This month’s issue of the Historical Novels Review features my article on multi-period novels. In it, I share insights from four authors who’ve written new or forthcoming books that alternate between the past and present: Chanel Cleeton, Jane Johnson, Ariel Lawhon, and James Carroll. The authors reveal the challenges they face in writing dual narrative novels…

Books that take me into the darkest times in history, where human beings treat other human beings with unimaginable cruelty, both enlighten and horrify me. When the stories are told through the eyes of the young, they also reveal pain, hope, and strength in ways no other novels can. Four such books that I highly…

When it comes to the “12 Days of Christmas,” might you or the readers in your life like some last-minute stocking-stuffers? Or, suggestions for books to read in the New Year? Below are three novels which shift between time periods. So, build a fire, snuggle up, pour some eggnog, and enjoy the season. Cheers! The…

It’s November! Yep, I’m turning another year older. So it’s the perfect time to recommend novels that have a main character who’s, uh, “getting up in years” and where something triggers her memories of long ago—often memories of tragedy and survival. Of all the novels that alternate between the past and present, those with aging…

The South has a rich literary tradition, from author Flannery O’Connor to William Faulkner. Though I was born and raised in the Midwest, for almost 20 years as a Georgia girl, I’ve been blown away by the writing chops of the many authors who also make metro-Atlanta their home. Today is Halloween, so let’s begin…

I still remember seeing Girl With A Pearl Earring displayed at Barnes & Noble many years ago. One look at that cover, and as a lover of historical fiction, I had to snap the book right off the shelf and head for the cashier. During that period, I also discovered Susan Vreeland’s Girl in Hyacinth…

Psst. Here’s a secret. I don’t come to a Joshilyn Jackson book for its plot, though there’s always plenty of that. I come for the author’s voice. I come for her plucky characters that are so real, I feel as if I might turn my head at a stoplight and find them winking at me…

This week marks my 40th wedding anniversary, so for this post, I googled the greatest love stories of all time. Guess what stories appear in the “Top 3” of most lists? Romeo and Juliet, Anna Karenina, and Wuthering Heights. Some lists also include Gone with the Wind and Casablanca.   Note any trends? What is it…

I’ve loved traveling to historical places for vacation ever since my dad let me choose Jamestown, Virginia over Disneyland when I was 10. This year, I got a bonus: I combined my love of history and my love of books by attending a summer writers’ conference at Yale University. There I learned from some of…

Call me old-fashioned, but I rarely read books on Kindle. I like running my fingers across an embossed cover or up and down a deckled edge, and, as I’ve posted before, I jot notes throughout the chapters using my own key words and symbols. Yet, there is one exception to my old-fashionedness when it comes to…