11 Comments
Oct 19Liked by Holly A Brown, Lausanne Davis Carpenter, Kate Baker

I write historical fiction because I think it can be an accessible window to characters and events that may pass us by. Colleen mccullough is a firm favorite as is Sharon Kay Penman. I really like getting into the heads of deeply religious characters. The religiosity of the past is made interesting by the very real temporal power of the church

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I agree with you that it can be much more accessible. Even I struggle with a weighty non-fiction tome sometimes! Following along a person's perspective can illuminate a world more real than many textbooks manage.

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Oct 19Liked by Holly A Brown, Lausanne Davis Carpenter

Great initiative! For me, it comes down to a fascination with memory and imminence: we want to know what it was like to live a specific moment unfolding in all its precarious uncertainty and possibilities. To do that we not only have to re-create that period, that moment, but also re-imagine that moment's idea of past and future. It is an adventure of the imagination into the minds of those who are no longer with us: reverse haunting.

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Yes! It's a bit like by creating the story it helps us to inhabit the person's perspective, doesn't it? I guess we all journey through this world in our own stories, so it makes sense that would be a way to re-create a time in the past, as you say.

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Oct 24Liked by Holly A Brown

I write historical fiction because a lot of LGBTQ+ history is never talked about. For example, in my debut novel, I explore a queer community that disappeared in Berlin during the rise of Hitler. There are so many WWII historical fiction novels, but I've never read one that focuses on queer communities. So I decided to write one.

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It really can open up space for those marginalised individuals/communities, can’t it?

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Oct 20·edited Oct 20Liked by Holly A Brown

Because I am constantly inspired by the deep history of my city, London, and all the men and women who have walked its streets. Also, it's tremendous fun!

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It is tremendous fun! I couldn't agree more. And I love your point about 'the men and women who have walked [London's] streets'. I often think about whose feet have trodden in places before my own, how the landscape (or cityscape!) looked and sounded and smelled to them, how incredible it is that they too might have seen the same ancient walls as me on their way to work...! Just layer upon layer of history and experience on those streets.

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I am grateful for you and the spaces you are creating here. I love historical fiction, I love history, I am deeply fascinated by how things used to be and how they changed over time. Thank you for mentioning me, it warms my heart to know I have an impact even though our writing is different.

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You do! So so much. I've been so grateful for your friendship here.

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And I yours. Watching you grow and find/create your space has been beautiful and inspiring.

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