One approach to ‘writing what you know’ is to learn it. Sarah-Jane McKenna did exactly that in writing her debut novel, Dreaming in Irish. McKenna spoke with Origenes about the idea for that story in a previous article, but we wanted to hear about her research, too. The story spans the generations of one Irish…
My question seemed simple: what fauna flourished around Rome and Ostia in the first century? Creating the world of my historical novel depended on getting the right answer, so I did what any good fiction writer does—I googled, purchased and read a variety of books (above), and even traveled to the place. Obsessing the details is…
The White Rabbit appears at the very beginning of Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. When he races down the rabbit hole, Alice follows him into Wonderland, thus beginning her fantastic journey. Carroll’s setting is other-worldly, but he evokes it with such aplomb it becomes a character in its own right. Where a story…
Randy Susan Meyers found the subject for her latest novel in the morning news. She read about an immense Ponzi scheme that effected thousands across the nation and realized she could tell the story the right way. Her bones resonated sympathetically with the notes plucked by the subject matter. So that’s what she did. The…
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