HIstorical Fun Facts in Prisoner of Love

Posted by Apr 15 2011, 1:47 pm in

In my latest historical romance, Prisoner of Love, coming from Ellora’s Cave in June, I included some historical tidbits just for fun. I write mainly Regency-set historical romances, but the truth is my graduate degree is in American History. Same century, 19th, but different continent. So I took one of my characters, Michael, to America for part of the book. He relates his experiences there when he is back in London.

Some of the historical facts in the book are integral to the plot. Michael is in New Orleans in the winter of 1819-1820, when they had a slave revolt on one of the plantations there. The revolt is what causes Michael to return to England. But I had him travel around the still quite young United States for almost two years prior to that. He visited the newly rebuilt White House and had tea with President James Monroe. The White House was burned down during the War of 1812, and Monroe had just moved back into the partially restored house in 1817. They discussed the admission of Missouri to the Union. The debate gripping the country at that time was whether Missouri should enter as a slave state or a free state, and would culminate in the Missouri Compromise. Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine entered as a free state.
Michael traveled up the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Louis by steamboat. In St. Louis he met fur trappers and explorers–Americans, French Canadians, Irishmen and Englishmen–trading and trapping beaver in the West. He stayed in the home of Auguste Chouteau, a famous historical figure in the history of the Louisiana Territory. The Chouteau family founded the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City and Pierre, South Dakota. They controlled the fur trade in the area.
I wrote my Master’s thesis on the Chouteau family. One of these days I’m going to write a book about them. They have a very colorful and romantic history. Frankly, I love this period of American history and wish that more romances were set there. I have plans to take this series, my Brothers In Arms series, to America again, but this time to actually set a story there.
Do you like to include favorite historical tidbits in your books, even if they aren’t integral to the plot? What about as a reader? Do you enjoy reading these, or do you wish authors would stick strictly to the story? I know that too much of a good thing can still be too much. But I like it when an author includes one or two fun things.
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The Peterloo Massacre

Posted by Feb 15 2011, 12:00 pm in , ,

My current wip, Prisoner of Love: Brothers In Arms Book 8, begins with a riot. A riot that occurred in Manchester, Lancashire on August 16, 1819. Peterloo, as the resulting massacre of civilians by militia came to be called, started as a rally in support of universal suffrage in England. Only adult male owners of freehold land valued over 40 shillings could vote in 1819. After the Napoleonic Wars there was an economic depression which greatly affected the textile industry in Lancashire. The Corn Laws forced the price of food up when few could afford it by placing tariffs on

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2 Comments

Anachronisms and Why I Embrace Them

Posted by Jan 15 2011, 3:27 pm in ,

You don’t often hear an historical fiction writer say that. We all strive to be as true to our time period as we can. But in some cases, I just don’t think it’s necessary, or even desirable to do so. I suppose first I should state my firm belief that I don’t care who you are, or what type of historical fiction you are writing, as a contemporary author it is impossible for your fiction not to be anachronistic. Period. We are all creatures of our time. We are influenced by the time in which we live and that will,

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Capturing the Past

Posted by Nov 15 2010, 4:24 am in ,

I love old photographs. My mother has boxes and boxes of them stashed away. I used to spend hours when I was young looking through her photo albums. Below is a picture of my great grandfather in his butcher shop in Amboy, IL. I’m not sure of the year. A black and white image instantly catches my eye, and my imagination. (Yes, this is an actual photograph.) Color photographs do to, of course, like the one below from the How to Be a Retronaut website. Can you believe this photo was taken in 1913?! And I recently found this blog

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Love’s Fortress

Posted by Jul 15 2010, 3:29 pm in ,

I’m in the middle of making a video for my upcoming release, Love’s Fortress, Book Seven in my Regency series Brothers In Arms. Well, I’m not making the video. Creations by Kendra is making it. But we’re going back and forth about images and such. I know Terry talked about historical accuracy in the last post, so I hope I’m not being redundant. But my emails with Kendra have that very topic on my mind. The thing is, she found an excellent royalty free photo of a castle/fortress. My hero’s war experience on the Peninsula, particularly the second siege of

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