[Moonlighting Novelist]

@eden-anderson

I’m so glad! 🙂

This is pretty random and a little embarrassing, but…can you (or anyone) tell me how to make all those emoji’s show on here? I only know 🙂 😀 and 😉

*sheepish smile*

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@selah-chelyah

Hello, Selah! *waves*

I like what you said about portraying the typical beliefs of people from the given era correctly. I think it’s important to try to step into our characters’ shoes.

@valtmy

Your last paragraph…YES. Characters are the key.

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@seekjustice

That IS a good question. I think @ashira put it very well. Historical accuracy is always in the forefront, and should also be countered with biblical truth. Sometimes I write as though I assume the reader will understand the historical context of the situation. Conversely, I do sometimes struggle with showing what’s common for the time period with out over explaining. I’m finding sometimes both ways are necessary…there are times to elaborate, and times to leave it in the reader’s hands. But I do NOT feel I should ever shy away from a controversial subject if its historical accuracy is integral to my story.

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@seekjustice

Thank you! I might be slightly biased, but I think this IS the best thread on the forum… 😀 So excited to be here!!

@eden-anderson

Thanks for the confetti greeting!! And for directing me here. 🙂

Couldn’t get the quote thing to work… *rolls eyes* but that conversation was not embarrassing. That’s how you learn, how you get better. I don’t think it was a horrible story idea, you just needed to brainstorm some ideas with fellow historical fictioners. 🙂

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

Hello, Historical Fictioners!! (A great name, @seekjustice!)

I’ve had the best time reading over this thread for the last week! So glad to join in.

My favorite time periods are: Victorian America and Britain, but I love history between 1800 to about 1930. It’s the most interesting to me. I also find ancient Egypt fascinating. I don’t have a lot of real historical figures that I particularly like, but I have developed an interest in the Vanderbilt family, due to my visit to their country estate, Biltmore. It’s a beautiful place, and I found the history around it fun to learn, as if falls squarely in my era of interest.

My two favorite books are: Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. I also really liked North and South, Anna Karenina, and War and Peace. I’m VERY fond of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series, a mystery series set in late 1800s/early 1900s England and Egypt. I’ve also enjoyed some historical romances by authors Deeanne Gist and Colleen Coble. I’m not familiar with lot of the authors mentioned on this thread…I’ve read a lot of books, but probably within a pretty narrow window. I also enjoy reading non-fiction history books, especially about life and culture of the past.

I’m currently editing the draft of my first complete novel. Set in post Civil War Richmond, VA, the story of the daughter of a former plantation owner unfolds as she discovers love for the first time, but not quite in the way she imagined it. She finds love rather unexpectedly. This story is intended to be a romance, but also has a little mystery/suspense. I had the basic premise and characters sketched out, but I pantsed most of it, just seeing where the story took me. Needless to say, at the end of the draft, I had a decent story that needed quite a bit of tweaking and some rewriting in order to make the plot work better. Still working on those edits. Given the era and placement of my WIP, I greatly enjoyed the conversation between @rochellaine and @eden-anderson about the American Civil War. @rochellaine, you gave wonderful insight. I very much agree with you. 🙂

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@seekjustice

Hi! So glad to meet you!

I’ve actually been reading over all the posts on the historical fiction thread this week, and am about to jump in the conversation. Very interesting stuff over there! 😀

Both of those projects sound very neat, especially the French Revolution-ish dystopian. I think that sounds like a very clever combination, not to mention interesting. 🙂

Of Charles Dickens’ works, I’ve read A Christmas Carol, and Great Expectations. I enjoyed them both… I think at times he has a witty humor (or sarcasm) very similar to Jane Austen, which I enjoy very much. 🙂 I plan to read more of his works ASAP. I have a copy of Bleak House, and I’m interested in A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield.

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@selah-chelyah @eden-anderson

Perfectionism can crush your work, for sure. I love that you both have so many ideas; I often get frustrated because I don’t have new ideas for stories or struggle with feeling like NONE of my ideas are original in the least. I am fairly good at prose and engaging the emotional side to writing characters and events, but plot weaving is not my specialty. I have had to do quite a bit of study on that aspect of writing, which I think has helped me learn how to use questions to engage that deeper creativity. But I simply CANNOT work on more than one project at a time. 😀

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@eden-anderson

“*watches mournfully as afore mentioned list stretches out to infinity* Ahh, the struggles of being a book worm.”

Yes!! I feel your pain… :’D

Keep at your WIP…you’ll get there. The thing I struggle with the most is perfectionism. I always think I can do this or that better. I hope I can be realistic and put that aside when it comes to reaching a finished product I’m proud of.  And I’ve found when I have ideas come to me for the next project, I have to just jot them down and return to the one I’m working on. I don’t want to get caught up in starting the next one and forget about the unfinished work. I’m pretty task oriented and want to finish what I’ve started before moving on to something else. 😀

Yes, I want to read Crime and Punishment, too!

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@eden-anderson

Definitely read Jane Eyre! Great Expectations was good, but there were a few spots that were slow and a little confusing to me. But I loved the way Pip learned from his mistakes and ultimately learned what’s important in life. I definitely want to read David Copperfield. I always enjoy getting book recommendations, so thank you! 🙂

My WIP… I started writing it in 2014 and finished a complete first draft in about a year. Since then I have been “studying” to make my writing better and researching historical info to incorporate into my story. Then I went through a big move and started working more hours and unfortunately my story fell to the wayside. Thus, I am still working on my edits and rewrites. I want to write more novels and have an idea for one I’m excited about starting on. But I need to finish this one first. I posted my first draft to Wattpad and plan to repost the story once my edits are complete.

Don’t be embarrassed that you haven’t read any Dostoyevsky yet but admire the quote. That’s okay. 🙂 I haven’t read any of his works yet, either, but I want to.

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@nicoleg

TWIN!! *jumps up and down* So glad to see you!! 😀

I LOVE it here! Thank you so much for telling me about this place, it really is amazing. I’ve had the BEST time talking with everyone. *hearts*

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@selah-chelyah

I really love Pride and Prejudice because of the wit and humor Jane Austen used in it. I just think it’s an interesting story with funny sarcasm and ends with a sweet romance that two flawed characters deserve to find. 🙂

I think the thing I worry about the most with writing historical fiction is that I won’t do the past justice; that I won’t be able to fully immerse myself to the point that I don’t sound modern in some way. I guess there’s only so much an author can do, given we live here and now and have never experienced life in the way our characters would have. But it really is fun to study these things. Last year I read a book called How To Be A Victorian. It was amazing; the author actually lived out a lot of the daily life things she was writing about. So. Cool.

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@eden-anderson

No, I have not seen the Historical Fictioners thread, but thank you for telling me about it. I can’t wait to check it out!

Don’t get discouraged if it does take you a while to read Les Mis. It’s such a huge book. I hope you do get to read Jane Eyre soon. Jane goes through an amazing personal journey, and her moral compass is steady throughout. I think it’s such a great story. Charles Dickens is also on my list of must reads. I have read A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations. He was certainly an amazing writer.

Thank you for the interest in my WIP. 🙂

I love your signature quote, by the way. He is also on my list to read. 🙂

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@kari-karast Yes! Luke was totally about to LOSE IT. haha

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

That’s my favorite one.

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@kari-karast Haha, that’s lovely! 😀

Yes!! Yoda’s way of speaking is actually my favorite thing about him! hehe

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Moonlighting Novelist]

@evelyn

I’m looking forward to reading Wives and Daughters. I haven’t seen the adaptation, but I hope to.

Here’s to good books. I whole heartedly agree. 🙂

I have also enjoyed other genres, including mystery and fantasy. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth has got to be the most mind blowing fantasy world ever written. Just sayin. 🙂

Poetry is a thing I can very much appreciate, but I cannot write it to save my life. haha. But boy do I love deep, beautiful prose.

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."
-Jane Austen, "Emma"

[Author]

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