WRITING GREAT HISTORICAL ROMANCE - MARGARET TANNER

HISTORICAL ROMANCE - DO'S AND DON'TS - MARGARET TANNER.

Why do I write historical romance: Because I love history.

The most important aspects are:

You must be passionate about your subject in a historical novel. You might get away

without this passion in a contemporary, but you won’t in a historical:

Historical Accuracy. Without that, your novel is doomed and so are you.

Write about an era that you are interested in.

I am not into Medieval or Regency, so it would be tedious trying to do the research required for this, and I wouldn’t have the passion about it, and I am sure this would show in my writing.

Research Options:

The internet (use with caution as you can’t be 100% sure that the person who posted knows what they are talking about).

Library reference books – a great place to start.

Museums

Cemeteries

Quizzing elderly relatives (depending, of course, which era you are writing about)

2^nd World War, Vietnam, Great Depression – all o.k. because they would have lived during these times.

Reading family diaries and/or letters.

Actually visiting places where you story takes place or somewhere similar.

e.g. I visited the old Melbourne jail for my novel, Daring Masquerade, set during the 1st World War,  because my heroine was jailed for being a spy. I wanted to see what it was like. The walls were solid bluestone, and cold, even on a warm day. The cell was small etc.

Settings:

Name towns: Know the area. What grows etc. I always set most of my stories in N.E. Victoria because I know the area well. Mention a few main towns, but I never be too specific, because you can get easily caught out.  I always make up a fake town near a main town or city.

In my novel, Allison’s War, set in 1916, I said the heroine lived at Dixon’s Siding (made up name) i.e The left the farm at Dixon’s Siding, and after an hours riding (horses) reached Wangaratta.

I PURPOSELY DID NOT SAY Dixon’s Siding was (10 miles west of Wangaratta on the Greta/Myrtleford Road, because I didn’t know for sure, that there wasn’t a giant lake there or a massive quarry at that time (1916).

QUIZ: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE STATEMENT?

Lauren’s Dilemma

1.30a.m. 25th April 1915. Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey

Pte. Danny Williamson shivered in the chilly air as he waited on the deck of the troopship.

A.    0130 hrs – not 1.30a.m. No soldier would say 1.30a.m. The army always uses the 24 hour clock

My novel, A Wicked Deception is set in 1854.

On arrival at the homestead, Melanie unsaddled the mare and let her loose in the stockyards James had constructed from split logs. Surprising how neglected a house became after being left empty for a few days

Within 5 minutes she had dusted the kitchen and was sitting down having a cup of hot milky tea?

A.    Where did she get the milk? She would have had to milk the cow.  

Water would have to be boiled on wood stove? She would have had to light the stove, maybe even cut the wood for it. This would certainly take more than 5 minutes.

In Daring Masquerade 1916. The heroine goes to ring Colonel Andrew Smith. She punches in the telephone number and waits for him to pick up the phone? No.

A.   She rang the operator, dialled the exchange etc. And she certainly didn’t use her mobile phone.

On her wedding night, her nightgown was exquisite, a soft, white polyester, lavishly trimmed with lace.

A.    No polyester in those days.

Beware of modern language and slang.

A poor, uneducated person wouldn’t speak the same way as a rich, educated person.

So, as you can see there are many pitfalls to writing historical fiction, but if you have a genuine love of history it is a pleasure to write in this genre.

 DARING MASQUERADE

When Harriet Martin masquerades as a boy to help her shell-shocked brother in 1916, falling in love with her boss wasn’t part of the plan.

http://amzn.com/B0081CJECY

CHOCOLATE AND COMFORT FOOD - MARGARET TANNER

COMFORT FOOD – MARGARET TANNER

Comfort food what is it? Of course, food that makes you comfortable, happy and content. A reward for doing something well, or a panacea for all the trials and tribulations you have had to put up with? No matter what excuse we use, and I have used them all i.e. if something good has happened to me, I reward myself with chocolate. On the other hand, if something bad has happened to me and I need cheering up, I reward myself with a chocolate.

What is my favourite food you might ask? Well, being a chocaholic, you know what I am going to say -  Chocolate, closely followed by biscuits (or as American’s say, cookies). My hips bear witness to this addiction of mine.

My favourite chocolate is milk chocolate, followed by dark chocolate, (which scientists are now saying is good for you, I could have told them that), and white chocolate. I have to confess I am not a great fan of white chocolate, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I find it too sweet and sickly.

I prefer a plain chocolate bar, but I do enjoy a chocolate bar with peppermint or honeycomb in it.

Now biscuits. I enjoy most of them, particularly chocolate coated biscuits, but my favourite are ANZAC biscuits.

In 1915, these biscuits were baked by mothers and sisters and sent in food parcels to troops serving on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.  The soldiers were members of an expeditionary force, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS). Four of my novels are set against a background of World War 1.

ANZAC BISCUITS:

Ingredients:

125g (4 oz) butter, 1 tablespoon golden syrup, 2 tablespoons boiling water, 1 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking powder), 1 cup rolled oats, ¾ cup desiccated coconut, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar.

Method:

Melt butter and golden syrup over low heat. Add boiling water mixed with bicarbonate of soda.  Pour into mixed dried ingredients and mix well.

Drop teaspoonfuls of mixture on to greased baking trays, leaving room for spreading.

Bake in pre-heated slow oven (150C/300F) for 20 minutes. Cool on trays for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool.

Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 45.

DARING MASQUERADE:

When Harriet Martin masquerades as a boy to help her shell-shocked brother in 1916, falling in love with her boss wasn’t part of the plan.

http://amzn.com/B0081CJECY

http://www.margarettanner.com/

MARGARET TANNER - SECRETS

SECRETS - WE ALL HAVE THEM

How many of us have secrets?

I doubt if there would be many people who don’t have at least one secret. I don’t mean of the dark, dangerous variety, but some of us may well have a secret that could place us in danger. Fortunately, I am not one of those.

My secret – I am a chocoholic. How many times have I told my hubby that I no longer eat chocolates, then I sneak off to my several hiding places (not to be divulged on pain of death), where my secret stash is hidden. You should always have more than one hideout for your illicit goodies just in case one of them is discovered. I don’t want to be like Old Mother Hubbard – who went to the cupboard to get her dog a bone, and when she got there the cupboard was bare and the poor doggie had none. Change that to and when Margaret got to her secret stash, the chokkies were gone and she had none. A disaster of that proportion could not be allowed to happen, hence a few hiding places. I call it my insurance policy.

In many families there are secrets that will never see the light of day, except if someone in the family is into Geneology. My sister has unearthed some shocking scandals as she undertook research into our family tree. I swear, I could write a book about it. One of the most shocking secrets was the fact that my grandmother had a baby when she was unmarried and only eighteen years old. The baby died when he was only 6 days old. A couple of years later she married my grandfather. No-one knew that, it remained hidden for 120 years, until my sister unearthed the information during her research.

Another relative spent time in jail in the 1880’s for aiding and abetting Ned Kelly, a famous Australian bushranger (outlaw). Then there were all the “premature” babies that were born to aunts and great aunts. Not to mention one great uncle who had two wives. Then there was a cousin who ran off with a man who was older than her father. That caused a stir. Especially as the man had a wife and 4 children. Still, can’t be all bad, thirty years later, and the couple are still together.

In my experience, and I do have to quantify this by saying I mainly read historical romance because that is what I write, there are often dark secrets lurking in the background. Some of these could be life threatening, in any case at the very least they threaten the hero and heroine’s chance of getting their happily ever after ending.

In my novel, Allison’s War, the heroine’s secret is that the baby she is expecting does not belong to her husband.

 

In Daring Masquerade, my heroine pretends she is a boy so she can gain employment with the hero. Then, of course, she falls in love with the hero. I mean, what can she do about it?

In my novel, Haunted Hearts, (the only contemporary I have published), the heroine discovers that her father-in-law has been going through her cupboard drawers and stealing her panties.

 

So, you can see that secrets abound in my novels, and I am sure I am not alone in this regard. A secret can drive our stories along, add passion and drama, and keep the reader wondering what is this secret? How can it be resolved? Will the hero and heroine get their HEA?

 Margaret Tanner writes historical romance for Books We Love.

http://www.margarettanner.com

 

http://www.bookswelove.net/tanner.php