Roy Blomstrom, author of SILENCES: A NOVEL OF THE 1918 FINNISH CIVIL WAR, will be speaking to the Writer's Circle, a Thunder Bay writing group, on November 27 at 7 PM at the Waverley Branch of the Thunder Bay Public Library.
Among the topics: why write about this war and how did he do it, and why set half of the book in the summer of 1955 in Port Arthur.
And, underlying all of them--how do you DO it? How do you write a historical novel?
His answer:
Start with an event in history that you are, yourself, interested in. Read a lot about it.
Then develop a central character who will be changed by this thing. Who is he (or she), where does s/he start, and where does s/he end.
Then do more in-depth and focused research on the time period and places.
It's that easy, and that complicated.
