Friend Friday: Carolyn Frank

Editors Note: This was a major faux pas on my part. This was scheduled to go live on friday but something went wrong :( I feel terrible about that since it was a bit time sensitive. But I want to post it now and make a public apology to Carolyn.

Guest Post by Carolyn Frank a blogger and an author with her first book coming out! 

Writing and Reading Historical Fiction
by Carolyn Frank



     I remember, as a newlywed, hearing my mother-in-law tell stories of her mother growing up in the newly formed town of Tropic and playing in the nearby canyon—that being Bryce’s Canyon as we know it. That had always evoked fun day dreams. Several years ago my husband came across the hand-written memoirs of his grandmother, Hattie, Adair Jolley. A good friend of ours, Brad Westwood, the historian over acquisitions at the LDS Church History library, encouraged us to donate her memoirs to the library. In return he gave us a type-written transcription of the memoirs on CD.

     When I started my writing career, I drew from those day dreams, read Hattie’s memoirs in detail, and did a lot of research. The culmination of those efforts has come forward as my first novel, Promises. (My blog tour starts tomorrow. I’d love for you to hop on over to my blog and see what others are saying about making promises, and about my book).

     Studying about real people in the past has made history come alive for me. I have found writing historical fiction a very satisfying and rewarding pursuit. I love taking stories from the past of real people and intertwining them with fiction to make for a satisfying read. I also love to read this kind of book. In well written historical novels, not only anticipate being entertained with a good story, but I expect to learn about some, or many, tidbits of history. Some historical fiction novels perform, and many do not. Many I find, though touted as historical fiction, fit into the category of historic fiction, where the story is merely set in the past but all events are fictitious.

     What are your feelings about reading historical fiction verses historic fiction? Which do you find more intriguing? Or do you find them boring?