Category Archives: Research

Creative Compassion

Creative Compassion

“The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” —Meryl Streep

A neighbor in my apartment building questioned me about my work recently after I mumbled I must get back to my writing. Initially I was very frugal with my comments trying not to tell her more than she’d ever wanted to know. But it quickly became evident that she was intrigued by the research, the ‘history’ part of ‘historical fiction’. As we agreed on the blessings of technology which aids and abets the contemporary author’s exploration, I nevertheless expressed my frustration over how much is too much. I told her the novel I’m working on now suffers from an embarrassment of riches supporting the huge life of an eighteenth century French composer who happened to also be a world champion fencer; and swimmer, and skater, and horseman; to say nothing of his skill with a pistol remarked on by our own president John Adams while serving as ambassador to France.

So what’s an author to do when the glut of accolades for her character blocks the necessary empathy a reader needs to stay interested? What good is the research without the imperfections the character needs to make us feel he’s human? Continue Reading

Women of Ingenuity

Women of Ingenuity

“My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.” Ulysses S. Grant In true one-thing-leads-to-another fashion, an interview online recently with Drew Gilpin Faust about her memoir Necessary Trouble, led me to another book she’d written, Mothers of Invention. Having grown up in the South herself, Faust has a unique perspective on the idiosyncrasies… Continue Reading

Badass!

Badass!

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.-John C. Maxwell How can a word used to describe someone have such different meanings depending on the gender of the one being defined? That just proves how much discrimination there is in society’s expectations for its different members. I’ve focused… Continue Reading

Open Invitation

Open Invitation

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien Some powerful examples of the serendipity and discovery of research dropped in my lap recently with the announcement that the man who occupied much of my last book, Tried As Silver, and was an implied romantic connection for the protagonist (we’ll never really know), had… Continue Reading