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Knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies...

Monday, March 31, 2014

Historical Tidbit: The (Somewhat Creepy) History of the Jack-in-the-Box

**If you haven't yet, be sure to enter my Epic Giveaway! The grand prize is a Kindle Paperwhite! Click HERE to enter!**
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Did you know...

That the jack-in-the-box has its origins in the Middle Ages?

So at my writer's group last week, there was a story that contained a jack-in-the-box element. It actually wasn't a creepy story, but a literary one.

Anyway, at some point, the question was raised, "When were jack-in-the-boxes first sold?" So we, being children of the internet age, looked it up. I expected the answer to be somewhere around the 1930s. Oh how wrong I was!

The origin of the jack-in-the-box dates back to the 14th century, and a man named Sir John Schorne. He lived in Buckinghamshire, England, and a was great leader and healer in his small village. Folklore says he captured a devil in a boot, and he's often pictured holding the boot with the devil popping out of it. 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Review Day: If I Die and Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent

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Last week I read book 5 of Soul Screamers, If I Die by Rachel Vincent. It was great! I wouldn't have thought the series could get any better but, you guessed it, it did!

Plot: This picks up where the previous book left off. Nash and Kaylee are still struggling with their relationship, but are starting to get to a better place, even if Sabine is still in the picture. At the beginning of the book, Todd pays Kaylee's dad a visit with some grim (get it?) news: Her time is up. She's come up on the reaping list and is scheduled for death in less than a week. Meanwhile, girls at her school are getting pregnant, having horrifying miscarriages, and Kaylee suspects one of her teachers may be a Netherworld creature trying to propagate his own species using high school girls. Kaylee must race against the clock to get rid of this creature before she dies, come to terms with her own, apparently unstoppable death, and help others in her life do the same. High school's never complicated, though. :D

Characters: There's a "surprising" turn of events in this book as far as the characters and their romantic relationships go. I actually wasn't all that surprised, myself. I suspected that a certain crush was happening several books ago, but I couldn't tell if it was just me or if that was where the author was going. Well, now I have my answer. I have to say, it was a very risky thing for the author to do. She introduced a love triangle between major characters a full five books into the series. She ran the risk of fans hating the idea. I have no idea whether many of them did or not, but it wasn't a problem for me. I sort of liked it. Once it happened, I was instantly rooting for the other couple. :D

Ending: I liked the end. Between two possible outcomes, it did the one that was the most provocative and kept the reader going until the final page. It's also the ending that puts the most interesting potential into the next installment of the series.

Overall: I loved this book! Out of the entire series so far, I think this is my favorite! So great! Can't wait to dive into the next volume!

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Never to Sleep (Soul Screamers 5.5)

Plot: This short story between installments begins near the end of the last book, but it's told from Sophie's (Kaylee's snotty cousin) point of view. Basically, Sophie has her first Netherworld experience--that she is conscious for and remembers, anyway--and meets a boy who happens to be Necromancer along the way.

Characters: I'll admit I didn't think I'd like this short very much. Kaylee's cousin is a mean-girl super-princess who the reader has been primed to hate in the regular series. Why would I want to read something from her point of view? Yet, I was pleasantly surprised at how readable the story was. Written in Vincent's trademark, high-school-girl style, we actually learn a lot about Sophie and her motivations. Don't get me wrong, how shallow Sophie is, is also driven home plenty of times. But given her personality and the world she was raised in, you can at least see why she believes and acts like what she does.

Ending: I really like how his ended. In a matter of 70 pages, Sophie gains strength of character and the ability to stand up to her even-snottier friend and competition for dance team captain. I liked that she came away from the experience feeling stronger and more confident. Very well-executed character arc.

Overall: Really enjoyed it. It just makes me want to dive into the next installment that much more to see how Sophie's role in the story will change, now that she knows all about the Netherworld.

Have you read the Soul Screamers series?

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Teaser Tuesday: Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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This week's teasers come from book 5.5 (Never to Sleep) of Soul Screamers.
Maybe we were both crazy. Maybe we were really sharing a delusion in some real-world psych ward. Maybe my ex-boyfriend was in the room next door. Maybe Kaylee was the sanest person I knew. 
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head--that was the scariest thought I'd ever had. 
"I'm a necromancer," Luca said, and I opened my eyes to look at him. "But that doesn't mean what most people think it means. 
"Well, I'm not most people. I have no idea what that means."

Make sure to check out my check out my epic, celebratory give away HERE for a chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite! 

What are you reading this week? We're you able to guess any of the historical pictures from yesterday?

Monday, March 24, 2014

Epic Giveaway, Including Kindle Paperwhite!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. Great news : There are all KINDS of exciting things going on. I have tons of reasons to celebrate!

1) Friday's post over at Musings on Fantasia was my 500th! That's right. 500 posts. I can't believe enough time has passed for me to post so many times. It's crazy! My first post on this blog was on April 19, 2012. It's been almost 2 years since I started blogging. Since that time, I've done 3-5 posts every week without fail (uh, you know, except for around the holidays when I always take 10-14 days off :D).

Which leads me into my second reason for celebration:

2) April 19th--roughly three weeks from now--is my 2nd Blogoversary. Yea! I didn't do much for the first one, so I think this one calls for a Par-Tae!

3) My first historical fiction book, Citadels of Fire, will be out May 27th. It's coming at me fast.

4) Book 2 of my crime fiction saga, Desolate Mantleis almost ready for release. It probably won't be out for another couple of months (date pending) but I'm getting ready to do a cover reveal.

5) The Botanistanother stand-alone crime fiction, won't be out until next spring, but my publisher wants to do a big cover reveal when I get enough to-reads on Goodreads.com, and I'm still working toward that goal.

So, to celebrate all these things, check out my epic giveaway below. Each prize will go to a different entrant, so the more entries the better. The grand prize is a Kindle Paperwhite!

But first...let's celebrate with the creepy author's dance:


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Okay, I'm better now. Here's the Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Thoughts for Thursday: St. Patrick Day

Thoughts for Thursday is a new feature hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

I know I'm a few days late, but this week's theme is quotes about St. Patrick's Day!


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Crime Tidbit: The Infamous Case of Lizzie Borden

Lizzie Borden (Source)
Did you know...

About the infamous case of Lizzie Borden? 

I've done posts about plenty of famous, unsolved crimes, but the Lizzie Borden case might be the most well-known and obsessed-about case yet.

On August 4, 1892, a wealthy local business owner native to Fall River, Massachusetts named Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were both found dead in their home. Both had been bludgeoned to death about the head with a hatchet or ax-like weapon. Mrs. Borden received nineteen blows to the head, while Mr. Borden, killed while napping on his couch, only took ten or eleven. 

It was a gruesome murder scene, and only a few hours passed before the police zeroed in on Lizzie, Mr. Borden's thirty-year old daughter, as a suspect. 

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Teaser Tuesday: If I Die (Soul Screamers #5) by Rachel Vincent

Before we get to this week's teasers, here are the answers to yesterday's historical quiz:


A. Albert Einstein   B. Martin Luther King, Jr.   C. Amelia Earhart   D. Napoleon Bonaparte   E. Mother Theresa   F. J.R.R. Tolkien

A few guessed Napoleon--guess the outfit gave it away, huh?--and someone got Martin Luther King as well. (Great job to everyone who hazarded guesses, by the way!) The one that really floors me is Mother Teresa. She must be seven years old there. Crazy!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week's teasers come from If I Die, book 5 of Soul Screamers, by Rachel Vincent


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"Promise me, Dad. Promise you'll leave this alone."  
"You know I can't--" 
"Promise," I insisted, and his stoic expression crumpled beneath a burden of pain and responsibility I couldn't imagine. 
"Fine, I promise," he said at last, and I let him fold me into a hug.  
As he squeezed me, his heart beating against my ear, I knew only two things for sure: I was going to die, and my father was lying.

What are you reading this week? We're you able to guess any of the historical pictures from yesterday?

Monday, March 17, 2014

Historical Pictures: A Quiz

So I'm kind of obsessed with historical pictures. (Shocking, right?) Ever since I found the "history" search category on Pinterest, wow I waste a lot of time on there! But I just can't help it! Historical pictures are just so fascinating! 

So, for today I've devised a quiz. These are early or childhood pictures of famous people throughout history. They're all people who did great things, whether good or questionable. 

Try and guess who they are. Post your guesses in the comments! I'll post the answers tomorrow!




It's one of those things where it's kind of hard to guess who some of them are, but once you know, you can totally see it in their faces! 

Who do you think these kids grew up to be?

Remember, Citadels of Fire is available for pre-order now! Check it out below if you haven't yet!


In a world where danger hides in plain sight and no one aspires to more than what they were born to, Inga must find the courage to break the oppressive chains she’s been bound with since birth. 

As a maid in the infamous Kremlin, life in 16th-century Russia is bleak and treacherous. That is, until Taras arrives. Convinced that his mother’s death when he was a boy was no mere accident, he returned from England to discover what really happened. While there, he gains favor from the Tsar later known as Ivan the Terrible, the most brutal and notorious ruler ever to sit upon the throne of Russia. Ivan allows him to take a servant, and to save Inga from a brutal boyar intent on raping her, Taras requests Inga to stay in his chambers. 

Up against the social confines of the time, the shadowy conspiracies that cloak their history, and the sexual politics of the Russian Imperial court, Inga and Taras must discover their past, plan for their future, and survive the brutality that permeates life within the four walls that tower over them all, or they may end up like so many citizens of ancient Russia: nothing but flesh and bone mortar for the stones of the Kremlin wall.


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Thoughts for Thursday: Books

Thoughts for Thursday is a new feature hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

This week's them is books and reading. (Why haven't I done this theme before?)


"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."--Jane Austen

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."--Maya Angelou

"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read."--Abraham Lincoln

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."--Dr. Seuss, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!

"Books are the ultimate Dumpees; put them down and they'll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back."--John Green, An Abundance of Katherines
What is your favorite quote? Do you have one to add?

Monday, March 10, 2014

3 Fascinating Points to Consider When Discussing Religion in Writing

More LTUE-inspired posts today. Yea! 

So, I've mentioned before that I went to a panel by Michael Collins and Orson Scott Card about religion in writing. It was a great panel. They discussed the religions of great fantasy writers such as C.S. LewisJ.R.R. Tolkien, and yes, Mr. Orson Scott Card, and what role religion plays in their writing.


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(Note: Being a Christian myself, and given the fact that Christianity was the main focus of this panel, I'll be using Christian allegory for examples in this post. However, you could substitute any religious figurehead such as Buddha, Muhammad, etc. The same principles will still apply to whatever religion you are patterning your story after.)

Orson Card started out by saying that C.S. Lewis once said his books--meaning The Chronicles of Narnia--were never meant to be allegorical. Now, that may sound a bit ridiculous--it did to me the first time I read it--but Mr. Card said that he completely believed Lewis.

Why? 

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Review Day: Writing How-To Books

I'm trying to read lots of writing/marketing how-to books this year. In fact, I'm trying to read at least two a month. These are small, novella or ebook type things that just give helpful tips either to authors, or to anybody marketing, or running a business in general. Today, I'll be reviewing the last five of these types of books that I've read.

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What it's about: As the sub-title says, this is a step-by-step guide to marketing your book. It defines marketing, talks about tools available to the author, and then goes into what the Grahl calls the Connection System, which will help get you "From nobody to bestselling author." (A section heading in the book.)

Did it help me? Yes. There are some excellent tips in here and some great advice on things to watch out for and/or not do. I especially got a lot out of his tips for growing your email list, as that's an area where I struggle. I read it through quickly the first time, taking a few notes but nothing in depth. There's so much information, though, that I plan to read it again, more slowly, and put into action more of his suggestions as I go. A highly recommended read!

(Kindle edition, $3.99. Scroll down for link.)

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What it's about: This is a step-by-step guide to KDP promos. Now, this has been on my kindle for some time and, based on the title, I figured it might be out of date. This is the kind of windfall authors used to make on their books after the KDP promos, but that was only with the pioneers in the industry. Since then, Amazon has changed up their algorithms, and authors today rarely see these kinds of results. I was curious, though, and it was a quick read. Turns out I was right. This author had this success years ago, and it no longer applies today. The edition of her ebook I have has a "revised and updated" stamp on the title page. Her updates explain that this doesn't really happen anymore, but claim that her methods are still effective for marketing, which is true. She has a few other updates as well that explain small changes in the industry since she wrote her book.

Did it help me? Not really. As someone who's already done a couple of KDP promos, there wasn't much in it that I didn't already know. But that doesn't mean the content isn't valuable. Her tips are good; her advice, sound. I just didn't particularly need it. For anyone who's a complete newbie to selling ebooks, reading this could be a decent marketing template for your first time out of the gates. For more experienced authors, it will probably seem superfluous.

(Kindle edition, $2.99. Scroll down for link.)

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What it's about: This is about what the titles makes it sound like it's about. It's about multiple ways--other than acting, directing, producing, and other things we generally associate with Hollywood--that the average joe can find a job in Hollywood. It's based on the author's own experiences in Hollywood, people she interviewed, and how they ended up where they did. There's a list of jobs that Hollywood needs done, and then interviews/stories about how people got there.

Did it help me? Um, no. Unfortunately, I was extremely underwhelmed with this book. I think I bought it back when I was writing my screenplay, and it was a super-cheap download. But this was by no means an exhaustive list of Hollywood jobs. Yeah, there were like ten, I think. Maybe an even dozen. And the stories she told were single stories about how one person ended up in that job. I was hoping for lots of interesting ideas and jobs that revolve around Hollywood. Instead, most of the jobs were things like hair, makeup, set-designers, and publicists. So other than acting, Hollywood consists of artsy people and marketing people. Shocking! I really wanted more. Don't get me wrong, a few of the stories were kind of interesting, but most were downright boring. In fact, I skimmed a lot of the book, and it's not even long. Not recommended unless you enjoy obscure Hollywood stories from the sets of movies no one's ever seen that involve people no one's ever heard of. (Sorry if that sounds snobbish. This woman has apparently worked in Hollywood for a long time, and I'm not denying her credentials. This book just wasn't awesome.)

(Kindle edition, $7.99. Scroll down for link.)

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What they're about: Again, the titles pretty much sum things up. Anyone who knows or follows Nick Thacker knows he's a great blogger and resource who consistently puts out quality content. The "headlines" ebook gives great advice on how to recognize and craft great headlines as well as giving lists of many proven headlines you can borrow from. The "guest posts" ebook gives advice on how to secure guest posts, why they're important, and how to make them great once you've been invited to do one. 

Did they help me? Most definitely. I'm definitely not a headlines genius, but I've found myself going to this guide and reading through his lists of headlines to get ideas for my blog posts. More than once, now, I've seen a spike in pageviews. I use them not only for the headline itself, but to help broadcast on Twitter in different ways. As for guest posts, I've done a lot of those, but I still found Nick's advice useful and even took a few notes. These are the kinds of skills that can still be honed, even in experiences authors and bloggers. Super fast reads, short, but packed with high-quality information. Highly recommended.

(Kindle editions, both $2.99.)


Has anyone read any of these before? What did you think of them?

Monday, March 3, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I've Never Read

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top 10 Popular Authors I've Never Read(All covers courtesy of Goodreads.com unless otherwise linked.)

I actually touched on this last week, but I only listed two and obviously there are plenty more authors than that I've never read. In no particular order:




10. John Green - I'm hoping to remedy this one this year. I've got The Fault in Our Stars on my kindle and hope to get to it in the next month or two.


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9. Jennifer L. Armentrout - The Lux series was one of the first that I put on my TBR when I joined Goodreads two years ago. I don't have an immediate plan to read it, but the year is young, right?

8. Gillian Flynn - Really Gone Girl is the only book I know by her, and it's the one that's made her famous, but considering it was the most-reviewed book on Goodreads for 2012, I figure I should check it out.

7. Rainbow Rowell - I really didn't know who she was until just the past few months, but lately her books have been showing up on countless lists, review posts, and others.

6. Jim Butcher - Just another one I hear great things about, but have never picked up.



5. Terry Brooks - I hear much of his work is Tolkien-esque, and I have lots of extended family that swear by his works. The First King of Shannara has been on my bookshelf for probably two years. Guess I really owe it to my book universe to read it, huh?



4. Rae Carson - I have Girl of Fire and Thorns on my kindle. Several of my close blogger buddies rave about this series. Can't wait to get to it.


3. Leigh Bardugo - Uh, ditto. Shadow and Bone is a totally different series and subject matter, but still can't wait to read it. I hear it has a Russian culture feel, which is all kinds of intriguing. Unfortunately, I thought I had this on my kindle, but when I went to finally start it a few months ago, it turned out that what I had was just the first five chapters. Grrrh!
2. Marissa Meyer - My teenaged niece reads The Lunar Chronicles and loves them. Every time I see her with her nose in them, I feel both envious and guilty for not reading them yet. Seriously thinking of doing some kind of fairy tale retelling challenge this summer. It would be the perfect excuse to read this trilogy! :D


1. Patrick Rothfuss - I SO want to read him! I had The Name of the Wind on my shelf for a long time, but this past Christmas I ended up giving it as a gift before I got the chance to read it. You can imagine I was kicking myself something fierce by then!

What famous authors do YOU have yet to read?

3 Things You Probably Never Considered About Historical Fiction

While at the LTUE Conference a couple of weeks ago, I participated in a panel about FTL (Faster than Lightning. It's okay. I didn't know what it was either and I was on the panel.) and Time Travel. I think this was supposed to be about how various authors use time travel and FTL motion in their writing, and we did discuss that to a certain extent. But we also talked a lot about time itself, how humans view it, and why we tell so many stories that take place in different time periods than our own.

1) Historical fiction is about collective penance for societal tragedy.

One woman on the panel put forth a theory that really spoke to me. She said she believed that the reason we tell stories about the past has to do with regret. We have deep regret--be it individual, or as a collective society--about terrible things that have happened in our past. It's almost like we can't believe we ever let things get that bad at one point, and have to revisit it, both to remind ourselves, and as a sort of unspoken pledge not to let it happen again.


For example, we can't believe we once let our society degrade to the point of letting a handlebar-mustached dictator kill six million people during World War II, simply because of their religion. We can't believe that we, as a race of human beings, stood by and let it get that bad. 


A Sudetan woman weeps while being
forcedto salute Hilter. 1938. (Source)
A Frenchman weeps when Nazi troops
 march into Paris inJune, 1940 after Allied
troops are driven back across France
(Source)
















"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." --C.S. Lewis

Perhaps returning again and again to the times of these tragedies is wallowing, but I don't think so. I think it's to remind ourselves not to let it get that bad again. To remember our mistakes so we don't make them anymore. And to re-educate ourselves and our posterity. 

Let's face it. There are few people left in the world who lived through World War II, and each generation becomes farther dissociated from the terrible tragedy of it. We want to convey the depth of our sorrow over things we are collectively ashamed of. We do this to keep it from happening again, but perhaps there's more than that, too. 

Perhaps we are doing penance for things that, though we had no hand in, we easily could if we let them happen again. 

2) Futuristic time travel is the opposite side of the same coin.


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I would submit that the same applies for futuristic stories. As Dr. Phil is fond of saying, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. We've seen the tragedies of earth's past, and know what the human race is capable of. We tell futuristic stories because we fear our society might degrade into inhumanity again. 

After all, what is dystopian but a representation of our fear of the future, based on problems we see in the present? 

We tell these stories, much like we tell historical fiction, because we want to avoid what we know is possible. Perhaps we are even doing a sort of preventative, reverse-penance for tragedies we know will probably happen somewhere in the world at some time, but which we, as individuals, are largely powerless to stop. What's the best way to stop them? Tell these stories, educate others and ourselves, so that we might do everything that is in our power to maintain the compassion and humanity of our race.

Pondering on this idea was the first time it truly made sense to me that I'm drawn almost equally to historical fiction and dystopian.

3) Back story as historical fiction and a predictor for the future.

All great, well-fleshed out characters have back story. It's what makes them three dimensional; what makes our readers connect with them. To our characters, what has already happened in their past is their historical fiction. Apply the above principles to your character's back story to help you understand the psychology of why they do what they do. Why would they revisit their past? Why would they hide it or hide from it? Their past will predict their future behavior in some way, and it doesn't always have to be a negative one. Perhaps their behavior is predictive because they will repeat their past. Or perhaps they will do the opposite because they learned from it, as most of us, we pray, learned from the Holocaust.

If you understand your characters' motivations concerning their past, and how it connects to their future, and can convey that, even symbolically, on the page, that will make your characters more than just well-rounded. 

It will make them truly human. 

Perhaps dealing with alternate time periods in literature is difficult, because the sense of tragedy is so potent, but I also think it's vitally important. Perhaps more important than our mere human brains can comprehend. It keeps us human. It keeps us compassionate. And those are things that cannot be learned in academic books.

They can only be learned through true empathy with other human beings during the worst times of their lives, and through communion both with our ancestors and our posterity.

One of the worst periods in human history that I know of has to be during the reign of Ivan the Terrible during the middle ages in Russia. That's why, when I learned of it, I simply had to write about it. My book, Citadels of Fire, is due out May 27th. It will be the first of a trilogy dealing with this gruesome, tragic time period.


In a world where danger hides in plain sight and no one aspires to more than what they were born to, Inga must find the courage to break the oppressive chains she’s been bound with since birth. 

As a maid in the infamous Kremlin, life in 16th-century Russia is bleak and treacherous. That is, until Taras arrives. Convinced that his mother’s death when he was a boy was no mere accident, he returned from England to discover what really happened. While there, he gains favor from the Tsar later known as Ivan the Terrible, the most brutal and notorious ruler ever to sit upon the throne of Russia. Ivan allows him to take a servant, and to save Inga from a brutal boyar intent on raping her, Taras requests Inga to stay in his chambers. 

Up against the social confines of the time, the shadowy conspiracies that cloak their history, and the sexual politics of the Russian Imperial court, Inga and Taras must discover their past, plan for their future, and survive the brutality that permeates life within the four walls that tower over them all, or they may end up like so many citizens of ancient Russia: nothing but flesh and bone mortar for the stones of the Kremlin wall.

Click HERE to pre-order.

What do you think of this theory about why we are so drawn to stories in time periods other than our own?

Cover Reveal: Little Dead Riding Hood!

My good friend and fellow JFP Author, Amie Borst, co-author of Cinderskella with her daughter Bethanie Borst, is doing the cover reveal for their new book, Little Dead Riding Hood.

Aren't the colors great?


You know things are going to suck when you’re the new kid. But when you’re the new kid and a vampire… well, it bites! 
     Unlike most kids, Scarlet Small’s problems go far beyond just trying to fit in. She would settle for a normal life, but being twelve years old for an entire century is a real pain in the neck. Plus, her appetite for security guards, house pets and bloody toms (tomato juice) is out of control. So in order to keep their vampire-secret, her parents, Mort and Drac, resort to moving for the hundredth time, despite Scarlet being dead-set against it. Things couldn’t be worse at her new school, either. Not only does she have a strange skeleton-girl as a classmate, but a smelly werewolf is intent on revealing her secret. 
     When she meets Granny—who fills her with cookies, goodies, and treats, and seems to understand her more than anyone—she’s sure things will be different. But with a fork-stabbing incident, a cherry pie massacre, and a town full of crazy people, Scarlet’s O-positive she’ll never live to see another undead day. 
Not even her Vampire Rule Book can save her from the mess she’s in. Why can’t she ever just follow the rules?



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Amie Borst is a PAL member of SCBWI. She believes in Unicorns, uses glitter whenever the opportunity arises, accessories in pink and eats too much chocolate.

Bethanie Borst is a spunky 13 year old who loves archery, long bike rides and studying edible plant-life.

What do you think of the Little Dead Riding Hood cover?