Writing Historical Fiction: Viewing the Past Through the Lens of the Present

"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana. Writing historical fiction involves more than taking a story and substituting carriages for cars. The historical novelist must do her best to understand the mindset of the people she writes about, even while she explores the timeless and universal desires common to human beings of every time and place. This book describes historical fiction, tells the writer how to research, how to construct an authentic historic story world, and how to make the reader feel as though he or she is in the midst of the action. Short and to the point, WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION is a practical tool for the historical writer's desktop.