HOW I WRITE HISTORICAL ROMANCE NOVELS

 

Today my friend, Shirley Skufca Hickman is my guest on my blog. I had the privilege of editing both of her historical romances as well as several of her other books. Welcome, Shirley. I asked her about how she writes historical romance.

 

I’ve written two romance novels, Sarah Darlin’ and The Tangled Web of Love. I like researching the time period, creating the main and minor characters, and developing a plot.

Often twenty pages of research may become a single paragraph in the book. I like to discover historical characters who can interact with my fictional ones.

For my first romance novel, Sarah Darlin’, set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush, I found Tom McGuire, a real person, and used him to hire my fictional characters, Sarah, Patrick, and Katie O’Malley to sing and dance in his Jenny Lind Theater. Much of the action in the book takes place there. When the theater burns down, it triggers a painful memory for Patrick O’Malley.

Sarah O’Malley and Richard Moresby, are attracted to one another, but the O’Malleys left Ireland during the potato famine because of the injustice and cruelty of British landowners. Understandably, they despise the British. Sarah is fascinated by Richard, a British aristocrat, but is torn between her loyalty to the O’Malleys and Richard’s appealing charm.

My second romance novel, The Tangled Web of Love, set in England in 1812, is one of my favorite time periods because its stratified society offers limitations and opportunities.

In researching this time period, I found Richard Wellesley, former Governor General of India. He helps my fictional character, David, sign a lucrative contract with the East India Company, and Elizabeth translates for Wellesley’s French wife.

David Stedfeld, an orphan forced to steal as a child to survive, is now a sea captain and one of the richest men in London. Lady Elizabeth Reneau, the daughter of a duke, was born into wealth and privilege, but after her parents died and their estate sold, she is forced to live with her licentious uncle.

She runs away and waves down David’s coach to ask for a ride to London. She refuses further help and secures a position in London as a seamstress. She borrows a gown to attend a ball, but David accidentally spills wine on it, ruining it. She is dismissed, charged with theft, and sent to Newgate Prison, David fights to free her and offers her a position as his housekeeper. As their mutual attraction grows, Elizabeth knows David desires her, but will he ever love her?

After the research is complete, main characters determined, and a basic plot outlined, minor characters are created. Fortunately, or unfortunately, sometime they tend to stay longer than I intended.

I introduce Brandon Ratliff so Elizabeth has someone to dance with at the duchess’s ball, but he continues to intrude upon her life and competes with David for her attention.

Sean, in Sarah Darlin’, also refused to leave. I used him to illustrate how sailors were fleeced by unscrupulous landladies, but when the O’Malleys meet Sean, wrapped only in a blanket, they can’t leave him in the street, so they take him home, give him clothes, and help him find a job. Soon he becomes Richard’s rival for Sarah’s affections.

I never planned any of this, but Sean became so interesting to some readers, they requested a sequel to find out what happened to him.

Will the O’Malley’s accept Sarah and Richard’s love for one another? Will David and Elizabeth find enduring love despite their social differences?

Of course, they will. My responsibility as a romance writer is to make sure my characters live happily ever after in my books.

 

SHIRLEY SKUFCA HICKMAN grew up in a Colorado coal mining town, during World War II. As an adult, she wrote about the war from a child’s point of view in Don’t Be Give Up.

In 1947, the mine closed, forcing the family to move. Living in three rooms and sleeping in the kitchen with her two older sisters, she wondered if they’d ever have a real home again. Whenever her father made life better for the family, he’d ask: Is Everybody Happy Now? This became the title of her next memoir.

She enjoyed her high school years until her father’s death devastated the family. Without his love and financial support, they might have lost their home. Family is Forever is about their love for one another and how they coped.

Shirley graduated from college and became a teacher. She wrote Fall in Love With An Orange Tree or a Book about a teenager who lived in the shadows because she was in the U.S. illegally.

When parents asked her to recommend a book to help their children, she wrote: School Success: Five Hundred Ways Busy Parents Can Help their Children in School.

She also wrote Sarah Darlin’, a romance novel set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush. Before Sarah and her lover could be together, they must deal with prejudice, a fire, and a terrible secret from Sarah’s past.

In 2020, she published Rocky Road is More Than a Candy Bar about her courtship with her husband, Joe. Another moving memoir from this author.

Her greatest joys are her son, his wife, and their two boys.

For more information, contact the author at hickman@ocsnet.net

Trail to Glory - The Real Story

When I started trying to locate all of Marilyn Meredith’s books, I discovered several I didn’t know about. One was Trail to Glory: One Family’s Journey West. This historical novel is based on the journey of her maternal ancestors. Some of the incidents in the book are based on family legends. After reading this exciting book, I wanted to know what was true and what was fiction. Marilyn agreed to answer my questions. Next week, she’ll do the same for Two Ways West, the story of her paternal family’s journey.

Thanks for giving me (and my readers) the “inside scoop” on this book.

I have to ask about Half-face. He was one of the most memorable characters in the book. I so want to think he is based on someone the family actually knew. Was he?

Sorry, no. Made him up. Needed an exciting scene and he filled it and then went on to be even more important a bit later.

Was William actually killed as depicted in the book (no spoilers)? This is one of the most haunting scenes.

I have no idea. Much of the early part of this “fictional” historical saga was based on things I learned about when I researched what was going on during that particular time in that place. Some family members thought it happened.

Although the book says the older girls were given to a neighbor to raise, you told me they were adopted by three other families. Did they stay in touch with the rest of the family? Did they live nearby? (BTW, I have instances of this same thing in my own family. When my great-grandmother died, some of her children were raised by relatives, and one of the older children raised the younger ones. When my grandmother died, this same sister took her three children.)

In the beginning the neighbor took the girls, and she was the one who changed their names. Again, I wrote this book so long ago I don’t really remember all the details.

Did Ethel actually suffer injury during her birth? Did she really endure such tragic losses? Did she really raise her sister’s child?

No Ethel didn’t suffer the injury—I borrowed it from what happened to one of my cousins. And yes, she did suffer the tragic losses in the story. She did raise her sister’s child, but I made up some of the details surrounding what happened. It seemed like it could have been what transpired.

You wrote a beautiful—and fanciful—account of what might have happened to Wilhelmina. You said the family had other theories. What were they?

My mother always said Wilhelmina was stolen by gypsies. I couldn’t find any history of gypsies in the area during the time period.

Did Will actually stay in touch with the family when he disappeared, or did he just vanish? Did you write his story to have some closure?

Will did keep in touch with the family, but the story about him I made up. No one could remember much about him.

I know you were descended from Desdemona (Minnie). Did she really hate her nickname so much? (My own grandmother’s birth name was Mary Ann, but she was always called “Minnie.” This is the name on her headstone.)

Desdemona (Minnie), my great-grandmother, did not like her name. I got to meet my great-grandmother when she came to my fifth birthday party (I have a photo of her there), and we spent a Christmas in her home. I don’t remember much about either occasion.

I know losing children during childbirth and shortly afterward, as well as from illness and accidents was quite common. Did your family really suffer all these losses?

Yes, because that was the information I got from the genealogy and what my mother and aunt remembered from family stories.

Congratulations to your sister for all her hard work in tracking down the multitude of family members! I do a lot of genealogy as well. Before Ancestry.com it was a labor intensive pursuit. I’m grateful for the pooled information now available online.

She did it back in the days of using the census, birth, marriage, and death certificates. I wonder if she did it again using Ancestry.com if she’d find out more information.

For the other book, I looked up a character when you didn’t have the name of his wife—and I found her! So, I suspect even more information is now available.

Next week, we’ll look at the truth of Two Ways West.