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Technical glitch | A Writer of History
Dear friends … I’ve just discovered that the comments function on this blog isn’t working. So, I’m going to take a brief hiatus while waiting for help to sort it out. If you’ve made a comment recently – and I do love your comments!! – I apologize that they aren’t coming through. I’ll be back […]
The Writing Journey - with Weina Dai Randel | A Writer of History
Weina Dai Randel is the acclaimed author of five historical novels. She is an award-winning author whose work has been translated into seventeen languages. We met some time ago at a Historical Novel Society conference. It’s intriguing to reflect that Weina, who was born in China, switched to English when she came to the United States at the […]
The Writing Journey with Jamie Ford | A Writer of History
Jamie Ford‘s debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, spent two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list and won the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Since then, he’s written three other novels and is also an award-winning short story writer. At the HNS conference in 2023, I had […]
The Writing Journey with Ben Kane | A Writer of History
Author Ben Kane was born in Kenya, courtesy of the fact that his father was working there as a veterinarian. Much later, after a three-month solo trip along part of the ancient Silk Road, a visit to the ruins of Merv, in Turkmenistan, prompted his interest in the Roman campaign into Parthia in 53 BC. […]
Writing History ... let's talk about women | A Writer of History
I’m a feminist – I thought I would declare that straight off. I got my first job after university in the 70s when some companies still expected women to leave work if they got pregnant and stay home to raise children, when I was often the only women in meetings, and when a man making […]
10 Lessons Learned ... revisited | A Writer of History
In 2019, I reflected on lessons learned after 10 years of writing. Most still resonate for me – with a few caveats noted below in my favourite blue. Whether you’re a writer or a reader, let me know what life lessons you’ve learned. Roughly ten years ago [now 16 years], I gave up the day […]
Author Timeline - the second half | A Writer of History
A few days ago, I wrote about my writing journey from 2006 to 2017. Today’s post completes the look back from 2018 to 2025. One thing that became clear as I built these diagrams was the years of juggling multiple novels. (See boxes outlined in red.) Another clear insight is how long it takes to […]
Writing History - Revenge is Sweet | A Writer of History
As many of you know, I’ve been checking the New York Times catalog of Trump’s actions to date against Project 2025 objectives. In doing so, I created two additional objectives. One relates to tariffs. The other I’ve labelled revenge. So, let’s have a look at the topic of revenge. In a March article titled Trump’s […]
Writing History ... Tracking Trump's Actions #4 | A Writer of History
Donald Trump and his administration continue to make history. My intent with these posts is to map recent actions of Trump 2.0 against Project 2025. To help with this I use the NY Times list of actions to date and E.T. Parker’s website What Does Project 2025 Say. In three previous posts, I’ve looked at […]
Auschwitz - a stunning exhibit | A Writer of History
Yesterday, at the ROM – Royal Ontario Museum – we visited an exhibit titled Auschwitz. No other word is needed. Words won’t do this exhibit justice, but let me try: stunning, poignant, tear-inducing, heartbreaking, anger, loss, depravity, courage, evil. Many of us have read novels set during WWII. Some of those novels describe aspects of […]
Historical Fiction offers lessons for today | A Writer of History
When writing historical fiction, many authors find a person or a time that intrigues them, a puzzling question of what really happened long ago, an emotional situation that remains relevant to today’s readers, or an issue that is similar to what the world or that author is facing. In November 2022, I wrote a post […]
Writing History - tracking Trump's actions #3 | A Writer of History
Dear all – I’ve been busy this past week driving back to Canada which included a stop in Chicago to see family. However, now back in action and ready to look at two more of Project 2025’s objectives: Declare the President above the law and Weaponize the Department of Justice. It seems to me that […]