3 Goals for Writing Great Historical Fiction
In a lot of ways, writing historical fiction is a double-edged sword. You have the framework and structure of real
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Wisconsin author Laura Anne Bird (left) shares her novels with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” host Kate Archer Kent before an interview in Madison. Wisconsin author Laura Anne Bird grew up reading voraciously, but she missed seeing her home state reflected in pages of the books she gobbled up. “To be able to say, ‘I live there’ — I wanted to give that gift to kids in Wisconsin,” she said. Bird has now set two middle grade novels in the fictional town of Alwyn, set in northern Wisconsin. Bird said it’s inspired by any number of northern towns like Minocqua, Rhinelander, Eagle River and Boulder Junction. Stay informed on the latest news Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter. Email “There is such spirit up north and it’s my favorite place on Earth,” she told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “I really wanted to capture that spirit in the pages.” Some of that spirit appears as the backdrop of hunting and tavern traditions in Bird’s latest novel “ Marvelous Jackson .” The titular character, a seventh grader, finds himself in need of a hobby to get and stay out of trouble. An obvious path would be following his father to work at Dutch’s A-1 Tavern. But instead, Jack is drawn to baking, an activity he associates deeply with his late mother. Bird talked about the new book, father-son dynamics and some of her goals for readers on “Wisconsin Today.” The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Kate Archer Kent: Jack’s dad runs this tavern — not a baker — and really wants his son to be part of that tavern community, to work in the kitchen to make the recipes. But that’s really not Jack’s calling, and he’s able to flip through his mother’s baking cookbooks and really get pieces of her. Can you talk about the tensions there between father and son? Laura Anne Bird: What’s funny is they’re both such stubborn characters. Norm is the father, Jack is the 13-year-old. Jack spends so much of the story telling himself that he’s so different from his dad and all his […]
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In a lot of ways, writing historical fiction is a double-edged sword. You have the framework and structure of real
In the digital era, the art of writing has evolved beyond the traditional pen and paper. Technological advancements have introduced
