History comes Alive!

by Barbara Phinney 

I continually get compliments from readers of my historicals on the research and history used. And I have to beam with satisfaction.

You see, I love research. There are some writers who hate it, and that's okay. They write wonderful contemporaries. Their research is in everyday life. 
For my Love Inspired Historicals, I bent to my love of the middle ages. Namely, the Norman period. 

It started in high school, but really took off when I traveled to Colchester, England, to visit my sister. Colchester is a town steeped in history. Rome made it their capital on the island, and William the Conqueror ordered a castle to be built there from the ruins of several previous castles. Queen Boadicea fought the Romans there, Old King Cole was said to have his castle there, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was written there. 

History grabbed me and I knew I wanted to write a story set in Colchester. 
It look many years, but Bound to the Warrior and Protected by the Warrior blossomed from my visit. (Sheltered by the Warrior is due out in February. You should see the cover! It's gorgeous!))

Bound to the Warrior

Protected by the Warrior

And when my husband gave me the The Doomsday Book (a reprint, of course!) I was swept even further out on the sea of history. And the other books I have acquired kept me on that sea. (There is one I cannot find anymore. It was entitled The Short History of the English People. All 1100 pages of it!)

My readers say that they've learned so much from my books. One said she learned what peat was used for. Another said she'd learned so much about daily life and midwifery and another said she now loves the Norman period of history because she's read my books. 

I am so grateful to God for this gift. In retrospect, I enjoyed geography more in school, although my history teacher was the kind of man who got fully involved in retelling history for us. He made it come alive. I still remember this little, bespectacled man, arms flying as he described what the Norman soldiers encountered as they tried to fight the Welsh, those tall, white-robbed men coming down the Welsh hills, singing to prepare themselves for battle. The pious, stodgy Normans must have thought they were angels! Now that's a tactic not taught in the army's basic training!

But me, third row back, near the window, hand holding my head up for most of my school day, well, I was captivated.

And I am blessed to be able to captivate readers with snippets of history. Life in a castle is more than a noblewoman strolling the parapet or bathing in rose scented water. It was hard, and the noblewoman's life was dedicated to keeping her castle safe from everything from enemy soldiers to the dreaded fever that could kill everyone. The lady of the keep was known to have ordered extra battlements built, preparing for a siege until her baron husband returned to free them. One Scottish queen took it upon herself to ensure each child in her castle, no matter what position the parents, was fed a decent meal each day. She would feed them herself with her own spoon, if necessary. 

That's the history I want to incorporate into my historicals. 

What is your favourite period of history? Is there any historical story that has caught your interest? Were you even interested in history in school?

Tell us in the comments section. I'd love to read them. 

Barbara Phinney

It's like a dream come true

Years ago, I began to read those wonderful books by Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt (who didn't love Nine Coaches Waiting or Bride of Pendorric?) and any of those wildly romantic, sometimes historical, always suspenseful novels. Ooh, especially if they had a castle, a cliff and woman on the run in a white gown. Oh, how I loved them!

This is making me all nostalgic for those great novels again. I devoured Barbara Cartland and her historicals. Cadfael novels were candy to me. I absolutely adored them!

So, naturally, I wanted to write one.  And at that know-it-all age of fourteen, I knew I could. Well, I got about 250 words in and had my heroine racing all over Continental Europe, making it to England from Switzerland in less than two days (snort, like that happened in the 1300s) for some enigmatic reason that no doubt made sense at the time. Then I got bored and moved off to other things. Writing an historical obviously took time and you actually had to have a plot. Who'd have thought that?!!?
Well, my dream slipped away as life took over. I grew up, had a career and children before I revisited that dream. My hero stayed the same, though. He got tossed back a few centuries, as I have always loved Medieval settings, but he was always strong and brave.
Then, last year, God plopped me down at my computer. And with his help, I wrote steadily for several months and produced a tale of my hero, still strong and brave, but facing an enemy like no other. A hurt and vulnerable woman in need of God's love in her life.
I found an agent, and I just knew that Love Inspired Historical would publish Bound to the Warrior, then called Her Norman Husband.

It's a tale of God's love for us, and our love for each other. My heroine doesn't dash about Europe. In fact, she's never left her keep and nor does she run away from a mysterious castle in a white gown. Instead, she finds God's love in an unlikely place - her Norman husband.
But, with those memories of Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart echoing inside of me, my hero and heroine face suspenseful dangers that could destroy their budding love.
Cadfael would be proud.
Bound to the Warrior comes out in early March. I hope you'll check it out and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.