Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

I'm happy to be a part of the tour for Cheryl Carpinello's book, Tutankhamen Speaks. Cheryl joins us today to talk about research and to offer a chance for you to win a gift card. Thanks, Cheryl! And now, take it away... *** Researching Historical Fiction: Determining What Type and How Much To Do By Cheryl Carpinello Many writers struggle with this, including me. Unless you’ve built your own world, it’s hard for most authors to physically visit the places their characters live. If you’re a writer of historical fiction, like I am, it is impossible to transport readers back to those time periods without extensive research. So far, I’ve written in two time periods: 400-500 Medieval England and 1330 BC Egypt. For my first two Arthurian stories set in Medieval England, I started with guidebooks and maps—both modern and historical. I used these to get a sense of the landscape, which may have changed a bit, but not that much over the centuries. I also have an extensiv...

I am not a camper. I don’t mind going without a shower. If the woods are deserted enough, it doesn’t bother me to do my business out in the open. But I can’t sleep worth snot away from home and when I’m camping, I may as well, not even lay down. The nights are painfully long and either miserably cold or stifling hot. If it weren’t for the nighttime, I’d really enjoy camping. Hardman - I REALLY wanted to go inside So you can imagine my husband’s surprise when I said, “You know what I want to do for our family vacation this year? Tour ghost towns. Go in search of the ghostliest town we can find and then just camp out in the middle of it.” “You want to camp?” he asked. Frowning. “Well, no, I don’t want to camp. But I can’t see how else I can soak up the ghostliness if I don’t,” I replied. That was all the prodding he needed. He loves online research and suddenly he had a perfect project; to plan the epic Ghost Town Tour. Old lodge (maybe) in Cornucopia I...