Medieval History
Bruce Holsinger and Nancy Bilyeau, two of the leading medieval novelists, had the chance to meet up in New York City and have a conversation about writing historical fiction, how they went about researching their novels, and what stories and styles influenced their writing.
For example, Bruce says to Nancy "you flesh out those aspects of daily life with remarkable skill, without a lot of hand waving or showing off of historical details. I actually struggled a bit with this at first. I knew the medieval period in terms of its literary history, but in terms of the details of everyday life, that was a brand new learning experience. I had to go back and relearn a lot of what I thought I knew. There are so many passages in the literature that will tell you about, say, the food at a feast, but I never really paid attention to those until I had to figure out what people ate in a scene I was writing."
Nancy replies, "Exactly! I was never happier than when a curator at the Tower of London scanned in a diet sheet of an aristocratic prisoner in the 1540s and sent me a PDF. I had every detail down to how many pigeons eaten a week."
You can read their conversation from The Daily Beast.
Nancy Bilyeau's latest book is called The Chalice - we will have a review about it on Medievalists.net very soon! Bruce Holsinger's novel is called A Burnable Book.
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Medieval History
Bruce Holsinger and Nancy Bilyeau talk about historical fiction
Bruce Holsinger and Nancy Bilyeau, two of the leading medieval novelists, had the chance to meet up in New York City and have a conversation about writing historical fiction, how they went about researching their novels, and what stories and styles influenced their writing.
For example, Bruce says to Nancy "you flesh out those aspects of daily life with remarkable skill, without a lot of hand waving or showing off of historical details. I actually struggled a bit with this at first. I knew the medieval period in terms of its literary history, but in terms of the details of everyday life, that was a brand new learning experience. I had to go back and relearn a lot of what I thought I knew. There are so many passages in the literature that will tell you about, say, the food at a feast, but I never really paid attention to those until I had to figure out what people ate in a scene I was writing."
Nancy replies, "Exactly! I was never happier than when a curator at the Tower of London scanned in a diet sheet of an aristocratic prisoner in the 1540s and sent me a PDF. I had every detail down to how many pigeons eaten a week."
You can read their conversation from The Daily Beast.
Nancy Bilyeau's latest book is called The Chalice - we will have a review about it on Medievalists.net very soon! Bruce Holsinger's novel is called A Burnable Book.
- An Interview With Deborah Harkness, Author Of The Book Of Life
Deborah Harkness, professor of history at the University of Southern California, has just published the final novel in her All Souls Trilogy. It follows the story of Diana Bishop, a historian and modern-day witch, Matthew Clairmont, a 1500-year-old vampire,...
- Christopher Roman Reviews Holsinger, A Burnable Book
Christopher Roman recently reviewed Bruce Holsinger's A Burnable Book for Medievally Speaking: In what ways can academics engage with a broader public? There is plenty of debate and discussion on what exactly members of the university community can...
- Interview With Author Bruce Holsinger
Author, Bruce HolsingerWhat better book to whet the appetites of readers of history and lovers of books, than a book about a book set in the volatile era of late fourteenth century England? Is there better? I do not think so. I am biased though....
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Sunrise in the West by Edith PargeterWhen I am reading a Edith Pargeter book you best not interrupt me. Don't ring me, don't text me, don't tap me on the shoulder, don't ask me if I want coffee and a biscuit. It isn't that I would...
- The Bruce Take Two: Renegade By Robyn Young
Renegade by Robyn YoungRenegade (book two in the Insurrection Trilogy) was another solid offering from bestselling historical fiction author Robyn Young. It detailed many of the more interesting events that took place during the lifetime of...