Underdogs

There is something about unlikely victories that make them particularly sweet. We know something about that here in the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania. That guy named Washington fled across the Delaware from New York near here with a rag tag group of troops and one of the most powerful armies in the world on […]

To Blog

Blog, verb, the act of updating a website on which one records news, opinion, thoughts, and insights. This relatively new English verb out lasted the short-lived noun weblog, on which it was based. It is now ubiquitous. I blog, he blogs, you blog, they…I wonder what a Latin conjugation would look like? Ahem. Sorry. I […]

When is the Book a Book?

On Saturday just after 3 PM, I typed THE END—another book finished! Or was it? It rather begs the question, when is the work finished?  A book is most certainly not finished when the author types “THE END.” First of all, let me explain that I’m what writers call a pantser, someone who writes by […]

Five Tips and Real Life

Recently John Le Carré gave CBS’s Sixty Minutes five tips for novel writers. You can find them here. One was easy: “Keep a travel journal.” Some were lessons I learned the hard way: “Make the verb to the work,” and “Start your story as late as possible. One is giving me fits. “Start writing at […]

The Global Tourist in New Zealand

Jude Knight introduces us to Victorian Tourists to New Zealand. The nineteenth century, says the book I’m currently reading, was the European century; the century in which Europe dominated the world. The nineteenth century was a European one also in the sense that other continents took Europe as their yardstick. Europe’s hold over them was […]

Bringing the Oregon Trail to Life

  Tina Susedik with details about the Oregon Trail The Trail to Love is my first historical romance and part of The Soul Mate Tree Collective. The story is set on the Oregon Trail. As I wrote the book, I research many words to find out if they were used in 1854 and was surprised […]

Romance and the American Civil War

Gina Danna on romance and war Why write about the American Civil War? It is a period that I, as a historian, love. Victorian America, with all the rules and societal set by England set, was practiced here on courting, marriage, fashion and how to manage life. Yet how did the War affect it? This […]

Spymasters and Their Sons

Highlighting Historical Romance: We welcome Alina K. Field today to tell us about  spymasters, and the book sounds like a gem. Thank you so much, Caroline, for having me as a guest today. My latest release, The Bastard’s Iberian Bride, is the first book in my Sons of the Spy Lord series. On one of […]

Strength, Weakness, and the Day Job

This week’s writing challenge from Marketing for Romance Writers gave me flashbacks to the days when I had to endure job interviews. Inevitably someone on the selection committee would ask the dreaded question, “What’s your greatest strength?” The first time I heard it I was stymied. Since I went through a long period in which […]