Carmela A. Martino

      I'll be presenting a workshop on "Turning Life into Fiction" for the Catholic Writers Guild Online Conference later this month. In addition to Robin Hemley's writing book of the same name, I'll likely be mentioning the following texts:

• The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
• Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle
• Stein on Writing by Sol Stein, especially Chapter 17: "How to Use All Six of Your Senses."

I won't have time for any writing exercises during the presentation, but for those who are writing fiction inspired by the lives of others, I recommend an exercise I shared on the TeachingAuthors blog in this post. 

Also, if you're writing historical fiction, check out the resources I share in this blog post.

And you can find multiple online articles at Writers Digest magazine on turning life into fiction and writing historical fiction here.

If you have any questions about my presentation, feel free to post it as a comment below or email me through my contact page.

I'll be discussing "The Pleasures and Perils of Writing Historical Fiction" at the 2021 Catholic Writers Guild online conference. Here are the resources I'll be sharing, along with links where available. 

Books:

• Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders: A Writer's (& Editor's) Guide to Keeping Historical Fiction Free of Common Anachronisms, Errors, & Myths by Susanne Alleyn. For more about this book and why it's so helpful, see this blog post by author Alex Kourvo.  
• Writing Historical Fiction by Rhona Martin
• Once Upon a Time It Was Now: The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by James Alexander Thom
• Turning Life into Fiction by Robin Hemley

Articles of interest:

• "Day in the Life Method of Writing Historical Novels" by Juliet Waldron
• "5 Top Resources for Researching Historical Fiction" by Alisa Alering
• "How to Write Historical Fiction: 7 Tips on Accuracy and Authenticity" by Susanna Calkins
• "6 Keys to Writing a Compelling Historical Novel" by Sofia Grant
• "5 Historical Fiction Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them" by Margo Dill
• "Tips To Create Unforgettable Historical Fiction" by Ashley Hope Pérez

Online Resources:

• Newspaper and magazine archives (check your local library)
• Project Gutenberg containing full text of many out-of-print books
• Google Books
• Online Etymology Dictionary
• Oxford English Dictionary 
• Social Security Administration name database
• How to Write History.com 
• Historical Novel Society   

If you have a questions about my presentation, feel free to post it as a comment below or email me through my contact page.

      I'll be presenting a workshop on "Turning Life into Fiction" at the Fremont public library in Mudelein, IL this month.
In addition to Robin Hemley's writing book of the same name, I'll be mentioning the following texts:

• The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
• Stein on Writing by Sol Stein, especially Chapter 17: "How to Use All Six of Your Senses."

Also, one of the exercises in my workshop is based on a Wednesday Writing Workout I posted on our TeachingAuthors blog in this post. 

If you have any questions about my presentation, feel free to post it as a comment below or email me through my contact page.

I'll be discussing "The Pleasures and Perils of Writing Historical Fiction" at the Fountaindale Public Library this evening.

Below are the resources I'll be sharing, along with links to additional articles of interest. 

Books:

• Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders: A Writer's (& Editor's) Guide to Keeping Historical Fiction Free of Common Anachronisms, Errors, & Myths by Susanne Alleyn
• Writing Historical Fiction by Rhona Martin
• Once Upon a Time It Was Now: The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by James Alexander Thom
• Turning Life into Fiction by Robin Hemley

Online Resources:

• Online Etymology Dictionary
• Oxford English Dictionary 
• Social Security Administration name database
• Newspaper and magazine archives (check your local library)
• How to Write History.com 
• "Day in the Life Method of Writing Historical Novels" by Juliet Waldron
• Historical Novel Society   

Additional articles of interest:

• "How to Write Historical Fiction: 7 Tips on Accuracy and Authenticity" by Susanna Calkins
• "6 Keys to Writing a Compelling Historical Novel" by Sofia Grant
• "5 Historical Fiction Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them" by Margo Dill
• "Tips To Create Unforgettable Historical Fiction" by Ashley Hope Pérez

If you have a questions about my presentation, feel free to post it as a comment below or email me through my contact page.