Whether history is a backdrop to your story or the focus of the story itself, this workshop will provide you with the tools to find the facts you need, organize the data in a functional manner, and merge that data seamlessly into your novel. Discover the level of historical data to include as a function of a particular writing goal. Learn the definition of historical markers and how and where to unearth them. And uncover the tools to integrate history, research and the fiction plot arc. Most of all, find out how to honor verisimilitude-the goal of any historical writing-and avoid the dreaded anachronism.
Donna Russo Morin is an award winning author of historical fiction for Kensington Books. Her first novel, The Courtier’s Secret, released in February of 2009, was a National Readers’ Choice Award Finalist and the winner of RWI-RWA’s Best First Book. Book Illuminations chose her second novel, The Secret of the Glass, as an Outstanding Pick for 2010. Her latest release (Feb. 1, 2011) is To Serve a King, a story of intrigue, murder, passion and betrayal at the courts of Francois I and Henry VIII. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Donna worked for years as a freelance journalist with more than eighty articles and book reviews published in newspapers and magazines nationwide. Her short horror fiction has been published in critically acclaimed anthologies and she conducts workshops and speaking engagements throughout the northeast.
Upcoming Meetings
Please note: From March to June, meetings will be held in the Seminar Room at the Cumberland Library not the Community Room. The Seminar Room is on the first floor.
April 2, 2011: Marie Force “What’s Holding You Back? Fifteen Common Errors Made By Aspiring Writers”
May 7, 2011: Jo Ann Ferguson “Revision Ramifications”
June 4, 2011: Patricia Grasso “Plotting with Panache”