Clio - the Muse of History
Clio is one of the nine Muses in Greek Mythology. Daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the Muses were charged with overseeing the arts and sciences. Clio is the Muse of history, and since we are writers and readers of history and historical fiction, it seemed appropriate to place ourselves under her care and protection.
About that Picture
The bronze sculpture of Clio that leads us into this post is by Albert Wolff. Done in 1876, it stands outside St. Nicolai Church in Berlin's city center.
The Invocation
We writers of historical fiction need a great deal of support and protection, so we are counting on Clio to do right by us. We're a group with diverse interests in matters historical. Join us for some interesting discussions, opposing viewpoints, rants and raves. Welcome to our blog!
Posts
12 comments:
OK - I'll kick off then
I'm going to be a blogger here - I'm Erastes, and I generally write gay historical fiction. At the moment most of what I've written is romance, but I don't consider myself to be a romance novelist. I've been published since 2006 with "Standish" - a gay Regency - followed three novellas, then "Transgressions" - English Civil War gay historical - was picked up by Running Press and published last year. It's a finalist for the Lambda awards which are announced next month.
I live in the UK with 3 demanding cats and that's just about it, really. :)
My website is www.erastes.com - so I hope you pop along and check it out.
I'm starting to warm towards the title 'Clio's Children'. It will mean nothing to the Internet magpies (hop, pick and fly away with stolen treasures in their beaks). It can be found only by referral.
Arthur C. Clarke's club for eccentric scientists, the reclusive White Hart, was found only in such a way.
Of course, when Clarke published The Tales from the White Hart in 1969, its locale - in some ill-defined alley of London's Fleet Street - was contemporary. Today, his stories verge on 'historical fiction'.
When, precisely, does 'historical fiction' begin? Or end?
I'm Laura Vosika, author of The Blue Bells Trilogy. Blue Bells of Scotland, the first of the trilogy, tells the story of two men, polar opposites but for their looks and love of music, who switch places in time. Shawn, an arrogant, womanizing modern musician, finds himself caught in the days leading up to the battle of Bannockburn, with the fate of Scotland resting on his shoulders, while Niall, a devout and responsible Highland warrior, is caught in Shawn's life of luxury and temptation.
You can read more about it at my site www.bluebellstrilogy.com and about the history behind the book at my blog www.bluebellstrilogy.com/blog.
My historical specialty is medieval Europe, with a focus on early fourteenth century Scotland. I also have a number of other novels in the works, in addition to a non-fiction on raising a large family.
When I travel back to the twenty-first century, I stay in Minnesota with my nine children, three cats, one dog, and a multitude of musical instruments. Like my characters, I play harp and trombone.
I am honored to be a part of this group and look forward to a great blog!
I'm Anne Gilbert, writer of a "romantic" science fiction trilogy called The Invaders(working title). I'm partway through the second draft of the second book. Yes, it's set in medieval England and is a sort of hybrid of historical fiction, because it takes place in real historical time and involves very real historical events, but also involves prehistoric people who were chased off Earth 30,000 years ago or so and rescued to a "refuge planet" in a nearby sector of the galaxy, who have learned the arts of space travel(among other things) from a mysterious race of interstellar beings. Thus it also draws heavily on prehistory as well.
Basically, I fused a long-held desire to write something set in medieval England with my anthropological background and my science fiction side, and this is the result. Furthermore, it took me a long time to put all my research in both fields into place, and I"m sure I still haven't got everything "right".
On the personal side, I live in beautiful Seattle, Washington, with a cat named Prince, who likes to run the household and his humans, "doubled up" with a relative and a teenage Japanese exchange student, and am having a "ball" writing all this stuff.
I also have a blog called The Writer's Daily Grind, and I"m going to connect this blog to mine, which is located at:
http://www.writersdailygrind.blogspot.com, in case anyone wants to take a peek.
Hello All,
I've been writing since high school, back when rocks were soft.
I'm a Speech and Theater Department graduate of Seton Hill College who went on to receive a Masters with a specialization in Costume History and Construction. After working for six years as a costume designer in the professional theater, she spent 24 years as a swimwear designer and patternmaker in New York City. In 2004, I began a new career as a professor in the Fashion Design Department at the Art Institute of New York City. She teaches Fashion History, Textiles, and various technical classes.
In 2005 I stumbled upon the Writing Popular Fiction program while surfing the net for a distance writing program. After 32 years, I returned the hallowed halls of Seton Hill College-- now a University, for a second Masters, which I completed in June 2008. My thesis is a Historical Fiction novel set in Sixteenth Century Florence.
I am now working toward my PhD in Creative writing at the Lancaster University in England. My thesis is again set in the Sixteenth Century and focuses on Sofonisba Anguissola, the painter.
I'm also writing a contemporary romance.
When I'm is not reading, writing, or researching, you can find me in my sewing room reproducing the garments seen in Sixteenth Century portraits. In November of 2008, I traveled to Florence for a costume colloquium about the extant clothing from the Medici burials.
I'm a past President of the Long Island Romance Writers, and a member of the Romance Writers of America, and the “Elements” RWA chapter, which specializes in non-traditional romance.
I'm a member of the Costume Society of America, the Sixteenth Century Society, the Society for Renaissance Studies, the Historical Novel Society, and the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). I'm an assistant editor of the Compleat Anachronist, a publication for the members of the SCA. I also review new fiction and for the Historical Novel Society.
I hope to find an agent and a publisher who will fall in love with my tales of the Sixteenth Century and an occasional foray into humorous romance.
I credit my husband, Paul, for his support in keeping her sane and being the best “plot consultant” in the history of the novel.
I am looking forward to chatting with you about historical fiction.
Best Regards,
Monica Spence
Hello! I'm a young adult librarian for one of the largest schools in my county. I'm always trying to find interesting things for my teens to read. And teens will read, if you give them something they like!
Before my life as a librarian I was a history teacher attempting to teach my students that Joan of Arc did not fight in the American Civil War.
I love history and I'd consider the Victorian era my strength. I am also working on a young adult novel that takes place during the American Civil War.
Hi everybody!
In 2011, I have two forthcoming historical fantasy books with Berkley, both centering around the life of Cleopatra's daughter. After working on these books for seven years, I now know more useless trivia about ancient Romans, Egyptians and Mauretanians, between the years 30BC-14AD than anyone should really know, but I'm so excited to be able to share the myth and magic of one of history's unsung heroines.
Yes, I am also a member of this wonderful group of bloggers and will rely on the blessings of Mother Clio to imbue my tracings of history and past practices as they relate to women, minority women, their accomplishments, and how they have enhanced the situation of humankind because they walked this Earth.
Well, maybe that's a bit much. But I'll endeavor to do my best at reaching that star. It's good to know there's another blogger who's also interested in women's history.
This should be such fun.
Seems I'm coming last in the race, huffing and puffing to keep up with you all.
So, who am I?
I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a librarian, a language learner, a believer, a woman, and a dog owner. Inside me is a writer hoping to be read too.
I blog at http://hannercymraes.blogspot.com
I publish under the name Elizabeth Jane
What do I write?
Primarily historical fiction, set in colonial Australia. My first novel currently being re-worked (as you do) is set in 1841. It is a shifting viewpoint narrative of grief, superstition and fear, set against a backdrop of Welsh language and folklore. It follows the fortunes of a mess-group of eight steerage passengers, as they undertake the arduous three month journey to the, then Colony of New South Wales.
In 2007 it was shortlisted for a manuscript development award, in 2008 it won an accademic award, one day soon it will be finished ... I promise.
I also write short stories. In 2009, my short story, Beyond the Blackout Curtain, won the Bristol Short Story Prize. It was set in WW2 Britain. I am currently working on a short story set in the Victorian goldfields.
I blog at http://hannercymraes.blogspot.com
So that's it. I look forward to blogging under Clio's protection and getting to know you over the coming months.
I'm Nancy Adams, and I write mysteries set in late antiquity, the transitional period between the classical world and the Middle Ages. It's a wonderful period, where the ancient traditions of paganism and Judaism mingle with the new religion of Christianity.
Anyone who is curious about the period should read historian Peter Brown's THE WORLD OF LATE ANTIQUITY, or, in fact, anything by Peter Brown. He has an amazing ability to get inside the soul of late-antique men and women and look at them on their own terms, without condescension, with absolute and uncanny empathy.
My current series is set in 4th-century Rome, where pagans and Christians often intermarried, but just as often clashed, a big, cosmopolitan melting pot that makes for some spicy plot stews.
I'm just finishing what I hope are the final round of revisions for the first book in the series and getting ready to send it out into the larger world of prospective agents and publishers. I've also written a short story using my series characters that has been accepted for publication in a forthcoming anthology.
In what's called "real life," in the 21st century, I'm a theological librarian at a small seminary. Greetings to my fellow librarians on the blog, and greetings to all my co-bloggers in general. I'm looking forward to participating and learning from all of you.
Nancy Adams
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