A few of Canada's finest writers of historical fiction for kids and teens have popped by to share their views on -- what else? -- historical fiction. Lucky me. Lucky you too! Most are traditionally published, but we have a couple of enterprising self-published authors too.
We have Geoffrey Bilson nominees and winners, OLA Forest of Reading finalists and winners, a Governor General's Award nominee for 2024, CLA and Violet Downey finalists, and country-wide Children's Choice Award recipients. Combined, these authors have accumulated enough hardware to open their own store. Believe me, these folks know what they're talking about.
I gave them 6 questions about historical fiction and asked them to answer just two of them briefly. I wasn't sure how that was going to work out. I mean we're talking writers here. Spewing words is what they do for a living! But I'm happy to report that everyone stuck to the brief. So here we go.
Question 1 Why historical fiction? What draws you to this genre?
Jan Mingo Coates I like digging into the past and doing research; I’ve written a few books set in the past, and my novel protagonists always seem to be eleven years old. I was that age more than 50 years ago, and I wonder if I write historical fiction because I’m longing for
simpler times in this world that seems to get faster and more complicated by the day.
Simon Rose I now live in Canada but am originally from the UK so grew up with history, castles, churches and other historic buildings. I also have a BA (Hons) degree in History and have always been interested in it as well as in mythology and legends, leading to my interest in historical fiction and fantasy once I began my writing career.
Harriet Zaidman I’m interested to see how important historical events affected people’s lives. I also want young people to learn from history, so they understand why things are the way they are, and perhaps so they don’t make the same mistakes.
Laura Best Growing up, I was always fascinated by history. When I began writing my first novel, Bitter, Sweet, it didn’t really occur to me that the story was historical fiction. I like to say that I didn’t pick the genre, the genre picked me.
Karen Autio I did not enjoy studying history in school, but reading historical fiction as an adult sparked my interest in learning history, as novels make history come alive. When I finally really listened to my grandparents talk about immigrating to Canada as young adults, I was inspired to write my trilogy of historical novels and bring the immigrant experience to life in books.
Barbara Haworth Attard There is much to be learned from history and while many historical events were horrendous, we can still take away what is good about them, for example, how people fought these horrors and stood up for what is right, and how this can be applied now to create a better world. On a personal level, I believe history has shaped me, has taught me how to stand up for myself and others. I create my characters to reflect the lessons I have learned. You can try to brush history away, but it is always there.
Frieda Wishinsky A personal experience, memory or reading an article about an event or person has inspired my historical fiction books. WE BELONG HERE, my 2023 picture book set in post WW2, began with remembering my own experience as an immigrant and sharing family stories with illustrator friend Ruth Ohi.
Trevor Atkins Telling stories is a great way to make learning fun. Humanity has passed on lessons this way for many, many generations. In my family, we read a lot of books to my daughter and the more real the characters and the story, the more she liked it. Around the time when she started middle school, we were talking a lot about history, geography, and technology, so it was natural to end up talking about pirates. The Day the Pirates Went Mad was born from these explorations.
Question 2 What inspires a story? Is it character, a particular historic event/era, or plot?
Jan Mingo Coates My answer would vary with the book, but in ANNA MARIA & MAESTRO VIVALDI, the character came first as I set out to write a story about a kid who painted pictures with their fingers, originally through the piano, but finally with the violin. In this case, the history came second once Vivaldi entered the story after I discovered that he had been the music teacher at an Italian orphanage in the 1700s. For almost all of my books, the final version is sooo… different from my original idea!
Simon Rose The inspiration for a story comes from the initial idea, so I guess the plot. This is followed by setting the story in an era that I'm interested in, but often it all happens at the same time.
Gabriele Goldstone My books have been inspired by family and I’m interested in what childhood event(s) triggered them into the adults they’ve become. So it’s character first, then historical setting.
Laura Best Most all my stories begin with a character and perhaps a vague idea of where that character might take the story. Being a prequel, The Family Way was a bit different because some of the characters had appeared in Flying with a Broken Wing and Cammie Takes Flight. I knew, going in, this book would revolve around the true story of the Butterbox Babies.
Marsha Skrypuch My novels are all inspired by real people, real historical events. I choose the ones that other writers have ignored.
Frieda Wishinsky The most challenging part of writing historical fiction is connecting to the reader in an emotional way and not getting lost in the details of the events. The events should bolster the core theme, which should be universal so that anyone at any time can relate to the story.
Martha Attema My novels about WWII, have all been inspired by stories of family members who survived the war. I was interested in daily life during those difficult war years and then combined their stories with actual historical events. When the dikes breached was inspired by a visit to the Flood Museum in Zeeland and the stories of survivors in a program called, The Oral project.
Lori Weber Everything starts with character. For The Ribbon Leaf, two girls whispered to me – Sabine and Edie. They wanted to tell me how WWII destroyed their beautiful friendship, simply because one girl was Jewish. From there I developed their separate plots/stories, Sabine’s as she experiences the war in Germany, and Edie’s as she escapes the Nazis to settle in Montreal.
Question 3 What is your research method? Do you do a deep dive before beginnig an historical fiction novel or do you gather information as you write?
Gabriele Goldstone I like to deep dive into an historical period before I start writing. I feel like a tourist and need full immersion to get comfortable. After that, I dabble into specific details as they emerge necessary for the storyline.
Harriet Zaidman (I)Keep researching, keep digging, even as the book is being written or revised. You can learn more about events discover new information previously unknown, which can enrich your story. You may also get ideas for a new story.
Barbara Haworth Attard I hit the local library and look up every book I can find that alludes to the historical event and time era I am planning to cover. My favourite place to research history is the local archives at the library, universities, and historical museums where I have found a great deal of information that I am often surprised to find, such as diaries from the time I am researching. Diaries are my favourite thing to find, and are particularly helpful with the language and views of the time era I am researching. Now you can also find many sites online where you can access first-hand accounts, photos, and newspapers from the time I am researching.. First-hand accounts are invaluable and I was very fortunate to be able to interview actual home children for my book, Home Child, which came out in 1997. They were all so very generous with their stories, though they have all passed on now.
Question 4 How do you know when to stop researching?
Karen Autio I think it’s when you reach the point that you can clearly picture the setting and your characters interacting within that environment. You’ll never put all your research into your novel—otherwise it’s no longer a story, rather, a textbook. But your research is not wasted because it’s essential for enabling you to live in that world in your imagination to make your story believable for your readers.
Question 5 Do you think historical fiction interests young people or would they rather read stories set in their own time? What makes you think this?
Lori Weber If the stories and characters are engaging, historical fiction is a wonderful way to pull young people into reading. The protagonists in these books are facing incredible odds and doing heroic things that make readers think about their own lives, their struggles and their privileges. Many young readers have told me that reading my book made them want to learn more about WWII – how fantastic!
Question 6 What is the most challenging aspect of writing historical fiction?
Marsha Skrypuch Because I write on topics that are off the radar for most people, doing the research is like detective work. It is challenging, but also very satisfying. I don't make it up, I look it up. It is an honour for me to shed light on forgotten heroes.
Martha Attema After writing my first drafts, I go back to check timeline, setting, characters, the names used at that particular time in the area the story is set, the seasons in which the story is happening, the weather, the food they ate, the clothing they wore, music and radio programs, books, mode of transportation and most important the language and the vocabulary spoken at that time in history. It’s very important these facts are all accurate when writing historical fiction.
Trevor Atkins I would love to have reliable sources at my fingertips that provide details on all the mundane aspects of day-to-day life in the period I’m writing. That sort of thing doesn’t often make it into the history books you read at school. Also, I’d love to be able to separate fact from fiction in the sources that do exist. For example, a “primary source” like A General History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson (a pen name) is widely cited as fact when it could be full of embellishment and in some cases outright fiction!
And that's a wrap! It's amazing how the same task can be approached from so many different angles. Many thanks to all the writers who took time from their work to contribute to this blog. May you all sell millions of books. (Please feel free to share this blog.)
I'd also like to give a shoutout to Julie Lawson, Pat Bourke, and Shari Green. They weren't involved in the question section but expressed interest in the blog.
