Squawk Radio
Monday, April 25, 2005
WHEN GOOD HISTORICAL AUTHORS GO BA...CONTEMPORARY
Okay. Let's say a historical author (let's say she's a stunning Irish-Scandinavian hybrid of an indeterminate but probably fairly young age, who can bench press 95 pounds and plays a mean game of tennis but indulges her softer, gentler side as a master gardener and cook of no mean accomplishment) gets to a certain level and sticks there, not for one or two books but for five or six. Since one of her (few) failings is an inordinate sense of her own worth, this pisses her off. She wants to reach a large audience. She has things she wants to say. Stories she wants to tell. She likes a crowd. Mostly crowded around her!!
Now, she loves writing historicals but there are SEVERE limitations on the sort of historicals that are being published. Her one ill-fated attempt at writing a historical set in another country convinced her early on that if she intended to write as more than a hobby, she would have to toe the geographical lines. So she looks at her options and they all have a contemporary face. If she writes a contemporary she can write a suspense novel, a mystery, a women's fiction novel, a chick-lit, a straight romance... She can set her characters in the Midwest, or in a trip to Italy, explore the wine country of California, install them in a London apartment. If she stays in historicals she stuck about the Regency or Victorian era-- venturing out of England only at her own publishing peril. (Okay, she's also a bit of a coward. Cowards can be good writers!)
And perhaps she's a bit naive. Still there is no denying that contemporary stories *successfully* use a far greater range of plots, tone and settings than those in the historical market. So, hoping to grow that illusive bigger readership, she pops off. Wish her luck. She knows she's going to need it. At least, er, I assume she does.
Now, having said that, there are contemporary authors who return to writing historicals. I know that Catherine Anderson has a historical story in the November 2005 NAL anthology that I'm in and I believe she's interested in doing more. But then, she came from a historical background and probably got homesick. I know I expect to. Anyone else know of authors who started in contemporary going historical? Curious.
CONNIE BROCKWAY
Now, she loves writing historicals but there are SEVERE limitations on the sort of historicals that are being published. Her one ill-fated attempt at writing a historical set in another country convinced her early on that if she intended to write as more than a hobby, she would have to toe the geographical lines. So she looks at her options and they all have a contemporary face. If she writes a contemporary she can write a suspense novel, a mystery, a women's fiction novel, a chick-lit, a straight romance... She can set her characters in the Midwest, or in a trip to Italy, explore the wine country of California, install them in a London apartment. If she stays in historicals she stuck about the Regency or Victorian era-- venturing out of England only at her own publishing peril. (Okay, she's also a bit of a coward. Cowards can be good writers!)
And perhaps she's a bit naive. Still there is no denying that contemporary stories *successfully* use a far greater range of plots, tone and settings than those in the historical market. So, hoping to grow that illusive bigger readership, she pops off. Wish her luck. She knows she's going to need it. At least, er, I assume she does.
Now, having said that, there are contemporary authors who return to writing historicals. I know that Catherine Anderson has a historical story in the November 2005 NAL anthology that I'm in and I believe she's interested in doing more. But then, she came from a historical background and probably got homesick. I know I expect to. Anyone else know of authors who started in contemporary going historical? Curious.
CONNIE BROCKWAY
Connie Brockway, 12:16 PM
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