azores for Artemis Rising by Cheri Lasota
Snap the Apple “The feast of All Saints, which was ushered in Friday evening by the old-fashioned games of ‘All Hallows’ E’en, was yesterday celebrated in the Catholic and Episcopal Churches.” San Francisco Chronicle, 1879 “It’s barmbrack cake. Beatrice has baked a ring in it, and tradition has it that the girl who… Read More »Uneasy Spirits and Halloween: Using Fact in Support of Fiction by M. Louisa Locke
Sir Richard Burton, adventurer, explorer, linguist – and much more (*) – is best known for his translation of the Kama Sutra and the collected stories of the Arabian Nights. His travels along the Pony Express route offer us a taste of the food served in the remote stations across America. Endurance and stamina was required by both the Express riders and their… Read More »Historical tidbits: What did the Pony Express riders eat? by Iva Polansky
Someone once asked me how to overcome writer’s block. I responded that there’s no such thing. Someone else asked me where I get all my ideas. I answered by asking how she could avoid having ideas. Any time I think I’m running low on ideas, I only need to pick up a… Read More »How I Wrote the Imaginary Emperor (Or Allowed It To Write Itself) by Steve Bartholomew
The following is an edited version of a post I wrote earlier this year about how doing research can divert an author from making progress on their writing. This is particularly true for the writer of historical fiction. In my case I was trying to make some progress on the Uneasy Spirits,… Read More »The Streets of San Francisco: Detoured, Diverted, and Derailed by Historical Research by M. Louisa Locke