The History Quill's Convention for Writers of Historical Fiction On Saturday, February 5, 2022, I was invited to speak at The History Quill’s convention for writers of historical fiction. My topic was writing and publishing short historical fiction. I had a lot of fun speaking to the attendees and sharing my presentation. Right before my … Continue reading What is the Spark of Creativity?
Writing Historical Fiction
The Challenges of Writing a Time-Travel Story
Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash Where Did the Time Travel Inspiration Come From? I have a tendency to come up with story ideas a lot faster than I write them. I mean a lot faster. Fans of When It Rained at Hembry Castle know that I came up with the idea for that book … Continue reading The Challenges of Writing a Time-Travel Story
Researching The Oregon Trail: The Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort
The Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort in Downtown Las Vegas Visiting the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort I finally made it to the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort in Downtown Las Vegas. I’ve been living in the Las Vegas area for nearly 20 years now and this is the first time I’ve visited the Mormon … Continue reading Researching The Oregon Trail: The Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort
Creative Inspiration On The Oregon Trail
Researching the Oregon Trail Now that I’ve spent some time building up my general knowledge about the Oregon Trail, I’m starting to learn more about the culture of the era, which is always one of the most fun parts of writing historical fiction for me. I enjoy discovering how people lived during whatever era I'm … Continue reading Creative Inspiration On The Oregon Trail
Baking Time: Giving Your Story the Time it Needs
Update on The Duchess of Idaho The first draft for The Duchess of Idaho is finally done. It took me ten weeks to finish, which, for me, is crazy fast. I mean, lightning speed. I wrote in this post about how sometimes it takes me months to write my outline, months to write my first … Continue reading Baking Time: Giving Your Story the Time it Needs
What is the One Thing a Writing Book Can’t Teach You?
How-To Writing Books Can Be Inspirational Since Painting the Past: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction was released I’ve been thinking a lot about writing books. I’ve read many of them, believe me, especially when I was a fresh-faced writer dutifully taking my English, screenwriting, and creative writing courses as an undergrad. I combed through … Continue reading What is the One Thing a Writing Book Can’t Teach You?
A Free Workbook For Writing Historical Fiction
Painting the Past is a #1 New Release on Amazon Oh my! Just a few hours after its release yesterday, Painting the Past was tagged by Amazon as a #1 New Release in both the Authorship and the Authorship Reference categories. I was so excited I couldn't stop taking pictures. Here's Painting the Past between … Continue reading A Free Workbook For Writing Historical Fiction
It’s Here: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction
I’m so happy that I can finally share my first nonfiction book—Painting the Past: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction—with everyone. Already, on its first day of release, Painting the Past has been named the #1 New Release in Authorship. Amazing. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen. I came up with … Continue reading It’s Here: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction