I think one of the appeals of traditional gender and social roles is that they give people a map with which to negotiate the chaos of human relations. We want to be secure (especially when we are less powerful than … Continue reading
Tag Archives: History
Today I offer the Author’s Note from the first book I wrote as Anne Rutherford, “The Opening Night Murder, ” where I address the issue of dramatic license in historical fiction. In my associations with other authors, often I’m drawn … Continue reading
Violets. Aren’t they pretty? Such a charming picture to print—or rather, re-print in Ackermann’s Repository of the Arts. The original image was a hugely popular one around France in 1814 and early 1815, so much so that it was quickly … Continue reading
English Mastiff breeders share a common anecdote: by the end of the second World War, the English Mastiff all but vanished from Britain. American breeders helped to revive the breed in England. This intrigued me. Plans for a historical novel … Continue reading
In 1740, Lord Chesterfield wrote regular letters to his son in Latin, French, as well as English. Many have heard of his famous letters, but alas, few have read them. … Continue reading
I often think of our brains as hypertext: certain smells, sights, bits of music, words, will trigger a cascade of memories or ideas. As I’m doing chores that require two hands so I can’t read, or while I’m walking the … Continue reading
By Brenda W. Clough Museums are a writer’s friends. Never pass one up! Background research is forever. There is nothing like actually seeing a helmet or a cup. And unless you are independently wealthy you are probably not traveling to … Continue reading
Ghosts in history first rose to my notice with Jaime Lee Moyer’s atmospheric, tense series beginning with Delia’s Shadow , set in San Francisco toward the end of World War I. This period coincides with the height of the Spiritualism … Continue reading
An on-going exchange about writing historical novels intersected with my reading of an ARC which the research into houses and weapons and clothing is impeccable . . . but everyone in early 1900s Great Britain sounds American. Occasionally modern American. … Continue reading
I tell people that I was born in a country that no longer exists – and it doesn’t, not on the maps, not in atlases, not on globes. It has vanished into history, now. But the land that the … Continue reading