While writing my first six books, I avoided research and wrote only what I knew with the facts I could easily look up. Now I find diving into history is exciting and gives me a better sense of the people and places about which I write. Now I'm a believer. Researching for historical fiction is … Continue reading Researching Historical Fiction
Tag: 17th century
Is Comedy a Modern Thing?
We attended a performance of The Play that Goes Wrong at the Florida Rep in downtown Fort Myers last night. I love the old intimate theater, and the goofy play gave us plenty of laughs. Slapstick comedy has kept audiences laughing for a thousand years, and it got me to wondering…did French peasants in the … Continue reading Is Comedy a Modern Thing?
Gossip and News: How 17th Century French Peasants Shared Information
We can’t live without our phones, email, TV, and podcasts. How did the people of yore manage? In a 17th-century French village, news traveled at the pace of footsteps and farm carts, stitched together by habit, ritual, and the human love of a good story. Most peasants lived within a few kilometers of one another … Continue reading Gossip and News: How 17th Century French Peasants Shared Information
Choosing Character Names
cyndi Lauper and peasant girl could never exchange names.
Death Was Different Then…or Was It?
funeral then and now, casket, flowers, candles. French peasants at wake, modern funeral
