by Stephanie Dray | Dec 23, 2017 | Bloopers, For Writers
I hope I never reach a point in my career where I will feel perfectly confident dispensing literary commandments like Moses with stone tablets. But since I was raised Catholic, I thought I’d take a humbler stab at The Gospel of Historical Fiction according to...
by Stephanie Dray | Jan 16, 2017 | For Writers, Miscellany, Other Writers
From time to time, readers and fellow authors email me asking for advice or sharing with me their own stories about obstacles that come between them and the stories they want to write. This past summer, I received the following letter from aspiring African American...
by Stephanie Dray | Jul 20, 2016 | For Writers
Book signings. What aspiring writer doesn’t fantasize about sitting behind a towering pile of books surrounded by adoring fans, scribbling one’s John Hancock across a clean page. It’s the stuff of dreams and fairy tale snow castles. And today I...
by Stephanie Dray | May 13, 2016 | For Writers, Historical Fiction Genre
Shaping Historical vs. Fictional Characters If you’re writing a historical fiction novel that features characters you made up out of whole cloth, congratulations! Your job is, paradoxically, a thousand times easier than writing about someone who actually existed. The...
by Stephanie Dray | Apr 10, 2016 | For Writers, Historical Fiction Genre
As currently structured, the Historical Novel Society is open to readers, bloggers, and authors. It alternates conference years in the United States and England. This often means two years between seeing friends and colleagues, pitching to editors, and...
by Stephanie Dray | Mar 2, 2016 | For Writers, Historical Fiction Genre
Hello fellow writers! When it comes to writing commercial historical fiction, your options are pretty much limited to: Present Tense: I kill the dragon Past Tense: I killed the dragon? But which one should you choose? Here are some things to consider. Which is more...
