Friday, November 18, 2011

Friday Friend - Rosemary Gemmell


Romy Gemmell’s first historical novel, Dangerous Deceit, set in Regency England, was published by Champagne Books in Canada in May 2011. Her first tween novel, Summer of the Eagles, which is set in Scotland, is being published by MuseItUp Publishing in Canada in March 2012 (as Ros).

Her short stories and articles are published in UK magazines, in the US, and Online, under her full name, Rosemary, and her children’s stories are in three different anthologies. One of her short stories was included in the fundraising book, ‘100 Stories for Haiti’ in 2010. A historical short story was published in ‘The Waterloo Collection’, launched by the late professor Richard Holmes in April 2011. She has won a few competitions and will be a short story adjudicator at the annual Scottish Association of Writers’ Conference in March 2012.

Romancing History

Thank you very much for having me on the lovely Heroines with Hearts Blog – love the name!

A while ago, I changed my Regency blog to the title of Romancing History as I thought it a better indication of its contents since I’m not sticking to Regency fiction, either as a reader or writer. The other reason was because I write historical romance (sometimes) and not serious history books. Does that mean the historical facts don’t matter? Of course not, but perhaps we are allowed to romanticise them a little in using our creative imagination.

We can never truly know what it was like to live in any particular era apart from our own, as “the past is a foreign country” according to L.P. Hartley. So we thoroughly research our period and try to depict the setting, background and everyday life as accurately as possible.  But, wait, we’re writing romantic fiction, therefore surely the characters and their stories are far more important than anything else? Absolutely, but if that were the only consideration, then the story might be transferable to any period of history and still make sense.

So it follows that one of the most important aspects of historical fiction is making sure a particular story and characters could only work within the bounds of their own time. It means grounding the novel in the culture and history of its era, checking that real events actually fit into the time span of the story, and making sure the language is appropriate for the period. That means being very careful to check for anachronisms – words and phrases that would not be in existence at the time. Nothing throws a reader out of a story quicker than reading a 20th century expression in a novel written about a previous era. It’s easy enough to Google a linguistic question, as long as you check the answer with at least two sources.

I love to mention real historical figures if possible when writing about the past, as it is another way of grounding the story in reality. Again we can research historical figures and find out lots of facts about them fairly easily. But part of the fun is taking those bare facts and bringing the character to life through the dialogue we give them when interacting with the fictional characters. For instance, I’ve given words to Lord Byron and Robert Burns in two different novels, and the Duke of Wellington in a short story, while trying to remain true to what is known about them.

One of the pleasures of historical fiction is being transported to another time and place, exploring the lives and loves of particular characters. Hopefully, we might learn a little history on the way, even if it is a romanticised version of the past!

Thanks so much for this, Rosemary. As a former history teacher, I can endorse everything you say!

You can find out more about Rosemary/Romy/Ros at

General writing/information blog: http://ros-readingandwriting.blogspot.com


Historical writing blog: http://romygemmell.blogspot.com
Children’s writing blog: http://rosgemmell.blogspot.com
Twitter: @rosemarygemmell

Dangerous Deceit is published by http://champagnebooks.com

30 comments:

  1. Hi Romy,

    Great blog. You are so right, nothing is more annoying than reading an historical with "modern" language in it. Also incorrect historical facts are a real turn off too. I love reading and writing historical romance. You can impart knowledge as well as enjoyment.

    Cheers

    Margaret

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  2. So true about historical facts and language, Romy. Nothing pulls you out of an otherwise good read faster than language that doesn't fit or things that didn't exist in the period the novel's set in.
    I don't write historicals, but I love reading them!

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  3. Thanks a lot for that lovely comment, Margaret! I often learn more about history from reading fiction.

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  4. Hi Ute - thanks a lot for your comment! It's such an easy mistake but worth making the effort to get it right.

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  5. Hi Rosemary - I enjoyed reading your post and I love it when you bring real historical figures into your books - Lord Byron for instance!

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  6. A great post and interesting as others have commented, there is nothing worse than modern talk in a past era. Have a great weekend.

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  7. Great blog, Rosemary. I absolutely agree with you on grounding the story in the reality of the time in which it's set while not allowing it to be weighed down by the research. You pulled it off wonderfully in Dangerous Deceit.

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  8. Hi Rosemary,

    Welcome to Heroines with Hearts.

    I'd love to write a Civil War novel someday, but getting the research right scares me a little bit. I want to be accurate to that period of history and not make any mistakes.

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  9. Interesting blog post, Rosemary. You clearly know the period you write about really well. I like the idea of a real historical figure appearing in the fiction story.

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  10. Hi Janice - thank you. Lord Byron is a particular favourite of mine!

    Thanks for visiting, Pauline!

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  11. Thanks for that kind comment, Maggie! Even more so when it's from a historian and great historical novelist!

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  12. Thanks a lot for your kind welcome, Debra. I always think you should just start your historical when you have a little background basics of the period, then do the remainder of research as and when you need it!

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  13. Thanks for that comment, Joan - and for your support!

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  14. Hi Rosemary. I really enjoyed this post and agree with everything you say.

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  15. Great post and really loved Dangerous Deceit! x

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  16. Thanks a lot for visiting, Jenny!

    Thanks for the kind comment, Vikki!

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  17. '...they do things differently there.' Yes, yes and yes. You've become one of my 'go to' writers for the right way to do historical fiction. Everything you've said here is so right!
    I must check out where you've given words to Robert Burns, Romy. A man with a story (a whole opera!) if ever there was one, and I would love to read your telling of him.
    Sorted! ;-)

    Jane x

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  18. As you know Romy I really enjoyed Dangerous Deceit and I appreciate the period being pinned down by the mention of one or two real characters or events - history but not a history lecture. lovely.

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  19. Jane - thanks so much for that! The novel that has Burns in it, and Highland Mary, is the mainstream one (with alternate historical chapters) that is currently out doing the rounds of agents/publishers in the UK. It's the one I really want published! Will let you know if and when it happens.

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  20. Hi, thanks for visiting with us today. Sorry I'm late. I love reading historical romances. The research required seems overwhelming to me, though and I don't think I could ever do it justice. But it's my favorite genre to read!

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  21. You are so right, Rosemary. Representing history accurately is important.
    My WIP has Act 2 set in 1490's Brittany. I've done what I hope is a juicious amount of research. It was fun to study about 'Little' Duchess Anne of Brittany (she was very short), and to study the ongoing pressure by the French monarchy/ now government to squelch the Breton culture.

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  22. Lovely blog about my kind of books! I love historical romances set in England especially ones centering around the nobility!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/

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  23. Excellent post. Some of my favorite books are historical fiction

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  24. Thanks for your comment, Jennifer -it's been great being here. I do agree the research can seem overwhelming sometimes!

    Thank you, Ana - your book sounds like an interesting story!

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  25. Thanks for that kind comment, Kathy!

    Thank you, Jenn!

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  26. Good morning from Scotland (Saturday). Many thanks to Paula for inviting me to be a guest on this lovely blog. And thank you to all who have welcomed me or left a comment - I really enjoyed being here.

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  27. Must be tough trying to make it historically accurate without sticking so closely to the way people spoke that it becomes difficult for the modern reader to follow what is being said.

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  28. Hi Patsy - thanks for coming over! You're absolutely correct - it's a fine balance.

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  29. I wonder if you already read some novels from rosemary!

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