Indie Historical Novel Thread

[JRTomlin]

Other genres have them but we're a bit of the "red-headed stepchild" of genres. We need to demand a place at the table.

Strict historical, historical time-travel, historical romance, historical mystery. What is your sub-genre?

Mine is strict historical.

[Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake']

Historical Romance with an historical background.

Set in the Wars of the Roses, Ariana's Pride commences from the historic Battle of Barnet when Edward IV returned from Holland to take the throne back from the mad king, Henry VI.

Turned out of her home, Ariana sets out on a dark and dangerous journey to a destiny she couldn't have foreseen.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA_rpNyKYv0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA_rpNyKYv0</a>




Historical Fiction/Romance

Catherine and the Captain is set during the controversial and turbulent reign of Richard III. Tied to the royal family by blood and by choice, Catherine must choose between duty and honor or love. Will she escape the destiny of a doomed king?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbnXJT-hzjQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbnXJT-hzjQ</a>

[Paul Clayton]

I would say, Historical Thriller.  Ken Follett, are you following this thread?  Check out White Seed for a d*mn good read!

[D.R. Erickson]

The War God's Men. Carthage and Rome at war.

Jim Cobb of the Wargamer calls it "informative and exciting."

[Dana Taylor]

Thanks, JR, starting this thread.

I have one book that is definitely faux-historical. Complete and utter destruction of English history.



"Princess Robin" is a romantic twist of the Robin Hood legend, just for fun!

Dana Taylor

[Dara England]

I write historical mysteries but I love to read just about anything in a historical setting. My favorite eras (in no particular order) are:

Regency
Victorian
Ancient World
Medieval
Renaissance

[JRTomlin]

I didn't think of historical thriller. That's a good point. Alternative history could fit as well.

[J. S. Laurenz]

Hi, thanks for starting the thread. 

Mine is historical romance set in Germany's Black Forest during the late 1700s. 

[Sarah Woodbury]

Thanks for starting this thread!

I have five that are all historical fantasy, with three of the time travel/alternative history ilk (Footsteps in Time/Prince of Time/Daughter of Time), a King Arthur novel (Cold My Heart), and one that is mythological/paranormal (The Last Pendragon).  All are set in dark age and medieval Wales 

[CJArcher]

Great thread.  Mine are historical romance mostly in Elizabethan England but one is alternate Victorian.  I'll be releasing a new Elizabethan one soon which features Shakespeare as a minor character.

As a reader I love all historical time periods.  Fiction is such a fun way to learn about history.

[jabeard]

My main WIP right now is a Regency paranormal romance.

I have a plan to write a historical mystery (Heian Japan), but I'm so overwhelmed with edits on my other WIPs that I might not get to that until next year.

[Amy Corwin]

What a great idea! Thanks for starting this thread.
I have several historical books out, including my indie historical mystery, The Vital Principle, and several lighter historical mysteries published by small press.

I love reading historical books--especially mysteries. As a lot of folks pointed out, it's a fun way to learn weird and wonderful things. I don't really have a favorite period--I read everything. But I have set most of my books at the beginning of the 19th century. that's such an interesting period as it's sort of the dawn of science as we know it today.

Anyway, thanks!

[harpwriter]

Blue Bells of Scotland: Historical fiction with twists of time travel, look-alikes, and mistaken identity. 

[JJayKamp]

I have a romance set in 1790s Belize, so that's historical, right?  

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQX4DWa1_og" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQX4DWa1_og</a>

Great thanks and warm fuzzy thoughts go out to all who click on my book!  

[Grace Elliot]

Great - a safe place for historical fans to congregate and chat! Cracking idea!

I write historical romances set in the regency period (my WIP and the next 2 novels anyway, the one after that may well be set in Victorian times) I devour any books set in the past from whatever subdivision of historicals.

My debut novel, A Dead Man's Debt, is a story of blackmail, duty and unexpected love, set against the backdrop of Regency England.

Lovely to meet you all!
Grace x

[JRTomlin]

Ah, good point to talk a little about what our novels are about besides historical. Mine are medieval set in Scotland during the Scottish War of Independence as the Scots fight off the invasion of England's Edward I.

They are about war, honor and adventure with a little romance thrown in because being in the midst of a war doesn't mean you don't fall in love--quite the contrary.

[Alex Sinclair]

I have three historical books, two are novells, one is a free read on smashbooks called, Before The Dawn. The other is, Under The Midnight Sky, and is based in the samurai era. I have a book coming out in October called, The Flames of Winter, it is semi-historical. It is all about demons and angels. One story is a back story that takes up half the novel and is a historical novel in europe, the other half is a demon bloodbath set in todays world, lol. I found two of them hard to write, but, Under the Midnight Sky, was fun because I teach martial arts and the japanese long sword so I had a wealth of knowledge I could apply to the story.

[dwschlueter]

I don't personally write these but I help a few select people with their publishing and here is the first one that has been released .  She has many more on the way.

[Bob Mayer]

After 45 books in other genres, I've entered historical fiction with Duty, Honor Country.  I'm sending out galley, review copies right now all over the place and it's interesting.  One nice thing about historical fiction is that it won't ever go out of date.
In my Atlantis books I wrote a lot of historical stuff, as half of the last five books were focused around significant battles in the past.  i just got back from Shiloh and will be going to Gettysburg and Antietam again this summer for more research.

[Tess St John]

Second Chances is Historical Romance.

So happy to see this thread!

[JimC1946]

Paper Woman by Suzanne Adair was first rate Revolutionary War historical fiction. I gave it five stars.

[JRTomlin]

What? That's all the historical fiction writers? Nah. I don't believe that.

[AmberQueen]

I write historical mysteries. I have three out, all set in the 1920s against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance.

HARLEM REDUX features David McKay, the prodigal son of a wealthy family, who returns home after a four-year absence, devastated by the news of his sister's suicide. Burdened by a secret of his own, he tries to find out the truth behind her death and in doing so unleashes forces that could redeem -- or destroy -- him.

DARKNESS AND THE DEVIL BEHIND ME is the first in the Lanie Price series. Lanie is a society reporter, sort of a 1920s Dominick Dunne, in that she covers the good, the bad, and the at times very ugly among Harlem's smart set. In the first one, the sister of a young beautiful pianist who disappeared during a Christmas snow storm asks for Price's help. The result is a story that could well cost Lanie her life.

BLACK ORCHID BLUES is the second in the Price series. Here Lanie witnesses the brutal kidnapping of a cabaret singer, Queenie Lovetree, also known as the Black Orchid. Lanie then gets caught up in the desperate attempt to save the singer's life, but in doing so uncovers some very ugly and dangerous secrets. Bookgasm said it has the ambiance of a classic pulp-era serial. I like that!

[JRTomlin]

Welcome to the historical thread.

The Harlem Renaissance was a fascinating period in American history.

[jabeard]

I'm curious if any of you all have ever wanted to write a story but basically held back because you just didn't feel you had the command of the material or if you just went ahead and then researched after the fact to add in the appropriate detail.

I'm definitely in the former camp. I'm bursting with a lot of ideas, but find I can't write a single sentence without pretty solid confidence in my period knowledge. In my last historical work, I was surprised how well this informed every little detail. It also was quite handy when some writing group partner or beta reader would insist I got some detail wrong and I could point to my sources.

Speaking of the last bit, has anyone had that trouble? A lot of time people's expectations of history are formed more by popular imagination and movies than actual history. In the process of getting one of my Regency stories critiqued, a person insisted several details were wrong and when I showed her primary source documentation to why I did it that way, she basically explained she thought they were wrong just because she hadn't seen the details in the various Regency novels of a few of her favorite authors.

I'm sure all of you who write medieval stuff have to deal with the clash between Hollywood Middle Ages and the real Middle Ages.

Is it better, people think, to somewhat be relaxed and accept that certain people are going to believe in the popular/Hollywood truth or do you keep it strictly historical?