Cover image: Ulysses and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse (1891) Please note, this post will contain some spoilers for Shores of Chaos: Darkness Follows. One of the narratives throughout Shores of Chaos: Darkness Follows involves beings from Greek mythology. In Shores of Chaos: Shipwrecked, I briefly touched on Elysia's background as a siren and her… Continue reading Greek Mythology: Sirens and Chaos
Cover image from the film Dr. Mabuse (1922), directed by Fritz Lang. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis Because my novel Shores of Chaos: Darkness Follows takes place in 1902, I couldn’t help but include a séance scene. But séances were only a part of the much larger Spiritualism movement that started in the mid 19th century and lasted… Continue reading A New Religion: Spiritualism
Cover image of a 1960s carnival. (Courtesy of http://www.docsmidwaycookhouse.com) As with part one of Shores of Chaos, I included some customs and entertainment from the turn of the century in Darkness Follows. For one, circuses and carnivals gained popularity during this time. Many carnivals can trace their roots to the World’s Columbian Exposition held in… Continue reading Carnivals and Freaks: A History
Above image: Poster from the Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles , 1894 A fun thing I included in one of the chapters of my novel Shores of Chaos: Shipwrecked is a turn of the century vaudeville show. American Vaudeville was an entertainment form in the United States from the 1880s to the 1930s. Vaudeville shows consisted of… Continue reading Come One, Come All to the Story of American Vaudeville!
Shores of Chaos: Shipwrecked came about from my love of lighthouses and all things related to the seashore. I went to my first lighthouse when I was about eleven and have been enchanted by their architectural design and their purpose for existence ever since. I chose to set my story in the 1890s as this… Continue reading A Brief History of Lighthouses
Mental illness is a theme that plays heavily in my novel Wanderer Among Shadows, a theme that was not present in the original version of the story. However, after suffering from depression, I figured that if there was ever a story where a character would suffer from mental illness, it would be this one. One… Continue reading How Mental Illness Influenced My Novel
In my previous post, I talked about “Five Non-Fiction Books to Read for this Halloween.” In this one, I’m giving you five fiction books to give you goosebumps (pun intended). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375803017/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=genblackwood-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0375803017&linkId=db4029872573470f7fe1e965893316fe The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury This is the story of eight boys who go out trick or treating on Halloween night only to… Continue reading Five Fiction Books to Read for this Halloween
*Cover image: Detail from T. H. Matteson's "The Trial of George Jacobs, Austust 5th, 1692'' In my previous blog post, Interesting Things I Learned about the Salem Witch Trials and the Puritans, I briefly discussed how 17th century Puritans were more supportive and tolerant of the mentally ill than later generations. In this post, I… Continue reading The Puritans and Mental Illness
Here’s a quick little list of what I like best about writing and some things I find hard about it. I’ll be taking Labor Day off, so see you in two weeks! Hardest- Writer’s block Any writer will agree that getting stuck during the writing process sucks. You’re on a roll, the ideas are… Continue reading The Best and Hardest Things about Writing
(Cover image: Statue of Rebecca Nurse and her sisters at the Salem Wax Museum) During the course of my research of the Salem Witch Trials I found out some interesting things that I think would be fun to share with you all. Likewise, there are some random but fascinating facts about the Puritans that I… Continue reading Interesting Things I Learned about the Salem Witch Trials and the Puritans
I want to take you all on a journey through my writing process. I’ll get a bit long winded in this, but hopefully you’ll find some of it interesting. It may even give some of you greater insight when reading my novels. Proceed if you dare. Any story starts with inspiration. Being a historical fiction… Continue reading My Chaotic Writing Process
If you’re a nerd like me (I used to say “I’m a nerd and proud of it” back in high school, that’s how much of a nerd I am), then researching a historical topic you’ve been interested in since you were a little kid can be a fun journey. But if you’re also like me,… Continue reading Fun and Frustration: Researching the Salem Witch Trials
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