An Author Interview

I answered some questions for the talented Avellina Balestri of Fellowship and Fairydust about writing historical fiction, an art we are both striving to perfect. Here is an excerpt:

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

I grew up in the countryside outside of Frederick, Maryland, “fair as the garden of the Lord” as the poet Whittier said of it. As a child I read so many books that my mom had to put restrictions on my hours of reading. During my teenage years, I spent a great deal of my free time writing stories and short novels. I graduated in 1984 from Hood College in Frederick with a BA in Psychology, and in 1985 from the State University of New York at Albany with an MA in Modern European History. In 1986, I joined the Secular Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. I taught at the Frederick Visitation Academy and worked as a private tutor as well as teaching children’s etiquette classes. During a trip to Austria in 1995 I visited the tomb of Empress Maria Theresa in the Capuchin crypt in Vienna. Afterwards I decided to finish a novel about Marie-Antoinette I had started writing ten years earlier but had put aside. In 1997 my first historical novel TRIANON was published by St. Michaels Press.

What first inspired you to start writing?

 I wanted to be a writer from the time I was a very small child, just learning to write. I suppose all the stories about girls who wrote, like Anne of Green Gables, inspired me.

How did you first become interested in history, and what are your favorite time periods?

I was always interested in “the olden days” when ladies wore long dresses and had long hair. I wore my aunt’s old prom dresses and played princess. My favorite times periods became the Middle Ages (when Joan of Arc lived) and the 1700’s (when Marie-Antoinette lived).

What started you on the journey of historical fiction writing in particular?

I saw the first Star Wars film when I was 14. I came home and made up a story about a character based on Princess Leia except instead of living in space she lived in a medieval country.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of working within the historical fiction genre? 

I love everything about the genre. Good historical fiction requires thorough research, and I enjoy research. The story-line is basically provided for you; all the author has to do is weave the historical events together in a coherent and entertaining manner. The challenge for the historical fiction writer is to maintain the integrity of the historical persons, remembering that those who were real people have the right to be presented as close as possible to how they were in life. For instance, if an author of historical fiction decided to show Napoleon Bonaparte as a pacifist who hated the sight of weapons, it would be irresponsible to the readers to create such a false depiction. Or, as I actually saw in a miniseries, to show St. Thomas More as a sadist who tortured heretics in his study for the fun of it contradicts all that we know about the cheerful humanism of the More household. Yes, Thomas More as Chancellor applied the laws of the land to religious dissenters but he did not do it at his home or for his personal amusement but because it was his job. Authors owe it to the people they are writing about to present them realistically, even as we owe it to the readers to offer an authentic portrait of the past.

How have you chosen which historical characters to feature in your books, and what made their stories resonate with you?

I almost feel like the historical characters chose me, as certain characters such as Marie-Antoinette captured my imagination at a young age before I even knew much about them or about the world they lived in. St. Joan of Arc as well, although I have not written directly about her, she usually is hovering in the background of everything I do. There is something about certain persons that reaches out to you from the past, the past being like Alice’s mirror that she climbs through into another universe. People who faced hardships with courage, fortitude and faith have always appealed to me. By studying their lives and recreating what we discover into a living portrait we historical fiction writers are able to invite others to join us in our journeys into the past.

What is your process in terms of research and bringing historical characters to life?

I start with studying portraits and then with several good biographies. Then I read letters and memoirs and other primary sources. Then I read as much as possible about the era. I usually include a bibliography in the back of my novels as a guide to further reading on the subject.

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