Historical Fiction: Unpacked

We titled this episode "Women's Suffrage in Wyoming" because that's what Mary's latest book, Forged in Love, deals with. But this conversation encapsulates so much more than that! Mary and I discussed marriage roles, memory loss, and other aspects of her new novel. And then we moved on to her career, how she became an author, and what her writing process is like. Spoiler: this is her 73rd book, but she wrote twenty books before she got published!

Forged in Love is the first book in Mary's Wyoming Sunrise series.

After being left for dead with no memory, Maria Stover attempts to rebuild her life as she takes over her father’s blacksmith business, but the townspeople meet her work with disdain. She and the new diner owner are drawn together by similar trials they face in the town, and when danger descends upon them, will they survive to build a life forged in love?

Purchase Forged in Love on Amazon (affiliate).

 

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Today's episode features an interview with Sarah Sundin about her newest book, The Sound of Light.

From the publisher (Revell): Sarah Sundin’s name has become synonymous with her captivating and historically accurate World War II novels. In a recent starred review of Until Leaves Fall in Paris (February 2022), Library Journal stated that Sundin is “a master at her craft” and that she “rises to the top of World War II fiction.”

In her newest novel, The Sound of Light, Sundin explores one of the lesser-known facets of WWII, this time taking readers to Nazi-occupied Denmark. Inspired by real-life events, The Sound of Light offers a captivating story about ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances with faith, fortitude, and hope for a brighter future.

When the Nazis occupy Denmark, Baron Henrik Ahlefeldt is determined to exchange his dissolute life for a life filled with purpose. He assumes the identity of Hemming Anderson and swaps his nobility for mobility and anonymity so he can secretly row messages for the Danish Resistance across the waters to Sweden under the code name Havmand—the merman. American physicist Dr. Else Jensen refuses to abandon her research in Copenhagen work that means more to her than freedom. While printing resistance newspapers, she hears stories of the movement’s legendary Havmand and wonders if the silent shipyard worker living in the same boardinghouse has something to hide.

When the Occupation cracks down on the Danes, these two passionate people will discover if there is more power in speech . . . or in silence. And can they hear each other’s voice before it’s too late?

Purchase The Sound of Light on Amazon (affiliate).

Listen to Sarah's first and second episodes on Historical Fiction: Unpacked!

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

I got to talk with Amy Lynn Green again today! Her wonderful book, The Blackout Book Club, released in November, and it's a great read!

Amy and I talked about how wonderful book clubs are because of the community aspect, as well as what she learned about the Hooligan Navy and how writing this book taught her to look at historical events from various perspectives. Enjoy this fascinating episode!

Purchase The Blackout Book Club on Amazon (affiliate).

Here's a link to the historical information regarding this book on Amy's website.

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Kimberly Duffy joins us again today to talk about her latest release, The Weight of Air. While Kim's first three books featured the mystical setting of India, a country near and dear to the author's heart, her fourth novel takes place mostly in her home state of New York. The story centers around a strong woman in the circus and her quest to find the mother she thought had died.

Kim and I had a wonderful conversation about flipping various stereotypes in this book. We also talked about how Kim's former struggle with Postpartum Depression and OCD surprised her by showing up in this novel, as well as what it's like to write when you're facing current trauma or grief.

Purchase The Weight of Air on Amazon (affiliate).

Learn more about the real "Strongest Woman that Ever Lived," Katie Sandwina.

Check out Kim’s website and follow her on Instagram and Facebook!

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Today's episode features a fantastic conversation that I know you're all going to love. Kimberley Woodhouse has been writing seriously for more than twenty years. She is a best-selling author of more than two dozen books. She has won the Carol Award, the Reader’s Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, and has finaled in the Selah Awards and the Spur Awards.

In this conversation, we talk about her latest novel, A Mark of Grace. It's the third book in her "Secrets of the Canyon" series, which features the Grand Canyon's El Tovar Hotel and some fictional Harvey Girls who worked there. If you've never heard of the real Harvey Girls, you're going to have to listen to this episode. I learned so much talking with Kim—both about history and writing!

Purchase A Mark of Grace on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out the 1945 film The Harvey Girls (affiliate).

Learn more about Fred Harvey, the Kolb Brothers' Studio, and Tracie Peterson.

Listen to my episode with Tracie Peterson.

Check out Kim's website and follow her on Instagram and Facebook!

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

What a terrific kick-off to season five! This is a wonderful conversation with Mariah Fredericks about her latest novel, The Lindbergh Nanny.

Here's a description from the publisher:

When the most famous toddler in America, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped from his family home in New Jersey in 1932, the case makes international headlines. Already celebrated for his flight across the Atlantic, his father, Charles, Sr., is the country’s golden boy, with his wealthy, lovely wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, by his side. But there’s someone else in their household—Betty Gow, a formerly obscure young woman, now known around the world by another name: the Lindbergh Nanny.

 

A Scottish immigrant deciphering the rules of her new homeland and its East Coast elite, Betty finds Colonel Lindbergh eccentric and often odd, Mrs. Lindbergh kind yet nervous, and Charlie simply a darling. Far from home and bruised from a love affair gone horribly wrong, Betty finds comfort in caring for the child, and warms to the attentions of handsome sailor Henrik, sometimes known as Red. Then, Charlie disappears. Suddenly a suspect in the eyes of both the media and the public, Betty must find the truth about what really happened that night, in order to clear her own name—and to find justice for the child she loves.

In this episode, Mariah and I discussed the person of Betty Gow, Charles Lindbergh, Sr.'s strange childrearing ideas, Mariah's own theory regarding the case, and how she began writing historical fiction.

Purchase The Lindbergh Nanny on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express (affiliate).

Scott Berg's biography of Charles Lindbergh, Lindbergh (affiliate).

Susan Hertog's biography, Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Her Life (affiliate).

Check out Mariah's website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

We're bringing you a special Christmas episode today! My daughter Camilla joins me on the show as we talk about the best novels we've read this year. Just in time for any last minute Christmas gift purchases you may want to make.

Listen to me talk with Kimberly Duffy about her novel Every Word Unsaid here.

Purchase Every Word Unsaid on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase The Thread Collectors by Shaun J. Edwards and Alyson Richman on Amazon (affiliate)

Purchase These Hallowed Halls by Kirk Battle on Amazon (affiliate) or find the podcast here. 

Purchase Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon on Amazon (affiliate). 

Purchase Coming Apart by Karen Heenan on Amazon (affiliate).

Listen to my episode with Janyre Tromp here.

Purchase Shadows in the Mind's Eye on Amazon (affiliate).

Listen to my episode with Jocelyn Green here. 

Purchase Drawn by the Current on Amazon (affiliate).

Listen to my episode with Sarah Sundin about her book Until Leaves Fall in Paris here.

Purchase Until Leaves Fall in Paris on Amazon (affiliate).

Listen to my review of Until Leaves Fall in Paris at the end of this episode of Historical Bookworm!

Purchase The Fountains of Silence or Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys on Amazon (affiliate).

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Today's episode is a very special one! It's been two years since I started Historical Fiction: Unpacked. To celebrate this milestone, Michelle Ule is hosting the show! I'm in the hot seat as she interviews me about my life, my writing, my favorites (and least favorites) when it comes to historical fiction, and what gave me the idea of starting a podcast at all! Join us to hear more about us and how learning about history through story has impacted our lives.

Important links:

The episode in which I interview Michelle Ule.

More about John Eldredge, the professor/author who taught me that I am God's beloved.

Episode with Wendy Voorsanger.

Latest Episode with Laura Frantz.

Episode with Sarah Loudin Thomas.

Episode with Kerry Chaput.

Episode with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer.

Kate Quinn's book about a Ukrainian sniper, The Diamond Eye (affiliate).

Find out more about Thomas Umstattd Jr. and his podcast here.

Purchase Michelle Ule's books here (affiliate).

Purchase my novel, One Traveler, here (affiliate).

Check out Michelle's website and follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Today's conversation is a perfect way to wrap up Season Four. I spoke with Elena Gorokhova about her debut novel, A Train to Moscow, which released in March. Elena's insight was enriching. We discussed how her own family's story inspired her novel, what it was like to grow up in Soviet Russia, her immigration story, and her perspective on what's happening in Russia today.

Purchase A Train to Moscow on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase A Train to Moscow on Bookshop (affiliate).

Purchase Elena's memoirs on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Elena's memoirs on Bookshop (affiliate).

Check out Elena's website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

I'm thrilled to have author and screenwriter Owen Pataki on the show today. Last year, his Historical Fiction adventure novel Searchers in Winter released. It continues the story begun in the novel Where the Light Falls, which Owen wrote with his sister, Allison Pataki. In this conversation, we discuss his latest novel (set during the Napoleonic Wars), his work in the film industry, and what it was like to cowrite a book with his sister.

Purchase Searchers in Winter on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Searchers in Winter on Bookshop (affiliate).

Purchase Where the Light Falls on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Where the Light Falls on Bookshop (affiliate).

Check out the Searchers in Winter book trailer we talked about here.

Follow Owen on Instagram, and Facebook!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!