A Goodreads user
asked
Martha Hall Kelly:
First, thank you for taking these questions -- your answers have already been so helpful. I LOVED LOVED Lilac Girls. These ladies and Caroline are in my heart forever. I am currently writing a piece of historical fiction and I'd like to know how you deal with the intricacies of weaving truth and fiction together? How can fictional fillings honor my character whom I admire so much? Thank you.
Martha Hall Kelly
So glad you enjoyed Lilac Girls, Lyna and how wonderful that you are writing historical fiction. My writing rule about fact and fiction is I only fictionalize something if I don't know the truth. I really like to stick with what really happened since it adds weight to the story. But dialogue can go a long way to bring your character to life and that is of course fictionalized. Have you read Sol Stein's writing books? He was a great help to me and you might find his advice useful as well.
More Answered Questions
Jennifer
asked
Martha Hall Kelly:
Hi Martha! I read your book and enjoyed it very much. I'm a debut author with a completed manuscript. Like your novel, my novel has 3 central characters. I have an editing/agent hunting question for you. My original word count was 200K. With worth-smithing I have cut about 30k. Can I ask what your word count was when you searched for your agent? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give this novice author! :)
Lori
asked
Martha Hall Kelly:
I found myself hoping that Kasia would escape post WWII Poland before she was unable to leave and locked behind the Iron Curtain. I spent several weeks last summer in Leipzig, Germany at a German teachers' seminar and learned a lot about what life with the East German Stasi had been. The parallels to concentration camps controls made me want Kasia to get out and not suffer twice. How did you feel about this?
Kymm
asked
Martha Hall Kelly:
I purchased a signed copy of Lost Roses and am patiently waiting for it's release. What I was wondering was are you writing another book now and if so, is it something different than Lilac Girls and Lost Roses, or something similar or along the lines of the two books you currently have written?
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