Patricia Furstenberg, Writer of Historical Fiction, Children's Books
Travel via Stories
Does When Secrets Bloom holds truth in its historical fiction setting, story line, secrets? Does it stay true to history? Ask my readers. Here’s why these questions matter.
Continue reading “Truth in Historical Fiction, Why Readers Ask and Why It Matters”
To a fiction writer, tone is more than just word choice; it is the whisper of a writer’s soul on the page. It colors every scene, shapes how the reader reads and hears your world, and shows not only what is told, but how we are supposed to feel it. The tone of historical fiction literature is inextricably linked to the time period depicted. The correct tone does more than just depict the past; it represents it. It represents the anxieties, silences, and dreams of those who experienced it. The appropriate tone can transport the dust from the battlefield into a room of silk and candles.
Continue reading “8 Books Like When Secrets Bloom, Weaving Tone in Historical Fiction”
I never intended to write women who refuse to follow the norms, radical women who refuse to disappear. But I continue to find them.
Or maybe they keep finding me.
I wrote How Humor Finds a Voice in Historical Fiction for History Through Fiction, a historical fiction publisher, because writing my medieval novel When Secrets Bloom showed me that even in the past shadows’ laughter found a way to bloom.
Humor does more than entertain; it reveals the soul of a character; it gifts a moment of pause in a world of tension, and it builds a surprising bridge between reader and history. Far from softening the blows of the past, wit sharpens our understanding. In this piece, I explore, through examples, how a well-timed quip or a subtle smile can cast light on the darkest chapters, reminding us that even in the gravest of times the human spirit dared to laugh.
Continue reading “Quills and Quirks: Humor in Historical Fiction”
Let’s step into historical Brașov, Transylvania, the city that inspired When Secrets Bloom, my latest historical fiction novel. We’ll take a peek at: a mysterious old shop, the three old maids (houses) from Council Square, and the haunting Black Gate.
Continue reading “Behind When Secrets Bloom: Three Locations in Historical Brașov”