Picture the scene: you’ve spent years working on your novel about a historical figure never immortalised in fiction. And then you discover someone else is publishing a novel about them. This situation is unique to historical fiction writers: when we fictionalise real...

Just as a reminder for everyone who was asleep at school - a primary source is a contemporary object or piece of writing. Stuff from Ye Olden Days of Yore. The Treasurer of the Chamber’s Accounts (Henry VIII’s soft furnishings bill–here if you’re interested) is a...

For millennia, humans and animals have coexisted in different ways - protecting each other, comforting each other, and eating each other. Whenever your historical fiction is set, if animals aren’t involved, you may be missing an opportunity to give your reader deeper...

If you’ve completed a work of historical fiction or are nearing that revision finish line, you might be thinking about ways to get your story out into the world. One of the best ways to get some attention (and some cool cash) is by placing in writing contests. Short...

Real life gets in the way. If, like most of us, you have a “normal” job in addition to your writing, or you have a family, kids, hobbies, or any other assorted drama that comes with being a human being at some stage your writing schedule has taken a slight knockback....

Historical fiction is a conjuring trick, an interpretation of bygone times which doesn't pretend or promise to present the absolute truth. Instead, writers of historical fiction reinvent the past, often venturing further than the known facts. They invoke a past to...

Many of us find that research is the best part of writing. We spend years hunting down every conceivable detail. Knowing how New York might have smelt on 4th July 1776, the taste of a roasted dormouse in Pompeii’s heyday, whether Cardinal Langton, author of the Magna...

When it comes to getting a finished manuscript out into the world, there are more avenues available than ever before. Self-publishing is no longer the domain of the downtrodden and the desperate, while traditional publishers are constantly on the hunt for fresh new...

Celebrations, feasts and traditions have always been part of what makes us human. They bound our ancestors to their ancestors and can do the same for characters in historical fiction. Some feasts are moveable; all can be moving, both to characters and to readers. Some...

You’ve researched, you’ve developed your characters and plot, and you are ready to write. Perhaps you’ve already begun writing, but something is not working. It’s difficult to pinpoint, but the feeling of your story doesn’t seem authentic. How can you capture what it...

Even taking into account titans like Bernard Cornwell, the vast majority of historical fiction authors are women. As are their readers. Now, you should be incredibly suspicious of anyone who claims to be an expert in masculinity. Chances are, they are trying to sell...

You just might have an invaluable writing tool in your pocket or sitting on your desk right now. A smartphone. It’s a modern gadget with a key function that can have a fantastic impact on your life as a historical fiction author. It has on mine. From note-taking to...