I love historical fiction for its power to animate the “facts” of history, to infuse dates and names with the emotion behind them. I’m particularly drawn to historical fiction with a real person at its center, the kind of story that lets us explore the heart and mind of someone that had an indelible impact on the world.
My new historical novel, LEAVING COY’S HILL, is inspired by the life of Lucy Stone, an abolitionist and pioneering women’s rights activist from the 1800s. When I stumbled across the basic facts of her life—she was the first woman to speak regularly about women’s rights and the person who inspired Susan B. Anthony to join the cause—I was shocked that I’d never heard of her before. Intrigued, I began to research her life, all with one key question in mind. Was her story enough for a novel?… read the rest of this post on Women Writers, Women’s Books