Plus ça change – February 16, 2026 I started plotting Laveaux: Mother, and then the holidays happened. We had a granddaughter visiting for Christmas, and I took a long break. Honestly, I’m ducking the task, because it’s not clear to me how to get to the end of the story…. Continue reading
Plus ça change – December 13, 2025 Marie was born in 1801. The US bought Louisiana Territory in 1803. Over time, Americans filtered into the city and took over from the French and Spanish. They brought with them Puritanical American attitudes towards slavery, which were far harsher. Marie grew up… Continue reading
Plus ça change – December 12, 2025 Is this thing on? I started working on Laveaux in June of 2024. I expected to write one novel. It turned into two. Marie is a fascinating character, and getting to know her in my imagination led to riches I did not expect…. Continue reading
I got in the queue a couple months back, but no project is ever “finished.” So Robin gets the latest with all the refinements from this group’s fabulous insights. This is my author’s Christmas gift to myself. Time to finish plotting Laveaux: Mother.
Where Historical Fiction Comes From This is a flânerie across dozens of research topics, and the process of writing historical fiction. A colleague said to me, of historical fiction writers, “We owe allegiance to the truth, not the facts.” It’s history, but it’s not. We bend the facts, when necessary,… Continue reading
In The Flow of Time – October 5, 2025 Laveaux: Dancer is effectively done, like any novel is ever done until it’s published. I am still running chapters by my critique group (wonderful, highly-skilled writer people) and making tweaks, but I’m done. I am off hunting for an agent, about… Continue reading
In The Flow of Time – August 21, 2025 From 1820s firefighting to hair gel. Yep. I go down a lot of ratholes. It’s 1822. Marie Laveaux was a hairdresser. In early 19th century New Orleans, that meant house calls. Historically we have zero details, but from period sources we… Continue reading
In The Flow of Time – August 15, 2025 This isn’t about the story, it’s about barriers to writing. Over many years and many chapters, I have discovered two that remain constant: getting started, and perfection. I really am almost never seriously blocked. But that’s because I am way too… Continue reading
In The Flow of Time – August 14, 2025 I’m reworking the end of the novel, for good plot/narrative cause. There are several new chapters to fill in some rather massive blanks. I need you dear reader, to have better insight into what makes Santiago Paris (Marie’s first/only legal husband)… Continue reading
In The Flow of Time – June 28, 2025 My colleague writers make fun of me when I say I have this strange devotion to facts in my fiction. 🙂 I’ll take that as a badge of honor. I’m restructuring the end of this novel. I had a serious narrative… Continue reading
