Joanne C. Parsons

In 2016, after being recently widowed, I retired. I found myself with little to do and spending too much time brooding.
I always enjoyed writing for work, but that was usually newspaper articles and brochures. I joined a writers' group and was inspired to try fiction.

I learned from this first book. There is a lot of research when writing historical fiction. It can take an hour to track down the style of dress or favorite foods for an era.

I'm more disciplined now, writing the sequel. I use one notebook to record everything I want to remember from research. I read books about the era to learn about the political climate, economy, tensions between ethnic groups, etc.

I also outlined the book first, although it does change as I write. I try to include little known historical facts in every chapter. My writers' group friends read and edit.