I love historical fiction, reading it and writing it. (See my bookstore page for two novels set in the 20th century.) Historicals can safely be fat books; I mean the grounding necessary in any novel where the world needs to … Continue reading
This is part of a longer blog post that originally appeared in Crimereads. A major legal renovation of the Victorian period was in the area of divorce. Until the divorce laws were renovated in 1858, marriage really was for life. … Continue reading
This post originally ran in Crimereads in May 2018. I dug extensively into this issue while researching my recent novel, and if you look into A Most Dangerous Woman you can see all these issues luridly dramatized. In Victorian Britain women teetered … Continue reading
This post first appeared at Book Smugglers. You could argue that serialized fiction has no place in today’s literary universe. This is the era of instant gratification. Drones deliver pizzas to your door. You can download movies in one minute, … Continue reading
Because I am having one today, I’ve decided to look into the history of birthday celebrations. This is useful data for an author of historical fiction or for writers seeking to explore world building. … Continue reading
This post first appeared in the Big Idea section of John Scalzi’s Whatever blog I have always thought of myself as an SF and fantasy writer. But I realize now, what I really am is a fan of plot. What … Continue reading
It’s been a while since I blogged here – Life has a way of eating Time – but that just means things have been building up. And it’s about to boil over in a series of “so let me get … Continue reading
I do not claim to be an expert on the classic South, that is, the states below the Mason Dixon line, other than what I know from books and movies like Gone With the Wind, or Jezebel, or the works … Continue reading
For centuries a faerie court has hidden itself beneath London: a place of shadows and intrigue, where the city’s immortal inhabitants can watch and manipulate the mortals above. Through two royal dynasties, through rebellions and plots, through war and plague and fire, the Onyx Court endures.
Continue readingIn Ashes Lie Onyx Court 2 by Marie Brennan ABOVE It is the seventeenth century. For twenty years, the City of London has been torn apart: by war, by plague, by fire. BELOW The Onyx Court is London’s faerie shadow. … Continue reading
