The History Quill Podcast: Writing and Publishing Historical Fiction

What if the problem isn’t your creativity – but the way you’ve been trying to write? In this episode, Robert Dempsey shares how years of frustration with the ‘conventional’ way of writing left him stuck, convinced he simply wasn’t capable of doing it.

Robert talks about how being diagnosed with ADHD helped him understand how his brain works, and how discovering a different approach to writing allowed him to finally make real progress. We also talk about the differences between technical and creative writing, how your career can influence your stories, and proving your teachers wrong!

All our guests this season are members of The History Quill. Learn more about our membership here: https://thehistoryquill.com/join-us/

Why do so many writers tell themselves they 'just don’t have time' – and what’s really going on underneath that? In this episode, Emma Strangwayes-Booth talks about the stories she told herself about not having enough time to write and how they were tied up with self-doubt, fear of failure, and the pressure to write in the 'right' way.

Emma shares how a solo writing retreat and the confidence boost of a pitch party helped her break out of that spiral and build momentum again. Along the way, we talk about creative routines, the value of community, and what it really takes to get unstuck.

All our guests this season are members of The History Quill. Learn more about our membership here: https://thehistoryquill.com/join-us/

The books we read as children are hugely formative, shaping our tastes long after we’ve moved on to adult literature, and often drawing us back to old favourites to re-read to ourselves or future generations. 

 

It’s an opportunity and responsibility that Karen Inglis is well aware of. Karen talks about drawing inspiration from everyday life, digging beyond the moment of initial inspiration, and the importance of not preaching to or trying to teach children in fiction. The author-publisher of timeslip series The Secret Lake, among other books, also shares some of her recipe for success in self-publishing, while explaining how traditional publishing models have helped her sell overseas and in additional languages.

 

Go to https://thehistoryquill.com/bonus to get access to our special bonus podcast episode on how to succeed in historical fiction, available exclusively to our email subscribers. The episode features accomplished historical fiction authors Gill Paul and David Penny exploring how they’ve achieved success during their very different writing and publishing journeys and how you can achieve success on your own journey.

 

To get the transcript for this episode, visit https://thehistoryquill.com/12 for the episode page on our website.

Learn the secrets of writing great historical crime fiction with Vaseem Khan, international bestseller and winner of the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Historical Dagger. 

 

Vaseem, who is also the first non-white chair of the CWA, is a fount of knowledge on creating charismatic crime-solving characters who grow over the course of a series, how to adjust when you find your carefully planned plot shifting beneath you, and challenging the often risk-averse publishing industry. He’s also keenly interested in balancing familiar tropes and motifs with historical revisionism that challenges and informs readers in the West, as well as in markets like India, where his series are set. 

 

Go to https://thehistoryquill.com/bonus to get access to our special bonus podcast episode on how to succeed in historical fiction, available exclusively to our email subscribers. The episode features accomplished historical fiction authors Gill Paul and David Penny exploring how they’ve achieved success during their very different writing and publishing journeys and how you can achieve success on your own journey.

 

To get the transcript for this episode, visit https://thehistoryquill.com/11 for the episode page on our website.

Research is so important to piecing together the material world of your novel. Not only are archives an important tool in helping you avoid anachronisms that can be jarring for readers, but good archival research can have a huge positive impact, helping you access primary details that make your setting and characters come alive.

 

In this episode, Julia and Theo speak with Steve Dacus, founder of The Research Arsenal, which offers keyword searchable access to thousands of American Civil War documents including photographs, letters, diaries, ordnance returns, quartermaster specifications and more. 

 

Steve is passionate about helping authors bring the past to life. Listen in to get over the intimidation factor when conducting primary research and to learn how primary materials can help you capture characters’ sentiment and reactions to major events and daily life, adding nuance to your characterisation and description. 

 

Go to https://thehistoryquill.com/bonus to get access to our special bonus podcast episode on how to succeed in historical fiction, available exclusively to our email subscribers. The episode features accomplished historical fiction authors Gill Paul and David Penny exploring how they’ve achieved success during their very different writing and publishing journeys and how you can achieve success on your own journey.

To get the transcript for this episode, visit https://thehistoryquill.com/10 for the episode page on our website.