While a historian stands firmly planted in the present and looks back into the past, a historical novelist has a more immediate task: to set readers in the midst of bygone events and lead them forward, allowing them to live and" feel" the wonderment, fear, hope, triumph, and pain as if they were there.

In "The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction," best-selling author James Alexander Thom ("Follow the River," "From Sea to Shining Sea," "Sign-Talker") gives you the tools you need to research and create stories born from the past that will move and inspire modern readers. His comprehensive approach includes lessons on how to: Find and use historical archives and conduct physical field researchRe-construct the world of your novel, including people and voices, physical environments, and cultural contextAchieve verisimilitude in speech, action, setting, and descriptionSeamlessly weave historical fact with your own compelling plot ideas With wit and candor, Thom's detailed instruction, illuminating personal experience, and invaluable insights culled from discussions with other trusted historical writers will guide you to craft a novel that is true to what was then, when "then" was "now."