@bookstodon
Highly, highly recommend the historical fiction series "Olav Audunssøn" by Sigrid Undset (if you can't read Norsk, get the translation by Tiina Nunnally, which is what I have). I've read Vows (part 1) and it already promises to be a highly enjoyable read (if a sad/tragic story). The scenery and the historical setting come alive.
POWERFULLY EVOCATIVE HISTORICAL novel details the struggles and joys of a young girl and her Russian immigrant family in a coal-mining town in early 20th century Pennsylvania. Rich in detail and emotional weight. A MINUS
#WordWeavers 12/18: Does your MC look more toward the future or the past?
This is a tricky one. I'm going with my WIP to answer.
Dair Montgomery is a Scottish army veteran who's seen combat in Afghanistan. He's living with PTSD, and has moved away from Edinburgh up to Ballachulish because it's much quieter ... and he wants to work as a forest ranger. Still, whether he wants it to happen or not, the past can come in and interfere with the present.
Complicating this is that "Highland Fire" is a dual timeline; Dair's analog in the 1690s (whose name I haven't settled on yet) is a veteran of Killiecrankie ... and is about to have to deal with the massacre at Glen Coe.
AN ASTONISHING, HARROWING, BEAUTIFUL novel mixes the everyday horrors of racism with the terrors of the supernatural in a tale of a brutal Florida reformatory haunted by the boys who died there. SOLID A
Just read Samsaekdo (三色桃, "three-colored peach blossoms"), a story about Princess Bong, the infamous princess-consort in 15th century Chosun who lost her position for committing adultery with a servant girl. Hyeon Hojeong's retelling of the involved personages and their relationships was so sad and hopeful and beautiful and filled my heart up so big, it's wrecked me. This one is going to stay with me a while. #HistoricalFiction#QueerFiction#bookstodon
Characterization & symbolism in Neil Gunn’s three historical novels
12 Dec, 5–6:30pm GMT/6–7:30 CET, free online
This talk will examine three historical novels by Neil M. Gunn (1891–1973), depicting Scottish communities at a time of transition: Sun Circle, Butcher’s Broom, & The Silver Darlings
Today in Labor History December 6, 1889: The trial of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists began amidst national and international outrage and protest. None of the men on trial had even been at Haymarket Square when the bomb was set off. They were on trial because of their anarchist political affiliations and their labor organizing for the 8-hour work-day. 4 were ultimately executed, including Alber Parsons, husband of future IWW founding member Lucy Parsons. One, Louis Ling, cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell. The Haymarket Affairs is considered the origin of International Workers Day, May 1st, celebrated in virtually every country in the world, except for the U.S., where the atrocity occurred. Historically, it was also considered the culmination of the Great Upheaval, which a series of strike waves and labor unrest that began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1877, and spread throughout the U.S., including the Saint Louis Commune, when communists took over and controlled the city for several days. Over 100 workers were killed across the U.S. in the weeks of strikes and protests. Communists and anarchists also organized strikes in Chicago, where police killed 20 men and boys. Albert and Lucy Parsons participated and were influenced by these events. I write about this historical period in my Great Upheaval Trilogy. The first book in this series, Anywhere But Schuylkill, came out in September, 2023, from Historium Press. Check it out here: https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/it/michael-dunn and https://michaeldunnauthor.com/
There was a drug store in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania that plays prominently in my novel, ANYWHERE BUT SCHUYLKILL. It was run by a Polish immigrant known as Doc Luks. He was sympathetic to the miners and would often provide medicine and treatment for free during strikes, when the workers had no money to pay him.
His son, George Luks, became a successful artist, of the Ashcan School, a politically rebellious art movement that was influenced by Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” and which portrayed the everyday lives of working class people and immigrants. Luks’s art, in particular, was influenced by the poverty and oppression suffered by the miners he grew up with.
#WordWeavers 29: If you could go back and change one thing about your writing in your previous work, what would it be?
I would have learned how to limit my research and not go down so many rabbit holes. My first two novels took four years each because of those rabbit holes.
I guess that's not technically writing, but it is part of my process, so ...