Historical Fictionistas discussion

This is a question that I've been asked many times. When I respond by turning the question back on the person who has thus challenged me, I typically hear that history was one of their least favorite subjects in school. It's little wonder, isn't it? History probably is the least well taught subject. Reducing it to names and dates that are easily marked on tests, destroys its natural appeal. History is a story - our story. It should be told, not taught. Historical fiction has the advantage of providing fictional characters for readers to populate and participate in the story.
Well, that the long of it. Now for my short answer.
You don't need warp speed to explore strange new worlds. Just turn the page in any historical fiction novel. Our world is as strange and dangerous as any alien world. Maybe more so...

I love reading history and well-done historical fiction. I read once that history tells us what happened and historical fiction tells us how it felt to people experiencing what happened.

I’ve always loved stories that take you somewhere else—not just in place, but in time. Historical fiction pulls me in because it slows everything down. You get to walk beside characters as they wrestle with big things like love, loss, faith, and starting over—but in a world that’s quieter, rawer, and somehow more honest.

I write Southern historical fiction because I know the places I’m writing about. I’ve walked those marshes, climbed those lighthouses, watched the tide roll in. And I’ve always been fascinated by the lives that came before us—how ordinary people found courage in hard times, and how places remember even when people forget.

For me, it’s not about getting every historical detail perfect (though I try). It’s about telling a story that feels real enough to believe, and meaningful enough to matter.

I love that distinction: history tells us what happened and historical fiction tells us how it felt to people experiencing what happened.

Thanks!

I've always loved to imagine living in another time with different customs, clothing, and societal rules. Now that I'm writing HF (WWI era) I feel like I've lived the period. Plus I want to write more in that time frame to make maximum use of all my research. lol

Donna wrote: "I've always loved to imagine living in another time with different customs, clothing, and societal rules. Now that I'm writing HF (WWI era) I feel like I've lived the period. Plus I want to write m..."

I'm going to apologize first because you may not forgive me after telling you that I can't remember the name of the man whose story I'm about to relate to you...

After my tour of duty in Vietnam, I was assigned to be the Special Services Officer at Tripler Army Medical Center on Oahu, Hawaii. One of my staff was a Master Sergeant. He was rather "long in the tooth" which aroused my curiosity. Even more arousing was the fact that he wore only one ribbon on his uniform; a Silver Star (a very high award for valor in combat) with an Oak Leaf Cluster (second award). Surely, I reasoned, he must be entitled to wear other decorations; service ribbons at the very least (designating service in combat). Rather than confront him directly, I went to the personnel office and asked to see his 201 file (Army Personnel Record). The Sergeant Major in charge chuckled. "I was expecting you to show up, sir." I won't belabor you with all the details. In summary, he was a farm boy from Iowa, big for his age of 13. He enlisted and served in Europe during WWI. When the war ended, he mustered out and returned to the farm. When the US entered WWII, he enlisted and served in Europe again. He was awarded a direct commission and rose to major serving as an Infantry Battalion Commander. War ended and he mustered out again. He returned for Korea and served in combat there too. When Vietnam started, the recruiters turned him away. However, he had "friends" at the Pentagon who reenlisted him and he served a tour of duty in that combat theater. Since the war was still raging when his tour of duty ended, he took an assignment to Hawaii where we met, so that he could earn his retirement, 20 years service, every day in active wartime. Of course he had earned countless service ribbons and other awards and decorations for valor, service, and achievement. Why didn't he wear them? I suspect that he would have been embarrassed to look like a Middle Eastern Potentate. However, in his 201 file, on the left side where copies of all his orders were stacked (oldest on the bottom and most recent on top) I found two very old ones, browned and cracked with age, on the bottom. Two awards of the Silver Star, both signed by General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing. I was holding history in my hands...

Donna wrote: "I love that distinction: history tells us what happened and historical fiction tells us how it felt to people experiencing what happened.

Thanks!"

Blake wrote: "I’ve always loved stories that take you somewhere else—not just in place, but in time. Historical fiction pulls me in because it slows everything down. You get to walk beside characters as they wre..."

I've written three historical fiction novels. I've nursed the concept of a Sci-Fi novel for many years but put it aside every time I've attempted to write it. To be honest, Sci-Fi is too much work and I don't have enough gas left in the tank to meet the challenge. (I'm 82) Creating a world is a lot harder than using one that already existed and is familiar to anyone who takes time to look up from their phones and experience the world we live in.

I'm an avid reader of HF and for me its the safety of the distance of time. A great HF read evokes the past with all its grit and stink and inconvenience...and its the fact that sometimes actual history is stranger than fiction. So to me HF is a good escapist read but in the comfort of my home with flushing plumbing.
Make sense?