As some of you know, I've spent a lot of time in doctors' offices and hospitals during the past almost three years now courtesy of my sweetheart's back. He had operation #4 the week after I returned from DC and, this time, has made it as far as PT.
I'm seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. (Please, God, let it not be a train!)
Many years ago, I wanted to be a pediatrician. I worked in hospitals, nursing homes, and a school for mentally and physically handicapped children pursuing that goal. Then life stepped in, goals changed, but I never lost interest in the field.
I have always written, in one form or another, but a few friends convinced me to try my hand at fiction. Loving history as I do, I began writing a story set in the 15th century. It seemed natural for me to include a healer and delve into medicants of the time.
Brother Cadfael's Garden spearheaded my research and led to an insatiable curiosity about the medicines that mankind used for millenia versus the synthetic versions offered by today's medical establishment.
Hearing doctors, whose pharmacopoeia is less than a century old, refer to their practices as Traditional Medicine while labeling the herbal remedies used since the dawn of man Alternative Medicine struck me as off kilter considering herbals have few adverse side-effects compared to current prescription drugs which have literal laundry lists of potential problems, some of which are deadly.
Don't misunderstand: nature's pharmacopoeia can kill, and the poisons plants provide are well documented in literature as the murder weapon of choice--especially during the Renaissance. Chemical compounds are what they are, whether natural or man made, and some don't play well with others so negative interactions are a potential danger. Add that these medicants aren't standardized, and your results could be disappointing, at best, or life-threatening, at worst, if you don't educate yourself first.
A Brief Evolution of European Medicine
In the beginning, the vast majority of healers were women who harvested and used the local flora to bring their tribes or villages relief from pain, illness, or injury. Healers were treasured, often passing their knowledge from mother to daughter.
Enter Christianity.
Because healing traditions found their roots in pagan cultures, the Church was quick to accuse the practitioners of "congress with the devil." Some of these practitioners, accepting the new religion, entered nunneries and practiced their skills under the auspices of the Church within sanctioned infirmaries.
Those who retained the secular life became easy pickings for patients unwilling to pay for services or unhappy with the results of those services.
Witch burning became a spectator sport.
Medieval men had a problem with nuns (women) controlling such essential information. Women were chattel, they had no rights outside those allowed by men so leaving such knowledge in their hands gave them a degree of power over their lords and masters. Monks soon took care of that, first as overseers, then as practitoners themselves, adding to their arsenal remedies and treatments provided by those returning from the various Crusades.
Travel was less than convenient, so every castle had its stillroom. The lady of said castle was responsible for having the medicants her people needed, harvesting, drying, mixing, distilling and whatnot, with the help of her servants. Among these servants one might--and often did--find a hereditary healer who undertook some of the more onerous duties, although many a lady stitched flesh and cleaned wounds. Since most castles had resident priests or monks to conduct the daily religious offices and perform whatever rituals the castle required, and of course, the lady fell under the authority of her lord, the accusations of witchcraft at this level were few---but not unheard of.
In the 15th century, the Renaissance, with its more humanistic thinkers, blossomed on the European continent. Along with its music and art, new ideas about illness and the human body emerged. While the four humors /four element system dates back to the ancient Greeks, it became common practice throughout Europe to bleed or cup sick folks to balance these humors. (The elements are a whole other post!) Needless to say, blood loss often killed the patient before the disease since bleeding involved nicking or cutting a vein and could be required several times over the course of an illness. Cupping involved using a glass to cause bruising, thus bringing bad humors to the skin. Leeches were applied to drain them away.
The physician and his inevitable shadow, the quack, now take center stage.
The root of physician is physic, a medicine that purges; cathartic; laxative. As such treatments were primary tools of the time, the name seems appropriate.
Physicians began to travel, bringing with them their new ideas. There was no formal schooling, although the better phyisicians apprenticed under older practitioners, some of whom were herbalist monks. Still, without any kind of oversight, the rise in what we would call Snake Oil Salesmen proliferated.
In the latter part of the 15th Century Anton van Leeuwenhoek, after laboriously hand grinding various lenses, discovered a new world, earning the title Father of Microbiology. The word germ entered the lexicon meaning disease carrying agent as opposed to being simply the heart of a seed.
We had the word, but little else.
Medicine didn't change much during the course of the next four centuries. Grave robbers did a brisk business securing cadavers as surgeons and physicians sought understanding of the human body. The distillation of poppy juice into laudenum improved--and resulted in addiction for many. Bleeding and cupping, while still done, became less prevalent. Forceps came into being as did chloroform, just in time for the American Civil War, and in 1898, Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre, discovered radium, giving Rontgen's mysterious X-ray a viable source.
The 20th century saw medicine become something one trained for, whether doctor or nurse, and the initiation of medical oversight. A chance encounter with bread mold led to penicillin. Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine for the scourge, polio. Medical knowledge advanced in leaps and bounds.
Medicants did the same. The willow bark tea grandma used for her aches and pains was distilled into aspirin. Foxglove revealed its heart-regulating digitalis. Opiates became available in stronger, more concentrated forms. But taking these things from nature was costly and time consuming.
Now the chemist commands the limelight.
Dickering with different compounds, chemistry expanded the parameters of many drugs, but still had to overcome the expense. So they began working on synthetic, easily mass-produced alternatives that made medicants more affordable.
Affordable, yes, but at what cost to overall health?
Think of the commercials for pharmaceuticals. They're scary. There are pills for everything and, while none of them tout a cure, all appraise the viewer of myriad hazards. Face it, there is no money in a cure. Healthy people don't need pills. Thus, they prescribe maintenance, keeping folks dependent until they shed this mortal coil. As a result, some have become disillusioned by the medical profession and its partner, the pharmaceutical industry, and are seeking the knowledge that was once handed down mother to daughter, looking to regain natural curatives.
So which is the Traditional Medicine? And which is the Alternative?
Have you considered or tried herbal remedies? Did they work?
I had planned to add a list of various healing herbs and their uses to this post, but even abridging the exhaustive information available didn't shorten it enough to allow for that. Thus, the list will appear next time---a week from now, if dh continues to improve.
In closing (and I'm being outrageously facetious here), picture this:
(Beautiful young woman approaches Young Hunk. When she begins to speak, he wrinkles his nose, waving his hand before his face.)
Young Hunk: Geez, Mary, haven't you heard of Breath Gone?
(Young Hunk grimaces and walks away. Mary turns her sad, puppy-dog eyes to the camera.)
Disembodied voice: Don't despair, Mary. Just one Breath Gone tablet will put an end to all your problems.
(A hand holding a little pink pill---that looks suspiciously like a breath mint---appears. Eyes wide with excitement, Mary grabs the pill and pops it into her mouth. Smiling smugly, she again approaches Young Hunk.)
Young Hunk: Hey, Mary. Something's different. You want to go someplace where we can talk?
(Young Hunk winks at the camera and the two fade into the crowd while the disembodied voice races through the disclaimer.)
Disembodied Voice: Do not take Breath Gone if you are nursing, pregnant, may become pregnant, have kidney, liver or eye problems, bleed red, or walk upright. Call your doctor if swelling of the tongue or throat occurs as this could be a sign of a serious problem which has, in rare cases, resulted in death by suffocation.
(Crescendo of Violins)
Disembodied Voice: Breath Gone. The sure cure for problem breath.
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Friday, August 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
World History at a Glance
I've touched on words from the Medieval era and the Regency, and didn't scratch the surface of either. The Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian eras await, as do ancient Celts, Picts, Romans, and Greeks, the American Civil War, The Jacobite uprisings, The Spanish Inquisition--the list seems endless.
Many of these eras overlap because they took place in different parts of the world. Trying to keep what happened when in any viable order can be confusing and time consuming. However, through most of history, events worked like ripples, pushing out to effect other parts of the globe. Knowing what was happening elsewhere can add dimension to your writing.
At one point, I had a timeline taped around the perimeter of my office. I added things to it as I ran across them and soon found myself running out of space, taping up more paper, adding more info until I could find nothing. When I'm working, the inability to find what I want chews my last nerve. I tore the thing down, spent hours putting it in order, only to find more bits to add later. Soon, I found myself tearing it down yet again.
Then I stumbled upon a real treasure: The Timechart History of the World--6000 years of world history unfolded. (ISBN-13:97807607-6507-6534-0 & ISBN-10: 0-7607-6534-0)
It does, in fact, unfold. Eyeballing it, I would say it is about twenty inches tall by twelve inches wide, but only about 1/4 inch deep. When working on an era, I open the book, unfold the pages, and see what other world events occurred about the same time and how, if at all, they might effect my characters.
For instance: 1000 A.D. finds the 19th Song Dynasty ruling China under Emporor Tching-Tsong (Yes, that's really his name). Egypt has become an independent Kalifate, while the Califate (yes, they're spelled differently) of Bagdad is ruled by Kader. Persia is ruled by Mahmoud, first Sultan of Chizni, who conquers India. Meanwhile the Seljukian Turks are rising in power.
In the eastern empire (Greece) Basil II and Constantine IX both claim the throne. In the western empire (Rome) Sylvester rules. Lower Italy is still retained by the Greek emperors while Naples, Sardinia, and Corsica remain under Rome. At this time Venice, which became independent of the eastern empire in 997 A.D., acquired Dalmatia and Istria. (During its illustrious history, Venice has had 122 Doges (Dukes), the first, Anefesto, in 697 A.D., the last, Luigi, in 1797 when Bonaparte gave it to Austria.)
We are about 1/4 of the way up the page.
I deliberately chose to start at the bottom because most of us who write in this era write European history. These rulers and events have nothing to do with our work. Or do they?
The first Crusade began in the latter part of the eleventh century. How many knights answered the call to free Jerusalem? Who did they fight? And why? How did they travel? Who did they meet? What events would effect them and the outcome of their crusade?
By looking at this timeline, you have a starting place. A map of the Crusaders' route will show you which of these rulers might have helped or interfered with their quest. Having names give you a toe up on your research.
Part of writing history is understanding it. To get a good grip on world events, I recommend this book. I have other timeline tomes, but they haven't the "at a glance" advantage.
With its classical maps, use of both Biblical and Scientific timelines, pages dedicated to the ruling powers and a host of other information, this book is a gem in any library's crown. It is "based on the famous and now very rare Victorian wallchart with much material specially reproduced from the world famous British Library held in the British Museum London" according to the back cover.
I hope some of you will find it as invaluable and thought provoking as I have.
Many of these eras overlap because they took place in different parts of the world. Trying to keep what happened when in any viable order can be confusing and time consuming. However, through most of history, events worked like ripples, pushing out to effect other parts of the globe. Knowing what was happening elsewhere can add dimension to your writing.
At one point, I had a timeline taped around the perimeter of my office. I added things to it as I ran across them and soon found myself running out of space, taping up more paper, adding more info until I could find nothing. When I'm working, the inability to find what I want chews my last nerve. I tore the thing down, spent hours putting it in order, only to find more bits to add later. Soon, I found myself tearing it down yet again.
Then I stumbled upon a real treasure: The Timechart History of the World--6000 years of world history unfolded. (ISBN-13:97807607-6507-6534-0 & ISBN-10: 0-7607-6534-0)
It does, in fact, unfold. Eyeballing it, I would say it is about twenty inches tall by twelve inches wide, but only about 1/4 inch deep. When working on an era, I open the book, unfold the pages, and see what other world events occurred about the same time and how, if at all, they might effect my characters.
For instance: 1000 A.D. finds the 19th Song Dynasty ruling China under Emporor Tching-Tsong (Yes, that's really his name). Egypt has become an independent Kalifate, while the Califate (yes, they're spelled differently) of Bagdad is ruled by Kader. Persia is ruled by Mahmoud, first Sultan of Chizni, who conquers India. Meanwhile the Seljukian Turks are rising in power.
In the eastern empire (Greece) Basil II and Constantine IX both claim the throne. In the western empire (Rome) Sylvester rules. Lower Italy is still retained by the Greek emperors while Naples, Sardinia, and Corsica remain under Rome. At this time Venice, which became independent of the eastern empire in 997 A.D., acquired Dalmatia and Istria. (During its illustrious history, Venice has had 122 Doges (Dukes), the first, Anefesto, in 697 A.D., the last, Luigi, in 1797 when Bonaparte gave it to Austria.)
We are about 1/4 of the way up the page.
I deliberately chose to start at the bottom because most of us who write in this era write European history. These rulers and events have nothing to do with our work. Or do they?
The first Crusade began in the latter part of the eleventh century. How many knights answered the call to free Jerusalem? Who did they fight? And why? How did they travel? Who did they meet? What events would effect them and the outcome of their crusade?
By looking at this timeline, you have a starting place. A map of the Crusaders' route will show you which of these rulers might have helped or interfered with their quest. Having names give you a toe up on your research.
Part of writing history is understanding it. To get a good grip on world events, I recommend this book. I have other timeline tomes, but they haven't the "at a glance" advantage.
With its classical maps, use of both Biblical and Scientific timelines, pages dedicated to the ruling powers and a host of other information, this book is a gem in any library's crown. It is "based on the famous and now very rare Victorian wallchart with much material specially reproduced from the world famous British Library held in the British Museum London" according to the back cover.
I hope some of you will find it as invaluable and thought provoking as I have.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Peek at Regency Cant
As I said before, it is my goal to make Romancing History a place for writers and readers of Historical Romance--not just the medieval variety. Since my current wip is medieval, restricting the blog to that era would be easy and, since this is a new undertaking, wrong.
My first historical was set in the Regency. That disaster ended life feeding my roses (did you know paper blocks weed growth?) which was, in truth, a mercy. If I missed one contrivence, one tired plot device, one ANYTHING a story shouldn't have, trust me, it was purely accidental.
However, as a result, I own A Regency Companion by Sharon Laudermilk and Teresa L. Hamlin. This little treasure is no longer in print and holds pride of place on my shelves. It's a fun read because these writers named the characters they used to illustrate proper address with Regency cant. Names like Lady Cheese-paring, a stingy sort who would count the oats lest the servants ate too much porridge, and Lord Nipcheese, the miser, who not only counted the servants' oats but those of his family as well!
Cant is the language of the rabble. Polite society frowned on it--in public. Gentlemen using it in mixed company displayed ignorance of the social niceties. Ladies?No lady would lower herself to speak such rubbish--at least not where a chaperone or mother could hear.
For a society who found discussing money distasteful, they had a number of slang words for it.
Bean - a guinea
Blunt - money
Brass - money (or brazeness)
Canary - a sovereign
Groat (not in this book but used usually as, "I don't give a groat.") a 12th century English silver coin equal to four pennies.
Guinea - (also not in this book, but used not only as currency but to discribe color) a gold coin of Great Britain issued 1663-1813, worth 21 shillings. (fyi: a pound was worth 20 shillings or 240 pence until 1971 when it became equal to 100 new pence.)
Monkey - 500 pounds.
Pony - 25 pounds.
Plum - 100,000 pounds
Ready (or the ready) - money
Then, of course, since money was of no consequence (at least not in public) you had:
Cent per cent - usurer
Ten in the hundred - a usurious money lender, more than five percent interest was considered excessive.
Some words and phrases took root and are still in use today. Here are a couple of them.
Take-in - a hoax
Rig out - Clothing
sport - to display
spout - to speak theatrically
Spree - a bit of fun, a romp
jaw - talk
Cake - a silly, foolish person
Black book - A black book was kept in most regiments, and the names of all persons sentenced to punishment were recorded there. To be in someone's black book still means someone is unhappy with you for some transgression.
Floor - to knock someone down
Fob - fob off; to put off with a trick. And did you know that a fob is not the ornament or pendant hanging from the end of the watch, but the small pocket in a man's breeches where he kept it?
Fuss - much to-do about unimportant matters
There are more, but I've rattled on sufficiently for now.
In the future, I hope to cover other topics like marriage and property--the laws for which would have today's woman looking for a meat cleaver--entertainments, fashion, and a host of other things. The Regency era is fascinating on so many levels, but mostly, IMHO, because it is an era unique to history, the likes of which we shall never see again.
My first historical was set in the Regency. That disaster ended life feeding my roses (did you know paper blocks weed growth?) which was, in truth, a mercy. If I missed one contrivence, one tired plot device, one ANYTHING a story shouldn't have, trust me, it was purely accidental.
However, as a result, I own A Regency Companion by Sharon Laudermilk and Teresa L. Hamlin. This little treasure is no longer in print and holds pride of place on my shelves. It's a fun read because these writers named the characters they used to illustrate proper address with Regency cant. Names like Lady Cheese-paring, a stingy sort who would count the oats lest the servants ate too much porridge, and Lord Nipcheese, the miser, who not only counted the servants' oats but those of his family as well!
Cant is the language of the rabble. Polite society frowned on it--in public. Gentlemen using it in mixed company displayed ignorance of the social niceties. Ladies?
For a society who found discussing money distasteful, they had a number of slang words for it.
Bean - a guinea
Blunt - money
Brass - money (or brazeness)
Canary - a sovereign
Groat (not in this book but used usually as, "I don't give a groat.") a 12th century English silver coin equal to four pennies.
Guinea - (also not in this book, but used not only as currency but to discribe color) a gold coin of Great Britain issued 1663-1813, worth 21 shillings. (fyi: a pound was worth 20 shillings or 240 pence until 1971 when it became equal to 100 new pence.)
Monkey - 500 pounds.
Pony - 25 pounds.
Plum - 100,000 pounds
Ready (or the ready) - money
Then, of course, since money was of no consequence (at least not in public) you had:
Cent per cent - usurer
Ten in the hundred - a usurious money lender, more than five percent interest was considered excessive.
Some words and phrases took root and are still in use today. Here are a couple of them.
Take-in - a hoax
Rig out - Clothing
sport - to display
spout - to speak theatrically
Spree - a bit of fun, a romp
jaw - talk
Cake - a silly, foolish person
Black book - A black book was kept in most regiments, and the names of all persons sentenced to punishment were recorded there. To be in someone's black book still means someone is unhappy with you for some transgression.
Floor - to knock someone down
Fob - fob off; to put off with a trick. And did you know that a fob is not the ornament or pendant hanging from the end of the watch, but the small pocket in a man's breeches where he kept it?
Fuss - much to-do about unimportant matters
There are more, but I've rattled on sufficiently for now.
In the future, I hope to cover other topics like marriage and property--the laws for which would have today's woman looking for a meat cleaver--entertainments, fashion, and a host of other things. The Regency era is fascinating on so many levels, but mostly, IMHO, because it is an era unique to history, the likes of which we shall never see again.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Blogging with purpose
Warning: I don't edit blogs. As I think them, you get them.
Proceed at your own risk.
I love books. I love reading them. I love writing them. I love owning them. I love holding them in my hot little hands and anticipating where we will travel together.
To me, books are treasures.
I love words. Large, small, strong, gentle, meaningful, vague, it doesn't matter. The power of words, whether written or spoken, holds endless fascination.
Words are tools, and like all tools, serve their purpose best when used properly. No one uses a hammer to drive in a screw--unless they don't mind the curtains falling because the wallboard or plaster crumbled.
As I've perused various blogs, I realized most had a theme of some sort, something that drew people to them. Mine tends to be comprised of random bits of thought (I don't know that I've had a WHOLE thought in quite some time) rattling around looking for a place to light so the posts are, at best, disjointed and sporadic.
That's going to change.
Romancing History will do exactly as its name implies; it will provide information on books and words with historical significance.
Yes, historical novels will be mentioned here as will research materials dealing with various eras. There is such a wealth of information available these days, and many people are more than happy to bookmark 999 web pages, but some are like me and prefer a book they can mark (I use colored post-its--a different color for each work or, sometimes, character--with a word or two on them to tell me what's relevant on that page rather than mark in the books themselves) and have in hand when the need arises.
Etymology will also play a part, as will whatever I can find about strong verbs and other word choice topics. Why? Because in my WIP, I used a word in dialogue I felt certain fit my time period. However, being an anal sort, out came the etymology dictionary. It seems both my hero and heroine would have been dead for more than two centuries ere this "perfect" word hit the lexicon. (In case you're curious, the word in question is naysayer.)
Another word that I thought too modern wasn't (can't recall right off which word. Sorry.) and in yet another instance the word actually changed its meaning over time. So, while the word was in use, it didn't mean then what it does now. A modern reader would understand, true, and had the word been used in narrative, it might have stayed, but not in dialogue. Readers aren't dumb; someone would have called me on it.
My hope is to make Romancing History a viable tool for other writers so, when the reader closes the curtain on any historical work, the hardware holds, the walls stay solid, and everyone has a satisfying experience.
Assume nothing. Check everything.
Proceed at your own risk.
I love books. I love reading them. I love writing them. I love owning them. I love holding them in my hot little hands and anticipating where we will travel together.
To me, books are treasures.
I love words. Large, small, strong, gentle, meaningful, vague, it doesn't matter. The power of words, whether written or spoken, holds endless fascination.
Words are tools, and like all tools, serve their purpose best when used properly. No one uses a hammer to drive in a screw--unless they don't mind the curtains falling because the wallboard or plaster crumbled.
As I've perused various blogs, I realized most had a theme of some sort, something that drew people to them. Mine tends to be comprised of random bits of thought (I don't know that I've had a WHOLE thought in quite some time) rattling around looking for a place to light so the posts are, at best, disjointed and sporadic.
That's going to change.
Romancing History will do exactly as its name implies; it will provide information on books and words with historical significance.
Yes, historical novels will be mentioned here as will research materials dealing with various eras. There is such a wealth of information available these days, and many people are more than happy to bookmark 999 web pages, but some are like me and prefer a book they can mark (I use colored post-its--a different color for each work or, sometimes, character--with a word or two on them to tell me what's relevant on that page rather than mark in the books themselves) and have in hand when the need arises.
Etymology will also play a part, as will whatever I can find about strong verbs and other word choice topics. Why? Because in my WIP, I used a word in dialogue I felt certain fit my time period. However, being an anal sort, out came the etymology dictionary. It seems both my hero and heroine would have been dead for more than two centuries ere this "perfect" word hit the lexicon. (In case you're curious, the word in question is naysayer.)
Another word that I thought too modern wasn't (can't recall right off which word. Sorry.) and in yet another instance the word actually changed its meaning over time. So, while the word was in use, it didn't mean then what it does now. A modern reader would understand, true, and had the word been used in narrative, it might have stayed, but not in dialogue. Readers aren't dumb; someone would have called me on it.
My hope is to make Romancing History a viable tool for other writers so, when the reader closes the curtain on any historical work, the hardware holds, the walls stay solid, and everyone has a satisfying experience.
Assume nothing. Check everything.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
VOTE
History will be made this day. Regardless of your political affiliation, the choice made will have far reaching effects.
As an American citizen, it is your RESPONSIBILITY to vote. Don't hide behind the weak excuses that plague every election: It's not chosing the best candidate---it's chosing the lesser of two evils. My vote doesn't count anyway, why bother? It's cold. There are lines. The list goes on and on--and not one of those excuses is worth the breath it takes to utter it.
Our founding father's declared us a nation "by the people, for the people", but the people have become lazy, taking the rights and privileges of our citizenship for granted. Life gets in the way. That's understandable. Our economic climate has our minds reeling with fears and uncertainties, and in our fast food world, we all want a quick fix. Well, I fear this mess, over a decade in the making, will require more than a bit of Neosporin and a Band Aid. It will require staunch and steadfast government, the responsibility for which falls to you and me under the very constitution that granted us the freedoms we hold so dear.
So quit surfing the internet and reading blogs. Go Vote! It's time to stop reading history and make a little.
As an American citizen, it is your RESPONSIBILITY to vote. Don't hide behind the weak excuses that plague every election: It's not chosing the best candidate---it's chosing the lesser of two evils. My vote doesn't count anyway, why bother? It's cold. There are lines. The list goes on and on--and not one of those excuses is worth the breath it takes to utter it.
Our founding father's declared us a nation "by the people, for the people", but the people have become lazy, taking the rights and privileges of our citizenship for granted. Life gets in the way. That's understandable. Our economic climate has our minds reeling with fears and uncertainties, and in our fast food world, we all want a quick fix. Well, I fear this mess, over a decade in the making, will require more than a bit of Neosporin and a Band Aid. It will require staunch and steadfast government, the responsibility for which falls to you and me under the very constitution that granted us the freedoms we hold so dear.
So quit surfing the internet and reading blogs. Go Vote! It's time to stop reading history and make a little.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Looking beyond History
How easy is it to make history? Very.
When I started this blog, I promised myself I would post weekly. As you can tell from the posting dates, that didn't happen, so my promise is history.
Anything that is in the past can be qualified as history. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering. It just has to have been.
Historical, on the other hand, requires more impact. Let's face it, no one cares if my wee promise is history UNLESS the impact in some way, shape, or form changes the future, whether that change is global, continental, national, or personal (Think Mary Todd Lincoln's mental instability vs. Abraham Lincoln's assassination.)
Our historical records tend to focus on life or world changing events. Everyone has heard of Waterloo--even if its ABBA's version--and understands the decisiveness of that battle. But how many know of the smaller skirmishes that laid the foundation for Britain's victory? Waterloo didn't stand alone, but iced a cake assembled ingredient by ingredient. It is the quality of the ingredients, or the lack thereof, that determines success or failure.
These small bits, the ingredients, are the recipe for historical writing success. These are the things that can set your book apart. Instead of another rehash of what has been done before, there is freshness, a new flavor.
The major battles, controversies, famines, political upheavals, felons, inventions, philosophies, etc. of any era are well documented. The things building them, swirling within them, and resulting from them are less so, yet they are pivotal because, without them, the greater event would never have happened.
While war scenerios are the best documented so are easiest (there are myriad books available dissecting the battles and strategies), they are not all.
A small farming village in a bucolic countryside finds itself host to a nest of radicals. This cannot help but color the lives of the villagers. Some will agree with the politics. Others will not. Some will go blithely through their days ignorant of the political bomb ticking beneath their feet. Others will simply ignore it, hoping it will go away before it explodes. This is true regardless of era, and it is how the people react to the circumstance that makes a good story.
To put it in a nutshell, look past the obvious. As you search, you will have a "Eureka!" moment (sans running down the street naked, one would hope), finding something that, while small within the context of time, meant success or failure in that moment. Things that happen everyday will suddenly become important: a dog bite that sidelined a messenger with vital information. A thrown horseshoe that put someone in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time. A flippant comment that fanned the flames of revolution (Let them eat cake, anyone?)
Open your eyes to what lies beyond the big picture. See the vignettes. Remember, people make history. (Yes, it's been said before, and it will be said again.) Their pictures may be small and blurry, lost against a sweeping backdrop of epic proportion, but they are there. And they have stories to tell.
It's up to you to tell them.
When I started this blog, I promised myself I would post weekly. As you can tell from the posting dates, that didn't happen, so my promise is history.
Anything that is in the past can be qualified as history. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering. It just has to have been.
Historical, on the other hand, requires more impact. Let's face it, no one cares if my wee promise is history UNLESS the impact in some way, shape, or form changes the future, whether that change is global, continental, national, or personal (Think Mary Todd Lincoln's mental instability vs. Abraham Lincoln's assassination.)
Our historical records tend to focus on life or world changing events. Everyone has heard of Waterloo--even if its ABBA's version--and understands the decisiveness of that battle. But how many know of the smaller skirmishes that laid the foundation for Britain's victory? Waterloo didn't stand alone, but iced a cake assembled ingredient by ingredient. It is the quality of the ingredients, or the lack thereof, that determines success or failure.
These small bits, the ingredients, are the recipe for historical writing success. These are the things that can set your book apart. Instead of another rehash of what has been done before, there is freshness, a new flavor.
The major battles, controversies, famines, political upheavals, felons, inventions, philosophies, etc. of any era are well documented. The things building them, swirling within them, and resulting from them are less so, yet they are pivotal because, without them, the greater event would never have happened.
While war scenerios are the best documented so are easiest (there are myriad books available dissecting the battles and strategies), they are not all.
A small farming village in a bucolic countryside finds itself host to a nest of radicals. This cannot help but color the lives of the villagers. Some will agree with the politics. Others will not. Some will go blithely through their days ignorant of the political bomb ticking beneath their feet. Others will simply ignore it, hoping it will go away before it explodes. This is true regardless of era, and it is how the people react to the circumstance that makes a good story.
To put it in a nutshell, look past the obvious. As you search, you will have a "Eureka!" moment (sans running down the street naked, one would hope), finding something that, while small within the context of time, meant success or failure in that moment. Things that happen everyday will suddenly become important: a dog bite that sidelined a messenger with vital information. A thrown horseshoe that put someone in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time. A flippant comment that fanned the flames of revolution (Let them eat cake, anyone?)
Open your eyes to what lies beyond the big picture. See the vignettes. Remember, people make history. (Yes, it's been said before, and it will be said again.) Their pictures may be small and blurry, lost against a sweeping backdrop of epic proportion, but they are there. And they have stories to tell.
It's up to you to tell them.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Bear with me
Hello,
Glad you stumbled in. I know you didn't intend to come here because this is a very new blog and a very new experience for me.
New experiences have been rife since my 2007 Golden Heart final, but the other finalists are such lovely ladies, they just keep herding me along into places I never thought I'd dare tread. Thus, the title for this first entry. I promise to get better once the scope of this new territory doesn't tie my belly into little tiny Gordian knots. Of course, after this comes the dreaded "web page," but not today. As Neil Armstrong said (with a bit of a paraphrase from me), "One small step for chicken kitty, one giant leap for scaredy-cats everywhere."
I called this blog Romancing History because, truth be told, history isn't, in and of itself, romantic. It's dirty, unsanitary, bloody, and a host of other unpalatable adjectives. Learning history in school required memorization of mind-numbing facts, dates, and names.
The names caught my attention.
People make history. Not dates, not battles, not rivers of slops flowing unfettered down horse manure festooned cobbled streets. People who laughed, cried, danced, bled, changed their babies, yelled at the dog. Biographies became my preferred reading.
I wrote my first romance--and I use the term loosely--sitting at a cafeteria table in junior high with a group of friends. I still remember the high-perch phaeton the hero swooped to a halt before my startled, and inappropriately named, heroine. We'd discovered Barbara Cartland, you see. It was all downhill from there---at least for me.
Writing historical romance requires research, and since learning about people still intrigues me, that's no hardship. I am, however, anal about facts. So many books have inaccuracies within that are, despite being SO wrong, accepted. Since when does accepted equate to correct?
I once entered my manuscript in a contest where the judge marked me down because I didn't call the heroine's home a "keep." Duh! Keep, as in fortified holding, donjon, castle, etc., is a Renaissance term and the Renaissance didn't come to England until the 1500s--more than a decade after my story takes place.
Chausses. Ah, yes. Several times now I've read about naked heroes bounding from their beds to don their chausses. Must have hurt. And the succession? Forgeddaboudit. Chausses are made of small metal rings. Webster's defines them as medieval armor of mail for the legs and feet. Chausses were worn atop thick, quilted hose for obvious reasons.
Why am I telling you this? Because there is no way to ascertain exactly--especially in the areas of clothing, armor, and personal items--what things populate a specific segment of time within an era. Folks I know were sporting elephant bells and tie-dyed shirts from the seventies before current fashion went retro. By their very nature, some things overlap. However, if I were to make a glaring mistake, I'd want someone to tell me, or at least caution me to check it out. Thinking of my stories thrown against a wall or into the dust bin---which is where inaccuracies end up in my world---doesn't sit well.
So this is an invitation to gently (I hate qualifiers too, but you know how it goes) correct me if you find an inaccuracy in my work. I will, sometime in the future, post some bits from my current WIP and will welcome your feedback.
Glad you stumbled in. I know you didn't intend to come here because this is a very new blog and a very new experience for me.
New experiences have been rife since my 2007 Golden Heart final, but the other finalists are such lovely ladies, they just keep herding me along into places I never thought I'd dare tread. Thus, the title for this first entry. I promise to get better once the scope of this new territory doesn't tie my belly into little tiny Gordian knots. Of course, after this comes the dreaded "web page," but not today. As Neil Armstrong said (with a bit of a paraphrase from me), "One small step for chicken kitty, one giant leap for scaredy-cats everywhere."
I called this blog Romancing History because, truth be told, history isn't, in and of itself, romantic. It's dirty, unsanitary, bloody, and a host of other unpalatable adjectives. Learning history in school required memorization of mind-numbing facts, dates, and names.
The names caught my attention.
People make history. Not dates, not battles, not rivers of slops flowing unfettered down horse manure festooned cobbled streets. People who laughed, cried, danced, bled, changed their babies, yelled at the dog. Biographies became my preferred reading.
I wrote my first romance--and I use the term loosely--sitting at a cafeteria table in junior high with a group of friends. I still remember the high-perch phaeton the hero swooped to a halt before my startled, and inappropriately named, heroine. We'd discovered Barbara Cartland, you see. It was all downhill from there---at least for me.
Writing historical romance requires research, and since learning about people still intrigues me, that's no hardship. I am, however, anal about facts. So many books have inaccuracies within that are, despite being SO wrong, accepted. Since when does accepted equate to correct?
I once entered my manuscript in a contest where the judge marked me down because I didn't call the heroine's home a "keep." Duh! Keep, as in fortified holding, donjon, castle, etc., is a Renaissance term and the Renaissance didn't come to England until the 1500s--more than a decade after my story takes place.
Chausses. Ah, yes. Several times now I've read about naked heroes bounding from their beds to don their chausses. Must have hurt. And the succession? Forgeddaboudit. Chausses are made of small metal rings. Webster's defines them as medieval armor of mail for the legs and feet. Chausses were worn atop thick, quilted hose for obvious reasons.
Why am I telling you this? Because there is no way to ascertain exactly--especially in the areas of clothing, armor, and personal items--what things populate a specific segment of time within an era. Folks I know were sporting elephant bells and tie-dyed shirts from the seventies before current fashion went retro. By their very nature, some things overlap. However, if I were to make a glaring mistake, I'd want someone to tell me, or at least caution me to check it out. Thinking of my stories thrown against a wall or into the dust bin---which is where inaccuracies end up in my world---doesn't sit well.
So this is an invitation to gently (I hate qualifiers too, but you know how it goes) correct me if you find an inaccuracy in my work. I will, sometime in the future, post some bits from my current WIP and will welcome your feedback.
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