According to many bookstore owners, editors and publishers, when readers hear that a book is categorized as historical fiction, their faces contort and their brows furrow. Then the head shaking begins. No, they were looking for something else. When asked what, exactly, they're looking for, their response is, i.e., a good love story, a good mystery, a coming-of-age tale, etc., and down the aisle they walk looking for that perfect book.
Dear Readers,
Listen, don't panic, historical fiction is not a history book! Historical fiction can better be described as 'Period Fiction'. It doesn't have any more lessons to teach that Isaac Asimov's I, ROBOT, or Ernest Hemingway's OLD MAN AND THE SEA, or Jules Verne's THE TIME MACHINE, or JRR Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS. Need I mention the writings of Robert Heinlein, Lee Child, John Grisham, Luanne Rice and Maeve Binchy?
Some of the greatest stories ever written were set during a time period different than today. Heck, a story that took place yesterday is historical fiction! Look at the fabulous stories by W. Michael Gear, Kathleen O'Neal Gear, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Christopher Curtis, Karen Cushman, Clare Vanderpool, and Sharon Creech. Their award-winning stories, which have been read by millions of adoring readers, are classified as historical fiction, but in all reality, their stories are Adventure stories, and Romance stories, and Mystery stories, and Coming-of-Age stories. Can you imagine your life without their stories?
Step it up a notch, Readers! Walk down that Historical Fiction aisle. You might find the story you've been waiting to hear your whole life. It's been there waiting for you.
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| Happy Reading! Karen www.ksjones.com |
