Why I Don’t Have a Period (and no, this is not About Menopause)

When I tell people I’m a historical novelist, or I write historical fiction, with few exceptions they say, “Oh? What’s your period?” The assumption, I think, is that in order to write with any authority, an author has to specialize in a certain era—or at the very least, a certain place.

In fact, some historical novelists do just that. My dear friend Anne Easter Smith, for instance, writes solely about the times around Richard III. Another fabulous historical novelist, Mary Sharratt, has lately taken to writing about women mystics in the Middle Ages.

Then there’s Winston Graham, with the Poldark novels: All 12 of them are not only set during the same general era (spanning a few decades) but in the same geographic location.

I can see the allure of such an approach. You get to know your period thoroughly. You discover things you can use in future novels. And if you remain in one place, writing about it becomes second nature.

However, many excellent historical novelists have wide-ranging interests that don’t limit them to a particular time and/or place. Tracy Chevalier, for instance. If the only novel you know of hers is The Girl with the Pearl Earring, you’re missing out on a lot of great writing. My personal favorite is Remarkable Creatures, about the British paleontologist Mary Anning.

From the very beginning of my life as a historical novelist, I didn’t set out to focus on any particular era. I have written stories that take place in the 13th century (my Orphans of Tolosa trilogy), the 17th century (Émilie’s Voice), the 18th century (my Theresa Schurman mysteries: The Musician’s Daughter, The Mozart Conspiracy, and The Paris Affair, and my forthcoming novel The Portraitist), the 19th century (The Académie, Liszt’s Kiss, In the Shadow of the Lamp), and the 20th century (Anastasia’s Secret, and my forthcoming novel The Courtesan’s Daughter), in France, the Crimea, Russia, and the U.S.

While these choices may seem a bit random, a few things do tie them together. My historical fiction was initially an outgrowth of my research for my PhD in music history. I had an abiding, feminist interest in women in music, which grew to include women in all the arts. And I’m a Francophile and can read French fluently (giving me access to untranslated sources), so several of my novels are set in France. But even that doesn’t explain all my choices.

I think it boils down to the fact that I am essentially a curious person. I like to discover new things, push myself to learn about subjects, people, and places I didn’t know about before. My experience tells me that there will always, always be something worth writing about. And my research chops mean I know how to dig below the surface—even when I have to rely on the Internet and what books I can buy or borrow, and have no access to travel or to archives of primary sources.

Ultimately, although I have never yet strayed from featuring a feisty female protagonist, I’m open to trying different things. I’ve written in first person, close third, multiple close third, multiple first person, present tense and past tense. One novel is even written in multiple first-person POVs, present tense (The Académie).

I use historical characters and I make up characters. I use real historical events as the basis for stories, and I simply imagine events that could have taken place during the times and places and prevailing conditions. Most often I combine imagined characters (often the female protagonist) with real characters. But in Anastasia’s Secret and my forthcoming novel The Portraitist, the majority of the characters are historical, with a few fictional ones for purposes of story.

I’ll end by saying that the characters and events in The Orphans of Tolosa trilogy are mostly fictional, but set in a real time and place. The struggles of the protagonists are completely dependent on the circumstances of the Albigensian crusades against the Cathars, and set in actual castles I have had the good fortune to visit (in ruins of course).

How did I end up writing these stories? They all stem from what got me started with historical fiction in the first place: music history. The women troubadours are the thread that ties the entire trilogy to the foundations of my writing career.

I have discovered that the combination of solid history with imagination and storytelling powers my writing and I hope engages my readers. To that end, I’ll keep digging and exploring as long as I am able to write. For me, it’s the only option.

—

Find out more about me and my books at https://susanne-dunlap.com.

I am also an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach in fiction and nonfiction, specializing in coaching authors of historical fiction. To find out more about working with me on your novel, visit https://susannedunlapedits.com.

VOICES IN THE MIST

Marry a Catholic stranger, or flee the only world she’s ever known: Headstrong Bruna de Gansard must choose one or the other to protect her Cathar family from the inquisitors.

Toulouse, 1229. The inquisitors have arrived to rid the city of Cathar heretics once and for all, and are putting all unmarried girls over the age of 12 to the question. After an incident in the town calls unwanted attention to 14-year-old Bruna, a young Catholic stranger who is sympathetic to the heretics warns her family about the looming danger, and volunteers to marry their daughter to save her from being questioned.

But Bruna doesn’t want to be forced into marriage, so she chooses flight—which lands her unexpectedly in the midst of a Catholic pilgrimage to Compostela, thrusting her into a life of deceit.
When her beauty and her voice bring her to the attention of the powerful Baron de Belascon, who owes fealty to the king of France, Bruna earns the enmity of the baron’s bitter and imperious mother and finds herself caught between her allegiance to her own people and the dangerous secret of her origins—a secret that can be revealed at any time after the arrival of a French knight who recognizes her.

The Orphans of Tolosa Trilogy comes to a dramatic end in this gripping story of loyalty and betrayal, set amidst the violence and peril of the Albigensian Crusades.

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing