In this season of gift-giving, I look back with a grateful heart and mind at those I received that had a direct influence on my present status as a writer. I had no notion in those early years, but now I see that my family was (perhaps unknowingly) planting the seeds that would lead me to where I am today. I was read to. Often. Bedtime stories were a mainstay in our home—read to my sister and me by my … Read More »

Rhett DeVane has had a long, successful writing career including thirteen books and a number of short stories, but she found her passion dwindling after years of writing, wondering if all the time was worth it. Then something new and fun sparked her creative energy, reigniting her love of authorship. That new project encapsulated her years of experience and rejuvenated passion, winning First Place for Unpublished Young Adult or New Adult in the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards. In this … Read More »

Santa Claus flies a sleigh pulled by reindeer, lumbers down brick chimneys, and stashes gifts under light-strewn evergreens. In operating rooms across the country, surgeons dress in hospital-green outfits, don paper masks, and remove tumors from unconscious patients. Behind closed doors, writers sit in desk chairs reading, thinking, and writing stories, poems, and plays. We hear, “You are what you do.” How about, “Do what you are.” Are you Santa? Are you a surgeon? Are you a writer? If you’re … Read More »

As we celebrate another holiday season, gift-giving tops our to-do lists. As writers—and this may be preaching to the choir—we have a perspective on that both personal and universal. Most of us have books on our wish lists. We want books, and constant reading anchors our growth as writers. But asking for books also helps keep afloat our industry, the industry of the written word. When our friends and families buy us those books, book people—writers, publishers, editors, agents, readers, … Read More »

This has no specific connection to historical fiction, but it might be worth thinking about anyway in this month of NaNoWriMo, when we’re all pushing ourselves to write as if the devil were at our heels. Is it possible to be too productive? I think it is, and I may have broken that sound barrier lately… to my detriment. A Case of Logorrhea We all know the cardinal rule of writing: butt in chair and fingers on keyboard. This sort … Read More »

I’m a bit of a research geek. I love learning new things. Facts. Theories. I don’t get it when a writer complains about all the research that has to be done. But I’ve found that researching the stuff I don’t know is easier than researching what I do know. Because it turns out that many things I know are simply wrong. For a story about 17th century Ireland, I huddled over maps, read the histories of the region, the politics … Read More »