Historical Fiction Book and Writing Blog

Great Historical Fiction Book - Matilda's Story

2008-04-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

# ISBN-10: 0963726544
# ISBN-13: 978-0963726544

Matilda's Story by Jacquelyn Hanson is a biographical novel based on 30 years in the life of Matilda Randolph, a pioneer woman born in Illinois in 1836 who migrated with her family to Kansas in 1854. There she married
and bore four children while the conflict raged around her. In 1864, as a young widow with three small children, she traversed the Oregon / California Trail to California. The book has been well-researched. Those who enjoy authentic
tales of pioneer days will appreciate Matilda's Story.

Matilda lived through a very turbulent period in American History. Matilda's Story is the history of the time as seen through the eyes of one young woman as she struggled to survive over odds that seem almost overwhelming to
people of today.

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About the Author Jacquelyn Hanson:

Jacquelyn Hanson, great-granddaughter of Matilda Randolph, grew up on the ranch where Matilda spent the last thirty years of her life, surrounded by family stories. She decided to write them down so the stories would be preserved for future generations. As a result, her first novel, Matilda's Story, was published in 1997.

She went on to write two historical romances, Susan's Quest and Katlin's Fury, both based on the extensive research
done for Matilda's Story. Matilda's Story ended in 1867 with Matilda's marriage to Alfred Wheelock, the author's great-grandfather, but demand from her readers to know what happened to Matilda after 1867 led to Matilda's Story: The California Years, which follows Matilda through to her 69th birthday in 1905.

The author, a graduate of Stanford University school of Nursing, lives in Southern California with her youngest son, and
recently retired from business with her oldest son. She has been published in professional journals, and several of her stories have been published or won awards.

She has been an active member of Liga International, Flying Doctors of Mercy for over twenty years, and goes to Mexico one weekend a month to operate a free clinic there. She is on a DMAT (Disaster Medical Assistance Team) and a volunteer with the Red Cross. She is also a volunteer for the Orange County Natural History Museum, and a member of the Rotary Club of Saddleback Valley.

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Editing: How Much is Too Much?

2008-04-10T21:36:00.001-07:00

A good question from a reader named Cassandra:
I'm 16 and have written a few handfuls of novels, novelettes, and short stories. I've been told by other writers that my writing is pretty good, but I always want change something. Either the color of this, or the plot of that. My question is, "How do you know how much editing is too much editing?" I always want to change something, given the fact I'm still learning change is good. But I don't know when’s the right time to quit. Do you have any advice for me?

Years ago, Robert Heinlein published his Five Rules for Writers, and I've done my best to pass them along:

1. Writers write. They don't sit around moaning about how much they would write if only they had the time, or the inspiration, or a better computer.

2. Writers finish what they write. Even if they end up hating every comma and syllable, they grind away to the bitter end. It's good discipline, and sometimes you actually write your way out of the problem.

3. Writers never rewrite, except to editorial order. What a slap in the face to every teacher of English and creative writing! But carpenters don't rebuild a house over and over again; they make sure they have a good plan and build it right the first time. Outlining may seem boring compared to banging out page after page, but it's critical.

For a professional writer, this is especially important: Spend too much time rewriting, and your income drops to pennies per hour. But for apprentices, I admit that rewriting can be helpful. It forces you to pay more attention to what your manuscript is trying to tell you, and you may learn a lot. The hazard is that you can edit your story to death.

4. Writers put their work on the market. They don't just make their friends and relatives read it. Besides, the editorial opinion of friends and relatives is rarely helpful.

5. Writers keep their work on the market until it sells. Rather than collapse in self-pity after the first rejection, they send the manuscript off again, and again. Even a rejection letter can be instructive. I'm eternally grateful to Judy-Lynn Del Rey for her dismissal of my novel Icequake--I was telling, not showing, she said, and she was right. I got a grip, rewrote the novel, and sold it (for far more than Judy-Lynn could have paid me).

Heinlein argues, and I agree, that people who break these rules just don't get published. If I hadn't broken rule #5, I'd probably have published my first novel at age 26 or 27, instead of age 38. Instead, the manuscript stayed on my shelf until it was hopelessly dated. (It's now in my papers at the University of British Columbia, where some unlucky PhD candidate may run across it.)

So to get back to Cassandra's question, when you want to change something in a manuscript, ask yourself: How does this change advance the story? Does it teach us more about the characters, the setting, the plot? Does it affect the outcome? Or is it just a demonstration of my high opinion of myself as a writer?

Hemingway said the test of a good story was how much good stuff you could cut out of it...that is, "fine writing" that was just showing off. We might now have a different definition of "good stuff" from Hemingway's, but the principle is sound.

Editing: How Much is Too Much?

2008-04-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Years ago, Robert Heinlein published his Five Rules for Writers, and I've done my best to pass them along:

1. Writers write. They don't sit around moaning about how much they would write if only they had the time, or the inspiration, or a better computer.

4. Writers put their work on the market. They don't just make their friends and relatives read it. Besides, the editorial opinion of friends and relatives is rarely helpful.